Links Galore
May 10, 2013 § Leave a Comment
Lots of cool links this week:
- Love the idea for the Young Authors Give Back tour.
- Hipster Shakespeare and other historical figures re-imagined as contemporary figures.
- An Arrested Development-Great Gatsby mashup is the best thing ever.
- Also the best thing ever: Maureen Johnson’s call for book cover gender-flips.
- Celebrate National Short Story Month by submitting to Flavorwire’s short fiction contest.
- Great piece by Erika Dreifus on being a Jewish writer vs. writing Jewish fiction.
- I need to keep these suggestions for preparing for author interviews and Q&As on file.
- Attention teen wrtiers and storytellers! NPR wants to hear your stories.
- This genre reveal party idea is hilarious, but I do kind of want cake for real now.
- Pretty sure I need this tote.
- Obviously I like books featuring mother-child relationships.
Links Galore
April 29, 2013 § Leave a Comment
Got a case of the Mondays? These links will help you power through:
- I still want to run away to the Met. I could have learned a lot from the experience.
- I totally had/have some of these 90s book covers.
- Reason #221 why children’s books rock: read-alouds stay with the whole family.
- Need some inspiration for your novel opening? Check out these awesome opening lines from YA favorites.
- I love the “take on a persona” tip for readings.
- This Workshop-to-English translation is far too accurate.
- Let’s face it–we all want to be a flaneur.
- What’s the best and worst writing advice you’ve ever received?
- We’re all responsible for bringing more diversity to YA.
- No matter what the movie is like, I’m already digging the Gatsby soundtrack.
Another YA-Inspired Movie to Love: Tiger Eyes
April 25, 2013 § 1 Comment
Judy Blume was the queen of YA before YA was even a thing. So it probably shouldn’t be a surprise that this trailer for Tiger Eyes looks awesome. Blume co-wrote the script with her son, who’s also directing, so it seems like the project is in good hands.
Tiger Eyes – Trailer from Tashmoo Productions on Vimeo.
Apparently the movie opens nationally in early June, but so far I can’t find more info on specific release locations. Very much hoping that it’ll be playing in New England!
(via Jezebel)
An Excuse to Post About To Kill a Mockingbird and Gregory Peck
April 5, 2013 § 1 Comment
Happy birthday to Gregory Peck, all-around cool guy and the man who brought Atticus Finch to the screen with so much sensitivity and thoughtfulness.
To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my favorite books and movies. (Just hearing the score to the film gets me teary.) It’s a beautiful example of how an amazing text can be brought to life on the screen. So often we argue about whether a book is better than a movie. Why can’t we love both for different reasons?
Oddly enough, I was thinking about Gregory Peck last night and came across this video, in which Peck talks briefly about filming To Kill a Mockingbird with Harper Lee on set:
So cute! I would have freaking loved to be on that set. And while we’re at it, here are Atticus Finch’s closing arguments:
And after the trial:
Now I’m going to be all emotional thinking about To Kill a Mockingbird. May we all endeavor to be like Atticus Finch.
The Wise Man Knows Himself to Be a Fool
April 1, 2013 § Leave a Comment
Happy April Fool’s Day! I don’t like pranks so much, but I love Shakespeare’s fools. More than just a jester, these fools are witty and see beyond the status quo of the play’s world. For example, in this scene from Twelfth Night, Feste (my favorite fool!) asks Olivia why she mourns for her brother:
I love how Feste can address Olivia’s feelings of grief here while reminding her that it’s unhealthy to wallow in mourning.
Another cool part about the fool? They provide musical entertainment! This song is from the end of Twelfth Night. Spoiler alert, guys–happy endings (almost) all around:
So if you’re feeling especially foolish, check out Twelfth Night or another of Shakespeare’s plays featuring a fool.
And if pranks are your thing, there’s a great list of YA prankster books over at the Hub.
Much Ado About Everything I Love
March 7, 2013 § 3 Comments
Joss. Whedon.
William. Shakespeare.
All the feelings!!! Here’s the trailer for Joss Whedon’s adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing, starring people you love:
So…can we see it? Now? Please?
(H/T bookshelves of doom)
Stay Gold, Coppola
March 6, 2013 § 1 Comment
In middle school, one of my favorite books was The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. I must have read it twenty times. Then I found a copy of the VHS and watched that repeatedly, too. There’s a lot of argument pitting books against their movie versions, and for The Outsiders I loved both. So it was awesome to see today’s Letters of Note, in which a school librarian and her students helped bring The Outsiders to Francis Ford Coppola, who ultimately directed the film. The first letter:
Click through to see the full exchange. It’s really heartwarming to see how one librarian aide’s letter helped create a fantastic movie. And it’s a great lesson in never doubting that your voice can make a difference. Maybe it won’t come to anything–but maybe it will.
(image via Letters of Note)
The Book Thief–Coming to a Theater Near You (I Hope!)
February 5, 2013 § 4 Comments
There’s a Book Thief movie in the works? And it’s going to star Geoffrey Rush as Hans Hubermann? So. Freaking. Excited.
Emily Watson (no, not Emma Watson, I had to read that twice) is slated to play Rosa Hubermann and Sophie Nelisse is Liesel. I haven’t seen either of them in films before, but I’m very hopeful for this cast.
The Book Thief is one of the perfect recommendations for someone who looks down on YA as a genre. I hope a movie version captures the complexity of the novel and introduces it to a wider audience. Also, really curious to see how they handle Death’s voice throughout.
(via School Library Journal)
Christmas with the Charleses: Holidays for Fictional Characters
December 27, 2012 § 1 Comment
In case you’re feeling a little sick of the Christmas spirit at this point, Nora Charles from The Thin Man has your back:
I always forget that The Thin Man set around Christmas because it’s not a “Christmas” movie. I have to say, I really enjoy when holidays pop up in books and movies that aren’t about that particular holiday. It’s a chance to get your characters in a different setting or pressured in different ways. For example, I like that John Green’s Looking for Alaska includes a Thanksgiving scene, which gets the main characters away from boarding school and into the home of one character.
It’s also a nice reminder that your characters live in the same world we experience. A character doesn’t have to live in a Lifetime Christmas movie to share the holidays with their friends/family, just like we might not have the most dramatic/exciting holiday ever but still have meaningful experiences on that day. (Similarly, I like when characters get sick.)
Have you used holiday scenes in your novels?
Links Galore
December 14, 2012 § 1 Comment
A few more links to wrap up the week:
- Writers talk about why Joss Whedon is awesome; I feel all the feelings.
- Win an Apocalypsies book of your choice!
- A new, early work by Hans Christian Andersen found.
- Now I kind of want a sitcom about unlikely buddies Walt Whitman and Bram Stoker.
- Read the book and watch the movie.
- E.B. White’s Maine warms my heart.
- 2012 “best of” lists by the numbers–part 1 and part 2.
- If you have people coming over this holiday season, be inspired by some literary party hosts.
