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.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
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...
Sunday, September 20, 2009
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. :)
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. :)
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Cleopatra's Daughter...With a K
Today's YA Release
I just finished reading Michelle Moran's historical fiction, Cleopatra's Daughter, this past weekend and all I can say is wow. It's been a while since I've been completely engrossed with a novel (not since the last Eva Ibottson book I read), and it was so frustrating not being able to just sit down and read and enjoy. I've been so busy with work and school, and I really wanted to get this book read and have this review out today on the release date. But what was more pressing than the review was simply finding out what would happen to Kleopatra Selene!
Set against the demise of Egypt in 30 BC, the children of Queen Kleopatra VII and Mark Antony fear a sure death and are taken as orphans and prisoners to the Palatine, the throne and heart of the Roman Empire. Although forced to participate in Octavian Caesar's triumphal parade bound by gold chains, the twins, Alexander Helios and Kleopatra Selene are treated as the guests of royalty while living with Octavian's sister, Octavia, and her two younger children. As the last of the impressive bloodline of Alexander the Great, Alexander and Selene, the sun and the moon of Egypt, recieve many priveleges and indulgences in exchange for a few moments of humilation. One evening all invited guests to the Palatine are dressed in stereotypical Egyptian garb that has not been in use for centuries--razored chin length hair and cobra arm cuffs. Or, when Alexander and Selene ride through the triumphal parade next to a figure of their mother with a cobra coiled between her breasts in mockery of her suicide and the notion of Egyptian females as painted women.
In reading Cleopatra's Daughter, you will be swept into the rising world of the Roman Empire. Now, without getting into all the history of what was Rome, I was impressed by Michelle Moran's ability to recreate the ancient world of the first century BC. Everyone regards the Roman Empire for its legacy to western culture and no one can deny the sheer size and power of the empire at its height. But there is another side to Rome. The side of narrow streets, smoke, mud, pungent smells, and plebian riots. The side that looked away from its reliance on slaves and their mistreatment and the use of bribery and flattery and political negotiation in the interest of the patricians, senators, and the ruling family. The side that looked away from its subjugation of women. And, it was all these that contributed to the eventual fall of the Roman Empire, and it is these things that are relevant to plot of Cleopatra's Daughter. People die, slaves are guilty, girls marry old men, women belong to men, and anything said may be misconstrued as traitorous.
To Selene, Rome is nothing like Alexandria, her home in Egypt. Alexandria was the center of the cultured world beginning from the rule of Alexander the Great throughout the Greek world and continuing through the reign of Queen Kleopatra in Egypt. Alexandira was a home of beauty, marble, exquisite design, and a great love affair. A home Selene hopes to return to. But whether she ever will...well, that depends on Caesar--Augustus Caesar (formerly Octavian), the adopted heir of the renown Julius Caesar. Everything is in Caesar's hands even whether she will even see another day. She can only hope to be seen as useful through her artistic and architectural skills and enter a love match with someone who is not older than her father at his death.
You know, I can tell my students all about how slaves kept Rome from advancing, how political leaders endulged in personal interests, how 13 year old girls entered loveless marriages, how Rome was a virtual blood bath, but all my lecturing and anything they read in a textbook can not compare to the intrigue and authenticity of this novel. Here we see Rome for what it truly was. You'll fully understand that to be a women or slave in this ancient world is to have no voice. Yes, I know this is historical fiction, but it is the kind of historical fiction that is extremely authentic in the spirit and legacy of a culture because of the author's painstaking attention to detail that can only come through hours of in-depth research. I appreciate the historical timeline from the death of Alexander the Great to the deafeat of Marc Antony and Kleopatra, the afterword where the author recounts the historical facts surrounding the future of many of the main characters, and the glossery of Roman terms.
I wouldn't call it a historical romance, although it does have that element making it all the better for a person like myself who thinks anything with event the slightest hint of romance is pretty great.
"Well?" Juba stood over me when we were finished.
"They're fine, " I said shortly, dusting my hands on my tunic and rising.
"A perfect job," Vitruvius complemented. "And very handsome sculptures, Juba. Are they all Roman?"
"Only the Venus is Greek. For some reason, I was drawn to her face."
I looked across the Pantheon to the statue of Venus. Perhaps it was my own vanity that made me think I reconginized her. But the nose and possibly the light, painted eyes were similar to mine. I caught Jubal looking at me. Then Gallia dropped her voice and whispered, "She reminds me of Casear's mistress."
"Terentill." Juba nodded. "Yes, Perhaps you're right."
As you can tell...I'm rooting for Juba. A broad-shouldered 20 something year old prince with the form of a Greek god from Numidia who is one of Caesar's right hand men. The one who is always looking out for Selene and the one who may have a genuine interest in all the issues Selene is drawn to. But Selene has fallen for a Roman, a young Apollo. Will she marry either one? Will she be allowed to return to Egypt? Will she be accepted as an architect? Will Selene and her world discover the identity of the Red Eagle, champion of the slaves and freedmen? Her fate, as well as the fate of an entire empire...well, it's in Caesar's hands.
But the romance is not the story. The story is Selene and her journey to womanhood amidst the backdrop of the emerging Roman Empire grappling with the use and treatment of slaves, a growing orphan problem, and rising mob mentaliy by the masses. The Roman Republic promoted the fair treatment of all citizens through the establishment of the Twelve Tables, but who were the citizens of the Republic? Not the poor, the slave, or the woman, nor were they in the time of the Roman Empire. Please realize the Roman Empire endured from 46 BC through 476 AD. Augustus Caesar died in 14 BC, but the Rome he helped to establish lasted over 400 years. His reign began the Pax Romana, or time of peace, but really what does that mean? Rome may not have had any political rivals, but within the walls, within the Roman roads--the plebians, slaves, and women suffered. Imagine the state of Rome in 476 AD.
Set against the demise of Egypt in 30 BC, the children of Queen Kleopatra VII and Mark Antony fear a sure death and are taken as orphans and prisoners to the Palatine, the throne and heart of the Roman Empire. Although forced to participate in Octavian Caesar's triumphal parade bound by gold chains, the twins, Alexander Helios and Kleopatra Selene are treated as the guests of royalty while living with Octavian's sister, Octavia, and her two younger children. As the last of the impressive bloodline of Alexander the Great, Alexander and Selene, the sun and the moon of Egypt, recieve many priveleges and indulgences in exchange for a few moments of humilation. One evening all invited guests to the Palatine are dressed in stereotypical Egyptian garb that has not been in use for centuries--razored chin length hair and cobra arm cuffs. Or, when Alexander and Selene ride through the triumphal parade next to a figure of their mother with a cobra coiled between her breasts in mockery of her suicide and the notion of Egyptian females as painted women.
In reading Cleopatra's Daughter, you will be swept into the rising world of the Roman Empire. Now, without getting into all the history of what was Rome, I was impressed by Michelle Moran's ability to recreate the ancient world of the first century BC. Everyone regards the Roman Empire for its legacy to western culture and no one can deny the sheer size and power of the empire at its height. But there is another side to Rome. The side of narrow streets, smoke, mud, pungent smells, and plebian riots. The side that looked away from its reliance on slaves and their mistreatment and the use of bribery and flattery and political negotiation in the interest of the patricians, senators, and the ruling family. The side that looked away from its subjugation of women. And, it was all these that contributed to the eventual fall of the Roman Empire, and it is these things that are relevant to plot of Cleopatra's Daughter. People die, slaves are guilty, girls marry old men, women belong to men, and anything said may be misconstrued as traitorous.
To Selene, Rome is nothing like Alexandria, her home in Egypt. Alexandria was the center of the cultured world beginning from the rule of Alexander the Great throughout the Greek world and continuing through the reign of Queen Kleopatra in Egypt. Alexandira was a home of beauty, marble, exquisite design, and a great love affair. A home Selene hopes to return to. But whether she ever will...well, that depends on Caesar--Augustus Caesar (formerly Octavian), the adopted heir of the renown Julius Caesar. Everything is in Caesar's hands even whether she will even see another day. She can only hope to be seen as useful through her artistic and architectural skills and enter a love match with someone who is not older than her father at his death.
You know, I can tell my students all about how slaves kept Rome from advancing, how political leaders endulged in personal interests, how 13 year old girls entered loveless marriages, how Rome was a virtual blood bath, but all my lecturing and anything they read in a textbook can not compare to the intrigue and authenticity of this novel. Here we see Rome for what it truly was. You'll fully understand that to be a women or slave in this ancient world is to have no voice. Yes, I know this is historical fiction, but it is the kind of historical fiction that is extremely authentic in the spirit and legacy of a culture because of the author's painstaking attention to detail that can only come through hours of in-depth research. I appreciate the historical timeline from the death of Alexander the Great to the deafeat of Marc Antony and Kleopatra, the afterword where the author recounts the historical facts surrounding the future of many of the main characters, and the glossery of Roman terms.
I wouldn't call it a historical romance, although it does have that element making it all the better for a person like myself who thinks anything with event the slightest hint of romance is pretty great.
"Well?" Juba stood over me when we were finished.
"They're fine, " I said shortly, dusting my hands on my tunic and rising.
"A perfect job," Vitruvius complemented. "And very handsome sculptures, Juba. Are they all Roman?"
"Only the Venus is Greek. For some reason, I was drawn to her face."
I looked across the Pantheon to the statue of Venus. Perhaps it was my own vanity that made me think I reconginized her. But the nose and possibly the light, painted eyes were similar to mine. I caught Jubal looking at me. Then Gallia dropped her voice and whispered, "She reminds me of Casear's mistress."
"Terentill." Juba nodded. "Yes, Perhaps you're right."
As you can tell...I'm rooting for Juba. A broad-shouldered 20 something year old prince with the form of a Greek god from Numidia who is one of Caesar's right hand men. The one who is always looking out for Selene and the one who may have a genuine interest in all the issues Selene is drawn to. But Selene has fallen for a Roman, a young Apollo. Will she marry either one? Will she be allowed to return to Egypt? Will she be accepted as an architect? Will Selene and her world discover the identity of the Red Eagle, champion of the slaves and freedmen? Her fate, as well as the fate of an entire empire...well, it's in Caesar's hands.
But the romance is not the story. The story is Selene and her journey to womanhood amidst the backdrop of the emerging Roman Empire grappling with the use and treatment of slaves, a growing orphan problem, and rising mob mentaliy by the masses. The Roman Republic promoted the fair treatment of all citizens through the establishment of the Twelve Tables, but who were the citizens of the Republic? Not the poor, the slave, or the woman, nor were they in the time of the Roman Empire. Please realize the Roman Empire endured from 46 BC through 476 AD. Augustus Caesar died in 14 BC, but the Rome he helped to establish lasted over 400 years. His reign began the Pax Romana, or time of peace, but really what does that mean? Rome may not have had any political rivals, but within the walls, within the Roman roads--the plebians, slaves, and women suffered. Imagine the state of Rome in 476 AD.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Happy Labor Day and Michelle Moran
Happy Labor Day to all you who actually do not have to labor today...I'm one of them. Well, I am completely alone at home today. I plan to visit my mom, meet my husband at Taco Bell, take a nap, and pick up my son from school. Then it's dinner, homework, and all kinds of sports. But, somehow, through all this I have to get myself together and do some major damage in my own homework schedule. Tommorrow I have to "pitch" my story idea for a feature film to my screenwriting professor and classmates.
Amazingly, I got a brainstorm Saturday morning. The picture above has got something to do with...a coming of age screenplay dealing with South Padre Island. It seems like too much to put here on my review blog...so go check out my live journal if you want to know more. I'm really gonna try hard to put anything to do with my aspiring career as a writer over on livejournal and not fill up Athena's YA Reviews with that, eventhough I have been doing a little of this. I'll still give tidbits here every now and then, but I don't want to lose the focus of this blog.
On to Michelle Moran...I have only read a piece of Cleopatra's Daughter, but so far I love it. How can I not, especially since I teach world history?
I don't have a review yet, but I do have a blog post by the author herself! Just keep reading...
Amazingly, I got a brainstorm Saturday morning. The picture above has got something to do with...a coming of age screenplay dealing with South Padre Island. It seems like too much to put here on my review blog...so go check out my live journal if you want to know more. I'm really gonna try hard to put anything to do with my aspiring career as a writer over on livejournal and not fill up Athena's YA Reviews with that, eventhough I have been doing a little of this. I'll still give tidbits here every now and then, but I don't want to lose the focus of this blog.
On to Michelle Moran...I have only read a piece of Cleopatra's Daughter, but so far I love it. How can I not, especially since I teach world history?
I don't have a review yet, but I do have a blog post by the author herself! Just keep reading...
Michelle Moran on Why Cleopatra's daughter?
It began with a dive. Not the kind of dive that people take into swimming pools, but the kind where you squeeze yourself into a wetsuit and wonder just how tasty your rump must appear to passing sharks now that it looks exactly like an elephant seal. My husband and I had taken a trip to Egypt, and at the suggestion of a friend, we decided to go to Alexandria and do a dive to see the remains of Cleopatra’s underwater city. Let it be known that I had never done an underwater dive before, so after four days with an instructor (and countless questions like, Will there be sharks? How about jellyfish? If there is an earthquake, what happens underwater?) we were ready for the real thing.
We drove to the Eastern Harbor in Alexandria. Dozens of other divers were already there, waiting to see what sort of magic lay beneath the waves. I wondered if the real thing could possibly live up to all of the guides and brochures selling this underwater city, lost for thousands of years until now. Then we did the dive, and it was every bit as magical as everyone had promised. You can see the rocks which once formed Marc Antony’s summer palace, come face to face with Cleopatra’s towering sphinx, and take your time floating above ten thousand ancient artifacts, including obelisks, statues, and countless amphorae. By the time we had surfaced, I was Cleopatra-obsessed. I wanted to know what had happened to her city once she and Marc Antony had committed suicide. Where did all of its people go? Were they allowed to remain or were they killed by the Romans? What about her four children?
It was this last question which surprised me the most. I had always believed that all of Cleopatra’s children had been murdered. But the Roman conqueror Octavian had actually spared the three she bore to Marc Antony: her six-year-old son, Ptolemy, and her ten-year-old twins, Alexander and Selene. As soon as I learned that Octavian had taken the three of them for his Triumph in Rome, I knew at once I had my next book. This is how all of my novels seem to begin – with a journey, then an adventure, and finally, enormous amounts of research for what I hope is an exciting story.
It began with a dive. Not the kind of dive that people take into swimming pools, but the kind where you squeeze yourself into a wetsuit and wonder just how tasty your rump must appear to passing sharks now that it looks exactly like an elephant seal. My husband and I had taken a trip to Egypt, and at the suggestion of a friend, we decided to go to Alexandria and do a dive to see the remains of Cleopatra’s underwater city. Let it be known that I had never done an underwater dive before, so after four days with an instructor (and countless questions like, Will there be sharks? How about jellyfish? If there is an earthquake, what happens underwater?) we were ready for the real thing.
We drove to the Eastern Harbor in Alexandria. Dozens of other divers were already there, waiting to see what sort of magic lay beneath the waves. I wondered if the real thing could possibly live up to all of the guides and brochures selling this underwater city, lost for thousands of years until now. Then we did the dive, and it was every bit as magical as everyone had promised. You can see the rocks which once formed Marc Antony’s summer palace, come face to face with Cleopatra’s towering sphinx, and take your time floating above ten thousand ancient artifacts, including obelisks, statues, and countless amphorae. By the time we had surfaced, I was Cleopatra-obsessed. I wanted to know what had happened to her city once she and Marc Antony had committed suicide. Where did all of its people go? Were they allowed to remain or were they killed by the Romans? What about her four children?
It was this last question which surprised me the most. I had always believed that all of Cleopatra’s children had been murdered. But the Roman conqueror Octavian had actually spared the three she bore to Marc Antony: her six-year-old son, Ptolemy, and her ten-year-old twins, Alexander and Selene. As soon as I learned that Octavian had taken the three of them for his Triumph in Rome, I knew at once I had my next book. This is how all of my novels seem to begin – with a journey, then an adventure, and finally, enormous amounts of research for what I hope is an exciting story.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Testimony...A Novel of Scandal at Avery Academy
Want a great novel with insight into the inner psyche of a whole cast of characters? Want to be a sleuth of sorts and figure out what really went down at Avery Acadamey, or AA as called by a post-grad basketball player at the elite private school? Want to know how minutes of self-indulgment wrecks havok in the lives of all involved?You know, I picked up Testimony by Anita Shreve off the top shelf of the library not really knowing anything about it except that I read Body Surfing sometime last spring and truly enjoyed it. I'll have to tell you all about Body Surfing some other time...a thorough look at the intricacies of love. Well, I read the inside jacket of Testimony and that was it... I had to read it. I personally love this type of novel where you get more than just a one sided point of view. Not that the narrator is omniscient, but rather many chapters read like personal or eye-witness testimonies, alternating between the voices of those involved in the Avery scandal and those merely touched by its ripples.
What? Scandal? Tell me more!
Basically, 3 high school seniors and 1 freshmen are videotaped in lewd acts. Right from chapter 1 readers get a full account of what happens one night after a high school dance...pretty much things you don't want to think abou. That's all I'm gonna say about it.
You know, what gets me is that something like this, as gross as it , probably actually happens more often than we'd like to think. I'm a high school teacher, so I've heard here and there from a combination of rumors and portions of conversation I try and block out about rampant alcohol and drug use and sexual activity. I do not doubt the teen world today is probably about 175 % worse than when I was a teenager. Just look at some the profile pictures posted by teenage girls on Myspace, Facebook, etc. They aim to look provocative. Did I aim for that? I guess to a certain point I did, but I don't think you'll find one picture of me with a carefully practice pout or look of lust. I've seen girls dressed like Playboy bunnies on Halloween...HELLO! At a high school! A magnet high school with amazingly sharp kids. I guess this stuff is everywhere. It makes me so sad to think some of my students might be at some pary tonight drinking excessive alcohol or doing worse things. Then they come back to school on Monday like it is no big deal. Don't get me wrong...I have a sizeable amount of really good, good kids, as do many teachers across the country. But, the minute something is made public, then that's the minute you realized there is an alcohol, drug, and sex problem underlying our youth. Let's not even talk about the statistics.
Testimony brings all this out and more. Because this not a YA novel. The novel is not all about this privte high school and the mess that comes from a night of drunken debauchery. It's about betrayal, love, pain, forgiveness, and anger. It's about the raw human condition and all the implications it leaves within each. It's about the Avery headmaster and his decision to attempt a cover up and take written confessions from teens without proper legal council. It's about his unhappy marriage and his short lived moments of happiness in the home of another. It's about a mother's longing for her son and another mother's betrayal of father and son. It's about a father being shamed by his son and another father drawing a civil suit in the name of his son. It's about first love and first love-loss. It's about adults looking away yet expecting the spectacular. It's about media frenzy, death by freezing, crumbled love-pain letters, and never going back. It's about lonely adults and teenagers one day becoming lonely adults.
So, who is telling the truth about the AA scandal? Must be Rob. He is the last testimony. What he says is poignant, honest without trying. But Rob is a patholigical liar. That's one thing his mom knows. Nonetheless, I choose to believe he is being truthful. Not that his is the only truth, but the other truths are wrapped in emotion when the characters speak. As Rob says, "I have thought long and hard about why we did it, but I think the why was in the act itself. It was an act without why." And he ends with this: "...I believe that alcohol made it happen, but the 'it' was inside of us." As far as the "it"--well, the "it" applies to every action and decision taken by all characters in the book...even those not directly involved. I believe in what Rob says, but I don't know that I can count Rob to actually really mean this. He is too good a liar.
One last thing. Do teenagers know true love? Possibly. But, they definitely feel all the adult emotions of intimate relationships.
"I just wanted to talk to you before I did it, before I had to leave or whatever I have to do, and so I wanted to write this because it feels like I am talking to you. And, oh God, I so wish you were here with me, and I would tell you I was sorry a hundred thousand times, and I would not ask you to look at me or let me touch you or even let me say I love you..." (character: Silas)
Thursday, September 3, 2009
If I Were a Teen...I'd Vote For...Impossible
Voting now open for the 2009 Teen's Top Ten at YALSA. Vote Here -http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/teenreading/teenstopten/teenstopten.cfm
Voting is open through September 18th...so, don't delay. Go vote for 3 of your favorites from the list of nominations including books such as Living Dead Girl, Hunger Games, Breaking Dawn, Evermore, and many more. Do go unheard! Winners will be announced during Teen Read Week - October 18-24.
If I were a teen...I would vote for Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott. However, I think this novel is for the older teenager. I see it as a YA/Adult crossover. Some of the images are sordid and graphic. But it is definitely the most "literary" on the list. Another choice would be Impossible by Nancy Werlin. I love the "fairy-tale"/ legend feel and how it is based on an old English ballad. It's got romance too...which you know I love! Fantasy, romance, folklore, suspense. What else can you ask for?
Summary for Impossible:
Lucy is seventeen when she discovers that the women of her family have been cursed through the generations, forced to attempt three seemingly impossible tasks or to fall into madness upon their child's birth. But Lucy is the first girl who won't be alone as she tackles the list. She has her fiercely protective foster parents beside her. And she has Zach, whose strength amazes her more each day. Do they have enough love and resolve to overcome an age-old evil?
Inspired by the ballad "Scarborough Fair," Impossible combines suspense, fantasy, and romance.
If I were a teen...I would vote for Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott. However, I think this novel is for the older teenager. I see it as a YA/Adult crossover. Some of the images are sordid and graphic. But it is definitely the most "literary" on the list. Another choice would be Impossible by Nancy Werlin. I love the "fairy-tale"/ legend feel and how it is based on an old English ballad. It's got romance too...which you know I love! Fantasy, romance, folklore, suspense. What else can you ask for?
Summary for Impossible:
Lucy is seventeen when she discovers that the women of her family have been cursed through the generations, forced to attempt three seemingly impossible tasks or to fall into madness upon their child's birth. But Lucy is the first girl who won't be alone as she tackles the list. She has her fiercely protective foster parents beside her. And she has Zach, whose strength amazes her more each day. Do they have enough love and resolve to overcome an age-old evil?
Inspired by the ballad "Scarborough Fair," Impossible combines suspense, fantasy, and romance.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Today's YA Release...The Hollow
Yea! 9-01-09! Finally here! Can't wait to get over to some book store and support Jessica Verday's first published novel,The Hollow! Can't wait to give a complete review! Can't
wait to actually see the gorgeous book cover in my hands!Congratulations, Jessica. May you have a successful "trilogy"! Keep in touch once in while and definitely keep me in mind for ARC's of book 2 and 3!
Synopsis
When Abbey’s best friend, Kristen, vanishes at the bridge near Sleepy Hollow Cemetery,everyone in the town assumes that she is dead, everyone that is except Abbey. Struggling to come to terms with Kristen’s disappearance and desperately seeking some answers, Abbey finds herself drawn more and more to the mysterious – and drop-dead gorgeous – Caspian, who keeps reappearing in her life. But Caspian has secrets of his own, and when Abbey uncovers the frightening truth about him, she starts to question not only their emerging love but also her own sanity...
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