Long catch up entry, lost of reviews.
Hello all! Yesterday there was no post because I was in a bad, grumpy mood and if I did post I would just be venting out to all of you and I didn't really want to do that. The annoying thing was that there was no reason for my bad mood, I actually had a good day yesterday.
But anyway today it is all good. (Well almost.) The sun is shining and the birds are tweeting away outside in our garden. My Dad just came home from the gym and told my Mum that he is going to commit suicide by jumping into the canal near our house because he doesn't want to have his medicine. That cheered me up no end!
Anyway yesterday I went to the London Book Fair Masterclass on How To Get Published. I had booked a ticket for myself ages ago, while I was still in York and had money, and since the tickets are non-refundable I went along even though I had and still have a whole bunch of revision to do.
BREAK
3 hours later I have come back. Did some work and cought up with my lovely Jonathan Ross, whose guest stars were the delicious looking Hugh Jackman, the very funny Martin Clunes and the delightfully kooky Lady Gaga. (The day someone calls me Delightfully Kooky will be a great day). Funny as it was, I did learn some intersting things. For example, did you know that the first scene in X-Men 1 when Wolverine is threatening the dude at the bar and his claws slowly come out of his arm, was acted by Hugh Jackman with one arm behind his back? That was apparently the one and only time in any of the X-Men movies that they used a fake arm.
Did you also know that the Lady Gaga song 'Poker Face' is all aboput a sexually confused girl who is hiding her confusion from her boyfriend? No, I didn't either. I thopught it was actually about playing cards and winning money. But no. And she based it on one of her own experiences when she was making love to her boyfriend and pretending he was a girl. Seriously the words 'can't read my poker face' never meant that to me.
Here she is performing live at the Jonathan Ross show-I wish I had been there. I would love to see her live.
Click to viewAnyway, yesterday I was at the London Book Fair Masterclass on how to get published.
It was quite interesting. I did pay £30 for it way back when, when I still had a student loan and even though I wanted to I couldn't cancel because the tickets were non-refundable. What I wanted to do was to stay home and revise. I need a good degree. Most of the information was stuff I already knew - writing a book is very hard work and there will be thougsands of rejection letters, etc. The interesting things was that almost all of the panel (made up of publishers, agents and authors) didn't approve of Twitter's #quereyfail. Agents on twitter post some of the worst submission letters they have ever received and tweet as to why those particular authors were unsuccessful. I for one, find it really helpful. I do not want to make any of those mistakes. But they found it snippy and snobbish. Really? Really? Or are you just annoyed that all your 'secrets' are no longer so secret?
But the really good thing was that Kate Mosse, a truly brilliant author was there and after the even I managed to get my slipcased limited edition of her book signed. And I had a little chat with her. She told me that she would not have wanted any of her fame and fortune when she was younger. She told me that I should write because I love it, because it makes my heart happy, not because I want to be on TV. That struck a chord with me, because no matter how much I love to write I want to be known. I am one of the people who want to be on TV and in magazines and all other forms of media. And that is really not a good or realistic way to think is it? She also talked about times when there is just nothing you can do. All you want to do is write and write and wrote some more. I really empathized with that. There are times when I can spend eight hours doing nothing else.
So that was what I was doing yesterday.
And now I will write and post my non-spoilery review on 17 Again.
If you don't know the premise of this movie, it is like a reverse 'Big'. At the age of 37 Mike O'Donnell is bored and tired of life (Yup, 37. 17 years left for me and I will also be bored and tired of life). After a magic encounter with the janitor in his old and his children's current school he somehow falls off some bridge and ends up being 17 again. And of course he decides to live his life the way he wanted it to go the first time round and goes back to...high school. High school? Yes. I don't think many men realizing that they are free of all responsibility and all hott again would do that, but this film is a 12A.
After a few clothing mis-haps and the revelation that being KFed lite is not something to be proud off, Mike turned into this:
Even my Ma later said to me that she thought he looked very handsome. And he did, oh he did. Now I understand why girls love him. HSM didn't really do it for me, but I loved his look and his style in this film.
The film was predictable, I knew there was going to be a happy ending, but the journey to the happy ending surprised me. My sister apparently saw the twists coming a mile away but I was far to busy enjoying his hottness to catch those subtle hints. The best character in this movie was Mike's friend, Ned (played by the hilarious Thomas Lennon) who a out and proud geek, fell head over Elvish heels in love with the school's Head Teacher. The scenes with him in them were brilliant and he did steal every scene and make the film. Because of him this film will get 4**** from me.
Late last night I also finished my latest talking book, Hunted by P. C. and Kirsten Cast (P.C.'s blog can be found here: http://pccast.blogspot.com/)
Before I listened to it I had been looking on Amazon and reading what other people thought about the 5th book in the House of Night series. For this book the reviews have not been at all favourable, so I started listening with some trepedation. But I actually enjoyed it. There was progress in the plot and stuff (very important stuff) happened and got resolved. Aphrodite is still the best character in the whole series by a mile and Zoey, the protagonist is not as annoying as she used to be.
But there were some hugely bad things. One character's development meant that he turned into a very jealous possessive freak and still the main protagonist can't get enough of him. Another love interest, Stark turned out not only to be a bodily rapist but a mind rapist too and still Zoey is falling for him, especially after he promised not to do it with her. I am sorry but what he does is dusgusting and if I was in their world I would have stabbed him through the heart with a stake, or whatever it is that kills Vampires in this interpretation of the myth (no matter how hot he is, as I was constantly reminded as a reader). Her human love interest also didn't fade away like I wanted him to, instead he is back in her life and she is in love with him again.
I don't mind the fact that she has multiple lovers, or is confused by which one to choose (I actually like that because it seems far more realistic - how many 17 year old have found 'the one'?). What I do mind is that the authors seem to have given her extremely poor judgement. The human is/was almost constantly drunk and high, one Vampire thinks that because she isn't a virgin anymore he can have sex with her all the time even if she doesn't want to, and the other Vampire rapes girls physically and mentally. Despite all of this, the three of them are constantly described by the other characters as 'hot' or 'super hot' or something else that means exactly the same thing.
The plot of this book was simple. They escaped from the House of Night, needed to break in again and then subsequently escape all over again. At some points it seemed really forced. Especially the bedroom scene to get Stark into Zoey's bed. (Why? He rapes girls. Shoot him). I think overall the book took place in 2 days. I know the authors are already writting the 6th in the series and it just makes me wonder, why don't they mush two books into one? How much paper and ink would that save and how much cheaper would it be for the readers? A two-in-one omnibus would actually feel like a book in people's hands.
Another problem with this book is that it is really culturally specific. People living anywhere other than specific parts of the world, will have no idea what half the cultural references are. Project Runway, Gossip Girl and a whole host of other programs are mentioned. In 10 years they will probably not exist or even be remembered any more. Same with the slang and language used. And that really sticks the whole series in one specific time. Future children will not be able to enjoy the books as much because they won't understand half of what is being said.
One character, Damien, is supposed to be extremely clever and intelligent and is always using really 'hard' words that no one else understands. Excuse me, but I have never once needed to pull out a dictionary when reading/listening to these books. I don't like the way they have been dumbed down for readers. We are intelligent people. We know what 'propensity' and 'abysmal' mean. Give us all some credit.
A lot of what happens in their lives is based on sex. The main baddie, Kalona, controls everyone because he gives them orgasms during the night through thier dreams (again mind rape and I am not joking) and he wants Zoey to have sex with him and keeps on at it, trying to mind control her etc. I understand that he is physically beautiful to look at but why do all the baddies in these books have to have some irrisistable sex appeal which masks their baddness? Why can't they just be purely evil without people being fooled? Everything about this baddie had to do with sex. And I understand that this drives him, but sometimes it was just over the top.
It was the same with all the non-evil characters (their goodness is highly debatable). The whole point of this story was for Zoey to basically save the world. If I had to save the world I would not be thinking about any boy problems. I wouldn't have time for boy problems, especially the possessive, jealous Erik and rapist Stark. It was frustrating - all the sensual scenes just made me want to hit Zoey and tell her to concentrate. Once the world is saved she can focus on her many, many boy issues.
Over all this was a good read in the fact that it answered some questions, tied some plot lines and had some really good character development (Aphrodite was a genius creation). But there were a whole host of things that bugged me and will continue to bug me since there are going to be 9 books in this series. Saying that I do recommend it, especially to those who have started the series and want to see what happens. I think this book deserves 3*** out of a possible 5.
I have just realised how epic this entry is. It is definitely tiem for me to go! Even though I really want to talk about the best show on TV at the moment, The Number One Ladies Detective Agency. But I think I will leave that for tomorrow.
xoxo