I’m almost finished with this book, and I’ll probably update this post when I do, but I just wanted to jot down some observations about the book.  I’m not a reviewer, and there’s a good reason for that.  I’d have a hard time slamming a book even if it really deserved it (not that this one does–I usually take the ‘if you don’t have something good to say’ road) and as strange as it sounds from a writer, I don’t think I have the words.  Despite my attempts to prove otherwise, you really can only say awesome so many times (I do try to limitRead More →

This book, by Kelly St. John*, broke several big rules. There was no clear antagonist. The majority of the book, the heroine and hero’s relationship doesn’t immediately progress to HEA simply because of verbal misunderstanding and some insecurity and doubt on both parts. And the end? The black moment is based on a huge misunderstanding that the heroine won’t give the hero a chance to explain. It breaks all the rules I’ve read, and yet… it’s a really good book. I love the characters, I enjoyed watching as they fell harder for one another (since they both basically start with major crushes). Despite the misunderstandingRead More →

I finished Ex and the Single Girl.  This isn’t a review in the strictest sense.  I’d never call someone out to condemn work they killed themselves to do.  I’m not downing people who do, reviewers are important to us as readers.  But as a writer, I’m going to respect the work whether I like the book or not. That out of the way, I loved this book.  When I enjoy a book, I make a point to note what I particularly enjoyed about it, because it gives me more range as a writer.  I loved the friendship between Portia and Ian as it developed.  ItRead More →

I just watched this, Saturday night, and I’m still so in LOVE with this story, and the characters–Holly Golightly, I adore you, and you’re crazy yet vulnerable way of living!  Paul!  Fred, Darling, I love that you’re a freaking manwhore and the hero–and you pull it off! I want to read the book, I want to own the movie (I netflixed it) so that whenever I feel sad, I can watch this movie and make my heart smile again.Read More →

So I’m watching movies considered to be some of the most romantic movies for many decades. I’ve watched Gone With the Wind and An Affair to Remember more times than I’ve changed my clothes, almost, so I wanted to start with something new (to me). This is, technically, research for a character, who would’ve been watching these movies at a certain point in her life. But, I thought, if I’m watching some of the best romances ever, why not examine the GMC? Maybe I’ll learn something. Movie: Sabrina Hero: Linus Cold-blooded corporate raider GOAL MOTIVATION CONFLICT Internal To be compensated for the life his brotherRead More →

I was reading Mirror Mirror by Gregory Maguire (of Wicked fame).  I don’t know what it is about these stories of his, but he manages to take a story that we know so well, it’s part of our psyche, turn it into something completely different, and yet… the same.  The stories suck you in, and it’s not Snow White you’re reading about, it’s Bianca de Nevada, and her father, and the dwarves–Heartless and Mute, Mute, Mute, to name a couple–and the Borgias (real dead people, Lucrezia being cast as the evil stepmother/witch, jealous of “Snow White’s” beauty). Anyway, all I can say is: if GregoryRead More →