A Novel Idea...for Getting a Boy

After about two grueling weeks of screenwriting and fiction classes, I am finally getting around to reviewing something! I’ve been swamped with this historical epic I’m writing as a screenplay. I won’t even tell you about it because it will make my head hurt…think Gladiator, Braveheart, and you’ll know what I’m talking about.

Well…This week I’m writing about A Novel Idea by Aimee Friedman. It is definitely a light read, but it is highly refreshing for all those of you who love the basic YA romance.

It has an anti-romance protagonist who loves books, a poet who is good looking on second glance, and a book club made up of the most random group of teens you can think of…booklover, poet, sci-fi enthusiast, glamour girl, gay best friend, and aspiring pastry chef. Kind of reminds me of the classic 80’s movie, The Breakfast Club. For you millennial/ Y2K babies, the movie was about a random groups of teens…teen socialite, teen outcast, teen rebel, etc. who faced one day together in detention. It’s a classic, but not one of my favorites. I’d rather see A Novel Idea as a movie. I think it’d be a hit.

As you would guess, there are various hook-ups that I cannot tell you about because then I’d ruin the whole story for you. But, here are some things of interest: Norah Bloom attends a Manhattan high school in Greenwich Village named after Edna St. Vincent Millay (yes, named after the poet who had numerous love affairs) and has never been kissed. She hates romance and mushy subway couples and is really glad she lives in a funky, Brooklyn neighborhood with indie bookstores and coffee shops. Her two places of refuge are the comfy sofas of the Book Nook (where she hangs out with her friend to drink lattes and watch the hot guy working the register) and her the home version of the Book Nook in her own bedroom (equipped with a hidden stash of trashy romance novels under the bed). Norah will never admit to reading these books as most people peg her as someone who only reads books with more literary merit. And, no one knows she is using one of those trashy romance novels (with the title How to Catch a Duke) as a guidebook on how to get a guy, or rather, a poet who is on the same wave length as Norah when it comes to anything relating to books and poetry.

Hmmm…what do you suppose happens?

Aimee Friedman really knows teenagers, and she has them pegged to a “T,” from the way they dress to the things they like to read, including mention of Eragon, Gossip Girl, and even the more literary acclaimed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. She even mentions her own novel, South Beach, in a string of “chick-lit” books favored by the glamour girl of the book club. Aimee knows what she writes and has enough down-to-earthness to slightly poke fun at herself. In writing Norah’s voice, Aimee Friedman stays true to the voice of any teenage girl looking for that right guy.

I would’ve liked to have seen the blending of a specific book club novel into the plot, especially since the title is A Novel Idea. But, that is just a minor detail and more than makes up for it with her quirky cast of characters.

I have two pieces of advice for Norah and any other young girl out there reading this…

Advice from a 36 year old woman:

1. Never write love letters to yourself from some cute boy who doesn’t exist

2. If it ever looks like a poet or any other good-looking guy is about to kiss you, just grab him and do it.

One of my favorite quotes from A Novel Idea:

Good books and cute boys all at once?

While I was still in high school?

Not possible.

Updated Live Journal!

Just letting you know I put a new post in on Livejournal...my online writing diary.

I posted the latest fiction piece I turned in this past Monday to my professor. I submitted it as a short story, but I originally intended for it to be a chapter 1 of another YA novel.

Go read it...goes perfect with this week's World Series...has a little bit of baseball in it!

http://minnie-vasquez.livejournal.com/

Playing With Matches...Will Burn

For Teen Read Week, I have read Playing with Matches by Brian Katcher and I am Legend by Richard Matheson...I highly recommend both books.





Playing with Matches is one those books with gut-wrenching scenes. You can't help but to feel that knot in your stomach when the main character is about to do something he regrets to his sort-of-girlfriend. Leon Sanders is not handsome, nor is he a charmer. Some would consider him to be geeky and nerdy and he only has about 3 or 4 friends in the entire school. He is the kind of guy who watches horrible B level horror films and still has his collection Magic Treehouse books from elementary school. Although he is a 17 year old high school junior, he has not had a girlfriend. But, he is in complete lust with a beautiful, popular girl who smokes cigarettes like there is no tomorrow. This is his dream girl, but what he really desires is for some girl, any girl, to like him for what he has to offer...which is basically himself as he is. For some girl to see him as someone special and someone they enjoy being with.



Well, be careful what you wish for. When a real girl finally says this to him, Leon has some difficulty accepting it. Why? Well, it turns out the girl who is falling for him and the girl he can't help but to begin liking is none other than Melody Hennon, a girl who many consider hideous--a girl whose entire face is a shriveled raisin of burned skin. From the neck down she is absolutely normal, but as Leon admits, he cannot get over her face. Nonetheless, he falls for her too, and just when he finally snags a girlfriend, here come the girl of his dreams with her long blond hair, perfect face, and cigarette breath. This is when you start disliking Leon. You just want to reach into the page and slap him around a bit. All of sudden he feels like he is merely settling for Melody and that his dream girl deserves a bit of Leon. Basically, he acts like a Jerk. He plays with fire, bringing grief to Melody and himself, and hardening Melody against any future with Leon. How low does Leon stoop? Will he come to his senses? Can he accept and love Melody beyond her physical appearance? Would you be able to look beyond extreme physical imperfections into the core of a person's beauty? Just read it...Leon holds nothing back. You will get a full glimpse of his views on girls, dating, and love. You'll hate him, but you'll root for him.





EXCERPT

When I was in junior high, I was a nerd. The kind of guy everyone picked on. The last one chosen for teams in gym class. Now, after years of struggle, I'd succeeded in becoming an unknown. And when no girl knew you existed, odds were they wouldn't be receptive when you tried to get them horizontal.

Of course, my looks didn't exactly make girls turn their heads and drop their pants. At only five foot six, I had to look up at many of the girls at school. Puberty had come and gone without leaving me so much as a chest hair or a whisker. And my face . . . Some guys are just born handsome. I had a mug that looked like it should be hanging in a post office somewhere, with the title wanted for shoplifting and credit card fraud.

Instead of wavy brown hair, I had stringy locks the color of old hay. When I wore a hat, I looked like a scarecrow. I'd inherited my father's generous ears but not his noble nose. I was stuck with my mother's petite button nose.

And then there were my eyes. Some guys had steely blue orbs that, despite any physical shortcoming, could just freeze a woman in her tracks and hypnotize her with their raw power. I had two beady brown eyes that, no matter how hard I tried to look mysterious and cool, always seemed to say "It wasn't me who just farted."

I kicked my locker shut. Three billion women in the world, and the universe couldn't spare one for Leon Sanders.

"Excuse me?"

Female voice! I swirled, waiting to see whatever gorgeous teenage queen wanted my attention.

Disappointed wasn't the word. I was . . .


Sneek Peek of his new book--Almost Perfect

A teen boy falls for a new student and forms a close connection that culminates in a kiss. But, then he finds out something about this girl that sends a shock to his core. His world is turned upside down.

Guest Author Post...Laura Resau

Laura Resau: Short Bio

"With a background in cultural anthropology and ESL-teaching, award-winning author Laura Resau has lived and traveled extensively in Latin America. Her experiences inspired her young adult novels What the Moon Saw, Red Glass, and most recently, The Indigo Notebook. She now lives with her husband, toddler, and dog in Colorado."


Laura Resau's journey as a writer on The Indigo Notebook

Thanks for inviting me here, Minnie! I love your blog-- it's an honor to be here!

After my first book, What the Moon Saw, came out, I started getting lots of reader mail asking me for a sequel. I felt that I was ready to leave those characters and move on to new ones, but I realized how attached readers get to characters they love. I had already written my second novel, Red Glass, by that time (which I also see as a self-standing novel), but I started thinking that my next book could be the first in a series. That way, when readers connected strongly with the characters, they could look forward to more adventures with them.

In the meantime, I was working on a collaborative memoir called The Queen of Water (to be released in spring 2011) with my Ecuadorian friend, Maria Virginia Farinango. As research for this book, I went to the Otavalo region to spend time in places of significance in her life. While I was there, I fell in love with the landscape and culture, and heard some stories that sparked my imagination. I began jotting down notes on possible storylines, and imagined that this could be the setting of the first book in the series I wanted to write.

Over a year later, on my second research trip to Ecuador, I began to get a clearer idea of the storylines of The Indigo Notebook. I knew that the protagonist was a teenage girl whose flighty ESL-teaching mom dragged her around the world. I loved this premise, because it would give me the chance to have adventures with these characters for a few years— and to imagine how my life might have been if I'd chosen a wandering life for myself. I wove the storyline of Zeeta's love interest, Wendell's, search for his birth parents, after hearing an interesting true story from an Otavaleno friend of mine. This storyline took on a great deal of significance for me when I decided to adopt a baby from Guatemala that year (a decision I actually made during a healing ritual in Ecuador!)

There will be two more books in the series—one set in southern France (where I lived for a year in college), and the third set in a coastal town in Oaxaca, Mexico (where I used to vacation when I lived in Oaxaca). I'm so excited that my readers won't have to say good-bye to these characters forever… they'll have two more books to look forward to (well, if I can get them written! I've been revising the manuscript of the second installment—it's been hard to focus on it with all my excitement about The Indigo Notebook release…)

Thanks so much for having me here, Minnie! I hope you all enjoy my book! You can find out more about it at http://lauraresau.com/the-indigo-notebook.html .

Happy reading,
Laura

Author Laura Resau Interview!

Virtual Book Tour Today and Tomorrow:

Laura Resau, Author of The Indigo Notebook

Laura, I am so excited to have you here at Athena's YA Book Reviews! I have been a fan since last April when I read Red Glass. One of the things I really love about your writing is the ability to bring different worlds to life through vibrant, yet simple imagery. By simple I mean natural with everyday words. Your writing is accessible, but yet you have a way of bringing a sort of magic. Thank you for being here with us today and taking time out of your busy schedule. I am looking forward also to your guest author blog post tomorrow.

Interview Questions for The Indigo Notebook:

1. I read the author’s note you provided at the end of The Indigo Notebook where you describe the “limpia” you received from on Ecuadoran healer and your resulting adoption of a boy from Guatemala. It really brings out the idea that what you most wish for in life may not be the thing that you most need and desire, since we, as mere humans, can not see the big picture laid out for us --how sometimes greater things are in store for our lives. After reading your last words, I see “The Indigo Notebook” as a labor of love, merging your love of writing with the love of your son. My question is how do you think the novel would have been different had it not been for your son?

Great question. As I was writing this, I was also going through adoption workshops and trainings, and waiting for all the legal paperwork to clear so that we could bring our son home. I think that all this reflection made me empathetic to how Wendell has felt about his adoption throughout his life—and of course, it definitely made me empathize with the feelings of his parents. I doubt that Wendell's parents would have played as much of a role as they did if I hadn't been able to clearly imagine what they were going through. Adopting my son made me especially aware of the spiritual aspect of adoption. As the story suggests, I truly believe that he and I were meant to be together… that there has always been something like a red ribbon connecting our spirits. This is something I might not have included in Wendell's story if I hadn't experienced myself.

2. You mention on your website how Layla and Zeeta are dual expressions of yourself--”the mystical traveler and the common sense realist.” I can imagine how difficult it would be not to find a little of yourself in any character your create even if they are part of different novels. Question: How is Zeeta similar and different from Sophie, the lead character of your novel “Red Glass”?

After I finished writing Red Glass, I wanted to write a book with a protagonist who was pretty self-confident in contrast with Sophie (who was fairly insecure and fearful, at least, before her transformation). Although on the surface, Zeeta is a worldly, courageous character who's an expert at navigating different cultural norms, underneath that, she feels a deep longing for a safe and "normal" life. She tends to wake up at three a.m. feeling anxiety about her wandering life—feelings that during the day, she can keep somewhat hidden. So she does have some degree of anxiety, like Sophie in Red Glass. I think that what both Sophie and Zeeta have in common is that they are sensitive, thoughtful, and observant, always trying to look beneath the surface of the people in their lives in an effort to connect with them.

3. Can you give a glimpse of the new world Zeeta and Wendell will encounter without actually revealing it to us? What I mean is can you give us two or three beautiful sentences like the many you have of Ecuador in “The Indigo Notebook“--a few lines to put us into the scene?

The story is set in and around Otavalo, a colorful town in the Andes mountains. On my research trips there, as I was taking notes on the setting, I kept writing, "green green GREEN!" There were so many dazzling shades and rich textures of green— patchworks of forests and field all spread out over the mountain landscape. I kept thinking I'd love to have a dress stitched together with bits of green velvet and silk that would swirl around like the folds of these mountains. I also loved writing about the marketplace in Otavalo, with its smells of alpaca and wool, and rainbows of scarves and sweaters and rugs. Colors and textures and smells are so much fun for me to notice and weave into setting descriptions.

4. Do you think you could ever write about a place you have not visited? And, how much of a challenge would you face in creating the world of the novel if you had never experienced it first hand?

I honestly can't imagine writing about a place I've never visited. For me, writing setting is all about being observant with all my senses, trying to capture tastes and smells and sounds… things you can't always get from photographs. I also love talking to people and getting a sense of the personalities in a place… and letting this come out in dialogue. Many snippets of dialogue in my books are taken from real conversations I've had—and without being there, in Ecuador (or Mexico or Guatemala…), I wouldn't have that inspiration to draw on.

5. Why do you love writing YA literature?

The books that have had the biggest impact on how I understand life were books I read as a young teen. I think it's a huge privilege to write books for this age group, and I absolutely love it when I get reader mail that says my book changed the way someone sees the world. What an honor!

Fun Fact Questions

The last time you had a Mexican dish and what was it?

Delicious, spicy tamales from the farmers' market down the street.

Least favorite chore?

Oh—there are so many! I'll have to say cleaning my car out. I hardly ever do it. I tend to toss pistachio shells and banana peels on the floor, and leave chocolate on the dashboard where it melts into the shriveled up apple cores. Seriously, my car is disgusting!

Historical era and place you’d most like to visit?

Maybe New Mexico before the Spaniards came (over 500 years ago). While I was in grad school in anthropology, I worked on a research project that involved transcribing and translating old Spanish documents about the Hopi (or Moqui as they were called then). I would love to go and hang out with a family for a few days.

Cat or dog person?

I like the idea of cats, but I'm very allergic to them. I have a devilish little dog—a funny-looking half-corgi-half-Lab with very short legs.

Favorite Hollywood classic?

I love old sci-fi TV shows, like Outer Limits, The Twilight Zone, and the original Star Trek. I'm also a fan of The Avengers—a very cool British adventure/mystery show with great humor.

Actress and actor you’d like to see in a movie about Zeeta and Wendell in their late 20’s?

Wow. Hmm. You know, I'd love it if they were "undiscovered" actors, at least until this movie makes them world-famous, of course… ;-)

Thanks for a lovely interview, Minnie!

Thanks, Laura for giving lovely answers! Congratulations on your book release!

Flash Fiction Piece

Just letting you know I updated LIVEJOURNAL again. This time I posted some actual writing. Maybe you'll start believing I actually want to be a writer!

It's about the YA story idea I posted previously.

Check our Adventures in Writerland (my journal title) and tell me what you think.

http://minnie-vasquez.livejournal.com/

The Indigo Notebook Book Tour Oct 15 & 16

Just about time! Make sure to visit Athena's Oct 15 & 16 for a VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR OF THE INDIGO NOTEBOOK BY LAURA RESAU! I am anxiously awaiting her responses and guest post. As soon as I get them, they'll go up.

Personal Note...I survived my week of graduate school stress...but now I'm on to a new week of stress...another film analysis paper, a film mid term, and a short story/chapter due next Mon and Tues. Hey, I wanted grad school so I would be forced to write and submit things on a timely basis. Guess I'm getting all that and more.

Also, writing a screenplay is fun! My thing now is how to make a historical epic into a high concept feature film! How to take my story of Carthage, politics, and love and do something new with it...

A Constant Heart Excerpt

Enjoy the Excerpt...maybe you'll want to read the rest!

"But how could he not like you?"

"He is an earl, Joan!"

"And you, Marget, are to be his countess."

...In several short months I was to exchange my life as a knight's daughter for life as a countess. That thought still had the power to drain the blood from my face as if January's salt-laden winds were whipping in from the Wash, stealing my breath as they continued on their way.

"Think you. For how many years now have you trained for this?"

"Twelve." It had begun at the age of five. If I whispered the number it was only because, of a sudden, I did not wish for the training to end...

"But what if—"

"What if what? What if you cannot please him?" Joan's voice was rising, as if my worries were trifles too small to warrant her attentions. "Do you not know a dozen ways to dance? Can you not sing like a songbird? In how many languages can you read? And how many stitches can you work upon a canvas? How can you fail to please him, Marget?"

"What if he is ... aged?"

"Then you will spend less time in bed and more time in delighting yourself with ... all the means of a countess at your disposal."

I could not keep a blush from spreading through my cheeks. "But his first wife—"

"The marriage was annulled. Is that not what you told me?"

"Aye. 'Tis true."

"Then she was no wife to him at all."

"But what if—"

..."Truly. What if I cannot please him?"

"Are you meaning to ask me if you are to play the role of your mother?"

My fingers tightened around her arm.

"He will not be your father, Marget. You will please him. He will stay in your bed. Is that what vexes you?"

I could not bring myself to nod, but Joan knew me almost better than I knew myself.

"Hear me: there is nothing in you that could make him cast you off."

"But—"

"Hush you. Last time I noticed, earls were still men." She said it as if that settled everything. As if there were no reason for the worries that churned in my belly.

"But—"

"And last time I looked, Marget, you still had the face of an angel." Her gaze softened before she continued on. " 'Tis nothing like my own."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was enough to drive a man mad!

Any nobleman worth his title could write poetry. That was what my tutor had taught me long ago. That was what I had always believed. But then came Philip Sidney and Edmund Spenser, and now rumors of some person named Shakespeare. They had ruined it for us all. It was no longer acceptable to just dash out a sonnet. One must employ mythology and politics, and work for days to cultivate allusions aplenty.

But now, all I needed was a rhyme for carriage.

Her Majesty's comportment, her carriage, could be compared to ... Bah! It had been at the edge of my mind the entire forenoon. Carriage ... carnage.

Nay.

Carriage ... cleavage.

There was no hope for it. It would come. I could feel it, but I might as well do something else, something more productive, until it did. Why did poetry have to require so much work? I was replacing the quill in the inkwell when a knock sounded upon the door, and then it opened forthwith.

It was Nicholas. He was carrying something in his hand. "For you, my lord." He straightened from a bow and extended a document toward me. "From the east, my lord."

...I spread it on the desk before me but still could not focus on the words long enough to read them. Pushing away from the desk, I gestured Nicholas toward the paper. "Read it."


"Aye, aye. Does he accept the terms or not?"

...finally, he lifted his eyes to mine. "Aye. After all of that, in the very last phrase, he agrees. You shall have the hand of his daughter in marriage."

"Thank heaven!"

"Congratulations, my lord. It is my fondest hope that the young lady will bring you nothing but happiness."

I looked at him. Though his mien revealed nothing but innocence, I knew him too well. "You mean to say, as opposed to the first young lady?"

Nicholas merely stood there.

I frowned as I regained my desk and removed my quill from the inkpot. "The young lady is of no importance."

"I beg to argue, my lord...As a knight's daughter, her only wish will be to please you. You must not punish her for another's mistakes, my lord."

"Do you think me some cruel tyrant?"

"Nay, my lord. But it was you who said she was of no importance."

"Relatively speaking, Nicholas. 'Tis her dowry that I am after. Her knight-father's riches will allow me to regain Holleystone. If there is anything to rejoice over, 'tis that fact. You and I shall both be going home. 'Tis for that God is to be praised."

Nicholas cleared his throat, a sure sign that I had been ignoring him. "The young lady, my lord."

"What of her?"

"You will not neglect her, my lord?"

"Certainly not! Luck's chosen vessel must be looked after ..."

My thoughts turned toward all the ways in which I might, very soon, become lucky. I might be selected to receive a venerable Garter Knighthood. I might be asked to take a seat on Her Majesty's Privy Council. I might be given another estate or even a chance to purchase a monopoly.

A Constant Heart...in a World of 16th Century Hollywood

Yay! More historical romance!

A Constant Heart by Siri Mitchell brings out the intrigue of Queen Elizabeth's court at the height of the English Renaissance. A period of elegance, beauty, progress. Or, if you want the reality...A period of artificiality, indulgence, and want. White, stiff paints for the face, masking natural beauty with an imitation of the queen; court clique's concerned merely with appearance and wealth. Extravagant spending by courtiers for the mere whims and short attentions of the queen; personal indulgences inspite of multiple debts and lack of payment for working classes. A want of more power and more prestige; a want of food and warmth by the masses. This is the world of 16th century England where the court rules without regard to morals as long as the queen is pleased. A court where to be 36 years old means to be a hag, and to be young and beautiful is a curse.

Beyond Shakespeare, sonnets, and corsets, London lay in filth and waste--a perfect breeding ground for the Plague. And, if the Plague didn't kill, then surely childbirth or the lead based white paints for the face. Jealousy, betrayal, illicit propositions...anything goes when you are a courtier or are married to one.

Marget, daughter of noble merchant, finds herself married to a man who seems to despise her. She is now a countess and married to a lord, the Earl of Lytham. From the first day he sets eyes on her, he wants nothing to do with her and not because she is lacking in looks. In fact, she is beautiful, more beautiful than his first wife. But, therein is the problem. His biggest vice is beauty as beauty only masks all that women are capable of doing to bring misery to man. His first wife betrayed him in their own bed.

The Earl wants nothing to do with her, but marries her because of her dowry. It is not a love match and that's how he intends to keep it. He has devoted his life to be a courtier--a lifelong admirer of the queen. So, although he has a wife, his first service is to the queen. As for Marget, she only wishes to elevate his status at the court and she goes out of her way to do this from changing her appearance to bargaining with those closest to the queen. She sacrifices her health, her love, and her very character to please a man who wishes to please someone else.

Will the Earl come to love Marget? Will Marget survive this marriage? Will the Earl ever leave the queen's side? Will Marget ever be accepted by the court and the queen herself? Or, will she remain an outsider and take her husband out of the court's favor?

*Note--not a YA book because it deals with the adult world, but the novel is clean, as in nothing explicit. Marget is very young when she marries--probably a teenager, and the novel changes from her point of view to that of the Earl.

There is intimicay and plenty of romance, but I have no problem with someone young reading it. Actually, it is very interesting and provides a whole other view of the ultra-cultured society many people envision when they hear of the Renaissance. There is even "A Note to the Reader" wherein the author gives an overview of the health risks related to the use of the white face paints. I highly recommend it...after reading it, you'll get a better sense of how our world could be so materialistic and concerned with image. It's just history repeating itself.

Siri Mitchell falls under the "Christian" author category, but the book is in no way preachy. It is just a good, provocatice, yet clean crossover novel that appeals to young adults and adults. Actually, if I had not found this title under Christian fiction, I would not have even known. Of course, there are passages relating to religion, but how could it not when Europe was consumed by the Christian faith at that time period. Although the Renaissance had a highly humanistic focus, meaning a focus on the creations of man, Chrisianity was still a major part of society. Wars were fought between Catholics and Protestants; major pieces of art had Christian themes. Consider "The Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci or Michaelangelo's paintings in the Sistine Chapel--both notable Renaissance men.

Today's YA Release...Leviathan

I love history, so of course I can not wait to get my hands on this! On Leviathan...a YA novel based on an "alternate history" of WWI. So, it's like Sci-fi & Fantasy genre meeting Historical Fiction...but in a Steampunk way. What? Steampunk? I'll tell you more about that later. But, I just have to say first that I really like Scott Westerfield, with my favorite book being Peeps. I know many teens have read the Uglies series, but my fav is still Peeps. Maybe now it will be Leviathan.

Have you guys ever heard of Steampunk? I barely found out about it sometime last year when I was trying to create an alternate universe for a novel idea I have. Hmmm...you're probably thinking "well, where are all these ideas...why aren't they in books yet?" Give me a break...I just got started as an "aspiring writer" about 1 year ago!

But, Steampunk is a genre of Sci-Fi and Fantasy as well as a subcultural movement promoting the aesthetic appeal of Victorian-era style and the steam powered technology of that time and merging it with modern technology. So, basically if you "google" it, you can find images of laptops and ipods that have been transformed by Steampunk to something reminiscent of of the 1800s, with many gears, polished wood, and brass. Of course, these are not steam-powered, but in Steampunk genre, most of the technology and machines used are powered as locomotives once were--by steam. Steampunk as a genre and subcultural movement has been around since the 1980's, but Steampunkers take their inspiration from writers of the 19th century such as Jules Verne, author of Around the World in 80 Days.

Yeah, so I have a Steampunk novel series in my had, besides all the other dozen ideas I have written in my brain.

But, for now...LET'S CELEBRATE THE RELEASE OF LEVIATHAN BY SCOTT WESTERFIELD! The moment I found out about this book, it just screamed Steampunk to me.
Watch the trailer.

My Screenplay for Class

I just updated my Livejournal

http://minnie-vasquez.livejournal.com/


...check it out to get a glimpse of my screenplay (n0t the YA novel, but my other project for graduate school this semester)--a tale of love and politica set in northern Arica at about 150 BC.

Have a great day!

The Indigo Notebook Book Tour Oct 15 & 16

Congratulations to my friend and author, Laura Resau, whose novel, The Indigo Notebook will be released on October 13! I just finished reading it this past week, and I love it. I knew it'd be great, especially since I only had wonderful things to say about her previous novel, Red Glass. If you haven't read that review, make sure you check my archives.

Laura will be visiting with us here at Athena's on October 15 and 16 with an interview and guest author post. Of course, I'll be posting a review pretty soon. But, I have to wait unitl I buy the book again because, sadly, I lost the advanced reader's copy she had sent to me! I am still so upset about it--about losing it at pee-wee football pictures for my son! Basically, I took the book out to use for a check I was writing. I must have put the book down when I paid...and didn't realize it until like 5 hours later when I noticed my "Save Planet Earth" tote was so light!



But, here is a book trailer made by the author, Laura Resau. Enjoy!

The YA Novel I Want To Write...Tragedy, Beach, Photography, Love

Lettin you know that I updated my Livejournal...follow this link
http://minnie-vasquez.livejournal.com/

A few weeks ago I mentioned how I had this great idea for my screenwriting class...well, I think it would be a better novel. Why? Screenwriting is not really my thing even though I find it fascinating, but I'm swimming upstream when it comes to getting a movie made. I don't know that I will ever seriously pursue that route. So, I'm thinking why not write some awesome drama about the Roman Empire instead. Stop thinking about trying to write a screenplay that can actually be shot here in the Valley because really...it's a long shot.

But, doesn't mean I can't use my idea as another project.

Here is a 2 sentence summary: A teenage girl must come to terms with the death of her sister after her sister's vehicle plunges off a bridge. Solymar de los Santos must deal with varying degrees of grief and come to an understanding about her own identity.

Want to read a full synopsis? Go to my Livejournal page here.
http://minnie-vasquez.livejournal.com/

I will regularly be updating my writing diary on Livejournal. I'll notify all you guys who follow my blogs and book reviews here at Athena's YA Book Reviews, so that you can follow my writing diary as well.

Have a good one.

The Decoding of Lana Morris...Comes With a Wish

The Decoding of Lana Morris by Laura & Tom McNeal

Don’t you just love the title? It makes me think of a girl becoming unraveled to the core of what is real.

I picked up this book not knowing anything about it—the copy I got is hard-cover and there is no inside cover synopsis. I had already read Zipped (not one of my favorites) and Crushed (one of my favorites!) by the same authors, so I knew it could go either way. Not that Zipped does not have its merits—it’s just that it’s not on my personal favorites list.

It turns out The Decoding of Lana Morris is a nice surprise. It’s the first book I read from a stack of about 15 YA novels stacked along the back countertop of my classroom. Reading it first and being quite pleased with it, is a pretty good omen for the rest of them.

The core of the story? A new, modern retelling of the classic question If you had 3 wishes…But there’s no genie or magic or eyelash or wishing star. There’s beautiful blush pink sketching paper with a life of its own when put into the hands of the right person and a sort of wishing well. In the hands of Lana, the sketching paper brings things to people she knows—two of which cause nearly irreparable damage (to a person she dislikes and another whom she has come to love). But in the end, the innocent mind of a "special needs" friend sketches an image bringing Lana and all those she now loves to a place they can love back and that will love them back.

See, Lana and her friends are foster kids and out of the whole bunch of them, Lana is the oldest and the one whose mind works like that of all average, capable teens. When she first arrives to the foster home, Lana has hopes of being adopted by the young couple serving as foster parents and is dismayed by the fact that all the other foster kids in the home are SNK’s (Special Needs Kids as called by Veronica, the icy house mother). Before long, Lana begins to see Whit (Veronica’s boyish husband and the foster parent good guy) in a different way. She has feelings for him beyond that of a father and becomes pretty close to him. The only thing is he is a man she knows little about. She sees only part of him—the part that does care for the children and who makes the house a much nicer and enjoyable place. As for Veronica, let’s just say Lana draws a very fetching picture of her as the evil ice queen.

But, anything good that happens in the foster home comes by the younger residents who are indeed special needs. However, they have so much personality and humanity to share that Lana cannot help but to feel a sense of empathy and love for them. She is in many ways a mother figure to them. One of the most heart wrenching portrayals of a foster child comes through the character of Garth who is a 12 year old boy who loves super heroes and his Popeye action figure, but not more than the mother who abandoned him as a child. He waits everyday by the door for his mother to show up.

As for Lana, she’s 16 and slender with “watchful dark eyes.” She doesn’t know what to do with Whit’s advances and the new warmth she is feeling for her late night radio host neighbor, Chet. Something connecting Lana and Chet is how both of their mother’s abandoned them. Chet still has his father and now he has Lana as a friend and new possible love interest. It turns out Chet has a spot for the SNK’s Lana cares for.

I won’t tell you how the book of drawing paper is connected to the plot, but I will tell you it is essential to the plot and keeps readers engaged and interested up to the end. Do wishes comes true? Can you wish for more wishes? Do wishes end in grief or happiness? Drop your wish down the well. Better yet, gently grab a fallen eyelash off of someone you care for. Let the pieces fall where they may because sometimes our wishes are not those things laid out in our well-planned, thought out lives. Instead, think of them as prayers with a little bit of pixie dust.

Lana's last wish may come true...

The Brave One...Not a Book

Well, I hope all of you have had a great week. Me? I've been drowning in schoolwork--grading for my students and writing for my class. I just finished writing a 6 page script to film analysis of a movie, and I still need to write my 3rd story idea to match the general scene I wrote for a screenplay. All due Tuesday. And, tomorrow I'll be writing critical feedback on commentary for short flash fiction pieces written by 4 of my fiction workshop peers and reading a short story for class discussion. Whew!

But why not post a piece of my paper? I mean, it is sort of like a review, except that the focus is on "cinematic elements." Any of you ever seen "The Brave One" with Jodi Foster? Enjoy.

...The screenplay for “The Brave One” takes on the vigilante theme and the capacity of a traumatized victim to fall into a vendetta of vengeance and turn into a killer. But, unlike other vigilantes such as Charles Bronson in “Death Wish” or Clint Eastwood in “Gran Torino,” the screenwriters for “The Brave One” turn the genre in a new direction with a female heroine who does not choose to be a justice seeker, but who simply falls into vigilante mode after a brutal attack against her life and that of her fiancée. The attack itself is not what gets the lead character, Erica Bain, out there on a shooting agenda, but once she kills her first victim at a convenience store out a need for self protection, her character is more willing to gun down the scum of society. She is not intentionally looking for her attackers, but by the end of the movie she goes after a guy with a crowbar and pushes him off a building to his death. The film, directed by Neil Jordan (2007) and starring Jodi Foster, closely follows the storyline, dialogue, and staging directions written into the screenplay, but to some degree is more successful in showing the emotional descent of the lead character and the fine line between human and killer.

A significant element in the movie is the use of cross-cutting images, strengthening the visual power of some scenes. For instance, the attack of Erica and her fiancée, David, moves back and forth between monochromatic video images and regular filming. The script only calls for moving twice between the monochromatic image and the regular image, but the film uses the technique several times, showing the dehumanizing nature of the attack. With the monochromatic image, the audience gets a sense as to how the footage would be seen by desensitized viewers on Youtube or other media outlets.

...The script does call for cross cutting between the present action in the ER and a flashback to a moment of intimacy between Erica and David. I enjoyed the dichotomy between beauty and savagery, between sensuality and cold reality. The action description in the screenplay relates how Erica’s body is broken and frail and connected to machines providing an “ugly survival” worse than the attack itself. It goes on to describe her survival as “cold and without passion” and as “an odd way to hold on to life.”

Where Film Succeeds: Camera Shots

At one point, the camera gives an extreme close-up of Erica’s mouth when she takes up her on-air radio personality. Her listener’s only hear her voice, so it makes sense that the audience should only see her lips. In a way, doing this brings a sort of sensuality. Her voice is low, her lips are red, and she is about to talk about a deeply personal issue. This is a good set up for a women who later calls in to the Erica's radio show and admits she finds male vigilantes sexy. Is a female vigilante sexy? The stereotype of a woman in leather who takes on men and wields guns and crowbars says yes. But Erica is slight of body, a little bit older, and looks hollow at times. However, she sure can break a man’s nose with her forehead. But, the listeners on the radio don’t know she is the vigilante, and at the same time don’t really know her. They know her sultry voice and probably envision her as a sexy radio host.

Where Film and Screenplay Blend Well Together: Dialogue and Visual Enhancement

The last conversation between Erica Bain and Detective Mercer (played by Terrence Howard)captures the unsaid emotion described in the screenplay. The screenplay explains the air as being “thick between them” with every phrase weighted between the “cop and suspect, man, woman, lover.” This is one of my favorite scenes because I love any sort of romantic element, but beyond this, the actors really bring the element of the unsaid and coat it with the full spectrum of human fraility and raw emotion through their voice inflections and body language. Also, at one point we see them through the window—a relationship that almost is. In this regard, the film enhances the script.

OK...that was just a piece of it. :)