Great stories.

Over the weekend, we saw ParaNorman.  It was fantastic!  I loved the story, the twists, the humor, the characters, and the score.  Most of the time, it's fun going to a theater full of kids because you get to hear some of those incredible, totally innocent reactions to the movie.

That's also the same reason I love going to the theater to see horror movies with a packed house- you get some crazy reactions, and sometimes they're hysterical.

Both situations involve a good story and interesting characters.  That's how people get drawn in.  If it was boring and uninteresting, then the kids would lose interest at the animated movie showings and the adults would feel bored at the horror movie showings.

I love it when you watch a movie or read a book and become so engulfed in what's going on that you completely forget that it's a movie or a book.  That moment when you fall in love with or come to completely loathe a character.  When you feel intense emotions one way or another toward a character, then you feel like you are living vicariously through them.  When you indulge in great books and movies, you live a thousand lives.

The beginning of Silence of Souls 2 is underway, and I'm thrilled about it.  I've received so much positive feedback about the first novel, and I'm very excited about working on the second one.  The story outline is nearly complete- I just need to add some more meat to it.  The second installment of the series is going to be even more intense than the first; at least, I think so. ;-)  I'm working on developing the characters even further, creating some interesting conflicts, and putting out a unique story.

I have a real rough idea for a third installment, but I'm not going to force it if it doesn't want to happen.  The second one is a definite thing, though!  I'm hoping to release it around March or April, but I'll adjust the release date as the novel comes along.  ;-)