I am lucky, I have many things that give me a lift every
day.
Reading…
Whether it is reading a good book or watching a romcom movie
or a sitcom that will take me away from the reality and horrors of our world,
each gives me a sense of peace and happiness. I can bask in the message being
portrayed in that media and lock away my worries for the time it takes me to
read or watch an uplifting book or program.
Writing…
I also write romance. So, writing positive content definitely
gives me a feel-good vibe. Even when getting the couple together at the end may
take a turn for the worst, know that in order to proclaim a book’s place in the
romance genre, a happily-ever-after or a happily-for-now is a requirement. So,
they always have a feel-good component at the end.
Friends…
Another thing that makes me happy is seeing a friend in
person. Yes, these days ZOOM makes it easy to keep up with friends. I also keep
up with many over the phone or through email or other forms of social media but getting together with friends in person is the best! There’s nothing like cradling
a cup of tea, while looking directly into a friend’s face who is sitting across the
table from you. Or slurping down an ice cream cone while walking the boardwalk
with friends. That in-person contact makes a huge difference.
More Writing…
Going to my local weekly writing group grounds me every
week. We each write a piece that takes 5-minutes or less to read out loud. The
writing can be in any genre, which is fun for me, since my “job” is writing
romance, whether a 5-minute romance I want to submit to Woman’s World magazine
or a romance novella or full-length novel that I will eventually publish. Writing
outside of my preferred genre gives me a different prospective on
life, my town, my relationships with family, or any other topics, such as the
environment, recipes I love to cook, etc. It frees up my brain to be creative
in a different way.
What Things Give You a Lift and Make You Feel Happy?
Author
of the Starlight Grille series,
Serenity Harbor Maine novellas, and the Cowboys
of Mineral Springs series, Lowe has also authored short romances for Woman’s World magazine (most recently,
an Easter romance in the April 1, 2024 edition.) The Love Left Behind is
a Hartford Estates, R.I. wedding novella with Book 2 on the way. A
Christmas novel (The Inn at Gooseneck Lane) and novella (Holiday
Hitchhiker – the youngest brother of the Mineral Spring’s ranching family)
were the most recent releases. Look for book 3 of the cowboy’s series, as well
as book 2 of the Hartford Estates series, to be released in 2025.
One of the gifts my family of origin bestowed on me
was how to see the humor in serious situations. Most of them are gone now, but
their lasting gift has stayed with me and I’ve inadvertently passed it along to
my children.
So, when we scattered my stepdad’s ashes on a windy day
and they blew into a family member’s face, my daughter quipped, “Now you get to
wear Richard!” He wasn’t particularly well-liked by that person, so the revulsion
on the ash-wearer’s face was real. The serious folks were horrified, but we
comic-minded folk couldn’t stop quipping the one-liners. Especially my mom, Richard’s
widow. Not from a lack of respect on her part—but as a means of emotional
survival.
Laughter is truly the best medicine. Each time the Reader’s
Digest showed up at our house as a kid, I’d turn to that page to read the
funny stories and witty one-liners. Toss in pop culture like the Carol
Burnett Show, Sonny & Cher, Edith Ann on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In,
and I was a goner. Naturally I evolved into the class clown in school.
My daughter asked me one day, what were the most sins I
confessed as a kid, back in Catholic school? That one was easy. Lies. Ever
since I can remember I told stories of things that happened and embellished
them to sound more dramatic. I wanted that eye-popping, jaw-dropping effect as
I told the story.
But yeah, confession. I had to come clean every Saturday. My
older sisters told me picking my nose was a mortal sin. I figured I was headed
to that thunder-down-under place, with the caves and the ragged clothing and all
that heat.
I told the priest every Saturday how many times I picked
my nose and how sorry I was. Couldn’t figure out what those weird noises were
on the other side of the shady window. Laughter, I figured out later.
Flash forward to adulthood. My husband and I (we’re both Gemini
so there’s four of us in our marriage) always competed with each other in
social situations for who could deliver the wittiest one-liners. We still do it
out of habit and still make each other laugh.
My love of humor and comedy led me into acting on stage
and in film. I gravitated toward Neil Simon, Nora Ephron, and other funny
writers. I had the good fortune to perform in Wendy Wasserman’s Search For
Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, The Female Version of the Odd
Couple, and my favorite role of all: Playing Clairee in our community
theatre production of Steel Magnolias: “The only thing that separates us
from the animals is our ability to accessorize.”
Again, pop culture influenced me: George Lucas had Hans
Solo quipping one-liners during dangerous action scenes in Star Wars. It
breathed a sense of brevity, determination, and courage into those characters,
and I rooted for them all the more. Then along came Mel Brooks with Young
Frankenstein and William Goldman with The Princess Bride. Those are
my go-to movies when I want to really laugh. Another one is Bowfinger,
with Steve Martin. I’m sure you have your favorites. There are so many.
When I auditioned for a part in a film, I chose the scene
in the restaurant from When Harry Met Sally, by Nora Ephron. “I’ll have
what she’s having.” When I finished the scene, the casting director stood and wiped his forehead. “Excuse me while I go take a cold shower.”
I got the part.
When I write novels, I inject humor when possible. In my
upcoming release, Alaska Inferno, the hero and heroine volley one-liners
when the chips are down.
Laughter. We need it several times a day. Not only for physical
exercise, but to relieve stress and to tickle ourselves with endorphins that make
us happy.
When you can’t think of anything funny, pretend you’re Sally
and fake an orgasm out in public or with your husband at the kitchen table (preferably
without children or grandchildren present).
I guarantee you’ll feel better. Especially when you laugh
at everyone else’s reaction.
Find the funny in life’s weird, erratic moments.
Your stomach and heart will thank you for it.
LoLo Paige's action/adventure romantic suspense series Available on Amazon!
This month's blog theme is 'What touches my heart?' and it's a tricky one, because the answer is many things, many people, books, movies, music... There isn't only one answer. There isn't only one thing to feel or to love. This post is dedicated to all the little things that add up to something joyful and touching in our everyday lives.
A quiet sunset
My last little family getaway was to Lakes Entrance, a few hours away from where I live in Melbourne, Australia. One of the highlights of the trip was staying across the road from a lake with a pier, just right for fishing with the kids. Watching the sunset over the lake was so relaxing, it made me want to go for sunset walks more often.
A funny movie
Is there anything better than snort-laughing along to a funny movie? I think not! This week I watched Pitch Perfect, a film about the exploits of competing Acapella singing groups at a university campus. It stars the wonderful Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson (Aussie and funny, yeah!) and is chock full of silliness and great songs. Yes, I was singing along to the Ladies of the 80s songs in the riff-off scene. If you haven't seen it yet, it's great fun.
A great piece of music
I'm remembering the concert I went to last year, sitting in the front row at the Melbourne International Jazz Festival. The great sax player and composer, Branford Marsalis, was on tour all the way from New Orleans. One of the songs he played was an original composition with multiple layers and a few classical bits and pieces thrown in...amazing! His quartet absolutely killed it too.
This YouTube clip of In The Crease is an example of the type of tune, or more like an immersive experience. When you're right up close to musicians in this league, it's emotional and intense. This piece is not quite the same as the show I saw, but I hope you enjoy it.
My kids laughing
Honestly, sometimes my boys behave like little monsters, but other times they are completely adorable and hilarious. Is there anything cuter than kids laughing so hard, they're in hysterics with tears running down their faces? Lately I've been thrilled to see my kids reading funny books to themselves, and then just busting out laughing. Latest #kidlit recommendations are Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, anything by Tom Gates, and of course we're re-reading Harry Potter.
A good book and time to think
The time after everyone else goes to sleep and I read a good book, just because I can and it gives me pleasure. Lately I've enjoyed reading these fabulously fun romantic comedies:
99 Percent Mine by (Aussie) Sally Thorne On The Same Page by (fellow Aussie) Penelope Janu
And a puppy?
Yes, my family have decided unanimously to become a dog family. We already have quite the menagerie, with a cat named Tom Sword, a parrot named Storm, many fish, and eight chickens of various sizes and stages of cluckiness.
My kids adore animals and we thought...why not? It's good for kids to learn about looking after a pet, the responsibility it entails, but also having a new friend to love. This could be an absolutely manic and crazy choice. Will the dog attack the cat? Or vice versa? We shall see.
Please enjoy our first photo of our puppy, coming to live with us in a few more weeks. We're thinking of calling him Archie.
Another little piece of my heart...
All of these things are little pieces that make up a whole lot when added together. What makes your heart fuller, more capable of love, or reminds you to live life to the fullest?
About Cassandra O'Leary
Cassandra O'Leary is a romance, romantic comedy and women's fiction author, communications specialist, avid reader, film and TV fangirl and admirer of pretty, shiny things.
In 2015, Cassandra won the We Heart New Talent contest run by Avon Books/HarperCollins UK. Her debut novel, Girl on a Plane, was published in July 2016. Her indie published novella, Heart Note, was a top 50 bestseller in the Holiday Romance and Humor Fiction categories on Amazon.
Cassandra is a mother of two gorgeous, high-energy mini ninjas and wife to a spunky superhero. Living in Melbourne, Australia, she's also travelled the world. If you want to send her to Italy or Spain on any food or wine tasting 'research' trips, that would be splendiferous. You'll find Cassandra drinking coffee, buying shoes on the internet...and oh yes, writing. Read more at: cassandraolearyauthor.com
Hi everyone! I am Young Adult and Middle Grade author Barbara Binns, writer of contemporary and realistic fiction for adolescents and teens. As my tagline says, I write Stories of Real Boys Growing Into Real Men - and the people who love them.
This month's topic involves happiness.
Maybe money “can’t buy me love” as the old Beatles song said, but it can help, at least according to the recently released movie The Upside.
It’s part buddy picture, part drama, the kind of thing Hollywood knows how to do well. Although, who knew faking a seizure could be so much fun?
I am not a professional movie critic, but I will give this English Language remake of the 2011 French film, Intouchables, four stars. (The original gets 5.)
The Upside is the somewhat-true story of a wealthy white man turned quadriplegic after a hang-gliding accident. He hires a street-wise Black man as his 24/7 "life auxiliary." Although Dell, played by Kevin Hart, had no expectation of actually getting the job or what it entailed, once he does they form a fun-to-watch duo. Each gains something greater than money from their relationship.
Not that money isn’t involved, Phillip is a millionaire residing in a New York penthouse. Dell learns to change a catheter and that even quads can have an erection. He also learns to appreciate opera and classical music. Just don’t ask him to sit through either in silence.
In return, Phillip gets exposed to music from groups like Earth, Wind & Fire, and “modern art” as created by Dell. Mostly, both men learn to laugh at their troubles and expand their worlds, in spite of mobility issues. PS, I gained a new word, epistolary. (You’ll have to see the movie to hear that one used in a sentence.)
The major disappointment was watching Kevin Hart portray a black stereotype, the
irresponsible husband/father. That Hollywood-esque change to the original story of a man helping his nephew, was unnecessary and diminished the story in my opinion.
There is no miracle cure at the end of either The Upside or Intouchables. Sorry if you consider that information a spoiler. The story is not about a medical miracle. Instead, its old-fashioned human resilience and the power of friendship. The men in both movies learn to laugh through their troubles. Best of all, we laugh with the disabled characters, not at them.
It helps that the two main characters are based on real people, Philippe Pozzo di Borgo and his caretaker and now friend Abdel Sellou. In fact, Philippe served as an adviser on the set of The Intouchables adding an #ownvoices vibe to the result. The two men who remain friends to this day, long after the end of
their employee/employer relationship.
Both movies show us that a
full and satisfying life can be found, even after a crippling injury.
That's a better lesson than the
"better dead than disabled" attitude of Will, the suicidal main
character in the 2016 movie Me Before You. That story one posits that
suicide is a preferable alternative to life as a cripple. The story has
been called a "breathtaking romance," that manipulates audience
heartstrings until many agree with Will's decision to end his own life
and that he is indeed better off dead than crippled. This even though he
has money, a loving family who wants him alive, a
caretaker who really cares about his well-being, the potential for new
adventures, and a
girlfriend who truly loves him.
Looking at the differences between Will and
Phillip, I see a question of maturity versus youth. One knows the value of embracing life, the other only how to make a grand gesture, too much like the young Romeo. Or maybe its just that having a friend is more conducive to a good life than having a love interest.
Leave a comment to tell me what you think, romance writers?
Recently, I participated in one of the interesting
Roundtables sponsored by International Thriller Writers organization. The
question up for discussion asked if holidays offer good backgrounds for
thriller novels. My answer was “yes,” and I’ll give the same answer for romance
novels.
Holidays provide excellent backdrops for novels, because
most of us associate important holidays as well as the time frames that surround
them with certain moods. So if readers associate the Christmas season ideal with
good cheer and family togetherness, authors can use this pre-set expectation as
shorthand in creating the setting for the story. That allows the author to
either defy expectations or play off them for humor.
An example of defying expectations would be having the main
characters and/or the plot be very dark. In the thriller movie genre, Die Hard, uses a Christmas party setting
for terror and violence. The Holiday movie
offers an example of a romantic comedy that features two very depressed heroines
who exchange houses for their holiday vacations to escape the people who are
making them sad.
One of the masters at delivering holiday surprises—and
combining romance with humor—is one of our fellow Romancing the Genres bloggers, Robin Weaver. I highly recommend her holiday novellas to
boost your spirits after a tough day shopping or standing over the stove.
This post is very short, because I have guests and I haven’t
begun my cooking for Thanksgiving. (I’m writing this the Tuesday before
Thanksgiving.) I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
It’s mid-winter here in Melbourne, Australia, and I’m on the
couch, bundled in a blanket watching romantic comedies. So it’s no surprise my
muse has refused to show up and sprinkle her magic on the Fireworks theme my
fellow genre-istas are rocking this month. Even thinking about the night sky is enough to freeze me to the bone!
But lucky for me, lounging in front of the television has proven beneficial - it's given me a blog topic. A number of the films I've watched recently have been based on novels. Some have been good, but not great, while others have flopped completely. This got me thinking...
Can a movie adaptation ever be as good as the book?
It’s a debate that fires up book worms and movie buffs alike—usually
those of us who have a foot planted firmly in each camp. I’m a lifelong reader
and movie-goer. My childhood copy of The Secret Garden is worn and tired from
too much love, and my VHS copy of the 1993 movie adaptation must have been watched
and rewound hundreds of times. I adored them equally.
Each art-form brings something different to the storytelling
experience. Books tantalize my imagination, inviting me to build worlds and
characters in my mind. Movies are like a large fleece blanket in winter, bundling
me up in a warm comforting embrace where I can settle in and enjoy the sensory
experience of watching worlds come alive before my eyes.
Most criticism of movie adaptations come from readers who
have loved the book, then found the film lacking. The characters aren’t what
they imagined. Plot lines have changed. Or some of their favorite scenes or
characters are missing altogether. But that doesn’t necessarily mean a film is
bad. It’s often good enough to stand on
its own, and viewers who haven’t read the book—who go in free of expectation—have
a completely different, positive experience.
We all know of the countless book-to-movie failures, but here are some movies that are often touted by critics as
actually being better than the book (many people wouldn’t even know they’re
an adaptation).
Fight Club –
Author, Chuck Palahniuk loved the film adaptation of his book and even felt
that it managed to draw together plot-lines he’d overlooked.
Jurassic Park - The book was a bestseller, but the
movie won over viewers an action-packed plot, likeable characters and amazing
special effects (for the time).
The Princess Bride
– This one is debatable as the book was also fabulous, but the 1987 movie has
garnered a cult following.
Stand by Me – It’s
hard to improve upon anything Stephen King creates, but the movie expanded upon
the world and characters of his novella and captured the hearts of viewers and is now a popular classic.
Die Hard –
Honestly, did anyone even know this was an adaptation? This classic action movie - also an unlikely Christmas movie favorite - was more of a thriller in the original novel.
The Notebook –
Nicholas Sparks’ books are bestsellers, but the film adaptation of The Notebook
struck a chord with romantics all over the world and has become far more
popular than the novel.
Jaws – By today’s standards, the mechanical
shark may not be too impressive, but audiences were terrified by his fin slicing through water and his rows of giant teeth. And
along with the iconic Duuun dun duuun dun dun dun dun dun dun music, the
movie was able to instill a level of fear the book could never achieve.
We all have novel-to-film adaptations we love, or love to
hate. What are yours?
I've listened sympathetically to friends discuss the difficulties
in dealing with autistic family members. However, my ability to relate to the
challenges of grandparents, parents, and teachers who interact daily with
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) sufferers is limited by my lack of personal
experience. It's hard to understand what we haven't encountered in our own
narrow lives.
Providing insights into
the minds and hearts of people we may not meet in our day-to-day existence is
one of the great gifts of literature and movies. In my case, a 1988 classic
movie, Rain Man, and a 2013 novel, Memoirs of an
Imaginary Friend, have helped me better fathom the triumphs and fears
and joys and frustrations of both autistic individuals and the people who love
and care for them.
What is ASD? The term
groups together a wide range of development disorders. Symptoms typically
include difficulty communicating and interacting with others and a compulsion
to repetitive actions. According to my limited internet research, Asperger's
Syndrome, the diagnosis assigned to Max, the little boy in author Matthew
Dicks' Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend, is now considered a
part of the ASD spectrum.
I loved Dicks' novel
because it helped me imagine what it would be like to BE autistic and
"different" from other children. Budo, Max's imaginary friend, tells
the story. Budo loves Max with all his heart and tries to protect him from the
raft of dangers that can befall an eight-year-old who attracts the attention of
class bullies.
I might never have
picked up this novel if it weren’t for my book club, which (thank you) forces
me out of my mystery and romantic suspense comfort zone. However, I heartily
recommend this adventure for its lively point-of-view, intriguing characters,
and solid plot.
If you haven’t seen Rain Man, I urge you to track it down on
one of the services that catalog older movie treasures like this one. This film’s
ASD sufferer is a grown man, Raymond Babbitt, played flawlessly by Dustin
Hoffman. Tom Cruise plays Ray’s materialistic younger brother Charlie, who didn’t
know he even had a brother until the senior Babbitt dies.
Both the book and the
movie show us love’s many guises and the value of relationships that can be as
difficult as they are rewarding. Humor is the added ingredient in both works of
art.
If you’ve read the book
or seen the movie, do you agree with my five-star ratings?
Hi everyone! I am YA author B A Binns , writer of contemporary and realistic fiction for teens. My tagline tells you what I am about - Stories of Real Boys Growing Into Real Men - and the people who love them.
I saw the movie Hidden Figures this past weekend, and it affected me so much I had to rush out and get the book it is based on. There are not a lot of movies that can do that to me, and I am also making it the subject of this months post. I'll warn you now I include some spoilers from the movie below. If you
want to wait and see the movie first before you read the post, I don't mind. (Big
spoiler - John Glenn does land safely!)
I attended college in the 1960's, majoring in Biochemistry. That makes me old enough to remember the space race and John Glenn’s historic orbit around the Earth. It should also make me remember the team of skilled mathematicians that made both the flight, and his successful return to Earth, possible. But I never knew about the Colored Computers, as they were called. They were a group of black women skilled in higher math who worked for the space agency in the days when IBM computing machines were still clunky, difficult to program, and not very trustworthy. I sat before a TV set and watched John Glenn’s flight without knowing that women who looked like were ever involved in that or other space mission.
The story of those Colored Computers is documented in the book, Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly, and now in the movie of the same name.
Female mathematicians were hired as "human computers" because men
viewed calculating the numbers, including launch and landings for
astronauts, as secretarial work and didn't want the job. There was also concern that men might think close was good enough and women would be more exacting. The Colored Computers were held to a higher standard than their white counterparts and had to have college degrees to get hired. The real Katherine Johnson, who is the focal point of the movie, was a math prodigy who graduated high school at fourteen, and college at 18, an obtained an advanced degree at 20. She then went on to teach mathematics. She taught, did research, married, raised three
kids, and was hired by the space agency where her name is still spoken of in
reverent terms, even though her story has only become known outside the
agency recently.
Since this is the Romancing the Genres blog, I will tell you this movie includes a romance. Ace mathematician Katherine Johnson meets her future second husband early on. In true romance tradition, he bumbles their initial “cute meet,” expressing astonishment that a woman could be involved in as mentally taxing as higher mathematics. Katherine gives him the wise advice to quit before he digs his hole even deeper.
Fortunately, her future husband doesn’t give up wooing her, and in the end gets down on his knee and proposes in front of her three daughters and the mother-in-law that comes as part of the package deal. They were together over fifty years, a true HEA.
The
three actresses involved, Taraji P. Henson (Katherine Johnson), Janelle Monáe (Mary Jackson), and
Octavia Spencer (Dorothy Vaughan) have said
they first thought the script was historical fiction. When she realized
this was about real people, Taraji P. Henson immediately insisted on meeting with
Katherine Johnson, the only one of the three still living.
Many parts of this book and movie will move every woman who ever
confronted a glass ceiling.
In fact, one scene resonates with every woman who ever lived. We have
all had that experience where we needed a bathroom, NOW. Guys have it
easy. The line to their bathroom is minuscule (if there even is a line)
and they can casually saunter over to a bush or the corner of a building
if need be. We get in line and hope we can hold out until we make it to
the front. So we all feel for Katherine as she races a half mile in high heels to get to the only building in the compound with a bathroom she is
allowed to use. Pharrell Williams music, Runnin', is he soundtrack to her long trek while struggling to keep herself under control until she arrives.
In addition to Katherine Johnson, two other Colored Computers have prominent roles in the movie. Mary Jackson, who takes on the courts and her husband to become the first African American female engineer for the space agency, and Dorothy Vaughan who went from being de facto supervisor of the Colored Computers to the first African American to become a head of personnel after first teaching herself FORTRAN and then the IBM manuals ( a real feat, I used to code in FORTRAN and got headaches from those monstrosities called manuals). She sees the coming of mainframe computers as the end of the need for her coworkers, so she teaches her skills to the other Colored Computers, enabling them all to assume new jobs when programmers were needed.
You can watch the movie trailer below:
As I watched this movie I saw many parallels with my own life. When Mary Jackson walked into an engineering
classroom filled with only white men and took her seat in the front row, I
remembered having the exact same experience. As a Biochemistry major in the 1960's and 70's, I found myself in several higher
math classes where I too was both the only black and the only woman in the room. Like Mary, I sat in the front row, knowing that was a place where I could ignore
the eyes behind me.
This movie shows us how hard these unsung heroes worked, and how much they cared about their work and their country. The overall message of this story, if we put our differences aside we can all move forward. Everyone who sees this movie can respond to the sight of people gathering around TV screens in store windows to watch John Glenn’s landing. Octavia
Spencer is in one group of people watching all that she worked for come to fruition. That racially mixed group of people, men and women, young and old, stand united, all praying for
the same thing, his safe return.
In the end, Katherine Johnson's talent and sheer genius couldn't be ignored, not even by
coworkers who blanch at the idea of her pouring a cup of coffee from
the same coffee pot they use. In 2015, Katherine, the “computer” that John Glenn trusted to verify the numbers produced by the IBM mainframe before he set off on his historic flight, was given the nations highest civilian honor, the National Medal of Freedom. At ninety-eight, she remains modest, saying, she was simply doing her job to get the USA into space.
In the film she walks into a new job in office filled with white men in short sleeved shirts, while she was forced to adhere to a dress code that included high heels, high necklines and no jewelry except pearls (which she did not get paid enough to own). In order to gain the information she needed to do her job she battles her way into meetings where she was the first African American and the first woman to be allowed entry. Again, this resonated with me, having gone through the exact same things when I was promoted to manager at my job in the 1990's. I learned to walk into meetings where I was the only one of my kind and sit up front, just as I did in my math classes.
If you haven't seen this movie yet, go for it. And if you want more about Katherine Johnson who still lives and is an advocate for girls in STEM, you can watch an in-depth interview below done in 2011, where she tells her own story of her mathematical ability and how she came to work at NASA.
.
I'm totally going off (manu)script here. Our theme this month is
supposed to be favorite holiday romance books, but I have to confess I don't
have one. I don't think I have ever even read a holiday-based romance novel.
But holiday FILMS are another matter entirely. So I snuck off to
Amazon to see if my favorite romantic Christmas movies are available as books.
Of course #1 is It's a
Wonderful Life. There is no need to tout that film's virtues, but it wasn't
ever a book. A Christmas Story isn't
a romance. White Christmas is a
romance, but it's not a book. And Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol has a couple of romantic subplots, but they
aren't the point of that story. The
Holiday was, again, not a book.
Hmm. Well... One of my adult daughters told me her favorite
Christmas movie is now Love Actually.
Really? The one with the porn star
stand-ins?
Not to brag, but my daughter is pretty sharp. And she was an
English major in college. So I rented the film and re-watched it a couple years
ago. I was stunned. I cried through the whole dang film! So many poignant
romances all neatly packaged into one interwoven storyline? Brilliantly done!
Next question: was it ever a book? Um. Sort of.
If you go by the terminology that a script is called a book, as in
actors are asked to memorize their lines and get "off book" during
rehearsals, then yes. Love Actually
is that kind of book. And it's a romance. It's a dozen romances. So I looked up
the writer.
Okay. I'm
totally cheating here. I own that. But if you have never seen the film, or saw
it years back and were put off by a couple of the storylines, I urge you to
watch it again. Yes, there are half-nude actors standing in for a porn film.
But listen to their dialog - it's priceless. Especially the naked hero's
comment after asking his set-mate on a date: "That was the most embarrassing thing I've ever done."
A recent
widower calls his stepson "Ye wee motherless bastard" and we know the
bond between them is growing stronger.
And there is
the young man who, after having no success with women in England, steps into an unbelievable fantasy in Wisconsin. Compared to
some of the other, heavier stories it's a relief to just giggle at this one.
And near the
end when you hear the line "Just in cases," think of me. I'll be
going on my fourth Kleenex by then.
So what does
this have to do with writing? Everything. This screenplay, er, book, gives us an excellent example of
how we can impart true emotion without dumping tons of back story explanations
on the reader. It's lean. It's precise. We learn exactly what we need to know
as we go along. Nothing more. And nothing less. And the way the different
stories are seamless connected is a sign of genius. We should all aspire to
write that well.
The course of true
love never did run smooth ~ William Shakespeare
This
statement by William Shakespeare is so true. In songs, especially country
western, in theater, in movies, on T.V. and in books, love never runs smoothly.
And would we want it to?
I think not.
If it ran smoothly, boy would meet girl, and it would be a straight shot to boy
and girl live happily ever after. There would be no journey, nothing to root
for, we’d probably turn off the TV, walk out of the theater (because it would
be a really short play), or throw the book at the wall.
Why would we
want to read, listen or watch something like that? We wouldn’t. The more
conflict and obstacles our hero and heroine have to overcome the sweeter the
reward of their happily ever after for the audience.
Shakespeare
in his wisdom new this inherently and used it wisely in his works.
Now if you’re
talking REAL life, we probably do want our relationships to run smoothly. But
they don’t always, and we learn from each experience, disagreement or argument.
I think there would be something WRONG with a relationship where there was no
conflict at all. The give and take in a relationship is how we learn to
compromise, and gains respect toward our partners.
http://www.123rf.com/profile_kiuikson
Can you
think of a movie, TV show or book where the romance was obstacle free?
I love “Sleepless
in Seattle”, “Fifty 1st dates”, “When Harry Met Sally”, and “Enough
Said” just to name a few. All these movies had conflict or obstacles to overcome.
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