#so so obsessed with how the novel keeps trying to make you think that julia would be ready to cast lemy aside

[taicangmountain]

fifth pierrot did such wonders for irina’s character it’s easily one of my favorite novels JUST for that fact. julia and lemy…ough

[carmenxjulia]

I put together a transcript of the 1 hour Q&A Interview the Carmen Sandiego Discord did with Abby Trott (Ivy) and Rafael Petardi (Chase Devineaux). All of the questions were submitted by server members. You can read everything below the break!

PizzaHorse:

Hello everyone! Please welcome Abby Trott and Rafael Petardi to our Q&A today.

Abby Trott:

Hiiiiiiiiiii!

Rafael Petardi:

Hello Bonjour!

PizzaHorse:

Let's get started. How did you get started as a voice actor? Was there anything that inspired you to pursue it as a career?

Abby Trott:

Oh MAN. Long story.

Rafael Petardi:

Mine is very short. I'm an actor and my agent started sending me on voice auditions and eventually I booked some!

Abby Trott:

This is a novel so I started typing it ahead of time, haha. I was an acting/theater major, and when I graduated from college I moved to Japan on the JET program to teach English because I wanted to travel so freakin' badly. I had never even been on an airplane. I was placed in rural Akita, (inaka), and absolutely LOVED it. The only problem was I wanted to be and actor/singer… womp womp. At that time, I also started to mess around with characters and voices - I would record voice memos and conversations with myself while driving around. One day, a friend was in the car and my phone was on shuffle and one of my "scenes" started playing - I was absolutely MORTIFIED. But that moment solidified for me that I need to move to the big ole city if I wanted to really pursue acting. I ended up heading to Tokyo, where I performed in children's musicals, and did other gigs here and there. That's where I started doing VO professionally! I was able to do some character voices for the shows I was in, and some other side projects. I realized how much I loved VO, and eventually decided to move back to the States to pursue it, since most English VO for games and animation is produced here.

When I moved back, I started searching online for VoiceOver opportunities, and stumbled across a contest hosted by Bang Zoom! Entertainment. I BARELY got my entry in on time. The contest took place over several months, and in the meantime, I moved to NYC and started taking VO classes. For the finale of the contest, they flew me to LA. I ended up winning! Still can't believe it. (O-O) I got to dub my first anime "Miss Monochrome," and realized that if I wanted to work in games and animation, I should probably move to LA… and the I DID.

THE END

PizzaHorse:

What do you think are the best and worst things about being a voice actor?

Abby Trott:

Oooh. The worst things? Job insecurity... constant rejection...

Rafael Petardi:

The incredibly talented and cool people you meet and work with.

What Abby said

Abby Trott:

The best things? Working with amazing people, AND it's so much fun - even auditioning is fun!

PizzaHorse:

How did you land your role on the show?

Rafael Petardi:

I auditioned

Got the job

pretty boring I know

Abby Trott:

I auditioned through my agency, and got a callback. I went to the callback and their note was "more Boston." Then I had a second callback and their note was "even MORE Boston." So I went WICKED BOSTON and got the job

PizzaHorse:

What was your favorite/the most fun thing to record (episode/scene/line)? Any least favorites?

Rafael Petardi:

For me, the funnest scenes to record are the ones I got to play opposte the incredibly talented cast.

The least favorite... did not have enough scenes with the Wonderful Abby Trott

Abby Trott:

Awww Rafe! Singing was the MOST FUN! The Karaoke Ep, and the choose-your-own adventure one, where we got to sing the theme! Mikey (Zack) was cracking me up constantly.

Least favorite was the last ep because I didn't want it to eeeeeend

PizzaHorse:

Were you allowed to suggest lines to be said by your character, or improvise the script at all if you thought something would add to the scene?

Abby Trott:

YUP! And Mikey and I definitely did, hahaa. It was encouraged. Always fun to see what they keep...

Rafael Petardi:

Yes we were. I improvised mostly sounds and noises. Words once in a while but not very often. Thank God for Duane

PizzaHorse:

What was the hardest part of voicing your character on Carmen Sandiego? Was there a particular episode that was difficult to record?

Rafael Petardi:

Keeping the consistency episode to episode of the Chase's accent, pitch and energy

I did not want hime to sound different ever

Abby Trott:

I think the hardest part was keeping up the EXTREME Boston accent. But it was also SUPER fun...

PizzaHorse:

What traits do you share or have in common with the character you play?

Rafael Petardi:

I am like Chase in the sense of a Dog with a Bone. If I get pasionate about something, I go to extremes. Abby Trott has scene this for example in my bread making endeavors

Also, I'm an idiot in life too sometimes

Abby Trott:

Ivy and I are both... from Mass! we both have brothers who we argue with but really do love when it comes down to it. We love chocolate, aaaaand... I think we're both brave. (brag?)

Can confirm Rafe is v. passionate about bread. And and idiot.

Rafael Petardi:

All True

PizzaHorse:

What character on the show would you voice if you had the chance?

Abby Trott:

Chase

Rafael Petardi:

I would love Maelstrom

Abby Trott:

Jk... Coach Brunt seems SUPER fun

PizzaHorse:

If you could meet a character from Carmen Sandiego in real life, who would it be and why?

Abby Trott:

Carmen! she is the coooooleeest. I'd ask her to teach me some tricks

Rafael Petardi:

Julie Argent. She's cute

PizzaHorse:

Which character do you think you are most like or that you most identify with?

Rafael Petardi:

CHASE

I think that's partly why we're doing the roles we do

Abby Trott:

I think Ivy, for real! Casting was ON IT. I can be serious when I need to be, but I'm a giant goofball (if you couldn't tell from my latest tweet/insta post...)

PizzaHorse:

Who is your favorite character, other than your own?

Abby Trott:

Mime. Bomb.

Rafael Petardi:

Other than my own? Hmmm... uuuh... mmmm. tough...

Abby Trott:

Seriously, I think Mime bomb is hilarious.

Rafael Petardi:

Yes Mime Bomb!

PizzaHorse:

Do you wish your character had more interactions with another character in particular?

Rafael Petardi:

Yes, I would love to interact with Ivy and Maelstrom

I think the interaction would be odd and awkward and funny

Abby Trott:

Yes. I would love to see how Ivy handles the specific VILE members... I would love to see IVY try to go to VILE academy...

PizzaHorse:

Are there any themes or lessons from the series that you would want people to remember?

Rafael Petardi:

yes, don't jump to conclusions and be an idiot

Abby Trott:

Yes! That! also, don't be evil. ALSO also, be loyal to your friends.

PizzaHorse:

Do you ever look at fan content?

Rafael Petardi:

yes all the time. It helps when I'm tagged rafaelPetardi on Instagram

Abby Trott:

Yes! I look at fanart sometimes, and see what cosplays are happenin'

Rafael Petardi:

I've posted many as well

Abby Trott:

Haven't read much fanfic... but I know it's out there.

PizzaHorse:

What did you think about your character's development and arc throughout the series?

Rafael Petardi:

I absolutely loooooooved Chase's arc

Love redemption stuff

he was just misguided

just was alway his thing

Abby Trott:

I love Ivy's journey - she really grew up, from a troubled kid to an adult, accepting responsibility and accepting new challenges. Donning the hat, if you will.

Rafael Petardi:

*justice as always his thing

PizzaHorse:

How do you feel now that Carmen Sandiego is at its end?

Rafael Petardi:

sad. miss evrybody so much

we will have to have a cast reunion when this pandemic thing is over

Abby Trott:

SAD! But grateful. It was THE MOST fun to record, and I wish it could continue forever.

Rafael Petardi:

I'm grateful too. yes

Abby Trott:

and YES reunion!

PizzaHorse:

Yesss can't wait for that group photo to pop up on social media!

Were there any moments in the series that had you legitimately emotional?

Rafael Petardi:

yes ofcourse

losing Julia was tough

Abby Trott:

A lot. But one that stands out for me is after Carmen gets stuck out in the snow, and is reunited with her crew. (:_;). Also the stuff with Shadowsan and his brother... and anything with baby Carmen...

Gah. So many...

PizzaHorse:

Did you enjoy how the show ended? Is there anything you would have changed or would have liked to see more of?

Rafael Petardi:

I loved the way the show ended! I think Duane did a fantastic job tying loose ends and bring the story to a satisfactory close for all characters

I do hope for an ACME Ivy, Zak, Julia and Chase spin-off

Abby Trott:

I love how it ends. I think it wrapped so well considering the number of eps - the writers really got it done. I WISH Ivy and Zack could follow Carmen forever, but she has her own story to unravel it would seem.

And Ivy does look good in that suit let me tell ya

PizzaHorse:

Can you share a favorite behind the scenes moment?

Abby Trott:

Mikey. Is. So. Funny. Hard to choose one moment - he would make me laugh harder than anything. Especially when we were singing. Or any time he had to gag...

Rafael Petardi:

OMG!

That singing stuff we had to do together was hilarious

we could not stop laughinh

PizzaHorse:

What, in your opinion, are the best pizza toppings?

Abby Trott:

Cheese. Caramelized onions. Roasted garlic. Spinach. Mushrooms.

Rafael Petardi:

buffala mozzarella and tomatos period

oooooo fancy Abby

Abby Trott:

Rafe why aren't you as obsessed with pizza as you are with bread? And can you be?

Rafael Petardi:

I am

Abby Trott:

!

Rafael Petardi:

I just don;t like to share pizza

PizzaHorse:

Here's a specific question for Rafael. Did you sometimes get mad at your own character for the way he behaved towards Julia earlier on in the Series?

And one for Abby. As a Massachusetts native, how did you feel about voicing a character from Boston with the iconic accent?

Rafael Petardi:

I did not. I always felt, however misguided Chase was, he was always on the path of turth and justice no matter what was in his way. It's the same principals that led hin to see the truth about Julia

*principles

Abby Trott:

I think it's so cool, and kind of an honor, in a way. I was worried about it being too much, and people saying it's over the top. Turns out comedy wins, haha.

PizzaHorse:

Were you familiar with the older animated series when you started work on the Netflix original?

Rafael Petardi:

I never heard of Carmen Sandiego before I did this series

Abby Trott:

Yes! I had seen a bit. I also remember watching my brother play the game. Someone gifted me a mini arcade version of the game this year, and I'm excited to play :slight_smile:

Rafael Petardi:

Which I think helped when I had to say the iconic line

"Where in th world..." there was no pressure

LoL

Abby Trott:

LOL

PizzaHorse:

Okay, last question. Do you have a favorite quote from the show?

Abby Trott:

"La Femme Rouge!"

or Mime Bomb's classic "..."

Rafael Petardi:

"the game is over!"

PizzaHorse:

Woohoo!

Abby Trott:

Hooray!

PizzaHorse:

Thank you so much Rafael Petardi and Abby Trott for joining us today! I hope everybody had a wicked awesome time.

Abby Trott:

Thanks for having us! What a pleasure.

Rafael Petardi:

It was great! Thank you to all the great questions.

Abby Trott:

Thanks for watching the show! Great questions. I'm sure I'm going to think of more quotes as soon as I log off... haha.

Rafael Petardi:

See you all soon!

Abby Trott:

Stay safe, take care, and see you all on various social media platforms!

[doomonfilm]

Ranking : Darren Aronofsky (1969-present)

Of the multitudes of New York directors that have made a splash on the film scene over the decades, one of the modern day creatives I put on a pedestal is Brooklyn’s own Darren Aronofsky.  Right out the gate he introduced the world to what he called “hip-hop editing”, a frantic and pattern-based editing style that gave his films a fresh, bold look.  With almost 25 years in the business under his belt, it doesn’t appear that Aronofsky is planning on hanging things up any time soon, so why not look at take a look back at the films in his canon and rank them for the hell of it?

7.  The Wrestler (2008) Perhaps the most down to earth of the Darren Aronofsky films, it’s a bit tough putting it at the bottom of his film list.  He takes a very grounded and sobering approach to the examination of falling short of personal dreams and fractured relationships between parents and children, which gives Mickey Rourke the proper tools and space needed for a moving performance.  That being said, when a magician like Darren Aronofsky has shown you monumental feats of movie magic, sometimes a card trick is underwhelming by comparison, no matter how well executed.

6. Noah (2014) Turning the Biblical tale of Noah into a post-apocalyptic big budget thriller may seem a bit strange on paper, but leave it to Darren Aronofsky to make such an ambitious idea actually work.  Russell Crowe brings the goods as a spiritually conflicted, faith-driven Noah in a landscape that Aronofsky gets a chance to flex his visual muscle on, using vivid time lapse photography and color alteration to great effect.  Ideas presented in The Fountain receive refinement, and we get a glimpse at ideas that would reemerge in mother!, making Noah an interesting middle-point for the Aronofsky canon.

5. Black Swan (2010) Outside of Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan is probably the strongest Aronofsky film in terms of ensemble performance.  Turning a story about the drive and dedication it takes to succeed in a discipline like ballet into a symbol-heavy allegorical remix of The Ugly Duckling narrative works well in the hands of Aronofsky, as he handles his narrative and characters with care and emotion rather than exploiting them with sensationalism and catty behavior.  For a film with a mostly grounded story, the visual flourishes are stunning in their uniqueness from the methods Aronofsky normally uses, and for this boldness alone, it deserves attention and praise.

4. Pi (1998) This brilliant, stunning debut film reimagined what a psychological thriller could be, taking a deceptively complex idea which, at its root, is a concept so simple that it is easy to apply to our daily stimulus.  As a result, we are taken into one of the most vivid black and white worlds committed to film since the expressionist films of the 1920s, with an influx of technology that was already outdated by the time of production serving as the visual equivalent to Max’s obsession and madness with unlocking the secret code.  From the Stock Market to the Torah, and all points in-between, Pi takes viewers on a rollercoaster thrill ride that doesn’t let up until the credits roll. 

3. The Fountain (2006) When this film was released, I went to see it strictly off of the name recognition of Darren Aronofsky, but based on the promotional materials, I misread it as a Hugh Jackman time-traveler story.  I was in no way, shape or form prepared for the visceral emotion, the inconceivable grandness of the love story, or the mind-blowing esoteric resolution that ties the film together.  Aronofsky’s trademark “hip-hop editing” is pushed to its creative limits, with mirroring and repetitive cuts and shot sequences used as connections through space-time, all the while keeping two souls tethered together through the vastness of experience.  For anyone who has been hesitant to see The Fountain based on the fact that it looks and feels different from what you’d expect in an Aronofsky film, do yourself a favor and check it out... and prepare to be moved.

2. Requiem for a Dream (2000) Pi may have put people on notice in regards to Darren Aronofsky, but Requiem for a Dream left no question that he was a genius in regards to filmmaking.  Not since Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas had a novelization of such harrowing experiences been adapted to the screen with such preciseness and unchecked energy, as Requiem for a Dream successfully covered the umbrella of addiction, be it to Schedule 1 narcotics, the opioid epidemic, or even material and carnal desires.  The film stood as the world’s proper introduction to Aronofsky’s “hip-hop editing” style I’ve mentioned previously, and I will go to my grave believing that Marlon Wayans not being recognized for any acting awards in regards to his performance in this film was criminal, not to mention Ellen Burstyn’s loss to Julia Roberts at the 2001 Academy Awards for Best Actress.  Plain and simple, for nearly 20 years, this film stood as Aronofsky’s greatest achievement... but suddenly, near the end of the 2010s, a new challenger arrived to take its rightful place at the top of the list.

1. mother! (2017) After the divisive release of Noah, Aronofsky could have found a simple story to tell, but instead, it seems that he invoked all of his creative, symbolic, faith-based and romantic energy, manifesting it into the powerfully poetic film that is mother!  From the opening to the closing bookends, mother! is full of ruminations on fame, unconditional love, protecting what you hold valuable to you and the process of trying to turn a relationship into a family, but it finds itself enriched by more symbolic and indirect ruminations on religion, war, exploitation and the way that humans treat the Earth in general.  Everyone involved in this film leaves their heart, sweat, blood and tears on the screen, including Jennifer Lawrence in a career-defining role and show of vulnerability.  For a director that continuously surprises and thrills me, I did not think that his most powerful shock to my system would be his latest, but hopefully, it’s an indicator that Darren Aronofsky still has miles to go on his journey before it’s all said and done. 

[myssparklesbookrants]

FICTIONAL CHARACTERS I WISH WERE TRUE SO THAT I COULD DATE THEM or stare at them from afar

HIWow! It was hard choosing a first topic to talk about. I felt like I needed to talk about something big and glamorous to blow the brains out of… of someone. But alas, this is my best, for now..

So, I chose the first one that I had listed on the top of my head ever since I first started reading.

<ta da!>

BOOK BOYFRIENDS!

This is a list of MEN or BOYS who tickle the romantic bone just right! (I had dreamed that there was such an organ in the human body, just near the stomach)

I selected these FICTIONAL BOYFRIENDS as potential members of my harem If I ever defy normal Filipino conceptions of marriage and take up polyandry.

The criteria I used is simple.

  Choose the fictional partners that I can imagine existing in real life  (not too much of an alpha and rich or good looking that borders on unbelievable). The type of characters that I can imagine talking to, who I find fascinating and can be a potential long-time partner, casual hook up or best friend.

 I originally wanted to stick to 10. But as I wrote, a lot of names popped up and I can’t not put them in the list but still, I am sure after I have this article published (Char! Haha) there will be a lot of “Shoot! Why did I not put him on the list???” exclamations. So, maybe I will eventually make another continuation list???

This list is based on the BOOKS I READ so if  you have a bet that I didn’t list, please don’t hesitate to give a recom. A new book to swoon over is always welcome.

 Most Importantly: READ THE BOOKS WHERE THESE AMAZING CHARACTERS CAME FROM. I liked them because of their wit, their personality, how they interacted with other people, their dreams and how their love for their other half made them better people or vice versa. MEANING: THE BOOK WAS WICKED AWESOME AND THE AUTHOR WAS A GOOD STORYTELLER.

(I must apologize for the lack of female to female romantic partner mentions given my current lack of FF Romance reads, which is something I will rectify soon. But if you have recommendations, feel free to comment below and maybe add some MM ones too!)

Anyway, meet…

1. Clayton Danvers and Lucas Cortez

Kelley Armstrong’s  Women of the Underworld Series

Genre: Horror fiction, Paranormal romance, Urban fantasy 

This series is adapted on screen called ‘Bitten’ which is available on Netflix.

Clayton Danvers is the strong, silent, and smart type. He is a professor in a university where he met Elena(his student) and a werewolf! His devotion to Elena was sweet, passionate and faithful to the point that bordered on obsessive but not off putting. The best thing about him was how un-Alpha he was. Although he was strong , his relationship with Elena was a partnership.

This is what romance needs today guys! A PARTNER not a rich and condescending daddy!

Lucas Cortez, on the other hand, is a lawyer/sorcerer, young master of a Cabal Group, who informally separates from his family's company to pursue a life as a lawyer protecting the rights of other magical beings against abusive Cabals(including his family's). Unlike Clayton, he was slender with brown eyes behind glasses. So basically, a cute, smart nerd who is the 'good' black sheep of the family.

(they are in separate books with different female romantic partners)

2. Quinn Sullivan

Penny Reid’s Neanderthal Meets Human

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Quin…*sighs*... So awesome! He was quiet, mysterious,unsmiling, rich and had an almost perfect handsome face. I love that the author imagined small flaws like almost unnoticeable  crooked bottom front teeth and differing sizes of his ears with one prominent feature -his hawk-like stare. BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, he took Janie's quirkiness in stride. Asking questions, debating, protecting, annoying, kissing…. You know the drill..😉

3. Beau Winston

Penny Reid’s Beard in Mind

Genre: Contemporary Romance

On first read, Beau was a good looking, charming good boy who is looking for his path after his twin, Duane left to pursue his own.

What I loved about him was how he dealt with Shelley's(Quinn's Sister) clinically diagnosed mental illness(OCD). He researched about it and made efforts to make it easier for her and was just overall supportive. 

It was awesome how much the author has put an effort in researching OCD facts to make details perfectly accurate and how it was NOT at all a hastily placed plot device to get the story going. 

4.Ted Beaudine

Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ Call Me Irresistible

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Hello to my favorite romance book of all time!

 I think I have read this many times already and have to put off re-reading it again for next year(2021)  to give my brain some time to forget some of the plot. We need to keep the mystery going! amiright??

Anyway, Ted was the perfect genius, good boy and people pleasing guy. He is perfectly polite, straight laced  and has basically carried the whole town in his muscled shoulders for years. (Did I tell you he was the Mayor?) 

Meg's carefree life and struggles basically tickled his good boy bone the wrong way.

Read this novel to witness how a perfect boy and wastrel girl turned out in the end. Seriously Please Read!

5.  Patrick Jason 'Pick' Ryan

Linda Kage' Be My Hero

Genre: Contemporary Romance

  He was the tattoed, orphan softie on the wrong side of town who thankfully did not grow up a thug because of a vision he got when he was young from a moled witch.

One day, his tinkerbell, the star of his visions, enters the bar he works at, but PREGNANT!

Gosh! I loved this so much. This was part of the Forbidden Men Series but can read as a stand alone. Although, I advise you to read the other books also, they were all awesome!

6. Colin Bridgerton

 Julia Quin’s Bridgerton Series

Genre: Historical Fiction/ Romance

Charming, green eyed and younger son, Colin was considered a catch of the ton.

He had a case of wanderlust and couldn't stay at one place without getting an itch. I can't say more without giving a major spoiler, but I loved that the author made him major insecurities.

Because secretly,too perfect is boring, right??

7. Sean Cassidy

Penny Reid and L.H Cosway's  The Player and the Pixie

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Wewowewowewo. *sexy flames* 

Imagine a gorgeous jerk of a jock with sexual inexperience and a rainbow haired goody goody shoes girl (whose brother is his ultimate enemy) who is willing to be the TEACHER!

But it was more than that, I liked how the authors highlighted the perils of kleptomania, the privilege of the rich and how gorgeous jerks are set straight by their women who would not suffer in a relationship with a class A insensitive jerk just because he was good looking and rich.

This was a ride! I lost count how many times I re-read this book.

8. Elend Venture

Branson Sanderson’s Mistborn Trilogy

Genre: High Fantasy

Elend was the angsty boy part of the elite class who is disgusted by his privilege and looks for ways to make the government better by reading outlawed books that spark rebellious and forward ideas. In short, he was a closet revolutionary.

Throughout the series there were some major changes in his life from a closet reader to a person who pursues ideas he just once read in books?

How do they say it? Walk the talk or in his case, Walk the read? (talking about it would mean death)

9.Archer Devereux

April White’s The Immortal Descendants Series

Genre: Time Travel Romance/ Historical Fantasy

Dumdumdumdum. Imagine a conservative college boy from the past your future self time traveled in, spends time with you, helps you in your quest, likes you secretly and is shy about it and becomes a vampire stuck in immortality waiting to meet the 'present' you.

Talk about love lasting through time! This was a great book if you love time travel stories with historically accurate and interesting facts injected heavily into the story! 

10. Rupert Carsington

Loretta Chase’ Mr. Impossible

Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance

A hellion younger son of an earl who loves an adventurous carefree life who is without inhibition, just goes along the ride and has a set of surprisingly caring and dependable muscled shoulders.

Meets a beautiful tempered scholar who needs his help finding his kidnapped brother in the sands of Egypt.

This is perfect for those who love adventure romances, and topics on the papyrus, mummies and the french and British looting conflict in the African colonies.

11. Sebastian Ballister

Loretta Chase’ Lord of Scoundrels

Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance

My favorite Historical Romance book ever!! Like Ted Beaudine's book, I try to read this at least once or twice a year to forget some of the plot and keep the mystery going.

He was called the Marquess of Dain and has been raising hell since childhood and in the present day France where he meets the blue stocking Jessica. The author throughout the book continually refers to them as the Beauty and the Beast.

What makes this book SPECIAL is how intelligent, witty and funny most of their conversations were. It's funny how many books are under many sexy, funny and witty lists on goodreads but only some of those on the list are actually true! THIS BOOK IS ONE OF THEM!

Jess was not annoying or shy or too much of a fighter and Dain was not too obnoxious. It was perfect.

And if you have not read this book or others from this author or genre, I command you to start reading after you finish this article.Break some cherries!

12.  Hardy Cates

Liza Kleypas’ Blue Eyed Devil

Genre: Contemporary Romance

A blue neck Town boy chasing dreams outside of town to leave the shithole of a living. He has white knight complexes but leaves the damsel in distress after the case is solved. Also, muscular and has the blunt and bluest  eyes on Texas 

This book I have also reread many times because it talks about dealing with domestic abuse and moving on after an abusive relationship, dealing with people who have narcissistic disorder and the life of the privileged.

13. Connor ‘Mad’ Rogan

Illona Andrews’ Hidden Legacy Series

Genre: Paranormal Romance (PNR)

Wootwootwoot. Imagine a former military but now head of the House 'Mad' Rogan successfully publicly kidnapping you in broad daylight using only wads of cloth. Talk about a powerful telekinetic! 

I loved that he was once again, A partner in the relationship and not an overprotective ape despite him being awfully more powerful than Nevada.

14.Phil Tucker

Jennifer Crusie Welcome to Temptation

Genre: Contemporary Romance

This is written by an author whose ALL BOOKS WRITTEN i have read and loved.

 Phil is part of a long line of male Mayors in the family and meets almost fugitive-like Sophie. 

Read as they deal with each other, try to take down a production of town porn video, deal with an enemy, try to dirty Phil down to win the next election and spend time reading a romance classic.

15.  Ansel Guillaume

Christina Lauren’s Sweet Filthy Boy

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Known for the many explicit sexy times that can be read throughout the book. So, if you want to stay green in the ears, skip this one till you're legal.

Ansel is a sweet, full of life French Lawyer celebrating with friends in LA and Mia with her friends also, celebrating their newly graduated from college selves.

Ansel is soft, a daydreamer, magnificent bringer of orgasms and game with all things Mia is willing to do.

They married through Elvis and decided to not divorce yet to explore the beautiful France and a  possibility of a good relationship.

AND DONE!

I actually have a lot more but these are for now.

CONSIDER THIS LIST AS A BOOK RECOMMENDATION FOR AWESOME ROMANCES WITH WELL WRITTEN AND SWOON WORTHY CHARACTERS 

Topic for my next blog entry:

How to Find the Next Good Book to Read:

A Guide to Good Sources of Book Recommendations

[butterflydm]

2020 (what a weird year)

I did not get very much done this year at all. The business I work for got us all classified as essential workers which... tbh, I did not agree with as a categorization. It’s meant that hours per week stayed the same, but my anxiety levels at work skyrocketed. And most of the time, after getting home, I basically had enough energy to check some stuff online but I mostly needed to decompress by doing something familiar, which I’ve been doing by replaying FFX and FFX2, and my brain mostly hasn’t had room for anything new. Which is a shame for all the plans I had to watch tons of new media! I had a long list of things I wanted to check out and I haven’t really watched any of it.

I did get a chance to watch a few new things (as always, tbh, any recs of mine are basically ‘you will like this thing, if this is the kind of thing you like’):

The Old Guard: Really enjoyed this movie. It’s been out for a while now, but if you haven’t had a chance to watch it, it was a fun, easy watch that also made me think some interesting philosophical questions about life. A good time! It’s honestly the only movie I watched during the 2020 pandemic period, unless I get around to watching anything else in the next couple of days.

MXTX’s Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System: I love love this story. I’ve watched the donghua (looking forward to S2!) and read the translation by BC Novels, and the story just has so many things that make my heart go ‘yes!’: it’s funny, with a charming PoV character who both doesn’t take himself too seriously and also seriously misunderstands himself in a lot of ways -- very relatable. It’s dramatic AF, with romantic lead Luo Binghe at the heart of a lot of that drama. It’s clever and I love the way the premise is used for both humor and pathos.

Tone-wise, it reminds me of works like Galaxy Quest or Northanger Abbey. Honestly, that light tone helps in some of the later chapters, which have content that is actually very dark and very heartbreaking if taken seriously, but because of the momentum of the story and the tone of the narrative, I didn’t feel like I got lost or bogged down in the darkness.

And I love the relationship between Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe a whole heck of a lot. I think the way it’s structured is clever and sweet and sad and makes for an interesting story. There is an element of an unintentional romantic obsession that SQQ created by the way he flipped between kind and cruel (against his will, which is what makes it forgivable for the audience, imo, because SQQ wanted to always be kind, though not always for the most selfless of reasons) and how LBH had to try to mentally justify/rationalize how the same man could act in such completely opposing ways. And the narrative symmetry between how SQQ thinks of LBH as the center of the universe because he’s the OP Protagonist (!) but LBH thinks of SQQ as the one that everything revolves around and how that’s narratively true because, of course, in the story that we’re reading, SQQ is the protagonist and LBH is his love interest.

I also actually really appreciated the bad sex near the end of the novel -- sex-to-save-the-world is a trope that can easily get romanticized but here it’s (literally) painful and ugly instead, as all of LBH’s trauma pairs with the influence of Xin Mo on his mind. Even through the translation, it definitely feels like bad sex written well, rather than badly-written sex that is supposed to be good, if you know what I mean. Sex can be an important narrative tool in stories and I feel like MXTX uses it very effectively here.

I think I burnt through the entire translation in just a few days. I’ve been reading a lot of fanfic afterwards and I think my favorite so far is I Wish You Were My Husband by Feynite. It’s an AU but it keeps the same kind of vibe as the original story.

Bridgerton: Goodness, so enjoyable! Julia Quinn is not My Most Favorite of the various romance writers that I read but she was one of the first writers that really got me back into reading romance and it was delightful to see her world on screen. I don’t picture people when I’m reading novels; I have to have a visual first and then I can carry that into the reading, so it was nice to be able to assign faces to some of these characters that I’m already very fond of. Simon and Daphne had a nice amount of chemistry and I loved the Bridgerton family relationships.

I hope they get to cover all the romances in the series and continue to do some updating as well -- I generally liked the changes they made to Simon and Daphne’s romance (a few I wasn’t as into but could see why they’d done it -- mostly For The Drama). And I really loved what they did with Simon and Lady Danbury’s relationship. It took me some time to tell the three older Bridgerton brothers apart but that’s pretty much canon, lol. Anyway, I was invested enough in it all that I stayed up all night on Christmas eve to watch it all and I had no regrets afterward.

I started watching S2 of TharnType but then my work schedule changed and I was working on Fridays and (see above) I just didn’t have the energy to watch anything after work. I might wait and binge the rest of the series once it’s all out, now that it’s gone this long without me being caught up.

I do think I’ll take a break from Critical Role for a while, after it comes back. I’ve just come to an unfortunate place where the show literally cannot win with me re: the romances, as I’m annoyed when they happen but also, perversely, annoyed when they get ignored because my brain goes “they gutted beaujester for this limited amount of inferior romance? At least commit to giving an adequate amount of the romances that I dislike!”. And so it becomes a vicious circle. Good sign that it’s time to take a break. My unhappiness with one part of the show is overshadowing everything else and maybe some time away will change that. Or maybe I just need to pick it up again with campaign 3. I guess I’ll see how it goes. I also admit that I’d hate to pick up the show again only to have Lucien get killed off in a few episodes.

I want to try to watch some more shows in 2021, and maybe I’ll have time, if I’m freeing up several hours every Thursday.

I want to watch Heaven Official’s Blessing and I’ve had a translation of the novel on my phone for the entire year and I really do want to read it as well. I’d like to watch Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo’s new shows (The Wolf & The Legend of Fei) as the gifsets I’ve seen have been interesting and enjoyable, and there are a bunch of shows that I’d gotten recommendations about after watching TharnType that I still want to check out too. Plus, I have the new Stormlight Archives book and I want to read that as well. So, there’s quite a list.

It’s still probably gonna be quite stressful at work for a while, at least until I’ve had a chance to get the vaccine, but at least I am going back to Thursdays & Fridays as my days off at the start of the year, so I’m looking forward to that. I’m also hoping to get back to my detailed rewatch of The Untamed, because that was so much fun but I did not have enough brain this year to do any more of it.

[gadgetgirl71]

Amazon First Reads for June 2020

I know I say this every single month, but I can’t get over how quickly the last month has gone. Meaning that for Amazon Prime Members we get to choose which Amazon First Read were going to download for free. Again this month as most months there are eight books to choose from.

This months choices are:

Suspense 

The Bone Jar by S W Kane, Pages: 328, Publication Date: 1 July 2020

Synopsis: Two murders. An abandoned asylum. Will a mysterious former patient help untangle the dark truth?

The body of an elderly woman has been found in the bowels of a derelict asylum on the banks of the Thames. As Detective Lew Kirby and his partner begin their investigation, another body is discovered in the river nearby. How are the two murders connected?

Before long, the secrets of Blackwater Asylum begin to reveal themselves. There are rumours about underground bunkers and secret rooms, unspeakable psychological experimentation, and a dark force that haunts the ruins, trying to pull back in all those who attempt to escape. Urban explorer Connie Darke, whose sister died in a freak accident at the asylum, is determined to help Lew expose its grisly past. Meanwhile Lew discovers a devastating family secret that threatens to turn his life upside down.

As his world crumbles around him, Lew must put the pieces of the puzzle together to keep the killer from striking again. Only an eccentric former patient really knows the truth—but will he reveal it to Lew before it’s too late?

Contemporary Fiction

Someone Else’s Secret by Julia Spiro, Pages: 363, Publication Date: 1 July 2020

Synopsis: Here’s the thing about secrets: they change shape over time, become blurry with memory, until the truth is nearly lost.

2009. Lindsey and Georgie have high hopes for their summer on Martha’s Vineyard. In the wake of the recession, ambitious college graduate Lindsey accepts a job as a nanny for an influential family who may help her land a position in Boston’s exclusive art world. Georgie, the eldest child in that family, is nearly fifteen and eager to find herself, dreaming of independence and yearning for first love.

Over the course of that formative summer, the two young women develop a close bond. Then, one night by the lighthouse, a shocking act occurs that ensnares them both in the throes of a terrible secret. Their budding friendship is shattered, and neither one can speak of what happened that night for ten long years.

Until now. Lindsey and Georgie must confront the past after all this time. Their quest for justice will require costly sacrifices, but it also might give them the closure they need to move on. All they know for sure is that when the truth is revealed, their lives will be forever changed once again.

From a fresh voice in fiction, this poignant and timely novel explores the strength and nuance of female friendship, the cost of ambition, and the courage it takes to speak the truth.

Mystery

Never Look Back by Mary Burton, Pages: 332, Publication Date: 1 July 2020

Synopsis: Expect the unexpected in this gritty, tense, and page-turning mystery from New York Times bestselling author Mary Burton.

After multiple women go missing, Agent Melina Shepard of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation makes the impulsive decision to go undercover as a prostitute. While working the street, she narrowly avoids becoming a serial killer’s latest victim; as much as it pains her to admit, she needs backup.

Enter lone wolf FBI agent Jerrod Ramsey. Stonewalled by a lack of leads, he and Melina investigate a scene where a little girl has been found abandoned in a crashed vehicle. They open the trunk to reveal a horror show and quickly realise they’re dealing with two serial killers with very different MOs. The whole situation brings back memories for Melina—why does this particular case feel so connected to her painful past?

Before time runs out, Melina must catch not one but two serial killers, both ready to claim another victim—and both with their sights set on her.

Thriller

Find Me by Anne Frasier, Pages: 286, Publication Date: 1 July 2020

Synopsis: A bone-chilling family history is unearthed in a heart-stopping thriller by New York Times bestselling author Anne Frasier.

Convicted serial killer Benjamin Fisher has finally offered to lead San Bernardino detective Daniel Ellis to the isolated graves of his victims. One catch: he’ll only do it if FBI profiler Reni Fisher, his estranged daughter, accompanies them. As hard as it is to exhume her traumatic childhood, Reni can’t say no. She still feels complicit in her father’s crimes.

Perfect to play a lost little girl, Reni was the bait to lure unsuspecting women to their deaths. It’s time for closure. For her. For the families. And for Daniel. He shares Reni’s obsession with the past. Ever since he was a boy, he’s been convinced that his mother was one of Fisher’s victims.

Thirty years of bad memories are flooding back. A master manipulator has gained their trust. For Reni and Daniel, this isn’t the end of a nightmare. It’s only the beginning.

Book Club Fiction

The Lending Library by Aliza Fogelson, Pages: 295, Publication Date: 1 July 2020

Synopsis: For fans of Jane Green and Loretta Nyhan, a heartwarming debut novel about a daydreamer who gives her town, and herself, an amazing gift: a lending library in her sun-room.

When the Chatsworth library closes indefinitely, Dodie Fairisle loses her sanctuary. How is a small-town art teacher supposed to cope without the never-ending life advice and enjoyment that books give her? Well, when she’s as resourceful and generous as Dodie, she turns her sun-room into her very own little lending library.

At first just a hobby, this lit lovers’ haven opens up her world in incredible ways. She knows books are powerful, and soon enough they help her forge friendships between her zany neighbours—and attract an exciting new romance.

But when the chance to adopt an orphaned child brings Dodie’s secret dream of motherhood within reach, everything else suddenly seems less important. Finding herself at a crossroads, Dodie must figure out what it means to live a full, happy life. If only there were a book that could tell her what to do…

Historical Fiction

Opium and Absinthe by Lydia Kang, Pages: 379, Publication Date: 1 July 2020

Synopsis: From the bestselling author of A Beautiful Poison comes another spellbinding historical novel full of intrigue, occult mystery, and unexpected twists.

New York City, 1899. Tillie Pembroke’s sister lies dead, her body drained of blood and with two puncture wounds on her neck. Bram Stoker’s new novel, Dracula, has just been published, and Tillie’s imagination leaps to the impossible: the murderer is a vampire. But it can’t be—can it?

A ravenous reader and researcher, Tillie has something of an addiction to truth, and she won’t rest until she unravels the mystery of her sister’s death. Unfortunately, Tillie’s addicted to more than just truth; to ease the pain from a recent injury, she’s taking more and more laudanum…and some in her immediate circle are happy to keep her well supplied.

Tillie can’t bring herself to believe vampires exist. But with the hysteria surrounding her sister’s death, the continued vampiric slayings, and the opium swirling through her body, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for a girl who relies on facts and figures to know what’s real—or whether she can trust those closest to her.

Epic Fantasy

Scarlet Odyssey by C T Rwizi, Pages: 534, Publication Date: 1 July 2020

Synopsis: Magic is women’s work; war is men’s. But in the coming battle, none of that will matter.

Men do not become mystics. They become warriors. But eighteen-year-old Salo has never been good at conforming to his tribe’s expectations. For as long as he can remember, he has loved books and magic in a culture where such things are considered unmanly. Despite it being sacrilege, Salo has worked on a magical device in secret that will awaken his latent magical powers. And when his village is attacked by a cruel enchantress, Salo knows that it is time to take action.

Salo’s queen is surprisingly accepting of his desire to be a mystic, but she will not allow him to stay in the tribe. Instead, she sends Salo on a quest. The quest will take him thousands of miles north to the Jungle City, the political heart of the continent. There he must gather information on a growing threat to his tribe.

On the way to the city, he is joined by three fellow outcasts: a shunned female warrior, a mysterious nomad, and a deadly assassin. But they’re being hunted by the same enchantress who attacked Salo’s village. She may hold the key to Salo’s awakening—and his redemption.

Children’s Picture Book

Kat and Juju by Kataneh Vahdani, Pages: 40, Publication Date: 1 July 2020

Synopsis: An unlikely duo star in a charming story about being different, finding courage, and the importance of friendship in the first book in a new series from an award-winning animation director.

Kat likes doing things her very own way, but sometimes she doubts herself. So when a bird named Juju arrives, Kat hopes he’ll be the best friend she’s always wanted. He’s outgoing and silly and doesn’t worry about what others think—the opposite of who she is. Bit by bit, with Juju’s help, Kat discovers her strength, and how to have a friend and be one—while still being true to herself.

*** Which book will you choose? I chose “Opium and Absinthe” as soon as I saw the cover I knew that was this book I had to choose. Let me know which book you choose. ***

[avelera]

The one big relief that came from watching The Magicians was how little similarity it bears to my own Narnia-inspired portal fantasy novel. 

Here’s the part that confused me about the premise of The Magicians - clearly Lev Grossman wanted to do some kind of Hogwarts for Adults style wish fulfillment story, which is cool. Also he clearly wanted to do some kind of Narnia for Adults style wish fulfillment story, also cool and I definitely can’t blame that because it’s basically what my novel is.

What I don’t understand is why he decided those two needed to be the same story? Especially at the same time? Granted, my understanding of the story is limited to the show, and it’ll likely remain there since I’ve heard the show is much better than the book in which case, yikes. 

Because throwing two magic systems at people at the same time, in the same book, is a lot. I don’t really understand the impulse for why he started with a Harry Potter rip-off and then decided they also have to go to a separate fantasy world? The only way it makes sense to me is that he wrote a Narnia/Harry Potter crossover at some point as a teen and then spent the next few years tying the story into torturous knots to try to figure out how to make it a fanfic with original characters.

While watching the show, all I could think was, “It’s so simple. Just say that the Fillory books are only visible to people with magical powers, hence Quentin’s obsession with them.” 

So you have Quentin and Julia who are obsessed with Fillory, Quentin even more so, and who gets roundly mocked for his obsession all the time but can’t escape the sense that these books are real. Yet except for Julia, every time he tries to introduce someone to Fillory, they just lose interest and can’t seem to focus on the content. Sure, there are a few dedicated fan sites out there, but the audience is strangely small, and those sites become Quentin’s home because he’s so desperate for someone to discuss the books with. 

Because of course, those people have magic potential too, even if they don’t know it.

That way, when Penny starts mocking Quentin relentlessly for his Fillory knowledge, he’s not just being a dick for the sake of the tired old jock vs. nerds “books are stupid, especially kids books” attitude. Rather, he’s like Ron Weasley, he grew up in a magical family and to them, those really are children’s books that are widely read across the magical world and then you grow out of them, naturally. Perhaps all children and even adult magic users also have the nagging sense of “These feel real” so Penny’s not just dismissive of Quentin to be a jerk, Quentin’s just describing a phase that everyone goes through and then grows out of. Fillory isn’t real, even in a world with magic, and it’s a heartbreaking realization much like discovering Santa Clause isn’t real. Quentin’s just behind the curve because he didn’t grow up in a magical family, so to Penny’s ears he sounds like an immature little kid who just doesn’t know better. 

But at least now, we as the audience are wondering, “Why can only the magical world read these?” 

Well, because they contain warnings about Fillory because it’s a real and really dangerous place! This also explains why so many people and even classes at Brakebills go missing while “looking for Fillory”, it’s like going Cryptid hunting, it’s a popular obsession but it’s seen as something immature people who never grew out of children’s books do because some magic is real but some magic just isn’t, and everyone knows that. 

Or do they? 

Why do magical people keep going missing whenever they go looking for Fillory? Penny thinks it’s because they’re stupid and do dangerous shit to go to a place that doesn’t exist, while Quentin is beginning to question, because he too always had the nagging sense it was real.

Now the mystery of Fillory’s existence is couched in a question that arises the moment Quentin is introduced to the Harry Potter-esque magical world. The two are now linked instead of weirdly separate, there’s no reason Quentin needed to be a Harry Potter-style magician in order to go on a Narnia for Adults adventure.

Because the story as it is just has Quentin being a bit of a man-child, obsessing over the Narnia books when you’re an adult may make sense if you’re a fantasy author steeped in the tropes and the longings to be part of a magical world, but it seems a bit juvenile and admittedly odd that he’s obsessed even after achieving this crazy dream of discovering a world of magic users. You’d think just getting to Hogwarts would be enough if you dreamed of Hogwarts and Narnia as a kid! You’d think the obsession with Narnia would drop off, maybe a little, if you had a whole real magic world to explore?

But couch it as a mystery where suddenly Quentin is learning that only magical people can even read the Fillory books and now we’re tying together the two universes, his obsession and nagging sense that Fillory is real becomes more sensible, especially once the Beast shows up. You can even have Penny’s dismissiveness around those books being real be more because as a Traveler he knows other worlds exist, but of course Fillory doesn’t, it’s just a book. But he might not know that non-magical people can’t read the book which sparks further curiosity: why do these books exist? He thought they were just a random off-the-shelf fantasy book which, as a real magic user, you’d probably find fantasy silly.

Anyway, the combination of two thinly-veiled mega-hit fantasy worlds into one for The Magicians seems a bit crowded to me, IMO. It relied a lot on genre savvy and it expected a lot of its audience that they’d read both sets of books and walked away with the same desire as Quentin to go there, without actually proving to us (quite the contrary) that Brakebills or Fillory were desirable in the first place. *shrugs* It’s a tough business and really a cautionary on how to turn fanfic into original fiction, one thing you have to do is make sure your assumptions based on the world of the original work also carry over into your derivative work for the audience, because it’s not a given. 

[bbclesmis]

The Telegraph: Dominic West: 'Colette's husband smoked and had sex three times a day – it makes our vegan times look dreary'

When Dominic West was cast opposite Keira Knightley in Colette, to play the limelight-stealing first husband of the not-yet-famous French novelist, it was during his stage run of Dangerous Liaisons at London’s Donmar, playing a wicked libertine of quite another époque.

“I tend to get villains these days,” West muses, sinking back affably in a hotel armchair. To viewers of the BBC’s new Les Misérables, the remark may seem puzzling: after all, it’s not the obsessive Javert he’s playing in that six-hour, song-free version of Victor Hugo’s novel, but Jean Valjean, one of the most unambiguous heroes in world literature.

The 49-year-old Yorkshireman admits it was a refreshing change – if probably a one-off – to be offered such a morally upstanding assignment. Willy in Colette and Valmont in Liaisons are more like bread-and-butter characters; throw in his small-screen infidelities in The Affair, which has one last season of grubby intrigue to shoot, and he’s the actor most likely to be glared at on the street as an incorrigible philanderer.

Beyond turpitude, though, he spots something else these parts have in common: we watch him outmanoeuvred by the women he assumed he could possess.

“That does seem to be a theme in my career – being matched by stronger women. Which is probably the theme of my life, too. I've got five sisters, and three daughters! I’m the go-to guy for playing the male foil, I suppose.”

When did this shift to bad guys occur, if it was even really a shift? “You reach certain waypoints in your career – well, I played lovers, and now I play villains, and dads! A while ago, I played Iago, Fred West and some other horror, all in the same year. I must have a funny look in my eye? I don't know what it is. But I suppose the Devil's always got the best lines. They're more interesting to play, really, especially if you can play against the evil.”

Colette is being marketed around Knightley, by and large. This seems eminently fair: as a writer and actress in turn-of-the-century Paris, Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette spent way too much of her career living in the shadow of her ruthless, slave-driving publisher – also her husband, known to the world as “Willy” – to be co-credited on her own biopic with anyone else.

Still, it’s West who snuck his way into a BIFA nomination, for best supporting actor, while Knightley was crowded out. The film relies for nuance on his refusal to monster the character. He concedes that it’s not the most flattering role. “I had three different fat-suits and an appalling walrus moustache!” But in West’s hands, an odd sympathy emerges for Willy, despite all his terrible behaviour – locking Colette in an upstairs room to write, cheating on her incessantly, and eventually selling off the rights to her novels.

Show more

“I thought he was obviously an exciting guy to be around,” West says. “And a total shit, and a narcissist, and an exploiter. But she was with him because he was this incredible force of nature, really, and a sort of bon viveur catalyst to quite a lot of very good writers. I did, even at the end, have a sympathy for this Salieri figure, who realised, having been so famous, that he would only ever be remembered as Colette’s former husband. Which is ironic – no one's ever heard of him now. And if they have, that's the only reason.”

First hatched as an idea 15 years ago, Wash Westmoreland’s film has been an arduous one to get made. West mentions this slow gestation to explain how tentatively the dial moves, in terms of getting stories told about women’s creative achievements. Just five years ago, Knightley was essentially playing sidekick to Alan Turing in The Imitation Game; now it’s her turn to play the genius.

West sees it as “rather serendipitous” that so much discussion about women’s agency – not to mention male abuse – started to happen as the film got made. There’s a striking parallel, I point out, with the role Glenn Close plays in The Wife – as the true brains behind the operation in another literary marriage. “I bet that’s a commonplace story,” he agrees. “Misapplied acclaim. It’s interesting that George Eliot had to change her name to a man's to get published. But then, so did JK Rowling. Doesn't change much, does it?”

 As a true-blue fan of The Wire, I couldn’t possibly interview West without touching on his lead role in that series. You could argue David Simon’s Baltimore-set, 5-season HBO epic changed everything for the actor in 2002, but you’d be wrong, because it took about five years before anyone even saw it.

West, a dabbler in Hollywood back then, was deep into his “lovers” phase – he’d been an alcoholic boyfriend to Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a jazz-age lothario shot dead by Renée Zellweger in Chicago, a caddish colleague to Julia Roberts in Mona Lisa Smile. He was usually the debonair party animal you had to get out of the way so the film could carry on.

And then a tape he’d recorded as a joke fell into Simon’s hands. “It was just an astonishing piece of luck,” he reflects, “because in spite of myself, I landed the lead part in the best TV show of all time!”. This casting fluke lets him lampoon himself so perfectly it’s hard not to laugh. “I spent an awful lot of time trying to get out of it! I was always saying, ‘Oh gawd, not another season.’ Mainly because I was away from home, from my young daughter. And also because no one seemed to be watching it.”

Jimmy McNulty, an alcoholic cop struggling with child support and unstable relationships, was the show’s weary constant. West’s crumpled humility gave the show a relatable centre, but it finally paid him back: the slow-trickle recognition of Simon’s sensational achievement has let everyone involved live in its afterglow.

“I wouldn’t have watched it, had I not been in it,” West admits. “My daughter told me the other day, ‘Yeah, I watched it, it's very dated, dad.’ I don't think it is, though! It's been the gift that keeps on giving.” Michael B. Jordan, now a superstar after the Creed films and Black Panther, got his break there as a tragic 16-year-old drug dealer called Wallace. “I directed him in the last season, now he’s the king of Hollywood,” West remembers.

And there was Idris Elba, as kingpin-cum-politician Stringer Bell. “What happened to Idris? I don't know what happened to Idris. Has anyone heard of him since?! It was perfect. I think he knew it was perfect. He came in, blazed it, and got out. The rest of us felt slightly like journeymen, supporting these celebrity cameos.”

West socks over this kind of self-deprecation with reliable verve. He gallantly assumes it was his dancing, not Knightley’s, which led to a polka sequence being cut from Colette. “She’s pretty easy to spark off,” he says of his co-star. “And she's certainly easy to fall in love with. I had one particular scene where I'm in despair because she's leaving me, and that was a piece of cake.”

Colette was just a 19-year-old Burgundian country girl when she met Willy, 14 years her senior, and was swept off her feet. When West talks about their vigorous sex life, which branched out to multiple partners in Paris – and some they shared – there’s a hint of performative envy to his routine. “Considering what he drank and ate and smoked every day, he was also having sex three times a day. I mean, people did that, in those days. They make our vegan times look so dreary!”

Meanwhile, his approach to tackling the almost dauntingly virtuous Jean Valjean was to find the weakness in the man. “He's so obviously someone overcoming his shortcomings. Which is the only chance any of us get to be heroes. Quite apart from all the acrobatic saving of kids that he does, his great thing is redeeming his flaws, or his dark past.”

It’s an effort for us both not keep calling it Les Miz. Wasn’t he at all disappointed that he never got to belt out “Two-four-six-oh-OOOOONE!!” in his beefiest Old Etonian baritone?

“I was disappointed, but I think everyone else was relieved! I wondered where the songs were, actually. I kept trying to sing and they kept stopping me.”

Les Misérables continues on BBC One on Sunday at 9pm. Colette is out in UK cinemas from January 11 (x)

[bitsandbobsandstuff]

So I can't help asking... book recs?

Oh god. Listen, I love this ask. So much. This will get long, because I’m a nerd, but here are some of my favs. I included links on Amazon so people can read the descriptions, but please try to buy local when you can!

Feel free to come to my inbox anytime with recommendations or book chatter!

The Song of AchillesBy Madeline Miller

My current obsession. Search the #patrochilles or #tsoa on my blog. I’m a sucker for Greek mythology and this story broke me - it stayed with me for weeks. I keep re-reading the ending and legitimately sobbing. The language is poetic, the metaphors are brilliant, and the love story between Achilles and Patroclus is breathtaking. 150/10 would recommend.

A Tree Grows in BrooklynBy Betty Smith

I first read this when I was 11-years-old – in fact, the librarian eventually gave me her copy, because I checked it out so often. Since then, I’ve read it at least once a year (this means more than 20 years) and I have a tattoo with my favourite quote. It’s not a story about anything specific, but rather a look at what it means to be human, told through the eyes of a young girl named Francie Nolan, growing up poor in a 1900s Brooklyn tenement. 

The HelpBy Kathryn Stockett

Abileen Clark is one of my absolute favourite characters. She’s an incredible human being and her courage in the face of the racism and personal tragedy she endures is astounding. She’s the wheel that sets the entire story in motion, and I find her to be so inspiring.

1984By George Orwell

It’s terrifying. Especially considering how realistic it feels in the world today.

The Book ThiefBy Markus Zusak

The narrator of this story is Death – how ingenious is that? Liesel’s story is beautiful and filled with suspense and her relationship with Rudy is one of the most heartbreaking things I’ve read. 

All the light we cannot seeBy Anthony Doerr

Another WW2 story, I can’t get enough. It compares the experience of two people on opposite sides of the war – one tragically as part of the Hitler Youth, the other who is a surprising participant in the Resistance. The path that leads them toward each other is complicated.

The Versions of UsBy Laura Barnett

Told through different story arcs, it’s a story full of ‘what ifs’. It explores how different your life story could be based on the smallest changes in the beginning. Again, I cried so much. On a boat. In front of strangers.

My life in FranceBy Julia Child

This was a random book I picked up at the library and to this day, it’s a go-to when I need something comforting. Julia Child led an incredible life – after WW2 she went to Paris where she became a chef, wrote a cookbook with her friends, met so many famous people, and travelled the world with the love of her life. I wish I could be her.

The HistorianBy Elizabeth Kostova

I’m an avid reader of fictional history and this book delivers. It follows a young woman searching for her missing father, who has a mysterious connection to Vlad the Impaler. They travel through four of my favourite cities – Amsterdam, London, Budapest, and Istanbul – which would be enticing enough, but the vivid imagery and the complex mystery bring it to another level.

The FountainheadBy Ayn Rand

I know Rand is a polarizing author and I understand why, but regardless – I love this book. I was at university the first time I read it, and the raw emotion in Howard Roark’s struggle and his relationship with Dominique Francon was unlike anything I had read. 

The Thorn BirdsBy Colleen McCullough

This is one of those epic novels that sticks with you. The rugged harshness of life on an Australian sheep farm, the bitterness of family obligation, and the illicit love affair between a young woman and a Priest, this story literally has it all. 

OutlanderBy Diana Gabaldon

Sassenach. Hands down, this is one of the greatest love stories I’ve encountered. There’s no place in the world I love more than Scotland and Claire and Jamie have the kind of love we all want to find.

East of EdenBy John Steinbeck

This story is sort of brutal. It was surprising in the way it made me connect with – and root for – certain characters that I did not expect. 

The Fault in our StarsBy John Green

At this point, I’m sure everyone’s either seen the movie or read the book and John Green is a national treasure, but I have to say – I remember finishing this book in the middle of the night, thinking ‘wow that was really good,’ going to the kitchen for a glass of water, and then collapsing into a pile of tears. I had to wake my husband up and wail about Augustus Waters and Hazel Grace Lancaster and to this day, he still makes fun of me. If you haven’t read this book, what even are you doing with your life.

A Wrinkle in TimeBy Madeleine L’Engle

I’ve had a copy of this my entire life. I love the beginning of this story – it was a dark and stormy night – and I adore the awkward elegance of Meg Murray. 

The NightingaleBy Kristin Hannah

More tears. The relationship between two sisters during WW2, one who finds a place for herself in the Resistance and the other who quietly tries to survive, is tragic and tense and a wonderful demonstration of what people do to stay alive.

Anne of Green GablesBy Lucy Maud Montgomery

Anne Shirley is one of my favourite characters in all literature. She is spunky and sassy and so full of life – she inspires me to live more fully, I’m grateful I found her growing up.

[sageglobalresponse]

The Psychological Formula for Success After Age 50

Julia Child launched The French Chef on TV at 50, a year after publishing Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Ray Kroc began franchising McDonald’s at 52. Estelle Getty landed her breakout role on Broadway at age 58, then in her 60s racked up seven back-to-back Emmy nominations for The Golden Girls. These are all clearly exceptional third acts, but even if you aim for something more modest, you’re likelier to get there if you understand how the psychological

Psychologists have long known that success is fueled by grit, passion, and a growth mindset—a deep-seated conviction that you can excel at a new pursuit. Norwegian psychologist Hermundur Sigmundsson says that passion is by far the most important psychological factor—but it peaks early, which you may have seen in kids’ obsessions: the Dinosaur Phase. The Truck Phase.

The Minecraft Phase. To a lesser extent, the same is true of the growth mindset, so by the time most of us reach the Build a Company Phase, two of the three most important ingredients in the recipe for achievement are waning. “You lose the thinking that maybe you can do this,” Sigmundsson says.

But grit—a combination of perseverance and determination—rises through middle age and peaks in your 70s, as do a number of other helpful intellectual traits. Harvard and MIT researchers who tracked the cognitive skills of 48,000 people over time found that while mental processing speed is already on the downswing by the time you depart college, your ability to perceive the emotional state of other people and your vocabulary, comprehension, and aptitude for math keep climbing until at least 50.

Though short-term memory declines after age 35, the mind’s accumulation of facts and knowledge peaks around retirement age. In many ways, that’s when your mind is best suited to dominate on the job.

You’ll still need to overcome your flagging passion and growth mindset. A surplus of grit can help, says Anne Boden, 60, founder and chief executive officer of Starling Bank, a consumer-focused online financial house. When founding a company, “you spend most of your time convincing people to believe in you and give you money,” she says. “It’s a very weak position, and very humbling.”

Boden had never lacked for ambition, holding roles at various financial companies and ultimately serving as chief operating officer of Allied Irish Banks Plc, Ireland’s biggest lender. Along the way, she frequently felt banks don’t really put customers front and center. So as she passed the five-decade mark, she decided she should do it herself. “The first time I uttered the words ‘I’m going to start a bank,’ I couldn’t believe they came out of my mouth,” she says. But by saying it over and over, she grew more comfortable with the idea. Soon, she says, “I felt like a woman who was going to start a bank.”

Such an overabundance of determination may be unusual, but gritty, later-life professional success is not. Joy Behar taught English to high schoolers and worked as an ABC receptionist and producer before landing her seat on The View in 1997, at age 54. She continues to co-host at 78. Sigmundsson rattles off examples of colleagues such as a retired professor who started speed skating at 67 and is now a masters world champion at age 85. And Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, 86, the psychologist who discovered the immersed mental state known as “flow,” is still publishing. “It’s possible,” Sigmundsson says, “to keep the fire burning.

Make It Meaningful

Once you pass the half-century mark, avoid work you don’t find compelling. The pandemic provides the perfect occasion to ditch—or be fired from—a position that doesn’t do much beyond keeping the lights on and the fridge full. “When you lose that just-OK job, you have the opportunity to take a big risk,” says Boden. “Take all the good from your past ventures and throw them into the future.”

Move Your Body

“Physical activity is very important to keep the gray and white matter in your brain more functional,” says Sigmundsson. His studies show that successful older people are all physically active, including everyone mentioned in this article. Anything that gets your heart pumping, such as walking, swimming, yoga, biking, or weights, will do the trick.

Fight Weakness

Which is lowest: your grit, passion, or growth mindset? Help nurture your weakest trait by surrounding yourself with people and deadlines that bolster it. If your entrepreneurial passion is fading, find an enthusiastic business partner and join an incubator program. If you fear you won’t be able to write that novel you keep seeing in your dreams, join a weekly writing group and hire a book coach.

Beyond Work

Bonus points for learning completely new skills, which can improve cognitive function. The more novel and mentally demanding, the better—try, say, learning a new language or musical instrument. After a lifetime of playing percussion, Sigmundsson picked up the bass guitar at age 50. “My band needed a bass player,” he says. “Now I’m 55, and I’m quite good.”

[perfectirishgifts]

How Amazon Original Stories Chooses Its “Single Sitting” Reads

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/how-amazon-original-stories-chooses-its-single-sitting-reads/

How Amazon Original Stories Chooses Its “Single Sitting” Reads

Amazon Original Stories, an imprint of Amazon Publishing, launched in November 2017, offering short fiction and nonfiction, built around the idea of works that can be read in a “single sitting.” The imprint’s first titles were Crown Heights, a collaboration with Amazon Studios, and Joyce Carol Oates’s Sign of the Beast.

Since then, the imprint has published close to 150 digital stories, which are available free to Amazon Prime AMZN members and Kindle Unlimited subscribers, with a free audio edition included (those who aren’t part of either program can buy titles for $1.99 each, with the option to add the digital audio for free). The imprint releases roughly 40-50 stories per year in a variety of genres.

I interviewed Julia Sommerfeld, Publisher of Amazon Original Stories, via email, about the trajectory of Amazon Original Stories (AOS), how authors are selected, crafting collections and the most popular types of stories.

Why was Amazon Original Stories started? How is it different from Kindle Singles? 

Amazon Original Stories launched with the mission of championing stories, essays, and reporting by the premiere storytellers of our time and expanding readers’ horizons by making these stories free to Prime and Kindle Unlimited members. In addition to full-length novels, memoir and nonfiction, many authors are also writing short, compelling stories and essays and we wanted to provide an imprint that would support their short work and share it with readers.

Are all of them also available on Audible with audiobook versions?

Our stories allow readers to toggle back and forth between reading and audio, so you can start listening to a story on the road and keep reading on your Kindle or the Kindle app on your phone right where you left off. We’re seeing more and more customers switching back and forth between their audio and digital downloads. It’s really encouraging to see that folks are fitting the stories into their lives so seamlessly.

Not only have we partnered with bestselling authors to read their own audio editions—like David Sedaris reading Themes and Variations and Mindy Kaling reading Nothing Like I Imagined (Except for Sometimes)—but we’ve also brought in some venerated celebrity narrators. In September, we released Out of Line, a collection of seven short ‘Fem-Fi’ stories from an all-star lineup of award-winning writers Cheryl Strayed, Roxane Gay, Caroline Kepnes, Lisa Ko, Emma Donoghue, Mary Gaitskill and Kate Atkinson. We matched that with an star-studded lineup of narrators for the audio editions, including Kristen Bell, Samira Wiley, Margo Martindale, Gwendoline Christie and Lea Salonga.

Why did you see a need for stories fitting this “single-sitting” length? 

Some of the most powerful, memorable—and satisfying—stories can be told in a single sitting. Just think about the classic short works like Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery or Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw, which haunted generations, or a great episode of your favorite podcast.

Our stories and collections are made to be binged, just like your favorite podcast or television show. But these days, with our attention spans a bit frayed, it can feel less daunting to pick up a shorter work. For some readers, that single sitting might last a 30-minute work break or for others, a whole rainy Sunday. Also, Kindle attracts a pretty voracious readership, so it’s helpful to tide readers over between their favorite author’s books.

How do you go about selecting authors for AOS? Are they all previously published authors?

We start with readers and go from there. We look for authors and content creators of all types that readers are just itching to hear more from, and who have a track record for executing deeply satisfying and memorable storylines.

For fiction, we have an established fiction audience that’s hungry for more in popular categories like mystery and thriller, science fiction and fantasy, historical fiction, etc. For nonfiction, we are drawn to novelistic storytelling—especially memoir and personal essay. We have signed both established autobiographical writers like David Sedaris and Mindy Kaling, while also commissioning bestselling writers in other categories to write about themselves: Jacqueline Woodson, Shea Serrano, Jade Chang and Susan Orlean, for example.

We want to work with writers at the top of their game who will feel like an AOS story adds to their careers. We like to think of AOS as a playground for published authors, storytellers, and emerging voices. Writers have a chance to flex their short story muscles, or to explore outside of the genre they’re most known for. Amor Towles, a star of historic fiction, for instance, turned his storytelling chops to speculative fiction in our Forward collection. Authors are the original world builders, and many of them find inspiration by the chance to do something new. Or, perhaps they can explore something they’ve been thinking about for a long time that doesn’t fit the format of a full-length novel. In some cases, we’ll launch someone new with a unique voice or story, such as debut writer Samantha Allen’s memoir about falling in love while undergoing gender transformation surgery, Love & Estrogen.

AOS has released many collections around a theme, such as love stories in The Real Thing, stories by crime writers in Hush, and climate fiction in Warmer. What do the collections offer that readers may not get with individual stories?

With collections, readers can read something completely original and unexpected from their most beloved authors or be introduced to several new favorite writers, all within a couple of hours.

We love offering readers a real diversity of experience or perspective on the subject or theme, while also giving them the ability to discover new writers. Because the investment is relatively low—both because it’s free with Prime and doesn’t require the time commitment of digesting several full-length books—we see these collections as a gateway to finding the next author you’ll be obsessed with. We take great pride in presenting a sort of Avengers-like super team of writers we think our audience will really love. Hush, for instance, featured top suspense writers Ruth Ware, Laura Lippman, Oyinkan Braithwaite, Jeffery Deaver, Lisa Unger and Alison Gaylin.

Which types of stories have been most popular with readers, and why do you think that is? Is fiction more popular than nonfiction?

So far, both thrillers and memoirs are really topping our list so I wouldn’t say fiction or nonfiction is the determining factor. But readers do seem pretty open to trying different genres as long as the hook is there and the story is really satisfying. We, like our readers, look for a powerful plot.

Do you see a correlation in sales of their previous books when an author releases an AOS title?

We definitely see AOS as helping to raise all boats. We work to grow audiences for our authors, and that means people returning to their previous books or maybe pre-ordering their upcoming release. One of the favorite things I see in customers’ reviews is when they say, Oh, I love this so much, I’m going to check out their other books!

We are also excited that many of the stories are also being spun into TV and film projects. Ken Liu’s The Cleaners, which comes out December 15, is now in TV development with Amazon Studios as is Andrew Barrer’s Young Blood, which started as a single story, and we are now expanding into a trilogy of stories and an Amazon Studios film project.

I saw in another interview you said more people are reading on their phones. How are most people accessing AOS? Has the increase in reading by phone affected how you approach AOS?

People mostly interact with the stories through their phones and the Kindle. Our guiding principle is meeting readers where they are. One example of how this plays out is switching between ebook and audio editions. All our stories use the Whispersync for Voice feature, which allows you to switch from listening to reading and back again without losing your place. So you can go for your daily masked quarantine walk with headphones on, and pull your device out afterward for some armchair reading without missing a beat.

The popularity of mobile also really informs cover design—the stories need to pop and register as a thumbnail image rather than physical book on shelf. And it informs our editorial strategy in that we want to be urgent and relevant enough for people to spend their pockets of time with these stories, but we also want to help readers escape and carve time away from the constant noise of the headlines.

Why did you want to work with Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche? What can readers expect from her new story Zikora?

She’s just so beloved, and crosses so many audiences, that we’ve always had her at the top of our wish list as a creator who could make just about anybody stop what they are doing to spend a little time in a world she draws.

Zikora is a passion project for her; it’s a really powerful look at becoming a mother, and how the experience of entering parenthood leads you to see your own parents more clearly. Readers can expect a deeply emotional, character-driven short story that puts a human face on urgent issues. Chimamanda has an unparalleled talent for creating characters with such loving specificity, who at the same time illuminate these universal desires and fears that any reader can relate to.

We also worked with the Nigerian-American actress Adepero Oduye (Pariah, 12 Years a Slave) on the audio version of this story, and she really brought an extra layer of emotional resonance to it. I can’t decide if I enjoy reading or listening to this one better.

What’s next for AOS?

Faraway, a collection of fairytale retellings from blockbuster young adult authors Rainbow Rowell, Nic Stone, Soman Chainani, Ken Liu, and Gayle Forman, releases December 15. Looking towards 2021, Oscar award-winning filmmaker and author Guillermo del Toro will release a new collection of dark and fantastical stories in Fall. Dean Koontz is returning with Season 2 of Nameless, which will extend a beloved series that we started in 2019. Plus, we have projects coming from Guillermo del Toro , Susan Orlean, Kiley Reid, Curtis Sittenfeld, Lisa Unger, Jia Tolentino, Justin Torres, Jeff Lemire and many more in the works.

From Media in Perfectirishgifts

[amazonauthorinsights-live]

How to find and capture ideas for your novel

Joanna Penn

{Article_Date}

“What if” questions are often the basis for books.

“Where do you get your ideas from?”

Authors get asked this all the time and some get tired of it, because once you get into the hang of capturing ideas and writing them down, it seems like they just happen by magic.

But I remember back when I was a cubicle slave and used to write technical specifications all day. I didn’t feel creative at all and I certainly didn’t have any ideas.

I had to retrain my brain in order to start writing fiction.

In this article, I’ll explain how to find ideas and how to capture them, plus how to deal with some common worries around ideas.

1. Trust your curiosity

This really is the key. You have to notice what you’re curious about and then lean into those aspects of life.

Curiosity is about what catches your attention.

If you’re in a bookstore, which areas do you go to first? If you’re in a new city, what do you want to do with your time? If you’re sitting in a cafe, why do you notice some people more than others?

We’re surrounded by millions of stimuli, sounds and smells and sights and things happening all the time. But you will notice different things than I would about the world around you, and an idea starts by noticing those things.

If you’re not curious about anything right now, you need to start trying. Think back to a point before ‘real life’ stopped you doing things for the fun of it. What were you curious about when you were younger? What do you like helping your kids with? What do you remember as stand-out memories?

Idea generation is like a muscle, a bit like going to the gym. 

If you walk into a gym now and try to lift some heavy weights, you won’t be able to do it. But if you start with the tiny weights and you start lifting those, then over time, you’ll be able to lift heavier weights. It’s true of ideas and perhaps true of creativity in any form. Start small by noticing what you’re interested in and suddenly you will start getting ideas.

2. Consume in order to produce

If you try to create from an empty mind, you will find yourself ‘blocked’ pretty fast because there’s nothing for your imagination to work with.

You need to fill your creative well in order to write.

I like the idea of the Artist’s Date from Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way. Book some time for yourself and go somewhere that will fill your world with something new. An art gallery, a museum, a seminar, or even just time to read a book on a new topic. Take a notebook and write down anything you notice.

Let’s get into a bit more detail about the types of things that can arouse your curiosity and potentially give you ideas.

3. Use real places and research trips

These have been the genesis for most of my own novels.

For example, I will never forget the first time I walked into the Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons in London. The visceral feeling in my stomach as I looked at the specimen jars filled with body parts sparked the idea behind Desecration.

Put yourself in situations where you’re out of your comfort zone. And when you visit a new place, notice what you’re feeling and consider the questions that arise.

Be sure to take your notebook and write down what you see. It doesn’t have to be reams and reams of information. Little notes and impressions are fine at this stage, and you can combine them later.

4. Use a MacGuffin

In thrillers and mysteries, the MacGuffin is the object that the characters are searching for, and it’s intriguing enough to become the center of the book. The Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail are two MacGuffins that have endured in stories for several thousand years through countless re-tellings.

I use MacGuffins in most of my books. For example, on a trip to Budapest, we visited the Basilica and saw the thousand-year-old mummified hand of Saint Istvan. Not many countries place a mummified hand at the center of their most famous monument, so I was fascinated. What if someone stole this important religious and national symbol?

That question became the basis of my novella One Day in Budapest. It’s about the rise of far right nationalists (which is really happening in Hungary) but it’s also about the MacGuffin, the mummified hand of St Istvan.

5. What fascinates you about people?

You will always need characters for your books.

Many characters have an aspect of the writer in them, and if you meet people who would make great characters, then it’s worth writing down the interesting things about them. Although, of course, never portray a character as exactly like the real person.

I’m reading a lot about war photographers at the moment, following my curiosity, even though I don’t have a particular story in mind.

I’ve read Emergency Sex, about people who work in war zones and how they deal with what they see; Hotel Arcadia, about a war photographer who’s in a hotel when it gets torn apart by terrorists, and I listened to Sebastian Junger talk about his own experiences with war photography and filming. Aspects of this research may bubble up in a character at some point. Right now, I’m just filling the creative well and I trust that the story will emerge

6. Use real events

Ben and Lucy are out sailing on the ocean beyond Christchurch, New Zealand. They look to the horizon and see a huge tidal wave bearing down on them …

So begins Risen Gods, my dark fantasy novel co-written with J.Thorn, inspired by the real events of the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes.

New Zealand is on the Pacific Rim of Fire and has a lot of volcanic activity. I also lived there for seven years, so I know the country well.

I wondered what would happen if you lived through one of these natural disasters, then I started to consider a dark fantasy spin on the idea. What if the gods of New Zealand decided to take their land back?

7. Consider ‘What if?’ ideas

“What if” questions are often the basis for books.

The Martian by Andy Weir. What if you got stuck alone on Mars? 50 Shades of Grey by E.L.James. What if you met a sexy billionaire who offered you everything in exchange for something unexpected in the bedroom? The Stand by Stephen King. What if 99% of the population was wiped out in a plague and you were one of the few left?

The Stand is 38 years old, but the post-apocalyptic genre keeps coming back because people really do wonder what would happen if this big disaster happened and you were left with a few survivors. Some ‘what if’ questions will continue to be answered by many books to come … maybe yours will be one of them?

8. Use ideas from quotes

Authors will often cite quotes they have used as ideas in the front of their novels.

The title of my book Destroyer of Worlds comes from the quote, “I am become death, destroyer of worlds,” which is from the Bhagavad Gita, but was also quoted by Oppenheimer at the test of the first atomic bomb.

So that one quote encapsulates ideas about Hindu gods and the power of an atomic bomb, and became the basis for the novel’s plot.

9. Use themes and issues you care about (but don’t preach)

It’s a story, not a lecture or a nonfiction book, but many authors use big societal issues as the basis for their ideas.

For example, there are a lot of novels based on Nazi Germany. All have the same underlying aspect of the horrors of the Holocaust, but the books can end up totally different. Compare Schindler’s Ark, Sophie’s Choice, The Afrika Reich and The Man in the High Castle.

10. Use ideas from other books

“Books are made of books.” Cormac McCarthy

My short story collection, A Thousand Fiendish Angels, is based on Dante’s Inferno. The stories were commissioned by Kobo for the launch of Dan Brown’s book, also called Inferno, a few years ago. Dante’s Inferno is out of copyright, so you can do whatever you like with it, but I turned the ideas into something new.

I made notes on the book, writing down lines I liked or words that resonated. For example, the Minotaur and the Furies, characters from Inferno, ended up in the third story as real characters, and Dis ended up as a setting.

One word of caution. If you take notes from other books, don’t ever copy out entire passages word-for-word, because you may end up accidentally plagiarizing. But certainly you can get ideas from other books, then spin off and write your own version.

11. Make sure you capture your ideas

You won’t remember these sparks of ideas later, I guarantee it, so make sure you capture them somehow.

Use an old-fashioned notebook, or your trusty smartphone, or anything in between. It doesn’t matter, as long as you get them down. I have physical notebooks, usually Moleskine or Leuchtturm brand, always with plain paper. I also use Things app on my iPhone. It’s quite expensive, but I love it. Other people use Evernote or Scrivener.

Then, when you’re considering your next project, you can look through your lists and you’ll find seeds of ideas that will feed into your book.

12. Don’t fall into these common worries about ideas

Finally, there are several recurring issues that come up around ideas, so we’ll tackle them quickly here.

A. What if someone steals my idea?

Ideas are nothing. Execution is everything.

You may have an amazing idea, but it’s nothing unless you turn that into a book that readers might love. Ideas are also abundant. There are always more of them, so don’t obsess about one particular idea, just keep on creating and more will come.

B. What if my idea has been written before?

The truth is that every single idea has been done before and nothing is truly original.

Originality and creativity come from combining several things into something new, and adding your experience into the expression of an idea so it becomes something fresh.

There will always be universal story elements and emotions that resonate with readers. Consider Romeo and Juliet, Twilight, Fifty Shades of Grey, and Titanic. No one would say these are the same stories, and yet, at heart, they are about the relationship between a man and a woman and how they either came together and lived happily ever after, or how they came together and died.

These are iconic love stories. They essentially are the same thing, but yet, they are each so original.

C. How do I choose which idea to work on?

Once you start tuning into your curiosity, you will come up against the ‘problem’ of too many ideas. The most important thing is to keep writing them all down. Then, you can use them in different books, or combine them into multiple story-lines. After all, one idea is never enough for a whole book.

I have hundreds of notes in my ideas folder, but I find that some just keep coming back. Those are the ones to investigate further.

I hope that this has helped you consider new ways to find and track your ideas. I’d love to know your thoughts on the topic.

This article originally appeared at The Creative Penn.

Joanna Penn

Joanna Penn is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling thriller author, creative entrepreneur, podcaster, professional speaker, and travel junkie. For more, visit www.jfpenn.com

[firstdraftpod]

Special 200th Episode!

First Draft Episode #200: Special Anniversary Episode

For the 200th episode of the First Draft with Sarah Enni podcast, previous guests sent in answers to questions like, where do you turn for inspiration? What are you hopes and dreams at this moment in your career? What do you do besides writing that makes you a more skillful storyteller? And, of course, any advice! Listen in to hear tips, tricks, and reassurances and encouragement from dozens of bestselling and award-winning writers!

People Featured, and Links and Topics Mentioned, In This Episode

Podcasts I listened to obsessively, which inspired me to start this podcast, include Fresh Air with Teri Gross, WTF with Marc Maron, and You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes

Veronica Roth, author of the Divergent series, Carve the Mark duology and the forthcoming short story collection, The End and Other Beginnings: Stories from the Future (listen to her First Draft podcasts here, here, and here)

Kayla Cagan, author of Piper Perish and Art Boss (listen to her First Draft interview here)

Will Hines, author of How to be the Greatest Improviser on Earth (hear his First Draft episode here)

Sara Farizan, author of Here to Stay, Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel, If You Could Be Mine (hear her First Draft interview here)

Kass Morgan, author of The 100 series and Light Years (stay tuned for her episode of First Draft!)

Tochi Onyebuchi, author of Beasts Made of Night, Crown of Thunder, and War Girls series

Tochi recommends playing narrative video games, like God of War, Assassin's Creed, or Red Dead Redemption

Leigh Bardugo, author of the Shadow and Bone series and Six of Crows duology, and the forthcoming adult novel, Ninth House , and more (listen to her First Draft interviews here and here)

Josh Gondelman, author of the forthcoming memoir Nice Try, writer and producer of “Desus and Mero” and Emmy-winning writer for “Last Week Tonight on John Oliver” (hear his First Draft interview soon!)

Maris Kreizman, author of Slaughterhouse 90210 and host of LitHub’s The Maris Review podcast

Ryan Graudin, author of the Wolf by Wolf, Invictus, The Walled City, and more (hear her First Draft interview here)

Sabriel by Garth Nix

Jason Reynolds, author of Look Both Ways, the Track series, Long Way Down, As Brave As You, All American Boys, and many more (stay tuned for his episode of First Draft)

The New Yorker

The Newberry Award; The National Book Award; The Pulitzer Prize

Stephanie Garber, author of the Caraval series (listen to her First Draft episode here)

Elana K. Arnold, author of A Boy Called Bat, Damsel, What Girls Are Made Of, Infandous, and more (listen to her First Draft episodes here and here)

Lance Rubin, author of Denton's Little's Deathdate, Denton's Little's Still Not Dead, and Crying Laughing (listen to his First Draft episode here)

Freedom (computer app)

Deep Work Work by Cal Newport

Courtney Summers, including Sadie, Cracked Up to Be, This Is Not a Test, Fall for Anything, All the Rage, Some Girls Are (hear her First Draft episodes here and here)

“Real Romance,” The New Yorker profile about Nora Roberts

Mary H. K. Choi, author of Emergency Contact and Permanent Record (stay tuned for her episode of First Draft)

The Venice Biennale (La Biennale di Venezia) and Dia:Beacon

Bridget Tyler, author of The Pioneer and The Survivor (listen to her First Draft episode here)

Scientific American, which Veronica just subscribed to

Samantha Mabry, author of A Fierce and Subtle Poison and All the Wind in the World (listen to her First Draft episode here)

Elissa Sussman, author of Stray and Burn (listen to her First Draft interview here)

Abdi Nazemian, author of Like a Love Story, The Authentics, and The Walk-In Closet (listen to his First Draft interview here)

Madonna, the queen of Abdi’s book

The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron

Morgan Matson, author of he Date, Amy & Roger's Epic Detour, The Unexpected Everything, and more! (listen to her First Draft interviews here and here)

Julie Buxbaum, author of Tell Me Three Things, What to Say Next, and Hope and Other Punchlines (listen to her First Draft interview here)

Danielle Paige, author of Dorothy Must Die, Stealing Snow and Mera: Tidebreaker (listen to her First Draft episode here)

David Yoon, author of Frankly in Love (stay tuned for his episode of First Draft!)

Zan Romanoff, author of Look (due Spring 2020) and A Song to Take The World Apart and Grace and the Fever (listen to her First Draft interview here)

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Francesca Lia Block, author of Weetzie Bat, The Thorn Necklace, and so many more (listen to her First Draft episode here)

Aminah Mae Safi, author of Not the Girls You're Looking For and Tell Me How You Really Feel (listen to her First Draft interview here)

Alex London, author of Black Wings Beating, Proxy, The Wild Ones series and more (listen to his First Draft episodes here and here)

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Lilliam Rivera, author of Dealing In Dreams and The Education Of Margot Sanchez, (listen to her First Draft interviews here and here)

Pseudonymous Bosch, aka Raphael Simon (author of the The Name of This Book is a Secret and the Bad Magic series, and more) and Shane Pangburn, who together created The Unbelievable Oliver and the Four Jokers (stay tuned for their First Draft episode!)

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Maurene Goo, author of Somewhere Only We Know, I Believe in a Thing Called Love and The Way You Make Me Feel and Since You Asked (Listen to Maurene’s first, second, and third episodes of First Draft)

That time Maurene interviewed Sarah Enni for this podcast! (The Sarah Enni episode of First Draft )

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[latestnews2018-blog]

Chris Messina Is Fine With Not Being A ‘Hollywood Chris.’ Maybe.

New Post has been published on https://latestnews2018.com/chris-messina-is-fine-with-not-being-a-hollywood-chris-maybe/

Chris Messina Is Fine With Not Being A ‘Hollywood Chris.’ Maybe.

Here’s a hard fact: Chris Messina is routinely omitted from the roster of Hollywood Chrises, the white guys with the same first name who take turns popping up in blockbuster movies. 

And that’s some bullshit, seeing as Chris Messina is the most talented and the most attractive of the Hollywood Chrises. (No offense to Rock, Noth, Cooper, Lee, Lloyd, O’Dowd, Tucker, Meloni or Walken, whose first name isn’t even Chris. Ditto the so-called real Hollywood Chrises: Pine, Evans, Hemsworth and Pratt.)

Ignoring journalistic ethics, I told Messina as much on the phone last week during a quick chat about “Sharp Objects,” the bewitching HBO limited series based on Gillian Flynn’s mystery novel of the same name. Messina was a good sport, but he evinced a hint of bittersweetness as he laughed off the situation. Of course, the Hollywood Chris phenomenon has more to do with superhero franchises and social media personalities than anything else ― two arenas that Messina hasn’t entered, perhaps for the better. Still, how does it feel to be left out of the “Saturday Night Live” monologues and best-of brackets and general internet obsessiveness devoted to your industry (Hollywood) and your name (Chris)?

“It’s OK,” Messina said.

By the way, are you watching “Sharp Objects”? You really should. Messina plays Richard Willis, a Kansas City detective commissioned to investigate the murders of two teen girls in the eerie Missouri hamlet Wind Gap, where a troubled journalist named Camille Preaker (the incomparable Amy Adams, his “Julie & Julia” co-star) has returned home to report on the case. I asked Messina about the series, his friendship with Adams and, of course, the Hollywood Chrises. 

This is quite the unlikely “Julie & Julia” reunion.

Yeah, thank goodness. Amy and I became friends on that, and then I had always said to her, “I really want to do something else with you where I’m not just eating your food and telling you how delicious it is.” And I wasn’t quite sure it was ever going to happen, but she called and said, “Have you read this book?” I hadn’t. She said, “Take a read, I’m going to play this part.” If it wasn’t for her, I would have never been in the show.

Stephen Lovekin via Getty Images

Amy Adams and Chris Messina at the New York premiere of “Julie & Julia” on July 30, 2009.

With something like “Sharp Objects,” where the mystery unfolds in waves over eight episodes, is there any limitation to reading the book and knowing the outcome before your character does?

It’s true ― we had the source material, which was fantastic. And then the scripts were great, so yeah, you kind of have to go one scene at a time and, if you can, forget where it’s going or try to make-believe you don’t know where it’s going. The good news is I did read the scripts before we started, but they changed. So there was this feeling of change happening. There was a flow of new pages coming in here and there, so that kept me on my toes.

The end result was what it was in the book, but if I just kept my eye on one scene at a time or one episode at a time, I guess that was the trick.

Did anything significant change with regard to Richard?

No, but because it’s like an eight-hour movie, really, you get to flesh out these characters more. When I read the book, I was pretty clear that I wanted to be part of it. I loved the book. I found it heartbreaking and painful, and in terms of the mystery, I was intrigued to figure out who this was and what the hell was going on in this town. Richard was very clear on the page in terms of what the job was, and it only got more fleshed out in the scripts because it’s an eight-hour movie.

But visually, [director] Jean-Marc Vallée is so gifted. He’s a very improvisational filmmaker, and not so much with dialogue; it’s more images, like all those fans you see in the show. Those weren’t in the script — we were just hot as hell. They are these sharp objects, these fans. And that’s just one of many instinctive visual examples of what he grabbed on the day. It was really exciting to work that way. Sometimes it’s frustrating because you’re not in his head, and you don’t know why the hell he’s shooting these fans, and then you see the show and you see it edited together, and they’re beautiful and evocative of the place.

HBO

Taking a break from his investigation, Chris Messina’s Det. Richard Willis drinks alone in a sleepy Missouri town’s lone pub.

The visual style gives the show a hallucinatory feel that’s exciting. When you encountered Richard in the book and in the first few episodes, did you think of him as a trustworthy person?

That’s a good question. I really didn’t talk about this or share it because it wasn’t necessary, but I kind of thought that Richard was damaged in a way — not exactly the same way as Camille. He had his own baggage and heartbreak and desires, and a need to be seen and heard and to be a part of something. He’s a man who obviously is an outsider of this town but carries with him a past that haunts him, like we all do. But I was thinking he was the other side of the coin of Camille. As you see in the first four episodes, she needs help. She’s in pain. Maybe it’s not that drastic with Richard, but you only find out so much about the character, so it was important for him to come to the town with his own baggage.

Richard and Camille have an interesting conversation in the woods in Episode 4. She points to a spot where the football team would “have their way” with girls, and Richard says that sounds like rape. But Camille essentially says it isn’t, thereby inverting the positions we might expect a man and woman to have when discussing consent. What was your approach to that scene?

There was a lot of discussion about that and what we were saying. I remember flipping back and forth and trying to get a handle on what it is we’re saying. I love that Camille’s character is usually a man parading around town drinking. The scene you’re talking about, and the entire series, flips that. I love that about the book and the show.

It’s interesting, Camille’s take on it and Richard’s take on it. They’re quite different. I enjoyed that the writing was pushing that. Most of my scenes are with Amy, and I can just look across the camera and see a friend who you know is a fine actor, just fantastic, and has proved herself time and time again to do so many different parts. But to look at her playing something like this was really wonderful and inspiring.

And then the flip side is she was also one of the producers, so she would be in this pain — and most days were filled, in terms of the scene work, with darkness. And then we would call cut, and she would put on the producer hat. She would be taking care of us and getting an ice cream truck for us and looking at scripts and talking about scheduling. And then she’d go back into the part, into the character. It was really fascinating to watch that.

How micro were your conversations? Taking that scene in the woods, for example, are you two — as actors and as friends — breaking down what sort of tone you want to bring to it so it doesn’t sound like he’s lecturing her?

We talked more in the beginning, and then as you start to live in it; and it’s a few months down the line, you feel it more than you need to talk it, if that makes any sense. You start to know where these characters should be going and what Jean-Marc is looking for. And, really, acting with Amy is really like — I’m a bad tennis player, but I imagine if I was any good, it would be like playing Serena. You’re bound to play better. She makes everyone better around her.

That scene through the woods is a lot of pages of dialogue. But Jean-Marc Vallée doesn’t rehearse; he doesn’t light it. There are no marks on the ground. The director of photography throws his camera on his shoulder, and we kind of just went. A lot of that was shot really, really fast. He doesn’t do a lot of takes, which is great because I think if you look at all the stuff he gets, he gets raw performances. You don’t have time to start acting because you’re almost rehearsing on film, which is beautiful. The flip side is that I tend to be an actor that wants to keep exploring it and trying different avenues, and he’s like, “We’re done.” When you have a director like that, you just trust him.

That’s the theater kid in you, as someone who’s been onstage so much and able to tweak the same show night after night. Speaking of different mediums, TV has been very kind to you, with “Damages,” “The Mindy Project,” “The Newsroom” and now “Sharp Objects.” Your movie roles haven’t been as abundant, though. Are you getting the type of movie work you’d like to be doing?

I really feel like what happened with me — which happens to a lot of actors — is I came from the New York theater scene, and I played all these delinquents, all these really complicated characters. The reason why I became an actor in the first place was to dig into the dirt. I came to LA and got “Six Feet Under,” and I played a Republican lawyer. So, as you know, if you do anything halfway decently in Hollywood, they want you to repeat it. For a while, whether it was “Julie & Julia” or “Vicky Christina Barcelona,” I was trying to outrun the nice-guy suit, or the kind of guy you thought was a dick but has an OK heart. And I’m grateful for all the parts and all the opportunities that I’ve had. But I certainly feel — and probably most actors feel this way — like I haven’t been able to do a quarter of what I can and want to do.

A lot of the film stuff that I really have loved — “28 Hotel Rooms” or “Fairhaven” or I played a small part in my movie “Alex in Venice” — were so small you have to tie somebody up to watch them. They had very short runs in actual theaters, so you have to find it on iTunes or Netflix — and we’re oversaturated with great stuff to watch.

In terms of big movies, I really loved doing “Live by Night” with Ben Affleck. Someone finally gave me something different. I gained 40 pounds, and I was in the 1920s and 1930s as a gangster. That was a remarkable experience. Unfortunately, people didn’t go out to see that film. So I feel like this is the tip of the iceberg.

Warner Bros

Chris Messina in “Live by Night.”

Are you familiar with the phenomenon known as the Hollywood Chrises?

Yes, I’ve heard of this. The Chris Pine, the Chris Evans, the Chris … Hemsworth? And … oh, and Chris Pratt.

How does it feel not to be included among the Hollywood Chrises?

[Laughs] Well. Yeah. It’s OK. Those guys are all great and talented guys. They deserve to be in their club. I’m my own Chris.

But the thing is — and I swear I’m not just saying this because you’re on the phone with me — you are the most talented and most attractive of the Chrises.

Oh, that’s very nice. Well, I don’t know how those things start, but I’m the Chris running behind all those guys being like, “Wait up! Wait up, guys! Can I play too?”

One reason they get lumped together is because they’ve all done superhero movies. They’re blockbuster stars, and that’s a terrain you haven’t tread yet. So, the obvious question is: Is that a terrain you would even want to tread?

I would never say never. They’re not movies I run to, to be honest. I really got started with character-driven films. It was the films of the ’70s. It was the Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Gene Hackman roles. My kids really dug “Black Panther,” and so did I. And all of them are cool — what they’ve done with them, how they stretch them out. I love Heath Ledger’s performance as The Joker, and I’m of course looking forward to Joaquin [Phoenix] playing The Joker. I love everything he does. But I don’t run to see those films. I run to see the new Gus Van Sant movie, which was phenomenal. And again, Joaquin was incredible [in “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot”]. I love old movies. As much as I do watch TV, it’s crowded, so I’m always trying to catch up. But it’s never-ending, and a lot of times I just opt to put on “Chinatown.”

Which was a reference point for you in preparing for “Sharp Objects.”

Yeah, I used that one a lot. It’s just one of the greatest movies of all time, I think. I never get tired of watching it. But Jack Nicholson is one my favorites. I guess he’s one of all of our favorites. But in that particular film, he’s trying to solve the case, but he starts trying to solve her. So I thought early on with Jean-Marc Vallée, you know, “Sharp Objects” is kind of like “Chinatown.”

What is your favorite Amy Adams performance that isn’t “Sharp Objects” or “Julie & Julia”?

Oh, there’s so many. Can I have a tie?

Sure, pick as many as you want.

I think “The Master” and “Her.” They’re both so powerful and so different. She’s so vulnerable and unrecognizable in “Her.” It’s obviously Joaquin’s film, and I guess Scarlett Johansson on the device, but Amy comes with such artistry in that film. And on the flip side, “The Master” is so Shakespearean and powerful. She’s quiet and still, but she’s so fierce.

But it’s really hard to name because you could go on for a while with her. I would say those are my top two.

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[fashiontrendin-blog]

Annette Bening On Disco Dancing, Loving Greta Gerwig And Warren Beatty's Oscar Flub

http://fashion-trendin.com/annette-bening-on-disco-dancing-loving-greta-gerwig-and-warren-beattys-oscar-flub/

Annette Bening On Disco Dancing, Loving Greta Gerwig And Warren Beatty's Oscar Flub

Unlike writers and directors, actors don’t often have the privilege of designing their careers. They take the best roles that come to them, and somewhere along the way, we extrapolate narratives about their cultural significance.

Annette Bening’s coalesced sometime around “American Beauty,” when it became clear that she was meant to portray go-getters whose tough facades hide vulnerable interiors. Before that 1999 drama about upper-middle-class suburbia, she was a tenacious ingenue wrapped up with the mob (“Bugsy”) and a lobbyist dating the world’s most powerful man (“The American President”); after it, she was a theater star filling the voids of middle age (“Being Julia”), a lesbian mother whose marriage was threatened by an interloper (“The Kids Are All Right”) and a late-’70s Californian struggling to grasp the changing times (“20th Century Women”). 

Bening’s new movie, “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool,” which opens in limited release this weekend, fits in nicely. She plays Gloria Grahame, the onetime luminary whose desire to keep working clashed with Hollywood’s obsessive focus on youthfulness. After years of success, the industry lost interest in Grahame; she spent her waning days sick and struggling to find parts.

“Film Stars” is based on a 1986 book of the same name, written by Grahame’s much younger lover, British actor Peter Turner, portrayed in the movie by Jamie Bell.

Bening adopts the wispy elocution of 20th-century actresses taught to speak with a posh affect that sounds almost British. With that accent and corresponding accoutrements, Bening is, once again, a marvel. In her hands, Gloria is both fragile and steely. 

Earlier this month, I sat down with Bening in New York, where we discussed her husband Warren Beatty’s February Oscar flub, the state of Hollywood amid the current sexual misconduct firestorm, and one key similarity between “Film Stars” and last year’s “20th Century Women.” 

My new favorite beat is Annette Bening dancing in movies set in 1979. In “20th Century Women,” it’s “The Big Country” by Talking Heads. In “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool,” it’s “Boogie Oogie Oogie” by Taste of Honey.  

In “20th Century,” it was all about how Dorothea couldn’t really get into the groove. But she was trying to figure out, “What is the heartbeat and the meaning behind punk?” So there’s that. And the disco, with Jamie Bell playing Peter, is just about trying to check out this new neighbor, and having a little disco to get the vibe and figure out what’s happening between us.

Jamie told me that he actually went online and looked at “Saturday Night Fever” to see what John Travolta was doing. I, however, lived at that time, so I was like, I remember coming to visit the Odyssey in New York. The Odyssey was one of the great disco clubs. It was a big club with huge risers. Everyone is dancing together, and I remember — because I was visiting from California, and I was still like, “Wow, New York!” — there was a guy in there naked. For sure I remember that. Just wildly having a great time, full-on.

Like a go-go dancer? Was he employed by the club?

No, I think he was just a wild man who was very happy to dance and try to rub up against people. What can I tell you?

We’ve heard a lot about rubbing up against people lately.

We certainly have. It’s the theme.

Before we say more about that, I want to know about the dancing. In both movies, those scenes are electric. Does the choreography, so to speak, unfold organically?

It is so fun. A lot of the work in this film was really quite heavy because of the nature of the story, so having this moment to play and have fun ― I could have done it all day long. Jamie was also really making me laugh because he’s kind of like a peacock in the scene. He kind of shows off. He makes me laugh anyway — he’s a really good guy. We got on great. So that was so fun, that day. Yeah, we just improvised. The camera operator moved around us, and it was really a kick. It was good fun.

Gloria Grahame is someone who thirsts for validation, yet it feels like that’s something you never needed to look hard to find. Once “The Grifters” opened in 1991, you never stopped working, aside from a few years when you opted to take a break.

I think that was really a big thing for her, struggling to, first of all, just find work. I mean, once she got past “Oklahoma!” a film she did with [director] Fred Zinnemann, she did a lot of B movies as well. But she did a number of great movies: “Bad and the Beautiful,” that’s when she won her Academy Award. But there’s no question that when it got into the ’60s and the ’70s, she couldn’t find work. She really did care about her craft. When she came back to New York, she was going to Stella Adler acting class. Robert De Niro was in those classes; he saw her. He told me he didn’t know who she was at first, and somebody else was like, “You know who that is? That’s Gloria Grahame.”

Gloria, I think, was really pragmatic. First of all, she just needed to make a living, quite frankly. It was just as simple as that. … And I don’t think she took herself that seriously. Do you know what I mean? I think she had a good time in life. She embraced the moment, and she didn’t care. If other people made judgments about her personal life, well, that was their business. I mean, really, in a remarkable way, obviously: She married her stepson. She did what she wanted, and God love her for that. I respect that.

She did things that other women wouldn’t do at that time, and because she was so typecast as the bad girl or the femme fatale, in a way I think she accepted that. But in another way, people thought that’s who she was. Well, that wasn’t who she was. That’s who she was playing. But she had stormy relationships, and she was married four different times, with four different kids. She had a very colorful life.

Am I right to assume your Hollywood trajectory was more seamless? It seems like once “The Grifters” hit, you had it made.

I would say I was really lucky because I didn’t start doing movies until I was almost 30. And then I made “The Great Outdoors,” which is this completely goofy comedy. I was so grateful to get a film and to work. I remember we were working on a lake up towards Yosemite, and we were all staying in these little cabins, which I thought was the coolest, best thing in the world. And then we had to go around the lake to start, and we would of course have to get there very early. We would literally leave at 4 in the morning to drive around the lake, and I remember thinking how exciting it was to get up at 4 in the morning.

I did that film, which was totally fun. Then I did this gigantic period drama in Europe for six months, “Valmont,” which is another story I won’t go into.

Super fun! No, I learned everything. I’m so grateful. I made one of my best friends in life, Siân Phillips, who’s this superb actress. Miloš Forman taught me so much. But what happened with that was it also didn’t really have much of a life after we put it out. “Dangerous Liaisons” had come out, and our movie was the second one [based on the French novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos]. So I’d done these two movies, and nothing happened. But I’d had an incredible experience being in them and trying to learn about it.

So then “The Grifters” was the first one that was acclaimed, with Academy Award nominations and lots of attention and respect. It was like, “Oh! I see! That’s what it’s like when it’s well-received.” So the worst that can happen is that it’s not well received, and that’s still pretty fucking good.

You still made the movie. You still did the thing.

You still have the process. And I don’t mean to sugarcoat that, but you know what? On a certain level, that is the case as an actor.

I wanted to have babies, right? So I was stopping and having babies, really. I’d made a handful of movies, and then I started having kids. And then I would stop, have my kids, not work. I know with my last one, it was a couple years I didn’t work because I didn’t have time to take a shower, let alone make a film. That was 17 years ago. For me, it was what I wanted to do at the time. And every once in a while, I would think, “Well, I hope there’s still stuff going on for me when I’m ready.” But I didn’t want to miss out on my kids, so I would take time off.

And you know what? It’s such a relief when you get out of the craziness of show business, basically. You just kind of keep things quiet, you sit on the floor, you have your life. For me, that was absolutely key. And then I’ve been able to just keep going when I’ve been ready, and I’ve felt like there have been interesting things out there for me. I’ve been able to only do what I love.

If I didn’t have the kind of career where I could just follow my heart, by the way, I’d do that. I have no problem with that. When I was starting out and auditioning, I would audition for anything. I’m pretty proud of all that.

And yet you’ve been able to make movies that aren’t getting made a lot anymore. “The Kids Are All Right” came out in 2010, when Hollywood studios had officially gone franchise-crazy. Yet you aren’t getting sucked up into the corporate, big-budget machine.

Yeah, there’s a lot of that. You know, sometimes I pass them by, and sometimes I’m not asked, quite frankly. But I’m able to do what I love. I’m not saying the movies are always good, but at least you’re following your heart, and you’re working with other people you really love being around and that you learn from. That’s about as good as it gets.

In thinking about “Film Stars” and actresses who dream of finding work in Hollywood, do you expect a sea change now that so many men in power are being outed for who they truly are? Will it become easier for young women?

Well, this is certainly a tipping point ― I don’t think there’s any question. I think this behavior will still go on, and people will still harass other people and, sadly, assault people. But I think maybe the good part is that all of these people who are coming forward don’t have to live with this kind of secret ― men and women. And we can have a nuanced conversation about this so that we’re able to really distinguish between unwanted touching, come-ons, etc. We have to distinguish between that and harassment and assault. These are different things, and we can talk about them in a nuanced way.

But for the people who’ve been traumatized, if this gives them some relief, I think it’s fantastic. And also because hopefully it started in show business, what looks like is happening is that it’s percolating out into the workplace. Those are the people that I’m worried about the most: the woman who’s working at the McDonald’s who’s a single mom who can’t quit whose boss is harassing her.

Who has no mass media platform.

Who has no platform and no leverage. So that’s what we really hope it percolates into: the broader community.

Have you witnessed power structures that support environments that let such harassment happen?

Sure. It’s in your business, it’s in my business. It’s in all businesses, quite frankly.

Do you think Hollywood is equipped for the changes necessary to ensure moral corruption is targeted? In other words, can women finally achieve parity? Just yesterday, there was a lot of talk about the Golden Globes not nominating a female director, especially when your “20th Century Women” co-star Greta Gerwig was a front-runner for “Lady Bird.”

Well, I hope so. I guess it’s very much going to be back and forth. I was really surprised that she wasn’t nominated. I was really surprised that Patty Jenkins wasn’t nominated [for “Wonder Woman”] — that’s another one where I thought, “Wow, that’s shocking.” I know there’s a lot of good work being done, so it’s tricky. It’s as though there’s a glut. You know because you’re watching a billion movies. …

But I do think, overall, more women are directing, more women are producing, there are more women’s roles. There’s also just more work because of the screen — it’s becoming one screen. There’s so much good television. There’s a lot of good stuff. I can’t keep up. Can you? I can’t keep up with the amount of stuff that I really want to see on television and in the movies. There’s so much good stuff, so I do think it is changing. I think the culture is changing, but then we also have these weird moments like what you just raised. I can’t explain that.

Have you seen “Lady Bird”?

Oh, I love it. It’s superb. Absolutely. Greta was preparing that film when we were working on “20th Century Women.” She’s just so impressive. I love what she did in “20th Century Women.” I loved watching her. I found, in watching her, that I really feel like I learned something from her. And I think she was doing a different kind of acting work than I’d ever seen her do. And then she’d mention, “Oh yeah, I’m making this movie.” And I’m thinking, “God, you’re writing and directing a film?” I mean, she’s amazing.

Your casting as Kathleen Blanco in the Hurricane Katrina edition of “American Crime Story” is inspired. Where does that project stand, now that it’s been postponed? 

Thank you, I was also very excited. To prepare for it, I read “Five Days at Memorial.” It’s a genius book by Sheri Fink that basically goes into Memorial hospital [in New Orleans] and uses that as a microcosm for all of Katrina. It’s disturbing, clearly, but it is so minute-by-minute fact-based, and it’s an incredible read. And then there’s another book, which is a general overview, called “The Great Deluge” [by Douglas Brinkley], which basically takes you through the entire Katrina. It’s also a great read.

So what ended up happening, from what I understand, is that, as [TV producer] Ryan Murphy approached trying to do Katrina and really trying to do it right, he found that he didn’t feel right about the way in which he originally was going to approach it. So he said, “Wait a minute.” He wanted to hit the pause button because, you know, he does so many things. He wanted to be able to stop and go back, and I think he’s just going to focus on “Five Days at Memorial,” from what I understand. I think I’ve got that right. Forgive me if I don’t. So I’m not in that. That’s OK. I mean, I’m disappointed, but I get it, totally. He needs to get the story of Katrina right. We need to be told that story as a country because there was so much suffering and death because of poverty and racism. And that’s the real ugly story behind Katrina that needs to be told. I know he wants to do that.

Finally, I have to ask you about the Page Six report from earlier this year, when you called Warren Beatty and told him to come home after the “Moonlight” Best Picture fiasco at the Oscars.

Oh! I was at home with my daughter watching the show. We looked at each other, and it was like, “Is this really happening? Is this real?” I thought he handled himself with such grace in such a difficult situation.

I was on the board at the Academy [of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences] for many years, so I know the protocol. I know how those things go. I’ve also presented many times, and it’s very clear what they do. They hand you the envelope. They usually show it to you in the dark. They usually shine a flashlight on it, and it says on the outside what it is. So how that didn’t happen, I don’t know.

They feel very badly about it at Pricewaterhouse, and they went into this whole gigantic explanation to the academy as to why it had happened. But the bottom line is my husband sort of saved the day, and I was proud of him. But then it was over and I was like, yes, “Come home. Come home!”

I’m sure you had a lot to discuss.

[gadgetgirl71]

Amazon First Reads April 2021

As you all know I always look forward to see what Amazon First Reads has in store for us. This is the first month in a while that they haven’t included children’s picture book in the line up but they have added a young adult book instead.

This months choices are:

Domestic Suspense

The Aftermath by Gail Schimmel, Pages: 349, Publication Date: 1 May 2021

Synopsis: Three women: a mother, a daughter, a friend. Can they save each other from the past?

It’s been twenty-six years since the accident, but Helen still lives on autopilot, going through the motions of work and motherhood. Her one wish is for her daughter Julia to settle down with her own family—so Helen can let go.

Julia has dealt with her mother’s emotional distance by looking for love in all the wrong places. But when her latest choice drives away her best friend, Claire, Julia realises she’s on her own.

Impossibly perfect Claire is so busy caring for everyone—even her cheating ex-husband—that she’s forgotten to look after herself. Reeling from Julia’s betrayal, she doesn’t know who to trust.

As their lives unravel, these three women reconnect in unexpected ways. But with a devastating secret still hanging over them, will they ever be able to leave the past behind?

Revised edition: Previously published as The Accident, this edition of The Aftermath includes editorial revisions.

Contemporary Fiction

An Invincible Summer by Mariah Stewart, Pages: 373, Publication Date: 1 May 2021

Synopsis: An endearing novel of friendship, forgiveness, and second chances by New York Times bestselling author Mariah Stewart.

It was a lifetime ago that recently widowed Maggie Flynn was in Wyndham Beach. Now, on the occasion of her fortieth high school reunion, she returns to her hometown on the Massachusetts coast, picking up right where she left off with dear friends Lydia and Emma. But seeing Brett Crawford again stirs other emotions. Once, they were the town’s golden couple destined for one another. He shared Maggie’s dreams—and eventually, a shattering secret that drove them apart.

Buying her old family home and resettling in Wyndham Beach means a chance to start over for Maggie and her two daughters, but it also means facing her rekindled feelings for her first love and finally confronting—and embracing—the past in ways she never thought possible. Maggie won’t be alone. With her family and friends around her, she can weather this stormy turning point in her life and open her heart to the future. As for that dream shared and lost years ago? If Maggie can forgive herself, it still might come true.

Suspense

The Next Wife by Kaira Rouda, Pages: 306, Publication Date: 1 May 2021

Synopsis: There is no limit to the lies, suspicion, and secrets that can poison the perfect marriage in this twisting novel of suspense by USA Today bestselling author Kaira Rouda.

Kate Nelson had it all. A flourishing company founded with her husband, John; a happy marriage; and a daughter, Ashlyn. The picture-perfect family. Until John left for another woman. Tish is half his age. Ambitious. She’s cultivated a friendship with Ashlyn. Tish believes she’s won.

She’s wrong. Tish Nelson has it all. Youth, influence, a life of luxury, and a new husband. But the truth is, there’s a lot of baggage. Namely, his first wife—and suspicions of his infidelity. After all, that’s how she got John. Maybe it’s time for a romantic getaway, far from his vindictive ex. If Kate plans on getting John back, Tish is one step ahead of her.

She thinks. But what happens next is something neither Kate nor Tish saw coming. As best-laid plans come undone, there’s no telling what a woman will do in the name of love—and revenge.

Historical Fiction

Tears of Amber by Sofia Segovia, Pages: 487, Publication Date: 1 May 2021

Synopsis: From the bestselling author of The Murmur of Bees comes a transportive novel of two families uprooted by war and united by the bonds of love and courage.

With war looming dangerously close, Ilse’s school days soon turn to lessons of survival. In the harshness of winter, her family must join the largest exodus in human history to survive. As battle lines are drawn and East Prussia’s borders vanish beneath them, they leave their farm and all they know behind for an uncertain future.

But Ilse also has Janusz, her family’s young Polish labourer, by her side. As they flee from the Soviet army, his enchanting folktales keep her mind off the cold, the hunger, and the horrors unfolding around them. He tells her of a besieged kingdom in the Baltic Sea from which spill the amber tears of a heartbroken queen.

Neither of them realizes his stories will prove crucial and prophetic.

Not far away, trying and failing to flee from a vengeful army, Arno and his mother hide in the ruins of a Königsberg mansion, hoping that once the war ends they can reunite their dispersed family. But their stay in the walled city proves untenable when they find themselves dodging bombs and scavenging in the rubble. Soon they’ll become pawns caught between two powerful enemies, on a journey with an unknown destination.

Hope carries these children caught in the crosshairs of war on an extraordinary pilgrimage in which the gift of an amber teardrop is at once a valuable form of currency and a symbol of resilience, one that draws them together against insurmountable odds.

Domestic Suspense

The Watcher Girl by Minka Kent, Pages: 236, Publication Date: 1 May 2021

Synopsis: A woman’s suspicions about her ex-boyfriend become a dangerous obsession in a twisting novel of psychological suspense by Washington Post and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Minka Kent.

Eight years ago, Grace McMullen broke Sutton Whitlock’s heart when she walked away. But it was only to save him from the baggage of her own troubled past. Now all she wants is to make sure he’s okay.

Only everything she learns about him online says otherwise. According to his social media accounts, he placed roots in her hometown, married a look-alike, and even named his daughter Grace. He clearly hasn’t moved on. In fact, it’s creepy. So Grace does what any concerned ex-girlfriend would do: she moves home…and watches him.

But when Grace crosses paths with Sutton’s wife, Campbell, an unexpected friendship develops. Campbell has no idea whom she’s inviting into her life. As the women grow closer, it becomes clear to Grace that Sutton is not the sentimental man she once knew. He seems controlling, unstable, and threatening. And what a broken man like Sutton is capable of, Grace can only imagine. It’s up to her to save Campbell and her baby now—but while she’s been watching them, who’s been watching her?

Book Club Fiction

Take What You Can Carry by Gian Sardar, Pages: 333, Publication Date: 1 May 2021

Synopsis: An aspiring photographer follows her dreams and faces her fears in a poignant novel about finding beauty, promise, and love amid the chaos of war-torn Kurdistan.

It’s 1979. Olivia Murray, a secretary at a Los Angeles newspaper, is determined to become a photojournalist and make a difference with her work. When opportunity arrives, she seizes it, accompanying her Kurdish boyfriend, Delan, to northern Iraq for a family wedding, hoping to capture an image that lands her a job in the photo department. More important, though, the trip is a chance to understand Delan’s childhood and bridge the differences of their pasts. Yet when the return home proves less safe than Delan believed, Olivia is confronted with a reality she had not expected, and is awakened to the dangers of a town patrolled by Iraqi military under curfew and constant threat.

But in this world torn apart by war, there are intoxicating sights and scents, Delan’s loving family, innocence not yet compromised, and small acts of kindness that flourish unexpectedly. All of it will be tested when Olivia captures a shattering, tragic moment on film, one that upends all their lives and proves that true bravery begins with an open heart.

Humorous Fiction

I Thought You Said This Would Work by Ann Garvin, Pages: 301, Publication Date: 1 May 2021

Synopsis: A road trip can drive anyone over the edge—especially two former best friends—in bestselling author Ann Garvin’s funny and poignant novel about broken bonds, messy histories, and the power of forgiveness.

Widowed Samantha Arias hasn’t spoken to Holly Dunfee in forever. It’s for the best. Samantha prefers to avoid conflict. The blisteringly honest Holly craves it. What they still have in common puts them both back on speed dial: a mutual love for Katie, their best friend of twenty-five years, now hospitalized with cancer and needing one little errand from her old college roomies.

It’s simple: travel cross-country together, steal her loathsome ex-husband’s VW camper, find Katie’s diabetic Great Pyrenees at a Utah rescue, and drive him back home to Wisconsin. If it’ll make Katie happy, no favor is too big (one hundred pounds), too daunting (two thousand miles), or too illegal (ish), even when a boho D-list celebrity hitches a ride and drives the road trip in fresh directions.

Samantha and Holly are following every new turn—toward second chances, unexpected romance, and self-discovery—and finally blowing the dust off the secret that broke their friendship. On the open road, they’ll try to put it back together—for themselves, and especially for the love of Katie.

Young Adult

Only The Pretty Lies by Rebekah Crane, Pages: 272, Publication Date: 1 May 2021

Synopsis: A young love story about breaking painful legacies by the author of The Upside of Falling Down.

Convention doesn’t carry much weight in Alder Creek. It doesn’t in Amoris Westmore’s family either. Daughter of a massage therapist and a pothead artist, inheritor of her grandmother’s vinyl collection, and blissfully entering her senior year in high school, Amoris never wants to leave her progressive hometown. Why should she?

Everything changes when Jamison Rush moves in next door. Jamison was Amoris’s first crush, and their last goodbye still stings. But Jamison stirs more than bittersweet memories. One of the few Black students in Alder Creek, Jamison sees Amoris’s idyllic town through different eyes. He encourages Amoris to look a little closer, too. When Jamison discovers a racist mural at Alder Creek High, Amoris’s worldview is turned upside down.

Now Amoris must decide where she stands and whom she stands by, threatening her love for the boy who stole her heart years ago. Maybe Alder Creek isn’t the town Amoris thinks it is. She’s certainly no longer the girl she used to be.

*** Which book will you choose? If you come back on 5 April 2021 I’ll let you know which book I chose.. ***