A few weeks ago I went with my family to see the new Indiana Jones movie.

To be honest, I was a little nervous. I really didn’t enjoy Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Looking back I’ve tried to nail down what it was about the fourth installment of the Indie series that I didn’t enjoy. It was so long ago I really had to dredge, but from what I remember my biggest complaint revolved around feeling like the iconic figure was being replaced.

There had to be other things that turned my enjoyment, but from this hindsight position, that’s what comes to mind.

I feel like they remedied that with this movie. Instead of replacing, they looked to wrap up the decade’s-long series. That struck the right chord with me. It felt like a conclusion instead of a money-grabbing continuation.

This viewing helped me think about what I like in my own works.

While I don’t see Atom hanging up his rail-pistol anytime soon, I must think about how things will eventually unfold.

I do know there needs to be at least one more installment to help wrap the story. Could there be more … sure. Closing doors on a series can be difficult, but I need to make sure it wraps organically and allows readers (and myself) proper closure.

In Dial of Destiny we saw reprises by almost all of the loved sidekicks. That was genius. It allowed the viewer to draw connections to the original movies while continuing to move the story forward.

I also liked that they allowed Harrison Ford to portray Indie in his own age.

The flashbacks were fun, but having grown up with Indie, it was good to see him as an old man who relied more on brains than brawn

The movie is definitely worth a watch.

In other news, now that things are settling down and I am finding a rhythm in my writing, I plan on looking for another convention to sign up for. I will keep you posted and hopefully we can have a chance to chat in person.

Also, I plan on having a sale for digital copies of my book in the near future. When that happens, please help me get copies out to new readers. The book will either be free or $0.99, depending on what Amazon allows me to do.

In the meantime, keep on reading, keep searching for your rhythm, and keep on flying the Black.