First of all, I have another review, interview, and prize opportunity going on at Bookreporter.com! I knew about the interview, obviously, but I had no idea they’d include a review of the book:
SECRET SOCIETY GIRL is Peterfreund’s titillating debut entry in a new series featuring plucky heroine Amy Haskel, one of the select few with the dubious distinction of being among the first females “tapped” for Rose & Grave. The author, a recent Ivy League Grad herself (Yale 2001), knows the world of which she writes and every page rings with an authenticity that will have readers immediately recalling their own giddy collegiate romances, fast friendships and late-night cram sessions.
And I’m completely blown away by the prize opp! I wonder if I’m allowed to enter? Someone over there really knows this book, because here’s what they have as a prize in their giveaway:
Our beach bag celebrates fun in the sun, college style, with six shot glasses, mini bottles of Absolut Vodka (both original and Mandarin Orange) gumdrops for your sugar buzz, an orange and blue striped beach towel, a one-pound bag of Starbucks coffee beans and a colorful coffee mug, and the ultimate college necessity — a $20 gift certificate to Pizza Hut, as well as a copy of the book, all in an orange-and-pink–colored beach tote.
Those of you who have read the book know what perfect choices those are! Orange vodka! Gumdrops! Whee! So head on over to the site and enter. (You have to answer a question. Posting here does not enter you into this particular contest, and yes, I’m mailing out the prizes for the contests that were on this blog.)
Right now, I’m packing for my trip to the RWA National Conference in Atlanta. I’m leaving tomorrow and won’t be home until next Tuesday, after which, it’s a quick turnaround and then off to Manhattan for the Secret Society Girl party on August 3rd. And then, down to Florida for my hometown signing and party on August 11th. And then, poof goes that coach and we all have pumpkin pie.
Seriously, though, I know my posts for the last few days have been all glamor and pomegranate martinis, but I promise you, my life is generally more like me on the couch typing into my computer, me on the floor in front of my plotting board, trying to decide where I dropped a certain storyline near page 105, me on the Metro, scribbling into a spiral notebook, or me stuck in summer Beltway traffic, deciding that all the dialogue in chapter twelve needs to be overhauled.
In other words: grind. Sequels do not write themselves, and judging from some of the mail I’ve been receiving, people actually do want the sequel, and they want it now, and since they have to wait for next summer can I just give them a little hint maybe please please please about the fate of:
1) Brandon
2) Malcolm
3) George
So I work, work I do. Um, excpet for sometimes I take a little time off. Like this weekend, I went to go see Labyrinth at midnight on the big screen, and wow, is it ever a different movie than it was when I was eight. And wow, David Bowie’s outfits are…not hiding much, to everyone’s enjoyment. Robin Brande is discussing The Princess Bride over at her blog, and of course, we all need to compare it to the other big fantasy movies we enjoyed as children. Like Labyrinth. No one has, yet, brought up The Neverending Story, but this may be because unlike the former examples, there isn’t as much overtly adult material in the latter. I don’t know though. I haven’t seen it of late. My favorite of the group is definitely PB, which I basically have memorized, and I love the book, too. I’ve been known to give copies to unsuspecting mortals who haven’t yet tasted its wonder (right, Julie?). I love every frame of that film. I think, in general, it has aged so much better than Labyrinth. (Sailor Boy, btw, warns me not to go out and rewatch NS, or it may “ruin my childhood memories.” However, I must say that seeing David Bowie has NOT ruined any of my memories about Labyrinth. I now have two very distinct memories, each which shall be cherished for their own purpose.)
I also started to watch Dirty Dancing, of which I own the Collector’s Edition. I was inspired by Colleen Gleason’s post on the topic last week, and remembered I hadn’t seen it in quite some time. I turned it off to watch Wedding Crashers, which, as it turns out, was a mistake. Ugh. I love Vince Vaughn; I love Owen Wilson; I love Christopher Walken; I haven’t seen that Rachel McAdams chick in much but I really did love her in Mean Girls; and I loved the concept. What happened? Something didn’t quite gel in that film. Maybe there was too much humidity in the meringue. I did have a few laughs, especially in the beginning, but in general, it didn’t work for me at all.
(Caution: Spoilers ahead.)
I’m trying to figure out why that is, because I love a good comedy as much as the next gal. I can’t decide if it tried to get too serious or serious in the wrong way or where I got turned off. I think it was at the point where the seventeenth member of the family hit on the protagonist. Or maybe when they threw all the sense out of the building and made out like the random asshole villain could magically figure out from a couple of fake names not only who the guys really were, but their Wedding Crasher M.O. and also why they did it? Or when the protags, who were shown at the beginning of the film working for the same company, suddenly never ever saw each other again? Did Owen quit his job? Or how they completely forgot about all the issues that the family has with Vaughn’s character (the accusations that he’d molested the son, all the other people in the house they’d supposedly seduced…)
Or maybe it’s something far more simple than that. Because I think I’ve about had enough with the old Hollywood staple of:
1) the in-front-of-family dinner table engagement announcement without prior engagement. This always happens in movies when the man is a Gaston type so ingratiated with the family and oblivious to the girl’s needs that he seeks to flatter his own ego by announcing that they’re going to get married in front of the girl’s entire extended family without regard to her feelings or to the fact that he hasn’t even asked her.
2) the girls that let these idiots push them around, even though they’d previously been shown to be upstanding, free-thinking, sassy types. Double points for subsequent scenes of engagement celebrations where girl looks absolutely miserable but for some reason keeps on with the pretense she’s going to marry this clod. Triple word score if she realizes she doesn’t want to go through with it only after they’ve zipped her into that white dress.
No more runaway bride scenarios, please! Whole books are based on the premise that it’s tough to walk away from a wedding underway (Emily Giffin’s masterful Something Borrowed is one), and I need to see that level of commitment to the plot point before I’ll buy it. How many romantic comedies have used this idea? And, not to be sexist, it annoys me when men pull the same crap (cf. the Cameron Diaz flick with Christina Applegate and the one with Julia Stiles, neither of which have names I can recall, both of which have ridiculous night-before-the-wedding premises). It was silly when Carla Gugino succumbed to it in the Pauly Shore vehicle Son-in-Law, and it hasn’t gotten any better with age. I think that may be why I like movies like My Best Friend’s Wedding, where it was revealed how patently ridiculous the main character’s actions were. The couple in question were in love and going to get married. Too late to do anything about it, chica.
Ahem. End rant. I’m going to go watch While You Were Sleeping, which might be the only film since Philadelphia Story where I can stomach a mid-aisle change of heart. The former because no one, including Peter, really wants Lucy to marry him in that scene (plus, she gives incredibly cogent reasons for agreeing to the match, which are believable and ultimately sympathetic) and the latter because, well, everyone knows she was really in love with Cary Grant all along and they all, Jimmy Stewart and the other guy, were fooling themselves that she and Grant weren’t going to sail away together on the True Love at the end.
July 24th, 2006 at 4:14 am
That beach bag rocks. Congrats on the great review.
I hated Wedding Crashers. Everyone I know loved it. It had potential, as you said, but seriously fell short. I had some problems with Old School too, which definitely had its moments but fell apart during the second half. Maybe my expectations were too high?
July 24th, 2006 at 6:52 am
I just watched Wedding Crashers two weeks ago. Zzzzz. I thought it was awful. I totally didn’t “get” what everyone loved about it. And I didn’t really find any of the characters likeable, except maybe Christopher Walken. It’s a problem when you don’t like the characters you’re supposed to be rooting for.
Have fun at Nationals!
July 24th, 2006 at 7:02 am
David Bowie rocks my world. I have a special playlist for him on my iPod. His voice is so damn sexy.
My husband was flipping through channels this weekend and caught the end credits for Cool World. I’d forgot all about that movie and the song. Not Bowie’s best. But man, what a voice.
July 24th, 2006 at 7:30 am
OLD SCHOOL is a brilliant movie! ::BG:: And I guess I expected WEDDING CRASHERS to be of the same vein. I know what my problem with the movie was…
{{{{POTENTIAL SPOILERS}}}}
It started out as a comedy. Hilarious. Seeing them at weddings and what they were willing to go through and how funny all of that was. However, once they got to the “big” wedding, the movie turned from a straight comedy into a romantic comedy. Had it stayed straight comedy for the duration, or started out as a romantic comedy, it might have made more sense.
Also, I’m TOTALLY with you on the part where Sack calls his friends to “check these guys out.” How…? They gave fake names, the friend doesn’t know what they look like, where they’re from…nothing. They’ve never announced to anyone that they’re “professional wedding crashers” and the whole revelation at the house where Sack spills the beans on them was totally unrealistic and unbelievable.
My other problem was Sack attacked Jeremy (Vaughn) twice during the football game and then ganged up on John (Wilson) at the engagement party with his guys hold him while he beat the crap out of him. And at the end of the movie he only got ONE punch in the face? That guy needed his @ss kicked…GOOD.
Rachel McAdams was so wimpy and flimsy and unsure and could she have another look other than the pensive one she wore the whole movie?
Overall, I thought it was fun enough brain candy to watch. I’m glad I didn’t pay full price in the theatre.
= )
July 24th, 2006 at 7:46 am
COngrats on that fab giveaway and great review! Must go check out that blog.
Can’t say as I remember Wedding Crashers enough to comment.
July 24th, 2006 at 9:57 am
Ahhhhh, Princess Bride. AND Philadelphia Story and While You Were Sleeping! You so have my number. I could watch those 3 movies in a row, over and over, for at least a week before getting tired of them. (okay, maybe I’d have to throw The Bishop’s Wife and Shakespeare in Love…oh, and BBC Pride and Prejudice in there too, just to round things out.)
So guess whose book I saw in Hastings in Helena, Montana this weekend? Yep, Secret Society Girl was TOP SHELF face out on the new releases rack. I would’ve taken a picture if my camera had been working. And my copy comes today, hurrah!
Congratulations on the review/giveaway, and the success so far. Has there been any talk of “numbers” yet?
July 24th, 2006 at 10:08 am
That prize giveaway is PHENOMENAL! You must have peed your pants when you saw that!!! Congratulations!
I’m glad to hear you’re watching so many movies lately. Sort of acting like an author whose book just launched last week. Book two? Bah. You deserve a week of indulgence. Then when you get back from RWA you can kick it back into gear and work your little fingers off.
Congrats on all the great things happening with your book, Diana. What a happy time!
(Oh, and thanks for sending people over to my website to talk about The Princess Bride. The more the merrier.)
July 24th, 2006 at 10:48 am
You must be glowing, basking in those great reviews.
I’m not certain on how you’re focusing, Diana, but let me add two “aborted wedding” movies that haven’t been mentioned: “The Wedding Planner” and “The Graduate!”
July 24th, 2006 at 12:34 pm
Hey Diana,
Congrats on another great review!
Seeing your photo, I wanted to ask you…is there a book or tutorial or something about how to use those plot boards? I had some vague idea of starting one, but nothing ever materialized.
I kind of write as I go and then end up shifting, changing, editing, rewriting so it all finally works. I figure there’s gotta be a better way that I can get to work for me.
July 24th, 2006 at 1:42 pm
Alyssa,
http://www.discoveringstorymagic.com
I have the tape and the handout from her two hour workshop from Nationals in 2004.
This is how I was taught to use a plotting board. Each plot element (romance, suspense, etc.) has a different colored post-it. It helps you visually “braid” your plot.
Roxanne St. Claire has a good article on her website about braiding plot elements. I think it is called, “What I learned From Playing Barbies.”
http://www.roxannestclaire.com
Sorry for the long post, Diana. Is your method similiar?
July 24th, 2006 at 2:16 pm
Alyssa — if you google the words “plotting board story,” Diana’s post from Jan. 18 is the first entry that pops up. Go here to read about her plotting board.
On a different note — D, wow! I’ve been remiss in not reading Diana’s Diversions for far too long. Prizes! Parties! Book signings! Things have been active here. Congratulations on the release of SSG. Wish I could have won me some of that pomegranate lip gloss. My copy of SSG has arrived and it’s sitting squarely on top of the TBR pile.
July 24th, 2006 at 3:10 pm
Congrats on another great review! Nice prize pack.
You’re right about Wedding Crashers. That’s the part for me too where I went huh? Too convenient I guess. Its not like they really tripped up (least that I remember). Hopefully Owen’s new movie will be better.
July 24th, 2006 at 3:19 pm
Thank you Heather and Karmela for the storyboard answer/links. Although I didn’t ask the question, it’s been on my mind to do so.
Alyssa, are you on my same wave length? ;o)
July 24th, 2006 at 4:03 pm
Thank you, thank you!
I’m going to try this… One other question…where do you get the storyboard? Office supply store?
Good to know that someone else is on my crooked wavelength, larramie
July 24th, 2006 at 4:26 pm
I don’t watch movies so can’t comment on any of them. Have a great time in Atlanta.
July 24th, 2006 at 4:39 pm
They are called science display boards and can be found at Walmart by the poster boards.
July 24th, 2006 at 7:12 pm
Is anyone familiar with Power Structure? Although well aware that this is far MORE expensive than a science display board and post-it notes, I’ve been wondering…
July 24th, 2006 at 7:35 pm
Where can we get those sweet SSG tank tops?
July 24th, 2006 at 7:51 pm
Yay! My copy of SSG just shipped from Amazon (after being held hostage. *grumbles*) Sadly, it will arrive while I’m gone, but still! I’m excited. *g*
I’m bringing a bookplate to Atlanta for you to sign for me.
July 24th, 2006 at 8:57 pm
For those that have been eyeing up the SSG gear, it can be purchased (yep, including the thongs).
Go to the SSG website (URL is in Diana’s info) and click on the Secrety Society link on the left hand side. It will ask you for the password which you will get if you join the society (that link is below the password box).
Once you get your password and enter it, you’ll be portaled to an extra-special section that includes a link to great SSG gear.
Hope that helps anyone wanting to fill their closets with cool SSG goodies.
July 24th, 2006 at 11:10 pm
Weird – about half the time my posts never show up here. So, forgive me I repeat myself — LOVE the beach bag prize, Diana — vodka, gumdrops . . . they nailed it!
PB is a classic, and I assume you mean the original Dirty Dancing? Love that movie. My daughter is teetering on the edge of old enuf to see it — can’t wait to share it with her.
July 25th, 2006 at 5:27 am
You are so right with #1 on the Wedding Crashers. How can some dude do this without the chick punching him in the face? I’d freak out at any kind of public announcement.
Wow, your storyboarding puts my little wall chart to shame. I need sticky notes!