05/15/12
by Livia Quinn
How often have you been asked this question. “What’s so good about reading?” It’s usually from someone who doesn’t know the joy of reading.
It might have even been a family member or your spouse. My DH will only read if it’s a shoot em up or he’s totally out of options. Can you imagine a life without books?
04/10/12
by Livia Quinn
Last Sunday Cadence and I took in Hunger Games at the movies. I felt guilty for leaving work and thought maybe I should skip the previews. I’m glad I didn’t.! There were two or three upcoming events that caught my attention but I was surprised and immensely pleased to see one movie – Dark Shadows – being remade with some hilarious quirky twists.
Like so many of my friends in high school, I raced home everyday I didn’t have an after school activity to see the ABC soap opera, Dark Shadows starring Jonathan Frid, as Barnabas Collins of Collinsport, Maine and virtual unknown, Alexandra Moltke, as Victoria Winters.
Here are some things you may not know – I didn’t until I did the research for this blog…
03/27/12
by Livia Quinn
There are “favorites” and then there are “keepers”. A bona fide “keeper” to me is one I go back to; a book I have a physical pristine copy of and a “study” copy of on my bookshelf. If I’m forced to move in a hurry, the “keepers” go with. A “keeper” is one of those books I’d like to analyze from a writing standpoint, but I’m sucked in every time.
02/27/12
Welcome to “The Rancher and the Rock Star’s” official release day! After the incredible, heart-warming response my sister and brother Musers (plus so many other friends) gave me last week when Abigail posted my R&RS pubbing story, this seems a little redundant. But, I couldn’t think of a better place to offer up some virtual bubbly and have a virtual ticker tape parade than here, where I’ve been made to feel like part of a really special family of writers. I mean, there has to be a ticker tape parade of some kind for realizing a lifelong dream, right? Read the rest of this entry »
02/21/12
Tuesday at the Theatre – A Requiem for Downton
This week I’m in mourning. Drapes pulled closed. Knocker muffled. A dress of stiff black bombazine. You see, this past Sunday the last episode of the second season of Downton Abbey aired on PBS, and I’m utterly bereft. No more hobnobbing with the Earl of Grantham and his family. No more peeking belowstairs where the butler Mr. Carson steers a taut ship. No more longing looks, tension-filled intrigue, or, let’s face it, what we all lived for—the dry, perfectly uttered wit of Cousin Violet played by Dame Maggie Smith. Read the rest of this entry »
01/24/12
It’s been an unusual movie-watching week for me. Don’t get me wrong. I love movies whether on DVD, TV or in the theatre. Although three movies in a week are a little much, I had a specific purpose (besides entertainment) for watching each one. First up, “The Way we Were.”
01/17/12
One Thousand Books…and Counting
As part of a household cleanup over the holiday, my family and I took a rough count of how many books we all have. The official count was at least 1,002, which included the eight new titles we got for Christmas. Now to be fair, this total includes nearly everything we’ve ever owned (except for numerous books we’ve passed on to friends and relatives). Everything from boxes of the children’s old picture books, to my husband’s books on gardening, beer brewing and restoring Model A Fords, to my vast collection of romance, women’s fiction and young adult titles. And…everything in between. We started the whole project because everyone’s bookshelf was bursting and it was time to pass some of the picture books on to our two young nephews, as well as, donate some to the library. Read the rest of this entry »
12/13/11
When I was growing up waiting for movies like A Charlie Brown Christmas or Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer to be broadcast on network TV was a very big deal. How many of you remember the TV Guide when it was still in black and white? And then came the thick color one, where you could look up all the shows coming during the next month, what channel (like we had so many… NOT!) and what time. We waited and watched, and if something happened to make you miss the movie, it was gone for an entire year. That’s like a decade to a kid.
11/29/11
by Sharon Wray
Last week, my children and I drove home from my mother’s wedding in Savannah, Georgia. It was the third long distance driving trip I’d made in under three weeks, and I was sick of the highway. In less than a month, my family and I attended three weddings on the East Coast. I logged almost two thousand miles on my car from Fairfax, VA, down to Charleston, SC then Savannah, GA, and back up to Bucks County, PA (north of Philadelphia), and back home.
A few days later, after walking through historic Savannah and attending multiple wedding events, we left on a Sunday morning at 5:30 am and headed home. I knew it would take ten hours because I was driving by myself. My husband had left a day early to attend yet another wedding in Annapolis, MD. As soon as I had my coffee and we hit the highway, I put on our current audio book. Since the newest Christopher Paolini book Inheritance (the fourth–and long awaited–book in the Eragon series) had just been released, we’d decided to re-read (in this case re-listen to) the first three books before reading the fourth.
11/22/11
Book Videos-Bane or Beneficial?
by R. R. Smythe
Book Videos. Which team are you? Team Bane or Team Beneficial?
I’m going for beneficial. Actually, I’m a little crazy for them. I hope anxiously for a day when they invade the bookstore with big screens…I imagine publishers paying for them like they now pay for end caps.
Know how larger chains have a computer with search features? Why not upload many, many book videos on the database, (this could be a lesser fee) but still highly effective for visual people such as myself.
I’ve produced videos on the side and find almost as much joy in it as writing itself. Selecting the pictures, the music, writing a script-it is it’s own kind of wonderful.
It is, however, time consuming. So, I decided to scour the web and hand-pick some for you. I haven’t read any of these books, but have to admit the trailers suck you in.
So, settle in with your coffee…or popcorn if you’re reading at night, and enjoy. Oh, and comment which team you are, Bane or Beneficial.
