I think it's time I made the BIG MOVE. I've been thinking about leaving LJ for a while, and now I've finally found a new space...and done a little redecorating:
emilyhainsworth.wordpress.com/
I came to LJ when I was brand new to blogging. I was looking for an outlet to keep track of my writing productivity, as well as a place to network with other writers. My decision to go with LJ was mostly an "everyone else is doing it" one. But LJ is very much a COMMUNITY...and I think I'm ready for my own place.
I've met some really wonderful people here - and I will continue to follow the blogs of you wonderful people, but I'll be based in Wordpress. :)
p.s. Apparently I can't create a syndicated LJ feed to my new blog since I don't have a paid LJ account. If that changes, I will update this post. Thanks to those interested. :)
- Mood:
content
contemplativeAs previously posted, my orange tabby cat, Thyme, had been very old and sick for some time. We lost him on 1-7-09....less than 6 months since our other cat, Abbey died. :( But instead of talking about how terrible it was to lose Thyme, I'm going to tell the story of how we met...
I arrived at my future in-laws house for the first time back in (cough*cough) 1996, I'd been told Thyme (who started out a semi-feral barn kitty) never expressed much interest in people, but I've never seen a cat act quite the way he did after we met. He followed me everywhere. Even though he wasn't allowed in the main part of the house, he walked around it outside, following me from room to room through the windows and meowing. When we went outside, he came running. When we walked the dogs down the road, he followed. He talked at me constantly, meowing with a harsh, raspy voice that was startling coming from a cat. I have no idea what struck him about me...maybe he thought I was his ginger mama. ;) Needless to say, my in-laws (who had close to 10 cats total at the time) were more than happy to let Thyme have me. So when we moved into our own place...Thyme retired from the barn. We spent many happy years together, his favorite place being the same as mine - bed. He helped me write my first novel. My lap misses him.
To lighten things up a little...here is a (poor quality) picture of the bereavement card my mother sent me upon Thyme's death. She was NOT trying to be funny, and I hate to sound cliche by saying my mother has no clue, but...um:
You might need to have met my mom to understand, but I will treasure this forever. LOL.
And finally...S and I lasted abour FOUR days sans cat before we couldn't stand it anymore and visited a local shelter. I was determined to find SOME cat out there who no one else wanted, or at the very least, who might love Basil, our standard poodle because he ~misses~ Thyme. So among 200 other cats at the shelter, this tiny little eight pound female went out of her way to get our attention. She followed me around and meowed, and batted at my hands to pet her. When I did pet her, she arched her back so high, she almost fell off her perch! Sadly, she was a teenage mother who'd had six kittens and is FIV+. Feline Immunodeficiency Virus is much like HIV in humans. It can only be spread to other cats (not dogs or humans) via a deep penetrating bite or scratch wound. But being FIV+ meant she had less of a chance to get adopted because (like HIV) people don't understand the disease. She can still have a long life and live safely with other friendly cats. And now that we have her home...OMG she ADORES Basil! Yay! :D So without further ado...here is Dagny:
She does look VERY Maine Coon, doesn't she? CRACKED UP TO BE by Courtney Summers made its debut on December 23rd. I've invited Courtney and her main character Parker Fadley to tell us (some very random things) about themselves and the book, which is so awesome you might want to run out and BUY IT FIRST and then come back. Oh and if you haven't seen the book trailer, that's a must-see. To be honest, I wasn't sure Parker would even show up to this interview, but she graced us with her presence in her own unique way, and I didn't even have to bribe her! Really!
Cracked Up To Be
"Perfect Parker Fadley isn’t so perfect anymore. She’s quit the cheerleading squad, she’s dumped her perfect boyfriend, and she’s failing school. Her parents are on a constant suicide watch and her counselors think she’s playing games…but what they don’t know, the real reason for this whole mess, isn’t something she can say out loud. It isn’t even something she can say to herself. A horrible thing has happened and it just might be her fault. If she can just remove herself from everybody--be totally alone--then everything will be okay...The problem is, nobody will let her. "
Q) So Courtney let's get right to it: What Is With The Volcanoes?
I just love them. I think they're fascinating and terrifying and beautiful, much like zombies. Except for the beautiful part. I actually used to be really, really afraid of volcanoes. Don't laugh, but Dante's Peak scared me to DEATH. The thought of a volcano taking out Pierce Brosnan was more than I could bear. Somewhere down the line, my terror shifted to awe. It was also around the same time I decided Pierce Brosnan was no longer attractive to me. Do you think that is a coincidence? In any case, volcanoes are AMAZING. And you should RESPECT them.
Q) Parker, how do you feel about social networking? Do you have a MySpace/Facebook/Twitter?
(>_<)
Q) School Uniforms (either/both of you): Yay or Nay? Why?
Courtney: I think uniforms are horrible. For the most part, I can understand the reasoning behind them but, God, I hated wearing mine. I found them as stifling as the environment I was in. I prefer a dress codes vs. uniforms. Blegggh uniforms bleeeeeegh.
Parker: (ò.ó)
Q) How do (either/both of you) feel about pressures to stay in/drop out of high school? What would your advice be to someone having a rough time in school?
I (Courtney!), will take this one. I think the pressure to stay in school and the stigma of dropping out can be equally ridiculous at times. The education system isn't for everyone and I would encourage anyone who is having a rough go of school to explore all their options--whether that means staying, going, transferring, or seeking an alternative education (unschooling, homeschooling, etc). I think one of the hardest parts about these types of situations is that some (not all) parents and teachers assume having a difficult time at high school is par for the course and inadvertantly shrug off a genuinely unhealthy situation as being 'normal.' This is really unfortunate. On the flipside, leaving school is not the most feasible solution for some families, even if it is the best option. That's also really unfortunate. I can't tell someone who is having a rough time at school to drop out or keep plugging away, but I would encourage them to talk to their family and their teachers, to examine all their options, and hopefully some sort of solution will present itself. If not, write it all down and put it in a book later!
Q) What kind of music do you like, Parker? Favorite bands/artists?
d-_-b Matthew Good Band, all the way!
Q) Courtney, in 140 characters or less...what is the best thing about Twitter?
~*IT IS MORE DAZZLING THAN EDWARD CULLEN.*~
Q) (either/both of you) What would you do if you woke up to find Edward Cullen sleep-stalking you?
Courtney: (ó.ò)
Parker: (ó.ò)
Q) Parker, I know Courtney feels strongly about the impending zombie apocalypse...what is your opinion?
zombies: f(O_o)f [¬º-°]¬
Parker: (ó.ô)
zombies: f(O_o)f [¬º-°]¬
Parker: (9ò_ó)=@
zombies/Parker: (x(x_(X_x(O_o)x_x)_X)x)
Q) Courtney, what is the coolest/freakiest/weirdest authory-thing that's happened to you since Cracked Up To Be was released?
It has all been cool, freaky and weird, to be honest. People where I live know that I write now. I used to hold that card close to my chest. And now it's just out there! It is bizarre. But in a good way.
Q) (either/both of you) You can SAVE THE WORLD or go after the ~*sparkly*~ thing. What do you do??
Well, obviously we would--OH MY GOD LOOK AT THAT ~*SPARKLY*~--
Q) BONUS QUESTION for Courtney: If you could be Doctor Who's companion...where/when would you go/see/do?
Look. To be honest. I would just stay in the TARDIS all day and make out with the Doctor. Yeah, that's right.
I have a ~slight~ case of arachnephobia...all it really does is cause me to SCREAM AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS AND FLEE THE PREMISES any time I encounter a spider...of any size. And the truly evil/just part of it is that I can't even bring myself to kill them anymore. I feel ~BAD~ about it...who am I to end a spider's life just for inhabiting my bathroom? I don't NEED to brush my teeth after all (why are you leaning AHWAY FROHM MEH AHS AH SPEAHHHK?). Anyway, this is Rosie the remote-control TARANTULA. If Rosie were real in this pic, I would already be dead and twitching on the floor (yes, of COURSE I would twitch AFTER dying of fright). I wanted to leave Rosie in her packaging, but I had to humor my dad - who last year gave me a leg lamp like the one in A CHRISTMAS STORY. So I had S put the batteries in for me (I couldn't do it!) and we had a little fun trying to scare the poodle...but mostly freaking. me. out. Did I mention ROSIE'S EYES GLOW RED??? And that white thing by my feet is her remote control.... SADISTICALLY SHAPED LIKE A GROSS SPIDER EGG. Ewwwwwwwww. Post-pic-posterity, Rosie is now banned to the basement - where I am sure to forget her existence and DIE OF FRIGHT when I come across her in a few months...followed by twitching.
Really, can ANYONE top my Christmas?
Those of you who tweet know that S ~*dazzled*~ me Edward-style by giving me a new purple ipod (big enough to hold my audiobooks!) with a very literary-geek quote on the back:
"You can stroke people with words." - F. Scott Fitzgerald
He then confessed how almost-incredibly-impossible it was to find an FSF quote that would FIT on the back of an ipod. LOL. Awwwwww. Even though I've been over my Fitzgerald-swoon for years, he went out of his way to do that because I used a (probably completely unknown and somewhat racy) FSF quote under my senior HS pic in the yearbook back in 199_. Which makes S pretty much MORE awesome than I already knew he was. Does everyone have their ~*sparkle-barf*~ bags?? ONE MORE TIME: Awwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!
BUT WAIT! There's MORE: Did I mention the beautiful custom art nouveau bookplates he had made WITH MY NAME ON THEM? Ok, I'll stop now...just consider this entry dedicated to my husband S and ROSIE THE SPIDER.
I am making up for lost blogging with this one (you were warned)!
Every Christmas we resurrect the Super Nintendo and despite the machine being kicked and losing our game TWICE (and S falling down lots of holes) I am now DUKING IT OUT WITH BOWSER in LEVEL 7 of Super Mario World, and am totally about to PWN the game AGAIN. If only writing a novel were this easy!
S got DOCTOR WHO SEASON 3 on DVD for his birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Eeeeeeeeeee
Oh yes...writing. I'm doing some of that. I finally kick-started my re-re-revision. Yeah. That's all I'm going to say for fear of TWITCHING. But it's excited AND fearful twitching! (o_0) And I got a rejection today from November 4th and I just laughed MANIACALLY out loud! *Yesssssssssssob*.
On a sadder note...my kitty Thyme is not doing well. He's about ~16 years old and we're pretty sure he has cancer. :( He's lost a lot of weight and is now having a LOT of trouble eating. I'd ask for well-wishes, but I think we're past that. :( I just don't want this to be prolonged or horrible for him. We can't believe he stayed for Christmas...and made it to S's birthday too. It's so sad to see a living, healthy personality that you love become thin and wasted, and not really recognize you. :( :( We just lost our other cat Abbey this fall...I have NEVER been without a cat, and both of mine were such strong characters...I still feel Abbey NOT THERE. Thyme is in some ways already not here the way he was...but ugh, this doesn't ever get easier does it? I find comfort thinking I will give a loving home to another kitty that needs one when the time comes. And then I think of Thyme taming himself from feral barn cat because we fell in love with each other at first head-bump. Life is just damn cruel and unfair sometimes and that's all.
- Music:Charlotte Martin - Veins
Okay, I have plenty to say...but it hasn't all been about writing lately (and I try to stay within the theme of this blog!). Also TBH, it feels more productive to write MAH BOOK than write blog entries. But as my Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanzaa/YULE gift to those who care...I will endeavor to write ~more blog entries~ in 2009...AND lose five pounds.
SO...settle into a comfy chair with your loved ones (or cats, whatevs), pull up a bowl of Chex mix and hunt for the bits with extra worcestershire sauce (ohhh yeah baby, I spelled that on the first try), have a couple of sugar cookies...or three, a slice of pumpkin pie, maybe throw in some potato pancakes, a Yule Log Cake, and an amazingly awesome home made HALF MOON COOKIE if you're at MY house....and HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE. Relax, and enjoy. :)
- Mood: content
(O_O)
Yes, that Twitter.
(~_~)
No, I don't think Twitter is better than you...but maybe a little easier to handle when things get tough.
(>_<)
Ohhh, don't feel that way, LJ. I still <3 you.
)-0_0-(
In 140 characters or less.
(#_#)
So um, yeah...in Twitterspeak, this is what I've been up to this week:
Damn you guys...I think I might want to rewrite MF...AGAIN.
I was sitting here racking my brain w/ a plot problem for current WIP, and kept getting ideas for MF instead. *headdesk*
Eff eff eff eff eff!! Last year I took a machete to this ms...this year it will be a CHAINSAW.
~*LAUGHS EVILLLLLLY*~
In other news, I discovered that trying to conjure my muse from a freezing cold air mattress in a frigid not-at-all private corner of a dining room in the middle of the night with a screaming baby down the hall...doesn't work. I wrote one sentence on my still-new WIP, and ended up deleting it when I got home. BUT...after I deleted it, a whole chapter came gushing out! So lesson learned: vacations are for being on vacation...even if they are incredibly family-filled freezing cold events. Don't bother trying to write, but save it up for later:
YOU FOE progress:
| |
5,221 / 65,000 (8.0%) |
And now that it's starting to roll, I'm really excited about this story! Eeeeeee! Nothing quite like realizing you have the bare bones of a for real, whole entire story rattling around inside you -- AGAIN! Though the new-WIP ego has already started to squawk in my ear about how much BETTER it is than the last story, and if I loved that one, just wait till I type the last word on THIS one because I ain't seen nothing yet...so now my first book has a hit out on this second one with the big mouth. Things could get ugly.
The other thing tugging at the back of my mind is the genre-trap...again. I had a hard time fitting MF into one category, and now I'm having that trouble with YOU FOE, though it's ~slightly~ easier this time. There is at least one classical sci-fi element...which kind of makes me laugh because it's something I *never* thought I'd be writing about. In fact, I never set out to write sci-fi PERIOD. But like I said, this story is BOSSY. And like MF, that one little element of sci-fi doesn't define everyone and everything in the story. For the most part, my characters are normal YAs with the usual YA problems...and um, then comes the sci-fi to make everything more complicated. So IDK...I mean, I guess you could say the same thing about Twilight: Everyone is normal except the Cullens who are doing their best to appear normal. But...isn't that true of EVERYONE in high school?
- Mood:
energetic
I'm being whisked off to the east coast for an unprecedented SECOND TIME this year...AND I'm going to be brave and go carry-on only. Dunn-dunn-dunnnnn!!! Cynical broadcast from yet-to-be-determined airport pending!
But really, I'll be happy to get there. I haven't spent Thanksgiving with my family in about...five years? And the family just got a little bigger...
That's Oscar the Goldendoodle (don't get me started on hybrid dog breeds)! And next to him is my brand new niece, Audrey. :) She's a hybrid of my sister Charlotte and her husband Mike. Jk, guys...ok not really. Audrey is the very first grandchild in my family...I'm also told she spits up A LOT. But hey, nothing I'm not used to with dogs, right...? Audrey and I are going to be very well-acquainted by Sunday because S somehow managed to end up NOT coming with me on this trip AGAIN, so Charlotte, Audrey, and I are going to be ~*ROOMMATES*~. I see this as a perfect exercise in birth control. In fact, depending on how the weekend goes, I may recommend this experience to anyone thinking about having sex. :D
But REALLY, she is cute...and I'm going to see if I can start refining her tastes in YA early... Heh. Maybe I'll bring a copy of my WIP, and if she pukes on it, I will know it needs work.
Besides spending time with Charlotte and Audrey, my mom and dad will be visiting from Syracuse, and we're all staying with my unofficial godparents in their really cool Frank Lloyd Wright-style house that has a gas fireplace and a built-into-the-wall coffee machine that makes individual cups of coffee at the press of a button. I have big plans for that thing...and the fireplace. My unofficial godmother, Maryellen, is a FANTASTIC chef...if I only survive one leg of my travels, I hope it is the first one so I at least get to stuff my face with her food. YUM! Stuffing is my all-time favorite part of Thanksgiving...followed closely by pumpkin pie, but it must be drowned in cool whip.
Once I have succeeded in the stuffing of my face...or putting stuffing IN my face, I plan to hunker down for some cutthroat Scrabble!! (You know you are DYING to be in my family, we are SO exciting). I have been practicing, and I know everyone's weaknesses...my dad does himself in with double consonants EVERY SINGLE TIME. I may have to slay him with bookkeeper. ~*laughs evilly*~. Although I have this uncanny ability to form dirty/silly words with my pieces...and then, you know, I must USE those words...but I give myself away every time, like when I spelled G-O-N-A-D and for some reason it struck me funny, and the whole game had to be paused for ten minutes until I could pull myself off the floor and breathe again...guess you had to be there. But srsly, it is MORE FUN to spell things besides G-O and A-F-T-E-R and D-I-D. But the game does not reward it! You should get bonus points for creativity in scrabble, no?
SO, is anyone else travelling this fine most-traveled-weekend-of-the-year? Where are you going? What are your favorite Thanksgiving traditions? Games? And most importantly...favorite FOODS??
HAPPY THANKSGIVING, everyone!
- Mood:
hungry
This is not a teaser...and anyway it's officially not Tuesday anymore.
I wrote this poem almost two years ago. It's about the guy who um, initially inspired the *love interest* in MIND FIRE, which I had begun around the same time. Writing the poem got me excited to finish the novel, ~*mah first novel*~, so...it's definitely not the greatest, but it is special.
~*~
The Summertime Prince
For twenty years, he’s carried that staff
selling his pretzels, with a bow, and a laugh.
Wooing young maids in his Renaissance style
light kiss on the fingers, a dazzling smile.
But mums guard your daughters the rest of the year
he’s a shape-shifting dragon, or so I do hear
Come winter, a pirate’s ship he will sail,
down to New Orleans, into port with a hail!
To tend bar for his brethren of fallen souls
writers, actors, politicians, he’ll wear all their clothes
Even a mendicant mask, he dons with a wince
he’s no stranger to it, this summertime prince.
And when the last snow melts from the gray New York skies,
“Tis time for the Festival!” home again he will fly
To wield staff anew, and break a young girl’s heart
in the deep Sterling woods, romance is his art.
Those blue eyes will settle on full ruby lips,
nothing taken for granted, curving bust, swaying hips.
And with a “Huzzah!” grasps his naïve young lass
In beautiful talons, she’s his prey, oh alas.
- Mood:
nostalgic
Okay so back on July 8th I was in DEEP. I was revising, revising, revising the MS I finally queried two weeks ago...and I was deep in Office Splat. I would like to proclaim that I ~finally~ rented that excavator and managed to pull myself from the heap. Being the day after Halloween, it was much like pulling myself from a GRAVE. :) But I PREVAILED, and here is my PROOF:
FOUR MONTHS AGO
SAD that it took this long. But hey, at least it HAPPENED! I actually sorted, threw away, and *filed* all those papers (after prying the file cabinet open with a crowbar - it fought NOBLEY for retirement). But I did leave the sticky notes...actually, there have been several sticky note additions, but you know, they don't really get in the way so much as remind me WHY I'M HERE.
S was so ecstatic, he took me out to The Cheesecake Factory to celebrate, poor guy. He suffers in silence. He also suggested that my ~*creative energies*~ might flow more freely with the chaos gone...I was actually worrying the opposite when he said it, but my tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth in chocolate-peanut-butter cup-cookie-dough cheesecake, so I just nodded.
Moral of the story: Your desk will not eat you...unless you let down your guard. SIT STRONG my fellow writers, we're in this together.
- Mood:
satisfied
Yes, a whopping 587 brand-spanking ~*sparkly*~ words on the new WIP!!
I'm not officially signed up for NaNo, but I consider myself a member of NaNoWriLife...all the same, I consider myself challenged by my self (possibly more powerful than an internet of other novelists) to crank out the words. DO YOU HEAR THAT, ME??
It might be too sad to do a word-meter, so we'll just celebrate these words without comparing them to the ones still unwritten. But I am soo excited. :D Also, that DARKNESS thing I was worried about might not be as bad as I thought.
Now if I can just put down MORE words in a 2nd POV, we might actually be going somewhere...
- Mood: energetic
Okay, I purposely avoided information about this movie so that I would receive it in the purest possible form. And I WAS NOT disappointed. :D
Since everyone in the world has seen it besides me, I'm going to go ahead and talk about ~everything~ (SPOILER ALERT).
Firstly, I have to say that 28 Days Later did not leave me *scared* the way I thought it might. I'm not sure if I'm getting desensitized or what, but I just haven't seen anything lately that has made me want to sleep with the light on. There were certainly *scary moments* - mostly just places where I was startled - but I DON'T want to give the impression that I didn't enjoy this movie because I really ~*LOVED*~ it!!!
Why did I love it? The cinematography was fantastic. The story was intriguing - the STUPID animal rights activists (this is EXACTLY why I dislike PETA) at the beginning, and especially poor Jim waking up from a coma all alone in London. THAT gave me chills.
Best moments: The "infected" priest: YES!!! - Selena hacking up the guy she was with in the beginning - The flat tire in the tunnel.
(And BTW, can I just ask who else ever saw the 90s version of THE TOMORROW PEOPLE on Nickelodeon? Because that had a HUGE effect on me and the MS I just finished and Naomie Harris was IN THAT *and* 28 Days Later and I used to have a HUGE crush on Christian Tessier, and I just had a HUGE OMG moment).
Biggest shockers: Finding out that Christopher Eccleston was a bad guy (Nooooooo!!!!!!!). Also, is it wrong of me to be much more deeply disturbed by the fact that the military guys fully intended to lure, trap, and rape women (AND A &*$%#@*&! BARELY PUBESCENT GIRL) than by all of England being *infected*?? Cuz the way that went down made me far sicker than any seething venomous zombie-thing. I'm kind of guessing that was the idea...
...Which leads me to Goriest Moment Ever: Jim gouging out needs-to-die-military-boy's eyes out by hand. As satisfying as this finally was, I totally had to look away - the ONLY time I did in the entire movie! And S pointed out how interesting it was that (at least to me) the most offensive violence in the movie was done MAN vs MAN, and ~not~ INFECTED vs MAN. Hmmmm.
So really, what was there not to love? :) I'll admit, there were some places where you just had to suspend belief a bit...such as the 30-second virus gestation...and the fact that when you stab people at close range, blood spray is likely to enter your eyes/lungs...and you probably shouldn't kiss someone covered in blood of unknown origin...
Also, the ending was brilliantly vague. Early in the movie you hear that the virus has spread globally...but then there are hints that maybe it is limited to Great Britain, which may just be quarantined. By the very end, it is clear that other humans are alive and well, and flying planes around, but you're still not sure exactly what the damage is. Although the 30-second gestation seems like it would be prohibitive as far as global infection. A seething venomous zombie-thing would NEVER make it through airport security...I think. But also, if the rest of the world was okay, wouldn't they have tried to make radio broadcasts or something into Britain for survivors?
Anyway, I give it: A+++++ (YAYNESS!) Well done all around, but I guess what else can you expect from Danny Boyle? And it DOES make you stop to consider PLAN B...what would YOU do in a zombie-infection apocalypse??
Up Next: Maybe Argento's OPERA, or DEMONS, IDK yet!!
- Mood:
scared
So, everyone knows what you do while you wait to hear back on queries, right?
You stop obsessing over THAT MS and move on to a NEW one.
I guess I've reached that stage, only it's not in MS form yet...people, I am outlining. (!!!!!!!) Never thought I'd say that.
And it's going really well! I had a super-cool idea for a new premise, and first few chapters, etc. I think I know the right direction to go on POV (there will be TWO this time - 1st-person, I think...if I can bring myself to do it. I heart 3rd-close). I even know my characters a *little* bit already. And I HAD been stuck trying to figure out where the whole thing was going to go (after said super-cool premise), but today I THINK I KNOW.
BUT..............this one is going to be a lot "edgier/darker" than the last one. And I don't know how I feel about that. I mean, I have absolutely NO problem with edgy/dark material. I love reading it, and I'm excited to write this story. But it's like, SO different. I feel like if both books ever made it into print, one would need a pseudonym or something because they just DON'T go together.
I mean, both books do have some similarities...I like to write speculative fiction based in science. For the most part (My YA heroes are Christopher Pike and Scott Westerfeld). And this new MS is going to be like that...only a little heavier on the sci-fi. Which kind of surprises me, but REALLY shouldn't considering the idea for it, which would make you laugh at me about this if I told you what it was. (Sorry! Sekrit!)
And on top of the sci-fi lean (which is really just fine by itself), my MCs and what happens to them is just a little bit scarier. It's darker, grittier, and so are they. They make my last MC look like a Puritan. So I'm like...is SHE TOO PURE? Or ARE THEY TOO DARK? Or are they all who they need to be and I should just shut up and understand that the two worlds will never meet...except on a hypothetical bookshelf? *headdesk*
- Mood: energetic
- Music:Kelly Watch the Stars - Air
(Ignore the stupid American title, PHENOMENA is best!!)
OMG, let me first say that I came to this movie QUITE reluctantly. All I knew about it was that INSECTS played a major role, and that ~creeped~ me out!! I assumed they would be horrific killer-insects that murdered people in disgusting devouring ways.
I WAS WRONG.
The insects were BENEVOLENT!!
And this was probably my favorite role ever for Jennifer Connelly. WIN! So here's the set-up (typical a la Dario Argento): Young girls are being MURDERED around a not-so-friendly girls boarding school. A gentle old wheelchair-bound entomologist is trying to help the police solve the murders. MEANWHILE, Jennifer Connelly (who couldn't have been more than 15) is sent to said ~scary~ boarding school by her father who is some kind of rich rock star you never see. She has episodes of sleep-walking and sleep-walks right into a (particularly marvelous Argento-style) murder. She flees in the night, and somehow finds herself at the home of the wheelchair-bound entomologist, which is WEIRD because she can SPEAK TO INSECTS TELEPATHICALLY. (o_O)
I really, REALLY don't want to give the ending of this one away for those who have not seen it! I will say that I was left asking, "So what the hell happened?" but in the BEST possible way, AND there were in this movie: 1 insane mutant child, 1 vengeful school marm, 2 decapitations, 1 vengeful chimpanzee, 1 cesspool of rotting things and *floating* skulls (YES, they FLOATED), 1 not-believable boat explosion, and SEVERAL endearing insect communcations. Awwwwwwwwww.
So my rating: A++++
Next Up: 28 Days Later, dammit! Finally confronted S on his queue-tamperings. Caught him red-handed!!
Footnote: Have also recently watched Silent Hill (B-) and What Have You Done to Solange? (A-) which were both good, but the latter was better, OF COURSE. Like Black Christmas, it had a (more disturbing) abortion sub-plot. And in wonderful giallo style, some really, really disturbing murders.
- Mood: scared
So today's kind of a big day for me.
And that got me thinking about the past 14 months.
Actually, let me back up, because according to my Word files, MF has officially existed for almost two years. Two Thanksgivings ago, I was playing around with writing more than I had for a long time. I messed with some short stories and poetry, but this one idea kept needling through my mind & wouldn't leave me alone. I wrote a short story, which became a first chapter. For the next nine months, I struggled through and finished writing a first draft. I showed it to my family. They *loved* it. I submitted the first draft to agents.
*blush* I got a lot of rejections. :) One of those rejections took the time to mention what the agent didn't love about the work. It wasn't the idea so much as the writing. I sat on that for a while. I bought some fabulous books. The most important one being: Self-Editing For Fiction Writers. I LEARNED A LOT.
I stopped subbing, and started rewriting (14 months ago). Over this period of time, I read more books, and messageboards, and continued to learn. I started this journal, met some wonderful people (*waves*) and continued to learn. Several times, I stopped what I was doing and wondered if it was a waste of time. Several more times, I decided it wasn't, and pressed on.
My entire plot changed. My characters changed. Some of them got new names, others new personalities. Their relationships changed. They stopped breathing and coughing their sentences. But the basic idea I started with, the one that wouldn't leave me alone, stayed the same.
I'm generally a self-motivated person, but I continued to learn a lot about discipline. I wrote myself sticky notes, and I've left them up over my desk to remind me to keep going:
"5,000 Words BY MONDAY!"
"NO Messageboards this AM! _____ got an agent! REVISE!!!"
"You got NOTHING done tonight because you procrastinated! Your four lines SUCK and you're going to be fat!"
Honestly, I can't look at them now without laughing. S reads them and says I'm mean to myself. It's a weird thing, self-motivation.
So today is a big day, because I'm sending MF out again. Today feels so much weightier than the last time I sent queries. I'm not exactly sure what's going to happen now, but I know I'll understand everything that DOES happen in a way I didn't 14 months ago.
I guess we'll see... :)
- Mood:
hopeful
Stole this from
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
dawn_metcalfLet's have a little fun! :DIf you read this, if your eyes are passing over this right now, please post a comment with a completely made up and fictional memory of you and me.
It can be anything you want - good or bad - but completely fictional.
When you're finished, post this little paragraph in your blog and see what your friends come up with.
Go on, I dare ya!
- Mood:
amused
Ohhhh yeah, some real SUSPENSE, finally!!
THE HAUNTING
So, this was a CLASSIC example of a movie that could never live up to the book it was based on. But it was an EXCELLENT attempt! I listened to The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson <3 on audio last week, and Sunday we settled in for the movie to compare.
Perhaps I should warn that I didn't find the book all that scary (SPOILER ALERT) until mental illness hit the scene. Yep, WAY scarier than ghosts! Eeeek. The movie poster above does an amazingly accurate portrayal of poor Eleanor's mind. Although...in the movie, it wasn't clear whether Eleanor was really nuts, or if THE HOUSE WAS MAKING HER NUTS. In the book, I kind of assumed it was all her. Heh.
So, freakiest things about the movie: EVERYTHING UNSEEN. There were voices, and noises, and you NEVER saw where they were coming from. LOVE that kind of scary movie! All suggestion, nothing shoved down your throat! It's a lost art, we all know. Weirdest thing about the movie: A young Russ Tamblyn (Dr. Jacoby from TWIN PEAKS) in the role of Luke. Weird. Worst departure from the book: Dr. Markway and Eleanor's sexual tension, Theodora being a byotch, Mrs. Markway's character getting *ruined* (she went from oujia-board wielding nincompoop (sp?) to dry, uninteresting skeptic. :-P Character most TRUE to the book: Mrs. Dudley. "I set out breakfast at nine. I clear up at ten." ROFL.
Scary Movie Rating: B+. Not sweating-screaming-hiding-under-blankets scary, but definitely caused a few jumps! And in 1963, probably caused more than a few NIGHTMARES. :) Overall, a MUST for the classic scary catalogue.
Ok, so we've worked our way up to THE REAL THING! Next movie up: Phenomena by Dario Argento. OH GOD /INSECTS\ I DON'T KNOW IF I CAN TAKE IT. *SHUDDER*
- Mood: scared
This is going to be a two-fer. This week we've watched:
THE OTHERS THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES
Okay, so these were both kind of concessions to S, who still needs a night-light. ;) BUT I was pleasantly surprised to find that BOTH movies were SCARIER than I anticipated!! I didn't even think MOTHMAN was supposed to be scary at all, but trust me - it WAS. In like, the best kind of X-Files way. And there was a moment in THE OTHERS when I screamed DIRECTLY in S's ear - at about the decible I used to use for swim meets back in the day - and I haven't done that since we had our first movie date at ID4. Oh god, don't think about when that came out...
THE OTHERS:
Wow, ok I've always thought Nicole Kidman was nice to look at, but I was never that impressed with her skills as an actor (see Far and Away...or actually, don't). But she was GREAT in this movie! It had everything a classical ghost story has - big spooky house (extra points for being an old manor), shifty servants, slamming doors/furniture, mysterious pianos that play themselves, beautiful dark scenes edited for maximum TENSION, and GHOSTS. Should I ruin the twist? I think I'll resist...but in full disclosure, I already kind of had an inkling as to what it was before we started the movie, and it STILL snuck up on me and was very intriguing to see how they pulled it off! Wonderful ambivalent ending. Oh yeah, and Christopher Eccleston was in it!! Reason enough to rent!! B+
THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES
I do not like Richard Gere, for completely irrational reasons involving my sister and PRETTY WOMAN, but he was watchable in this movie. Did not make it or break it. I was trying to superimpose David Duchovny's face on his, but he kept moving... ANYWAY, S just finished reading this book, so I indulged him. He listens to a lot of Coast to Coast AM podcasts. Most of them are whacked-the-hell-out, but some (particularly ones about EVPs *shiver*) can be strangely compelling. According to S, this movie only faintly resembled the goings-on in the book, but it was FREAK-Y without ever even showing a MOTHMAN. Eeek. Basic plot: Richard Gere's tragically endearing wife (Debra Messing) dies in the beginning and he experiences strange phenomena that lead him to this little town in W. Virginia called Point Pleasant (true story!). All the people in this town have been experiences strange things, and some have even SEEN the MOTHMAN, who is described as being 8ft tall and scary as shite with wings and an insectal voice and his name is Indrid Cold. EEEK! So Richard never resolves anything about the Mothman, even after being lured with glimpses of his dead wife, but he does find LURVE with a lady cop played by Laura Linney that I found only *slightly* unbelievable as a rural W. Virginia cop, but what are you going to do? Much of the FREAKY events in the book/movie ACTUALLY TOOK PLACE, which gives this movie even further scariness cred. I give it a B.
Next in queue: THE HAUNTING (FINALLY!!)
- Mood: scared
I'm going to say it out loud: I am about to sub my manuscript. To living, breathing agents that I respect. A lot. *tremble* I have gotten some wonderful feedback on my MS recently, and I think I've fixed the major problems (yanno, like the whole beginning not working). I'm feeling really good about it right now...between the inevitable waves of doubt. Part of me just wants to send my (totally awesome) query letters out and not look back. But part of me would feel better if someone else read it once more before it goes out (like, to catch the places where people might be eating cereal on one page say, and pancakes on the next?). I'm not looking for a line-by-line crit.
Have you read between the lines yet? I'm looking for volunteers!
And actually, I'd be happy just to get feedback on the *all new* first chapter. Because like, *wipes forehead* I don't need to tell YOU GUYS how important those first ten pages are, do I?
I'm more than happy to swap reading for this again. If you want to just trade first chapters, that's cool! If you don't have anything ready now, but can make the time to read for me, you may hold that over my head until a future date when I'd be glad to return the favor! Also, if you've seen this MS before and would have another go at it...you'd be made of awesome. If this thing makes it into print, I have a nice, shiny spot on my acknowledgements page just waiting for your name. :) I'm hoping to wrap this up as fast as possible, but I understand that ALL of you are busy-busy friends! Let me know in comments or send me a message if you might be interested!
BTW, this is a ~63k Contemporary YA with a sci-fi/magical realism bent.
- Mood: nervous
Profile
- emilyhainsworth
- Emily Hainsworth
Syndicate
