The List: TV Shows I Need To Watch... Like Now

Today's the 1st of Dec which means 2 things. 1) it's 25 days to Christmas and 2) NaNoWriMo is finally over and I have my life back.  Which means that I can madly catch-up on all the things I have been missing out on, like books and movies and TV shows and music and... well you get the picture.

My list is pretty long. Like really long.  Actually in truth it's more like never-ending because I am always putting new and wonderful things on it. 

I blame the Internet. Well that and book/music/film review magazines and friends who recommend things.

Bad friends.

No not really.  I adore my friends and I adore all the recs they pass on to me.  Rec me is my catch phrase.  I'm even thinking of having it put on my tombstone.  That or List Girl.

Because I love making lists.  And trust me I have a lot of lists. And not just for books, music, movies and TV shows.  No I also have a travel list (which is long) and a fanfic list (which is REALLY long).  I almost need to start making a list of my lists. And no I'm not even kidding.

My current list compiling are TV shows I want to watch over the summer.  Especially since all my favourite shows will soon be on there Christmas hiatus. (damn hiatus).  Which means no more Supernatural, Person of Interest, Arrow and so on.  At least until late January.  Until then there are a few shows I'm dying to try out.

Hannibal

I don't want to give too much away but I can tell you is that it's bloody good.  And I do mean bloody.  Because yes it is just a little bit gory.

It also has the wonderful Mads Mikkesen who I adore.  So yes I just have to check it out.

Sleepy Hollow

Headless horseman? Check.  Supernatural going ons? Check. Hot male lead? Check.

So of course I had to give it ago and of course I'm now completely hooked and working my way through its first season.

The Blacklist

I'm keen to watch this just for James Spader a lone.

He was so brilliant in Boston Legal and I'm hoping that he is just as good in this, playing a master criminal.

Almost Human

Karl Urban. Do I really need to say anything more?  Except why didn't I know that this kiwi actor is seriously hot. I mean that gravelly voice and bad boy vibe.  I am so there.

Of course it's also a futuristic sci-fi with lots of high tech elements. Just my kind of show, really.

Banshee

Another kiwi boy in another American show.  This time Anthony Starr in a show described as being extremely violent and sex filled. It's also meant to be pretty damn good

Rectify

This is a serious show dealing with serious subjects. Life, death, guilt, redemption, judgement.

It's also critical acclaimed with reviewers and viewers alike so it's gotten my attention.

And 2 Shows I've Watched And You Should Too

House of Cards

Remake? Yes.  Though you wouldn't know it.  Because this US remake starring the amazing-as-always Kevin Spacey is not only seriously good but also different enough to the original that you can't really even compare them.

This is a show that you just must watch. Trust me it's that good.

Broadchurch 

I have a thing for David Tennant.  Tall, lanky, ever-so-slightly-crazy looking.

I also have a thing for good whodunits which this definitely is.

Review: My Brother's Keeper by Donna Malane [Jan]

Missing person’s expert Diane Rowe is hired by Karen, an ex-P addict just released from prison, to find her daughter and ensure she is safe.  The crime Karen was imprisoned for was the attempted murder of her daughter.  Diane finds Karen’s daughter, Sunny, after a quick internet search which Karen could’ve done.  Suspicious of her client’s motives, Diane goes to check on Sunny’s safety.

At home in Wellington Diane’s boyfriend has bonded with her dog and her ex, her relationship has become serious, and her ex wants to sell the marital home.  Diane deals with this as her credit card balance dwindles and she keeps annoying police officers with her inability to keep her nose out of cases.  The adorable Wolf, Diane’s ex-police dog, appears throughout the book, as does the cute cop Robbie.

A strong, capable character, I’m impressed by Diane’s tenacity and her ability to have everything turn out ok in the end.  There where I few twists I didn’t see coming and the ending took be my surprise.  Set in Auckland and Wellington, the places were familiar and there were a few aspects unique to New Zealand.
I HAD to buy the second in the series as this series is so good!  Paperbacks are available from New Zealand websites only, but there is an e-book version.

Title: My Brother’s Keeper
Author: Donna Malane
Publisher: HarperCollins
Series: Book 2 in Diane Rowe
Reviewer: Jan

Haim (rhymes with I am)

Haim are a super cool trio of sister's from The Valley in California who are currently walking the line between being indie-cool and being played on pop radio. If you're into Boy, The Naked and Famous, Lorde or any kind of 70's Fleetwood Mac-y kind of deal, you might be into these guys too.

Haim's debut album 'Days are Gone' came out a couple of months my and it's fricken awesome, my favourite songs are 'The Wire', 'Don't Save Me' and 'My Song 5'  but make sure you check out the whole album.

I wish I was in a girl-band so bad. Especially one as good as these guys...

The Wire

Don't Save Me

P.s. Haim are playing at Laneway Festival this January so try and go along to see them! 

Why New Zealand fiction is doomed

This is a page that should in truth be filled by Kiwi publishers...But despite Eleanor Catton's glorious win at the Booker Prize do, and notable efforts such as Mister Pip and co, the fact is, New Zealand fiction ain't doing so good at the tills. If one Peter Jackson does not a vibrant local film industry make, one Eleanor Catton sadly does not spell glory days ahead for the rest of us.

Here's why.

New Zealand publishers will not support genre fiction.

The top-selling international authors tend to be crime, action or romance ones - the genre guys. We're talking Lee Child, James Patterson, Nora Roberts, John Grisham. But while megabucks will be spent promoting their novels to Kiwi readers, virtually none will be spent marketing - or even publishing - the ones who live here.

There are a few crime authors being published by local companies, notably Penguin with Vanda Symon, HarperCollins with Ben Sanders and Donna Malane, and Random House with Paul Cleave. One of these is also the publisher of my previous crime series. So naturally, when I completed my new book, I sent it in. And I quote:
"Oh. It's just a crime novel. I didn't realise it was crime. Kiwis don't buy local crime, so I'm sorry, we wouldn't be interested."

Is it also true that EVERY work of general fiction goes down the tubes, because some are complete turkeys? It's not sour grapes, entirely, merely an observation. I was rather disgusted, to tell you the truth (especially as I know the publisher personally doesn't read crime novels and doesn't like them). I know that our publishers are in a bad way, minnows struggling to survive being swallowed up by their Australian offices. But the bulk of their money comes from cookbooks and international fiction anyway. Is it too much to ask that they try to support local authors, without writing off a whole swathe of them wholesale, based on genre alone?

I'm still in a better position than New Zealand's sci-fi and fantasy authors, who won't be published by any of our international firms. While they'll publish "chick lit", no one will touch erotica or the standard kind of romance either, except for Mills and Boon. Authors in these genres have to go to Australia and the US. In the long run, it's probably better for their careers.

Sadly, it's no better in television. I was told by one company: "Yep, loved the book, but it's way cheaper to import crime dramas from the UK and the US. No one wants to see a Kiwi crime drama enough to pay for it."

Unless, of course, it stars Oscar Kightley. Just sayin'.

The confusion continues. When I once entered a national teen fiction competition, I was told that my story was judged the best, but because the setting wasn't "Kiwi", the publishing firm wasn't interested. "Our brief is to support New Zealand stories".

A second publisher backed this up. One would think that by supporting local authors, you are supporting New Zealand literature - without the writers, there could be no stories. A good story should be borderless. But this distinction appears to be lost. This attitude also cripples our authors overseas. By making our stories so local and small, there is less chance of us picking up publishing deals in foreign markets. It's death by parochialism.

Meanwhile, our publishing houses are steadily being relocated to Australia, which has even less interest in promoting a Kiwi writing community. Do you see our Government pouring millions into reversing that, like they did after the America's Cup defeat?

Samuel Johnson once said: "No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money". Sometimes even hope is enough to keep us going. But remove even that, and you'll be left with silence.

The Doctor? Doctor Who? : A Well Deserved 50th Birthday

You know you've got it made when you have your very own Google Doodle.  Now that is all kinds of awesomeness.

Then again celebrating 50 years is a pretty big milestone especially in TV land where only a handful of shows have lasted that long and most of those are documentary type shows.  That a science fiction show has managed to reach 50 years fills my heart with joy because without Doctor Who I would never have discovered the amazing world of science fiction in the first place.

Thanks Doctor Who.

For the scares

 the laughs

 the tears

And the sheer excitement that you have brought to so many

Happy Birthday Old Friend