AQATSA: Pretty pictures to offset the doom and gloom

[inverarity]

I have been accused of baiting and switching! I have been accused of promising a happy ending and then using my poor characters as a stick to poke you with. I have been accused of being Joss Whedon!



Now, in all seriousness... I never promised a J.K. Rowling ending.

I am not George R. R. Martin, but I am not J.K. Rowling either.

Here's a poll, though, 'cause I'm curious (and am too fond of polls).

Disclaimer: I don't care what you think. Seriously, I ain't changing anything.

[Poll #1791832]

The frustrations of endings

Speaking of endings... AQATSA's ending is still messy. My betas have mostly caught up to me, and I am flailing a bit while I try to polish the next few chapters up because I've hit some of the spots that I was whining about earlier during the writing process, the parts that I thought were full of crap and roadkill and would need to be rewritten.

Okay, maybe it's not complete crap, but there's some stuff here that doesn't work, and some other stuff I am puzzling over because it's going to tie me down in terms of certain things that happen in the future, and I've talked before about how I don't actually have the rest of the series planned out in detail. So I am worried about leaving those dreaded unfired Chekhov's Guns lying around, as well as Flints, and becoming too attached to an earlier plan even after it no longer makes sense, to the point that the story bends unnaturally around it.

So far, betaing has gone pretty well, which is to say, my betas have had plenty of helpful, critical comments and many changes have been made as a result, but nothing of the "OMG this chapter needs a complete rewrite and this subplot needs to die!" variety. But the next six chapters or so still have problems and plot holes and they are giving me a headache.

I am currently revising chapter 35 out of 41. The draft stands at 257,697 words right now.

Who should play Alexandra in the movie?

One of my betas, swissmarg, has made a couple of beautiful banners for Alexandra Quick and the Deathly Regiment.

While making them, she asked me what actors and actresses I think would make good images for some of my characters, and I couldn't think of any. I'm really pretty bad about remembering actors. The only one who's ever come to mind is young Natalie Portman in The Professional, who looks a little bit like how I picture Alexandra at about age twelve, although Portman is too pretty.



I also named Darla Dearborn after Darla Hood of Little Rascals fame, and always imagined her taking after Darla in appearance:



swissmarg made a second picture which I love, based on AQATDR, Chapter Fifteen: The Historicist:



Ellen Page makes a decent Alexandra. Emmy Rossum is meant to be Valeria, but I think she looks very like Julia. (Valeria is rather more stout, and blonde.)

So, consider this an Alexandra Quick Casting Call: who should be cast in the roles of AQ characters? I need to practice my Photoshop skills too.

Comments

[rheymus.livejournal.com]

Yey Maisie Williams!

We have a very small pool of actors to choose from. Alex has GOTTA have attitude. And she gotta be ordinary, not pretty. Amelia, Harmony and Maisie fulfill the criteria.

The only Notable actors that Hollywood accepts are either Very pretty or are Very attitudinous. If that is not a word, you know what I mean by "attitudinous".