So as my poor mother could attest, I loved the film version of the Pirates of Penzance as a kid. It starred Kevin Kline as the Pirate King, Rex Smith as Frederic, Angela Lansbury as Ruth, and Linda Ronstadt as Mabel. Kline was rolling-on-the-floor hilarious. Smith was probably my first crush ever in those sexy tight pants. Lansbury is no stranger to musicals, of course, and Ronstadt’s soprano could make crystal shatter.

I love all the songs from this Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, but probably my favorite is “With cat-like tread, upon our prey we steal”. In this scene, the cowardly police force is trying to work up the guts to apprehend the pirates, who are “sneaking” up to the house of the Major-General in an attempt to burgle him. I say “sneaking” with quotes because they happily sing this song as LOUDLY AS POSSIBLE. Also, check out Kline’s Russian dancing at the end! Holy Cow!

I knew I wanted to make this film part of my library, but when I went to find it on Amazon, I was shocked to find that the film has never been moved from VHS to DVD. The only DVD-version of this musical is a live stage performance, but Lansbury isn’t in it! I don’t have a VCR–geez, I don’t think I even know anyone who does–so until this film is made into DVD, I’m stuck watching Youtube. :-P Pooey!

My question to you is: do you have a favorite musical? If you’re not a fan of musicals, is there a film from your childhood that you still watch a lot as an adult?

In my quest to learn more about the late eighteenth century, I picked up a few movies set in that time period, and my movie-watching continues with The Madness of King George.

The Madness of King George

This biopic of King George III (Nigel Hawthorne), who suffered a mental illness most commonly now attributed to porphyria–though it hasn’t been conclusively proven–covers the summer and early winter of 1788, during which King George’s eldest son and heir, then George IV, Prince of Wales (Rupert Everett) attempted through his allies in Parliament to be named Prince Regent of the nation.

Putting aside the stupidity of doctors of that time, which angered me too much to be amused by their follies, I mostly enjoyed the love between the king and queen. Queen Charlotte’s (Helen Mirren) dedication to her husband was incredibly sweet, and seeing her separated from her husband when he needed her most was heartbreaking. I didn’t really find the king’s mental collapse amusing, and in fact I felt sad for the loss of his dignity, already in shreds after losing the American colonies.

The language of the movie felt very authentic and I wished that my Netflix DVD of the film had included English subtitles. :( Some of Hawthorne’s lines were delivered in a fast mumble and my American ears just couldn’t understand! I also enjoyed the clothing and seeing the royal palaces, of the few that were in the film.

A couple of things about the movie seemed off, though. Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Greville, the king’s attendant or Equerry (played by Rupert Graves), was a major character in the film, being one of the few who had access to the king during his mental collapse in the summer of 1788. Another character was the queen’s Lady of the Bedchamber, a Lady Pembroke (Amanda Donohoe), who recommends the physician (Ian Holm as Dr. Willis) that ultimately claims to have cured the king (in actuality, he failed to do anything and just happened to be there when the illness receded naturally). Greville and Lady Pembroke have this passing little dalliance during the film, and it seems rather…out of place, as if it were a side thought just thrown in with a few extra seconds of scenes.

Also, the humor in the film is definitely left wanting. One scene early on in which the king and queen feel no remorse at making their courtiers stand is kind of funny, especially when the same courtiers rush for seats when the king and queen leave, but most of the scenes intended to be comedic left me feeling rather embarrassed for all the parties involved, and I wasn’t really all that amused.

Despite these flaws, it is a very eye-opening look at a very interesting bit of history. Hawthorne, Mirren, and Holm’s acting is superb, and it’s definitely worth a slot in your Netflix queue!

I’m a really big fan of movies, but more than that, I love talking about movies, which is why I’m planning to post a few movie reviews a month. Here are a couple of films I’ve seen in the last week.

THE DUCHESS

Keira Knightly and Ralph Finnes star in this historical drama set in the late 18th century about the life and influence of The Duchess of Devonshire. At a very young age, Georgiana Spencer is arranged to marry William Cavendish, the Duke of Devonshire. She is hopeful and sweet, but her marriage to the cruel, distant duke quickly has her searching for friendship and love elsewhere. She becomes famous as a fashion icon, an indulgent gambler, and a fervent politico. Her brief and doomed affair with Charles Grey, a man who would in the future become Prime Minister, and her complicated friendship with Bess Foster, who the duke desires for his mistress, all point to a woman who has everything and yet nothing.

Knightly was gorgeous in the movie, and her portrayal of the difficult choices thrust upon the duchess was heart-wrenching. Finnes’ acting was more subtle, but the seemingly emotionless duke was a rather strange character to portray and Finnes did a wonderful job. By the end of the film, the viewer will know exactly the pressures, upbringing, and power that have molded the duke into the detestable man he is.

This movie is perfect for understanding the fashion, architecture, politics, and speech of the age. It’s a beautiful film, and rather well-paced considering the number of years they had to cover of the duchess’s life. It never felt slow or boring, and it’s definitely a film that fans of historical dramas should see.

WITCH HUNT

This film is a documentary about John Stoll and other residents of Bakersfield, CA that were wrongfully convicted in the 1980s of child molestation and other crimes due to false testimonies and other grossly unethical acts by the very authority figures meant to exact justice. Investigators interrogated children for hours to get them to admit to untrue stories. Prosecutors withheld evidence. One judge gave four of the convicted parents sentences that amounted to a thousand years.

Nearly all of the convictions were eventually reversed, though some of the accused waited for 12, 15, or 20 years to be released. The children, now adults, that came forward to recant their false testimonies admit to immense guilt for what they did. One man in particular said that he refuses to give his own daughter a bath and has his mother do it because he’s terrified that the same accusations that were laid upon the man he testified against would be laid upon him, too.

None of the authorities that allowed this to happen have faced any punishment. The Kern County DA who oversaw the witch hunt in the mid-80s is still DA in that county! (Though not for much longer.)

This documentary, narrated by Sean Penn, is an enlightening look at the miscarriage of justice. Our legal system, despite the imperfections that allow for such atrocious wrongful convictions, is one of the best legal systems in the world–if not the best, and the Supreme Court has been working to improve this system and to protect human rights for decades. Recent legislation concerning indefinite incarceration of a suspect and other violations of constitutional rights is a step backward from all the progress we’ve made as a country in providing equality under the law. I hope that moving forward, our legal system continues to learn from its mistakes, not allow for new ones.

I love designing websites, and while I’m no professional, I take pride in being able to maintain my own site. Maybe one day I’ll be lucky enough to have someone who knows what they’re doing create a site for me, but for now it’s fun to go into Photoshop and Notepad++ to revamp my site.

However, after a couple of workshops at the recent RT BookLovers Convention, I realized my site could do with (yet another) overhaul. Some things authors need on their websites but might not yet have are high-resolution photos of themselves, preferably simple-looking ones. No hats, scarves, outrageous costumes, or pets. (Although, I’ve gotta say that I love seeing authors in costumes!) Another thing to provide on your website is a press kit, which should be updated with every new release.

My site is almost ready, but I need to get a couple more things finished before the launch of my new and improved version! Here’s a (literally) tiny sneak preview:

Which authors’ websites do you like the most? I appreciate good-looking sites, of course, specifically ones that use Flash or an equivalent, but beyond aesthetics, what do you like to see on author websites that you don’t usually find? I really like a section for Deleted Scenes, so I included one for my own site. I also like character interviews.

Leave a comment and let me know!

Last Friday night, my friends and I went to Cinnebar to see Iron-Man 2. This movie theater has a counter through each row of seats and you can have dinner (and liquor!) while watching a new release. It’s pretty pricey all added up, though, so I doubt I’d go more than once or twice a year.

Saturday was spent with my mother and boyfriend. The weather couldn’t have been more gorgeous and we spent the day exploring downtown, Pike Place, and the waterfront. I hadn’t seen much of the waterfront before then and it’s freakin’ amazing! We also killed a couple of hours by going to an afternoon showing of The Losers. Eh… I enjoy manflesh but the movie was pretty mediocre, to tell the truth.

On Sunday, my mother and I went to the Seattle Science Center to watch Hubble-3D, and boy was it eye-popping! We even got a freakin’ tour of a nebula with newborn stars at its center, one of which is so big that the other little stars are constantly buffeted by its solar winds and look like little tadpoles thanks to the shock waves. Later that evening, I had dinner with my boyfriend and his father–dun, dun, DUN. I got a mini-espresso machine as a present! :D

Monday, my mother and I went to the botanical gardens in Bellevue, where we shot a couple of pictures and where I was also devoured by mosquitoes! :( That night, we went to a book reading in Seattle. I was pooped when I got home! (And itchy!!)

Alas, Tuesday heralded my return to my day job. But what a kick-ass birthday weekend! Woohoo!!

Saturday was dominated by the Book Fair. Several very major authors were in attendance, including J.R. Ward (whose books are my personal obsession), Jim Butcher, Lori Foster, Jeaniene Frost, and Charlaine Harris. I was thrilled to have a couple of people stop by to say they liked the two I currently have in print! It was good to talk to readers and see what people are interested in.

Not long after the book fair ended, I had to catch my flights back to Seattle. With the time difference and the stopover, I was pretty exhausted when I got back to Westlake. Thankfully, my special someone was there to meet me. ;)

The convention is always fun. It’s motivating, inspires new ideas, and is a great chance to meet everyone in the industry from publishers to booksellers to fellow authors to librarians to readers and everyone in between. I hope to attend again next year!

I was too lazy to get up in time for the morning mixer on Friday, so I found my own breakfast in the food court and then headed to the first panel of the day, KEEPING IT FRESH, FOCUSED AND FABULOUS, which was about book series. The panelists were Melissa Mayhue, Stephanie Julian, Alyssa Day, and Samantha Kane. I arrived fairly early, waddling in thanks to a breakfast consisting of French toast and bacon, and was able to talk to Melissa Mayhue one on one! Squee! She has several books set fifty years before the era where my fourth novel, Stay With Me, takes place. I managed to snag one of the free copies of the first and latest in her series and I’m stoked to read them! I just get all swoony thinking about beefy Highlanders!

The next panel was extremely helpful, REVISION QUEST: MAKING YOUR BOOK A KEEPER. They steamrolled through so much great advice and even better was that all the advice was laid out on hand-outs to take with us! No note-taking needed! :D It was paneled by EC editor Kelli Collins, and EC authors Anne Calhoun and Robin L. Rotham. Robin is hilarious!

By lunchtime, my French toast wasn’t holding me up anymore and, as a creature of habit, I wandered back to the food court for tacos. After wiping away the sour cream, I blew through the last two panels, the first of which was on historicals: BRINGING HISTORICAL CHARACTERS TO LIFE, paneled by Victoria Alexander, Victoria Dahl, S.J. Day AKA Sylvia Day, Sally MacKenzie, and captained by Kristina Cook AKA Kristi Astor. I jotted down several really great resources on spotting and eliminating anachronisms and learned about maintaining the right balance of historical accuracy and artistic license so that a modern reader can enjoy the history behind the book without falling asleep or throwing the book to the floor out of confusion.

The last panel for me was STEAMY STEAMPUNK. I like the genre, I’m interested in it, and I could soooo use it as a sexy-as-hell worldsetting. I found a few movies to watch and books to read for a clearer idea of the fun genre-mixing you can do with steampunk, and the panelists all had some great stories out or coming out soon! They were Kat Richardson, Nathalie Gray, Liz Maverick, Caitlin Kittredge, and Stacia Kane, all moderated by Mark Henry. Nathalie was an adorable steampunk fangirl!

After four panels, it was time for the eBook Expo. It was exciting to get to talk to readers about my two latest releases, and I ran out of bookplates for one of them! At 6pm, though, it was time to take a break before heading to the Vampire Ball. It was presented by Helen A. Rosburg and Heather Graham, who has this great video series on the hotel TV network about ghost stories around the country. It’s fascinating!

The ball was loads of fun. Graham and Rosburg always put on a great play for us while we eat, and Graham showed up in the play as the newest version of the Mad Hatter while Rosburg played the White Queen! After half an hour of dropping it like it’s hot on the dance floor, I went to the hotel’s bar on the 2nd floor for some drinks with some fellow authors. Two strong tequila sunrises had me floating above the table and we talked until well past midnight.

WHAT A DAY!

I kicked off the day by attending the Mystery Chix & Private Dix mixer. (The wit at this convention is just endless.) A slew of successful mystery authors hosted the event, and a big raffle was done to give away each author’s books. In attendance were Brett Battles, whom I saw yesterday at another panel along with CJ Lyons, who was also there, and Robert Gregory Browne (the official heckler at said panel), Carole Nelson Douglas, Toni McGee Causey, Harley Jane Kozak, Diana Rowland, Rick Mofina, and so many more! I was so in awe of all these big writers that I forgot to take any pictures! Or maybe it was the EC model sitting at the table…

I must admit that I was lucky to have decided to attend the mixer because it was next door to the room where an EC Authors Lunch would be held, and I had yet to find out when and where it was supposed to be! Color me pink to have missed it–probably several times–on the EC loop. Before the lunch, though, I attended HOW TO WRITE DYNAMIC DIALOGUE. The panelists were both hilarious: Lani Diane Rich and Anne Stuart. (Jennifer Crusie was unfortunately sick.) I read some very good advice on common dialogue mistakes from the writing guide Don’t Murder Your Mystery, but it was helpful to hear some things on the difference between how men and women speak, and to hear that the same dialogue mistakes I make are made by many people!

The EC Author Lunch was fabulous. I got to meet a long-time EC author by the name of Rosemary Laurey aka Madeleine Oh aka Georgia Evans. D: Wow! She was a delight to speak to and one of the many people that was affected by the unpronounceable volcano that erupted and covered Europe with ash, having only arrived at the convention yesterday, I believe. On my other side was Raelene Gorlinsky! I was like a peon sitting with the nobles! The lunch served was great, although dessert was a strange concoction with the consistency of frosting and just as sweet. EC also gave us authors an adorable EC-themed blanket! I love my publisher!

After a quick break, I attended the special session held by Planned Television Arts, a company that promotes authors. God knows neither I nor my weeping credit card–still in the corner–could afford a publicist, but I did receive some good advice that I’ll tuck away for later.

The long day has me tuckered out, though, and since I’d be seriously underdressed at either of the remaining evening parties, I’m opting to enjoy my brief vacation from my day job and will spend some time writing in my room. (Or maybe I’m out solving a local crime! YOU NEVER KNOW.)

EDIT: I did indeed make an appearance despite my tank and jeans tendency. Here’s a picture of some fellow EC authors!

Whew, what an afternoon! After some spicy Kung Pao chicken, I started in on some more panels. It was so difficult the whole afternoon to pick which ones to attend, but for the first one, I chose THE MILLION-DOLLAR MARKETING PLAN. The panelists were Marcia James (who handed out these cute cards with little handcuffs attached!), Tina Gallagher, and Sutton Fox. They had so much helpful advice and I’ll try to put it to good use with my tiny budget! Don’t worry, my little credit card! I promise to stop making you cry!

Next up was VAMPIRE: COUNT WHO?. It was a great discussion of the voracious appetite readers have currently for paranormal romance, especially vamps. The moderator was Charlaine Harris, whose books are so wonderful, and the panelists were Carole Nelson Douglas, Michele Bardsley, Jaye Wells, and Jeanne C. Stein. The various vampire myths were covered, starting with Rice and Stoker, all the way up to today’s plethora of bloodsuckers! The authors all discussed their vamp series and how their vamps “work”. Do they see their reflection? Does sunlight hurt them? Do they feed from humans or can they feed from other things? I can’t wait to start on my own urban fantasy!

The final panel of the day was MAKE THE LEAP TO WRITING FULL-TIME. It’s still my wish to someday work from home, doing everything from writing to promoting–the whole business of being an author. It was definitely a more serious panel. The four ladies on the panel gave me a lot to think about. They were Laura Baumbach, Treva Harte, Lacey Savage, and Caitlyn Willows. Timing and the right circumstances are all key. They also let us in on things they didn’t expect when they went full-time, such as the hours they end up putting in. It’s eight to ten hours a day, every day, which I…sort of expected, but it was good to hear that yes, working from home means that you’re always at work! One panelist said that it’s very much like the work an entrepreneur puts into his/her new business. A steady day job may be forty hours a week, but when starting up your own business, your number of work hours shoots up.

After the panel and some dinner, it was time to get changed and attend Ellora’s Cave’s “Paint the Town Red” party! Several of EC’s handsome “Cavemen” cover models were in attendance, as they always are.

Hello out there in Internet Land. This is Ruby from Columbus, OH at the annual RT Writers’ Convention! I’m so happy to be here (even if my credit card is crying in the corner). It’s only been half a day and already I’ve met so many people! When I arrived late last night, I hopped across the street for dinner with my roommate, who was eating with a couple of booksellers out of Portland and also Bookseller Liaison Kate Ryan! After scarfing down some chicken fingers–yes, I do still eat like I’m 11-years-old–my roommate and I headed back to our room and it was lights out.

First thing this morning, we headed down to a mixer where we were welcomed to the con and served coffee and tidbits. A lucky hundred attendees or so received a cute mini-hat! Then I shot over to the Media & Marketing panel: WHAT RT WANTS & WHAT AUTHORS NEED TO KNOW. The panelists were Stephanie Klose, Liz French, Elissa Petruzzi, and Faygie Levy (will post pictures soon!). They had lots of great advice about self-promotion, do’s and don’t's, and other resources to use for making yourself into a brand and selling it well and professionally.

Next up was a panel about BAD GUYS WE LOVE TO HATE! I really like the panel captain, CJ Lyons, who I saw at RT 2008 as well. She was there with authors Andrew Peterson, Diana Rowland, Juliet Blackwell AKA Hailey Lind, and Brett Battles. I personally had questions on getting my facts straight when it comes to police procedure, and they were helpful in telling me how to get in touch with my local police agency, and with online groups such as Crime Scene Writer. There’s even a Writer’s Police Academy in North Carolina. Sweet beans!

The only regret I have at RT so far is that I can’t be in two places at once! Or in some cases three! Tonight at 5pm, there are three panels I need to attend. Hopefully there are handouts I can grab! @_@