Category: OA Announcements

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2024 SiWC Lunch with Diana!

Good day, Diana fans!

On Sunday at Surrey International Writers’ Conference (SiWC) I was privileged to enjoy a long private  lunch with Diana!

Details about our “date” are posted below but first a bit of history. The first time I lunched with Diana was 2015, almost 10 years ago!

We met in Beaverton, OR, after she spoke at a fund raiser. We have met for lunch or drinks many times since then.

The last time we lunched was at 2022 New York Comic Con.  We began our outing by riding in a golf cart through the bowels of the Javits Center!

We enjoyed a delish lunch at Hudson Yards. Her nails this day were a beautiful dusty blue. BTW, these are her natural nails, not gels!

After lunch, we parted near The Vessel. It was a beautiful but windy day.

I had not seen Diana during 2023 because I spent that year rehabilitating a shattered ankle and didn’t go anywhere. 🥲

All of that changed at 2024 SiWC!

We had a wonderful two hour lunch on Sunday.

As we waited in line to be seated, author Michael Slade walked up and asked in a booming voice why women’s conversations were more interesting than men’s. I said I thought it is because women talk about everything while men have a fairly narrow range of acceptable topics. I was thinking sports, hunting, fishing, etc., for the guys. What do you think?

Diana and I ordered lunch. We were joined for a while by her youngest daughter, Jen. Hi Jen! 🤗

Jen lives in Scotland with her hubby and Diana’s two grandsons. She flew over just to attend SiWC.  Sadly, she had to leave after a few minutes to catch her flight home. A delightful and very personable young woman. Mum was rightfully proud of her lovely daughter.

For the next 2 hours, we engaged in our usual discussion of far flung topics. Diana is very excited about Blood of My Blood (BOMB) and has written a couple of scripts for the show.  She also gave the writers the ideas for it (of course)! 🤗

I asked her why it has taken 1.5 years between 7a and 7b. She answered that they were timing the releases of BOMB and 7b so there would not be issues with overlap.

We talked about our parents, our children and our lives growing up, our homes, property and pets. She shared photos of her darling grandsons (she is hoping for more).

She then commented on the beauty of the red and black bracelet I was wearing.

I make my own jewelry and she has received a number of pieces from me in the past, such as this one from 2019! 🎁

Sorry the photo is grainy. This is the piece on a form before I gifted it to her!

Back to my story. I removed the bracelet and said “Shall we try it on you?” I put it on her and asked if it was too big. She said it fit perfectly so I said “It is yours.” She was pleased! ☺️

This felt uncanny because that very morning as I put the bracelet on, I thought, “I bet Diana is going to like this bracelet.”  Then, I asked myself,  “Do you want her to have it?” 🤔

Of course, the answer was “yes” as I can make myself another one. 😁

It made her happy! 🤗

She let me photograph (a tradition of mine) her new nail color, a beautiful lush red. She usually wears lavender, blue or green. I think the color looks great on her. She wears jewel tones very well! 😍 Psst….Isn’t her top lovely?

After two hours, she was tiring and I understood why. In just three days, she had done multiple events: Michael Slade’s Shock Theater, a library panel event, two solo workshops and an author’s panel. She also had done blue pencil events where she helps new authors with their work.

Her last 1.5 hour workshop occurred just before lunch and she had yet another event to attend that evening. The woman is a power house but she does need to rest sometimes! 😉

So we hugged and said farewell, until next time! 👋🏻

But wait! I have more. I will end my post with the next video.

Some of  you are aware that during SiWC Diana does philanthropic work in the British Columbia prison system. She teaches a master class on writing to the inmates. This year she was unable to work with them because the contact she needs to help her access the system sadly passed away. So, in the future, she must find a new sponsor.

Although I made this video in 2018, it gives you an idea of the important work that Diana does for people whose lives are impacted by incarceration. She teaches her class and then listens to their questions and comments. Based on these, she buys and donates books to the prison library to help them with their goals.

Her works are a good lesson in kindness to all of us. 🥰

Isn’t she the best? 🤩

The deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

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Video and Photo credits: Outlander Anatomy,

 

 

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2019 SDCC Interview with Bear McCreary

Saturday at San Diego Comic-Con, I enjoyed the privilege of spending three hours in the presence of Bear McCreary, the wildly creative Outlander music-maker!

It all started in the press room. Promptly at 3pm, Bear strode through the door exuding star-power personality and boundless energy! For the next hour, he patiently walked the press line answering every question with enthusiasm and excitement. Handsome and lithe, his commanding presence leaves little doubt this is the man who has produced such a prolific body of musical work!

Soon, my turn to ask questions… Bear responded with the same focus and attention afforded each press member in the room. Enjoy our brief exchange! 

Daughter, Sonatine, costumed with sword in hand, posed with papa in the press line.

Bear then joined us for a round table discussion. Press members were allowed one question per round. The following recording contains all Q&A wherein Bear offers thoughtful, candid and pithy resposes. Hope you watch in its entirety! 

During the round table discussion, I commented on Sonatine’s Quest, an original vocalization by Sonatine Yarborough McCreary and scored by her father.  Here, Sonatine sings her feelings about a favorite storybook. Hope you listen to this wonderful creation by his wee lass (clearly, this apple fell close to the tree!).

And, she is only four years old!

After the round table, we scrambled to a different building for Bear’s panel presentation, The Music of Monsters, open to all attendees.  He informed the packed session that he became enthralled with sci-fi films and monsters at age 5, after seeing Godzilla footage in Tim Burton’s 1985 film,  PeeWee Herman’s Great Adventure! 

Bear then posited this insightful premise: music is critical to film because it gives monsters a voice!

He then showed several outstanding examples of iconic music from sci-fi films to support this premise. At the end of each clip, he encouraged audience participation by inviting attendees to call out feelings the music evoked. Responses were numerous, robust and exciting as a vast range of emotions were called out from the floor! 

For example, he showed an iconic image from the 1951 film classic, The Day the Earth Stood Still, reminding us of the ominous feelings this music awakens.

He is right! I saw this film at age 9, and to this day, I can recall the eerie music and the words: “Gort, Klaatu barada nikto!” Gort is the name of the menacing robot; Klaatu, the name of the humanoid alien (played by actor Michael Rennie). See the trailer here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaatu_barada_nikto.

Bear also showed a clip featuring his musical score for 2016,  “10 Cloverfield Lane.” Bear’s intense and haunting music for this psychological thriller by producer J.J. Abrams establishes mood and scale, as seen in the closing moments of the film.

Bear shared footage from the 2019  film, Child’s Play, scored entirely with toy instruments. He didn’t expect this approach to be welcomed by the director, but it was! He showed this bit of the creepy “Buddi Song,” written by Bear and sung in a child-like voice by actor, Mark Hamill.

Although Bear didn’t perform the music live for us, in the following splendid video, he sings the theme from Child’s Play in a kiddie’s voice while playing multiple toy instruments: watch for bells, ukuleles, harmonicas, pianos, accordion, and several toys I can’t even name! His music gradually builds from innocent childish notes to a thoroughly menacing finale. Hear the theme song in its entirety here: https://youtu.be/YNjCEimjX_4 

Bear’s last clip was from 2019’s, Godzilla: King of the Monsters. He shared his first version of Godzilla’s theme and, no surprise, it was excellent! Then, he played the final spine-thrilling, spine-chilling theme, building on music from an earlier Godzilla film, which proved mighty, powerful and awesome! This underscored how critical it is to continue with music until it is right; the final thunderous score is magnificent! 

Listen to Godzilla’s theme here:

And, this video is a must see! It shows the collaboration of Bear, his orchestra, Tibetan monks and Japanese Taiko drummers producing music for Godzilla: KOTM: 

The session concluded with a robust Q and A. Even after three hours of non-stop shop talk, Bear was as gracious and enthused as at the outset. We were more than lucky he attended 2019 SDCC! 

In case you are not familiar with Bear’s prodigious resume, it includes his very first musical score created for Battlestar Galactica, ten years of writing music for The Walking Dead, five seasons composing music for Outlander, and themes for Rim of the World, and The Professor and the Madman, to name a few.  Let’s congratulate him on  his nomination for the prestigious 2019 Saturn Award for best film music. If I had a vote, he would get it. Thank you, Bear!

What a splendid way to spend an afternoon at 2019 SDCC!

A deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

Photo credits: Bear McCreary, Defiant Public Relations, iMDB, OutlanderAnatomy, You Tube