Life's That Way

In the summer of 2003 things were shaping up perfectly for actor Jim Beaver and his wife Cecily Adams (the daughter of TV legend Don Adams of Get Smart fame). A year earlier he had landed a starring role on what was about to become the critically acclaimed HBO drama Deadwood. He was also in the process of finishing a long-aborning book on the life of TV Superman George Reeves. Cecily had her own fan following from her acting work on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and was simultaneously ensconced as one of TV's most respected casting directors. More important, they were the proud parents of Madeline Rose, a delicious two-year-old they had struggled through horrifically difficult fertility treatments to conceive. And they were building their dream house, just a block from Cecily's studio office, which would allow Cecily to walk home to see her baby at lunch every day. Life, family, home, and career. They had it all. And then their world imploded. In less than two months Jim and Cecily's child was diagnosed as autistic. And Cecily, a nonsmoking health nut, learned she had inoperable Stage IV lung cancer. Jim immediately began writing a nightly email as a way to keep 125 family members and friends up-to-date about her condition. From there his emails spread and soon 4,000 people a day, all around the world, were getting the updates. Initially a cathartic exercise for Jim, the prose turned into an unforgettable journey for his readers.

LIFE'S THAT WAY: A Memoir (Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam; April 16, 2009) is Jim Beaver's day-by-day chronicle of the year his life as he knew it was torn asunder. Cecily died four months after being diagnosed. Through that time of treatment and the unimaginable gifts of support and friendship they received from many sources—and through the following eight months in which Jim and his daughter Maddie went on alone learning to live again—the book reveals their experience and provides extraordinary insight and inspiration for surviving the loss of a loved one. Like Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie or Randy Pausch's The Last Lecture, this memoir is about the death of a loved one, but also very much about life. Written straight from the heart with extraordinary humor amidst great sadness, it is a story not just of travail, but also one of love and generosity, of unfathomable human kindness, and of wondrous gifts and invaluable lessons for living."

I’ll admit upfront I was skittish about reading Life’s That Way. I avoid tearjerkers the way Dean Winchester avoids healthy food. However, I’m such a big fan of Jim Beaver’s, and have enjoyed his myspace blog entries and facebook notes, that I really wanted to read his book.

I’m glad I did.

I found it to be a very compelling, emotional, romantic, empowering, humorous and uplifting read. Readers should know the real crux of this story is about family, love and the triumphant nature of the human spirit. Jim’s adoration for Cec and Maddie is tangible on every page. If you’ve read his myspace entries you know he’s an incredible and devoted dad whose loyalties and heart hold deep to family and friends.

I thought him an extraordinary man before, but his book humbled me and left me with lingering lessons.

One of the things I most appreciated, from a writer’s perspective, was his incredible way with words and his raw honesty. As writers we can sometimes have little devils on our shoulders trying to censor us, but he didn’t hold any punches in his entries, even when they were aimed at family and friends. To me that takes great courage, something he repeatedly proves to have a great deal of.

I was also moved by his passionate spirit. He has a tendency to play gruff, loveable characters, but one thing I took away from the real Jim Beaver is he’s the kind of romantic that makes women swoon.

But the greatest thing I took away from Life’s That Way was his ability and grace in finding the positive side of things in the worst of circumstances. Many people can’t do that, but he showed a gift for looking at the bigger picture and finding universal truths in the darkness. One of my favorite things he shared is “Forgiveness is not something you do for someone else; it’s something you do for yourself. To forgive is not to condone, it is to refuse to continue feeling bad about an injury.”

Jim’s strength of character is amazing and his book doesn’t merely offer comfort to readers who’ve suffered similar struggles and loss, it demonstrates that life is what you make of it and we should all live our lives to the fullest.

Blurb & Photo Credit: http://www.lifesthatway.com/

Supernatural: Rising Son

In my previous review of Supernatural: Origin, the graphic novel that tells John’s story of becoming a hunter after Mary’s death, I talked about liking the story, but not the art. This follow up, Rising Son, is just the opposite.

As for the tale…Chapter 1 begins Christmas Eve of 1990. John’s lost his job and been evicted from their hotel. If that’s not bad enough, the letter he mailed to Mary’s cousin, Eddie, comes back “return to sender.” Ever since his wife died, Mary’s friends, family and co-workers have been disappearing. But Eddie’s always stayed on John’s grid until now. Concerned, John and the boys hit the road and take a detour down Old Route 25 where John arrives in sex city. The small town is populated by stunning women who are all too happy to give him their undivided attention. Eddie’s there and warns John to get out, but he’s nearly seduced by a succubus. When he fights back the Succubi turn into his dead wife and poor John ends up slaughtering a bar full of Mary’s. Eddie is murdered before John can rescue him. The Winchesters takes off, while a mysterious woman follows John’s trail looking for Sammy.

Chapter 2 hits on stuff we learned from John Winchester’s Journal. John decides maybe it’s best to settle down for awhile, give the boys some normalcy. Sam makes friends right away and gets a lot of attention from his pretty teacher, Ms. Lyle. Dean, on the other hand, is lonely and miserable. When Ms. Lyle turns her attention to John they start to look like a real family. Then Ms. Lyle ends up taking Sammy to a science fair, but a suspicious Dean warns his dad there’s something wrong with her. He’s right. John’s been sleeping with a demon and she’s actually brought Sammy to the crossroads to take him into another dimension. John battles her and a transformer made from railroad parts. This rail-robot seems very out of place in a SPN story, but it’s kicking John’s bootay.

Chapter 3 has Dean exorcising the demons and the boys running to Bobby’s. Bobby tells John to visit Silas, a blind seer, who may be able to tell him why Sammy is special. John’s visit rouses Silas from a coma he’s been in since the date of Mary’s death. He confirms that Sam is special, but doesn’t say why, only that John and Dean need to be prepared. Taking his advice to heart, John takes Dean on a deer hunt to sharpen his skills, but the twelve year old is scared and unsure. In the end, Sammy sneaks away from Bobby’s and makes the kill. When John asks how Sammy got there he said some guy in a black car dropped him off. Shaken, John leaves Sammy with Silas so he can, hopefully, learn more about what makes him different. While they have their private confab, he and Dean go out for burgers and John explains to his eldest son how much he needs him and trusts him. On their way back to Sammy, they see the mysterious black car. That doesn’t bode well. Sure enough, Silas is dead. The words KILL HIM are painted in blood on his kitchen wall.

Chapter 4 reveals that the driver of the black car is an albino hunter named Anderson, who not only believes Sam killed Silas, but that he’s evil and “destined to raise an army of darkness against the world.” In the end, Dean ends up shooting Anderson and Sam tells his dad “you need to kill me.” The chapter ends with John taking Sam up on a hill to watch the sun come up, for just a minute we’re led to believe he’s considering shooting his son, but, of course, he doesn’t.

In Chapter 5, John brutally hunts down Anderson’s cohorts and then holes up in Daleville, Mississippi with the boys. He plans to stand and fight anyone else who comes for Sam. It doesn’t take long before they’re surrounded, but this time it’s not hunters. It’s demons. The Winchesters manage to escape with a poorly executed plan and they learn Ms. Lyle is really called Lilith. John then dumps a very pissed off Dean and still clueless Sam at his friend’s house. The boys are stuck with Pam, while dear old dad goes off to find Lilith. If only John had realized his friend, is actually a demon. (sigh)

In Chapter 6 we find more sexuality and stupidity. Pam lets Ms. Lyle into the house. Looking like porn star, she’s there to reclaim Sam. Dean tells his little brother to run while he fights off Lilith, who kisses Dean after he calls her a bitch.(Ew, ew, ew!) Fortunately, John shows up in the nick of time. Dean sets fire to Lilith and Dad chops off her head. Black smoke whirls away and the Winchesters are safe.

The story ends with a grown up Dean showing up at Stanford to find his little brother.

Okay, while I thoroughly enjoyed Diego Olmos’s artwork, I found myself annoyed with the story. Sure, it was cool to see how Dean came to be the hunter he is, and I loved the introduction to Bobby (whose cartoonization had the strongest resemblance to the actor), but the majority of the time I had this thought in my head: John Winchester is too stupid to live. Perhaps his brain was fogged by all the sexual undertones in the story, but I wanted to smack him for all his stupid mistakes. Granted, he’s a newbie, but I didn’t think it was in character for him to repeatedly be an idjit. That said, the best part of this graphic novel came in the last four pages where Kripke himself made his comic debut by co-writing The Beast with Two Backs, a hilarious GhostFacers bonus story that pokes fun at Sam and Dean.

Review of Supernatural: The Official Season Companion Season 3

The Official Companion Season 3 didn't come out until March 2009, as we were heading for the end of season 4. While I'd really like to get these closer to the release of the season's DVDs, having a context with the new season actually enhances the experience.

Well...it's always better to live positively, right?

Long lead time notwithstanding, the wait is definitely worth it.

I've seen people remark that the writing in these companions isn't that great. I work as a freelance editor and proofreader, so I tend to be really sensitive to that kind of thing, and I'm a little baffled why they say that. It may be the journalistic style, which focuses heavily on presenting the words and information from their sources, rather than on pretty prose. It may be that I overlook it, delighted as I am with the tidbits and viewpoints we get.

The companions get us closer to everyone involved in the show than any other source. We start with a foreward by Sera Gamble, formerly a writer on the show, now the executive story editor and a supervising producer. The foreward is followed by an overview setting up the season, giving insight into how the studio, showrunner, and writers interact to figure out where they're going and how, along with a postmortem of the previous season.

The bulk of the book delves into the episodes, with "A Closer Look" sections on 10 of the urban legends, monsters, and mythologies that fed the season. That's followed by nine in-depth discussions of the main characters, sections about the crew, and a chapter on one of the companion novels (Bone Key). The book wraps up a bit weakly, rehashing "Do You Believe" and "Scary Stuff" that's been addressed in the Supernatural magazine and in previous companions and just about every interview conducted by a non-fan.

For intense fans like us, who seek interviews and convention reports all through the season, a lot of the information is duplicated, and the episode recaps are probably the least valuable sections. But the behind-the-scenes access is amazing. Every episode section talks to the writers and crew and actors, who explain how they approached certain scenes, made special effects happen, found locations, etc.

I'm always amazed at how a show set all over the United States can film in one small area of Canada and still make me forget that every week. So it's fascinating to see how they reuse certain places (the bar in "The Magnificent Seven" was also in "Sin City"), track down new places to film, and change up the ubiquitous motels.

There are sidebars about things like the prank wardrobe played on Jared Padalecki, dressing up his dogs in bandannas and a pink western shirt, and about connections between actors and other things they've done, and old names for certain episodes, and the music that's in each episode (because I'm a music dunce and only recognize about half the stuff they use).

The print is tiny, even for someone whose eyes are just barely starting to hint that they might soon be wanting me to move stuff a bit further away when I read it. On the other hand, when they use tiny font, they pack more in. Some people--I won't name names--wouldn't want to read this because they don't want to ruin the magic of living in the show.

But for those of us who can't get enough details, the companion is a must.

Supernatural
The Official Companion
Season 3
by Nicholas Knight
Published by Titan Books
ISBN 9781848561038







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On a side note, in case you haven't yet seen, Supernatural scored a FULL FEATURE ARTICLE in this week's Entertainment Weekly! It's the 4/10/09 issue, with Jennifer Hudson on the cover, and is pretty decent, even if the writer mixes up Sam and Dean a couple of times.

John Winchester's Journal

In last week’s review of The Supernatural Book of Monsters, Spirits, Demons and Ghouls by Alex Irvine, I complained that the book wasn’t anchored in any one voice. I’m happy to say that’s not the case with his second SPN title, John Winchester’s Journal. The diary opens in 1983, two weeks after Mary’s death, when Fletcher Gable gave John the blank book to “write everything down.” Each year highlights Dean (Jan. 24) and Sammy’s (May 2) birthdays, as well as the anniversaries of Mary’s death (Nov. 2) and their wedding (May 17). There are also ample notes and doodles throughout on hunter lore and methodology.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to fans because it smoothly mixed the mythology with the story of a dad who wants nothing more than to avenge his beloved wife’s death and protect this two sons, but finds himself struggling with whether or not he’s made the right choices. John’s pain and frustration are palpable, as is his pride in the boys. He knows he’s not going to win any parent of the year awards, but he wants to, needs to, prepare them for the time when he won’t be around. He’s especially hard on Dean who he tasks with watching over his little brother. It’s a duty he’s drilled into his head from the time he was five. Sammy, on the other hand, has always been different and John often draws comparisons. When Dean turned eleven he asked for his own gun, when Sammy turned eleven he asked for a computer. John knows there’s something “special” about Sam, but doesn’t know what. It’s just one more thing about his youngest he doesn’t understand. The diary format does a great job of demonstrating the growth and change the Winchesters go through. John realizes he’s been hunting Mary’s murderer for longer than he knew her. Dean goes from a quiet and contemplative kid to a lady killer bad ass who Dad thinks he did right by. And Sammy, dear Sammy, rebels like any normal young man and totally pisses his father off by being…normal.

The book gives an intimate portrayal of this hunter family, parallels the show well and offers additional insight, especially into Lilith.

* A succubus is a female demon who harvests semen that her male counterpart (incubi) then uses to impregnate women with babies who are more susceptible to demon possession or become witches. Hebrews call the succubus Lilith.

* And, get this, Sammy’s not the only one to do the deed with a demon! A lonely John slept with Ms. Lyle, Sammy’s teacher, but learned she was a demon when she tried to kidnap Sammy. Dean performed his first exorcism and John wondered if Lyle was really Lilith. He also questioned why she wanted Sammy, but remembered some lore: “The stories also say that succubi come to claim the children that have been fathered by incubi, which is ridiculous.”

Hmm….

The last entry is October 28, 2005, twenty-two years and two grown sons later, John finally finds Azazel.

Now if only they’d publish the boys journal.

Supernatural Book of Monsters, Spirits, Demons and Ghouls

Part of Supernatural’s allure is the monster-of-the-week mythology. The paranormal bounty brothers never lack for things to hunt. In The Supernatural Books of Monsters, Spirits, Demons and Ghouls, Alex Irvine delves deeper into the creatures Dean and Sam have given us a basic introduction to.

The book is divided into five parts and includes two appendixes—Herbs, Oils and Hoodoo Hands and Names and Attributes of European Demons.

I’ll tell you my biggest pet peeve right off the bat...the book is supposedly narrated by both Sam and Dean, but it comes off like this weird omniscient point-of-view that sounds nothing like them. Their “voices” on the show are distinctive and unique and none of that is carried on to the page. It would’ve been better for the author to write as an interested observer, perhaps a professor or a paranormal investigator fascinated with the Winchesters. Typically speaking, the kind of narration Irvine chose would create reader intimacy, as if the boys were sharing secrets, but because we know their personalities so well, and he does not emulate them at all, it has an immediate and opposite reaction, repelling the reader to think, “Who’re these dudes?”

Come to think of it, the perfect narrator for this book would’ve been Bobby Singer!

That complaint aside, and admittedly it’s a big one, how does the lore fare?

SPIRITS covers the importance of salt and burn, the woman in white, banshees, water spirits, urban legends and vengeful spirits like the Hook Man and Bloody Mary, land spirits: native and immigrant, such as the Indian curse, Amityville, Route 55, Wisconsin Lakes Curse and the Curse of Kaskaskia, plus Venir (scarecrow), Lawrence lore and Death Apparitions.

MONSTERS is all about the Wendigo, Shapeshifters, Yenaldooshi, Bearwalker, Leszy, Nahuales, Puca, The Animal Wives (Selkies, Swan Maidens and Kitsune), Lycanthropy, Tulpas, Humunculus, Golem and Rakshasa.

GHOULS, REVENANTS, ET CETERA is a paranormal potpourri of Ghouls, Shtrigas, Draugrs, Vamps, Zombies and others.

WITCHES, FAMILIARS AND BLACK DOGS is just that.

And DEMONS gets down and dirty with Succubus/Incubus, Jinn, Tengu, Abiku, Pishacha, Acheri, YED, Lesser Demons, Reaper and Goofer Dust.

The book does a great job of reintroducing the MOTW and expanding on their details, oftentimes giving culture differences. Did you know a Leszy is a Slavic forest spirit that likes to makes its appearance as a talking mushroom? Or that the word zombie comes the from the Bantu word nzambi and Haitian zombies were created from magic and the poison of a pufferfish? And, considering the recent Death Takes A Holiday, I enjoyed learning that Reapers are called psychopomps. Doesn’t that sound scarily solicitous? I’ve also adopted the hoodoo tradition of Goofer Dust and now, much to my husband's horror, walk around whispering “Kiss my ass” everywhere in case a witch is present.

In blending show elements and deepening the mythological stories, The Supernatural Book of Monsters, Spirits, Demons and Ghouls is an entertaining and fascinating read, even if it does miss the mark on giving the Winchesters a voice.