IGWritersOct - Avery Kingston

Top five movies with a plot twist

October 21, 2017

by ajkingston with No Comment movies

ay twenty one of #IGWRITERSOCT is “Plot twist.” I love it when a movie or book smacks me in the face with a mind bending twist ending.

So, here are my top five favorite movies with twist endings.

It goes without saying there WILL be spoilers ahead.

5. The Sixth Sense

Probably noted as one of the most well known plot twists in cinema history. We learn that Bruce Willis’ character of the child psychologist is actually dead the entire movie.

I honestly never saw this one coming. I knew something was up the entire movie but it never dawned on me that he was dead. Of course when you go back and re-watch it, it’s all so clear.

4. Seven

This movie gave me a hangover for days. Not the good kind of hangover where you look back and in spite of how bad you felt you had a great time, and would probably do it again. No it was a hangover SO awful that anytime anyone ever mentions the name of that liquor, you throw up in your mouth a little.

This movie WRECKED me. It was such a dark and twisted ending once we find out “what was in the box.” The fact it was the pretty little head Pitt’s wife, and that she was pregnant. It was more than my stomach could handle.

I have only watched this movie once. I couldn’t bear to sit through it again. It was just TOO dark.

3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Probably not considered one of the biggest plot twists in literary and cinematic history, but this one was deeply impactful to me.

As I sat there reading Deathly Hallows and we finally looked into Professor Snape’s thoughts, I literally gasped out loud and began sobbing on my sofa. THIS was the moment that I fell in love with Snape.

Snape wasn’t always a good man, he made some bad choices, but it was the good choices he made that defined him. Snape was the silent hero in the shadows.

2. The Village

Ok. Popcorn was popped and I was nestled into my sofa ready for this movie. I knew M. Night Shyamalan’s game. I knew that this film was going to have a twist, and the entire movie I was trying to figure it out.

Other than the twist what I love most about this movie is the love story between Ivy and Lucius. I mean seriously, how ROMANTIC is it when she is standing there trembling on the porch, blind and terrified, with her outstretched hand all the while KNOWING that her man is coming for her. When Noah stabbed Lucius I felt like my heart was ripped out of my chest.

As our brave blind heroine goes into the woods to save her man. She climbed over that hedge I knew it was coming…but what??? What was coming??? Then you see that truck pull up and you realize. Holy crap it’s modern day.

Yep, M. Night got me again.

1. Fight Club

This one absolutely came out of left field and shocked me. It changed the entire feel of the movie. Here thought I was just watching some strange dark drama, when in fact it was a physiological thriller.

The viewer has NO idea the entire time that Tyler is the narrator. We are too caught up with the fact he’s a total nut job.

Once we find out that Tyler and narrator are the same person, you have to go back and re-watch with a total different mindset. It makes you realize that no matter how much of a pushover someone may seem to be, the deep dark inner sociopath looms underneath.

IGWriters Oct – Day 9

October 9, 2017

by ajkingston with 2 Comments travel writing

ay nine for IGWriters October was “Adventures in Writing.”

On one of my writing forums I recently saw the question asked “Have you ever visited any of the towns/locations that you write about.”

Most were divided on this. Many authors make up imaginary towns (can you say “Forks”) where there story takes place. I prefer to keep my stories grounded in the real world, to really give a feel for the setting.

I decided to have my series take place in Washington, DC. When I started writing my first novel, I’d never been to DC, but it was on my bucket list of places to visit. I have always been fascinated by the history of our Nations Capitol and I also wanted a city that had close public transportation. (My heroine is blind but I wanted to make sure she was fierce and independent).

I spent a LOT of time doing research. I embedded myself in Google maps. I read about local bars, restaurants. I looked up homes, apartment buildings. I even went so far as to research liquor store hours on a Sunday make sure that the store would be open at the time my hero went to grab a bottle of whiskey.

Ok, so maybe I take it a BIT too far at times.

Anyhow, my point is that I want it to be as real as possible. I don’t want someone who lives in the city I’m writing about to think I didn’t at least try and do my research.

Finally at long last I was able to go to DC. I went solo, and trolled all over the city by myself and I had a blast. I had lunch with a homeless man at a hot dog cart. I got escorted out of the Smithsonian by security due to the length of my shank. (What can I say, I’m a rebel with a pocketknife, don’t mess with me). I navigated the public transportation system solo, met and chatted with strangers, who pretty much loved my delightfulness. I got lost on the subway and wound up with a dead cell phone in the less privileged areas of DC. I wasn’t too worried though, because I was too busy giggling with two old black ladies who were just the best, and saw the cutest little six year old selling chocolate bars to buy a bike, so I of course pitched in a few bucks.

I took my heroine’s metro to Arlington, had coffee at the Starbucks in her neighborhood, and stood outside the complex that I’d consider her apartment.

I went to a bar in Georgetown that I wrote about in my first novel and listened to live music.

I went to Arlington cemetery and saw the changing of the guards. It was sobering yet beautiful. I went off the beaten path and saw Washington National Cathedral. I walked the mall. Twice. In one day (along with the tidal basin). Then I walked through Chinatown and back down past the White House. I googled it and it was something like thirteen miles. My feet hated me.

Many people were shocked that I traveled solo. I’m a bit shocked that everyone was so shocked.

Be brave, be bold, you only get this one life to live and there is SO much beauty to see in this world!

(I’m pretty sure that’s me channeling my inner “Tori”).

I loved that city, with all that is in me. I can’t wait to go back.

behind every favorite song, there's an untold story

IGWriters October Day 8

October 8, 2017

by ajkingston with No Comment writing

decided to take part this month in #IGWritersOct, a little social media fun on Instagram sparked by Cheyanne Young, a YA author.

I missed the first few days of this but decided to go ahead and give this a go, starting with Day 8: BRAINStorming.

Music is extremely important to me. I’ve always been a lyric girl. During my teen years when I’d buy a CD the first thing I did when I got home was plop down on my floor and open up the jacket. I’d listen to the album from start to finish, reading each lyric as the album played in my bedroom, just soaking it all in.

So, how do I brainstorm? Mostly ideas come to me when I’m in my car driving, usually listening to a song. The lyrics will speak to me and I feel that they fit with a certain character, or they inspire a certain scene. I have an entire Spotify playlist full of songs that inspire chapters and scenes in my novels.

Sometimes a song describes only a scene, sometimes a song captures the entire essence of my novel. When I write, I see the story vividly in my head like a movie. I can hear the music playing in the background of a scene.

I decided to have each chapter of my book start with a song title. I’ve seen other authors to this and I love listening to what inspired them in that moment. I feel that it sets a tone for the scene, and adds to the artistic flow of the work.

Music can transport us to another place or time. So many times I’ve heard a song on the radio that I haven’t heard since high school and suddenly I’m flooded with all the emotions I felt in that exact time and space.

Music can move, music can motivate, music can inspire.

Music is life.