Are Authors the New Rock Stars?

I don't know how middle and high schoolers are now, but books weren't the high topic at the lunch table back then for me, and I don't remember hearing much discussion from my peers. My crowd enjoyed music, like a ton! I'll admit it, when I read, it was for class; it wasn't for fun.

Sadly enough, I didn't really start loving words until I read the Harry Potter series and then came the Twilight Saga. That's when my book collection started and I haven't stopped devouring words since.

Was literature discussed as much before Harry Potter? I assume so; however, it seems like reading is the talk of the town now, and in all age ranges, to boot.

Many movies these days are brought to a theater near you because of books. Goodreads floods the internet with countless reviews to tempt our reading fancy. E-books are available at the click of the mouse.  

Has reading taken over the world on a higher scale than it was ten or fifteen years ago? If so, great! If not, no worries!

Are authors the new rock stars? I'd agree with that statement. 

Hugs

Writing Jewels

Unforgettable Scenes

I've been listening to Twilight on audio book again. No matter how many times I read (or listen) to this book, it feels like it's the first time I'm being pulled into the thick of its addictive story.

 

As I drove into my garage yesterday after work, I had to stay in the car until I finished the chapter, "Confessions." I admit, I was out there for about twenty minutes (with the car off of course. I don't want to die of exhaust exposure). Anyway, this is the part where Bella and Edward are in the meadow and express their feelings for each other. Just thinking of this part of the book brings a heaviness of angsty happiness into my heart. Seriously, they don't even kiss but the romance flooding through the words is unforgettable. Beautiful. Breath-taking. Ok, they do kiss by the end of the chapter... Dreamy!

Bar-none, there is no other scene in a book that has had the exact same effect on me. Ok, there are many others that are beyond swoon-worthy, but this one sticks out strong in my list of amazing-makes-my-heart-stop scenes.

It's sort of like my two famous people crushes--Bono and Lance Armstrong, they just stick. I adore them. All right, one day when I have a boyfriend/husband, he will definitely be in first place. Sorry, Irish hottie and cycling champion.

Are there any scenes in books that ring out as unforgettable for you? Do tell! Or maybe in a movie?

In movies, I'd have to say the kiss scene at the end of the mini-series of North and South (Elizabeth Gaskell)  is delicious indeed. Shown below!

Fictional Love Triangles: Which Team Are You On?

Love triangles are ever so sweet, don’t you think? Two guys fighting over one girl. Tender, huh? Wouldn’t we all like to be chased after by a couple people at the same time? Aye, Aye! I definitely would. Ok, I’d just like to have one guy chasing after me.

Here are some examples of love triangles in young adult literature:

• Jace—Clary—Simon (The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare)
• Peeta—Katniss—Gale (The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins)
• David—Talley—Zane (Pretties by Scott Westerfeld)
• Ky—Cassia—Xander (Matched by Ally Condie)
• Edward—Bella—Jacob (Twilight by Stephenie Meyer)

As for the last example, it was nice to see the movie Breaking Dawn. Finally, I was able to visually see the nuptials of Bella and Edward. Pardon my spoiler, but who doesn’t know this anyway? 

From the very moment Bella entered Forks High School’s office and Edward smelled her out, I wanted them to be together . . . forever. In my opinion, Jacob just got in the way. If Jacob was meant to be with Bella, it would have been him, not Edward, appearing at the very beginning of the book. Many people out there may beg to differ, so I apologize for any offence. 

No cat fights, please!

Anyway, I’m a Team Edward gal all the way. Always was and always will be.

So are you a Team Edward or a Team Jacob fan? Why? Which fictional love triangles are your favorites? Why?

Writing. Jewels.

Better Late than Never, Right?

Wow! It's Friday and I haven't posted yet. Many a sorry from me to you! I know you've been waiting in great suspense. Haha.

Anyway, the last couple days have been filled with crazy busyness. Lots of work stuff and writing my WIP and not feeling super good. I just woke up from an I'm-not-feeling-so-hot nap and thought it was Saturday morning already. That made me feel bad because I didn't check in with the blogosphere yet. But alas, it's still Friday and I can say, "Hello!"

Well, last night I saw Breaking Dawn. Eep! It was super good. Yes, the poor person next to me probably wanted to wring my neck for all the giggling, but I couldn't hold it back. Bless people's hearts who have to deal with my while watching movies. Or while I'm reading books. You can't hate me for being a super active watcher of movies and reader of books. It could be thought of as hilarious if you really think about it. 

Well, I'm going to get on my soap box for a minute. Ok, I pretty much hate it when people won't read a book because there's way too much hype about it (ie: Twilight or Harry Potter). Just read 'em, silly people. It's just literature which has probably inspired many a person to read, myself included. You never know, you may just like 'em, too! :D 

*Steps off soap box*

All right, Breaking Dawn was pretty great. A couple cheesy parts but what are you to do? And the end scene was A-FREAKING-AWESOME! Pretty much prime bam-hit-you-in-the-face videography.

Have you seen Breaking Dawn? What were your thoughts?

Well, these are my Friday thoughts—even if they are a little late. Yet, better late than never, right? And I just thought of how funny my blog post title is when put in context with Breaking Dawn—better late than never . . . Get it? Anyway, bye!

Writing. Jewels.

What Inspired Me to Write?

When I was growing up, to be honest, I didn’t like reading. My favorite book was The Plant that Ate the Dirty Socks. Yep, you got it! And I especially liked The Return of the Plant that Ate the Dirty Socks. Still love ‘em too. I read what I had to during school, but that was as far as it went. You may wonder how I am a writer if I never enjoyed reading while I grew up? Here’s your answer: I worked in the music department of a store all throughout high school. The book department manager encouraged me to read the Harry Potter books. At that time, the Goblet of Fire had just been released. I promised her I would read them and bought all four books.

Soon after the purchase, I started college. I don’t remember much of that first semester because my nose was stuck more in the Harry Potter books than my textbooks. I fell in love with the story and its characters.
Now you probably think that I gobbled up books from that point on. Wrong. I only read the 5th, 6th, and 7th HP books. The pivotal point of my writing life and steppingstone to my hopeful (crossing fingers) career as a writer occurred during the summer of 2007. I was bored and really needed something to do. While at Target, I walked passed the book section, and thought maybe I would get a book to read away my boredom. I remembered a book one of my old roommates had discussed with me a year prior—Twilight.

I purchased it, not really expecting much of it. I read the first three books within a couple weeks. I had to wait impatiently for Eclipse to come out, otherwise, I would have finished them in a week. From that moment on, I was a bookworm. I couldn’t get enough of them. Two and a half years later and a slew of books on my reading resume, I had a dream that was the catalyst for my novel. It stuck with me for weeks until one sleepless night I finally plotted out the book. The next day, I started typing away and have been ever since.
I wouldn’t be writing if it weren’t for the Harry Potter books opening up the world of reading to me, or Stephenie Meyer inspiring me to read. It was my love of reading that brought me from being a reader to a writer. I thank all you who write for inspiring me and helping me learn more about writing through reading your stories.
I love writing now and it is what I want to do for the rest of my life. My advice to anyone who desires to write is to read. A lot. And I hope that one day, my works will inspire others to read (or to write) as what happened to me.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Trailer 2 [HD]

The movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 is scheduled for release on November 19, 2010; however, many of us “witches” and “wizards” will stay up late to enjoy it at a midnight showing. I, for one, have watched three of the HP movies for the first time at a midnight showing, as well as multiple other movies. This time around, I will be seeing it at a pre-showing on the 18th at 5 p.m. Don’t be mad! I got lucky this time around and won’t be staying up late to see it.
But, there is something to seeing a midnight movie before it’s released. I feel more excitement for the movie then I would have otherwise because of the anticipation that builds up inside of me throughout the day of the showing. Plus, there is a social aspect to midnight movies—friends gathering together way early to wait in line is all part of the fun. The midnight movie is a great way to hype up the diehard fans, even to the point that they dress up! Way fun to see! And, I would think, there is a method to midnight movie madness—making more money on opening weekend.
So, I’ve had my ticket for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 for a little over a month now, crazy, huh? What is even crazier is that I had a ticket to see The Twilight Saga: Eclipse for about 3 months before the movie was released.

Do you have your ticket for HP yet? Why do you like midnight movies? What makes you stay up late to see a midnight movie when you otherwise could be warm in your bed asleep?

BTW, enjoy the trailer! It has made me all the more excited for the movie to come out!

The Multi-Tasking Reader

Over the past year, I have fallen in love with audio books. I think that they are divine. Before I became "audio books Julia", I listened to music and radio while in the car – driving to and from work, to the gym, running errands, going to hang out with friends, etc, etc, etc. I love music and thrive off of it. Listening to it super loud is been a favorite past time for me. Unhappily enough my car volume just doesn’t go up quite loud enough to fulfill my “loud-sing-like-a-crazy-person-seat-dancing-ways. Don’t get me wrong; on occasion I have slipped back into my loud music ways but on average audio books take up around 29 days of my month.

Last year, my sister started listening to audio books. She told me it was great. I thought, “That is interesting. I don’t know if I would like it.” I tossed the idea by the way-side without another thought. Some weeks later, I decided that I had to re-read the “Twilight Saga” in lieu of “New Moon” coming out in the theatre. I started reading “Twilight” but had so many other books that I craved to devour so I tossed around the idea of reading the “Twilight Saga” audio style. I finished them soon after and was drawn in, hopelessly addicted.

After taking the “Twilight” adventure, I listened to all of the Harry Potter books. Jim Dale narrated them flawlessly. Since then, I have probably listened to at least 30+ books, most of them I already read and own.

I like audio books for a few different reasons:

1. I can be reading a book and listening to a book in the same period of time. Such a time saver. This is called “The Multi-tasking Reader”. Hehe!
2. It makes my driving time much more enjoyable and beautifully educational. I will be an audio book mom for sure. My kids are going to love to read and hopefully this will aid in avoiding quarreling between children!
3. I can be driving down the road rolling in my seat laughing up a storm and sometimes with streams of tears spewing out of my eyes. I have almost had to pull over due to such moments.
4. Most narrators bring a fresh view to the books. It makes the books much more real and more lovable then they were when reading them just out of the book.
5. Last but not least, people must wonder what I am listening to in my car because, like music, I listen to the audio books really loud too. What can I say; I am all about the loudness of things!

A great audio book series to start out with is “Artemis Fowl”. Unfortunately, the narrator is changed at book 5, but seriously don’t let that ruin the adventure for you.

I still think that it is a must to read them the normal way, book in hand! I sure have not given up on the book-in-hand experience of enjoying a book, so you don't either!

So have I converted you to being a “Multi-tasking Reader” being able to read multiple books at the same time? Pray tell me!

Books made into Movies: What say you?

It seems to me like it has become a global phenomenon to produce movies from books. The Harry Potter books were so well received that developing them into movies was the natural course of action. This fall, part one to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be entering the theater and I can only assume that it will be huge. Right now, the Twilight Saga: Eclipse is in theaters and making big big big bucks. According to boxofficemojo.com it made $64,832,191 in just the opening weekend alone. Worldwide to date, it has grossed $645, 548,358 and that is only for being in the theaters for a little over a month. Crazy! Just as a side note, The Twilight Saga: New Moon is in third spot for one of the highest grossing films for opening weekend with $152,839,137.

Within the top 10 grossing films of all time, five of those films were literary inspired. Those being, LOTR: The Return of the King, Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, HP and Order of the Phoenix, and HP and the Half Blood Prince. (boxofficemojo.com)

Over the past ten years, there have been multiple movies that were derived from literature. Here are a some of them:

The Kite Runner, Shutter Island, Dear John, The Davinci Code, Confessions of a Shopaholic, The Road, Sherlock Holmes, The Devil Wears Prada, Secret Window, Chronicles of Narnia, & Bridget Jones’s Diary among many many many others.

Is it just me thinking this, or has this become the way to make movies? Are book writers becoming the new movie writers? I pose the question, what is your opinion on books made into movies? Do you think that producers should be able to use their creative license and change the story completely to the point where the book no longer stands in its originality? Do you ever get mad when your favorite book is slaughtered on the big screen or do you think it is alright for the movie to be tweaked? What do you think of making a profit off of merchandising off of a film made from a book (ie: t-shirt)?

Books made into Movies: What say you?