... although, admittedly without the splits or the shaming at the end. I have no shame. And then I went and stood in front of the TV and made my husband watch me dance. It feels SO GOOD to be done!
Now, before I get the Grumps, I have a few things to tell you about:
First of all, I mentioned possibly being on a panel at Comikaze this weekend. Unfortunately, that will not be happening this year, so I apologize if you were planning on swinging by to see me. Barring something cropping up in the next few weeks, I believe I'm done with public appearances for the time being. Stay tuned right here for updates.
Secondly, LitCrawl. Last Wednesday, I joined a bunch of lovely writers to do "Book and a Movie" at the Republic of Pie in North Hollywood, CA as part of the inaugural LitCrawl NoHo. The Los Angeles Review of Books sponsored our YA event, and it was fun!
Right before we went on, the management pointed to the room full of 20-something art school students and other people-- not one of who was under the age of 18-- and said "this is a family establishment, so keep it clean" in a stern voice. Which lead some authors to literally say "bleep" during their readings, and had me explaining violence doesn't count in a movie if it's toward a zombie.
Aside from some technical difficulties (um, if you don't have sound, why are there microphones?) which were quickly cleared up*, we had a decent roomful of folks and some hilarious movie/book combos:
1. Cecil Castellucci's First Day on Earth - Close Encounters of the Third Kind
2. Gretchen McNeil's 3:59 - Donnie Darko
3. Lauren Strasnick's Then You Were Gone - Skins (the BBC show)
4. Orleans - Doomsday (the world, not the story!)
5. Sarah Skilton's Bruised - Haywire
A scene from the movie of choice was played, then the writer took the stage and read the scene evoked by the movie, and then the movie trailer played. I confess I was hesitant at first, but also curious. The first scene started to play and a woman sitting next to me asked "Why are we watching these clips?" I said, "Hold on, it's a thing..." And it was a thing! A fun thing that totally worked out and made people clap. It also made them want to see Doomsday, which I can't really recommend as a "good" movie but hey, I watched it, so why shouldn't everybody? And I've been meaning to see Haywire. Now I can imbue that decision with literary purpose!
Thanks to the fabulous Cecil Castellucci for making me show Doomsday to the world! Litcrawl is still getting it's legs under it (ha!) but it looks like it will be a fun annual event!
In a further attempt to stave off the Grumps, I went to the bookstore tonight and came home with a giant book on Victorian Households (did you know a widow was expected to wear mourning clothes for two years or more?), and The Twistrose Key by Tone Almhejll. Looking forward to tea and text tonight!
