Tag: thoughts

general

i haz no words…

abby mumford

…so here, read theirs:

WRITING ADVICE by janice hardy. seriously, everything she says is this “AHA! LIGHTBULB! IS THAT YOU, OPRAH?” moment. the only downside is that she posts so frequently, i find it hard to find the time to read every post because each one deserves to be read with a fine tooth comb. or with a pen and paper for notes. or with a glass of wine. you know, how ever you roll. (also? her books are so so fun. THE SHIFTER and BLUE FIRE.)

HILARITY by allie. this is seriously funny business.

THE SPACE BETWEEN by lauren miller. a post i’ve linked to before but i’m linking to it again because i can’t stop thinking about it. it usually crosses my mind as i glance at the clock which reads 2:15am, 3:27am, 4:12am, 5:34am, etc.

CONVERSATIONS WITH STRANGERS. i came across this blog from her other tumblr site: HGRB. that is a lighthearted blog and perhaps this one started as one too, but it’s evolved into something more. she says this started as a way to combat her shyness and i must say, it’s working. she comes across as confident, witty, and interesting. plus, she always manages to say so much more than just what she writes in each short post. this is a read between the lines keeper!

READING RECOMMENDATIONS by michelle hodkin. a lot of buzz is swirling about michelle’s upcoming novel THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER and while i’ve read the first chapter (and sufficiently scared myself), but aside from all that, i’ve had a few interactions with her on twitter and she is awesome. not to mention yesterday she was giving away free book recommendations (based on the last 3 books you’ve read) in the comments section of the post. her point was that we should all break out of our reading habits. re-reading the comments section is a great way to add to your own TBR list.

this is what my life feels like right now.

anything else YOU’D like to add?

feelings

from their head to the silver screen + a winner

abby mumford

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?

book club

BOOK HUNGRY: natural born charmer

abby mumford

who says you have to be crowded into the living room, kitchen, and/or dining room to hold a book club? we are ladies of the 21st century. we don’t need no stinkin’ couches. so pull up a blog and join in the conversation.

the members of the BOOK HUNGRY are (alphabetically): patty blount, kelly breakey, karla nellenbach, vanessa noble, alyson peterson, cynthia reese, elizabeth ryann, and myself. here’s the deal. we pick a book to read. we discuss via email. we post a review on our individual blogs on the same day (3rd thursday of the month). we link to each other. done. i know, genius. click on each one of their names (above) and it’ll take you to their review. browse. enjoy.

this month’s BOOK HUNGRY selection is:

NATURAL BORN CHARMER by susan elizabeth phillips

the title is accurate as this book IS a natural born charmer. i read it in one sitting, or rather, one laying down. i woke up early one weekend (someone tell me why that always happens? the one day i can sleep in and i pop awake at 7am. not ok.) and had nothing on the agenda and ended up devouring this book. i am so grateful for mornings like that.

i hadn’t read anything by susan elizabeth phillips before (or at least from what i remember), but it appears i’ve been missing out. this book was chock full of characters, but each one was individualistic, unique, funny, memorable, and all around awesome. this was the exact book i needed to be reading because all i wanted to do was escape from reality.

i mean, watching blue bailey and dean robillard try to resist falling in love was as charming as their personalities were, which is to say, a lot.

in addition to everything else genius inside (the pacing, the characters, the romance!), this book made me laugh out loud. case in point: “But, even so, he blasted enough heterosexual mega-wattage to light up the entire female population. Which he’d undoubtedly been doing since he shot out of the birth canal, glimpsed his reflection in the obstetrician’s eyeglasses, and gave the world a high five.” (pg. 21)

don’t bother trying to resist, just pick it up and read it!

p.s. sister J, this book reminded me of childhood when you’d check out stacks of romance novels from the library and i’d sneak them out of your room. thanks again for sharing! i was always too embarrassed to check them out…..but now, i proudly proclaim, viva la romance novel!

p.p.s. join us next month as we tackle my choice: THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE by jandy nelson.

//

feelings

it’s time to focus

abby mumford

as i’m delving deeper into my writing, it occurs to me that i need to be writing more. not in the blogging, twittering or emailing sense, but in the noveling sense.

exhibit A

exhibit B

exhibit C

i will probably limit myself to writing blog posts (and commenting on others), as it may be the distraction i need, but other than that, i’ll probably seem a bit absent from the interwebs for awhile. i need to buckle down and write, so that’s what i’m doing.

*enters writing cave*

feelings

star crossed self

abby mumford

the earth’s alignment has shifted. the new tilt has left wide spread changes in its wake.

what? you didn’t hear about it? you didn’t feel it? you didn’t smell the winds of change?

the new angle of the earth has affected the zodiac signs which means i went from being an independent and loyal (and awesome) capricorn to a globally thinking, fieryly enthusiastic sagittarius. i couldn’t even spell that word without looking it up and now it’s supposed to define me?

it sure seems as though everything describing a capricorn directly relates back to me, while the sagittarius depictions only relate to me in vague and foggy ways. but wait. when did i ever let the stars define me? i thought i was forged from the hardships and joys and triumphs and setbacks and giggles and tears and puddles and rainbows of every day life. and besides, how can a tilt of the earth change one’s personality?

i was born under the capricorn sign, so a capricorn i shall stay. although, being an archer sounds a lot more badass than a seagoat. maybe there is a silver lining in this shift of the stars.

i mean, if you believe in that sort of thing.