List Post, juin 2016 (June)

Even though fall is my favorite season, I love May and June. It’s warm, but not too hot, and flowers are blooming…And this year, my wedding anniversary falls on Father’s Day, and last month, my son Jack’s birthday fell on Mother’s Day!

This month’s list:

I’ll soon be on the way to a very fun city out west to help celebrate my sis-in-law’s milestone birthday with a bunch of other members of the family. I’m told there will be T-shirts!
I’m appearing from 7pm to 9pm on June 15th at The Snug Gastro Pub in Canton, GA with 4 other local authors to do a book reading and sign books.
Publicity update: If you missed the Neighbor Newspapers/Marietta Daily Journal article about me and the Georgia Author of the Year Award nomination of ALL THE ABOVE, click here to read. Winners (and finalists) will be announced this Saturday night by the Georgia Writers Association.
There may be another article about it in a different Journal soon, so stay tuned…

June 2, 2016 0

Pizza and a Movie: The Nice Guys

This weekend’s Pizza Toppings at Corner Pizza:

Artichoke Hearts
Capers
Pineapple

Movie:

The Nice Guys

I was all prepared to really like this Shane Black film, but I found it kind of disjointed and a bit of a mess, plot-wise. But because I prefer to talk about what I liked rather than criticize, here’s a (short) list of what I liked best:

Ryan Gosling
The actress who played his daughter (Angourie Rice)

I’m a fan of Russell Crowe, but I didn’t find him or his character very appealing. I did like Kim Basinger in it. I was okay with the movie being set in the late 1970s, too, and a kind of Lethal Weapon-ish redux (and Lethal Weapon is one of my all time favorite films), but this one just didn’t work for me.

Other films I’ve seen recently (sans the pizza) are Zootopia and The Money Monster. I thought the first was very entertaining, but I didn’t feel the same way about the second.

As for the pizza, I wanted only vegetables (and fruit), and he selected the artichoke hearts. You may have noticed we aren’t going every Friday anymore; sometimes we’ve been out of town, and other times, it didn’t fit into our weekend plans. For the next few months (at least), for the same reasons, we will probably only go once or twice a month.

And hopefully, the movies will get better!

May 23, 2016 0

List Post, mai 2016 (May)

Because I recently sent my bimonthly newletter* (and a previous announcement, about my new novel, DADDY’S GIRL), this monthly List Post is different.

I won’t list my upcoming events** and travel plans, but focus instead on this Sunday, May 8: Mother’s Day, my son Jack’s birthday, and the sixth anniversary of day Jack (and his dad and I) learned he had a brain tumor.*** Read ALL THE ABOVE for more about that.

Two things about Mother’s Day:

Something memorable happens on a Mother’s Day in DADDY’S GIRL. Be the first to comment, explaining what happens, to whom, and when – and win a free, signed copy of the book!
I have four children, and have celebrated many Mother’s Days. The photo below is of my absolute favorite Mother’s Day gift, ever. My daughter made it in school a long time ago, when she was very young. Her “9 Reasons” were spot on about me, and they melted my heart! (side note: this was when I was into scrapbooking, and I made one for each kid – her and her three older brothers).

In “List” format:

She always knows when to give a hug!
Knows how to break up a fight.
Can sometimes be a little pushy about what she wants!
Warning! Can get very emotional.
Loves to go to the movies!
Knows where to go shopping.
Can drive U Nuts! but is still as sweet as can be!!
Doesn’t yell unless needed to.
She’s the best scrapbooker I know!

*sign up to receive it, under FOR READERS and NEWSLETTER

**see EVENTS

***A friend recently told me she didn’t know that it was malignant – maybe because we were so private about it in the beginning, and we desperately hoped that it was benign. If you read ALL THE ABOVE, you’ll understand. One reason I wrote the book was to tell the true story; another reason was to try to touch others.

May 2, 2016 0

Pizza and a Movie: Eye in the Sky

This weekend’s Pizza Toppings at Corner Pizza:

Pineapple
Portobellos
Red Onions

Movie:

Eye in the Sky

I wanted a vegetarian pizza, and so this is what we chose. It was très bon.

As for the film…well, he picked it. I wanted to see Everybody Wants Some!! but he convinced me that it would be out for at least a few weeks, so we can see it next time, whereas as Eye in the Sky may be getting close to the end of its run.

(He later mentioned wanting to see The Jungle Book sometime too, which totally surprised me.)

Anyway, take Helen Mirren (wonderful), add a war movie of sorts (think: drone strike), add a little girl who just wants to sell bread (unfortunately, near the target), and…well, you get the idea. Oh, and throw in the British and Americans arguing about it.

I can’t say I loved it, but I did enjoy watching it, for the most part. A bonus for me was that Aaron Paul (who played Jesse in Breaking Bad) was in this movie. Jesse was my favorite character in BB, and in this, he almost seemed like he was still Jesse (in a good way). Two other notables: Alan Rickman, and Jeremy North. The latter was in a movie I LOVE called The Winslow Boy (think: England in the early 20th century – he was great in it).

I’m looking forward to something a little less serious and intense when we go see Everybody Wants Some!! ….The title alone has hooked me (!!)

April 23, 2016 0

Pizza and a Movie: The Martian

~~This~~ Last weekend’s Pizza Toppings at Corner Pizza:

Arugula
Bacon
Sun Dried Tomatoes

Movie:

The Martian

Yes, I know this movie is no longer playing in theaters. We missed it when it was,* and since nothing at the cinema at the moment seemed interesting, we decided to go home and watch this film.

We had both recently read the book, and we both liked the movie. But, as is often the case, the book was better, and there were some things left out of the film 😦 But it was still really good.

What made it really good, for me (now I wish it had won an Academy Award; I think it was nominated for 3, including Adapted Screenplay, yay) weren’t the science of it, or the special effects. I don’t even (normally) like science fiction. Though I know we aren’t sending people to (make that, leaving people on) Mars yet, I felt like this story could actually be happening. Now.

No, what made it so good were A, the characters (all) – notice I didn’t say actors, though it was well cast; B, the humor (mostly in dialogue); and C, the story itself. And B was the best. Same thing for the novel by Andy Weir, which I highly recommend.

When is Hollywood going to figure out that it’s about the writing?

We passed on going to see The Boss, and I guess we will go see that soon. I hear it’s funny. However, it will be a different kind of humor than what Weir did in his book, and what was in the movie.

Now for the pizza. He wanted Arugula. The other toppings gave it the crunch and the tang (and flavor) we wanted. Yum.

Bon appétit.

*Two others we missed and plan to watch at home are Mad Max: Fury Road and Steve Jobs. We did see Creed, though, and it was fantastic. Blood and all.

April 12, 2016 0

What he did was brave

“Scared is what you’re feeling. Brave is what you’re doing.”

-Emma Donoghue, author of ROOM

In the novel (and film) Room, maybe Ma and Jack wished they could float away in a balloon through the door when Old Nick opened it, or (magically) through the small skylight.

I’m currently reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It was on my to-be-read stack for a long time, and now I can’t put it down. But at the same time, I don’t want it to end; it’s already in the category of books that I love, and will remember. (Room is still on my to-be-read stack, but I’ve seen the movie). One of the many lines in The Book Thief that has touched me is, “But then, is there cowardice in the acknowledgement of fear?”

No, there isn’t.

In the spring of 2012, my Jack was a junior in college, and he was undergoing an MRI – a brain scan – every 3 months. Before then, it was every 2 months; later on, it was every 4-6 months. Now he is down to once a year.

Almost every spring, my family and I attended the Relay for Life event at UGA with Jack. Early in the evening at one of them, someone gave each of us a balloon and a Sharpie. We were about to release them into the sky, to float away. But first, we were to write something on them that we wanted to let go.

It took me two seconds to decide what to write on mine.

I don’t remember what others wrote on their balloons. But as I watched mine float up and disappear, I hoped and prayed I could stop feeling scared. I was so worried about Jack, and afraid his next MRI wouldn’t be clean, and that his illness would come back.

When he was fighting cancer, Jack told me that he felt scared. But what he did was brave.

Read his story, in my book ALL THE ABOVE.

March 29, 2016 2

Pizza and a Movie: 10 Cloverfield Lane

This weekend’s Pizza Toppings at Corner Pizza:

Banana Peppers
Pineapple
Red Onion

Movie:

10 Cloverfield Lane

I asked my husband to choose the toppings, because I had a phone call coming in when we arrived that I had been waiting to receive. I walked over to a booth while he ordered the pizza and our drinks at the counter.

He did okay (I like banana peppers, and red onion), and thoughtfully selected pineapple (one of my favorites). But it didn’t quite work for me. However, it was because of the combination; it wasn’t the restaurant’s fault.

I had chosen the movie, after glancing at the reviews online. I wish I had paid more attention to the story description, though. I was ready for suspense, but this film was more than that; it was too disturbing, and more like a horror movie, a genre I rarely like. I can’t count the number of times that I either shuddered or (partially) hid my eyes while watching it.

Think: Last year’s film Room, plus a little of the TV show Breaking Bad, plus The Cabin in the Woods, plus a bit of Halloween and even Fargo. (I liked all of those, though.) Throw in a conspiracy theorist/doomsday prepper and some science fiction (neither of which I like), and an ending that begs for a sequel.

Which, if there is one, I won’t want to see.

Ugh. It just didn’t work for me, and I came home being afraid I was going to have nightmares, and had to calm down before I went to sleep.

But even with two “misses,” I still enjoyed the evening out with my husband. It was a date night, and we had a chance to share some time together to talk, laugh, and enjoy each other. We even giggled as we walked out of the theater–not because the film was funny (it wasn’t), but because we just had to laugh at our mistakes.

March 19, 2016 0

Pizza and a Movie: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

This weekend’s Pizza Toppings at Corner Pizza:

Feta Cheese
Garlic
Green Peppers

I was ready for feta cheese on a pizza, but somehow the toppings we chose didn’t quite work well together.

Movie:

Whisky Tango Foxtrot

This was more of a drama than a comedy, and at times it seemed a little slow. However, it kept me engaged in the story, and I thought Tina Fey did a great job in her role as a journalist in Afghanistan. There were some very good lines, too, although – due to his Scottish accent – I didn’t quite catch everything that one character said. That’s too bad, and it made me wish that the film had had English subtitles throughout.

This was a decent to good movie, something that seems hard to find right now, just after the Academy Awards. It did a good job touching on what life is like in Afghanistan, and on the culture. All in all, it was a nice change from some of the less than great films we have been to see lately, and the cast of this movie did work well together. My advice, if you go to see it: brush up on your Scottish first.

March 6, 2016 1

Pizza and a Movie: Lady in the Van

This weekend’s Pizza Toppings at Corner Pizza:

Black Olives
Pineapple
1/2 Italian Sausage, 1/2 Jalapeños

Movie:

Lady in the Van

Just one thing to mention about the pizza: I wanted pineapple, he wanted jalapeños, and this is what we came up with. Some people love jalapeños on a pizza. I don’t.

Now, for the movie. I found this film disturbing, and not very entertaining.

I love Maggie Smith in (almost) anything, and I adore her in Downton Abbey. The best part of this movie was her performance. But the story (billed as “mostly true”) didn’t do it for me. Because of that, and because her character is so different (mentally, and in other ways) in Downton Abbey, it was difficult for me to watch Maggie Smith in this role.

I wondered, afterward, what parts of the story weren’t true, and what parts were left out. If you see it, I think you’ll know what I’m talking about. The treatment of the (real and fictional) lady in the van’s mental illness was terribly unsatisfying for me. Watching the film was like trying to solve a puzzle without all the pieces. And I don’t like that kind of puzzle, anyway.

I’ll be watching the Oscars this weekend, and I don’t believe Lady in the Van has been nominated for anything. Some people, I’ve heard, loved this film, and the performances.

To each his own.

February 27, 2016 0

Pizza and a Movie: 45 Years

This weekend’s Pizza Toppings at Corner Pizza:

Poblano Peppers
Portobellos
Corn

Movie:

45 Years

The pizza was vegetarian, and it was good. The movie was terrible.

When we walked out of the theater, I said to my husband, “I’d give it a D.” Another couple who was nearby heard me, and the woman said she’d give it an F.

I hate to be negative about movies or books – after all, someone wrote it, produced it, and believed in it. As an author, I don’t want to criticize someone else’s work. Maybe I’m just not sophisticated enough for this film, but in my opinion, it was not very good.

Two reviews I read (afterward) say it better than I can:

“Is it extraordinarily well acted? Yes, but it’s the emotional equivalent of slamming your hand in a door for 90 minutes. Glacierly paced.”

and

“Hugely disappointing, dreadfully slow moving and boring. Honestly one of the worst movies I’ve seen in years.”

Perhaps the plot (or lack of it) bothered me even more because:

I’ve been married for 34 years, and found myself wondering if my husband and I would be like this couple in 11 short years (please, no).
We had a big party for our 25th anniversary, a year after his parents’ (and 5 years after my parents’) 50th. It was a wonderful night and very memorable, and it made up for the fact that we couldn’t afford anything other than cake and cocktails at our wedding’s backyard reception (no dinner, no dancing, and I don’t remember the few toasts).

In short, this was a sad movie, with few redeeming qualities.

As for the pizza, we agreed ahead of time on poblano peppers and corn. I wanted something red (but not meat), and he suggested sliced tomatoes. “They’re two squishy,” I said, so we picked portobellos. It was yummy, and I enjoyed the evening with my husband.

February 14, 2016 2