Release Week Party and Giveaway!

My, how time flies!

This time last year, I was still working on my two debut novels, Cinderella: Ninja Warrior and Sleeping Beauty: Vampire Slayer, and now they are both being released--on the same day!--to launch the Twisted Tales series!

The official release date is April 1, 2011, but they are already shipping from some online retailers. I can't wait to actually see/hold one myself and/or hear that someone has spotted one in the wild! If you see a copy in a store, please let me know! Even better, take a picture and send it to me. :)

In spite of the long and twisty road I took to this point (worthy of any challenging fairy tale fraught with evil witches) I'm not letting the April Fool's Day release date temper my excitement. Tune back on Friday to find out whether the joke's on me. LOL.  I might tell some of the twisty tale that day.  :)

In the meantime, here's what the publisher and some fabulous bloggers/reviewers have said about the first two books in the Twisted Tales series.

SLEEPING BEAUTY: VAMPIRE SLAYER

In this thrilling story full of adventure and romance, Sleeping Beauty is more than just a lonely princess waiting for her prince—she's a brave, tenacious girl who never backs down from a challenge. With vampire-slaying talents that she practices in secret, Sleeping Beauty puts her courage to the test in the dark of night, fighting evil as she searches for a way to break the spell that has cut her off from her family. In a special twist, readers have the opportunity to make key decisions for Sleeping Beauty and decide where she goes next—but no matter the choice; the result is a story unlike any fairy tale you've ever read!
Sleeping Beauty: Vampire Slayer is an entirely new type of fairy tale–one that will keep today's kids guessing and offer them hours of magical fun.

"If you’re just a fan of retold fairytales, then Sleeping Beauty: Vampire Slayer is exactly what you’ve been looking for." Maianka Verstraete of I <3 Reading

"It's a fairytale full of teen angst, comedy, romance, mystery and adventure! The 'choose a path' option was brilliant and made the book a lot of fun. I will be looking at other works by this Author and look forward to any other writing she has coming out." - Kristi Stern of The Book Faery

"Once upon a time a story comes along that makes your heart soar and transports you to a world filled with royalty, magical beings and immortal creatures. Sleeping Beauty: Vampire Slayer is one such story."  -Aobibliophile of Aobiblioshpere


"This was a wonderful new twist on the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale. ... Lucette was one butt-kicking vampire-slaying princess."  -ReaderGirl of NightOwl Reviews

CINDERELLA: NINJA WARRIOR

In this fast-paced story full of adventure and romance, Cinderella is more than just a servant girl waiting for her prince—she's a tough, fearless girl who is capable of taking charge of a dangerous situation. Seeking to escape the clutches of her evil stepmother, Cinderella perfects her ninja skills and magic talents in secret, waiting for the day when she can break free and live happily ever after. In a special twist, readers have the opportunity to make key decisions for Cinderella and decide where she goes next—but no matter the choice; the result is a story unlike any fairy tale you've ever read!

"An extremely funny, enjoyable and entertaining read that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and brings a fabulous twist to a well-known fairytale."  Majanka Verstraete of I <3 Reading

"My favourite princess made even stronger, it couldn’t be better!  A world filled with magic with love being the strongest magic of all.  A wonderful concoction of Maureen McGowan: a retelling of Cinderella mixed in with wizardry, martial arts, and choose-your-own-adventure!"  Tien of Tien's Blurb

"I was never fan of Cinderella to tell you the truth. But this book...oh my...! I wish the original stories were like that! Forget the sweet cliché love story and the poor girl. Here we have witches, championships, warriors, villains and even dragons! How awesome is it?" Yiota of Splash of Our Worlds

PARTY PLANS

All week at Get Lost in a Story we'll be celebrating the books' release. 

Stop by there, every day this week, for up to FIVE chances to win one of four books -- 2 of each.

SPECIAL SECRET GIVEAWAY!

In addition to the drawing on Get Lost in a Story, I'll give away two additional copies to commenters on this blog. That's right. If you comment here, and every day on Get Lost in a Story, you'll have even more chances to win. :)

Thanks for stopping by to help me celebrate!

Giveaway Over

Well, that was fun!

My first foray into Goodreads Giveaways and it was kind of exciting. Just the thought of over 1600 people, most of whom I don't know, entering a contest to win a copy of my ARC was thrilling.

Goodreads picked the winners last night and it got even better!

Two of the winners are people I know. Kwana Jackson and Christine D'Abo!

Like I said... 1602 entries. Maybe 20 of them I knew, (scanning through the entries), Goodreads picks randomly and I know 2!

How fun is that?

Congrats to all the winners! I'll be sending your ARCs out very soon.

ARC Giveaway!

I'm giving away 10 Advance Reader Copies for Cinderella: Ninja Warrior.

Win and you can get a copy of the book before it even comes out!)

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Cinderella

by Maureen McGowan

Giveaway ends March 23, 2011.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Dead on Delivery

No, not me. :)

Today, I'm interviewing the fabulous Eileen Rendahl over at Get Lost in a Story.

Come on by to chat with Eileen and get a chance to win her fabulous new urban fantasy, DEAD ON DELIVERY.

Letters From Home

Happy, happy release day to Kristina McMorris, whose fabulous book, Letters From Home, officially hits stores today.

Have you ever seen a more gorgeous cover?


Chicago, 1944. Liz Stephens has little interest in attending a USO club dance with her friends Betty and Julia. She doesn't need a flirtation with a lonely serviceman when she's set to marry her childhood sweetheart. Yet something happens the moment Liz glimpses Morgan McClain. They share only a brief conversation - cut short by the soldier's evident interest in Betty - but Liz can't forget him. Thus, when Betty asks her to ghostwrite a letter to Morgan, stationed overseas, Liz reluctantly agrees.

Thousands of miles away, Morgan struggles to adjust to the brutality of war. His letters from "Betty" are a comfort, their soul-baring correspondence a revelation to them both. While Liz is torn by her feelings for a man who doesn't know her true identity, Betty and Julia each become immersed in their own romantic entanglements. And as the war draws to a close, all three will face heart-wrenching choices, painful losses, and the bittersweet joy of new beginnings.
 

I met the lovely Kristina when we were both finalists for the Golden Heart competition in 2007, her with this very book. I couldn't be more excited for her. Seriously. Go out and buy this book. Now. :)

Got ARC?

Look at what came in the mail today!!

A lovely box of ARCs for Cinderella: Ninja Warrior!

Will have to dream up some great giveaway ideas.... Hmmmm...

Interviewing Molly O'Keefe

Today, I'm thrilled to be hosting RITA® Award winning contemporary romance author, Molly O'Keefe, who just happens to be, not only one of my valued critique partners, but also one of my closest friends. In addition to her RITA® win, she's also won two RT Reviewers' Choice Awards as well as numerous other accolades. She's has 18 novels published by Harlequin and two fabulous longer romances coming out from Bantam Dell in 2012.

For the full interview, check out the Get Lost in a Story blog. 

His Wife For One Night

February 2011

ISBN 9780373716883

Jack McKibbon knows the score when he offers to marry his best friend Mia Alatore. He's fixing a bad situation for her—that's all—they aren't making a real life together. She wants to stay on the ranch and he's got his studies and inventions elsewhere. Still, this arrangement is a good deal for both of them.

Until that one night…

A sexy interlude with Mia makes Jack rethink their relationship…and their future. But all his plans grind to a halt when she asks for a divorce. Once upon a time, Jack might have agreed. But now that he knows the chemistry they share, he's not giving up a second chance to be with his wife.

ABOUT MOLLY

Molly O'Keefe has always known she wanted to be a writer (except when she wanted to be a florist or a chef and the brief period of time when she considered being a cowgirl). And once she got her hands on some romances, she knew exactly what she wanted to write.

She published her first Harlequin romance at age 25 and hasn't looked back. She loves exploring every character's road towards happily ever after.

Originally from a small town outside of Chicago, she went to university in St. Louis where she met and fell in love with the editor of her school newspaper. They followed each other around the world for several years and finally got married and settled down in Toronto, Ontario. They welcomed their son into their family in 2006, and their daughter in 2008. When she's not at the park or cleaning up the toy room, Molly is working hard on her next novel, trying to exercise, stalking Tina Fey on the internet and dreaming of the day she can finish a cup of coffee without interruption.

To read the full interview, check out the Get Lost in a Story blog. 

Interviewing Anna Humphrey

Today, I'm interviewing the lovely, Anna Humphrey, author of RHYMES WITH CUPID and the upcoming MISSION (UN)POPULAR.


Anna Humphrey is the author of RHYMES WITH CUPID (currently available) and MISSION (UN)POPULAR (due out June 2011)—both books for teens. She lives in Toronto with her husband and kids. 

I've been lucky enough to meet Anna in person through the fabulous @torkidlit tweet group. Follow our hashtag. :)

ABOUT THE BOOK 

RHYMES WITH CUPID from HarperTeen is the story of a girl who finds romance despite her best efforts not to.

After a terrible heartbreak last Valentine’s day, Elyse Ulrich has sworn off dating as well as celebrating the February 14th holiday. Both things are a problem, though, since:
a) she works at a gift & stationery store, surrounded by annoying singing Cupid dolls, tacky heart-shaped balloons, and sappy cards with poems that don’t even really rhyme.
b) she ends up meeting Patrick, who works in the same mall and is her new neighbor and her driving instructor and is really cute and incredibly charming… which might be okay except for the whole ‘sworn off dating’ thing…

Elyse isn’t interested in putting her heart on the line. But with Valentine’s Day approaching, she finds out that avoiding Cupid’s arrow is a lot harder than she expected.



To read the full interview, click here: Get Lost in a Story.

Celebrating the good stuff

I'm celebrating the good stuff over on Drunk Writer Talk today!

What's your good news?

Book Giveaway from Claudia Osmond!

Today, I interviewed the fabulous, Claudia Osmond over at Get Lost in a Story.

Drop by to read her great answers to my silly questions. If you comment on that post you'll get a chance to win her book, SMUDGE'S MARK!

Claudia Osmond is an only child, wife, and mother who loves caramel apples, hates snakes, stands for social justice, sits at the feet of her Muse, accepts the fact that she’s getting older, denies the idea that her best years are behind her, reads voraciously, writes passionately, sings only when no one’s listening, and admits that she wrote her very first novel in a closet ~ both literally and figuratively speaking.

SMUDGE'S MARK

“With a shaky hand, I laid the brass key on the paper flat side down, and slid it over top of the sketch. It fit the shape exactly. Then the line circling the key uncurled and reformed itself into two words: FIND IT.”

Simon is a fourteen-year-old Orphan with No Options: an O.W.N.O. And “Oh no” pretty much sums up his life. He’s stuck in Grimstown with his prank-pulling grampa and a housekeeper-slash-nanny from you-know-where. Worse, Simon can’t remember a thing about his childhood. Then one night a bizarre dream unlocks some of those forgotten memories, leaving Simon with half of a key in his pajama pocket and a growing awareness that he’s in the middle of a dangerous plot that threatens to destroy Emogen, a hidden realm connected to Earth. In order to save Emogen – and his best friend – from a deadly curse, Simon needs to find out who he really is. But can he discover his true identity before it’s too late?

Again, for a chance to win the book, leave a comment on the post at Get Lost in a Story! A blog for readers of all ages. 

Interview with Eileen Cook!

I interviewed Eileen Cook at Get Lost in a Story, and we talked about her new YA book THE EDUCATION OF HAILEY KENDRICK (and about Johnny Depp). Check it out. :)

Eileen Cook is a multi-published author with her novels appearing in six different languages. She spent most of her teen years wishing she were someone else or somewhere else, which is great training for a writer.


You can read more about Eileen, her books, and the things that strike her as funny at www.eileencook.com. Eileen lives in Vancouver with her husband and two dogs and no longer wishes to be anyone or anywhere else.


About the Book


Hailey Kendrick always does exactly what's expected of her. She has the right friends, dates the perfect boy, gets good grades, and follows all the rules. But one night, Hailey risks everything by breaking a very big rule in a very public way...and with a very unexpected partner in crime. Hailey gets caught, but her accomplice does not, and Hailey takes the fall for both of them.
Suddenly, Hailey's perfect life--and her reputation--are blowing up in her face. Her friends are all avoiding her. Her teachers don't trust her. Her boyfriend won't even speak to her for long enough to tell her that she's been dumped.
They say honesty is the best policy--but some secrets are worth keeping, no matter the cost. Or are they?


If you don't believe me, (and why wouldn't you?), here's what major reviewers have had to say about her latest release, THE EDUCATION OF HAILEY KENDRICK:

"Cook effectively builds both Hailey's (justified) feelings of rebellion and the social dynamics of her ostracism, especially in her growing friendship with a challenging townie, Drew, who supervises her punishment working with the janitorial staff....Cook coaxes considerable empathy for the otherwise privileged Hailey as she abandons the achievement treadmill to explore her independence."

--Publishers Weekly

* "Hailey may be an A student headed to the Ivy League, but when it comes to taking a chance on life, she’s clueless. She’s also enormously appealing and great company throughout this breezy read. Yes, it’s chick lit, but of the highest quality—like a gourmet truffle. Cook has whipped up a real treat.”

--Kirkus starred review



You can keep in touch with Eileen online here:
www.eileencook.com
Twitter: @Eileenwriter

True Grit -- A Western YA

When I walked in the theatre to see True Grit last weekend I was expecting to see a Western. And given how many groups of men were in the audience, so did they. Little did they know, we were about to see one of the smartest, funniest, most tightly plotted, girl-driven young adult stories I've seen/read in a long time.

I've never been a big fan of Westerns as a genre, but I do vaguely remember seeing the 1969 version of True Grit on TV, (probably because I had a now-embarrassing crush on Glen Campbell). And I barely remembered that the story was about a young girl.

When the book was first published, I understand it was put out by as a "book for young readers", and having just seen the new Coen brothers movie (twice), which supposedly follows the original book more closely, I understand that. And really want to read the book. It is a YA story.

I did a (tiny) bit of research before composing this post, and now understand that the original film didn't stick to the material in the novel as well as the Coen brothers did. Plus, in the new version, the actress who plays fourteen-year-old Mattie was just thirteen during filming. The actress in the original was twenty-one. And that says a lot in itself. I was in my early teens when I saw the original on TV and likely could easily see through the adult pretending to be fourteen.

The old version also took out a lot of the comic elements and made it more about Rooster and LeBoeuf and Chaney -- more of a traditional western. I think the Coen's managed to marry the two genres. Or rather make a YA with cross-over appeal, rather than a western. :)

One of the first things that struck me after seeing this movie was what an excellent lesson in POV it is. Perhaps it was just because I'm preparing to teach a POV workshop this weekend and thinking a lot about the topic, but I couldn't help but notice that here's not one scene in this movie that's not from Mattie's POV. Even the scenes that aren't really about her, or that she's not directly part of, we only see through her eyes... Entirely seen through the eyes of a fourteen year old girl. How could that not be a YA?

The trailer makes it seem like an adult western, and I suppose that was smart on the studio/distributor's part, but how little Mattie is in this trailer is misleading. As I said above, she is in every scene in the movie, even if she's just observing a few times. Also, the trailer makes her look like a victim. They skip the important part of that scene in the river. The part where she's incredibly brave.



A good ten or fifteen minutes of the movie goes by before we ever see (or hear) Rooster. And the first time we hear Rooster, she's tracked him down to an outhouse. And the Coen's don't cheat and show Jeff Bridges's face, or go for the potential funny moment of seeing him inside the outhouse with his pants down. Or without his pants down and simply hiding from the girl. No. We're left to imagine what he's doing and just see her banging on the door, saying things like, "you've been about your business for an awful long time, Marshall" and we only see the scene from her side. Similarly, when Rooster is testifying in a court case a few scenes later, (the first time we see his character), we don't see or hear any part of the trial until she walks in the room. Another example is when someone approaches Rooster and Mattie in the forest, when she's high up in a tree, we don't hear the conversation between Rooster and the man, until she's down out of the tree and within hearing distance. Anyone who wants to understand POV should watch this movie.

Even more, anyone who wants an example of an active, decisive, perfectly motivated protagonist should see this movie. Yes, Jeff Bridges is getting a lot of attention for his performance and he was excellent. Yes, Matt Damon is HILARIOUS as the bombastic braggart LeBoeuf (pronounced "LaBeef" in this movie -- which I found hilarious in itself). Yes, Brolin is astoundingly good as Chaney and Barry Pepper is so great in the role of Ned Pepper, I can't even imagine that Robert Duvall did it better in 1969. But the real star of this film is its protagonist, Mattie Ross, played by Hailee Steinfeld. She never misses a beat.

Mostly, I love that this is a story about a brave young girl in grown up and dangerous situations, but instead of being overwhelmed, she holds her own and doesn't need to rely on the adults for everything. Yes, it's true that she does need the adults. She couldn't have gone after Chaney on her own. But she's smart enough to know this and smart enough not to let the men take advantage of her, and even smart enough to push for her own way even when they aren't really trying to take advantage -- but thinking that they know what's good for her better than she does. This girl doesn't take cr%p from anyone. I particularly loved the scenes of her haggling near the beginning and how much she knows about law and how incredibly well-educated and articulate she is. Her word choices cracked me up so many times.

I think she's one of the strongest female characters I've seen in a long time who didn't have unrealistic skills or superpowers. And she's fourteen!

I even think my twelve year old niece should see this movie. I actually went the second time mostly to remind myself of the content because I'd already told my sister that she should take my niece to see it and started to question my recommendation. Yes, men get shot. Men get hung. It is a western. And there is one scene that's pretty gruesome, but it's not gratuitous and (like everything) it's shown through Mattie's eyes, and we feel the horror of it with her. (And compared to the violence in many PG-13 movies, it's really not that bad.)

YA is taking over the entertainment world right now -- it's even claimed the gritty western.

Maria Geraci Interview!

I interviewed the fabulous Maria Geraci at the Get Lost in a Story blog today! Come on by and say hi!

http://getlostinastory.blogspot.com/2010/12/maria-geraci.html

In other news... hosting dinner for 21 people tonight. Wish me luck. :)

Edgy YA Author

Today I'm interviewing Governor General Literary Award nominee, Cheryl Rainfield on Get Lost in a Story.

Her book SCARS is  fabulous. Difficult topic, but handled so well and such an accessible book.

Come on by and say hi!

Get Lost in a Story

I've joined a new group blog where our main aim is to put readers in touch with authors.

We launched this Wednesday, and today we're introducing ourselves if you'd like to stop by and meet the gang. You can suggest questions we should ask our visiting authors. You can suggest authors you'd like to see on the blog. Or you can just mock us. ;) Up to you.

Oh, so funny

I've seen this so many places now, I'm sure you've seen it already, but it so clearly represents the frustration I've felt talking to people since I started working toward writing in a serious way.

Thing is... nine years ago, I might have resembled annoying guy in this... Well, not that bad. But I really thought it was going to be so much easier. How foolish.

Hilarious Critique of NBA Short List

I think I love this man.

NaNo--NoGo

I had hoped to start a huge writing marathon today. Not officially nano, but during nano. I hope to finish my current WIP and revise it over the next 4-6 weeks.

Sadly, I'm still finishing off my revisions on another book, AND either I'm having the worst allergy attack, ever, or I'm coming down with a cold.

I'm still hoping it's allergies... We'll see how I feel in the morning. Le sigh.

Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood is in paperback!!!

Writer friend Eileen Cook's novel GETTING REVENGE ON LAUREN WOOD is out in paperback!

If you didn't snag the hardcover, now's your chance. Even if you did snag the hardcover, why not have a complete set or buy one for a friend?

Here's Eileen's character Lauren, offering her help to the masses.

You can even get advice from Lauren here. popularlauren.com

Not Your Typical Fairy Tale Story

I'm guest blogging today at Cindy Procter-King's blog about my bumpy adventures on the road to publication.

Stop on by!

Also, I hope to be doing some posts about the film festival, soon. So far have seen two great ones and about 10 "okay" ones. More later. :)

Scott Pilgrim

Has anyone else seen this SCOTT PILGRIM vs THE WORLD? I LOVED it, and not just because it was set in Toronto. And REALLY set in Toronto, not like so many other movies and TV shows that are filmed here but not set here. There was even one part of the movie where they were on the set of another movie... and there's a bit where characters get thrown through a scrim that's a backdrop of New York. Maybe that's only funny if you live in Toronto and know how many films set in NY are actually shot here... but I thought it was funny.

An aside... but assuming it was shot last winter, they must have had to make a lot of snow... because it was set in a snowy, wintery Toronto, and we didn't get any snow last winter... Just saying. But the city looked great. Reminded me why I love living here. And shots inside places like Lee's Palace and at Casa Loma were really fun, too.

And these examples of tiny things that are almost like background laughs amongst the action. This movie was so funny on so many levels. Highly entertaining. It's shot like a video game, but in a natural way, as if it's perfectly normal for this ordinary guy to have powers and be able to pick up new tools to use or score points when something happens.

I liked it so much, I want to see it again.

If you've seen it, let me know what you think!

RWA 2010 Photos

I talked a bit about the RWA conference over on DWT today! Stop on by and see some great photos.

What Do Rob Blagojevich and I have in common?

I got some really bad news in late April that I've been mostly sitting on, hoping I could put off telling people until it turned into good news... And it finally has.

What Blogo and I have in common is the bad news not the good news, and it doesn't have anything to do with fraud or corruption or bad hair...Both of us had our publisher close their doors on April 26, 2010.

Yes, after giving up my entire life this winter/spring, alienating friends and family, nearly driving myself insane to make a crazy deadline... the publisher unexpectedly shut down.

But, the good news is that I have a new publisher! Can't announce all the details, yet, but both Cinderella: Ninja Warrior and Sleeping Beauty: Vampire Slayer will be likely be released in 2011 (instead of October 5, 2010 as previously announced). And there will be new covers, etc. More details soon!

I've already seen a mock up of the kind of cover the new publisher is aiming for and let's just say: very pretty! Very classy! Love the look. Can't wait to see the final covers!!!   :)

So, will announce more later, but finally my bad news has morphed into good news.

Plus, my critique partner Ann Lethbridge aka Michele Young won a huge award tonight!

The Daphne Du Maurier Award of Excellence for Published Historical Romantic Mystery/Suspense.

Yay, Michele!

Viral Advertising

I can't believe I'm posting this sort of ad for Old Spice, but I have to tell you, this viral campaign via twitter is the funniest thing I've ever seen.

Especially this one where he's supposedly saying a few words in support of libraries. For those of you not on twitter (why not??), basically people post questions or requests for this guy @oldspice and he responds via these funny clips on youtube.



"Book's are often composed of many, many words... I'm handsome. You're pretty. Let's eat peanut butter..."

Cracks me up.

Police State and other surprises

I blogged over at DWT today about an upcoming conference and how Toronto's turned into a police state...

In other news, Toronto had an earthquake today. And not a tiny one.

It's official now. I've felt more earthquakes here (three) than I did in my 6 1/2 years in the San Francisco Bay area (two). Go figure.

Finally.... Bachelor Jake and Vienna split up? What a shock and surprise. ;)

Debut Author Allie Larkin

We're interviewing debut author Allie Larkin over on Drunk Writer Talk this week. Comment or ask questions for a chance to win a book!

Brontë Sisters Action Figures!

Chatting about Feedback

We've got debut thriller author, Chevy Stevens, at Drunk Writer Talk today, talking about getting feedback during the writing/revising process.

Stop on by and say hello!

Best Book Trailer -- Ever

Okay, I've seen a few other really good ones. But this one cracked me up.

Covers!

I was excited last week to find out my debut novels are up on all the online retailers for pre-order, and Amazon has the covers up!



Link to Cinderella: Ninja Warrior on Amazon.com



Link to Sleeping Beauty: Vampire Slayer on Amazon.com.

Pretty exciting to see the covers up! And know the release dates. Both books are due to hit the shelves on October 5, 2010.

GH Nominations

I got a call this morning that my manuscript, SWITCHING SIDES, made the finals in RWA® 's Golden Heart® competition.

YAY.

My big lesson for this past year is to always give things a shot. It's relevant in this case because I almost pulled out of this contest. It's a contest for unpublished authors and I got my first book contract offer right around the time of the deadline to enter this competition. To be frank, I was hoping I'd be disqualified and get my money back. :)

But after talking to RWA® and telling them about my contract offer, they said I was still eligible to enter as long as the contract wasn't signed by November 1, 2009. (And in the end, it wasn't signed until Jan 2010.) Therefore, if I chose not to enter, I'd be forfeiting my already paid entry fee.

So, I decided to roll the dice and pay the shipping costs to get that puppy down to Houston. AND IT PAID OFF!!!

This marks the last time I can enter the Golden Heat®, and I'm a finalist again! (Last time was in 2007) Yippee!!! And with a book that I really love and believe in AND that's never been shopped!!!
(The last time I finalled in this contest, my book had already made the rounds in NYC, so while the contest final gave it a bit of a second chance, that ship had basically already sailed.... Although I am still hoping that particular ship can find some wind again in the future...)

And in even more exciting news, my critique partner and very good friend Molly O'Keefe is nominated for a RITA®!!!

A good day.

Don't Kill the Messenger

We're blogging about vampires all week at Drunk Writer Talk to celebrate the release of Eileen Rendahl's latest release -- her urban fantasy debut -- DON'T KILL THE MESSENGER. This book is getting AWESOME reviews all over the place.

Stop by and comment for a chance to win her book!

Curling rocks

Blogging about why curling rocks today over on DWT.

Musings on confidence and killer deadlines

Confidence is such a funny thing. For me, it waxes and wanes with speeds that defy nature and logic.

Today, this hour, this minute, I feel pretty great. Book one in this new series has been cleared by my editor. Yay. And while I'm terrifyingly behind on book 2 (don't tell my editor. Oops, she sometimes reads this blog...) I feel pretty good about the story and where it's going. Sure, it won't be as super polished as I'd like it to be when she gets it in less than 2 weeks, but I'm pretty sure it'll be a coherent (and damn good) story. And I'm also confident I'll be able to do that polishing after I get her revision letter, a few days later. (Yes, this timeline is hyper accelerated. I honestly expect to get my revision letter a week, or less, after turning in the ms.) So, confidence high right now.

Just a few days ago -- hell, this morning -- I'd been so confused about how to solve a few technical details that I wondered if I'd have to scrap the entire book and start over.

I totally let my confidence in my abilities to solve these problems fade and it left me in a panic. Deep breaths. Deep breaths.

I ran into my sister in law this morning by accident, she asked if there was anything she could do to help (grocery runs, cutting off my internet access) and I told her confidence was my biggest barrier to meeting this deadline right now. LOVED her response. She said she believed in me and reminded me she'd been telling me that for nearly four years, ever since I let her read one of my manuscripts. She said if I lacked confidence she took it as a personal insult -- me suggesting that she was wrong about my talent. LOL.

Thanks K. And thanks too, to CP's Molly and Sinead for pulling me down off a yet another ledge this weekend. Not only did they talk me through my plot issues, Molly kept repeating, "It's going to be okay. It's going to work out." In a sincere way that made me believe her.

Good friends and family rock!

Modern Family Love

Blogging about my obsession over the show Modern Family on Drunk Writer Talk today.

Coffee Shop Offices

I've read a few articles lately about the "war" between people who use coffee shops as offices and those who think coffee shops should only be used for socializing/drinking coffee. According to the articles, some coffee shop owners have been covering up outlets with tape, to prevent (people like me) from plugging in laptops and staying for hours.

Clearly, since I often use coffee shops as my office, I can't side with the "social only" folks, especially the ones who want to ban laptops, but I think there's a balance.

I always try to spend enough money to compensate for how long I sit... It's not fair to the owner or other customers if you buy a small coffee at 10:00 am and stay all day. I've considered asking the owner of my local shop whether me sitting here for 3-4 hours some days pisses him off... But he almost always gives me free coffee when he's serving, so I assume not.

Second, I try to be considerate of the customers who are here to socialize and don't expect them to modify their behavior for me. That said, I have been guilty of a sneer or two at really loud talkers. I mean, seriously, some people talk loudly enough to be heard on another planet. But I always carry ear buds, and if a conversation near me is distracting, I plug them into my laptop and turn some music on low to buffer/dull the loud talker.

But another person who uses my local coffee shop as an office is here today... And he's pissing me off. Why? He's been on the phone. Constantly. I've been here for nearly 3 hours and he was here when I came in. Was on the phone then. Is on the phone now. And buddy, shielding your industrial strength headset with your hand doesn't keep me from hearing your very loud, very annoying voice beside me.

Maybe that's where I stand. If someone's distracting me being social, I assume it's my problem, not theirs. But if someone else who's using this public space as an office distracts me, I'm annoyed.

And don't get me started on the groups of 20 or more mommies who come in together with strollers and expect everyone else to move to accommodate them. At least my current fav office away from home is too small for those stroller groups.

Sumo Awesomeness

Check out this Japanese promo spot for Glee. Makes me smile. :)

Seriously?

The Hangover? Seriously?

That's all I have to say.

Oh, and that Tobey Maguire was amazing in Brothers. If you didn't see this film when it was out for about a week... rent it for his amazing performance alone. Stunning. Thanks Golden Globes for reminding me about a great film.

Finally, Molly's blogging about my stress over at Drunk Writer Talk, I guess because I'm too stressed to do it myself. ;-)

Stuff I Like

Blogging with my fellow drunk writers today about stuff I liked in 2009.

Guest Blogging

Today I'm guest blogging on Elisabeth Naughton's blog to help celebrate the launch of her new book, STOLEN SEDUCTION.

Stop by for a chance to win a copy of THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF TIME TRAVEL ROMANCE, and if you're really lucky, a $100 gift card!

Hooked on Vampire Diaries

I saw the first episode of Vampire Diaries when it aired back in the fall and kind of went, "M'eh."

Didn't hate it, but didn't like it enough to set my already way too busy DVR. But this week, while not much else was on, Much Music, up here in Canada has been showing back to back episodes all week and boy, have I got sucked in. (Pun intended.)

What I hadn't realized before was that Kevin Williamson was the writer. I didn't watch Dawson's Creek the first time around, either, but did catch a bunch of them in syndication and totally got the appeal of that show. Witty repartee and teen angst. What's not to love?

And now Vampire Diaries: witty repartee, teen angst and hot, hot vampires.

Not to mention Boone from Lost. Yowza. I know it's a little sick, but that Boone loves his sister subplot from the first season of Lost was one of my favourite subplots, although it might have had more to do with his eyes and the way he looked at her than the actual writing.

But regardless, it's great to see that actor on TV again and in such a great role. I totally feel like a cougar. A cougar who wants the hot bad-boy vampire. Wow. Sick.

First release day!

So suddenly, all I'm blogging about is firsts. To be more accurate, I suppose, I haven't been blogging much at all lately, but that's mostly because of another first, my first real deadline that's looming over me like an overhanging cliff in an earthquake. Don't stand under the huge chunk of shaking rock, idiot! LOL

But today is the official release date of the anthology my short story, "Lost and Found" is in. Not quite the same as a debut novel, but it is the first time my fiction has been in print -- well, unless you count high school yearbooks and the like. And my yearbook didn't have such a hot guy on the cover.

Although it's officially available today, Amazon and other online booksellers have been shipping this book for more than a week now. In fact, it seems like they're running low on stock because the ship by date has stretched out. But still time to get it by Christmas. 20 authors for the price of, well, less than 20. ;-)

Can't wait to actually see a copy in a bookstore. Will be heading down to my local store this week to hound them into shelving it, if they still have it in the stockroom, or ordering it, if they haven't. They have stocked the previous "Mammoth" romance anthos, so I'm hoping they stock this one, too. If not, I'll beg and plead and promise to send people to the store to buy it.

If anyone out there sees this anthology on a shelf, let me know. Better yet, take a snap. Very exciting. And if you'd like a chance to win your very own copy, I'm also blogging on the 2007 Bond Girls blog today and giving away a book!

First book deal!

Okay, so I've been sitting on this news for a while now, waiting for various details to be hammered out. Sitting on it so long, in fact, that this announcement feels almost anticlimactic. But, really, how can there be anything anticlimactic about announcing MY FIRST BOOK DEAL.

Yes, I have been offered a two book deal! Someone is actually paying me to write! Someone is making a bet that readers will put down their hard earned cash to buy something I wrote! Wow. (Something more than a short story, that is. To read my first published short story, order here. ;-) Already shipping from Amazon in the US. Just saying....)

The offer was made based on a proposal :-) and it's for two YA novels, (young teen, really), a genre I've been flirting with for a long time, but had yet to tackle beyond the ideas stage.

The books will be released in Fall 2010 (yes, that soon **Maureen is writing very quickly**) by Phoenix Books, a Beverly Hills based publisher better known for celebrity non-fiction and audio books than for kids fiction. (But hey, they did publish Carl Reiner's children's picture book.)

And I'm super excited they chose my series to help launch them into this segment of the publishing world. (Not that they don't know the teen/tween market... One of their current titles is "I Heart Robert Pattinson".

The books are the first two in a planned series based on fairy tales, but with a few twists -- including a "make your own adventure" element where the reader gets to choose what the characters do next.

The first two books are:

CINDERELLA: NINJA WARRIOR, wherein Cinderella is not that interested in going to a ball, and uses her martial arts and magic skills to defeat her evil stepmother and win the heart of the prince.

And...

SLEEPING BEAUTY: VAMPIRE SLAYER, wherein a princess is cursed to sleep during the day, and everyone else in her kingdom is cursed to sleep at night -- when the vampires attack. How's a girl to find true love and break a curse when all the non-bloodsucking-type boys are asleep?

We're already talking about books 3 and 4 and I'm excited about those ideas too, and the ones I have percolating for books 5 and 6 and... I'm getting away from myself.

I've always loved the magic, wonder and happy endings offered by fairy tales, but even as a kid was bothered by all the passive heroines in peril, waiting for their princes to save the day. I'm thrilled to be re-imagining these much-loved stories with tons of girl power, lots of action and danger, and yes, handsome, charming princes, too. But in my fairy tale world it'll take more than good looks for the heroines to win a happily-ever-after ending.

And I'm hoping these books will mark a happy beginning for me. After several other projects came so close to making it to the ball, but never quite got there, I feel a bit like Cinderella myself right now. Gotta run, pumpkin carriage outside... ;-)

Blogorama!

Okay, so I've been sorely neglecting this blog of late, but today I'm blogging on both Drunk Writer Talk, (about Mad Men), and on Nobody Writes It Better, (about Remembrance Day).

Ready, Set, Go!

About to embark on a rapid writing marathon a la Nano. (Okay, I have signed up for NaNoWriMo, but can't be an official "winner" because I'm already 4K into the book, and hope to be at least 15K in before the end of October and the official NaNo start. But definitely plan to get at LEAST 50K done in November, too.

If you're on NaNo, be my buddy. I'm on there as mmcgowan.

Wish me luck!

Agent Hunting Exposed

I'm blogging about the great agent hunt over on DWT today. Who is rejecting whom?

I had fun with it. Check it out. :-)

Introducing.... Chevy Stevens

About 3 years ago, I sat across the aisle from a woman during a Donald Maass workshop at the Surrey Writers conference.

She was so strikingly attractive she was the kind of girl a girl like me almost wants to hate instantly, or at least make assumptions about (shame on me). ;-) But soon I noticed we were nodding at the same insights from Maass, smiling at the same things, rolling our eyes in the same places, and even making eye contact a few times. Writer flirting?

We talked during the first break, found out more about each other and each others writing, and became instant friends, staying in touch via e-mail since then.

So, I couldn't have been more thrilled to hear when she got her first publishing contract last year!!!!

Writing as Chevy Stevens, her thriller STILL MISSING will be released by St. Martin's Press in July, 2010, and is already generating a huge amount of buzz. (Bzzzzz....You hear it, don't you!)

Right now, bookreporter.com is giving away 60, yes 60, specially formatted early reader copies of STILL MISSING to readers who would like to preview the book and comment about it.

Get yours while they're hot!

(I read an early draft of the opening of this book and all I can say is WOW.)

Chevy on the web.
Chevy on facebook.
Chevy on twitter.

The Private Lives of Pippa Lee

LOVED this movie.

Also glad to have had a good movie going experience at Roy Thompson Hall, again, after not going to a gala for the past seven years.

The experience was good because of a smart gamble I took in line. I had a balcony ticket. And Roy Thompson Hall is a symphony hall. Built for acoustics, not for viewing movies, and I already knew that watching a movie from the top balcony, with it's pale grey walls bouncing all the light so that you can see everyone in the theatre, as well or better than you could see the movie, was distracting at best. But while standing in the ticket holders line, about an hour before the movie was to start, a TIFF volunteer came by with a stack of tickets for the main floor level and offered them to us in exchange for our tickets. Most people weren't taking them. And after going in, I can kind of see why. 99.9% of the main floor seating is taken up by reserved seats for the various sponsors of the gala. But if you're only looking for a single ticket (as I was) and are willing to sit either on the edges or up front, it turned out to be a really good deal. I landed a seat in the second row, on an aisle. Yes, the movie was close, but only felt too close a couple of times, and I was right down front for when they introduced the cast and director at the start.

Unfortunately, my photo op dreams were dashed when a gaggle of photographers rushed in about five minutes before the introductions to block what would've been an amazing view. C'est la vie. Here's a lovely photo of one of the jerkiest photographer's backs. Jerky, because he stood back about 4 feet from the stage, to block our view even more effectively... I could almost touch him he was so close. Should've kicked him in hindsight. (But then I likely would've been kicked out and missed the movie.)

Anyway, I will post the photos I did manage to take.

And say something about the film... because it is about the film and not about photos of Keanu Reeves and Robin Wright. ;-) Really.

Loved it. The screenplay is based on a book by Rebecca Miller, who also wrote and directed the movie, and is also married to Daniel Day Lewis, so it's a little hard not to hate her, but her movie was so good, I can't. (She's beautiful, too... The next photo is of her.)

The story is about a middle-aged woman (I just had trouble typing that... because I think it's about a woman about my age) who's married to a much older man, and while the core of the story is anchored in the present, it makes heavy use of flashbacks showing Pippa growing up.

All the performances were outstanding. Even Blake Lively, one of the chicks from Gossip Girl, was good playing Pippa as a young adult. A stand out was Maria Bello as Pippa's mother. Wow. She's always good, but boy was she amazing in this.

Even all the small roles are played by great actors. Julianne Moore has a tiny, fun cameo. Winona Ryder was hilarious. A few of my laugh out loud moments came from her kind of pathetic character. And Keanu Reeves continues to impress me, now he's matured a bit. I thought he was terrific in that Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson movie, the name of which escapes me right now, and in some smaller films like Thumbsucker. I like that he's not afraid to play into the stereotypes about him as a person, and plays characters who suit him -- quiet, sensitive men -- instead of trying to be the alpha guy. (Like he did in a few ridiculous movies back in the 1990's. I mean really, even as Neo, Reeves was not an alpha.)

And what can I say about Robin Wright (sometimes Penn). Acting goddess. She was so believable in this movie, and I have to say one of the main reasons I love her these days is because she has wrinkles. It's been so long since we've seen the forehead or eyes of female actors (even some male actors) MOVE when they express emotion. I really hope this botox trend dies soon. But that's a blog for another day.

I know I haven't said much about the actual film, except to say I loved it, but I don't want to say too much. It is a "character study" kind of film... almost a coming of age film, even though it's set during a mid-life crisis of sorts, but it made me laugh out loud several times and it made me cry more than once (the mother-daughter stuff is very good). I'm not sure Pippa is someone I'd be friends with in real life, but boy did I feel like I understood her and how she got to be the way she was by the end. I predict award nominations for Robin Wright and possibly the screenwriter/director, Rebecca Miller, too.

Balibo

Well, yesterday was my first "wow" day of the festival and I have a sneaking suspicion it might be my one wow day this year, but who knows.

First Balibo. This is a film I bought a ticket for at the last minute, after getting an alert from the TIFF late Monday night that there still were tickets available. And I'm so glad my will power was weak at that moment.

It's an Australian film, set in 1975, about events I admit I knew nothing about before this. I suppose I'd vaguely heard of East Timor, but barely, and really don't know much about Indonesia, either.

To sum up the (true) story very quickly... East Timor was a Portuguese colony for about 400 years. It declared it's independence and very soon after, neighbouring Indonesia invaded committing many atrocities, and the world not only sat by and did nothing, but purportedly helped Indonesia, since some felt the new government in Timor had communist leanings.

But the story focuses on Australian journalists. Five who went into east Timor to a small village named Balibo, near the Indonesian border, a few weeks before the main invasion, and then one older journalist (played by Anthony Lapaglia) who went 3 weeks later to try to find them, or find out what happened to them.

I found the story moving and engrossing and like other films of it's kind, like The Killing Fields, Shake Hands with the Devil and Hotel Rwanda, it exposes events where history can look back at decisions made by the UN, in particular the powerful countries of the world, and we have only to hang our collective heads in shame.

The exciting thing about this film coming out now, is that it's now East Timor's tenth anniversary of breaking free of Indonesian rule, and also largely because of the film, Australia is now persuing war crimes charges on those responsible.

In this photo of the principle cast members, the actor, next to Lapaglia is Oscar Isaac, who played Jose Ramos-Horta, who represented East Timor, in exile, for 24 years in the UN and who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 and is now President of the country.

The film follows two timelines, interweaving them. Basically the route of the missing five journalists, and the route of Lapaglia's character, Roger East, and Jose Ramos-Horta following behind three weeks later. It all builds to a pretty horrific and moving conclusion.

This film got so much buzz during this year's festival, I kind of expect it will get some kind of distribution. I hope so.

If it comes to your city, go see it.

TIFF -- Whip It!

First, who knew there was another Wilson brother? Not me.

Monday morning, (I know, Monday morning!) I saw WHIP IT, Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut about Roller Derby.

I’m a little on the fence about this film, but mostly on the positive side -- just not on the jumping up and down raving about it side. Some of the performances were amazing. Marcia Gay Harden as the mom, Kristen Wiig, as usual stealing scenes with her dry delivery, andJuliette Lewis in a great performance in a made-for-her role. I mean, really, why hasn’t Juliette Lewis played a roller derby bully before now?

But back to my opening question... Through the whole film, I kept wondering, who does their coach remind me of? It wasn’t his appearance, it was his voice, his accent, his phrasing, his entire manner of speaking. And it finally hit me: he was doing a Luke Wilson impression. Or that’s what I thought, until we got to the credits and I saw the actor was named Andrew Wilson.

A quick peruse of imdb.com shows he’s been in quite a few films, but I don’t think I’ve noticed him before. Also turns out that it's actually Owen Wilson who does a pretty great Andrew Wilson impression, since according to their bios on imdb.com, Andrew is the oldest.

And, of course, I haven’t even mentioned the lead yet, Ellen Page. She was good, as always, but I thought the biggest stretch of the imagination for the audience was to believe tiny little Ellen Page as a roller derby player. But that’s why I’m glad I stayed for the Q&A.

I wasn’t at the first screening of this movie, and so neither Drew, nor any of the actors were at the screening I was at... :-( but who was there was the screenwriter. And I couldn’t have been more thrilled. I mean, we all know the writer’s the star, right? Here's a photo of the writer, Shauna Cross, during her Q&A.

Cross said a couple of interesting things about casting Ellen Page. First, that she pretty much wrote the part with Ellen in mind, after seeing her in Hard Candy. (A very disturbing little film, if you've never seen it.) Second, that she was attached to this project before Juno even happened (crushing my assumptions) and third, that there are lots of girls that tiny in roller derby. Who knew? The tiny girls are prized for being fast, getting through small holes in the pack, and bouncing back up when they fall. Hmmm... Shows how much I didn't know about roller derby. I mean, who even knew that roller derby had experienced a revival? I thought it had died a well-deserved death in the 70’s.

But while I’m still not sure I really developed an appreciation for this campy, showy sport, that has more in common with the WWE than speed skating, I do now understand the objective and how you score. :-)

And was very impressed that almost all of the skating and stunts were done by the actors, especially Ellen Page, who the screenwriter says could easily hold her own in a real roller derby league. There was actually a live demo of the sport in downtown Toronto Friday night featuring the cast and some local roller derby players... but I couldn't go.

So, I guess I haven’t really reviewed this film… It’s a tad predictable (but with a few choices that are less than cliché). I certainly could've done without a few things, like the food fight, but overall the performances and writing make it an enjoyable film to watch.

It opens in a couple of weeks. Here's the trailer if you haven't already seen it.

V.O.S.

And so it begins. I saw the first films of my much abbreviated festival this year.

The first one was really interesting, if not amazing, and I have no idea whether or not it will ever see the inside of theaters in North America. It was a Spanish film called. V.O.S., which in Spanish basically stands for Original Version – Subtitled. And I’m still puzzling over that title, slightly, especially after the director explained that while the film was bilingual, the actors speaking in both in Basque and Catalan, it was actually dubbed for its theatrical release in Spain. (Whereas, we saw it with the original actor's voices, but subtitled.) I assume it had something to do with that? Or a joke on what's real and what's fake? (see storytelling structure, below.) I'm not sure.

There were two interesting storytelling choices made in this movie. First, it’s told out of order, with the actors directly addressing the audience (almost) at times. In addition to this out of order thing… one of the main characters is writing a screenplay based on the story that’s supposedly happening to the characters, so occasionally there are parts where other characters break out of the scene to argue with the screenwriter character, to say, “That’s not how it happened.”

And if all that weren’t enough, it’s quite obviously filmed on a sound stage, with the “crew” interacting with the actors at times and the actors walking from set to set and by the end almost seeming like they were actually living in the sets on the sound stage. Confused? Well, so was the audience, but I think we were supposed to be. One of the sections of dialogue was actually an argument about the storytelling structure being too complicated. But in the end (actually, by about 1/3 of the way in, it was all fairly clear.)

The movie was based on a stageplay and from what I understood during the Q&A, the only thing really added to the screenplay from the stage script was this idea of the film crew being part of the movie.

I know all that sounds really complicated… but it was actually quite entertaining and funny in parts and the lead actor was hot, which goes along way for me. ;-) Okay, he might not look super hot in the photo above, but trust me. He had a bit of a Gerard Butler thing going on.