Shotgun Posts This Week–New Series Starts 8/11
I just wanted to drop in quickly to say that my posts may be published somewhat randomly this week—lots of appointments and meetings (though no job interviews yet). I’m meeting with Chip MacGregor, my agent, this morning for coffee and conversation (and to meet his wife, Patty). Then it’s off to the dermatologist, then to the gym. Tomorrow I’m having lunch with a good friend whom I haven’t seen in quite a while. I love having the time to do stuff like this! And part of that “having time” will be dedicated to writing at least 2,000 words daily on Menu for Romance.
Yep, that’s right! Two thousand words. At least. Every day. Until it’s finished.
Next Monday, I’ll be starting a new blog series: Conference Prep. Yes, I know not everyone reading this blog is planning to attend the ACFW conference next month. But I hope that the topics discussed will be broad enough to encourage you all to attend a writing conference in the near future or help you make up your mind to go. The series will be written mostly by guest bloggers including Deb Raney, Lena Nelson Dooley, Ginny Smith, Lynette Sowell, and other published and nearly-published authors. So pass the word and be sure to check in every day.
I also spent some time Sunday afternoon working on some new Fun Friday topics. They’re still focused on movies, but moving away from musicals and into different areas.
Hope you have a good week and I’ll “see” you tomorrow!
Fun Friday–The Hills Are Alive . . .
“These are a few of my favorite things. . . .”
So far, I’ve covered my top four movie musicals:
1. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
2. State Fair
3. The Music Man
4. De-Lovely
Today, I add #5:
TRAILER
Yes, that’s right; cliche as it may seem, The Sound of Music rounds out my top five movie musicals. We had the LP of the music from the movie when I was growing up, and as soon as we got our first VCR (1982ish), it was one of the first things I recorded off TV. I was obsessed with this musical. I found out in my teens that there’s good reason for this: going to see The Sound of Music in the movie theater is the first date my parents ever went on.
The Sound of Music was the highest grossing film of 1965, making over $158 million in the U.S., crushing the previous box-office champion, Gone with the Wind. The film is based on the Broadway play by the same name, which itself was inspired by the book, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria von Trapp. With music by Rodgers & Hammerstein (State Fair, Carousel, The King & I), the film was directed by Robert Wise (The Day the Earth Stood Still, West Side Story, Star Trek: The Motion Picture) and filmed on location in Salzburg, Austria, and the Bavaria region of southern West Germany. The movie was awarded the Oscar for Best Picture of 1965, and the cast album was nominated for a Grammy for Album of the Year.
In the early 1960s, Julie Andrews was receiving rave reviews as Guinevere in Lerner & Loewe’s Broadway production of Camelot. However, Jack Warner at Fox didn’t think she had enough presence to make it as a movie actress, so he cast Audrey Hepburn as Liza Doolittle in My Fair Lady (even though Audrey Hepburn’s singing had to be dubbed by famous vocal-double Marni Nixon). Andrews, instead, was “relegated” to taking the role of a singing nanny—in Disney’s Mary Poppins. Walt Disney himself had seen Andrews in Camelot and saw the star potential in the young Brit. Andrews initially declined—she was pregnant. Walt apparently responded, “We’ll wait for you.” In 1963, after the birth of her daughter, Andrews began filming the musical that would launch her career.
For Mary Poppins, Andrews won the Academy Award and the Golden Globe for Best Actress. She ended her Golden Globes acceptance speech by saying, “And, finally, my thanks to a man who made a wonderful movie, and who made all this possible in the first place, Mr. Jack Warner.”
When the casting process for The Sound of Music began, Jack Warner remembered Julie Andrews and asked to see the dailies of Mary Poppins. Upon seeing her in the rough footage, he realized she did have screen presence and cast her in the role of Maria von Trapp. The role of Captain von Trapp would go to Canadian actor Christopher Plummer, though for a while Warner considered casting Yul Brynner (best known for his role in The King & I), Sean Connery, or Richard Burton. Weeks of auditions went into casting the six von Trapp children. Among those who auditioned were Kurt Russell, Richard Dreyfuss, Veronica Cartwright, Patty Duke, Mia Farrow, and the four oldest Osmond brothers (Alan, Jay, Merrill, and Wayne).
Finally, in early 1964, filming began.
Lyricist Oscar Hammerstein passed away several years before the film production began. Though most of the songs from the stage version are used in the film, Richard Rodgers wrote two new songs for the film: “Something Good,” which replaced “An Ordinary Couple”; and “I Have Confidence,” which was written as a bridge to get Maria from the Abbey to the von Trapp home. During one of the street scenes in “I Have Confidence,” the real Maria von Trapp can be seen walking through the background with one of her daughters. They had chosen that day to visit the set and director Robert Wise offered them this “walk on” role.
Not only does the story/plot in the film differ from the stage play, but both took great liberties with the real story of the von Trapps—who had been married for nearly ten years before the Anschluss and who “escaped” Austria by boarding a train to Italy, then taking a boat to London and later to the U.S.
The song “Edelweiss”—thought by many to be a traditional Austrian song, or even the national anthem—was actually written for the musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein; in fact, according to some sources, it was the last song Oscar Hammerstein wrote. The film released in the U.S. on March 2, 1965. My parents went to see it on their first date in early OCTOBER of that year—talk about a long theatrical run!
Finally, in closing, here’s a screen-capture collage of my favorite scene in the movie.
And in case anyone’s interested, because I was bored yesterday, I updated my “Best On-Screen Kisses” post with video clips from You Tube.
500th Post Contest Winners!
Woohoo! This is my 500th blog post! Who woulda guessed when I started this two and a half years ago that I’d have so much to write about, huh? 😉
Unless you’ve been incommunicado for the past month, you know that I’ve been running a contest to celebrate (and to build the readership of my blog a little). So my 500th post is dedicated to my readers—at least to the five of you who won! The grand prize–winning story was selected by a panel of five regular blog readers who did not enter for the grand prize drawing. The stories were copied and pasted into a document and identified only by a letter, with any names that might identify the author taken out. The names of the other prize winners were drawn out of a box by a couple of friends (who pride themselves on not reading my blog) at dinner Wednesday evening, to keep things as fair as possible.
Since so many people have asked, here’s the playlist of music on the CD:
1. Ain’t That a Kick in the Head—Dean Martin
2. Mona Lisa—Nat “King” Cole
3. Memories Are Made of This—Dean Martin
4. Come Fly with Me—Frank Sinatra
5. Volaré—Dean Martin
6. Unforgettable—Nat “King” Cole
7. I’ve Got You Under My Skin—Frank Sinatra
8. I Can’t Give You Anything but Love—Peggy Lee
9. It Had to Be You—Dick Haymes
10. I Get a Kick out of You—Frank Sinatra
11. That’s Amoré—Dean Martin
12. Someone to Watch Over Me—Frank Sinatra
13. Return to Me—Dean Martin
THE WINNERS
Grand Prize: ERICA VETSCH
(Signed copy of Stand-In Groom, Mixed CD of music mentioned in the book, and a $100 Amazon.com gift certificate.) Her winning wedding story entry is posted below.
2nd Place: LESLIE SOWELL (GREYFORT)
(Signed copy of Stand-In Groom, Mixed CD of music mentioned in the book, and a $50 Amazon.com gift certificate.)
3rd Place: PATRICIA WOODSIDE
(Signed copy of Stand-In Groom, Mixed CD of music mentioned in the book, and a $25 Amazon.com gift certificate.)
4th Place: CJ
(Signed copy of Stand-In Groom, Mixed CD of music mentioned in the book, and a $15 Amazon.com gift certificate.)
5th Place: TRACY RUCKMAN
(Signed copy of Stand-In Groom, Mixed CD of music mentioned in the book, and a $10 Amazon.com gift certificate.)
GRAND PRIZE–WINNING WEDDING STORY by ERICA VETSCH:
Last summer, I was tasked with preparing fruit for a wedding reception. A. Lot. Of. Fruit. One major problem with this was the fact that cantaloupe, both the sight and smell, make me ill. But I chopped up ten of those beauties, along with a dozen watermelons, a zillion grapes, enough strawberries to keep a person in daiquiris for life, and a plethora of other assorted fruits.
While I was playing fruit-basket-upset in the church kitchen, the bridal party was in and out of the fellowship hall, getting pictures taken, getting flowers pinned on, and having a good time. The bride was gorgeous, the groom handsome, and the attendants enjoying themselves. In the wedding party were an adorable flower girl and a ring bearer.
The flower girl looked like a miniature of the bride in a sweet white dress with her golden hair in an up-do. She carried a little white basket with yellow ribbons. The ring-bearer was dashing, a little imp with brown eyes and a buzz-cut. He sported a tux and those shiny shoes that squeak when you walk. He enjoyed running full tilt and sliding on the slick soles.
Because they were not needed in the next set of photos, and because they were both about seven and needing a breather from behaving themselves so well, their parents told them they could go into one of the Sunday School rooms and play with the toys.
I heard them in there laughing and talking as I hoisted the tenth watermelon onto my cutting board and prepared to do surgery. Then it got quiet. Knife poised for the fatal blow, I listened.
Crack! The door flew open and a tiny tornado of a flower girl stormed out. Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! A sheepish ring bearer peeped around the door jamb.
Halfway across the fellowship hall, the flower girl whirled around and put her hands on her little hips. She glared at the ring bearer.
“I’m telling my mom you kissed me on the lips. And we’re not even married!” She spun on her glossy white Mary Jane shoes and stalked out of the room.
The ring bearer sidled out of the classroom, stuck his hands in his pockets and walked past the kitchen window. He gave me a saucy little “It was totally worth it” grin.
That boy is going to break some hearts someday…if he doesn’t get his nose broken first.
Truth in Fiction
I was in a discussion online the other day where an idea was being bandied about that is something I heard when I first started pursuing publication: that all new authors should write romance because romance is “easy” and getting published in romance is “easier” than in any other genre.
As a confirmed romance writer, this statement always ticked me off, because though I enjoy writing romance, it has never been “easy,” especially once I started studying the craft of not just writing in general, but of writing the specific genre of romance. So I quoted this passage from Madeleine L’Engle’s Walking on Water:
- The artist, like the child, is a good believer. The depth and strength of the belief is reflected in the work; if the artist does not believe, then no one else will; no amount of technique will make the responder see truth in something the artist knows to be phony. (pp 148–149)
And then also:
- Whether a story is to be marketed for grownups or for children, the writer writes for himself, out of his own need, otherwise the story will lack reality . . . if it is totally honest and unselfpitying, then it will have the valid ring of truth. If it is written because it is what is at the moment fashionable, and not out of the writer’s need, then it is apt to be unbelievable. . . . (pg. 109)
We’re taught all of our lives that the words truth and fiction are opposite in meaning, and thus the phrase truthful fiction is an oxymoron. But anyone wanting to be a published writer must understand that it is not an oxymoron—it’s the mandate put upon us as crafters of story.
When we sit down to write, we’re making something up; we’re coming up with fiction, with something that hasn’t really happened. But when we do so, we’re actually calling upon things that are real and true: feelings, emotions, experiences, thoughts, deeply held beliefs. If we ignore those things to dash off a particular kind of story not because it’s the story of the heart but because it has a better chance of selling, we’re lying to our readers and betraying ourselves as artists (as Madeleine L’Engle calls us).
Writing shouldn’t be “easy.” At least not in the way this term is used in the argument for all new authors writing romance because they say it’s the easiest genre to write (all you have to do is plug characters into a formula, right?) and the easiest to get published in (more than 50% of all fiction sold is romance/women’s fiction). All writing should be hard work, because all writing should come from deep within, no matter if it’s a category romance or a literary saga.
L’Engle also wrote:
- No matter how true I believe what I am writing to be, if the reader cannot also participate in that truth, then I have failed. (pg. 147)
I write romance because, for me, the desire to fall in love and get married is one of the truest things in my life. I also write characters who are still single in their mid- to late-thirties and early forties because, again, that is something that is true for me. Maybe there are some folks out there who approach my stories with speculation, unable to believe that there are still men and women in this country who are not only still not married by this age, but who are still pure (heaven forbid!) and dedicated to waiting until marriage. But because I am writing from a place of truth, of honesty, it is my hope that even those who begin reading with speculation will be able to participate in the truthful fiction that I’ve crafted.
Not very often, but a few times, I have read a novel and could not get into it, even though it was well crafted and the technical aspects of it were perfect. Upon further reflection, I couldn’t identify with the story—it didn’t ring true to me—and I came to discover it was written by someone who was either following a trend in writing (such as everyone who jumped on the chick-lit bandwagon a few years ago, even though it wasn’t the genre they really felt called to write) or someone who got pigeon-holed into a particular genre and just churns out book after book with the same basic storyline and characters. These are throw-away books, stories that no one will remember a week after reading them.
I want to write fiction that sticks with people, that makes them think, that makes them want to keep the book on their shelves for years and re-read it occasionally just to remember the truths that the characters and story convey: forgiveness, honesty, trust, and the power of love to conquer even the greatest fear.
How do you convey truth in your fiction? What are the truths that you want people to walk away from your stories with?
Meg Cabot on Writing
Since I need to focus on getting final alts finished on Stand-In Groom today, I thought I’d get someone else to talk to you about writing today. So here’s Meg Cabot’s advice on writing:
Just One of Those Days
I’m sure everyone’s been wondering where my Monday post is . . . well, it’s just been “one of those days.” Though I did sleep in this morning, and though I did have a good weigh-in at Weight Watchers this afternoon, I then went to go through emissions inspection so that I can renew my tags by the end of the month . . . and, naturally, my car failed inspection. But, at least it wasn’t anything major—just the gas cap that needed to be replaced as it’s apparently kind of worn down (imagine that, on a nine-year-old car!). So I ran over to the neighborhood O’Reilley’s Autoparts store and bought a new one (less than $10). But now I’ll have to go back to the MARTA station tomorrow and sit in line in the blazing heat to get it re-inspected.
A little bit of exciting news: I got final changes on Stand-In Groom back from the copy editor today! So I’ll be working on those changes this afternoon and tomorrow, with my goal in mind to have everything back to her by the end of the (working) day tomorrow. I said I wasn’t going to put myself on a “working” schedule this week, but she has a deadline of August 1 to get everything turned in to Barbour, so I want her to have as much time as she can to get all of the changes incorporated into the manuscript so that I’m not stressing her out by taking too long to get everything done.
On the contest front: The entries for the Grand Prize drawing went out to the team of anonymous judges yesterday. They’re supposed to be getting back to me with their top three picks by tonight and hopefully from that, there will be a clear winner. Don’t forget—if you entered but you aren’t the grand-prize winner, you’ll still be entered for the drawing for one of the four remaining prizes!
I’ve just pulled together the playlist of all of the songs and as I’m working on edits today and tomorrow, I’ll be burning the CDs so that they’ll be ready to drop into the mail Thursday.
And that’s pretty much all I can think of to write about today. So someone else start a conversation and then we’ll all join in!
Fun Friday–De-Lovely: Not a Musical for the Whole Family
“Have you ever seen a musical without a happy ending?” ~De-Lovely
Last Friday, Erica posted her top five musicals. My comment there was a bit convoluted, so I’ll try to clear that up today. So far, I’ve posted about my top three favorite musicals—just not necessarily in order. So here they are in order:
1. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
2. State Fair
3. The Music Man
Today, I’m adding #4 to that list. But be warned: this is not a musical that will suit everyone’s tastes, and is definitely a film for adults.
De-Lovely is the (slightly fictionalized) account of the unconventional but beautiful love story of Cole and Linda Porter, starring Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd. You might not recognize Cole Porter’s name, but you might recognize some of the songs that he wrote over his career, some of the most famous of which are featured in this film. He was a highly successful Broadway musical writer, and he had some success with his musicals being adapted for film, including Panama Hattie, Kiss Me Kate, and High Society.
In 1946, a very highly fictionalized (and sanitized) version of the Cole-and-Linda story was released, starring Cary Grant as Cole Porter (Night and Day). I finally got around to seeing this older version after having fallen in love with De-Lovely and reading a brief biography . . . and the Cary Grant version bears little resemblance to the real Cole Porter’s life.
What I adore about De-Lovely is that though Cole and Linda’s marriage is shown as “unconventional” (at best), they make it work; and toward the end of the film, after an estrangement, it’s apparent how deeply these two characters love each other. (Yes, even though they’re based on real people, let’s be honest—these are characters.) This is my go-to film when I need a good cry, because there’s just something about the love story told in this film that touches me in a very deep place—influenced by the fabulous music.
The story is told using the framework of Cole at the end of his life being guided back through the story by “Gabe” (Jonathan Pryce, on the left) as if they’re watching it all take place on a stage with Cole and Gabe as the only audience. Along the way, Gabe questions Cole about things that have happened, giving the older Cole a chance to reflect on his thoughts and feelings (and yes, that is Kevin Kline under all that makeup—which, I’ve read, took 5 hours to apply). This “framework” technique took a bit of getting used to the first time I watched it, but once I saw it all the way through, not only did it make sense, but it added an entirely new dimension to the story (and to Gabe’s quote at the top of this post).
Another method used in this film is intercutting between scenes of Cole working on the music and the music being performed on stage. In this clip, he’s playing the centerpiece song of his new musical, Kiss Me Kate, because Linda is too sick to go to the opening with him.
Kevin Kline not only did his own singing (which was mostly recorded on set as they were filming instead of in a studio), any time he’s sitting at the piano, he’s actually the one playing. Ashley Judd, the so-called “non-singing Judd,” does her own singing in this as well.
As I mentioned, some of Cole Porter’s most beloved music is incorporated in this film:
- “Anything Goes” (Chorus)
- “Well, Did You Evah?” (Kevin Kline & Kevin McNally)
- “You’d Be So Easy to Love” (Kevin Kline)
- “It’s De-Lovely” (Robbie Williams)
- “What Is This Thing Called Love?” (Kevin Kline & Lemar)
- “Let’s Misbehave” (Elvis Costello)
- “Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love)” (Alanis Morissette)
- “True Love” (Ashley Judd & Tayler Hamilton)
- “Night & Day” (John Barrowman)
- “Anything Goes” (Caroline O’Connor & Chorus)
- “Begin the Beguine” (Sheryl Crow)
- “Be a Clown” (Kevin Kline, Peter Polycarpou & Chorus)
- “I Love You” (Mick Hucknall)
- “Just One of Those Things” (Diana Krall)
- “Experiment” (Kevin Kline)
- “Love for Sale” (Vivian Green)
- “So in Love” (Kevin Kline/Lara Fabian & Mario Frangoulis)
- “Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye” (Natalie Cole)
- “Blow, Gabriel, Blow” (Jonathan Pryce, Kevin Kline, Cast & Chorus)
- “In the Still of the Night” (Kevin Kline & Ashley Judd)
- “You’re the Top” (Cole Porter)
Now, before you go rent this and then come back here and rant and rave about how much you hated this movie, let me remind you that you’ve been warned: this story is not going to be to everyone’s taste. But it is one of my favorites, so that’s why I’ve blogged about it. That said, here’s my absolute favorite scene from the film:
Hot Diggity Dog!
After weeks (okay, months) of checking Amazon occasionally to see if, perhaps, I might find something there with my name attached to it (and yes, my name comes up in the acknowledgments of J.M. Hochstetler’s One Holy Night—thanks, Joan!), tonight, I finally found what I was looking for . . .
STAND-IN GROOM IS AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER ON AMAZON.COM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CONTEST UPDATE!!!
I know you’ve all been wondering what the standings are in the contest and just how many more of these silly posts you need to comment on, right?
Don’t forget that if you want to enter for the grand prize ($100 Amazon Gift Certificate, Book, CD), you need to have your wedding story turned in no later than midnight (U.S. Central Time) this Friday, July 25.
Here are the standings:
Shellie Powell–17 comments (8 entries in the drawing) + entered for grand prize drawing
Erica Vetsch–17 comments (8 entries) + entered for grand prize drawing
Eileen Astels–16 comments (7 entries)
Caleb Abel–16 comments (7 entries) + entered for grand prize drawing
Rose McCauley–14 comments (5 entries) + entered for grand prize drawing
Krista Phillips–13 comments (4 entries)
CJ–13 comments (4 entries) + entered for grand prize drawing
Leslie Sowell/greyfort–12 comments (3 entries)
Georgiana Daniels–12 comments (3 entries)
Amy Jane–12 comments (3 entries) + entered for grand prize drawing
Tracy Ruckman–10 comments (1 entry) + entered for grand prize drawing
Ruth Anderson–10 comments (1 entry)
Patricia Woodside–10 comments (1 entry)
The following people have not yet qualified for entry in the contest—but you’re almost there. Six days remain in the contest!
Rachel Wilder–9 comments
Nicole (ikkinlala)–9 comments
Emilie Bishop–9 comments
Sharon Lavy–8 comments
Jordan–8 comments
Amy Deardon–8 comments
Marcie Gribbin–7 comments
Jess–7 comments
Jennifer Hofmann–5 comments
The following people have entered a wedding story, but aren’t near where they need to be with comments to be entered into the drawing:
MaryBeth Isaac–Wedding story received, but only 4 comments posted
Meredith Duke–Wedding story received, but only 2 comments posted
For a reminder of the contest rules, be sure to visit the 500th Blog Post Contest & Giveaway page.
When Life Takes Us By Surprise
I’m happy so many people came by and commented on yesterday’s post. I haven’t had a chance to read most of them yet, but I will try to get to them today and get in on the discussion.
Last week, Amy Jane posted a link to a personality test where you can find out what type you are based on the Jung/Myers-Briggs model. One of the key factors of my personality type (ISTJ) is that I like for things to be planned out, mapped out, in advance of making a decision or taking a major step. I like to be mentally and emotionally prepared for any eventuality so that nothing takes me by surprise—and I’m not overly fond of surprises (at least not the kind that are more blind-siding than they are happy).
So, yesterday when I learned that I’m being laid off from my job after just two years (along with eight other people in the office of about twenty), it really threw me for a loop. I’m not prepared. I don’t have a plan. I probably should have been, since it’s been a trend in the publishing industry to freelance out all copy-editing duties, however after a company-wide meeting held two weeks ago, we were given reason to believe that we’d still be employed after August 1.
With only two weeks’ severance pay coming to me (meaning that I’ll be paid through mid-August), that means I need some money coming in from elsewhere so that I can take the time to make a good decision about a new job. So I need everyone’s help.
If you know of anyone who’s looking for a freelance copy editor—be it a publisher or an individual—please give them my name! If you know of anyone who would like a paid critique of their fiction, please, have them contact me.
In the meantime, don’t forget about the contest—and don’t worry, the contest is still in full swing and the prizes are still available and ready to be won!
KayeDacus.com 
