Posts Tagged "Waiting on Weds"
Waiting on Weds: Terra Elan McVoy’s THE SUMMER OF FIRSTS AND LASTS
Today I’m blogging over at the YA Contemps, hosting authoress extraordinaire Terra Elan McVoy. We’re celebrating her latest release, The Summer of Firsts and Lasts.
Doesn’t that cover just make you drool? Perfect for summer. McVoy talks about that mainstay of all great YA fiction, smooching.
Here’s a taste:
There are many things that are important about summer: going on vacation, heading off to camp, creating a giant pile of books to read, eating ice cream every day, and . . . kissing.
Or maybe it’s just me that’s obsessed with kissing. My second novel, After the Kiss, for example, is about one kiss that changes three people’s lives irrevocably. And my most recent book, The Summer of Firsts and Lasts, has got one kiss that goes incredibly right, and another one that, well, doesn’t. Even my first novel, Pure—though it’s mostly about not kissing until you’re married—has at least one remarkable kiss in it.
But I think it’s just the approach of summer in general that makes me think about this legendary lippage luxury. It was summertime when I got the first kiss of my life, after all, and then summer again when I got one of the best ones.
Intrigued yet? Head on over to The Contemps and read the rest of the story – and then share your own legends of liplock – good OR bad! Sometimes it’s a-okay to kiss and tell!
(CANNES-ed Goods) Waiting on Wednesday: RETURN, the movie!
Because, of course, that’s what you’re eagerly awaiting this fine Wednesday, amiright? Me, too!
Mr. N departed for Cannes yesterday, and I’ll be joining him as of Friday, just in time for the weekend premiere of Return! Whatever will I wear?!
I’ve seen a very early cut of the film, and was even lucky enough to spend a day behind the scenes, watching some filming, but there’s nothing quite like the first time the movie is projected out there, for public consumption.
(It’s also fun to have a chance to get dressed up and play at being a Hollywood celebutante, even for just a night.)
Here’s a bit about the movie:
Back from a tour of duty, Kelli can’t wait to rejoin her old life in the rust belt town she’s always lived in. She’s ready to experience the old feelings of everyday life- the carpet under her bare feet, a cold beer in front of the television, the smell of her baby’s head. Slowly, though, she realizes that her everyday life doesn’t resemble the one she left. Struggling to find her place in her family and the rust-belt town she no longer recognizes, what can she reclaim of her share of the way of life she’s been fighting to protect?
If you don’t know Linda Cardellini, you’re in for a treat. The woman can communicate about fifty different emotions with the slightest twitch of her eyebrow.
(Also? If you don’t know Linda, then you must not know “Freaks and Geeks,” which is a wild oversight that I urge you to remedy, pronto.)
The film also stars heavyweights Michael Shannon, and John Slattery (in a supporting role wildly against his “Mad Men” type). All in all, a stellar cast, a thoughtful premise, and a nuanced, poignant script.
Lest you think that I’m biased, here’s a link to indiewire magazine’s “Top 20 Films We Can’t Wait to See in Cannes.”
Big props to the cast and crew of of the flick — see you on the Riviera, shortly!
Waiting on Wednesday (‘family’-style, again)
Still waiting on your copy? How about a teaser? A nice review for family in the April issue of Bayviews from the Association of Children’s Librarians of Northern California:
Teenage Melissa Jensen runs away to San Francisco to escape her relentlessly predatory “uncle” and her hapless mother. A dark stranger named Henry finds her curled up on a bench and convinces her after several days of sex and drugs in his van that he can be her father, her family, her “everything.” He brings her to a ranch in Southern California where he reigns as leader of a group of young men and women who unques tioningly accept his life view and do his bidding. Melissa is particularly struck by the lack of boundaries at this communal paradise—there is a feeling of limitlessness and vast grandios ity. Melissa tells her story in verse, and her voice is spacey and chilling. She is describing the Charles Manson saga to the tee, and the reader dreads the inevitable gruesome ending. Finally, however, Melissa finds she has personhood separate from the others. Though horrific and tragic, teens may be fascinated by a tale based on a sensational murder that uniquely fit its time and place.
Well, shucks!
Release Week Rally: Waiting on Weds, ‘family’-style!
Thanks SO MUCH to everyone who helped spread the word and/or good vibes for launch day yesterday! A better book birthday, I can’t recall.
With any luck, you’ve already placed your order for a copy (or seven!) of the book, but on the off chance that it hasn’t yet arrived, today’s Waiting on Wednesday is designed to help tide you over! (No pun intended, for those of you familiar with the water metaphors in the story.)
Here are two excerpts from the book:
*courtesy of the lovely people at figment.com,
*and via the delightful folks at SmartPop.
Enjoy!
Waiting on Wednesday: E. Lockhart & Rock the Drop
See what I did there?
Yeah, at the risk of being a broken record, this week is all about Rock the Drop.
Now that ALA’s list of most frequently-banned books has been released, why not consider dropping a BANNED book tomorrow? Way to make two times the statement about teen lit, and literacy!
Also, note that the winner of “most creative ‘drop’” will receive a complete set of Ruby Oliver books by E. Lockhart, the most recent of which, Real Live Boyfriends
I hope you’re as excited about Rock the Drop as I am! In the meantime, here’s some footage of myself and Ms. Jones being VERY stealth as we pulled off last year’s Drop: