So, I've still been writing!

It's been a long, long time since I've blogged about writing.

Heck, it's been a long, long time since I've blogged at all.

My last post was for the new year, my annual "Studicus Selects" roundup.

Why have I gotten away from blogging? I'm not sure, really. I stopped writing about Indianapolis Colts games because I found myself so intent on analyzing them and making observations that I stopped enjoying the actual games. Seriously, I'd sit in front of the TV with a laptop and make notes, and then rush to post a story after the game was over.

It probably hasn't helped that the Colts have been completely mediocre since their memorable defeat at the hands of the New England Patriots in the "DeflateGate" game.

But while I haven't been blogging, I have been writing.

A lot.

I just finished the first draft of my 16th novel! It's pretty incredible to think about it. I have 14 books that I consider "ready" or "nearly ready" for submission. Two of the 16 are recently finished drafts that need tons of polish.

I've sent out several query letters for books, and I've come close a couple times. A partial request here. A full request there. Just nothing that quite makes it all the way.

A few years ago, I probably would've sulked and stopped sending queries. But you know what? Books don't publish themselves. You can't get published if you don't submit.

So I keep at it.

I've got a funny superhero series with the Crimsonstreak books. The rights have reverted back to me, and I'm going to finally resolve the huge cliffhanger from book two with the third book. Can't say much about it right now, but expect some news soon.

I have another series that's superhero related, but it's more serious in tone. For a long time I referred to these books at The Franchise series, but I've rebranded them as the OMNI series. They've got a cool retro-futuristic vibe and I'd describe them as a more hopeful Watchmen.

I've written in some genres I didn't expect. I churned out a paranormal fantasy and a YA epic fantasy. I wrote a middle grade book based on a "novel" I wrote when I was in sixth grade (obviously, I expanded the story and characters quite a bit).

I even wrote, God help us all, a book called Timey Dancer based on some interactions I had with a friend and my brother on Facebook. It's about a male stripper who goes back in time to save Julius Caesar through the power of pole dancing and 80s music.

It is ridiculous.

That's pretty much where things stand right now. I attended the Midwest Writers Workshop last year and had a blast. I also went in 2010, when I thought I knew a ton about writing and publishing. I'm a lot smarter now and realize that there's a bunch of stuff to learn. I couldn't quite make it for the 2017 edition, but I'm hoping to attend Imaginarium in Louisville in October.

Studicus Selects 2016

Once, long ago, I posted on the internet as Studicus, an in-joke nickname related to a skit from high school. When I first started blogging, I called my year-end entries "Studicus Selects." The tradition has continued since 2005...although I skipped 2006 for some unknown reason.

You'll find past entries here (scroll down for the 2016 picks):

Studicus Selects 2015
Studicus Selects 2014
Studicus Selects 2013
Studicus Selects 2012
Studicus Selects 2011
Studicus Selects 2010
Studicus Selects 2009
Studicus Selects 2008
Studicus Selects 2007
Studicus Selects 2005

Worst pre-ordering fail, large online retailer category. I usually don't pre-order items because you'll usually find plenty of stock at the store (NES Classic excepted, of course). However, I was super excited about the arrival of Star Wars: The Force Awakens on Blu-ray and pre-ordered it from Target.

While friends who ordered their copies from Amazon got them on the day of release, I waited and waited for my precious copy to arrive. It finally came Saturday morning. The Blu-ray was released on the previous Tuesday.

I'm still ticked off.

Best sports adventure, brothers category. Proving that 2015 was a giving year, my brother and I went to see the Cincinnati Reds on Star Wars Night. This was a 2015 Christmas gift from our mother that combined our two favorite things: baseball and Star Wars.

It was notable for a couple reasons: 1) the Reds won (they didn't do that a lot last year) and 2) there were fireworks set to John Williams' iconic Star Wars themes. It was awesome.

Best sports adventure, father-in-law category. Before 2016, I'd never been to Hinkle Fieldhouse. That all changed when my father-in-law took me to a game in February. The Bulldogs lost to Xavier, but it was a great experience. We even got t-shirts because it was a "whiteout!"



Best spoof, Star Wars: The Force Awakens category. I'm so happy Adam Driver was game for this. He reprised his role as Kylo Ren for a fake episode of Undercover Boss. First Order Force wielder/patricide enthusiast Kylo Ren portrayed "Matt the Technician" for a truly memorable sketch with some laugh-out-loud moments.

"I'm 90% sure Matt is Kylo Ren."

"After the rain comes the rainbow. Sorry I killed your son."

"Kylo Ren is a punk b****. That guy looks like he weighs 30 pounds soaking wet underneath that little black dress."

Best get out of the house experiences, couples category. My wife and I haven't always had the opportunity to get out that much, but we did a couple really cool things this year. In July, we saw Beauty & The Beast at Beef & Boards. One of our first big dates in college was going to see the traveling version of the show in Indianapolis. Anne loves Beauty & The Beast!

She's also always wanted to see the stage version of The Lion King. We traveled to Dayton to see that. I bought Anne the soundtrack, which came with a free Lion King tote bag.

Most touching welcome back ceremony, great uncle category. My Uncle Morrie took part in an honor flight to Washington, D.C. Anne and I traveled to Columbus, Ohio, to welcome him and a large group of veterans back from their trip.

These men fought for their country and we're losing more of them by the day. I think they got the heroes' welcome they deserved, no matter which war they fought in.

I should probably also mention that we used the trip as an excuse to "do history" and stopped by the Rutherford B. Hayes home in Fremont, Ohio. By the way, there's no quick way to get between Fremont and Columbus.

Saddest passing, family category. We said goodbye to a good man this year when my brother's father-in-law, Mark Gardner, passed away in December. Mark was an incredibly smart man with a great sense of humor.

We loved him even though he was a Kentucky Wildcats and Pittsburgh Steelers fan. He always had a kind word and a quip whenever I saw him, and he never failed to ask how Anne and I were doing--and he genuinely cared about the answer.

We mourn the loss, but we know Mark's in a better place free of pain and watching over his family from above.

Remarkable comeback, knee surgery category. My father has had bad knees for as long as I can remember, and things had gotten worse over the last few years to the point where he's been in pain and unable to enjoy much.

He had knee replacement surgery in June at Ortho Indy, and it's been great for him. A few months out of surgery now, he's walking about 90 minutes a day--which is a big deal because Dad loves to walk and hasn't been able to because of his knee.

The picture above was taken in July a little more than a month after surgery. He wasn't walking long distances then, but he was way ahead of schedule.

Best 100th anniversary event, Indianapolis 500 category. The Greatest Spectacle in Racing reached a milestone in 2016 with the 100th running of the race. I've worked a fair amount of Indy 500 Sundays because I work in TV news, but this year I got to go to the race as a spectator.

My father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law went to the 100th running, which was full of pageantry and great racing. In the end, rookie Alexander Rossi took the checkered flag, somehow defying the laws that say you have to have fuel to win the race.

Best Star Wars movie, non-episode category. For the first time, Disney-Lucasfilm released a Star Wars movie that wasn't part of the episodic Skywalker story. In essence, Rogue One is the very first Star Wars spinoff movie.

While it's tied to the events of the first Star Wars (that's 1977's A New Hope), it's not the continuation of a story and there won't be a sequel (or you could consider A New Hope to be the sequel).

I absolutely loved it. We got to meet some great characters, even though they weren't, um, long for the Star Wars world. And we got to see Peter Cushing again!

I thought Grand Moff Tarkin would make an appearance, but I never expected he'd have such a large role.

Best anniversary, marriage category. Incredibly, my wife and I have been married for 10 years. I really can't believe it!

While we didn't do anything remarkable for the anniversary itself, we had plenty of adventures throughout the year. I also put together a video of our wedding day (October 7, 2006).

Best short nonfiction novella, 40 Years of G-Man category. To my utter astonishment, my brother turned 40 year this year. I wanted to do something special to mark the occasion, so I came up with 40 different memories and wrote a short book with 40 chapters, one for each year.

Our mother even retroactively grounded us after learning about a couple of those memories, including Home Plate Collision, a baseball-themed game we used to play where a runner came in from third base and tried to knock over the catcher. My brother knocked me out cold one time when we were playing this. Not coincidentally, that was the last time we ever played Home Plate Collision.



David Pumpkins. I mean, Davis. S. Pumpkins. To be honest, I don't even know what this is. I've watched it a bunch of times, and I have no idea why it's so funny.

Is it Tom Hanks' dedication to the bit? The dancing skeletons and absurd music? I'm not sure.

Any questions?

Best movie experience, awesome AMC chairs category. I think AMC's new chairs have spoiled me forever. These things tilt back and let you put your feet up. They make every other theater chair seem inconvenient and uncomfortable.

I went to an IMAX movie with my brother-in-law, and we didn't have these chairs. That theater-going experience was definitely inferior as a result.

Movie Year in Review: The Good. I won't get into extensive reviews for any movies, but I'd like to mention some of my favorites. Rogue One, Captain America: Civil War, Moana, Deadpool, Dr. Strange, Sully, Star Trek Beyond, Zootopia, Finding Dory, and The Jungle Book are a few that stick out.

Marvel had a solid year with its latest entries. Dr. Strange was visually very cool and Civil War gave us some of the best superhero moments in the history of superhero movies. Deadpool was so right yet so wrong on so many levels.

I think it was a strong year for animated movies, with Finding Dory, Zootopia, and Moana giving us some of Disney's best. While Star Trek's 50th anniversary passed with little fanfare (thanks CBS/Paramount, losers) Star Trek Beyond was a terrific return to the big screen for the franchise.

Movie Year in Review: The Bad. While Marvel continued its roll, DC continued to try to find its footing. Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice was a mess. I couldn't wait for the credits to roll on that one. It was long, ponderous, and made zero sense. I will say the Ultimate Edition significantly improved the film, but that cut was nearly three hours and that's still way too long.

Suicide Squad appears on several "worst movies of the year" lists, and while I thought the villain was weak, I liked the characters enough to keep it off my worst list.

I didn't care for Warcraft. I don't remember much of the movie, and it was just kind of bland. Independence Day: Resurgence tried to mimic The Force Awakens template by mixing new characters with old ones but forgot to give us new, likable characters. Jeff Goldblum was Goldblumming hard, and it still didn't help. Brent Spiner appeared to be the only person in that movie who was having any fun at all.

I didn't like the BFG, which tried very hard but was sort of all over the place. The Ghostbusters reboot committed the ultimate sin of being simply mediocre. A couple of good laughs in there, but the story was thin and things never clicked. Too many distracting cameos as well, although the leads were likable.

Gods of Egypt was awful in that so-bad-it's-good way.

Writing Year in Review. I finished a few drafts of novels this year and polished a few manuscripts in need of some love. I had a short story published in an anthology and had some more nibbles on some of my novels.

I also attended the Midwest Writers Workshop for the first time since 2010. I pitched projects to agents and met some new writing friends. Toward the end of the year, I took a writing break, but I'll get back to it at the start of 2017.

Best impulse buy, Microsoft Surface category. When Anne's phone broke, we went to the AT&T store to get her a new one. At the time, they were running a deal on the Microsoft Surface, so I went ahead and bought one.

It's a great tool that's replaced my clunky (but faithful) laptop computer. I'm writing this blog entry on the Surface, in fact. It's compact and you can use it as a tablet or traditional laptop. The model I bought, the Surface 3, doesn't have the power of a Surface Pro, but it definitely gets the job done.

I found the keyboard cover--sold separately for an absurd $120--on clearance for $30 at Best Buy.

Unexpected purchase, replacement oven category. Appliances eventually break down. Nothing lasts forever.

Our gas oven bit the dust in July, and we replaced it with an electric stove. It's so shiny!

Who knew?! Batman v. Superman: Ultimate Edition turns out to be an improvement

Spoiler warning: Contains spoilers for Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice theatrical and Ultimate Edition versions

I didn't care much for Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice when it hit theaters. I found it messy and disjointed. I really didn't have much of a desire to see it again.

Anecdotally, when I go to see a Marvel film, people stick around for the credits. They know an after-credit sequence is coming or there's something Marvel has thrown in there as an Easter egg. When the credits rolled during my BvS screening in March, people couldn't wait to get out of the theater (myself included).

I thought the character motivations were murky and poorly drawn. I thought Jesse Eisenberg was beyond annoying as Lex Luthor. Batman's visions were weird and out of place. The Martha Moment was contrived and silly, as was the battle between our titular "heroes." Luthor's grand master plan made zero sense. The congressional hearings convened about "Superman's Great Adventure in Africa" didn't make sense. Bruce Wayne/Batman dominated the screen time, shortchanging Superman in his own sequel.

And here's what I wrote in my review of the theatrical version:

Snyder says there's a three-hour cut of the movie that he wanted the studio to release, but the studio balked at the running time. I think a solid 45 minutes of this movie could've been cut; I can't imagine three hours of it, unless that three-hour cut has tons of character moments that are lacking in the theatrical version.

You know what?

It turns out Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice: Ultimate Edition does exactly that. I had a 50% credit from Google Play that expired on July 1, so I bought BvS: DOJ: UE (ick on that title, WB!). I will never go back to the theatrical version, though I should probably watch it one more time to see if it holds up any better now that I've seen the Ultimate Edition, which is a far, far superior version of the film.

As it turns out, the 30 minutes cut from the movie were almost all character moments, many of theme featuring Clark Kent/Superman. Luthor's manipulations make much more sense; while Eisenberg is still grating at times, his Luthor comes off as more of a master manipulator and sinister force, something the theatrical Lex Luthor lacked. Even Bruce Wayne/Batman, who I thought was the best drawn character in the theatrical version, comes off as an improvement. We understand even more that this Batman is broken; the death of Robin years ago embittered him, and he's not in his right mind. Luthor uses this against him, and that Martha Moment is what breaks Batman out of his fevered psychosis; he realizes Luthor has manipulated him, and it changes his entire conception of Superman and his desire to kill him.

It's not just as simple as, "Hey, our moms have the same name--we're best friends now!" I'm not saying the Martha Moment works on every level, but it has a better payoff than the theatrical version because Luthor, Batman, and Superman are better drawn in the UE. The moment has more impact and you understand Batman's quick turn; he misunderstood Superman because he was embittered and manipulated. The Martha Moment snaps him out of it. He's willing to give the Kryptonian a chance.

So when Bruce Wayne says he's failed Superman in life, you understand; it has more impact.

Clark Kent is also more clearly drawn in his version. One of the biggest complaints I had about the movie was the central conflict between the two superheroes. I wrote in my original review that the conflict should have been one of ideology; not one made because Lex Luthor kidnapped Superman's mom. While Martha Kent's abduction is still the regrettable crux of the Superman-Batman fight, it's not the only reason behind it. Clark Kent spends more time as a reporter in the Ultimate Edition as he tries to track down the Batman and investigate his impact on Gotham City and Metropolis.

The Bat-branding, we learn, is another of Luthor's manipulations. An inmate died because Luthor ordered it, making Batman's new, more brutal methodology look even more so. Clark talks to people in the neighborhood frequented by Batman; some of them are scared while others say you have nothing to be worried about it as long as you're not doing something bad. The girlfriend of an inmate who was Bat-branded and killed in prison tells Clark there's no reasoning with Batman; he only understands violence. This goes a long way toward establishing Superman's viewpoint on the conflict, something that was implied but not really touched upon in the theatrical version.

And as for that bizarre Africa situation? This is one of the most important changes in the reworked version of the film. Luthor manipulated the whole plot (we see Lois Lane, yet another character who suffered from a lack of development in the theatrical version, investigate the Africa incident and put the pieces together). His people made it look like Superman killed several people, using a flamethrower to simulate heat vision. The bullet subplot, a weird side story in the theatrical cut, makes more sense now. In the theatrical version, you don't understand why the bullet is important--if Superman killed several people, he sure as hell wasn't using a gun. The UE fixes that; the bullet is important because Lois believes an outside force, possibly one connected to the government, masterminded the Africa situation.

And another subtle plot point--that Superman doubted himself because he didn't see the bomb in the hearings--gets an explanation: the wheelchair was made of material that was lined with lead and thus impervious to Superman's X-ray vision. Superman, who thought he'd been careless, hadn't missed it because he wasn't looking; he missed it because he couldn't have seen it. Lois also figures out that the anti-Superman character played by Scoot McNairy couldn't have planned the bombing by himself. Luthor manipulated the poor man.

Somehow, the three-hour version of a movie I didn't think I'd want to see again turned out to be a far superior version of that movie. If the theatrical version was a five for me, I'd give the Ulimate Edition an eight. It made that much of a difference to me.

Even Superman's death, which I felt was shoehorned into the movie to give it a "big dramatic ending," means so much more. Clark Kent/Superman says the earth is "his world" and will do whatever is necessary to protect it. That motivation felt lacking in the theatrical version, but in the new cut, his words carry so much more weight.

The movie isn't perfect. It's still flawed. If you hated the original because of the tone or because you don't like the direction of the DC Cinematic Universe, then this new cut won't change that. The characters are still dour and the tone remains dark. You won't find many moments of levity among the film's aspirations to pose philosophical questions about the nature of heroism and the impact a godlike being would have upon the world.

There are also things I don't like about the movie. While the "Knightmare" is a cool sequence, it still feels out of place and the Flash's brief cameo comes out of nowhere. Lois Lane's role in the final conflict is pretty damn stupid; she throws the Kryptonite spear away and then has to go retrieve it. She gets trapped underwater and has to be rescued. Surely there was a better way to do this. The Batman-Superman fight still comes down to the fact Lex Luthor kidnapped Superman's mom (in the ultimate cut, however, this feels like a necessary tipping point for Superman as opposed to his entire motivation for the fight).

The Martha Moment, while much more impactful, still has problems. Who calls their mother by their first name? A dialogue tweak would've fixed this ("My mother... he's going to kill my mother... save her... save Martha Kent."). Also, Superman goes into berserker rage mode too early in the Batman-Superman fight. He does try to talk to Batman and explain things at the very beginning, but he gives up on the idea much too quickly. Another line or two of dialogue (along the lines of "Bruce, you have to listen to me. Luthor's pulling the strings. He's got my mother.") would've helped. I understand now that Batman is too far gone to listen to reason--he's made up his mind--but the audience needs to be shown it. We need to see that this is a fight Superman doesn't really want.

While Wonder Woman is fantastic--probably the highlight of the movie and one of the few "fun" things about it--having her sit down to watch YouTube videos of other potential Justice League members was clumsy. Actually, you can pretty much tell when something teasing a Justice League movie has been shoehorned into BvS because it usually doesn't work that great (The "Knightmare" and Flash's portentous appearance, Wondy's fun with YouTube, etc.).

Listen, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice will never be a fun movie. It'll never be Captain America: Civil War. The conflict between the two heroes, while more impactful in the new cut, will never have the sad gravitas of Tony Stark vs. Steve Rogers because we've spent so much less time with Batman and Superman than we have with Iron Man and Captain America. That said, if the theatrical cut of BvS left you scratching your head, give the Ultimate Edition a look.

You may actually like it.