Skill Versus Talent

One thing you're going to hear me say a lot during this discussion about writing is that there is more than one way to do to [fill in the blank.] My way is only what works for me, and might turn out to be total anathema to how you write best. Use my methods, etc., only if you wish. Also, writing is, for me, one of life's Great Mysteries. No matter how often I teach in-person classes, take them, or read books about writing, a lot of how it actually WORKS remains opaque to me. I think this is one of the reasons most people tend to think that you can't actually TEACH writing, but that writing is a talent you have to be born with.

I believe you can teach anyone to write better. Not everyone will write at the same skill level by the time they die, but, I believe everyone gets better with practice. I know this for a fact. Not only have I seen students improve exponentially, but I've also noticed growth in my own work over time (and I can always see room for improvements).

Practice really does make perfect.

And, IMHO, writing really is a skill, like any other, that can be learned. I think, in the end, what REALLY separates the writers from the non-writers isn't "talent" so much as persistence and determination and discipline. If you have those three things they will carry you much farther than if all you have is so-called talent (which to me is better labeled "proficiency" or "skill.")

I'm not saying, however, that people all start out in the same place. But when I noticed one of my students at the Loft who seemed very polished and professional right out of the gate, I asked her a simple question: "Do you read a lot?" Are you surprised that the answer she gave was a resounding: "Yes, of course!"? And it wasn't just that she read, but that she read a lot in the genre and type she was trying to emulate, ie fantasy novels.

I think that people who get labeled as talented writers are often people who have developed a strong ear for storytelling through reading. Even though they may have never put paper to pencil (or pencil to paper as the case may be), they are folks who have been practicing their art unintentionally by absorbing the ideas of structure, plot, dialogue, etc. Of course, there are still plenty of avid readers who struggle when they write their first story... or second or third.... But I think the more you read what you want to write, the more you might (perhaps at first, perhaps eventually) have the jump on your colleagues.

Or maybe not. The important thing to remember is that you can learn to write professional quality stories. I believe anyone who wants to be published, can be given enough time, energy, and luck. And if I could only have one of those three, I'd go with energy. Energy to keep at it. Energy not to quit when the going... goes. Energy to look at a malformed piece of writing and willingly tear it apart and recreate it. Energy to dump parts that aren't working, and milk the ones that are. Energy to say: I will try again tomorrow, when all you want to do is sob in frustration or escape into hours of "Bejeweled" (guilty!)

That's the real talent, if you ask me. The talent to keep pushing, like Sisyphus, even when it all just seems to crumble at the summit, as it were. And you have to start over. And over.

But you know what? The hope here, IMHO, is that you can do it, if you work at it. I believe in you.

Ways to Critique, More on Writers' Groups

One of the other things you need to decide once you have a writers group, is how often to meet and how you're going to do the critiques.

The group I'm currently in meets every other week (or, at least twice a month.) I've been in workshops that meet monthly, but one thing we discovered is that if, for some reason you have to cancel, it's a LONG time until the next meeting. This can be especially bad if you have novelists in your group. The memory can be quite strained by trying to remember who, what, and where with such long gaps between sessions.

In fact, I once had an argument about whether or not you could effectively critique longer works, like a novel, in a group. Wyrdsmiths is mostly novelists, and we do very well. I think, though, that one key component is how often we meet. We started out of a weekly class and almost decided to meet weekly, but thought that might be impossible for those of us with full-time jobs (which was all of us at the beginning.) Twice a month works really well for us, and when we have to cancel or when people have to miss, it's not so terribly overwhelming to try to catch up.

But monthly can work, and may be the only option for people with supremely busy lives.

There are many ways to run a workshop/critique session. I attended one where you showed up with something to read, read it out loud, and people gave you instant, verbal feedback. I found this to be somewhat problematic, because, IMHO, it tended to favor good readers. Thanks to a background in theatre, I can read out loud pretty well. And the listeners noticed that, rather than the flaws in my text. However, you can get a good sense of first impressions this way. Also, if the group membership fluctuates wildly (this was billed as an open house style group), it can work just fine. There are also genres, I think, where this could be the preferred method, like poetry, for instance.

The way we do critique in Wyrdsmiths is that we come with a copy of a hand-out for every member. They take it home to review it next session. With paper in hand, critiquers tend to give a more detailed response. They correct typos, grammar, etc., (though my group doesn't dwell on that, unless the typo is particularly funny, as in the one I once wrote about "quacking aspens.") Since our group came out of a fiction writing class, everyone is very skilled at the art of critique and many of us still follow a structure set up by the instructor wherein we write our first impressions, strengths, weaknesses and then final impressions. (Note: starting with strengths is a good way to keep the author listening, and feeling good about what's to come.)

If people in your group are unfamiliar with how to critique, I offer this great site: How to Critique Fiction by Victory Crayne.

Groups often have other rules, like: "no cross talk" or "the gag rule." The first means that each critiquer gets the floor, no interruptions. The second means the author is not allowed to defend her work (or ask questions, except for clarification,) until everyone is finished critiquing her piece. At Wyrdsmiths we've been together so long that we no longer strictly enforce either of these, but they can be helpful when you're first starting out.

A New Review of DIID

I'm sorry I keep interrupting myself, but, honestly, it's so much easier to post about the nice things people have said about me than... uh, think. Here's a great review of Dead If I DO by the kind folks over at Enchanting Reviews. "Dead If I Do: 5 Enchantments!"

Top o' The List to Ya!

Google Alerts found this for me this morning, and I have to smile. At least I make a best seller's list somewhere! Top 10 Metaphysical Books at Eye of Horus

Tomorrow I hope to continue the writers group/new-to-writing blogs, but I have to confess the cold, gray rainy day is calling me to sit inside with a warm cat on my lap, have some tea, and write like a demon from hell. :-)

More Good Writerly Advice

This from Kim Richards on "Charge of the Write Brigade," who answered the question: What is the number one mistake writers make when submitting to you?

Advice From Somewhere Else

This came through a list that I'm on. It's from Toni Andrews' blog "Something Different This Way Comes":

Permission for forward granted and encouraged!

I do a workshop on finding and fixing the common issues that get manuscripts rejected. It's been suggested that the information would make a good article to submit to writing magazines, but I never could get around to writing it. As a first step, I committed to publishing the workshop information in a series of blog posts.

I've gotten terrific feedback, especially from unpublished and "underpublished" writers who want to break in with the bigger houses.

Part 1: http://tinyurl.com/de2bxr
Part 2: http://tinyurl.com/csunv7
Part 3: http://tinyurl.com/d6sqj7
Part 4: http://tinyurl.com/d52ho6
Part 5: http://tinyurl.com/dmjkpw
Part 6: http://tinyurl.com/d4udfo
Part 7: http://tinyurl.com/r7qa7b

Happy writing!

--Toni

What Are We Doing Here: Writers' Critique Group (II)

In my experience (and I've had a lot with writers' groups), one of the hardest things about writers' critique groups is not so much finding writers, but getting together with ones that share your goals... or maybe a better term is: values.

Why is this important? Maybe it isn't for you. Maybe you're self-motivated enough that it won't matter to you that you might end up being the only one in your group who is interested in something beyond writing as a hobby (which there isn't anything wrong with, mind you. I fully support people who want to write just for the fun of it, and might only ever want to post the occasional bit of fanfic or political blog or just write privately in their own journals or whatever.) Perhaps you live in a town so small that getting two writers together -- even if one writes erotica and the other is a food journalist -- is the best you can hope for, so, well, then that's what you have and that can work for you. Support is support. As someone who was a member of the National Writers' Union before I broke in to fiction, I hung out with a lot of non-fiction writers and journalists. They taught me a lot about my craft, but even more about the value (economic and otherwise) of writing.

But, if you have the luxury and the inclination, it is nice to have a group that's all committed to the same sort of thing. I don't mean by this that everyone needs to be writing in the same genre (though that can help, particularly since both genres that I've published in get dissed and misunderstood by some,) or at the same level (I've learned a lot about writing by teaching others to write better.) But the biggest, most deeply fought fights I've had in writers' group have boiled down to two issues: Are we writing to be published? And, are we writing commercial or artistic work?

The two questions are kind of part of one whole, but you can be writing to be published and still consider your work art for art's sake with a goal of finding the perfect small press to put out your chapbook. There's room for all of that sort of stuff, but in my opinion, you get very different critiques from people who are "artists" and from those who want to sell.

My advice: decide what kind of writer you want to be, and try to find writers with similar goals (if possible, of course.) Maybe at your first meeting you can ask people that classic interview question about where they see themselves in ten years. The answers might be very illuminating about not only what they want, but who they are (and if you can get along with them professionally.)

Then you have to decide if you're tough enough to tell someone they're not right for your group... admittedly, I've found that difficult, myself. :-)

Reviews of DIID

My publicist forwarded a new review of Dead if I Do from ParaNormalRomance.org: "Another Fun Read from Another Talented Writer."

Books by Jen also reviewed DIID and liked it, although she admits to being a bigger fan of Parrish (who she didn't see enough of in this book.)

Also, Google Alerts found some others of older books. Urban Bachelorette Review picked up Tall, Dark & Dead, and loved it. Which is always nice.

And, in other news, my alter ego just signed a contract for a short story of hers to appear in a Biblical Horror anthology called: She Nailed a Stake Through His Head. Her short story is a modern retelling of the Samson story from the point of view of his wife (before Delilah) called "Jawbone of an A$$."

Some Days are Hard

I should be writing, or at the very least blogging the next installment in beginning writing for you, but I'm just sad. I buried a baby rabbit about an hour ago, and it was much harder than it should have been. Ever since Ostara, I've been very aware of the bunny activity in our yard. We had a family visit a lot early spring and I invited them (out loud, during one of our many "I see you, but you're pretending to be stone so I won't make any sudden moves" stare downs) to raise their family in my yard.

Well, they did. I even witnessed the birth. One day when we were grilling out, mama rabbit hopped into the bushes and stayed there a long time. I wouldn't have noticed her, except the nervous papa kept chasing another boy rabbit away... literally running under our feet to keep him from bothering his mate. I told Shawn I thought I saw tiny rabbit ears, and I thought it was a birthing moment, but then I thought: no way. Maybe she was just in heat or something, given how the papa rabbit was acting.

I believed that until I checked the nest a few days later. I knew better than to move the grass aside or otherwise disturb them, but I stuck my finger into the grass covered hole and felt warm, soft, breaths. There were babies there all right.

Today, after gardening in the front -- trying to make order from chaos and plant some day lilies my mother brought, I came around the side of the house to put away my tools and I saw little ears in the grass. This time, I knew it wasn't a happy moment. A little guy lay there, a gaping hole in his side. Otherwise he was perfect... so tiny, so soft. No bugs had gotten to him. His brown eyes glistened almost lifelike. But he was gone.

I suspect a hawk got him, though I'm surprised he wasn't more eaten. Hawks don't usually waste much. You barely find a few feathers when they go after pigeons. After getting my gloves, of course, I picked him up and cradled him in my arms. I usually toss various dead animals into the garbage bin, but I just couldn't do it this time. I dug a deep hole in our back garden and buried the little fellow. Crying the entire time.

Some days are just hard.

Writers' Critique Groups, Part 1: Finding Others

I realize how fortunate I am to live in a town with so many writers. The Twin Cities is jam packed with published mystery, science fiction, fantasy, and romance writers. There's an active (and large) local chapter of Romance Writers of America, a mystery writers' group called Sisters in Crime, and even a local chapter of the Natonal Writers' Union. This is an absolutely wonderful town to be a writer in, regardless of where you are in the process: just beginning or professionally published.

There are also a number of specality bookstores including Uncle Hugo's/Uncle Edgars for science fiction, fantasy, and mystery; Dreamhaven for SF/F and graphic novels; and Once Upon a Crime for mystery. There are enough writers and beginning writers in this town that we can even support two organizations devoted solely to nuturing and teaching writers their craft: The Loft and SASE/Intermedia Arts, both of which provide writers with classes (ranging from how-to write to taxes for the working writer), grants, rental office spaces, and on-going readings for specialized groups like GLBT writers, science fiction writers, writers of color, etc.

The ginormous number science fiction/fantasy READERS in this town support writers by hosting a half dozen conventions in Minneapolis/St. Paul, and invite editors, agents, etc. to come to us....

Let's just say it was not hard for me to find a way to connect with other writers in this town. I suspect, however, that's not going to be the case for most people reading this blog.

So you dream of sitting around a coffee shop table with other writers discussing each others' work, but you live in a small town. How do you find people? What can you do if you don't live in a town like I do that has so many resources waiting to be tapped?

First, you should take advantage of whatever you _do_ have. Are you sure there isn't a RWA chapter nearby? Check this list to make sure. The Romance Writers of America is an expensive organization to join, but they provide a lot of services and support to brand-new/just starting out writers. If you're at all serious about writing (even if it isn't a romance novel you're considering) I can't recommend it too highly. Even if your local chapter isn't super organized or large, you get access to the national folks who put on conferences, have a newsletter that lists contests, courses, and on-line classes. And other members can be the first folks you can tap to start your writers' group.

How about bookstores? Do you have any? Even if all you have is one of the box chain stores, they often have reading groups for your genre (romance, science fiction, and maybe even specfic ones like vampire urban fantasy) and you can join those and scope out whether or not anyone else in the group wants to write.

If you're lucky enough to have an independently-owned book store, you can make up a poster asking for others interest in starting a writers group and ask if you can post it in the window or on a board or whatever.

NOTE: even after being together with basically the same people for twelve years, we all still meet in a public place (a coffee shop in our case), and I would especially recommend that once you gather a few names you consider finding a public space (if not a coffee shop, perhaps a library, the bookstore?) for at least your first meeting. You may also wish to distribute e-mail and phone numbers, but perhaps withhold address, etc., until you're comfortable with your group.

In all the writers' groups I've run or been part of, I only ever had one problem person, but it's always a good idea to be careful about your personal safety.

Next up: Writers' group structure.

Feeding the Inner Writer

I was going to write about developing characters next, but another FB chat with Debbie, has sent me in a different direction. (Those of you who have taken real-time classes with me know that this often happens to my very organic and non-linear brain.)

Anyway, she mentioned that she's just starting a novel and is asking people what they think of what she has and the ideas, etc., and wanted to know if I thought that was a good idea at this stage.

My answer is this: everybody is different. Some people won't talk about their book or short story idea until it's done because they need to stay focused and not be distracted by anyone else's opinion of it. I know published authors who don't get feedback about their writing until they submit their novel to their editor. For myself, I'm somewhere in-between. I tend not to talk about pre-formed ideas, unless I'm starting a proposal. Then I'll talk out my plot/theme/etc. thoughts with someone I trust, namely my partner. Once I'm writing, however, I'll take feedback/critique on page one and throughout my writing process... in fact, I thrive on it.

I told Debbie that if she can, she should consider sparing her friends and family the constant "harassment" and start a writers' group. I have found it enormously helpful to have the feedback and support of other people engaged in the same work I'm in. It's not that friends can't be supportive, but other writers will often listen endlessly to the woes very specific to writing -- first rejection pain, etc. In fact, if you're in a writers' group where everyone is submitting and writing, you can actually learn a lot about what to expect once you start sending your stuff out, and you can use your fellow writers a sources of information about which editors they've tried, the responses they've gotten, and all that. It helps soften the blow of that first rejection when you can share the misery, trust me.

So how do you start a writers' group. Well, there are several types of writers' groups you can start, and I'll try to cover them all over the next couple of posts. (I don't want these to get so long they're unreadable.)

Review of Dead If I Do

Another interruption, but here's a really awesome review of Dead if I Do from Fang-tastic Books: Review.

I'm so glad that many reviewers are finding my books for the first time (I think I probably need to thank my hardworking publicist.)

On-Line Class About MEN

I'm going to interrupt my own "class" on getting started to forward this lovely tid-bit... an on-line class about men. (My favorite part? It's taught by a woman!)

**Permission to forward granted and encouraged**

Yosemite Romance Writers is proud to present their online workshop for June.

Date: 6/1 - 6/26/09

Workshop title: Understanding Men

Do you wish you had a better understanding of men? Now is your chance to improve your real-life relationships with men and enhance your male characters all through taking the same course. In the month-long online class, you will learn how the male brain and hormones makes a man think, feel, and behave, especially in relationships. We will also discuss how men are portrayed in romance novels versus how men are in real life.

About the instructor: Dr. Debra Holland

Debra Holland, Ph.D., is a popular psycho therapist, consultant, and speaker on the topics of communication skills, relationships, stress and trauma, and dealing with difficult people. In this class, Dr. Debra will considerably expand on the workshop she has given at the 2001 National RWA Conference and around the country to various RWA chapters and conferences. Although this class is geared to writers, non-writers will also find the class helpful in improving their relationships with men.

Deadline to register: 5/30/09

Fee: $20 YWR members; $25 non-members. RWA Membership isn't required; Anyone can take our courses.

Where to sign up: You may register online at our website, YosemiteRomanceWriters.com.

Please click the Pay Now button and follow the instructions for Paypal. You will receive a confirmation from us once your payment is received.

You may also contact YRW at YosemiteRomanceWriters@YosemiteRomanceWriters.com if you have any other questions.

Thank you for considering our workshops!!

Sandra Marlow
Vice President, YRW
Yosemite Romance Writers
http://WWW.yosemiteromancewriters.com

Getting Started the Tate Hallaway Way

I logged into Facebook this morning and discovered a couple of letters from readers in my in-box. One really nice one came from Debbie D. who asked me if I had any advice for an aspiring writer about the process of writing and getting published. I told her it was probably more complicated an a quickie email reply and promised to do a series of blogs about it here... so, here's the first.

I don't know how far along Debbie is in her process. Maybe she's got a book written and doesn't know where to go with it, or perhaps she's just thinking it'd be cool to be a writer someday. My plan is to start at the very beginning and build from there.

So let's say, you're just thinking maybe you'd like to start writing a book and you're not even sure how to begin. First of all, there's no right or wrong way to write a book. Lots of people have different processes and all of them are valid. I'm going to detail my own, since it's what I know. But, if you find yourself doing something differently, don't worry. Probably someone somewhere has done it the same way as you, and really, all that matters when you're getting started is that you get to THE END.

For me (and you might not believe this,) the hardest part is often coming up with an idea. Of course, now that I've established Garnet, Sebastian, William and the rest of the gang, coming up with scenarios wherein their lives get complicated is relatively easy, but when you're first staring at a blank page, it's hard.

Maybe you've got a cool character or two or three, but you find yourself still not getting anywhere because when you write about them nothing really seems to happen.

I have the same tendency. When I first started writing all I did was write really boring soap operas. People would get together and talk. Okay, the talk might be interesting (to me, at least,) but there wasn't a lot going on.

After taking a class in writing (which, btw, is one thing I recommend to every starting writer,) I realized my problem.

I didn't want to hurt anybody.

A writer has to be willing to send their characters to hell and back. That, my friends, is our job. We have to be ruthless. We have to ask ourselves: "What's the worst thing that could happen to my character?" Then we have to do it to her. To have an engaging plot, we have to be willing to yank the rug out, mess up her life, ask her to do the one thing she really, really doesn't want to do.

That's how you get the plot going. The place you start is that moment that everything changes for your character, the moment when everything goes to hell (and, as a bonus in writing urban fantasy, you can do that literally if you want.)

Of course, I'm assuming you have characters to do this to... but, again, I'm going with my own process. Usually I have some idea of WHO I want to play with, just not how to play. I'll cover inventing characters from scratch tomorrow. Today, your assignment is: If you have a character or two in your head, ask yourself this question: What is the worst thing that could happen to them?

Get out a notebook and write down two or three answers. Think about the answers for a while. Are you being honest? Too nice? Think about it again: what would make my characters desperate? What would ask them to CHANGE? How far would they go to make things right again?

You don't have to do anything with it yet, but just start imagining worst case scenarios.

An On-Line Reading...

I know it's not possible for a lot of you folks out there to attend a live reading of my work, especially since I'm not...ehm,... one of those authors that Penguin sends off on book tour. So here's something just for you! As part of the podcast I did with Vampires, Witches and Geeks, I "taped" a reading of the first chapter of DEAD IF I DO. Check it out!! Tate Hallaway reads from Dead If I Do

Proposals, Done!*

I finally finished the proposals for the next three Garnet Lacey books last night. And after my partner checks the last one over to make sure it's not full of stupid and/or tons of typos, I'll sent them off.

A lot of writers like to complain about getting stuck in the "never-ending series." But, as I said in a recent podcast, I'd be happy to be writing DEAD & RETIRED fifty years from now. As I was fiddling around with the potential plot skeletons of these next few books, I was struck by the fact that what I like about series writing is getting to bring up little tiny details, half-forgotten in previous titles, and exploit and mine the bejeezus out of them. But I also love TV shows that have continuing story arcs (as opposed to "monster of the week") and comic book cross-overs and never-ending story lines.

When I was a kid (and, uhm, even now when I'm falling asleep at night,) these are the kinds of stories I tell myself. The ones that continue ad infinitum with reoccurring characters and complex interwoven plot threads that span decades. In fact, when I was first starting out writing, the hardest part of writing for me was figuring out how to get to THE END and not leaving all those loose threads hanging.

Though you still have to complete whatever "problem statement" you proposed in your beginning sentence/paragraph, series writing allows for a few hanging bits. Your wrapping has to be tight, but there can be hints of things unresolved.

For me, that's what makes it fun. Though I realized that by chance I've kind of written a "this could be a series ender" kind of finale into Garnet Lacey #8, and I'll have to be clear with my agent that's it's not my intention to be done with that one.

I want to keep writing these. The deeper I probe Garnet's life, the more wacky it is. Kinda like real life. And that's cool.

* x-posted from Wyrdsmiths

Another New Interivew (with Moi!)

As Ms. Piggy might say, an interview with "moi" is up at My First Sale / Dear Author...

Chick Lit Contest

***Permission to forward granted***

Get Your Stiletto In The Door -- Chick Lit Writers of the World

$10 Chick Lit Members; $20 RWA Members; $30 Non-Member

Deadline: June 15

Has your manuscript been shredded in other RWA contests because it's not quite romance? Do you write fun, sassy, contemporary fiction centering around the journey of the heroine? (Maybe you don't even have a hero at all?) Do your manuscripts not play by the romance rules? Then this contest is just for you. Contest is open to unpublished writers and published authors who are not eligible for PAN status. Contest is ALL electronic and we have TWO final round judges, an editor and an agent.

Final judges: Classic Chick Lit/Lady Lit, Editor: Claire Baldwin, Little Black Dress/Headline Publishing, Ltd.; Agent: Kate Schafer Testerman, KT

Literary Chick Thrill, Editor: Jessica Sebor, Random House; Agent: Holly Root, The Waxman Agency

Paranormal Chick Lit, Editor: Latoya Smith, Grand Central Publishing; Agent: Michelle Wolfson, Wolfson Literary Agency

Inspirational Chick Lit, Editor: Beth Adams, Guideposts; Agent: Kelly Mortimer, Mortimer Literary Agency

Young Adult Chick Lit, Editor: Regina Griffin, Egmont USA; Agent: Tamar Rydzinski, Laura Dail Literary Agency

"Best of the Best", 1st place winners in each category will be judged by author and agent Lois Winston of Ashley Grayson Literary Agency. Plus, 1st place winners in each category will receive a $50 Amazon gift card.

For rules and entry form go to http://www.chicklitwriters.com/contest.htm Kristin Wallace, President, Chick Lit Writers

So... Anyone Seen Trek Yet??

So??? What's the verdict out there? I blew my movie-out coupon on "Wolverine," so I'll probably have to wait to see the new Star Trek movie, but I'm dying to know... is it cool? The personification of suckitude? Somewhere in the "eh," range? What? Tell me! Tell me!!

Hugh Jackman *IS* Wolverine!

My friend Sean M. Murphy and I went to go see "Wolverine" last night. I'm a huge Marvel fan (as might be obvious from my Marvel tarot drawings,) and I wasn't disappointed.... entirely. Entertainment Weekly had me expecting never ending battles with no meaning, and I have to say I must have seen a completely different movie. Or maybe there's something visceral for a long-time fan like me to actually see the stills of comic panels turned into live-action.

Despite my initial hesitance regarding the casting, I ended up being really impressed with Gambit/Remy LeBeau -- mostly *because* the cinematographer totally NAILED Gambit's look in motion.

The story of Wolverine also had its moments of "Oh! I've seen that!" too, and he wore my favorite Wolverine "costume" of cowboy boots, big brass belt buckle on dusty jeans, and muscle shirt.

And Jackman was naked a lot, which always works for me.

But later, on the drive home, I started ruminating. I started wondering where all the cool Marvel chicks were. There were some characters on "Weapon X" team I didn't remember, including "Agent Zero" who bore a stricking resemblance (in terms of powers) to "Domino." And I asked myself, why would a director/writer say to himself (and I'm sure it was a *him*): "I know, teenage boys, my core audience, would probably prefer a dude instead of a hot Asian chick with super-marksmanship and probability altering powers!" Seriously?

Then I remembered what they did to Storm. No offense to Halle Berry, but Storm was the biggest disappointment for me in the first X-Men movie. Storm is the original a$$-kicking heroine in the books, but she was completely wimpy as portrayed in the movie. As was Rogue. As was Jean Grey/Phoenix. Hmmm, pretty much all the women sucked. And the trend sadly continues.

They need to hire up Chris Claremont.

He knew how to write hot, strong, complicated heroines.