Sherlock Holmes (wtf)?

Trust Guy Ritchie to make Sherlock Holmes look like a British gangster:



This has killed any dim hopes of mine that this might be a slightly good film.

what do you do when inspiration strikes?

The thing about being a writer is that sometimes it's very inconvenient when inspiration strikes you. I know you can set aside a time to write everyday, but more often than not it seems that an idea finds you when you're not looking. So what do you do? I am fortunate enough that if I'm in bed and I think of something to add to a story, I can usually remember it come morning. But sometimes I lie awake thinking about it for a long time, so I might as well get up and write it down. But if it's a new idea, I find that I have to write it down almost immediately. I've bought tons and tons of notebooks, and I've tried to get into the habit of carrying them around with me. But the other day I had a line that was in perfect iambic pentameter, and nothing to write it on but a paper towel from the bathroom. I think the craziest thing is when I find myself writing a whole plot outline, character sketch, or anything else down while I'm DRIVING. Hey, stoplights afford you enough time to get a few sentences out before you become a danger to yourself or others...

I heart Criterion and I heart Netflix!

I know this matters to probably .5 people on the planet, but I just got an e-mail from the Criterion Collection that they have released Wise Blood on DVD! It's one of the hardest Brad Dourif (when he was younger) movies to find. I was considering checking it out on VHS from the university library, but they make you watch the videos in-house and I just never had time. Oh! Netflix here I come.

Ewan McGregor, Angels and Demons

Because I still can’t believe he has taken a supporting role in the big screen adaptation of Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons, and because I need to cleanse my palate, today I present to you the 4 Fictional Characters Ewan McGregor Has Portrayed in Big Screen Adaptations of Novels That Are Sexier Than a Vatican Official.

4. Frank Churchill in Emma, adapted from the novel by Jane Austen:

Okay, so he’s no Mr. Knightley (or comparable to any other male leads from Austen’s novels) and you can sorta understand why Amy Heckerling turned his character gay in Clueless. I mean, he does gossip more than the girls in this adaptation of one of Austen’s gossipiest novels.

3. Joe Taylor in Young Adam, adapted from the novel by Alexander Trocchi:

Yeah, he’s a reckless womanizer, and his girlfriends sometimes end up dead, but still sexier than a Vatican official. All he does in this movie is seduce, seduce, seduce.

2. Ed Bloom in Big Fish, adapted from the novel by Daniel Wallace

(Picture coming soon)

He's maybe a little too perfect in this movie. A total DILF.

1. Mark Renton in Trainspotting, adapted from the novel by Irvine Welsh:

It’s hard to describe Renton’s sexiness. And unless you find men crawling out of toilet bowls sexy, it’s hard to find a picture that captures it. But if he were a real person, I probably would take him home and then proceed to stalk him and serenade him with New Order songs.

ok...next month is going to be awesome

Next month, one of my local libraries is going to be host to events with Laurell K. Hamilton AND Augusten Burroughs (oh, and Norm Clarke and Tony Curtis together). I love getting to hear published authors talk about their experiences and asking them tons and tons of annoying questions, so this will be perfect. Laurell K. Hamilton is going to be on Friday, 6/5, @ 7 pm and Augusten Burroughs is going to be on Saturday, 6/20, @ 7 pm. (Sorry, you'll have to check www.lvccld.org if you want the info for ol' Norm and Tony.) Those are both days I'm not working, so I can actually go! And I was beginning to think the only event we were going to have was the one with the authors from Chicken Soup for the Soul...

weird things found at the library

Say you were browsing at the library and in one of the books you came across an invitation for some guy's birthday party and it promised sic free drinks (including alcohol!) and the front had a glamor shot superimposed on to a screen capture from a video game, wouldn't you want to go? I thought so. Sidenote: Whoever this guy is, if he wants more friends/notoriety he should try to get in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most MySpace friends and then maybe get his own reality show (Like a male Tila Tequila). I can almost guarantee he deserves one.

Geeky Dreamboats

Finally, I have a term to use when people ask me what my "type" is. Geeky Dreamboats! My friend bought this book over the weekend:

This little book for under $10 is nearly perfect. Not only does it include fun facts about each geeky dreamboat (Jake Gyllenhaal is a swedish nobleman? Who knew?), but it also rates each on a scale of ultimate geek to almost cool. I have to point out, however, that the authors left out Jason Lee. He's the ultimate geeky dreamboat! Brodie? Hello? At least they had the foresight to include Simon Pegg and rate him ultimate geek. And, girls who are lucky enough to have a so-called geeky dreamboat in their possession, can now bestow him with an awesome certificate via the publisher's website.

nastiest rejection letter?

I know writers keep their rejection letters cuz we're all self loathing like that. What was your nastiest rejection letter? Feel free to reword it to soften the blow (or not).

I've been fortunate in that I've only received the standard "Your work is not a right fit for this publication," which is basically a nice way of saying "Your work stinks." But at this point, a rejection letter for me is a pat on the back for even trying to send out manuscripts. In a year or so, when my apartment is wallpapered with them, they'll probably make me cry.