HIGH NOTES: Casino Royale

Perhaps one of the most anticipated movie scores for me in recent months was the music for the James Bond film “Casino Royale.” This CD offered a lot of promise even before David Arnold scored it. The big question would be, “Did it live up to expectations?”

First, let’s discuss why this score was such a big deal. Perhaps the most obvious would be Arnold’s promise of a new sound for the Bond franchise. That’s risky given the Bond films offer an established sound fans have come to expect. Eric Serra (an excellent composer in his own right) made the horrendous mistake of banishing the “Bond” sound to the “nether realm” with the film “Goldeneye.” “Casino Royale” also marked Arnold’s fourth film within the superspy franchise. Then there was the entire premise behind the film, getting back to the franchise’s roots with a grittier Bond. To that measure, we were also given a new actor for Bond, and that upped the stakes for the entire film—score included.

So does Arnold deliver? Without a doubt. Not only do we get a great Bond score, but this is easily the best Bond score since Arnold’s first outing with “Tomorrow Never Dies.” There’s a maturity and passion to this score that I don’t think Arnold’s two previous efforts provided.

To be fair, the tone of the film does a lot to aid Arnold’s effort at something new. The grittier nature of the movie provides for a more suspenseful and grounded sound. We get something of a militaristic beat to accompany the action sequences. This shows up best in the opening track “African Rundown” and “Miami International.” The latter piece is easily my favorite on the CD and also clocks in as the longest track at more than twelve minutes long. Arnold really delivers a well-paced buildup to the excitement with “Miami International.”

What’s really interesting is to listen to the score and realize at the end, how Arnold does something similar to the film itself. Just as “Casino Royale” shows us how Bond became Bond… Arnold leads us on a musical journey as he takes all these themes and slowly builds up to the final track, “The Name’s Bond… James Bond…” which is the traditional Bond theme in all its glory. I think that might be the most fascinating thing about this score, and Arnold really deserves high praise for accomplishing this. In fact, it’s not until you reach the last track that you realize Arnold never actually gives us the “true” Bond theme prior to that point… not until Bond matures into the character we’ve all come to know. In a very real sense, the music of the film grows closer to the original James Bond theme even as the character draws closer to being “Bond.”

Other Scores by David Arnold:



The CD for this score isn’t without one major fault, though. For whatever reason, the CD was released without the opening titles song “You Know My Name.” That’s a pity, because David Arnold and Chris Cornell have created one of the best Bond songs in years. On top of that, they managed to make a great Bond song with a male vocalist. Most of the best Bond songs have relied on female vocalists. Some interesting trivia here: this is only the third Bond vocal “title track” not to share its name with the movie’s title. The other two songs and films are “All Time High” from “Octopussy” and “Nobody Does it Better” from “The Spy Who Loved Me.” “You Know My Name” is also rare in that the song is about Bond himself. Most of the theme songs have been devoted to the Bond girls or villains.

“Casino Royale” will remain a special score for me, because of the timing of its purchase. I bought this CD with money from my first sell as writer. The money I made from selling “I am Sam” to “Spinetingler Magazine” was used to purchase this CD—a small reward to myself.

Snot a Good Thing

Based on actual events witnessed by Wildcat during a Dayquil-induced haze…

It's Time

DUST JACKETS: SPQR: The King's Gambit

One of the more unique mystery series to come along belongs to John Maddox Roberts. The “SPQR” series is set in ancient Rome and offers us a detective in the form of Roman official Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger. While he doesn’t have the slick resources of modern-day detectives, the book still contains a certain procedural feel that makes it easy to explore this long lost world.

Decius handles one of the more violent sections of Rome, and yet when a foreign merchance and an ex-slave are murdered in his district, he feels compelled to snoop. His search for answers makes him several enemies within the very government he serves and the more he investigates, the more clear it becomes that what he has discovered is far more than a murder but a conspiracy that threatens the empire.

From a mystery standpoint, I’m not sure this book was anything all that amazing. I think many of us have come to expect certain things of mystery novels, and Roberts delivers this. What he does to make this book stand out just a little more is take advantage of his setting. He really does a nice job of bringing Rome to life, and as anyone who’s seen the new HBO series “Rome” will appreciate, Roberts doesn’t scrimp on the sex either. Roberts goes so far as to treat readers to a threesome that includes an adrogynous-looking, contortionist-slave.

Perhaps the weakest thing about this book is the ending. I don’t think I’m really giving anything away by saying Decius solves the case, but the way the truth is learned and what happens because of it just kind of disappointed me. I didn’t exactly feel like much of anything really got resolved.

Roberts has managed to turn this into a rather decent series. Despite my disappointment with the end to the first book, I enjoyed his storytelling and use of setting enough to obtain a copy of the second book (to be fair, I think my wife bought it, but I wanted it, too). The first book also earned Roberts an Edgar Award nomination.

Other Books by John Maddox Roberts:



Of late, my wife has become quite addicted to watching the aforementioned tv series “Rome.” I can’t help but wonder if Roberts’ publisher will take advantage of the tv show’s following to increase the readership for these books.

Oh, Baby!

Frank Meets Hip, Episode II

Frank Meets Hip, Episode I

Nearing the End

As the title to this entry suggests, my wife and I are finally nearing the end of our book. It’s hard to believe that after all this time, we’re finally writing the last chapter to The Last VanDaryn. We started on the chapter two nights ago. The first night didn’t go so well. We’d “known” for months which character’s point-of-view we’d need for the scene, but once we started writing it, we realized we’d been wrong.

My wife and I have run into the point-of-view issue quite a few times of late. Our story contains some very strong characters, and when they end up in the same scene together, it’s not so easy to pick the right eyes through which to see those events. We had so many issues because of it that we got into a heated debate about how the big battle (that every fantasy adventure is “required” to have) was going to work. My wife was convinced that we’d equipped our characters with a battle plan that didn’t work, because the scene just wasn’t working. I insisted that the plan made sense, and in the end, my wife was the one who realized we needed to try it from a different character’s point-of-view. It was amazing how well the scene worked once we made the change. The pacing of the fight and even the build-up to it worked so much better. Even after all these years of writing, I’ve gained a new appreciation for just how much a different perspective can change a scene for better or worse.

At one time, I’d feared the book would barely break the 90,000 word mark. I should have known better. With just a little more to write, we’re already at 110,000 words. That might slim up a bit once we do the editing, but we’ll have to wait to see. We’ll probably finish the last chapter tonight, and we plan to celebrate by popping the cork on the bottle of sparkling wine you see on the right.

I’m rather excited about reaching the end of The Last VanDaryn for several reasons. Most of all, I’m eager to hunt for an agent who can find us a publisher and thus make some money off of our book. Another reason will be my solo effort The Cold Shoulder. My fantasy/thriller novel has suffered from neglect while Sheri and I focused on our joint project. During the past year, our writing group the Ten Page Club has enjoyed the samples I’ve brought from that book. I’m hopeful that I can finish that one pretty quickly once I no longer have The Last VanDaryn to worry about.

Know Your Ending

When it comes to reading, most consider it bad form to find out the ending before you’ve actually read the book. Not so when it comes to writing. At least, that’s the advice I learned last month from two of the thriller genre’s best-selling writers.

Every month in Richmond, James River Writers holds “The Writing Show” at the Science Museum of Virginia. This odd mix of talk show and “Inside the Actors Studio” brings in talent from all corners of the literary world. We’ve seen many agents, editors and writers pay our city a visit. Last month, thriller writers Brian Haig and Steve Berry came to “The Writing Show” to discuss how they build their thriller novels.

Brian specializes in military thrillers where as Berry tends to write history-based thrillers. As their style of thrillers differ, so did much of their advice. They provided a friendly counterpoint, and while I could easily focus on all the ways in which they disagreed, I think it far more interesting to look at one thing on which they did agree. Both Brian and Steve said that to write a tight thriller novel, the writer needs to know how it’s all going to end. They both pointed out that knowing how it all ends makes it that much easier to realize what isn’t important to the story. As a writer, you’re less likely to waste time on a “cute” scene that doesn’t really add anything.

While my specialty is writing fantasy, I found their discussion on thriller novel construction very useful. Perhaps the most interesting thing for me was that they confirmed something I’d suspected about one of the novels I’m writing. For some time, I’ve considered my solo work The Cold Shoulder a thriller novel disguised as a fantasy novel. The things Brian and Steve said about writing thrillers confirmed that for me.



I don’t really know how The Cold Shoulder will end, though. Heck, I’m still trying to figure out all of the villains. Brian and Steve made me appreciate how important the ending really is to building a good thriller, and I will be able to use that advice to make The Cold Shoulder a well-written story. I probably won’t know my ending until I get there, but when it comes time to edit, you can bet I’ll be approaching that task with a firm idea of how everything ties into the end.

I have to say that this particular “Writing Show” was one of the best we’ve had. Hopefully, I can draw on that particular show for a few more blog entries. Both Brian and Steve offered so much useful advice.

"I'm not dead yet!"

Yes, Wildcat still lives. Frank’s still kicking around somewhere, too.

Let’s get to the first order of business. Thanks to all who sent e-mails and posted well-wishes and questions as to this blog’s future (and my own). I seem to go through phases with my blog, and reality has just demanded too much attention. Something had to give, and this blog suffered for it. I seriously considered closing the Lair down for good. That I couldn’t make up my mind is the main reason I’ve hesitated to reply to many of your queries. I was scared to commit myself to either path. That said… the Wildcat’s Lair is going to stick around.



I’m happy to say the time away from the Lair has been worth it. Much as I wanted to announce The Last VanDaryn (the book my wife and I are writing together) was finished or would be done by the end of the year, that just hasn’t happened. We have made a lot of headway on it, though. Last month, I took off more than two-and-a-half weeks in order to make a serious dent in the book. It paid off. We’re in the home stretch with our heroes close to their big fight with the main villain (what fantasy adventure is complete without the big battle at the end?). Our word count: about 95,000. The holidays have made additional time off from work all but impossible. The disadvantage to writing together is that we sometimes do need to be in the same room to write a scene. So much of this book’s last third has been that way, and it’s frustrating when we can’t find the time to be in a room together to get it done.



Of course, other things are also keeping us busy. I’m happy to announce I’m moving up in the literary world (at least here in Richmond). As something of a reward for all the prep work to the 2006 James River Writers Conference, I was voted in as a board member to James River Writers earlier this month. I consider it more of a reward for me and my wife. I might officially be on the board, but we’re pretty much a package deal. We both had a hand in preparing this past October’s conference. Sheri and I have already started planning next year’s conference. The first meeting for the planning committee was held earlier this month at our house. The meeting went well. We’ve already put together some great topic ideas, but we have to panel these sessions. As things come together, you can expect updates here in the Wildcat’s Lair.

Speaking of the Lair, I’m considering taking the blog in some new directions. Nothing drastic, mind you… just the occasional need for change. One change you’ll already notice is my picture. The old one had gotten just a bit too dated. My hair has gotten thinner and a few wrinkles clearer. The time has come to owe up to it.

Seems odd even to me that I’ve chosen Christmas to make this decision, but that’s just how it worked out. With that in mind, happy holidays to you all. I’ll post again soon.