Best/Worst Movie Remake Blogfest

I've taken a lovely two weeks off of blogging and writing/editing after completing the A-Z Blogfest and the April session of Camp NaNoWriMo.  But I'm back!  It's time for another awesome blogfest, hosted by Alex Cavanaugh, Stephen Tremp, Livia Peterson, and Al Diaz.

The Rules:

When Hollywood runs out of ideas, they remake older films. Sometimes this works, and sometimes it fails miserably. On May 17, list the best remake you’ve ever seen and the worst. 


Let's start with the WORST remake *in my opinion*

WORST Movie Remake

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) - remake of Spider-Man (2002)

So many things wrong with this movie - the original was MUCH better!  Spider-Man suddenly became a hipster geek who is incredibly attractive and everything works in his favor.  Here's an honest trailer which sums up most of it...

Honestly, the movie was alright.  The original Spider-Man is wonderful, this one... not so much.  And during one of the biggest scenes (swinging between buildings and cranes), instead of focusing on the action, all I could think about was that the music sounded exactly the same as Titanic.  I looked it up when I got home.  James Horner.  Same guy did the soundtrack for both movies.  He might need to think of changing his compositions not to be so similar...  To sum up, Spider-Man is better.  Though while looking up the info for The Not-So Amazing one, I saw they are making a sequel in 2014.  Darn.

BEST Movie Remake

Star Trek (2009) - Star Trek (1979)

Though I love the original films and watched them with my dad when I was little, I love what they did with this new film!  Granted they have rewritten cannon to read a new timeline and new events for the characters, but I'm excited for the new adventures!  And a hopeful lack of Khan.  Never really liked Khan.  Anyway, I think this new remake has a lot of great things to come!  Here's a few thoughts on it - same guy, but a better honest review of the trailer. :)

One - Chris Pine is incredibly attractive.  Two - Still very attractive.  Three - I LOVE Star Trek!  Super excited for the new movie, which I will hopefully get to see tomorrow!  :)


Do you agree with my choices?  I'm off to read all the rest of the entries!  Hope I at least amused you! 

My name is Krista and did you hear they are making another Jane Eyre?  I'm kidding, but seriously how many remakes of it do we need?  Have a great Friday!

Friday Night Alibi Cover REVEAL!

Today is the cover reveal for Cassie Mae's book, FRIDAY NIGHT ALIBI - so I will turn it over to her!

Let's all dance together!

I'm super thrilled to show you all my cover for my New Adult debut, FRIDAY NIGHT ALIBI, published by Random House Flirt. This baby comes out on July 29th, but you can buy it now! And it'll just zap onto your ereader the day it's released.

Wanna know what it's about? Well, it's about this pig who learns how to fly, but only on friday nights and he grants wishes to people who are not where they're supposed to be, to get them out of a bind. You know I'm totally joking. I just wanted to see how many people just skipped over all these words to get to the pretty cover, lol. You mention the pig in the comments and you get cyber gold stars.

Here's the blurb :D

Rising star Cassie Mae introduces New Adult readers to a practical soon-to-be college freshman who seems to have everything—until a special guy shows her what she’s been missing.

In the wealthy town of Sundale, Kelli Pinkins has hatched the perfect plan to capitalize on her sweet reputation. For a generous fee, she will be every trust-fund baby’s dream: a Friday-night alibi, the “girlfriend” or “BFF” that parents dream about. With college approaching in the fall, Kelli’s services are in demand more than ever, which means that her social life is nonexistent. But Kelli is A-okay with that. She’s raking in cash for school. Besides, relationships are tricky, and sometimes very messy. She’d rather be at home on Xbox LIVE, anyway. Then the unexpected happens: She meets college stud Chase Maroney.

Chase isn’t like the preppy, privileged guys Kelli usually meets in Sundale. For starters, he’s twentysomething, always wears black, and he shoots back one-liners as fast as she can dish them out. But Kelli’s attempts to drive Chase away falter when she realizes that he treats her like he really knows her, like he cares about knowing her. When Kelli finally gives in to the delicious kiss she’s been fighting for so long, she faces a tough decision: make Chase a real-life boyfriend and risk her heart . . . or keep her clients and lose her first true love.

Advance praise for Friday Night Alibi

“Totally entertaining with as many swoon-worthy moments as hilarious ones, Friday Night Alibi is a must-read.”—Jolene Perry, co-author of Out of Play

“A fun, funny, and fantastic story, this is one you will read in a day, and pick up to re-read again the next.”—Kelley Lynn, author of Fraction of Stone

Oh, and stuff about me too.

Cassie Mae is a nerd to the core from Utah, who likes to write about other nerds who find love. Her angel children and perfect husband fan her and feed her grapes while she clacks away on the keyboard. Then she wakes up from that dream world and manages to get a few words on the computer while the house explodes around her. When she’s not writing, she’s spending time with the youth in her community as a volleyball and basketball coach, or searching the house desperately for chocolate.

And now the pretty!

You can buy this book HERE, and it takes you to all the places it's available. Yay! My first published book with MY NAME ON IT! Squee!!!


Congratulations Cassie! I can't wait to read it! :)  Though I oddly feel like getting a pet pig first...

May Goals & IWSG - I can't write kissing scenes

Whew - it is May and the A-Z Blogging Challenge is over!  Though I admit it doesn't feel like May in Iowa.  The temperature high for Friday is 46 with a low of 36.  BRR!  Hopefully the weather will stop being stupid soon and we can enjoy the coming summer.  I'm doing this as a double post, so scroll down if you are here for the IWSG!

Here are my goals from April:
* Complete the April A-Z Blogging Challenge

* Write to 30,000 words on my Camp NaNo novel, "Breathless"
I made it to 30,050 words!  DONE! 

* Run/walk my first 5K on April 20th
FAIL.  I didn't walk or run it.  I gave up due to knee strain and it only got worse. Turns out I have runner's knee.  Once it heals, I will start some running again.  Even if I don't run a 5K, exercise is really important. :)

I finished 2 out of 3 goals, definitely an accomplishment!  Okay, doing the A-Z Challenge and Camp Nano at the same time was crazy and I'm super excited it is over!  :)  I wouldn't do it again, but I love my manuscript and it's nice to have the idea done. Now to revise it!  I did so much last month!  I critiqued two of my critique partner's novels in addition to everything.  I didn't think I'd even have time for them until May.


Goals for May:
* Complete first round of revisions for "Breathless"
Revise, adding scenes and fixing timeline errors.  Send to critique partners. :)

* Finish critiquing CP's book - "Black and White"

* Read "The Oracle and the Vampire - The 13th Floor #5 and #6" by Christine Rains

* Relax


I'm really looking forward to the last of my goals. :)  I'm definitely ready to relax and maybe take a day off of work to just relax and have a nice long weekend where I'm not stressed and busy.

How did you goals for April go?  Did you complete the A-Z Challenge?  Did you write a novel or begin one for Camp Nano?  Congrats to everyone who participated in either or both!

--------

Anyway, it's time for another installation of The Insecure Writer's Support Group, which posts on the first Wednesday of every month and is run by our Ninja Captain Alex Cavanaugh.  Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!  Seriously, I love this support group!

I'd like to talk about the dreaded fear I have.  I'm insecure about my.... KISSING SCENES.  Yep, I'm not good at kissing scenes.  I don't have a lot of experience with kissing and I'm not really one to make-out with strangers, so there goes my practicing.   I like writing them, but at the same time I write them and laugh first, then roll my eyes, delete it once, rewrite the scene and face-palm. 

If anyone has an advice, I'd love it. :)  As a side note, I don't write smutty scenes, just some romantic passionate kissing scenes that talk way too much about tasting like oranges and chocolate frosting.  Oops?  Help?

How do you write a kiss scene?  Do you base it on personal experience or are you just that awesome when it comes with writing make-out scenes?

Z is for Ziva David

Ziva David, my favorite ex-Mossad assassin, who kicks butt and I totally named my car after her.

Me and Ziva, my first car.

 Yes, I'm that nerdy.  You should know that by now. :)  NCIS is my favorite television show. 

Ziva is beautiful and she kicks butt!

Ziva begins as a liason for Mossad and no one really trusts her.  Except Gibbs, because he trusts his gut and he witnesses her loyalty when she kills her own brother to protect Gibbs and because he was a traitor to their country.  She changes at NCIS as she develops friendships with Tony, McGee, Abby, and Ducky.  Ziva goes through several painful experiences; her friend and lover is killed by Tony, she is captured and tortured for months, her father is hard for her to communicate with (especially after he didn't save her), and so on.  Ziva never gives up.  The experiences change her, but for the better.  I love her character.  I also love the friendship between Ziva and Tony.  (BTW, I'm totally all for Tiva if they ever allow them to get into a relationship on the show.)  :)

Tiva: Tony + Ziva = AWESOMENESS!

One of my favorite things about her is her struggle to understand English idioms - they are hard!

And that's Z.  The A-Z Blogging Challenge is complete and now I'm ready for a short blogging break! (Though I still will be posting my updated goals tomorrow like always!) Thanks to everyone for joining me and reading about my "Awesome Nerd-ness"!

Thanks and congrats to everyone who finished!  WE DID IT! 

Y is for Yzma

Who?

Though, it is spelled "dinosaurs" - I can spell, didn't make this.

Yzma is the main villain in "The Emperor's New Groove", a hilarious and unappreciated Disney movie.  Kuzco turns into a llama and has to be rescued by the peasant Pacha, whose village he wants to destroy, and avoid the evil Yzma (who scarily resembles Voldemort) and her idiot companion, Kronk.  Seriously, hilarious.

It's one of my favorite movies!

Seriously, go watch this movie now!  I'm gonna go watch it! :)   Have you ever seen "The Emperor's New Groove?"  I love it!

One more letter! :) 

We Reject Ourselves

A few weeks ago, I received my first full request for my manuscript, DEFIANCE.  I was overjoyed!  I tried to keep calm remembering, the agent could still not like the full manuscript.  My brain was on overdrive.  I'm pretty sure my email got annoyed I checked it so much for the next twenty days.  Seriously, I think my email began to mock me. 

Those days passed.  Slowly.  The rest of that batch of queries came back as kind rejections.  I wasn't expecting to hear back the same day as another simple form rejection.  It was an email from the agent.  I could see the first sentence before opening it.  I took a deep breath and clicked it.  It was a kind pass on my manuscript.  It was nothing about the novel; the agent loved the premise, but the agent wasn't in love with the novel and to sell it, the agent wanted to love it.  It was disappointing.  I didn't cry at first.  The agent was very kind and though I won't reveal who it was, the agent is still an incredible agent and anyone who gets this person as their agent is very lucky.  Anyway, it was a hard to deal with.  I'd gotten closer than I had gotten in years.  (I had an agent briefly a few years back, but it was a bad situation and I won't get into it.)

I wanted to quit.  I wanted to throw things because I felt inadequate to be a writer.  Rejection sucks; don't let anyone ever tell you anything different.  They are probably numb if they lie or pros at lying to themselves.  I began to question if anything I've ever written was good enough.  I have a few crappy novels I won't publish, unless someday I do some serious work on them.  They are stepping stones on the way to being a better writer. 

That was Wednesday.  I felt like this.

Today is Saturday.  Yes, obviously but today I woke up and I didn't hate writing today.  I think it helped I stopped feeling bad for myself last night and decided to work on my critique partner's book.  It's awesome by the way. I love his style of writing.  He complimented me on doing the A-Z and critiquing a book and doing Camp NaNoWriMo.  I almost responded, "Yeah, no big deal."

Actually it is a big deal!  As writers, we sell ourselves short.  We say what we wrote is crap and we compare ourselves to other writers.  Constantly we compare and reject ourselves.  We reject our own writing before we even try to let someone else love it.

NO.

We have to stop doing that!  Writers don't always accept a compliment because we don't wanna be boastful or proud and annoying.  It's okay to accept when someone compliments you.  Don't brush it aside.  Don't always focus on the bad.  Focus on what you love about your novel and characters, not about that plot hole the size of Texas and the character with more cliques than a blond with a low IQ.  You can fix that.

Accept a compliment on your writing.

                   Don't blow off that writing a book isn't an accomplishment.  

                                                Don't reject yourself before you even begin. 

Love your writing and take it one day at a time.  Your "once upon a time" will come.  Don't hate the journey to get there.  Live it.

So, what I'm taking away from this.  I'm a writer and I've written seven books.  I love what I write, even if it needs some help.  It's nothing to look down at myself for.  Someday I'll be published.  It will all be worth it.  Until then, I will love writing and take the rejections as they come, remembering this is not the end.  It's a story that is just beginning.  And will continue with every page we write.

You'll get there too.  I believe in myself and you. :)

X is for Xinb

Nope, that is not a word.  I cheated a little.  X is for Thackery BinX.  X is a hard letter - don't judge me!

Anyway, Thackery Binx.  My childhood crush from "Hocus Pocus".  Thackery is a young man who follows his little sister, Emily, into the woods to save her from the three evil witches.  But he's too late.  Thackery tries to protect her and for that, the witches turn him into a black cat, who is unable to die.  He's forced to live with his grief and guilt for 300 years. 

Jump forward to the 21st century, Thackery Binx is standing guard over the house of the witches since their spell vowed they would return on All Hollow's Eve by a virgin lighting the black flame candle.  Lots of stuff does down and Thackery gives his life to protect Dani, the little girl who reminds him of his sister.  Dani is sad he's gone and this moment happens:

Aww!  So a sweetheart!  I love Thackery Binx. :)

Did I mention this also happens in the movie?

Hilarious line!

And one more - Thackery Binx is played by Sean Murray, who plays Timothy McGee in NCIS, my favorite television show.  So much love!

I love my nerdy McGee.

Have you ever seen Hocus Pocus?  Who was your childhood movie crush?