firstly, because i hate waiting, i’m going to announce the winner of the WHERE SHE WENT contest right now. yup, right here at the top of the post. you’re welcome.
congratulations, KELLY B, for this comment:
“She went for a ride
With her guy by her side
They stopped for a pop
And put down the top
He leaned in for a kiss
And trust me, didn’t miss
After, she floated home
Where was she…I say Rome”
because, poetry. enough said. (KB, email me your mailing address and i’ll get the book right out to you!)
and now onto other news. as you know, HUNGER GAMES by suzanne collins is one of my most favoritest books ever and if you didn’t know, it’s being turned into a movie. suzanne collins herself wrote the screenplay, so i’m feeling like this has a shot at reaching a level of awesomesauce that most books turned into movies don’t reach.
and then this week, the castings for the boys in the movie stopped being rumors and started being confirmed. so now, the main three actors have been finalized. the ladies over at forever YA do a good job of breaking down their (and consequently, my) thoughts, so i won’t ramble on about that when you can just read it here.
it got me thinking though about why fans are so passionate about the actors chosen to portray their favorite literary characters when a book goes to the silver screen. it may seem like a silly thing to get riled up about, but really, it’s not because it goes a little something like this:
author writes book. it belongs to the author.
agent and editor read book. it belongs to author, agent, and editor, as they’ve all made their editorial suggestions, etc.
book is released into the wild where boys and girls and lads and lasses and men and women pick it up, read it, and it suddenly belongs to THEM. they read the author’s words, but they have to use their imagination to picture the characters and places and plots and you bring your own life experience to the page, so the author’s words may direct you here or there, but it feels like YOUR book, YOUR characters, YOUR friend and that is why we so desperately wish our voices could be heard in the casting room. we want to make sure the characters look on screen like they do in our brains.
i know movies and books have different limitations and strengths and weaknesses, so there is a reason most authors have no say in the movie making part of their book, but i can’t help but wish the author, the person who originally dreamt up the story, could have more input. as if movies don’t take long enough to produce, adding that step would probably muck things up even more, so that’s why they let the professionals decide and not the author or the public, but still, HUNGER GAMES is an important movie (to me) and i want it to be right. i don’t know much about the boys they picked, but sister E claims they are good choices, so i’m going to put aside my initial disappointment and hope their acting chops and hair dye match the characters in my head.
plus, THIS ARTICLE makes some valid points and will help me to trust in the professionals who are putting this movie together. and now, we wait until march 23, 2012.
are you excited about the HG cast? don’t care? have you had a book hit the big screen which made you fall in love with the story all over again? saw the movie and held an impromptu wake for the book that died on screen?
Abigail Mumford 
Welll…. The boy playing Peeta was AWESOME in Bridge to Terebithia. I cried during that movie. Bawled to be exact, so I have high hopes for him. As for Gale… I didn’t really like him in The Last Song, so we’ll see. But I still recommend Bridge to Terebithia, not just for research on Josh Hutcherson. Just see it, it’s good.
have you read BRIDGE TO TEREBITHIA??? enough said.
i still love the article that said (and i’m paraphrasing) “well josh hutcherson survived two relationships with miley cyrus, which means he can handle the microscope of reality TV, aka the pressure of the hunger games.”
is it march 23rd yet?
Congrats to Kelly! She totally deserved to win for that poem. :)
Re the Hunger Games movie: I’m reserving judgment until I see it. I hope they do the book justice. :)
my immediate reaction upon hearing the book was being turned into a movie was to think “no way am i going to see that. i love the book too much.” but after hearing suzanne collins was writing the screenplay, i figured it might actually stand a chance.
and yes, congrats to kelly! who not only busted out poetry, but a twitter campaign to win. HA.
also, it appears you have earned yourself a cameo in fun and games. this ought to be good… :)
first of all, congrats to kelly! im so jealous right now
also, how excited am i for the HG movie? like you even have to ask. i will standing in line three years before it comes out so i can be the first one at the midnight showing…okay, thats a tad bit of a stretch, but still. im excited :)
if, as you say, you’ll be standing in line for 3 years before it comes out that means you’re already in line! how’s the view from there?
hm… i think the Gale actor could make a decent Gale. he’s not as brooding as the Forever YA choice, but i think he’s good enough :) but Peeta… he doesn’t look like Peeta, but who knows, maybe he’ll be better than we think… let’s keep our fingers crossed.
and about readers being so invested in a book’s journey to the screen… you’re right, it’s bizarre how from a certain point onward the book belongs to the readers :)
and we can’t help but measure the movie against the book, which is unfortunate. imagine if someone described a character from a book, we wouldn’t judge the book by that description, but we’re more inclined to judge a movie by how a character looks.
and we have to wait a whole year to find out! ugh :)
this might be the first movie where i go to a midnight viewing, if they’re having those and if they are, this means i’m dragging you with me. consider yourself prepared.
in the meantime, i’m going to try and not obsess too much more about it…
Wow, I won! Really? I am just so surprised. I mean, its not like I even petitioned for it or anything. First off I would like to thank Abby. I am looking forward to the read and I am not ashamed that I believe in begging and bribery. I am so glad you are my twitta sista. I will email you my mailing address after I finishing writing my thanks.
So *waves to everyone as she accepts her Oscar* ~~~ wait, that is another award all together ~~~ Thanks so much and I am looking forward to reading the book!
i’m not going to lie, the twitter campaign was quite successful, but the poetry was the icing on the cake.
congrats! i’m going to get the book to you in today’s mail. i can’t wait to hear what you think about it.