I Don't Need A Hero

A couple weeks ago, I realized that I wasn't enjoying Heroes the way I had in the first season. Too many characters, too much of them acting against the way they'd been drawn. Even the acting started to bother me. It seems like many of the main characters--the ones we've known from the start--now have one expression. Peter Petrelli in particular. [say that ten times fast] And part of the problem for the show is that the one before it, Chuck, is a heck of a lot more fun to watch. Still have a guy saving the world, but he's a bumbling hero. All he wants is the girl he can't have. Besides any show with Adam Baldwin in it has a definite advantage over one that doesn't.

Then this week my Entertainment Weekly shows up with a cover story about Heroes being in trouble. The other day Courtney posted on her blog about no longer taking up DVR space with the show. I also realized that over a month into the new season and the Pirates have not discussed it once. Bad signs all around. Looks like that fascinating tipping point thing has kicked in.

For me, though, it's going a bit deeper. More shows are annoying me this year. Top of the list? I may get lynched for this, but House. This show, too, suffers from a surfeit of characters. And I don't like the new ducklings. Never did. Bring back Chase and Cameron. Those two held their own against House. And why would anyone let this man treat them? You'd better be at death's door when you show up, because he's going to put you there anyway. If he's such a diagnostic genius, let him be geniusy. Instead of one big mystery, let there be half a dozen people with different problems. I've always thought the best parts of the show were when he's working the clinic. That's almost been non-existent this year. And please let's end the requisite strong woman reaching middle age and realizing she forgot to have a baby-oh my!-subplot and let Cutty get back to being the kick-ass administrator she's supposed to be.

I guess this is a good way to feel going into NaNoWriMo month. I won't have much time for television watching anyway. Guess I'll just wait until Burn Notice and Dr. Who come back. In the meantime I can watch my DVDs of Dexter Season Two and both seasons of Torchwood. Maybe check out True Blood online. In December, of course.

Shameless Self-Promotion

No, I'm not shamelessly promoting myself. Although it is, and always will be, all about me. I'm thinking about the new emphasis on an author being a publicist too. Okay, it's my book, I should be willing to do what I can to make sure people know about it. I'll set up book signings and tell all my friends and family and so on.

A big part of the last Pikes Peak Writers Conference was about marketing. And there are books and blogs and who knows what else out there on how to market your own book. Some of the suggestions were:

--The aforementioned book signings
--Get your local paper to review it
--Get an interview on a local morning show
--Set up a website or blog so you have a 'community' who will be interest
--Come up with promotional tie-ins to the book. Say it's about a candy maker. You could run a contest with the first prize of a basket of chocolates or a set of candy molds, etc.
--Send notices to any email loop you're a part of about releases, signings, etc.

Those are only a few of the ideas. So when is enough too much? When do you reach the tipping point of just pissing off the people you're trying to get to buy your book?

Yes, I'm thinking of someone in particular. No, I'm not going to say who it is. I was actually planning to buy the book. It sounded like something I might be interested in. But I'm already sick of it, and I haven't read one word.