Banned Book Week Read Aloud: Twilight

Not one of my favorite banned books, but a fun one to read from I suppose. So here it is, the scene where Bella and Edward talk about the fact that Edward is indeed a vampire.  Ooooh.

F³A: I know, I know

I haven't blogged for two days.  It's been, once again, a crazy week.  Two full days of html class, hosting a birthday bbq, trying to work on marketing stuff, the flu, and then, death.  Not the metaphorical kind either.  An acquaintance to me, but a friend to people I care about.  I met him a few times, he was a funny, sweet, very likeable guy.  Though I didn't know him well, he did touch my life and he will be missed.

Sigh.

Excited for my writers retreat this weekend.  I want to come up with a pithy name for it and do it annually.  Any ideas?

Also been freaking out about my book launch.  I feel like I'm so behind on the marketing stuff.  I know I still have six months, (okay, not quite) but it goes fast.  Next step, contact LA teachers, librarians, and bookstores locally.  I also will be doing a grass roots campaign.  Some of you prepare to be contacted.  Also prepare for me to move to blogging three days a week instead of five.  It's all about the freak out.

Also, watch for the Class of 2k12's vlog on WriteOnCon.  We talk about getting published, the editorial process, and give aspiring writer's advice.  Not sure when it will be posted, will update later.

That's all I can muster today. 

Friday Nibbles:

Random iPod shuffle song: Decode by Paramore.

Book of the Week:  I'm going with Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn.  I've not read it yet, but it's now been suggested to me twice.

Netflix of the Week: Manic.  Watched this for research.  It was fantastic.  It's dark, but well worth the watch.  Stars Don Cheadle (who I think is amazing), Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Zooey Deschanel.

Quote of the Week: "Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness." ~  Carl Jung

Monday Morning Blahg: Weekend Vamps

Okay, first off, I forgot to have someone put my garbage out today so if someone would run over there and do it, that'd be fantastic.

Two, I have to mention these ladies because they made me laugh this morning.  Deb and Barb over at the blog, The Middle Ages posted some ass shaking videos along with Gae Polisner.  Hysterical.  You HAVE to go watch. (Gae is trying to talk me into doing it to.  I may or may not)

Okay, so I've been in Forks since Saturday.  Saturday we ventured out to the store, Dazzled by Twilight, which was packed with Twilightaholics.  They had EVERYTHING.  Slap a picture of Bella on some coffee, you know had Twilight Coffee.  Print something on a Bic, you had Twilighters.  Slap a pic of Jacob on a bandaid box, you had a . . . wait for it . . . Wolfpack of bandaids.  Some of it was ridiculous, but they had cardboard cut outs, and t-shirts, and the coolest dolls which I'm sure cost a mint (didn't bother checking)  I left with a Team Jacob t-shirt, a Vampire at Heart t-shirt, and the book The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner.  Which I'm now seeing is $7.92 on Amazon and I paid $13.99 >:(  But I bought it in Forks (that's how I'm rationalizing it anyway).

Yesterday we did our own TwiMoonLipseDawn tour.  We started in Forks, some things are not as they appear in the movies.  Just a warning.  The Forks High School sign is standing on its own amongst a severely Under Renovations school.   We got lost but finally found city hall which supposedly sported Chief Swan's uniform, but we didn't go in to find out.  And down the street from that was the Cullen house, which wasn't really the Cullen house, but said Cullen on the mailbox.  We could have peered in the windows and seen some staged Twilighty stuff, but didn't bother.

We drove by Dr. Cullen's parking spot at the hospital, and The Swan's house, which looks a little different than you'd remember from the movie.  We also hit the Chamber of Commerce which is home to Bella's truck(s).  The one from the movie is a broken down old red truck with a bashed in back window and a weird looking bed.  The other is more the style from the book, it better shape, but still.

Then we were off to La Push, we'd gotten a Twilight map and were heading down highway 110 to see, Jacob's house, the Vampire baseball field, and the beach.  We stopped at 3 Rivers Resort where is home to the sign for the Treaty Line.  There's also two little extras, a cabin that says Jacob's den on the side and a Vampire Threat Level sign which read 'danger' oooh.  Scary.

We didn't realize we'd already passed the baseball field until we were, well, way past it, so we continued to the beach while looking for Jacob's house.  Well, Jacob's house was supposedly in two spots, one the Chamber of Commerce said was it, and another one.  But as we were heading to the beach and restaurant on the river (suggested by the guy in the souvenir store) we are suddenly attacked by a werewolf.  He jumped right out in front of the car and just stood there.  I had to yell at Heidi or she would have hit him.

Yes it is a werewolf

He then barked at us and ran around the car then took off.  We followed because it seems like that's what he wanted.  He led us to the restaurant we were looking for, which had closed down (as many other things in Forks which were started because they thought Twilight would be a big draw for the Timber town, which it is, but not as much as they thought).  And then he led us to the beach, which was gorgeous.

On our way out of La Push, we searched for restaurants because I was so hungry I was about to drain Heidi of all her blood for nourishment.  What we found instead (people in La Push apparently don't eat out) was the house that the Chamber of Commerce said was Jacobs, which was nothing but a mobile home on the side of the road.  Um, what?

We headed back the way we came to find the baseball field.  Which we did.  There was a sign that read, Vegetarian Vampires at play.  Very cute.  We got to drive right into the field.

Heading back to Forks, we passed a red house and I said, "Well THAT looks more like Jacob's house than the other."  I turned to look at it and it had a sign reading JACOB BLACK'S VACATION RENTAL.  I made Heidi flip a Uie and we stopped.  There was a motorcycle out in front of a mail box that read Black.

What you do when you're bored in Forks.

When we got back, we poured a glass of wine and went Vampire hunting, which proved to be a silly and fatal idea.  Heidi is now undead.  I've had to fend her off a few times from trying to bite me.

That's all she wrote of the Twilight Adventures.  Thanks for reading.  Catch you on the flip side.

 ~Megan

F³A: I'm sure I had something to write about.

But I forgot.  I really need to write these things down.

I will say that things are starting to happen at the Class of 2k12.  I'm not at liberty to say, it's very covert, but I know 2012 will be epic (no the work epic is not a hint, you're just going to have to wait)

If you're an author with a YA or MG debut coming out next year, and want to work with a great group of writers using synergy to cross promote, get in touch with me, or the beautiful Caroline Starr Rose.


On the writing front, I'm over 6.5K into my novel Sad, and it's really coming together.  I'm loving Sydney's voice and I'm really connecting with her.  Tiny blurb:

"We wrapped around each other and  just lay there breathing, and I felt the kind of peace you usually only find while watching a baby sleep, or when you look up into the night sky imagining yourself among the stars."

Hmmm . . . what else?  Oh, yes.  All you Twilight fans can envy me this weekend as I travel to the town of Forks to visit all things Twilighty.  Hopefully I'll run into a vampire or two (have I mentioned my love for vampires, if not the Twilighty ones,  the Interviewy, Underworldly unsparkly ones).    

That's all for the Friday Free For All, except of course for this:

Random song from my iPod: The Killers, All These Things That I've Done

Book of the Week: XVI by Julia Karr

Movie of the Week: Eh, let's throw Eclipse out there in honor of my trip to Forks

Quote of the Week: "My mom is a vampire.  She is Vampire Mom." ~ Mary and Rachel Bostic

Top four things I hate about Twilight. #1

Okay, my #1 in case you haven't guessed already is Edward. In so many ways. I admit, I loved Edward after reading Twilight. Utterly and absolutely. It was hard to see his obvious flaws back then through all that shiny. His over protective on the verge of controlling nature.
His stalkerish behavior. His manipulating Bella into thinking she cannot survive with out him. But then what does he do.....


...New Moon comes out and Edward disappears to go kill himself in Italy. And this is when I start to switch sides, although I don't think I saw it back when I was reading the book. This is when I begin to leave Team Edward, and move closer to Team Jacob. And I think Stephenie Meyer made a boo boo taking one of the main characters and making him close to nonexistent in the second book. This is probably what swayed many over to Jacob's team. But then Bella goes to Italy and everything is hunky dory again.

And wasn't it Edward that pushed Bella toward Jacob. Wasn't it Edward that wanted Bella to have that friendship? Then he acts like an ass when she does and doesn't want her hanging out with him anymore. He thinks Jacob is putting her life at risk. Um, vampire, what do you think YOU'RE doing? Not only do you want to suck the life out of her, you have every bad vamp in a 100 mile radius wanting to do the same thing. Pot, meet kettle.

Nail in the coffin, no pun intended, OK, maybe a little, the casting of Edward in the movie. Yes Robert whatshisface is a good actor. Yes, he made a fine Cedric Diggory. He sucks as Edward, pun totally and completely intended. I'm sorry but this casting just makes me hate Edward even more. Edward is supposed to be like the most beautiful man on earth. What part of that didn't the casting people get? Probably doesn't help his cause that Taylor Lautner is totally hunky as Jacob.

Well, that's all for the Twilight series with me. Tomorrow is the Friday Free For All. I think I'm going to start calling it F³A.

Thanks for reading me.

Kisses :*

Megan

Top four things I hate about Twilight. #2 *SPOILER ALERT*

My #2 is Breaking Dawn. While there are things I liked about the book, the series took a turn I really didn't expect, nor did I like.

I was in no way ready for Bella to become a vampire. And really, Bella: Weakest person on the face of the earth = strongest vampire ever. Protector of vampire and human alike. Phllllllltttttttt (that's me giving a raspberry). I bet the werewolves can still kick her ass.

I hate hate hated the whole Bella getting pregnant thing. And I doubly hate hate hate the name Renesme. Stupid stupid stupid.

The other disgustingly gross thing in the book is Jacob imprinting on the stupid baby. Icky. Yuck. Severely dislike. I'm sure I'm not the only one. This had to creep out anyone with a moral bone in their body. Can you say, pedophilia? Blech. Let's just treat Jacob like crap through the entire series and then make him wait eighteen more years for a mate. Jacob needs to find a new set of friends and his own book deal.

I suppose that's it. I'm sure I could come up with more if I really tried, but I'm not sure it's worth the time.

Thanks for reading, come back tomorrow for #1 (I think you can figure out what it is)

Kisses :*

Megan

Top four things I hate about Twilight. #3

Okay this is probably more a jealousy issue than anything else. But my #3 is her Cinderella story. Let's see, this Arizona housewife has a dream, about a sparkley man in a meadow talking to a girl. He's a vampire and he's telling her he loves her, but he's afraid he'll kill her. In three months the book is written.

I read somewhere that she didn't have to query very many agents, maybe fifteen or so? Can't find the facts now. Picked out of the slushpile at Writer's House, one of the biggest agencies out there. She gets a $750,000 three book deal from Little Brown.

Sickening isn't it?

That's all I'm saying about that right now. I want to go throw up.

Kisses :*

Megan

Top four things I hate about Twilight. #4

Okay, so this week I tell you what I DON'T like about Twilight. My #4 is the writing.

While I enjoy the concept of the story, and I appreciate the fact that Stephenie Meyer tries to be very literary at times, it doesn't work for me. Yes, fancy words are pretty to read, but not a novel they do make.

Too much internal conflict with Bella, yeah we get it, you're weird, you're in love with a Vampire, yes, he's the most beautiful person you've ever seen, get on with it already. And she's just some plain no one, yet every boy in school wants her? Um, yes, I get that there's that "new girl" novelty, but someone as plain as Bella is supposed to be would not garner that much attention. Plus the fact that she's a total introvert, and putting off.

The characters are flat and not very interesting. They have no personality whatsoever. The only one with any depth at all is Jacob. Hence why he was included in last weeks blog. And I'm sorry, who in their right mind would not pick Jacob over Edward. He treats Bella with respect, he'd do anything for her, he's hot, he's human, he loves her, he's hot...need I say more? Not until book four (I think) do we get any insight the the vampire back stories. It at least makes Rosalie more interesting, not so much the others.

And Bella is a horrible role model for teenage girls. Constantly being saved by Edward. I mean, really, does someone really almost die that many times? She was very lucky to have a vampire boyfriend and a werewolf best friend. er. And really, putting everything in your life aside for a guy? A dead guy who seriously doesn't treat you that good? A guy who treats Bella like a possession and is borderline stalker (yeah, I come in your room and watch you sleep every night, can you say, creepy?). A guy who when he leaves you, you just want to die. Yes, this is not a good lesson for today's female youth.


Okay, I guess that's it for today. Come back tomorrow for my number three.

Kisses :*

Megan

Top four things I like about Twilight. #1

Vampires and werewolves. What's not to like? Sexy beasts the lot of them. Especially what Hollywood has done with them. Of course I've always love vampires, I have told you my kids sometimes call me Vampire Mom because of my affinity for the color black.

These monsters were a part of lives way before Twilight came out. Stephenie Meyer just brought them to the forefront again. Cartoons, like the Groovy Ghoulies and Scooby Do, and shows like The Musters introduced them to us at a young age.

Some of my favorite books and movies with these monsters? Number one definitely is Interview with a Vampire (the book, not the movie, not that the movie was bad, but really, who the hell cast Tom Cruise as Le Stat? Just as bad as Edward, not going there, that's next week) I fell in love with Louis when I read that book back when I was a teenager.

Movies like Fright Night and American Werewolf in London were a couple of my favorites back in the day. I remember AWIL being the cutting edge of special effects for the time period.


More recently I really liked Blade, the first Underworld movie (not so much the second), Brotherhood of the Wolf, and Blood and Chocolate. What they've done with Vampires and Werewolves are amazing. And of course two of my favorite shows ever were Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.

Then there are books and movies and shows that are popular that I've yet to see like the Heather Brewer book series, Sookie Stackhouse, and True Blood. I'll get to them.

So, that's another reason to like the Twilight series, because I LOVE the subject matter. What's not to love about beautiful sexy immortals, or strong, rugged wolf boys?

That's all for Twilight this week. Come back next week when I tell you the four things I HATE about it. But for tomorrow, it's the Friday Free For All. I have no idea what to talk about, so it will be as exciting for me as it is for you. It is exciting for you, right? ;)

Catch you on the flip side.

Kisses :*

Megan

Top four things I like about Twilight #3

# Three is the Cullens. I love every Cullen, in the book. (I suppose the movie too. They did a pretty good job on the casting, um, except Edward)

Stephenie Meyer did a great job giving each of these vampires unique and likable personalities, and I loved hearing each of the stories about how there vampirism (yes, if it's not a word, it is now) came about. Especially the completely and utterly unlikeable Rosalie. I can't remember which book her story comes out in, I think it's Breaking Dawn, but it's terrible and intriguing, and it's why she is the way she is, and why she doesn't want Bella to become a vampire. I will say no more on this, as I don't want to spoil it for those who have not read the books.

My favorite of course is Alice. (Whose isn't, right?) The beautiful pixie-ish vamp that can foresee the future. If I could be one of the Cullens, it would definitely be her. She flits about, sweet as pie, then goes into a complete coma when the future hits, and it's never good, especially where Bella is concerned.

I love Emmet's brawn and playfulness, how Jasper struggles with the whole "vegetarian" vampire thing, Esmay's kind heart, and Dr. Cullens sympathetic nature.

And then there's Edward. Yes, we all love him (do we?). I found it harder to love him after book two, and definitely after his part in the movie was cast. But enough on that. I have a day next week dedicated to Edward.

So, that's all for today, thanks for reading.

Kisses :*

Megan

Top four things I like about Twilight #4

Since Twilight is so very big, and I've never blogged about it before, I thought I'd better before it runs its course. I have a love/hate relationship with Twilight. There are things I really like about it, and things I definitely hate. So, this week is going to be about the things I like about it, next week, the things I hate. And I guess since they made a movie out of it and all, I'm going to be talking about the book and the movie.


#4 The concept

For those of you who don't know (and seriously, you should all know this by now, especially if you are a twilight fan) the idea from this book came from a dream that Stephenie Meyer had. A dream in which a vampire was in love with a human. Simple as that.

It's a great concept. Has it been done before, more than likely, though I haven't seen it. Of course there are many books about star-crossed lovers, but I can't think of any where one lover might literally devour the other. And I will admit this, Stephenie Meyer made me fall in love with the idea of the story (though maybe not the story itself). I won't get much more into it, because if I expand I won't have anything else to write about this week or next.

So that is all for today. Catch you on the flip side.

Kisses :*

Megan

The four songs that define the last four decades for me.

# 1 2000's

Sorry, I'm going to be showing my politics here, and I apologize for that, especially if you disagree, but this song just seemed to define the 2000's for me. We're in a recession, a war, the US dollar is taking a serious dive.

I'm wearing a black knit cap, skinny jeans, mini skirts, knee socks, and high tops.

I no longer wear a watch.

My kids are getting taller than me.

I've become a soccer mom.

I watch Survivor, Hell's Kitchen, Heroes, and the Office.

I loved the Batman movies, the Bourne movies, Shaun of the Dead, Sideways, and anything with Christian Bale, Edward Norton, Ewan McGregor, or Tobey McGuire.

I read Dennis Lehane, Dan Brown, Harlan Coben, The Harry Potter series, the Twilight series, and lots of other YA lit.

I began writing again.

I listened to hip-hop, rock, pop, indie, and alternative music. My daughter started liking Green Day when she was about eight. This song for me epitomized the 2000 decade. It's Holiday.




I turned 40 in 2009.

Thanks for reading
Kisses :*
Megan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrQDXqAVm88

"Holiday"

Say, hey!

Hear the sound of the falling rain
Coming down like an Armageddon flame (Hey!)
The shame
The ones who died without a name

Hear the dogs howling out of key
To a hymn called "Faith and Misery" (Hey!)
And bleed, the company lost the war today

I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies
This is the dawning of the rest of our lives
On holiday

Hear the drum pounding out of time
Another protester has crossed the line (Hey!)
To find, the money's on the other side

Can I get another Amen? (Amen!)
There's a flag wrapped around a score of men (Hey!)
A gag, a plastic bag on a monument

I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies
This is the dawning of the rest of our lives
On holiday

(Hey!)
(Say, hey!)

(3,4)

"The representative from California has the floor"

Sieg Heil to the president Gasman
Bombs away is your punishment
Pulverize the Eiffel towers
Who criticize your government
Bang bang goes the broken glass and
Kill all the fags that don't agree
Trials by fire, setting fire
Is not a way that's meant for me
Just cause, just cause, because we're outlaws yeah!

I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies
This is the dawning of the rest of our lives
I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies
This is the dawning of the rest of our lives

This is our lives on holiday