2007 Resolutions

Well, it's almost that time of year again, New Year's Eve and the dawn of an another year. And every year I have the same thought, do I or do I not make New Year's Resolutions? Last year's resolutions was to write more, and that I definitely accomplished. I wrote 2 complete manuscripts, and 2 partials. However, I didn't find the time to look for a significant other, nor did I keep up with my exercise routine as I had hoped to do.

Every year, I have such high hopes. I make resolutions, and I keep them for oh, about two months. And then I feel guilty for the rest of the year. But this year I feel is going to be different.

So with that said, here are the few New Year's Resolutions I feel that I can affectively stick to:

1) Have enough respect for myself that I don't let people keep taking advantage of me.

2) Continue with my writing schedule. I have a trilogy that I want to write, and I'm hoping to start on the first book, and write partials for the other two books. They're adult books which should be interesting for me after spending a year in the YA world.

3) Learn enough Italian that I don't feel like such an idiot when I'm in Venice.

4) Spend the year learning Latin ballroom dances, Samba, Rhumba, Cha-Cha, Merengue and Salsa.

5) Finally learn how to drive!

6) Fix up my apartment so that it looks somewhat inhabitable. Consider taking out home improvement loan. Find out if it's tax-deductable.

7) Find someone who treats like a princess not like a cum pot.

8) Take a vacation that you've always wanted to do, whether it's going to Florence or up to see the cottages at Newport, or the wineries in Sonoma Valley.

9) Hopefully find an agent.

10) Try to cut back on the sugar!

Well, that's all for me. Here's hoping that I keep at least a few of those!

Thanks for reading and Happy New Year!

EKM

Book Review: Drop Dead Gorgeous

Dear Ms. Howard,

I have loved your books ever since I first read Sarah's Child back in college. Since then, I've followed your career from writing category for Silhouette into single title. Son of the Morning is one of my favorite books. When I first heard that you were going to write a book in the first person, I was a little trepidatious, but from the minute I picked up a copy of To Die For, I was hooked. Blair Mallory's voice was so strong, it made me wonder why you had never written in the first person before.

When I heard that you had written a sequel called Drop Dead Gorgeous, I couldn't wait for it to come out. Unfortunately, the wait was entirely worth it. Don't get me wrong, I still love Blair, she's as sassy and brassy as ever. I particularly loved that Wyatt had given her just a month to plan the wedding, considering that they'd only been dating for like two months. Wow, I wish I could find a man that good-looking who wanted me so badly that he couldn't wait to marry me after two months. I guess that's why I read fiction!

I even loved the little sub-plot of Blair having to get Jazz and Sally back together. In fact, I enjoyed reading about Blair and Wyatt so much, it's a shame that I didn't like the book more. I think it's because the mystery of who was after Blair was so derivative of what happened in the first book.

SPOILER ALERT! DON'T KEEP READING IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK!

To have the stalker turn out to be Wyatt's ex-wife was a little slip-shod and not really worthy of either Blair or the book. I would have bought it more easily if a disgruntled customer of Great Bod's decided that he/she hadn't gotten their money's worth, and couldn't get a refund, before I believe that Wyatt's ex-wife waited years for him to fall in love, to decide to hurt him. Or maybe I'm just not that crazy. I mean, I've loved guys or like guys that didn't love me as much or whatever, but I've never stalked their new girlfriends.

Once the relationship is over for me, or I've been dumped I move on. Only once have I ever called an ex-boyfriend after the relationship was over, and when I found out he was engaged, I stopped thinking about him so much and I moved on. Yeah, every now and then I wonder what might have happened to him, but I haven' t stalked him or sent him an email.

So unfortunately, I can only give this book a B-. It was hovering at an A-/B+ until I discovered who the stalker was.

EKM

The Fine Art of Yearning

Did you ever watch one of those old movies from the forties like Now Voyager or even a movie like Gone With the Wind or Wuthering Heights where you could almost feel the emotion coming off the screen? Do you know how long its been since I've seen something like that? Well, last night I watched all 4 hours of the BBC adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South.

North and South is like the John Jakes novel of the same name, about the differences between different regions, in this case the North and South of England. Margaret Hale and her family move from the South of England to a small industrial city in the North because her father has refused to sign an oath to the Church which means he can't continue to be a clergyman. He now has questions and doubts about the Bible. Margaret, a sensitive, well-meaning, but has a problem sticking her nose where it's not wanted, comes into conflict with John Thornton (played by the oh so delicious Richard Armitage pictured above) who is one of the mill owners in town. There is an instant attraction and almost instant dislike.

Sound familiar? Well Margaret does have traces of Elizabeth Bennett, and Thornton is alot like Mr. Darcy. The difference being, Margaret is actually of a higher class than Thornton who has pulled his family up from povery to own a successful mill already one after his father's death. There's lots of misunderstandings that go on, and secrets. Margaret is injured defending Thornton against the striking workers. He proposes to her, but she refuses because she thinks he's only doing it out of obligation, despite the fact that he tells her he's in love with her.

The black moment is when Thornton sees Margaret late at night at the train station with a young man who she is affectionate with, not knowing that he's her brother who is wanted for participating in a mutiny at sea. A man dies and Margaret denies being at the train station, even though there are witnesses who place her there. Thornton in his role as magistrate makes sure there is no inquest, despite thinking that Margaret was with a lover.

All of course ends well after 4 torturous hours, during which I constantly yelled at the screen whenever I thought the characters were being idiots, particularly when Margaret was hiding the secret about her brother. The truth finally comes out and Thornton rushes off to Margaret, who has just inherited the controlling interest in his mill from her godfather. They meet up again at the train station, and they finally admit (without actually saying it), their feelings for each other.

Sigh, just thinking about it, makes me teary, it was so beautiful. Anyone who thinks they want to write a historical romance written in the Victorian era should watch this miniseries to see how they kept up the tension for 4 hours.

I now have a new Brit heartthrob in Mr. Armitage who is 6 foot 2 of manliness. Move aside Colin Firth!

Thanks for reading!

EKM

What is Boxing Day?

Hey, sorry I've been an incredibly bad blogger. I was filled with the spirit of Bah Humbug for a bit, which I'm still trying to deal with. I won't subject you all to the sordid details.

Anyway, I had a pretty good Christmas for the most part. And now today is Boxing Day! What is Boxing Day? Well, it's a holiday that's celebrated in England and Canada and has absolutely nothing to do with the sport of Boxing.

According to Wikipedia, here are some theories on Boxing Day:

• 
  It was the day when people would give a present or Christmas 'box' to those who have worked for them throughout the year. This is still done in Britain for postmen and paper-boys - though now the 'box' is usually given before Christmas, not after.
• 
  In feudal times, Christmas was a reason for a gathering of extended families. All the serfs would gather their families in the manor of their lord, which made it easier for the lord of the estate to hand out annual stipends to the serfs. After all the Christmas parties on 26 December, the lord of the estate would give practical goods such as cloth, grains, and tools to the serfs who lived on his land. Each family would get a box full of such goods the day after Christmas. Under this explanation, there was nothing voluntary about this transaction; the lord of the manor was obliged to supply these goods. Because of the boxes being given out, the day was called Boxing Day.
• 
  In Britain many years ago, it was common practice for the servants to carry boxes to their employers when they arrived for their day's work on the day after Christmas. Their employers would then put coins in the boxes as special end-of-year gifts. This can be compared with the modern day concept of Christmas bonuses. The servants carried boxes for the coins, hence the name Boxing Day.
• 
  In churches, it was traditional to open the church's donation box on Christmas Day, and the money in the donation box was to be distributed to the poorer or lower class citizens on the next day. In this case, the "box" in "Boxing Day" comes from that lockbox in which the donations were left.
• 
  Boxing Day was the day when the wren, the king of birds, was captured and put in a box and introduced to each household in the village when he would be asked for a successful year and a good harvest. See Frazer's Golden Bough.

See there is no consensus, kind of like the situation in Iraq!

We don't get to celebrate it, although I think making people come to work the day after Christmas is cruel and unusual punishment. Particularly since no work is going to get done. Right now, it's 8:10 in the morning, and I'm the only one in my group here!

Happy Holidays1

EKM

The Rule of Four

Four jobs I’ve had:
1. Waitress
2. SAT Tutor
3. Actress
4. Secretary

Four Places I’ve lived:
1. Syracuse, NY
2. New York, NY
3. London
4. High Falls, NY

Four favorite foods:
1. lobster
2. spinach
3. Champagne (is that a food?)
4. CHOCOLATE


Four movies I could watch over and over:
1. Love Actually
2. Gone With The Wind
3. Princess Bride
4. Romancing the Stone

Four TV shows I enjoy:
1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Ugly Betty
3. Desperate Housewives
4. House

Four places I’ve traveled:
1. Colonial Williamsburg
2. Orlando
3. Chicago
4. Los Angeles

Four places I’d like to visit:
1. Vienna
2. India
3. Hawaii
4. Australia

Four websites I go to (almost) daily:
1. astrology.com
2. austenblog.com
3. nytimes.com
4. people.com

10 Facts About Elizabeth

Facts about Elizabeth...

1) I hate to ask for help. I will do everything myself, even if it means working until the wee hours before I'll ask anyone to help.

2) I am spoiled. I hate delayed gratification. I want what I want when I want it.

3) I'm not really a cat person

4) I like expensive clothes (I would kill for a pair of Christian Louboutins), which is why I'm probably poor. It's God's way of keeping me humble (at least that's what I tell myself).

5) I like to cook, but only for other people. I need an audience, what can I say.

6) I hate to drink alone, unless I'm eating at the bar in a restaurant.

7) I don't drive. I've never learned, because driver's ed in high school conflicted with the drama club.

8) I hate when I make mistakes. I will fret about it for hours.

9) I can be something of a know it all.

10) I hated college, probably because it was in Syracuse, the snow capital of central New York.

11) I long to get a tattoo but I hate needles, so I content myself with fake ones.

12) I hate snakes so much that I won't even go into the snake house at the zoo.
Thanks for reading!

EKM

Jumping the Shark

Dear Ms. Shapiro,

I read your first book, The Matzo Ball Heiress, and was entranced. Here was a book, where the writer didn't shy away from the ethnicity of her characters. It was a relief to read a book set in New York, where the main character didn't work in the publishing industry, or a magazine, and who wasn't a WASP. You created vivid portraits of the heroine's family, from the divorced parents, on down to the main character's brother's girlfriend, who pretended to be Jewish while working at the Matzo factory.

So I couldn't wait to read your latest book for Red Dress Ink, intriguingly called The Anglophile. Here I thought was a book written for me. Like Shari, I am an ardent Anglophile, and have been ever since childhood. However, unlike Shari, I've actually managed to make it to the UK numerous times. I found it inexplicable that someone who was such a devout Anglophile, wouldn't have scrimped and saved for years to take a trip. My parents certainly didn't have a lot of money, but they certainly made sure I made it to England.

I found it curious that for such an Anglophile, she would choose such an odd subject for her dissertation on linguistics, when there were no many intriguing possibilities for her to be a scholar in Chaucer's Middle English or something.

But I was willing to go with it when Shari met the adorable Kit quite by accident in Chicago on a tour. I was even willing to accept the cooincidence of Kit being Shari's rival in the research on the lost language Volapuk. Even when Shari was deceitful in not telling Kit about her situation back in New York, which leads to an akward scene in New York, I was willing to go with it, because there were no many delightful scenes like the skunk funeral.

But then you really jumped the shark with the introduction of the character of Owen, a complete cipher, who emerges as a rather odd spoiler in the relationship between Kit and Shari. Even your explanation for Shari's behavior in England, I thought was a cop-out. The bottom line was, I didn't like Shari. I tried to like her, but you just had her do so many stupid things. And I found the ending to be completely implausible, considering everything that had gone on with Owen before.

So I'm going to have to give this book a solid C+

EKM

Black Monday

Amost twenty years ago, the stock market crashed on a Monday, sending it into a panic. Well today, I'm in a panic. I just discovered that payroll overpaid me for two weeks in November, because I put my hours in wrong in the system.

Now, what's funny about this, number 1, the system is supposed to check for errors, so that you can go back and fix things, and in this case it didn't. Number 2, the way they have us put in hours is complicated. You have what time you get in, and then your lunch period, and then it says out again. But that's not where you're supposed to put what time you leave, you put that in shift end, which is all the way down at the end of the row. Number 3, I had made this particular mistake before and was not overpaid. So clearly, someone was able to see looking the hours I put in that I didn't work 50 hours for the week, but 42. Number 4, since my boss is a complete incompetent when it comes to anything to do with the computer (he regularly asks me how to approve my time sheet, and the expense reports), it couldn't catch it.

So, I was overpaid, which means that they will probably take the money out of my next paycheck, despite the fact that I didn't get paid holiday pay for Columbus Day, which I have to have him mention.

Sorry this is a short blog, but I'm a little bit peeved and frustrated right now.

Thanks for reading,

EKM

If Your Life Was a Movie, What Genre Would it Be?

The Movie Of Your Life Is A Cult Classic

Quirky, offbeat, and even a little campy - your life appeals to a select few. But if someone's obsessed with you, look out! Your fans are downright freaky. Your best movie matches: Office Space, Showgirls, The Big Lebowski

If Your Life Was a Movie, What Genre Would It Be?

The Holiday - as if I'd written it

Have you ever watched a movie, and thought if only they had done this or that? Or imagined the sequel in your head. I know I certainy have. I blogged recently on my feelings about the new movie The Holiday starring Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law and Jack Black. I started thinking about the movie this past, and what I would have done differently if I had written it.

For this post, I'm going to concentrate on Iris, the character played by Kate Winslet. Her storyline is actually the most interesting thing about the movie. In fact, I would have written the movie without even the entire Amanda storyine. In the movie, she's been in love with Jasper played by Rufus Sewell for years. They once were a couple, but even though they broken up, and he's involved with someone else, they've stayed friends. Talking on the phone whenever his girlfriend is not around, and sending emails back and forth. She even edits his column for him!

In the movie, she does a holiday swap with Amanda who lives in Los Angeles. Oh, and she writes the wedding column for the Daily Telegraph. So far so good. But here's where I would do a different take on it.

When Iris meets the character played by Eli Wallach, a screenwriter from the Golden Age of Hollywood, I would have her decide to write an article about him, trying to interest the Daily Telegraph or even possibly decide that she wants to write his biography. That would give her more of a through line.

Also, instead of having Jack Black play a composer who works with Amanda's company (she makes movie trailers), I would have Paul Rudd playing the composer who happens to be perhaps the estranged grandson of the screenwriter. No offense to Jack Black but he and Kate Winslet have absolutely no chemistry, and Paul Rudd has proven what a charmer he can be in Clueless and as Phoebe's husband Mike on Friends.

Have the grandson character be suspicious of why she wants to spend all her time with a 90 year old man, instead of hitting the hot spots in Hollywood. Also, have the elderly screenwriter take her to the Formosa Cafe or Musso and Frank's or a tour of old Hollywood. Show her photographs, or scenes from the movies that he's written, to really establish who he was in Hollywood.

I'd make Jasper more of a threat to her future happiness. Right now, Iris's realization about Jasper seems to be one of those lightbulb over the head moments. I'd have scenes where she and Miles (the Jack Black/Paul Rudd character) would really get to know each other. She'd tell him about Jasper, and he'd tell her that he sounds like a jerk, and that he'd once been like that himself. Really see the growth of their relationship, and how hollow what she had with Jasper was.

Right now, Iris sees how in love Miles is with his slutty actress girlfriend, and what a good boyfriend he is, but it just seems too cliched and trite that they are both in the same boat. Or if you are going to put them in similar situations, give them a drunken night where they commiserate with each other and talk about how they are going to give these people up. Have them kiss and realize their attraction, and then have either Jasper of the girlfriend call.

Iris would realize how free she is in Los Angeles, and decide to either look for a job with a paper in LA, or decide to write a book.

Well, that's my take on what I would have done , if I'd written Holiday.

Regifting - Good or Evil?

Tis the season, Ho-Ho! I'm ahead of the game this year, in that I've actually sent out my holiday cards, as I've mentioned before. I've even finished most of my Christmukkah shopping, which leads me to the universal question, Regifting, Good or Evil?

I'm going to admit straight up, that I have practiced the art of regifting. In my defense, I thought that giving it to someone else who might like the gift, was better than it ending up in the recylcling bin or at the Salvation Army.

Once, I regifted because I figured if the person who gave the gift to me was putting so little thought in to the present, why should I? The gift in question, was one of those books that you see on the $4.95 table at Barnes and Noble. This friend was notorious for giving cheap gifts to her friends, and spending huge amounts of money on her boyfriends/lovers. One year, she gave a married guy she'd been sleeping with a box of Cuban cigars and a coffee table book on cigars. What did he give her? A vibrator! Which just goes to show you, you should never sleep with married men, particularly cheap ones. I mean, he didn't even spring for the Rabbit!

Another year, she got a male friend to buy several copies of the same book abroad, (instead of using Amazon.com like a normal person), which then proceeded to give to her female friends at the same time, so when we opened the gift, we could all see that we'd gotten the same thing.

I had no qualms regifting anything that she gave me. Another friend I knew had just run into a store before she was due to meet me and picked up whatever was on the sale table. I knew this because I went back to the store in question, and discovered what she'd done. Again, no problems regifting.

I once saw my exes mother and stepfather regift a cappuccino machine someone gave them, that they weren't going to use. Now, I think that's okay. A cappuccino machine is a pretty expensive item, and it was still in the box unopened, and they were giving it to a young couple who would probably appreciate it.

I figure, as long as you're giving it to someone who has no contact with the original giver, you're pretty safe. The problems occur if you're regifting within the same social circle. That could be tricky. No one wants to go to someone's house and see the floor lamp that you gave someone else. Particularly if it's a one of a kind gift. Oops!

For me, when I give a gift of clothing etc. I will often include the receipt so that they can exchange the gift. I have no problem with that. Sometimes, I give gift cards because that way I know that the receipient will be able to use it for whatever they desire. Seriously, if I had been invited to TomKat's wedding, I would have either made a donation in their name to charity or bought them a giftcard. Katie seems to like to shop. That would have worked.

So, what do ya'll think? Is Regifting - Good or Evil?

Thanks for reading!

EKM

December Horoscopes

Here are my December Horoscopes from Julie Hill at Publisher's Marketplace:

libra: a delicious holiday season is upon you. you'll want to party and not work, even though your screenplay is near perfection, hollywood is not very forgiving, so think twice before you play hooky.

scorpio: you are still in very good shape, with all the sadge planets lining up in your house of your own resources. this is a time when you can discover hidden talents. this is also a time when you receive something you retain for a lifetime. could be good advice from an astrologer!


Cool beans!

Thanks for reading,

EKM

Holiday Burnout

Sorry, I've been a horrible blogger over the past several days. I just haven't had any energy to blog. It seems like I've been fighting off a cold or the flu for weeks now. I've also been trying to finish my YA manuscript before the end of the year but it's been slow going the past two weeks. I'm nearing the finish line, but instead of speeding up, I'm slowing down! I have no idea why, but I think it has to do with Holiday burnout.

This is the time of year, when it seems like every night there's a holiday party, or something needs to be done. I've been sending out Christmas cards willy-nilly this year, as opposed to my Scrooge/Grinch like behavior of last year, when I didn't even bother to send anything out. Since I've been promoted at my night job, that means later hours for the moment, and less sleep. Plus, lots of presents to buy and send to friends and family.

Last night I had a meeting of the old and the new boards of our local chapter of RWA, where we brainstormed ways to make the chapter stronger. Much eating and drinking was involved in this venture.

I'm also still waiting to hear from one agent, who sent my partial to be read by another agent and a reader. And I also have to send the manuscript out to two more agents on my list as well.

I did manage to go see The Holiday over the weekend to cheer myself up. I was a little disappointed. It wasn't nearly as good as Something's Gotta Give of a few years ago. It was okay, but it seemed to be missing that essential something to make it a good romantic comedy. Although I must say, I finally get Jude Law's appeal in this movie. I've never been a huge Jude Law fan, I normally find him highly overrated, but that maybe because he's been in like every single movie in the past two years, so maybe I was just sick of him.

Kate Winslet was adorable playing an actual English person for a change, but I just couldn't warm to Cameron Diaz's character. She just annoyed me. I did like the subplot of Kate Winslet getting involved with Eli Wallach's character, a screenwriter from the Golden Age of Hollywood, and any film that has Rufus Sewell in it, I'll enjoy.

I guess I found everything to be a little too pat, and cute. Oh well! Right now, I can't wait to get home to listen to my new Taylor Hick's CD.

I know, I'm so uncool!

Thanks for reading,

EKM

Guy Goofs

So, I met up with Fun Guy a few weeks ago, after a couple of flirty emails from me. And then nothing. I sent him an email giving him info about a new antiques store that he might be interested in. He emailed me back, but nothing about getting together.

So then, I sent him an email with this picture of the Charmin bear, with the caption that I thought the resemblance was uncanny. And I haven't heard from him.

So, do you think he's insulted that I compared him to a bear who shills toilet paper, or am I just an idiot, for continuing to even think or see this guy?

Thanks for reading!

EKM

Oprah's New Find

Not much to blog about today. Feeling a bit blah, not sure why. I watched The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe last night, and was thoroughly bored. Very pretty to look at, and you can't ask for a better Aslan than Liam Neeson (who did the voice), but I just didn't care. And I've always loved the books. Maybe it's because it just turned cold all of a sudden, or the fact that I can't believe it's December already, and it's another year without an agent or a book contract.

Thank god for Oprah for finding another piece of man candy for her audience to look at besides Nate Berkus, who is a total cutie, but plays for the other team. This new guy, Jamie Durie has two things going for him already. He's a hunk and a half and he's Australian. Not only that but an Australian gardener.

Yes, ladies, he's a hunky, sweaty, Australian landscaper. Think Mellors from Lady Chatterly's Lover. Oh, the picture of him in his skivvies? Apparently Jamie once danced for this Australian revue, similiar to the Thunder from Down Under revue.

Here's what I gleaned from my favorite resource, Wikipedia. He's a Gemini like my other fake ex-boyfriend James Purefoy (what is is with me and Gemini's named James?), he's 36, oh and he's totally hot.

Have I mentioned that already? Excuse me while I get a glass of ice water to cool off.

Thanks for reading!

EKM

Favorite Holiday Movie: Love Actually

I've been a very bad blogger the past week, but really I didn't have anything to say. I've been working, seeing theater, and trying to get over this malaise that I feel. It's like I have the never ending flu.

But yesterday, I went to our chapters holiday party at a restaurant in the village called Jane. After it was over, I stopped off at Circuit City and picked up a copy of Love Actually (it was on sale), my all time favorite holiday movie. I could watch this movie like every day and not just because Colin Firth is in it.

No, I adore this movie because it's all about love, finding love, losing love, taking love for granted, forbidden love, and unrequited love. Love in all shapes and forms. Plus it's set around Christmas, my favorite holiday besides my birthday (which should really be a National holiday).

I can't list all my favorite scenes and characters, I love them all from Bill Nighy as the seedy rock star, Billy Mack to even Laura Linney, who I normally can't stand, as Sarah who's brother's needs keep her from finding love. But my favorite story-lines have to be Daniel and his step-son Sam. They've just buried Sam's mother, and Daniel finds out that Sam is in love with a young girl named Joanna. He encourages Sam to pursue Joanna by showing him clips from Titanic. Sam takes up the drums so that he can play in the Christmas show to be near Joanna. It all comes to a head when Sam and Daniel head to the airport so that Sam can declare his love before Joanna leaves for the States for the holidays.

My other favorite storyline is the two stand-ins, who fall each other while having to pretend to simulate sex on a movie set so that the stars don't have to stand around waiting for the lights to be set up. It's just so cute to see these two discussing mundane topics while pretending to hump.

And of course Colin Firth who plays Jamie. Jamie catches his wife in bed with his brother, and heads off to Marseille, where he ends up falling for the Portuguese housekeeper.

Love, love, love this film. In fact I may watch it again tomorrow night.

Thanks for reading,

EKM