Category: Creativity

Pizza and a Movie: Aloha

This weekend’s Pizza Toppings at Corner Pizza:

  • Ham
  • Pineapple
  • Portobellos

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Movie:

Aloha

I’m not fond of cold pineapple (unless I’m eating it in Hawaii), but there’s something about warm pineapple…

This week, my husband selected all the toppings, one of them possibly inspired by the movie we had chosen to go see. My first choice was Mad Max: Fury Road, but the start time of Aloha was preferable to both of us, and we like the film’s actors.

Bad decision.

Because, even though we agreed we were more in the mood for something light (and I’ve always been more of a Mad Max -er than my husband), well, we didn’t really like Aloha.

The story was scattered, haphazard, and even somewhat boring. If you’re looking for a beach resort in it, you won’t find it. There was a great dancing scene (too short) and my favorite scene in the film was towards the end: a pantomime between Bradley Cooper and John Krasinski (sort of like the movie The Artist, but very funny – and I love John Krasinski!). I laughed out loud during that scene, and so did most of the other people in the theater.

But it didn’t make up for the rest of the film.

Oh, well. Good friends of ours are currently vacationing in Hawaii, so it just seemed to fit. I suspect they aren’t eating pizza, but I hope they’re enjoying the sweet, juicy pineapple!

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Pizza and a Movie: Woman in Gold

This weekend’s Pizza Toppings at Corner Pizza:

  • Artichoke Hearts
  • Italian Sausage
  • Red Onion

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Movie:

Woman in Gold

This week, I made the pizza topping choices and the movie selection. I’d read a little about the movie and wasn’t sure I would like it. But normally, when there’s art in a film, I do.

For example:

  • Big Eyes
  • The Monuments Men
  • Ocean’s Twelve (I think that was the one about art, and not Eleven or Thirteen, but I like both of those)
  • and even My Left Foot.*

I also usually like movies about World War II (too many to list, but The Monuments Men is one of those, too.)

And you can’t go wrong with Helen Mirren.

The story was engaging, and I loved the courtroom scenes. As a bonus, one of my favorite actresses from Downton Abbey popped in as a judge (although not on the Supreme Court).  It was based on a true story, something I always find intriguing. I’m not a fan of time travel in movies (or books), but I do like flashbacks, and in Woman in Gold, the scenes set in Austria when the main character was young were powerful and emotional.

And the pizza was great!

*What are some other movies about art or that have works of art in them?

 

 

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Pizza and a Movie: Far from the Madding Crowd

For my first Pizza and a Movie blogpost, here’s what we had at Corner Pizza, and here’s the movie we saw last Friday night (click on the tab above, for more info, and the archive list):

Pizza toppings:* 

  • Anchovies
  • Ground beef (hamburger)
  • Sun-dried tomatoes

Movie:

Far from the Madding Crowd 

Not everybody likes anchovies, but my husband and I do – occasionally. We rarely choose hamburger as a topping (it was his selection, that night), but we often choose sun-dried tomatoes.

It was that rare combination of both a Friday and a mid-month payday, and it was a beautiful spring evening.** I wanted to see the movie we chose (it was conveniently showing at 7:30), and my husband didn’t object. (We both like British literature, British movies, and Downton Abbey.) Plus, we had recently seen Ex Machina, so I was in the mood for something completely different.

Our pizza was very good (as usual), but, not knowing I was going to write a blog post about it, I didn’t take a photo of my first slice. On the way to the show, we discussed the name of the film. Without troubling to check, I insisted that the title was Far from the Maddening Crowd.

“It’s madding, not maddening,” said my husband.

“I say it’s maddening,” I replied. [Maddening just sounded like what it ought to be, and I hadn’t read the book.] “Let’s make a bet.”

“Okay,” he said. “You’re on.”

When we arrived, I found out I was wrong. Oh, well. It was kind of fun to guess and see if I knew it, instead of immediately looking the title up to see. The movie was very entertaining, and well done–both of us enjoyed it–and the characters were engaging. It was a great date movie!

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* Here are the topping choices at Corner Pizza:

  1. Anchovies
  2. Artichoke Hearts
  3. Arugula
  4. Bacon
  5. Banana Peppers
  6. Black Olives
  7. Capers
  8. Chicken
  9. Corn
  10. Feta
  11. Fresh Garlic
  12. Green Olives
  13. Ground Beef (hamburger)
  14. Ham
  15. Italian Sausage
  16. Jalapeño Peppers
  17. Mushrooms
  18. Pepperoni
  19. Pineapple
  20. Poblano Peppers
  21. Portobellos
  22. Red Onion
  23. Shallots
  24. Sliced Tomatoes
  25. Spinach
  26. Sun-dried Tomatoes
  27. Xtra Cheese

** And the crowd was neither madding nor maddening!

Note: In your comments, I ask that you not be critical, snarky or judgmental of our topping choices, movie selection, or my post itself…and your topping (and movie) suggestions are welcome!

 

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Join my Street Team!

I’d like to invite you to be a member of my Street Team! 

Once you join, you’ll receive my undying gratitude PLUS some cool surprises!

Click HERE to go directly to my new STREET TEAM TAB, learn the details, and fill out the Contact Form to request to be a member!

Merci mille fois!

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List Post, avril 2015 (April)

It’s a short list, but it’s a list!

  • Going to BUFORD, GA today from 4 to 8 pm with other local authors to participate in “Drop Everything and Read Month” at Queen of Hearts Antiques & Interiors! Come pick up signed copies of UNDERWATER & ALL THE ABOVE!
  • Thrilled with the responses so far about ALL THE ABOVE: My son’s battle with brain cancer. A reader: “Reads like a mystery…I was riveted by it…” FIVE STARS
  • Writing WIP (work in progress) daily, the end is in sight!
  • Reaching readers with a message about ALL THE ABOVE with more info about it…
  • Can’t wait to attend UNC Relay for Life in Chapel Hill on April 17! Help win the fight against cancer! More Birthdays!

Dear Buford Final

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Mission Mode, as mode de vie

At a recent Atlanta Sisters in Crime meeting, the invited speaker, a former FBI Special Agent, described how she kept emotion in check for over two decades when she worked on heartrending, tragic cases: She went into “mission mode.”

Being writers, we pushed her to elaborate. “How did you feel?” asked one member. “What was going on inside of you?” The agent responded that she drew on her professional training and experience to compartmentalize* her feelings.

“I just went into ‘mission mode,'” she said. “You’re on a mission, so you stay in mission mode until you get the job done.” As she described an example to us, tears came to her eyes.

Afterward, another ‘sister’ and I discussed the Agent’s talk, and the term “mission mode.”

“I can use that in my current work in progress,” said my sister, whose book has Secret Service Agent characters. “I’d been looking for the terminology they use for that, and now I can use it in dialogue and elsewhere.” **

I can’t use the term in the book I’m writing. But in a different way, it described my attitude–my mode de vie, or way of life–when my son Jack battled cancer almost five years ago. I went into mission mode trying to protect and support him. I lived on hope. And I refused to take No for an answer. Last year, I wrote the story of our journey together. Titled ALL THE ABOVE, it will be released this spring.

Jack, weeks after his diagnosis and his first surgery (and first scar):IMG_0022

 

 

 

 

 

 I can’t fathom what’s it like to work in law enforcement, where mission mode is normale, if not obligatoire. As an author, I imagine*** stories–make them up–and though I also have to “get the job done,” it seems a much easier job. But for 6 months in 2010, I had a lot going on inside of me that I shared with no one but my husband.

Until I wrote ALL THE ABOVE.

 * my word, not hers

**paraphrasing

*** fiction, that is; ALL THE ABOVE is a true story

 

 

 

 

 

List Post, Numéro Quatre (de décembre)

  • Finished decorating the house for the holiday season (but trimming the tree next weekend)
  • Starting my Christmas shopping next week
  • Writing in between everything, including on the weekends; hope to meet my WIP word count goal for 2014
  • Nostalgic about past Christmases, when my kids found bikes and toys under the tree
  • Delivered 10 signed copies of UNDERWATER to Dunwoody Bakery, open Wednesdays through Saturdays…If you live in the Atlanta area, pick up your copy there!
  • Looking forward to a writerly holiday gathering next Saturday, where I’ll sign more copies and will have audio versions, too
  • Thinking about what I’ll talk about for 15 minutes for the “Member Minute” at the Atlanta Writers Club meeting on January 17, 2015
  • Happy that lots of UK readers have downloaded UNDERWATER during the last week! (and even more USA readers)
  • Excited (and thrilled) that the Falcons won last Sunday!
  • Recently tried “Abs” class, and going again tomorrow
  • Favorite Christmas candy (but must avoid): peppermint bark

photo 6

“Bone Jour” Novembre!

C’est à dire, Bonjour, November! 

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Halloween is over…So click here and read about me, my thriller UNDERWATER, and its upcoming release this month by Thomas & Mercer, on PAGE 6 of the November 2014 newsletter of the Atlanta Writers Club!

equill

 

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Getting it done, sans doute

“Begin at the beginning,” the King said, very gravely, “and go on til you come to the end; then stop.”
– Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
 

“Best advice I’ve ever received: Finish.”
– Peter Mayle
 

Sounds easy, right?

I doubt “the King” was talking about writing a novel (I never read Alice in Wonderland), but I think A Year in Provence* author Peter Mayle was.

When I wrote UNDERWATER, I did begin at (what I thought was) the beginning. But it didn’t turn out to be. To guess what I mean, click here and “Look Inside” to read the first few pages.

Now I’m working on Book 4, another thriller with tie-ins to UNDERWATER, and I’m at that part between the beginning and the end, where I must “go on.” (I’ve written about un tiers – a third – so far.) While I’m behind on my goal of 50,000 words** by Thanksgiving (looks like it will be Noel), at least I’m hitting my plot points. And when I’m finished, I’ll stop.

(Then I’ll begin revisions, editing, etc…but that’s another post.)

“Going on” right now is work, and it can be hard to focus sometimes. Doubt creeps in…and I push it away.

This book, like UNDERWATER, is set in Atlanta, and scenes take place in fictional neighborhoods here, with a few (real) landmarks as anchors. And, like in UNDERWATER, characters are not based on people I know, and events are made up. Drawn from my own experiences, observations, and imagination, they interweave and eventually turn into a novel.

“Focus more on your desire than on your doubt, and the dream will take care of itself.”
– Mark Twain
 
* Which I have read, as well as many of his other books
** Which is well over the mid-point of the story 
 
 
 
 

 

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List Post, Numéro deux:

Because “the more things change, the more they stay the same,” here is my updated List for this week October:

photo

  • Two more (print) books purchased, to read this month: a memoir and a work of literary fiction. Both signed by the author, and both authors are new friends
  • On track (?): WIP at 15k words…If I write 1,000 words a (work)day between now and Thanksgiving (and allow for my trip to Bouchercon in November), I’ll meet my goal of 50k by then. If. 
  • Work on Cover for ALL THE ABOVE has begun. Thanks, Michael!
  • Atlanta area bookstores: Some will stock a few copies of UNDERWATER upon its release by Thomas & Mercer on November 25, 2014. Lesquelles? Books for Less in Buford, GA; Avid Bookshop in Athens, GA; Charis Books in Atlanta, GA; and possibly Bound to be Read Books, also in Atlanta! (If it’s not in your bookstore, ask them to carry it)
  • Keeping up with travel updates from friends in the Czech Republic and in France maintenant!
  • Trying out a new Atlanta restaurant with mon mari later this month to celebrate mon anniversaire
  • Preparing my presentation at my Author Focus panel at Bouchercon 2014; looking ahead, même chose, plus ou moins, at the Atlanta Writers Club January 2015 meeting (“Member Minute”)
  • Taking heed of some advice of un ami, un auteur bien connu, en ce qui concerne my (unnamed) WIP and its writing, editing and development
  • Following and watching football: the Atlanta Falcons, the Georgia Bulldogs (Dawgs!), and the UNC Tar Heels!
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