COMMENTARY: RIP Cindy Heinrich

I was in the theater restroom washing my hands after a particularly traumatic movie about whistleblowers whose name I cannot recall now. I had to compose myself before I went outside.

The woman at the sink beside me glanced in my direction. She was in her forties with reddish blonde hair in a ponytail. Like me, she was dressed casually in jeans and a loose top.

MOVIE REVIEW: We bought a Zoo

Director: Cameron Crow

Screenplay by: Aline Brosh McKenna and Cameron Crowe

Based on the Book by: Benjamin Mee

Cast:

Matt Damon Benjamin Mee
Scarlett Johansson Kelly Foster
Thomas Haden Church Duncan Mee
Colin Ford Dylan Mee
Maggie Elizabeth Jones Rosie Mee
Angus MacFadyen Peter MacCready
Elle Fanning Lily Miska

Benjamin Mee's a single father in trouble. It's just six months since his wife, Kathryn, died. His son's just been expelled from his school for stealing and creating some pretty disturbing (cool) art and his little girl Rosie really needs a place to sleep where the neighbor's "happy" isn't quite so loud.

BOOK REVIEW: Joe Peace -- Kerry Dunn

I read the excerpt for Joe Peace in the 2008 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards contest and it’s taken me four years to finally read the whole story. I knew I’d have to set the evening aside when I got Joe Peace in my hot little hands. I was right and better yet, I was not disappointed.

Joe Peace takes place in pre-tech boom Austin, Texas, a place where rednecks and hippies exist in peace. It’s a city that can hold its own even when the protagonist is a former good cop gone druglord.

Never Eighteen Project

For her debut novel, Never Eighteen, Megan Messina Bostic offered fifty of her friends a unique opportunity to spread the word. She'd send them a free copy of the book with the following request: 

•                Read it

•                Pass it on 

•                Record how you “passed it on” in photos, video, or words. 

You could “pass it on” to someone else you think might want to read it and participate in the campaign. Or, you could “pass it on” by introducing it to your favorite indie bookstore or library, donating it to a high school English teacher, high school librarian, or a teenager you think will like it.   You could share it with your book club, leave it at a Starbucks, on a park bench (weather permitting); anywhere you think someone will find it.  Be as creative as you wish.

BOOK REVIEW: Never Eighteen -- Megan Messina Bostic

It's always good to see a friend and fellow writer succeed. At the infancy of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards competition back in 2008, I was certain Megan Bostic would get published.

While Megan is an excellent wordsmith, she also understands marketing very well. She worked hard at getting her name out: networking, doing excellent video reviews of other writers' excerpts, and creating a blog while the rest of us were still struggling with our words.

While I enjoyed Megan's ABNA excerpt, she's grown a great deal from her first attempt at a YA novel. Here's the blurb for Never Eighteen:

MOVIE REVIEW: War Horse

DIRECTED BY: Steven Spielberg

Writing credits

Lee Hall	Screen Play
Richard Curtis	Screen Play
Michael Morpurgo	Novel

CAST:
Jeremy Irvine ... Albert Narracott
Peter Mullan ... Ted Narracott
Emily Watson ... Rose Narracott
Niels Arestrup ... Grandfather
David Thewlis ... Lyons
Tom Hiddleston ... Captain Nicholls
Benedict Cumberbatch ... Maj. Jamie Stewart
Celine Buckens ... Emilie
Toby Kebbell ... Geordie Soldier
Patrick Kennedy ... Lt. Charlier Waverly
Leonhard Carow ... Michael (as Leonard Carow)
David Kross ... Gunther
Matt Milne ... Andrew Easton
Robert Emms ... David Lyons
Eddie Marsan ... Sgt. Fry
Nicolas Bro ... Friedrich
Rainer Bock ... Brandt
Hinnerk Schönemann ... German Soldier in No Man's Land
Gary Lydon ... Si Easton
Geoff Bell ... Sgt. Sam Perkins
Liam Cunningham ... Army Doctor

The story begins with the birth of a colt and the animal's first steps. From the beginning, you can tell this is going to be one extraordinary horse. Albert Narracott witnesses the birth and you can tell there's a bond between young man and colt already.

Report on 2011 Goals

Oh, I dread this one. Back in 2011, my first post in this blog dealt with goals for the coming year. I made a few and I missed a lot. I'm not making excuses, But I'm honestly reporting. Here were the goals: • Read 75 books • Lose 70 pounds • Walk/ride 1024 miles • Meditate 20 minutes a day • Get one book finished and submitted (or self-published) • Enter a short story anthology at least once a month • Blog at least twice a month BOOKS: I quit writing down the book number at 63, so I'm fairly certain I completed this one and possibly then some. Vision has deteriorated so I will be reading mostly ebooks and hardcovers from now on. I'm grateful for the iPad. WEIGHT: Sadly, I weigh the same as I did last year. Tony and I are going to be starting Weight Watchers or similar together so this may improve my chances of success. EXERCISE: Nope, not that either. I'm thinking a "mile" goal is not as good as a "minute" per week. MEDITATION: Mostly. I want deeper more formal meditation though. BOOK PUBLICATION: Got three books almost finished. ANTHOLOGIES: This I've done. Go me. BLOGGING: This I've done and I even have followers. Thank you! So, what will I do next year goal-wise? Good question. I'm not sure yet. I'm still working on it.