Mario and I had fun yesterday!!
No, not
that kind of fun…
We were interviewed on a Douglas County Library program called: Authors @ Douglas County Libraries. The host, James LaRue, is the Director of the Douglas County Library system. The program has won an Emmy, and the site,
www.thenetworkdc.us, has actually won FIVE. Anyway, David Schier and his excellent crew did a great job of putting us at ease in front of the cameras. The program itself will go up in January so I’ll let you know when. It’s a chance to see Mario in something other than a bathrobe. In fact, here is a preview.
And here we are ready for our close-ups!!
Now, on to the regularly scheduled program:
So how did I like the newest Bond, you ask????
I LIKED it!! Non-stop action. IMHO, Daniel Craig is the Bond Fleming envisioned—a blunt instrument. Maybe not physically (no dark hair, Hoagy Carmichael face) but Craig has the Bond coldness down pat. Anybody else see it? What d’ya think?
Another new vamp movie that looks good: Let The Right One In." Based on the
novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist, here's what my favorite unofficial critic (Derek Tatum of the LitVamp group) has to say:
My friend Carol told me that "Let The Right One In" was playing in
Atlanta, and I was already visiting Paul this weekend, so we went to
see it. It is a brilliant film, easily the best vampire movie since
"Interview With The Vampire," and honestly, "Let The Right One In"
plays better as its own thing and not just as an "adaptation of a
book." The movie leaves out some of the events of the book, but
interestingly enough, leaving those events out did not detract from
the overall story. The movie nails the spirit of the book - even some
of the camera angles and the color palette of the film are exactly as
I imagined them.
And two other reviews if you're interested:
Denver Postand
BlogCritics.
And since he mentioned Carol who is also a friend of mine,
here's a more heartening perspective on Dollhouse that she sent me.
In other news, the Amazon/ Penguin Contest is back. From Shelf Awareness:
The e-tailer's Breakthrough Novel Award competition will return for a second year, open to new manuscript submissions as of Groundhog's Day, 2009, and once again they will partner with the Penguin Group. Amazon calls the first contest "enormously successful," despite the tepid response from the marketplace to the August release of winner Bill Loehfelm's FRESH KILLS. (Loehfelm's book has sold approximately 4,000 copies through outlets tracked by Nielsen Bookscan.) But Penguin has acquired rights to four of the other ten finalists: Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan (Amy Einhorn Books, July 2009); The Wet Nurse's Tale by Erica Eisdorfer (Putnam, August 2009); The Butterflies of Grand Canyon, by Margaret Erhard (Plume, January 2010); and Casting Off, by Nicole Dickson (NAL).
This year's contest will accept up to 10,000 submissions (double the number from last year) during a seven-day window. The professional judges reading and selecting from among the final three contestants include authors Sue Grafton and Sue Monk Kidd, agent Barney Karpfinger and Penguin Press editor-in-chief Eamon Dolan. Last year the judges had to review the final top ten manuscripts. And though there will be twice as many submissions, half as many books as last year will get "reviewed" by Publishers Weekly (500 "quarter-finalists"). Hewlett Packard has not returned as a sponsor this year.
Contest site
here.
The latest in the Rowling copyright infringement case (from Shelf Awareness):
RDR Appeals Rowling Ruling
NEW YORK — A publisher who lost his bid to print a Harry Potter encyclopedia written by Grand Rapids native Steven Vander Ark will appeal a federal judge's decision that the book constituted copyright infringement on author J.K. Rowling, court records show.
Lawyers for Roger Rapoport last week filed a notice of appeal seeking to overturn a judge's ruling and the imposition of $6,750 in fines against RDR Books, a Muskegon-based company Rapoport owns and operates.
The
article goes on to note Rapoport has nothing to lose in appealing. The judgment against the company was small.
Lots of good discussion following last week’s blog about Twilight. Haven’t started the book, and will probably
not go on opening night a la Quantum, but do plan to go. Those of you who will see it this weekend, be sure to share your opinion.
Gina wanted to know who the big guy was standing next to Mario in their bathrobes err--smoking jackets—
Mario responds: I didn't note his name because I forgot what it was. He's from the UK and a really nice guy. He wasn't on the program.
So big, really nice guy from the UK-- if you see this, let us know who you are!! :-)