December 8, 2008 | Book One,Book Stuff,Draven Atreides,Draven Atreides, Teenage Informant Series,How coolio is THAT?,In the News,Life in General,Movie Queue,The 4-1-1 on Me,Weekend Wrap-Up,Writing Movements
My company holiday party is this weekend so on Saturday, I met a co-worker up at Arrowhead Mall and went shopping. She needed a dress, I needed shoes and other accoutrements. Of course, she didn’t find a dress until 7pm that night (I’d gone home WAY earlier than that), but she finally found one.
Sunday, Mr. Maul and I went to see LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
. The theater where we went to see it is on Mill Ave (near ASU, it’s a street that has a lot of shops, bars and restaurants. They cater heavily to the college crowd) and the Tempe Arts Festival was going on. A good portion of the road was blocked off (at least 3-4 blocks) and we browsed artist tents until our movie started. Which was really good, by the way. It was a foreign film (Sweden) with English subtitles. Here’s the Yahoo Movies blurb:
A fragile, anxious boy, 12-year-old Oskar is regularly bullied by his stronger classmates but never strikes back. The lonely boy’s wish for a friend seems to come true when he meets Eli, also 12, who moves in next door to him with her father (For the record: this man was not her father, just a guardian of sorts). A pale, serious young girl, she only comes out at night and doesn’t seem affected by the freezing temperatures. Coinciding with Eli’s arrival is a series of inexplicable disappearances and murders. One man is found tied to a tree, another frozen in the lake, a woman bitten in the neck. Blood seems to be the common denominator–and for an introverted boy like Oskar, who is fascinated by gruesome stories, it doesn’t take long before he figures out that Eli is a vampire.
But by now a subtle romance has blossomed between Oskar and Eli, and she gives him the strength to fight back against his aggressors. Oskar becomes increasingly aware of the tragic, inhuman dimension of Eli’s plight, but cannot bring himself to forsake her. Frozen forever in a twelve-year-old’s body, with all the burgeoning feelings and confused emotions of a young adolescent, Eli knows that she can only continue to live if she keeps on moving. But when Oskar faces his darkest hour, Eli returns to defend him the only way she can
If you want to see a different kind of teen/tween vampire love story, then check this movie out if it’s in your area. Where TWILIGHT is “pretty” and romanticizes love between a mortal and an immortal, this movie is the realistic version. It’s more brutal and interestingly enough, you get to see what happens to a vampire when it doesn’t get the outright verbal invitation to enter your home. Apparently, you really do have to say the words, “Come on in.” Go figure. I’ve always wondered about that. All the vampire movies/shows I’ve seen have handled this differently, but this interpretation seemed, again, more “real” to me.
While Mr. Maul and I were checking out the artist booths, we came across two that caught our eye. Gina Sabo and Karla Staley of Bagitude (purses@bagitude.net) make purses out of album covers, book covers (both hardback and paperback) and game boards. She had some on display and she’d made a purse out of the TWILIGHT book cover. Not sure how much it costs to have one made (feel free to contact the artist to find out), but for you authors out there looking to offer a special kind of giveaway prize to your readers, I think this would be a great idea. I might have to look into this for MY books. She’ll have a better website up and running next month at www.handbagswithattitudeinc.com.
Mr. Maul liked the work of Roderick E. Stevens. I did, too, because he had this fabulous $4,000 3-D sculpture of a typewriter. On the sheet of paper rolling off the spool, it said “JUST WORDS”. Freakin’ awesome. It would look perfect in my new office (whenever we make it into our new house, that is).
WRITING MOVEMENT – I’ve been done with the short story since last week—two days past deadline–I just forgot to mention it. You think I would’ve shouted it from the rooftops seeing as how much I struggled with it. I have yet to type it up, though, and I know it’ll need some tweaking. I’ll have plenty of time to have it looked over professionally as no one will see it until Oct 2009. See below announcement.
SPECIAL OFFER FOR NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBERS – During the month of December, subscribers to my quarterly author newsletter will be able to Pre-order A Royale Pain before the general public (Jan 2009). The first 100 readers to Pre-order will receive the DA series short story prequel, Informer. If you’re not a current subscriber and would like to be, sign up HERE. Reminders will be sent out to subscribers every week.
So, how was your weekend?
Technorati Tags: Arrowhead Mall, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, Mill Ave, Tempe Arts Festival, Yahoo Movies, TWILIGHT, Gina Sabo, Karla Staley, Bagitude, Roderick E. Stevens
Cate says:
Wow, vampire stories seem to be all over the place. This one seems to be much more realistic than Twilight. Is it a kind of horror film?
ellie says:
that sounds like a great movie. I have to admit I feel that Twlilight has made a fool of me..why did I ever fall in love with Edward? I do think Myers writes great prose..just not sure I’m really sold on the plot..even. Thanks for the review. Best on all your writing.
bria says:
Oh! I’m dying to see this movie. I’m trying to figure out if you liked it tho – recommend? no?
Sounds like a great weekend. Hope this one is too.
Celise says:
Cate – It is kind of a horror film, but not outraegeously so. There’s nothing scary about it. You might cringe in some spots, and I think I actually said “Damn” towards the end, but if you saw it, you’d be able to handle it.
Ellie – I’ve never read Stephenie Meyers’ books (don’t plan to), so I was going in without any pre-judgements. That’s the way I am with the Harry Potter series, too. Like the movies, never read the books. Good luck with your writing as well.
Bria – Yes, I would recommend it.
Charles says:
I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.