Gather First Chapters Update...

It had been my intention to read all of the first chapters in the Gather.com writing contest. Well with nearly 200 entries it's going to be a daunting task. I think I've read 15 so far. The entries close on March 15th and Round 2 begins on April 4. So if I can manage in 20 days to read 200+ entries I will. But I'm making no promises.
And they thought they wouldn't have enough entries...

What Will Happen in Harry Potter 7?

Ahh, the question on every Harry potter fans mind these days. Especially now with the release date for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows confirmed. Mugglenet.com has published a book to answer the question: What Will Happen in Harry Potter 7? Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Falls in Love, and How Will The Adventure Finally End? I picked this up at the library with the intention of using it for research for my Snape Theory. It turned out to be a well written , concise, thoughtful examination of the Harry Potter theory-verse. There were even ideas I had not heard of yet, such as Neville possibly having his memory modified as a child-hence his rememberall always lights up. The more controversial theories such as Dumbledore is not dead and Harry is a Horcrux are presented with a for and against viewpoint, and in most cases I could see both arguments clearly, good points are made on both sides.
For the record I am a fan of The Leaky Cauldron Harry Potter site. Mugglenet is fine but is geared for a younger audience and I find their site hard to follow and look at, though their research and news is comparable to Leaky's. I also enjoy the Leaky podcast PotterCast. Their Cannon Conundrums segment is a particular favorite of mine and recently their Mailbag segment proposed the Time Turner Theory which is really interesting and incidentally works well with my theories too.

Harry Potter Book 7 Release Date!

It has been announced today via J.K. Rowling's site that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be released at 12:01 am on July 21, 2007. I am alternately elated, and sad. It is after all the last Harry Potter book. I will probably go to the Borders midnight release party. That is not usually my style, but I am afraid of the spoilers that are going to leak out into the world. So I think the best plan is to get the book as soon as I can, go straight to my apartment, turn off the computer and the phone, and read for 12 hours or however long it takes to finish the book. At my reading rate I can manage 100 pages an hour so it will probably take less than 12, but I might need a nap and probably some weeping breaks too. Anyone else who wants to hang with me in my bubble is welcome.
The book will be released a week after Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix hits the movie theaters on July 13th. I guess July 13th-21st will be an Unofficial Harry Potter Week.

Update: The PotterCast blog challenge as of 2/5 is to answer the question how quickly will you read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and why? The answer was already written above!

Ummm...

You can call me a dirty old woman. (If you call 30 old.)
But when did Daniel Radcliffe become buff and hot?
Check out these publicity stills from the new London West End production of Equus.

Happy Trails...

Oprah's Book Club Returns...

Ladies and Gentlemen....drum roll... Oprah's Book Club has returned! What? You're not rushing to the bookstore to purchase Sidney Poitier's Autobiography The Measure of a Man? Well, truthfully, neither am I.
I have to say, while Ms. Winfrey's book club is somewhat cheesy. She has inspired millions more people (women especially) to read more books. Which is always a good thing. And Mr. Poitier certainly deserves the accolades and millions of dollars this opportunity will present.
It is an interesting choice this autobiography. It is a choice with a clearly defined genre, a subject which is easily fact checked, and a PBS documentary tie-in! After the last book club round with the Frey debacle I'm sure Oprah wants no controversy.

First Chapters Update...

After much press and fanfare the first chapters of the First Chapters contest were posted today. There are already so many! Gather.com has said if there are less than 200 entries then Simon and Schuster reserves the right to pull the publishing contract and the winner will be awarded the $5000 prize only. After 26 entries posted the first day, I don't think it's going to be a problem. I think this contest is a great idea and I'm sure the brains behind the operation thought they would be giving an amazing opportunity to an unpublished writer. I don't think they know how many people harbor the unpublished novel deep in the recesses of their hard drive. If you look at the FAQ's on every nearly writer's website, there is usually the question "How do I get my book published? Can I send you my manuscript?" The answers are usually "Get an agent!" and "No." My friend Linda gets asked these questions all the time and she's an illustrator.
It will be interesting indeed to see the quality of these submissions...

Hannibal the Cannibal of Words

Interesting news today about the new Thomas Harris book Hannibal Rising. Apparently Harris may have been plagiarising his fan fiction for material for his new novel. Check out the article here. I have to say even the idea of this book is appalling to me. Like Chriton's Lost World, Hannibal Rising is coinciding with a movie release. After reading his last book Hannibal I was horrified. I really felt that the ending was just sensationalized and not at all what Clarice Starling the character he has so well established in Silence of the Lambs would do. (The Hannibal movie ending was so much better.) I thought Hannibal was a sell out, when I heard about Hannibal Rising I was just disgusted. Now this charge of plagiarism is very curious indeed...

First Chapters...

Ah the popularity of the "America-Chooses-the-Winner-Contest." "American Idol" is the cornerstone of this type of contest it has been around the longest-followed by "So You Think You Can Dance?" Even porn stars have gotten into the act in "My Bare Lady" An adult movie star gets a chance to be a Shakespearean actress! (I'm not kidding! I wish I were.) Over saturation of this market aside the contest-reality show has now spilled into my life in two direct forms. First in theater with NBC's Grease: You're the One That I Want which I intend to watch because I want to see if any one I know will be on it. And Gather.com's First Chapter Contest which I will be participating in as a reader. I'd never even heard of Gather.com until the press started buzzing about this contest, but joined immediately. Essentially it's like American Idol with reading, there are judges but America Reads, and America Votes, and one lucky contestant gets a book deal. (If only Anya Peters had waited another year in her car-think of the glory!)
Round one is the first chapters of the submissions narrowed down to a field of twenty. Fifteen of those are chosen by readers five by the official judges. The second and third rounds are the second and third chapters, respectively. Four of the five finalists will be selected by the readers, one by the judges, and the finalist will be announced May 31st decided by the judges.
While I think "My Bare Lady is a little out of control, anything that gets Americans reading and voting gets my vote.

Outlander

by Diana Gabaldon
I heard about this book from two reputable sources within a few weeks of one another and that sealed the deal giving them a try. Funny enough both sources also mentioned the fact that these books are also usually labeled as Romance novels-"But they are not-not at all!" I purchased a copy at Book Trader from the Sci-fi section. I purchased a copy at Borders for my mother as a gift and it was in the Romance section. Yesterday when I went to Books and Co. to get a couple more books in the series it was shelved in regular ol' literature.
So Outlander really has no genre. Yes it's literature, yes there is romance, and there is time travel involved so it could be sci-fi. Regardless it's a really good story and well written. (Though poorly edited-I'll get to that later) Essentially Claire Randall, our heroine, accidentally travels in time through a stone ring from 1943 to 1743. There she gets trapped and meets, and marries, Jamie Frasier. It's a whirlwind of a novel that has adventure, history, fighting, torture, poison, true love, hate, revenge, bad men, good men, pain, death, bravery, cowardice, chases, escapes, lies, truths, passion, and miracles. I described it to my mother as Brigadoon meets Clan of the Cave Bear. Meaning Scottish mysticism mixed with an impeccably researched historical setting, and a hot love story. For more on what Outlander is or isn't check out the male perspective of Gavin McNett on Salon.com.
My only gripe is the editing of the novel. Usually my problems with book editing come from the editor allowing the author to run his or her mouth with the story. (See Stephen King's It) In this case as the novel progresses punctuation, spelling, and grammar get spotty. For which there is just no excuse. Especially when a book has been reissued a few times. (Note: While my posts may not be the most grammatically correct, I do not have an editor, just spell check.)
So like many others who have read this book before me, I highly recommend it. It is not a romance novel. Don't be a book snob, march right into the Borders romance section and grab yourself a copy.

The Handmaids Tale

by Margaret Atwood
Along the ideas of The Children of Men, The Handmaids Tale is set in a future where fertility rates have dropped. In this case a small percentage of women do have viable ovaries and they have become the Handmaids. This tale is told first-person from a Handmaid herself, from observations on her current state of affairs to recollections of how the world got this way.
Essentially the religious fundamentalists came to power and women are not allowed to read, or write, speak ill of the government, or have much identity at all. Above all they are not allowed to have sex outside of the monthly "ceremony" to get pregnant. Handmaids are shuttled from one couple to the next trying to get pregnant. If a Handmaid becomes pregnant she has the baby, the Wife keeps it, and the Handmaid is moved on to the next couple.
There's a lot of talk about this society being for the women's "protection." Birth rates declined apparently because of too many abortions and too many abortions came from having too much sex, and having too much sex came from women being harlots. So a government took over where these things were regulated and the men are in charge. Of course if this is the religious right then women, being the cause of original sin, are the enemy. And like most strictly regulated societies there is a underworld of rebellion and revolution. There is even a controlled underworld-the Jezebels, whores who are detained by the government.
This story is told so well by Ms. Atwood. It is a short book but every word is chosen carefully and the telling is very concise. It's chilling to think the world could become like this, but it's also comforting to know that the human sense of rebellion will never die.

Embracing The Mess

A recent New York Times article explaining why it's not so bad to be so messy.....
I recently had a massive cleaning of my apartment-one of those where scrubbing on hands and knees is involved. After weeks of solid work where I was a) not home much and b) didn't have time for cleaning if I did, the place had gotten disaterously filthy.
I'm quite happy with the state of affairs at the moment. Things are clean but the closets, desk, and under the bed are a moderately organized jumble. I was thinking about reorganizing over my vacation but I think instead I will Embrace the Mess! And just keep an eye on it so it doesn't get too out of control.

Good News

J.K. Rowling has announced via her web site that the final Harry Potter Book will named Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Sounds good and creepy. This is so exciting!

I, Elizabeth

by Rosalind Miles
Queen Elizabeth is one of my favorite historical figures. An unmarried woman, pale skin, red hair, promoter of plays, what's not to like? But despite the intriguing subject matter it took me forever and a day to finish the book. The beginning was great, good period detail, Elizabeth's rise to the throne is frought with political intrigue. Unfortunately I had the problem I usually have with all historical royal subject matter. (Fiction or Non) Keeping the names straight, and figuring out who is related to who. Fortunately there is a character index in the back and a family tree in the front to help sort things out. Miles blows full steam ahead through Elizabeth's formative years and the first half of her reign, but she really runs out of gas towards the end.
The novelization is primarily focused on Elizabeth's private life and the handful of men named Robert she falls in love with. (OK-they aren't all named Robert-but it seems like it.) The love of her life being Robert Dudley Lord of Leicester. The lust of her life being Robert Devereaux Earl of Essex. (Stepson of Robert Dudley) Elizabeth did not marry either man for a variety of reasons, mainly because they were already married to others. In the case of Robert Earl of Essex he was half her age. What's sad is in this novelization the Earl dupes the Queen with his flirtations in his own quest for power and the throne, and she pretty much falls for it. (An amorous relationship between the two was never proven but highly specualted.)
Confused? Me too.
The writing get's pretty sloppy as Elizabeth ages. Which I suppose could be intentional. That all the Roberts are running together in the old Queen's mind as well as in the narrative. I had to do a lot of flipping back and forth to the trees and lists to figure out what was going on. It breaks up the flow of reading and I don't care for that. I had high hopes for this book I confess myself disappointed in Elizabeth's character being bamboozled by a pretty young thing. Overall a great beginning ended with a lousy finish. But I did come away with a great quote on being a smart woman:

... those of us whom God has made to think and feel, who are strung out like harps along the wires of our own nature, why, we are rarer music and must content ourselves with smaller audiences.

And Another Thing...

The Animal Quiz is even more fun...it sort of explains the Harry Potter obsession.

You're an Owl!

Old and wise, you have a thirst for knowledge and a reputation for
making the right decision. This can be a lot of pressure sometimes, but you seem
so relaxed and unruffled that it never seems to show. You always keep your eyes
wide open and fixed on your next objective, or on the Harry Potter books, which
you love. The only question you ever ask is "Who?"


Take the Animal Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Book Quiz

The Blue Pyramid Book Quiz is suprisingly insightful....

You're Cat's Cradle!

by Kurt Vonnegut

You believe quite firmly that free will deserted you long ago and far
away. As a result, it's hard to take responsibility for anything. Even though you show
great potential as a leader of a small 3rd world country, the choices are all made ahead
of time. You're rather fond of games involving string. Your fear of nuclear weaponry is
trumped only by your fear of ice.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

The Looking Glass Wars

By Frank Beddor
So after the publication of Harry Potter the market has been saturated with Young Adult Series. People's interest has also piqued with this trend, which is a good thing-I'm all for getting folks to read more. I recently heard about The Looking Glass Wars and after a little hunting around found it at a local library. It is written by Frank Beddor who is interestingly enough a Hollywood producer stunt skier who was in Hot Dog: The Movie. I really loved the book and am excited for the next in the series.
The conciet is that Alyss (correct spelling) is a real girl from a real Wonderland. She is heir to the Heart throne and has the strongest imagination in Wonderland, therefore destined to become a great queen. Her Aunt Redd takes over Wonderland in a violent coup. Alyss escapes through the Pool of Tears and ends up in Victorian London. She eventually meets and befriends Lewis Carroll, tells him her life story, which he publishes but with significant dramatic liscence. The book has many references to the original books, like Alyss's tutor Bibwit Harte which is an anagram for "White Rabbit." And the caterpillars are hookah smoking soothsayers for the royal family. I always enjoy clever things like that.
What's really interesting about the book is that it has trailers and a soundtrack. Check out the website www.lookinglasswars.com. There are a few illustrations in the book but many more on the website. All of them have a very sci-fi feel to them, which is so different from our usual perception of the Alice in Wonderland world.

Marie Antoinette...DITCHED!

by Antonia Fraser
Poor Marie Antoinette first she get's beheaded, and now I've ditched her. First it should be said that I rarely ditch books, although the majority of the books I have ditched have been non-fiction. In this case the subject matter was interesting. The writing style just did not grab me. I found I could easily put the book down and leave it in the corner for a few days (or weeks). If I ever procured a copy I probably could get through it over the course of a few months, but the book had to be returned to the library.

Update

Sadly I have been unable to update Ye Olde Bloge for the last (gasp) three weeks as I have been so busy with the costume world. I did manage to finish The Looking Glass Wars a couple weeks ago but have not even had time to blog. I've been designing costumes for a holiday extravaganza of a cabaret and the current show at the Yale Rep is huge. I've been getting no sleep, therefore have very little time to read, yadda yadda. But soon I'll be back in the swing of things and hopefully finishing I, Elizabeth and Marie Antoinette. Also looking forward to trying out Margaret Atwood and the Outlander series. I can't wait for Christmas break...

Lisey's Story

By: Stephen King
My favorite author is Stephen King. I don't see him as a simply horror writer but as a craftsman of Americana. His latest novel has been earning rave reviews from everyone and he's been making the rounds of interviews and getting great press (check out the podcast!). In my quest to live frugally I've been good about not buying books, utilizing the libraries, and waiting for paperback editions. However I will make exceptions for Stephen King. His last novel Cell I managed to wait, I checked it out from the library, and I haven't even gotten to his pulp paperback The Colorado Kid. So when I heard Lisey's Story was on it's way out I thought it could wait. It turns out I couldn't, lucky for me.
What happened was we did this play at the Rep called Eurydice, which was an amazing production and I am so proud to have been a part of it. My friend Linda saw the show and in turn has been inspired to sketch and blog about one of the central themes of the play which is messages from beyond the grave.
And here I will quote from her blog because she describes the idea better than I can: "Before Eurydice dies the first time, her dead father writes letters of advice and love to her from the underworld, and sends them up into the world of the living, though she doesn't see them. Later Orpheus sends her letters of music of despair from above, stuffing them into the ground. "I'll give this letter to a worm. I hope he finds you." The letters in the play manifest in the world they were sent to on actual sheets of paper. But it got me thinking. What if all these synchronicities, these funny coincidences that feel so much like personal correspondence, were actually messages from my lost loves? My grandfathers? My grandmothers? My friends? My father?"
As it turns out Lisey's Story is also about messages from beyond the grave. And I thought, (In keeping with synchronicity) I have to read this book right now when it's relevant to my immediate artistic life. So off I went to Borders with a 40% off coupon and a week later here we are.
Lisey's Story is a portrait of a marriage, and the grief one feels when one partner has died and the other must go on. Instead of using messenger worms Scott Landon has left a scavenger hunt (a bool) for Lisey to remember him by so she can move through her grief in stages, and as in all King novels no one can be just left alone to do what needs doing. In Lisey's case it's dealing with her sister's depression and psychotic break and dealing with a psycho who wants her dead husbands manuscripts. Interestingly as we see her look back on her 25 year marriage she has not only been the good woman behind her successful man, but she has also been his salvation. We come to find that while she saved Scott on numerous occasion he pays his due by saving her from beyond his death and letting her know that she was the one secret to his success and he knew it and appreciated it. The second secret is a place called Boo'ya Moon. An alternate reality where Scott could go to escape his troubled childhood, recover from his wounds, and find fresh ideas. It contains a 'pool where we all go down to drink, to swim, to catch a little fish from the edge of the shore; it's also the pool where some hardy souls go out in their flimsy wooden boats after the big ones. It is the pool of life, the cup of imagination.'
I am so impressed by the language of this book which is mostly written in the shorthand of Scott and Lisey's marriage, it has lot's of babytalk but it stays the course. I am so impressed by the metaphor of Boo'ya Moon, which we all have seen even if we only visit it at night when we are asleep. I am still astounded by the similarities to Eurydice. A pool of inspiration that hypnotizes in Boo'ya Moon, and the river of forgetfulness in the Underworld. Orpheus and Eurydice are Scott and Lisey, the famous man and the woman behind him. A Nasty Interesting Man tries to seduce Eurydice and a nasty nutcase named Dooley tries to harm Lisey. Even the Chorus of Stones in Eurydice appeared in Boo'ya Moon as the Lotus Eaters, 'Dip yourself in the river!' 'Be Quiet! We want to watch the Hollyhocks." I am floored by the fact that these two different stories are the same yet totally different. Told through specific poetic language, yet again totally different. And they both made me feel sad, but happy to experience something so beautiful. This is what Linda means by synchronicity and I am truly touched by it...

"I will give this letter to a worm, I hope he finds you."

"I will holler you home"

All Hail the Pop of King!

In this week's Entertainment Weekly, Stephen King hails the spoken word in his regular feature "The Pop of King". In addition to his defense of the audio book genre as a whole, he lists his Top 10 favorite audio listens. I have heard a couple but not all of the books on his list, though I trust his judgement. Seriously, Uncle Stevie says: make this mix CD, I made it and loved it. Uncle Stevie: says watch Lost, and now my obsession knows no bounds. Uncle Stevie: says do not read The Historian it's just terrible, and after Garth concurred, I won't even consider it. (Note that Mr. King refers to himself as Uncle Stevie in his articles. This is not to be confused with my actual Uncle Stevie who lives in Massachusetts and is a lovely man with a fantastic Navy tattoo on his forearm that says "Mom". Seriously, he really does. And I doubt he'd like The Historian either.)
Uncle Stevie asked for feedback in the comments section on ew.com and which has inspired my personal Top 10 as follows...
10. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis read by Michael York
9. The Cell by Stephen King read by Campbell Scott
8. The Gunslinger by Stephen King read by George Guidall
7. The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan read by Kate Reading and Michael Kramer
6. Dry by Augusten Burroughs read by the author
5. Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx read by Campbell Scott
4. Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris read by the author
3. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein multi-voice production produced by BBC Radio
2. His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman multi-voiced production produced by BBC Radio
1. Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling read by Jim Dale.

The list above obviously leans towards the fantasy world, what can I say I'm a sucker for escapism. Fantasy and young adult books also lend themselves more to being told out loud. I particularly enjoy the multi-voice productions, and Mr. Dale is so talented he makes you feel like Harry Potter is a multi-voice production. Mr. Jordan's Wheel of Time is such a huge epic that I find I have to listen to parts of it just because 11 books at 700+ pages each book is so overwhelming. I find Campbell Scott is a wonderful reader and extremely diverse, Brokeback and the Cell were completely different performances. The items by the authors are particularly hysterical, no one else could nail the narrative as well as Mr. Sedaris and Mr. Burroughs do with their own respective works. (Interestingly Mr. Frey does NOT read his A Million Little Pieces...hmm...curious.)
And a special award goes to...
The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown read by Paul Michael. Not because it's good but because it's unintentionally funny due to it's reveal of Mr. Brown's writing flaws and Mr. Michael's silly French accents.