Why?

The internet is a scary place. I only went online to look up who the woman was who covered Crimson and Clover (Joan Jett, if you were wondering) and on the same site where I found this info learned that Pat Boone did a cover version of Ozzy Osbourne’s Crazy Train, and it is as horrible as it sounds. Obviously, this was all very important research.

What movie do you want to see made into a film?

I am so excited about the new Alice in Wonderland movie coming out. I’ve loved the Alice books for a long time, have a healthy collection of Alice in Wonderland crap collectibles, and have always been disappointed that all the movie versions of the book pretty much sucked, but with Tim Burton at the helm and the premise being a return to Wonderland by a 19 year-old Alice, I have a feeling that this new movie is going to finally succeed in turning a couple of great books into a great movie.

Dad kindly gave me this article about the film from USA Today, because he knew about my Alice obsession. I already wanted to see the movie based on all the trailers I had seen and buzz I had heard, and well because I think Tim Burton is a genius, but the article only drove home the fact that I must see this movie.

It also made me realize that I would love to see a movie of Jasper Fforde’s Shades of Grey directed by Tim Burton. Yes, I know I just finished the book last week, and I know that probably nothing will happen cinematically until the other two books in the trilogy are out, but it would make for an awesome film, especially by someone with Tim Burton’s visual imagination.

So what book would you love to see turned into a movie? Who should direct it? Who would star in it?

Happy birthday, Wilhelm Grimm and some thoughts on creative siblings

According to my 2010 edition of A Working Writer’s Daily Planner today is Wilhelm Grimm’s birthday. He is the younger half of the pair affectionately referred to as The Brothers Grimm. According to Wikipedia:

The whole of the lives of the two brothers were passed together. In their school days, they had one bed and one table in common. As students, they had two beds and two tables in the same room. They always lived under one roof, and had their books and property in common.

I can’t help thinking that they were almost like conjoined twins when I read this description. I’m always intrigued by anyone who can successfully collaborate with another individual on a long term basis. Collaboration can be pretty tricky.

I think siblings might have a built in advantage in terms of collaboration, though. Using family games of Pictionary as my point of reference, it seems pretty clear that siblings have a better ability to communicate with one another that gives them an advantage in this area.

Hollywood has some creative sibling pairs in the Coen brothers and the Farrelly brothers. Music has seen it’s fair share of sibling collaboration. Whether your taste runs more towards The Jonas Brothers or Good Charlotte, there are plenty of creative siblings in the music biz. The world of young adult literature, not to mention the blogosphere has the talented and always hilarious Lisa and Laura Roecker.

There is one creative pair you may not be acquainted with, however. I am referring to the multi-talented Sisters Grosso whose collaborative efforts span filmmaking, the world of music and even a few ill-fated literary offerings. As pretty much everything we ever collaborated on was on a level distinctly below amateur, it has little chance of ever seeing the light of day, but having teased you I might as well put something out there.

So, here are the lyrics to the first verse of a little ditty we like to call “You’re So Great” written and performed (though lucky for you there is no performance here to view) in honor of my mother’s 60th birthday. I’m sure you’ll be able to guess the tune (by the way, these lyrics probably makes more sense if you know that my parents met at a fraternity party and that my mother used to iron her hair):

It’s Monday, What are You Reading?

It’s group blog time once again, It’s Monday What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at One Person’s Journey Through a World of Books.

I’ve been doing more writing than reading this week, and only managed to get through one “real” book and one audio book. I finished the awesome Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde and listened to the moving Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr.

Shades of Grey

I’ll be honest, although I like the premise behind Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next series, I had a hard time getting into those books, but when I read the premise behind Shades of Grey, I knew I had to give Fforde another try, and I am so glad I did. The novel is set in a dystopian future where everyone is obsessed with color and society is organized into a rigid hierarchy based upon one color’s reception. Our narrator Eddie Russett has strong red perception, but thanks to a bit of trouble he caused back home he’s been sent out to the sticks with the assignment to complete a chair census. He finds that the village of East Carmine is filled with dark secrets and curious characters, and gets himself mixed up in things a bit over his head. Really no description of this book can quite do it justice. A wonderfully original premise, colorful (sorry, I couldn’t resist!) characters and the sort of humor one would find in a Douglas Adams book makes this book a must read. The good news is that it is the first book in a planned trilogy. The bad news is I have to wait for the other two books to come out.

Story of a Girl

With audiobooks, a book’s reader can make or break a book. I appreciated the fact that Sara Zarr herself was the reader for Story of a Girl. It made this book about a teenage girl coming to terms with an event that occurred a few years ago, and which has come to define her both in her family and at school, all the more powerful. If you enjoy good young adult realistic fiction, this is one definitely worth checking out.

What’s next

Thanks to some library reserves coming in for me, my reading plans changed a bit this week. Right now I am reading the nonfiction book Booklife by Jeff VanderMeer, and am already by the wealth of information it contains for writers promoting themselves and their work in these modern times, and I’m only on chapter 2. Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick also came in for me at the library this week. So, I’ll probably read that next, and then hopefully read Handcuffs by Bethany Griffin.

There really needs to be a catch-up day added to the week

I like weekends. I would like them better if they were longer.

I think adding an extra day to every week that was devoted to catching up on everything would make my life so much easier. Then my desk would get cleaned off, my laundry would get put away, my blog would get updated, my taxes would get done, and I would still have time to write.

How would you spend your catch-up day?

Why you should use Google Analytics

If you have a blog or website, and are interested in keeping track of the traffic that visits your site Google has a wonderful FREE (Isn’t there some rule that says that the word “free” must be written all in caps? I’m pretty sure there is, but I’m too lazy to get up and consult Strunk and White.) tool. Google Anayltics tells you who is visiting your site and how long they spend there and which pages they visit. There are all sort of pretty graphs and charts and things, most of which I don’t entirely understand.

But the number one reason you should use Google Analytics is that you can find out what search terms are bringing people to your website. Without Google Analytics, how would I know that one of the top search terms that bring folks to this website is, “poems about making a deal with the devil”. Well, I don’t know about you, but I certainly feel enriched by that bit of random data.

I feel like I should do something with this valuable marketing information, but I have know idea what to do with it. Do you use Google Analytics? What is the weirdest search term that has brought people to your web site?

It’s Monday, What are You Reading?

It’s group blog time once again, It’s Monday What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at One Person’s Journey Through a World of Books.

This week I finished up a mystery novel Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan; read a graphic novel, Squirrel Mother by Megan Kelso; finished listening to the audio of An Abundance of Katherines by John Green and read a modern allegory Carmen Dog by Carol Emshwiller.

Bad Things Happen

I can’t remember where I first read a review for this debut novel by Harry Dolan, but wherever it was I remember thinking that the book sounded good, and I added it to by to-read list. I’m glad I did. Main character David Loogan has a mysterious past, who in a roundabout way ends up working for the small mystery magazine Gray Streets. Soon though, things are happening around Loogan, that makes him think he has stumbled into a real live Gray Streets story, as first one then another person associated with the magazine gets murdered. As the body count mounts it’s hard to put down this mystery novel, as each chapter seems to end in a new cliffhanger and the mystery behind who the murderer is and who David Loogan really is continues to deepen.

Squirrel Mother

This short graphic novel by Megan Kelso is a series of short graphic short stories, some on the usual themes of growing up as well as less conventional things like the Alexander Hamilton. Kelso’s stories rely mainly on her own engaging artwork to move things along, words are only there to help flesh out the stories a bit. It’s a quick “read” that can easily be completed in one sitting.

An Abundance of Katherines

I am now convinced that John Green is a bona fide master of writing about the teenage boy. Once again he takes the story of a socially awkward, somewhat nerdy teenage boy dealing with life and girls and turns it into an engaging poignant tale. His characters always feel like real people to me, people I would love to have as my own friends and maybe that’s what makes his novels so enjoyable. Colin’s a former child prodigy trying to come to terms with the fact that he is now nothing but an adult of above average intelligence as well as trying to deal with the fact that the nineteenth girlfriend he had named Katherine has dumped him. He goes on a road trip and winds up in Gutshot, Tennessee, and in that unlikely place makes some discoveries about his own life.

Carmen Dog

This novel by Carol Emshwiller is hard to classify. Unexpectedly all the women of the world start turning into animals while at the same time female animals start turning into women. The story mainly follows Pooch the family pet as she becomes a woman, dreams of singing in the opera and finds herself in one bad situation after another. It’s an allegorical tale that has the feel of something that would be read in a feminist studies course in college. The concept could be played for laughs, but the story is mainly a serious one despite the absurdity of the premise.

What’s Next?

Right now I am reading Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde and listening to Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr. I’m hoping to read Handcuffs by Bethany Griffin.

My first vlog post? Well, not exactly

So, the other day it snowed. A lot. I took my dog, Jack out to play in it, and captured a few seconds of his antics on my very cheap digital camera. The camera work is pretty shaky since I was stumbling around in the snow as I filmed this.

By the way, if you’re wondering about the song, it’s the self proclaimed greatest cover band of all time, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes doing Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Boxer.” Why? Because my dog’s part Boxer, of course.

Where I find out about new music

Some people discover new music by hearing it on the radio or reading about it in a magazine, but for me my father has always been my source for new music. Whether it was Nirvana and Pearl Jam when I was in high school or Liz Phair when I was in college, my dad always seemed to be the first person I knew to discover new performers.

He is not in any way involved in the music industry, though he does have this dream of starting an internet radio station when he retires. This is a hobby, a sometimes expensive hobby, since he has been known to buy several CDs a week. (Yes, there are still people out there who buy CDs.)

Anyway, a CD he bought a little bit before Christmas and which he and I have decided is awesome is Fortress ’round My Heart by Ida Maria. So, this is what I am listening to right now:

Deadlines

Last night I was reminded of one of my favorite writing quotes. The late great Douglas Adams once said, “I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.”

What brought the quote to mind was an email in my inbox about a screenwriting competition. I went over to their website to see more about the competition, and I must admit the first thing I looked at was the deadline. Like many screenwriting contests out there, there were actually a series of deadlines. The earlier one enters, the less one has to pay as an entry fee. It struck me that those who organize competitions may do this very deliberately because they know that writers are master procrastinators and will end up paying more money out of their meager budgets as one deadline after another whooshes on by.

And yes, at the time that I was looking up screenwriting competitions last night I had a deadline looming on the news story for the local paper that I needed to get submitted before I turned in for bed. Is there a writer out there who isn’t also a master of procrastination?