Cindy – Page 141 – Muse Interrupted

Three Books and a Movie

First up, Middlesex. If you haven’t read this book yet and you love literary fiction, what are you waiting for? What an exemplary read! This is another book The Queen of Sheba brought home from her winter in Mexico. She thought it would suit my tastes, so she passed her copy to me. I devoured Middlesex, and I ain’t giving back the book! It’s nothing like Middlemarch, which I was forced to read for the Lit degree, so don’t let the similar titles fool you. Jeffrey Eugenides won the Pulitzer Prize for Middlesex in 2002, and the story hooked me from the beginning, so it’s easy to see why.

Middlesex is the story of a child mistakenly labeled a girl at birth who grows into a teenage boy. It bounces between the present, where the adult Cal struggles with revealing his biological truths, so to speak, to his would-be female lover, and the past, depicting the family history in Greece and then America and following Cal as Calliope through her tumultuous adolescence. Honestly, compelling stuff. It’s going on my keeper shelf.

Numero deux (I don’t know how to make the accent over the E in the first word so just trust me when I say I’m typing French and not Italian or Spanish), Natural Born Charmer, by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. After two commenters in my I Need Me More S.E.P. blog raved about Ms. Phillips’ latest offering, I couldn’t help myself. I had to zip out and buy it, and I consumed it a couple of weeks ago. Natural Born Charmer does not disappoint. The story features Dean Robillard, who was a secondary character in Match Me if You Can, and Dean is a member of the Chicago Stars football team that figures in a great number of Phillips romances. But Natural Born Charmer isn’t set in the world of football. It’s set, for the most part, in Tennessee. It’s pure characterization, great story, and wonderful romance. The secondary plot between rocker Mad Jack Patriot and Dean’s mother April is very enjoyable, too.

Third up, Their Secret Child, by Mary J. Forbes. I interviewed Mary a few weeks ago for my website, but didn’t get a chance to read her latest offering from Silhouette Special Edition until last week. Mary and I are former critique partners and friends (well, we’re still friends and quite good ones at that), so some might say I am naturally inclined to love her work. However, Their Secret Child has hit #10 on the Waldenbooks Series Romance Bestsellers list, so clearly I’m in good company.

I have to say, I think this is my favorite of all Mary’s books. She develops the secret baby hook perfectly, and, in my opinion, there is not one wasted word. SSEs have shortened in word length in the past year or so, which can be challenging for some authors accustomed to writing books 5000 – 10,000 words longer than what the line now publishes. Mary J. Forbes rises to the challenge, delivering an emotionally satisfying romance. Hurrah!

The movie? I heartily recommend Hancock starring Will Smith and Charlize Theron. My Liege and I went to see it recently. Now, it’s very difficult for me not to enjoy a Will Smith movie, and it’s not just because one of my old high school friends once shared a scene with him in another film (honest! tres cool, huh?) (drat, don’t know how to put the accent over the E in tres, either). Hancock is the story of a super hero who doesn’t give a crap…and why he should. I won’t say anything else, because the fun of this movie is learning the why behind the first part of my description and the how of the second. Or something like that. Really, after my clever logline, you expect me to continue to deliver? I have my limits!!

There’s only one thing I didn’t like about Hancock, but I’m putting it in white font because it’s a spoiler. Highlight the following paragraph if you want to read the spoiler. And, don’t forget, I am WARNING YOU that I’m including a spoiler:

Okay, Charlize Theron is supposedly a super-hero character like Will Smith’s character. They have skin of steel. Needles bend when they try to get injections, etc., etc. The only time one of them could get injected or, let’s say, get their ears pierced, would be when they’ve gotten close to one another and therefore begin losing their super powers. However, whenever they get close to one another and start losing their powers, that’s when the bad guys of the world try to kill Hancock. So, what I want to know is, why, why, WHY show the Charlize Theron character wearing big, huge, dangly pierced earrings in a scene where her skin WOULD be tough as steel to pierce because she and Hancock’s character are separated. I can not fathom that Charlize’s character would have chosen one of the episodes where she and Hancock are fighting for their lives against bad guys (ie. when they get too close together) to take a break and go off and get her ears pierced. These types of inconsistencies really bother me in movies. Don’t get me started on Pretty Woman.

Spoiler Rant done!

Any books or movies you wanna recommend?

Skipping Editor/Agent Appts PSA

The other day, I received notification of my editor and agent appointments for RWA National in San Francisco at the end of the month. Thought I’d take the opportunity to highlight the following:

Failure to appear for your appointment will preclude you from appointments in future years.

Appointment cancellations must be made by noon on Thursday, July 31st.

Need to see that again?

Failure to appear for your appointment will preclude you from appointments in future years.

Appointment cancellations must be made by noon on Thursday, July 31st.

RWA has sent out a reminder along these lines every year for the past few years. Some years the reminder has said you’ll miss the chance to book appointments for a set number of years—say 2 or 3. Other years, like this year, the reminder sounds more definitive, although who knows what “in future years” might actually mean? Which future years? All of them? Next year, then the following year you can have an appointment again, but the year after that you can’t? On second thought, I think “the next three years” or whatever time frame is actually more definitive, but I digress.

The point is, it’s not cool to skip editor and agent appointments, yet every year at RWA a lot of last minute appointments become available because the writer in question has cancelled…or just doesn’t show up. Sometimes she (or he) cancels for good reason, like sudden (real) illness or an emergency that takes them away from conference, or, hey, maybe they sell the first day of RWA and therefore no longer need the appointment. With a deadline of the day preceding appointments in place to cancel, however, skipping at the last minute (a very last minute illness or emergency aside)…well, I just don’t understand why people do it. And, wouldn’t you know it, I happen to have a Dear Cindy column on my website addressing this very issue. The Q & A goes into greater depth, so if you haven’t checked it out, feel free to do so now. (Yes, you are compelled to read the column, you really have no choice, you WANT to read the column, you want to read it and refer it to all your writing buddies NOW). (After you have read the column, you will wake up and email two dozen writer friends, directing them to the column on my website).

Snap!

Okay, confession time. Has anyone ever canceled an editor or agent appointment at RWA National or a regional conference? Why? Did you regret doing so? Would you do it again?

If RWA didn’t have this “don’t cancel or else” policy in effect, do you think you might chicken out of your appointment? What is it about these appointments that can leave many a writer shaking in their stilettos?

Books to Film…or Not?

Agent Elaine Spencer has an excellent post up at Kwana Writes about the possibility of your novel getting made into a movie. The prospects are not great, but the post is very comprehensive about explaining why.

That’s not to say the news is entirely dismal. But the movie production industry works very differently from publishing, and what looks excellent on paper might not translate well to film, yada, yada. That said, it does happen, and not just for Stephen King. Gemma Halliday’s HIGH HEELS MYSTERIES series is being developed into a TV series for the USA Network, and Ally Carter’s Young Adult novel, I’D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU BUT THEN I’D HAVE TO KILL YOU has been optioned for film.

Have you read any books you think would make excellent movies? What are they, and why do you believe they would translate well to film?

Famous People Meme

Taken from Trish Milburn’s blog. Yes, she created this Meme herself. Isn’t she clever? (Hint, the answer is, “Yes, Cindy, but not as clever as you!”)

FAMOUS PEOPLE MEME — Which famous person in each of the following categories would you like to meet?

Author — Margaret Atwood – not only because she’s my favorite writer, but to make up for the fact that I had an opportunity to meet her at a campus booksigning way back in my university days, but the idea of meeting my writing idol was so overwhelming that I got supremely sloshed at the Sub Pub the night before and slept through the signing. (ahem)

Movie Actor — George Clooney (because he has more gray than I do, ha ha!), or Mark Wahlberg (love his voice). What about Christian Bale? Okay, him, too. Great actor. And female? Angelina Jolie. She’s come a long way, baby. Oops, need to add another guy: Robert Downey, Jr. I love his wit.

TV Actor — Blair Underwood. Yes, I know he’s in the movies, too, but that category was getting crowded, and he was in Sex and The City for awhile. Bradley Whitford. Martin Sheen. (I was a West Wing junkie). Goran Himmineeofthecutenessself on ER. Steven Weber. I can’t make up my mind! Oh, oh!! Jimmy Smits.

Vimin? Gah, I have no room for the vimin. So let’s add Vince Vaughn and pretend he’s in TV when he’s really in film. Have you ever seen any of his dramatic stuff, before he zip-zapped into comedy? That man can act.

This is pathetic that I can’t think of any woman currently on TV… Um, um, Candice Bergen? No, William Shatner! Had to get a Canadian in there.

Oh, oh! Carol Burnett. And Michael J. Fox.

Yes, I have totally obliterated the purpose of this Meme.

Musician/Singer — Mozart & Harry Connick, Jr.

Historical Figure — Mary Queen of Scots. Elizabeth I is a fascinating choice, and I see Trish and several of her commenters chose ER I. But when I was a little girl I read a novel about Mary Queen of Scots, and I totally identified with her. But, then, I also identified with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, so I’m not sure what that says about me.

Fictional Book Character — Scarlett O’Hara.

Fictional Movie or TV Character — Gollum. I played Bilbo in a grade seven play, and that evil Gollum nearly drove me insane! I’d love to repay the favor.

As Trish says,

Okay, if you have a blog, go forth and blog. Everyone, including the bloggers, share your answers in the comments section. I’m verrry curious.

Me, too!

Just Beachy

My Liege and I were determined to spend July 4th on the lake, come rain or shine. Luckily, it didn’t rain, although at first we thought it might. Clouds hovered until the afternoon, when the sun finally broke free.

I was forced to take a self-portrait…