May 30, 2023
I was delighted to be invited to be highlighted on Kate’s Instagram’s Sunday Spotlight. If you missed it here is the link. https://www.instagram.com/farawayinalovestory/ Flick through the pages and read the interview.
The prequel to this series will be published later this year. Malgraf’s Dawning follows the life (and creation) of the evil witch in the series.
May 23, 2023
I watched Book Club – The Next Chapter again with a friend over this long weekend. Yes, it’s the second time but a)it was a nice outing with a friend, b) I languished in the Italian landscape and c) what not?
The actors read three books in the movie for their online book club during the COVID scenes and it got me thinking how many other movies have books in them just as props? Well I found a list and have chosen a few to reply.
Character: Otto West (Kevin Kline)
Book:Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche
Character: Walter E Kurtz
Book:The Hollow Men by T.S. Eliot
Character: Elizabeth Halsey (Cameron Diaz)
Book:To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Character: Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal)
Book:Twenty-One Stories by Graham Greene
Character: Kurt (Jon Hamm)
Book:Cod by Mark Kurlansky
Character: Harry Burns (Billy Crystal)
Book:The Icarus Agenda by Robert Ludlum
Character: Leaky Cauldron Customer (Ian Brown)
Book:A Brief History Of Time by Stephen Hawking
Character: Sergeant Turner
Book:Complicity by Iain Banks
Character: Topper Harley
Book:Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Character: Shoshanna Dreyfus
Book:The Saint In New York by Leslie Charteris
Character: George Bailey (James Stewart)
Book:The Adventures Of Tom Swayer by Mark Twain
Character: Jimmy
Book:Heart Of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Character: Dwayne Hoover (Paul Dano)
Book:Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche
Character: Matilda Wormwood (Mara Wilson)
Book: Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Character: Mallory Knox (Juliette Lewis)
Book:The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Character: William Thacker (Hugh Grant)
Book:Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis De Bernières
Character: Steve Freeling (Craig T Nelson)
Book:Reagan: The Man, The President by Various
Character: Vincent Vega (John Travolta)
Book:Modesty Blaise by Peter O’Donnell
Character: Sarah Thomas (Kate Beckinsale)
Book:Love In the Time Of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
Character: Morticia Addams (Anjelica Huston)
Book:The Cat In The Hat by Dr Seuss
Character: Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt)
Book:Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
Character: Laura Brown (Julianne Moore)
Book:Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Character: Michael Berg (David Kross)
Book:War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Character: John Beckwith (Owen Wilson)
Book:Don’t Jump: The Northwest Winter Blues Survival Guide by Traci Vogel
Character: Wendy Torrance (Shelley Duvall)
Book:The Catcher In The Rye by JD Salinger
Character: Kathleen Kelly
Book:Pride And Prejudice by Jane Austen
Character: T-Bird (David Patrick Kelly)
Book:Paradise Lost by John Milton
Character: Melanie Hamilton Wilkes (Olivia de Havilland)
Book:David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
It was an eye opener seeing so many.
Can you think of any others?
May 16, 2023
This past weekend I went to watch Book Club – The Next Chapter. It was a fun ride catching up with the four main characters again. For me, the best part was enjoying the three Italian cities they visited. It is many years since I was there, but the memories came flooding back. The essence of Italy still holds a special place in my soul. I visited Venice, Florence and Rome and hope to go back at some point. It was interesting that the book they were reading this time round was Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist.
I finished an intriguing novel, The First Time Lauren Pailing Died by Alyson Rudd.
Review:This was an exceptional narrative, especially as its theme is a subject I love. Imagine you live more than one life in parallel? Most of us never knowing about the other life, oblivious to it. But Lauren does know and that is what makes this book so remarkable.
It is captivating.
I have now begun reading a new book – The Shadow Sister by Lucinda Riley, only to find it is book three of a series. However, it is a separate story of one sister’s experiences, so I’m good.
Would you read one book of a series or not?
Literary Birthdays this week include:
May 19th is the birthday of Nora Ephron who was an American journalist, essayist, playwright, screenwriter, novelist, producer, director, and blogger. She is best known for her romantic comedies and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay): for Silkwood, When Harry Met Sally…, and Sleepless in Seattle. These are exceptional movies, I think you will agree.
Another author sharing the same birthday is Jodi Picoult with an impressive 25 novels (and counting) to her name, including My Sister’s Keeper, Nineteen Minutes and Sing Me Home.
May 9, 2023
I binge watched Queen Charlotte over the weekend – it was an enjoyable diversion from my current editing. I noticed echoes of one of my own romance novels in the series. Charlotte’s marriage was arranged and she had to come to terms with her place within the arrangement and forge her own life. It was not without it’s difficulties.
In my novel, The Twesome Loop, my character Gabriella is not so fortunate in the marriage her father arranges for her. It is merely to enable her father to further his status in society and is money driven. Her wants and needs are of no consequence and she is ‘given’ to an disgusting old man. The relationship is far from happy, but her fates change when an unexpected visitor appears.
This reincarnation romance can be purchased on all online sites in print or e-book form. If I may ask, please leave a review and let me know which couple you identified with the most.
May 2, 2023
There are several celebratory days this week! So let’s get started.
2nd May – Harry Potter Day (May 2 was the day of the Battle of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter series) This series is a global phenomenon not only with the books but the movies as well.
4th – 10th May – Children’s Book Week (also celebrated in November) You might know I have written a couple of children’s books.
4th May – Intergalactic Star Wars Day (“May the Fourth be with you.”) Once again these movies are of global recognition and there are numerous memes celebrating the Fourth.
My favourite is Darth Vader – you might say bad boy vibes!
Whose is your favourite character in the movies?
6th May – Free Comic Book Day
I was not allowed comics when I was young, so I would always grab my friends comics when I was playing at their houses. They were a novelty for me.
Today there are multiple movies highlighting many of the characters first created in comics. And there doesn’t seem to be an end to them either.
In today’s market good quality issues can fetch remarkable amounts of money! Such as Amazing Fantasy (1961) No 15 is valued at $355,000. So, if you hoarded old comics best go and look now.
Did you have a favourite comic book?
Mandy Eve-Barnett's Blog for Readers & Writers 