Time Flies

I can’t believe RITA and Golden Heart time has descended upon us already, if only in the form of Judging Sign-Up. 2008 was the first year I could enter RITA, and for some reason I can’t recall I signed up to join the Golden Heart. I love judging the Golden Heart, but I don’t have time to judge both contests in one year, so this year I signed up to judge the RITA for the First Time Ever. I’m looking forward to the different process and experience.

For RITA judging, I had to select a mimimum of three categories I would be willing to judge while not selecting a category I might also enter. I’m entering Novella again this year under my pen name, so I selected four categories to judge other than Novella. I could have selected more (there are 11 categories total), but I’d rather judge the categories with which I’m most familiar.

Monday night, I went to see Mamma Mia with my BFF, who was in town all summer (and just left today). I totally loved this movie! Might I be so bold as to announce that it’s one of my Favorite Movies of the Year? It’s very uplifting—just what I need right now. I laughed a ton. Yet a scene dealing with the Meryl Streep character’s 20-year-old daughter growing up too fast brought a tear to my eye, too. Next week, Youngest Son turns 18, but he’s sticking around. Eldest Son, on the other hand, will be attending an out-of-town university as of the September long weekend. I’m busy preparing for the birthday and the departure. My BFF is only 10 months younger than I am, but had her children late. Her youngest is five. I tried to explain how quickly the teen years pass for parents, far faster than the pre-teen years. And it doesn’t matter how often you try to stop and smell the roses that are your children, the teen years speed by regardless, I think because it’s a turmolic time for the parents as well as the teens! I’ve been looking forward to E.S. moving out of the house, not because I don’t love him and won’t miss him, but because that’s how young adults learn and grow. It’s a very positive experience for him, however, after watching Mamma Mia Monday night and now it’s sinking in that he has just two weeks remaining at home, my ol’ heartstrings are sobbing. Come September, I’ll pretty much be a mess. Consider this fair warning.

Tropic Blunder?

I haven’t found a book to recommend here lately. Oh, I’ve been reading…sort of…but nothing’s holding my attention. I can recommend a movie, depending on how you like your comedy—this one’s heavily dosed with satire. Tropic Thunder, starring Ben Stiller and Robert Downey, Jr. (whose acting I adore). It’s the story of a group of actors starring in a Vietnam war movie who are dropped into some real action in the jungle (drug trade related), but Stiller still thinks the movie is being shot (hidden cameras, yada). Yes, there is a running joke partway through that plays with political incorrectness, but overall the movie works (you know, I have to wonder if Stiller included the Sean Penn/Tom Hanks bits to detract from the potential controversy of Downey, Jr.’s character). (That’s Downey on the right).

The best performances? Robert Downey, Jr., naturally (yes, I’m a rabid fan, even during his drought), and Tom Cruise. Cruise has a small part in the film, but it’s definitely memorable and he plays it to the max. My Liege and I went to see the movie Wednesday night. That was my morning for the long dog walk (like today—I’m late getting going, and my dog is staring at me with huge brown eyes right now). After walking the dog Wednesday, I was stretching to Regis & Kelly (The View was over by the time I returned to the house), and Stiller was on. Regis blabbed which character in the movie is played by Cruise, so I was on the lookout. I told My Liege that Cruise was in the movie, and I thought he would recognize him, but the end of the movie arrived and he hadn’t picked him out. So now I’m cheesed that the ONE day of the week I catch ten minutes of Regis & Kelly post-dog walk is the day the news is blabbed. It would have been a lot more fun to watch the movie not knowing.

Anyone here seen the movie? Do you think Stiller went too far with the satire?

You know, I can’t believe I actually saw a movie on opening night. This is what happens when your children grow up. 🙂 And your husband has to miss his standing golf night due to a tournament. We actually had some couple time. Imagine that.

As for movies now opening on Wednesdays instead of Thursdays to “get a start” on the box office—what’s next, opening on Tuesday? Monday? Don’t they have to toss out all previous “opening weekend” box office counts now and start over?

When did the weekend ever begin on Thursday, anyway?

These and other questions will continue to go unanswered As Cindy’s Mind Churns.

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? 

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!