The Ugly Truth

This movie was much more than I was expecting. It had me laughing out loud at its crude, adult humor. The chemistry between Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler was hot. Katherine played a great role as a strong working woman clueless about men and dating. Gerard was an egocentric macho man with a soft underside.

Two big thumbs up!

Robyn Carr's Virgin River Series

You must read this series of books if you like strong women, stronger men and a small community that pulls together to help those that need it most.

Robyn Carr has an incredible ability to create characters with depth and warmth and humor. I lose myself in her books every time.

Here is the current list of books in print in the series. And she has plans to add more!!!
March 2010 - Moonlight Road
February 2010 - Angel's Peak
January 2010 - Forbidden Falls
Book 8 - "Under the Christmas Tree" (novella)
Book 7 - Paradise Valley
Book 6 - Temptation Ridge
Book 5 - Second Chance Pass
Book 4 - A Virgin River Christmas
Book 3 - Whispering Rock
Book 2 - Shelter Mountain
Book 1 - Virgin River

Leap Year!

This past week I went to see Leap Year with Matthew Goode and Amy Adams. I first became fascinated with Matthew Goode a few years ago in a movie called Chasing Liberty with Mandy Moore. If I'm going to be completely honest here, he is one of the main reasons I went to see this movie.

Needless to say, I wasn't let down. I loved the movie and have also determined that Amy Adams is an actress to watch. She first became well known in the Julie and Julia movie. In this romantic comedy, there are lots of laughs, crazy moments and beautiful scenery in Ireland.

Plus, Matthew Goode played the perfect love interest for her character. The chemistry they had between each other made the plot blossom in front of the audience. I think Amy's journey in this movie as a woman in love can touch most women. At one point in all of our lives, we have wanted to do something completely crazy for love. :-)

When I got home, I couldn't wait to continue working on my WIP. Their love story inspired me. My reviews are very positive for this movie. I'd love to hear what you have to say.

Have a fantastic and safe weekend!

Ingrid

Movie Buffs

My hubby and I are huge movie fans. We've even spent an entire week at a film festival where we sat through four and five movies a day for several days in a row.

Last week my mother took my boys overnight, which gave my hubby and I an opportunity to spend an entire afternoon and evening at the movie theater. We squeezed in 3 movies and a pizza.

Our favorite of the day was The Blind Side, which Ingrid has already reviewed for us. Phenomenal story.

The next favorite movie was Up in the Air with George Clooney. It was a little left of center, which hubby and I usually enjoy. We were caught up in the story, but left feeling a little dejected at the not-so-happily-ever-after ending. We're both romantics at heart, and this was not a true romance with a HEA ending.

Finally the third place finish went to It's Complicated with Meryl Streep, Alex Baldwin and Steve Martin. Definitely several laugh out loud moments, but as my hubby said, "I didn't really care for any of the characters."

So a mixed bag of movies, but the pizza was awesome! I think we found our new favorite pizza restaurant in our area. Here's a cheer for Greek Tony's Pizza & Sub Shop. Go Tony's!!! :D

It's a Wonderful Life!

Of course, I have to recommend today that you watch the classic, It's a Wonderful Life. Every year I fall in love with Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey. I still laugh out loud during the dancing scene when they end up in the swimming pool. Such good fun!

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

The Blind Side

Happy Friday.

I went with my movie buddy to see The Blind Side that stars Sandra Bullock. It was fantastic. I know that some people did not give it a good review, but I disagree.

I loved seeing Sandra in this kind of supporting role. She had a spark to her that was interesting, and the story line never once allowed me to check my watch in boredom. I am usually a romantic love story kind of movie girl, but this was a movie that definately needs to be seen.

Some of the reviews focused on how there wasn't enough of Michael Oher's personal perspective. I disagree. This movie caused me to come home and Google Michael Oher. His story is fascinating. Plus, there is a book that the movie is based on called The Blind Side: Evolution of the Game. I definately feel this is a family movie to see. There are many lessons to be learned. Plus, it opens up another reading opportunity for the family. Go see the movie!!!!!

Ingrid. :-)

Jennifer Armintrout's New Lightworld/Darkworld Series

Jennifer Armintrout became a national bestseller with her Blood Ties series about vampires. If you haven't read them, they are The Turning, Possession, Ashes to Ashes, and All Souls' Night.

With her new series she has created a new world order consisting of the Lightworld, Darkworld and the Upworld. The veil between the magical world and the world of humans has been torn and fairies, trolls, demons, dragons, vampires, angels, elves, and all sorts of imaginary creatures now must exist on earth with humans. Of course, they can't all just get along.

Book one of the series, Queene of Light, tells the tale of Ayla, a half faery, half human, who can not escape her role in the ancient prophecy of the Fairy Court.

Child of Darkness and Veil of Shadows are books two and three in the series.

Queene of Light started a bit slowly for me. I had some trouble getting into the story because everything in the world building was new to me. I felt a little distant from it. But once I got to know the characters better, I couldn't put down the book.

The next day I picked up Child of Darkness and read it within a twenty-four hour period. Again I had a little difficulty with the book initially. I didn't particularly feel much sympathy for the main characters. They were showing all their warts and weren't very lovable. But as the action took off and the characters were forced to change, I enjoyed the story more.

I haven't bought Veil of Shadows, yet. But I'm greatly anticipating the conclusion to this unique tale of the Lightworld, Darkworld and Upworld.

New Moon - Twilight Saga

Happy Friday.

Many of you do not know this little fact about me. I am a HUGE Twilight fan. And, I am not a teenager! :-)

When Twilight was released, I saw the movie about eight times in the theater. Now that New Moon is out, I bet my Twilight buddy and I will see the movie at least twenty times. Over the top you say? Maybe, but for me, it has turned into a whole new form of literary analysis. Let me explain.

Being a writer, it fascinates me when another writer creates characters that people love. This is what happened in the Twilight Series. When I go to the movies, my buddy and I are comparing details from the book to the film. We truly enjoy this. I guess some could view this as an obsession, however, there are worse ways I could be spending my time.

So, the reviews on New Moon. I really enjoyed it, but I felt a little let down at the end. Of course, the director changed some things. At the end, I felt we needed more from Edward and Bella. There wasn't enough of their important conversation like in the book. I actually had to go back home and reread the end of the book to feel complete. Maybe I have read them so many times, that I am too picky. Anyway, I give the movie a thumbs up. I can't wait until Elipse in released in June 2010.

Ingrid.

Rent!

My hubby and I went to see our local university theater department's production of Rent, the musical. I had seen the movie version, which is awesome! So I was excited to see the live stage version.

I was amazed at the talent available here in West Michigan. The quality of the singing voices were great, but unfortunately poor sound mixing took away from some of my enjoyment. The volume of the band drowned out the volume of the vocals. And I didn't think the actors enunciated very clearly on the songs.

Nearly the entire story is told through the lyrics of the songs, so I was glad I already knew the story, otherwise I would have been lost during the show. My hubby didn't remember the story as well as I did from the movie version, so he enjoyed the stage version even less than I did.

Overall, it was great to see the local talent enjoying themselves on stage, and it made me want to buy the movie version so I could enjoy the songs over and over again. It's a great story full of love, heartbreak and hope. A true romance. Enjoy!

Love Happens

Happy Friday.

This week I went to see Love Happens. It stars Jennifer Aniston and Aaron Eckhart. I have to admit, I saw the movie preview when I was at the theater about a month ago. It looked good. I thought I was going to see a love story.

Well, it was a little misleading. I thought the story would be more about the way they fell in love. It was more focused on Aaron's character, Burke, and his journey. Yes, they did fall in love in the end, but I was left with a feeling of wanting more. I kind of felt mislead. I went to see two people fall in love and instead, I saw a man's journey to heal himself from past hurt. Not exciting when you are looking to find love at the movies. It's a bummer to feel that way.

In my WIP, it is my goal to make sure I tell the story of Jackson and Micaella and how they fell in love. Even though each character grows as a person and changes, their love is still the main focus of the story. Since I've been writing, I find that I tend to analyze books and movies unlike I did before. This has good points and bad points. Either way, it as made me really focus on the story I want to tell and how I want to tell it.

Hope you have a great week.

Ingrid

Doing the blog

Last year, when I told my friend, Monica, that I was writing a historical western set on a cattle ranch, she said I had to go online and check out a blog by a woman living on a cattle ranch in Oklahoma. I kept putting it off. I mean I thought it might help a little with my research, but how interesting could a woman blogging about living on a ranch in the middle of nowhere be?

Oh, was I in a for a big surprise!

This woman is every woman's dream of the perfect friend. She's funny, smart, loving, out-going, goofy and self-deprecating in the best of ways. She can cook up a storm and take beautiful photos of the process at the same time. Talk about talent. I would surely drop my camera in the batter bowl every time. She also does weekly give-a-ways of spectacular prizes.

From the little blog site she started three years ago, she has now won numerous awards, has published her first cookbook and has been televised on The Bonnie Hunt Show!

And what I appreciate the most from her is that she always puts a smile on my face when I read her daily blogs.

So ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, let me introduce you to Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman.

The Troubleshooters Series

There is one author that I have been studying for the past year. She started her career by writing category romances, developed a series within category romances, then made the move into mainstream fiction with a romantic suspense series. She is brilliant at deep POV, and she has taught me so much with her writing. And the best part is that I've heard she's a really nice person, too!!!

She has developed two series that focus on U.S. Navy Seals. Really hot, dangerous, sexy men who love their women ferociously and only second to their dedication to the United States. The category romance series is called Tall, Dark and Dangerous. Several of the eleven books have recently been reissued by their publisher. The mainstream series about U.S. Navy Seals is The Troubleshooters Series.

If you are looking for a new series with incredible storytelling, deep POV, intense drama and fantastic love scenes, then check out Suzanne Brockmann's The Unsung Hero, book one in the Troubleshooters Series. Then come back and tell me how much you enjoyed it.

Battlestar Galactica

Yes, it's sci-fi. And yes, it's romance! Tons of romance in fact.

Here is Wikipedia's synopsis:
The story arc of Battlestar Galactica is set in a distant part of the galaxy, where a civilization of humans live on a series of planets known as the Twelve Colonies. In the past, the Colonies had been at war with a cybernetic race known as the Cylons. With the unwitting help of a human named Gaius Baltar, the Cylons launch a sudden ambush on the Colonies, laying waste to the planets and devastating their populations. The handful of human survivors flee into space aboard any spacecraft they can reach. Of all the Colonial Fleet, the Battlestar Galactica appears to be the only military capital ship that survived the attack. Under the leadership of famed military leader Commander William "Bill" Adama, the Battlestar Galactica and its crew take up the task of leading the small fugitive fleet of survivors into space in search of a fabled refuge known as Earth.

A friend of my hubby's lent us the first season of Battlestar Galactica on DVD for our vacation in the U.P. in July. Every night after putting our boys to sleep, we curled up on the bed with my laptop and watched episode after episode of this great series.

We raced home from our vacation and immediately called hubby's friend to get the remaining seasons of the complete series. And now sadly we have only a few episodes left to watch. We've begun to pace ourselves, only watching one or two episodes at a night as the remaining ones dwindle.

So do yourself a favor this weekend, and get your hands on the pilot of BG. It was initially broadcast as a miniseries on the Sci Fi Channel, and enormous popularity caused it to be picked up by the network as a series.

The Time Traveler's Wife

Happy Friday!

I'd like to say a few words about The Time Traveler's Wife that I went to see this week with my movie buddy.

First, I should "explain" my movie buddy. She is a very good friend of mine, and our movie dates started when we entered the "Twilight" craze last year.

No, I"m not a teenager. Yes, I love Twilight, and I think Stephenie Meyer is beyond wonderful. My movie buddy and I went to see Twilight eight times in the theater. Each and every time, we found something new we loved about the characters that we didn't notice before. They kept us coming back for more. I was so intrigued by the characters, I found myself checking facts in the book against the movie. Stephenie created great characters.

What about The Tiime Traveler's Wife you ask? Well, I couldn't find any reason to go back and see this movie again or even rent it when it comes out. I have to admit I have not read the book. Maybe I would like it. However, the characters on screen lacked a depth for me that I look for in a good movie or a good book. I want to see the chemistry between two people who love each other on screen, and it was lacking between Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana. I just didn't feel it.

Now, the concept of time travel is very cool. I've personally always wanted to go back in time. But, I had a few other problems with this movie. For instance, every time Henry (Eric Bana) time traveled, he lost his clothes. Yes, he would end up in his birthday suit where he traveled to. And, he didn't get to pick his destination. So you ask, how did he solve this problem? He broke into people's homes or cars and stole their clothes. Silly if you ask me. I wasn't buying it. Purpose please, anyone?

Since I spent $6.75 on this movie, I had to ask myself what I learned from seeing this. Here's what I came up with. As I write my contemporary romance novel, I want my readers to feel the connection between my characters. To believe that they are in love and truly are destined to be together. I want that spark of chemistry flying off the page. In the movie, I felt all of this was missing. We've all seen movies or read books that we just can't get into. This was one of those times for me, and I was bummed. I left the movie depressed. I don't want my readers to ever feel depressed.

I'd love to hear other thoughts and reactions to this film. Enjoy your weekend, and I hope you enjoy our website.

Ingrid