I Feel Pitch-Slapped!

Date night this weekend, and as that usually means dinner and a movie for hubby and me, I saw the movie that will soon grace my DVD shelf (in about six months) when it's not in my DVD player.  We were going to see Looper, which looks seriously kick-ass, but we were in the mood for a laugh instead of action.  We're very moody movie-watchers.

Ba-bam! There it was...Pitch Perfect.  I realize it's not exactly everyone's idea of a good time to see a bunch of teens prance around and sing, but throw in the absolutely hilarious, and big-girl-beautiful, Rebel Wilson, and this is a very gooood time.

In this movie, we follow an aspiring music producer Beca, played by Anna Kendrick of Twilight fame, as she tries to please her father and give college a chance.  Reluctantly, she tries out for the Barden Bellas, an all-girl competing a capella group, and livens it up with her music mixes.  They take on their campus rivals and though they struggle as a group, it's hilarious and fun the whole way through.

The characters are what make this movie.  I can't really describe the hilarity without spoilers, but let's just say, Fat Amy isn't the only humor in this movie.  I laughed so hard, I was holding my nose so my snorts were thoroughly suppressed.  So very funny, and the music is stellar. I got chills quite a few times.

Basically, it boils down to this...I'd pay full-price to see this one again, and I will buy this DVD to watch over and over.  Loved it!

Happy Reading and Writing (and Movie Watching),

C. C.

Video Friday--Author Insights

Love, love, love me some Meg Cabot.  Besides being an all-around, super-duper, amazing author, she also makes very funny videos and posts them to http://www.youtube.com.  Of course, many of them are hilarious trailers and spoofs about her books, but some are just insightful to the goings-on of her creative mind.  I'm a subscriber, and these vids are often just so much fun.  Like this one, for instance--fun, fun, fun:


Happy Reading and Writing (and Video-Watching),

C. C.

Stuck in a Good Book Giveaway!

What? There's a blog hop about books? Like, the best books?  I'm SO in!

So many books sucked me in and engrossed me for a spell.  It's hard to narrow it down to just one.  So, I'll try to base it on the most recent one.  Last summer, I finally caved into the hype and read The Hunger Games.  I am so glad I did.  Ever since Lois Lowry's The Giver, and Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, I've been fascinated by the dystopian genre.  What would we do if society as we know it collapsed?  How would we go on?

The Hunger Games does an excellent job of giving a sympathetic character with Katniss Everdeen.

Not only is she independent, but she takes care of her family and would do anything for them, including sacrifice herself, if she has to.  That's how she ends up in The Hunger Games, a competition contrived by the government to keep the people in line after a previous rebellion.

Katniss is amazing in the games, and in the end, refuses to compromise her beliefs and follow the dictates of a corrupt government.

Of course, I could go on and on, but most have probably read it or seen the recent film.  If not, I don't want to spoil it for you.  Basically, it boils down to this--this book is about hope.  All dystopians are about hope.  Even though the conflict is great, the journey to salvation is worth it and leaves the reader hopeful that if the world ever did go crazy, we would survive and thrive.

Though I began writing Edge of Mercy before I read The Hunger Games, and though they both have a strong heroine, their journeys are very different.  In Edge of Mercy, Charlie disguises herself as a boy to protect her sister from the monsters outside the community walls as well as the human ones inside.  Her world is far from perfect, but they're all on the Edge of Mercy.

Thanks for stopping by.  I'm giving away two $5 gift cards to the e-seller of your choice and a copy of Edge of Mercy.  Complete the entries that interest you for multiple chances to win.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don't forget to check out the other giveaways at http://www.iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com

Video Friday--A Little Julian Smith in Your Life

If you haven't seen Julian Smith's YouTube videos (or his alter-ego Jeffery Dallas), you've been missing out.  I'm a subscriber, so I've watched nearly all his many videos.  Here is the first one I ever watched.  Maybe it's a little warped, but for some reason I can't really explain, I find it funny:


Just to give you fair warning though, you usually can't watch just one video.  And some of them will leave you on the floor.  Check them out, if you get the chance.

Happy Reading and Writing (and video-watching),

C. C.

Video Friday--Laugh With Me

I love JustForLaughsTV on Youtube. I subscribe because they upload funny videos three or four times a day. I can't watch all those, but it brightens my day when I can at least check out one.

Today I saw this one about the power of love and wanted to share.

Have a look at this one and try not to smile:

Happy Reading and Writing!

C. C.

Progress! Heart of Mercy

Yeah! Made it through a pivotal and tense scene in Heart of Mercy. Only 7,690 words in, but making progress. Hope to make it to 10,000 words tonight.

It took two things. One: my new technique of listing the action in a scene and mentally checking off as I write a particular bit of it. And two: employing my tried and true, "I'll just write for ten minutes,"  technique. One of two things always happens when I do this. Either I write for ten minutes and get a little further (every little bit counts), or I keep going past the ten minutes and kick writing butt. It's not fool-proof, but it works for me.

Excuse my ADD moment, but I also found an interesting discussion written in March 2012 about why the boom in YA fiction recently. The writer shares,

"Why are so many adults reading young adult books? No need to page Dr. Freud. This isn’t about the guilty pleasures of communing with one’s inner child. It doesn’t signify a huge baby boomer regression. It isn’t even about nostalgia. 

It’s because adults are discovering one of publishing’s best-kept secrets: that young adult authors are doing some of the most daring work out there. Authors who write for young adults are taking creative risks -- with narrative structure, voice and social commentary -- that you just don’t see as often in the more rarefied world of adult fiction."

I rather like the idea of YA taking those creative risks. How fun and fantastic! Is YA fiction where the daring ideas are?

If you'd like to see more, the entire article can be found here.

Happy Reading and Writing!

C. C. Marks