Author Victoria Dahl

It is a lovely morning here in Salt Lake. Yes, it's cold and the ground is covered in snow, but I am huddled inside in comfy clothes writing and I have finally completed a challenging task that procrastination and illness have kept me from completing for several weeks - I wrote my fist synopsis. I am basking in the glow of this accomplishment. But thinking of things writerly, I want to share with anyone who enjoys romance an author that has quickly crept to the top of my list of favorite authors: Victoria Dahl.

I have now finished reading every book she has out (except the stories in anthologies - working on those next) and love them all - okay there is one I like a lot but don't love like I love the rest. But of her eight novels and one novella (not including the anthology stories), I think that's some pretty good stats. She writes both contemporary and historical. Her characters are rich and believable, the stories engrossing and funny, the sex steamy (sometimes uber steamy) and her voice is like wrapping yourself in a comfortable blanket you know and love. And since I've met her, I can tell you she is a genuinely nice person. She has a new trilogy coming out in 2011 I can hardly wait to buy and read as well a sequel in the wings I am eagerly awaiting.

If you like romance and great writing - do yourself a favor and check out Victoria Dahl at http://victoriadahl.com.

'TRON: Legacy' and a brief rant

I have been sick lately - the last three weeks have been a blur of cold, fever, bed, then my tooth getting pulled out (another story for when you're really bored) and then having a cold relapse. I feel very rested now that I only have a lingering cough and the grand canyon in my mouth. So, here we go - back on track.

I took my son and his girlfriend to see TRON: Legacy on it's opening day...in 3D...on the IMAX. Did you just think 'AWESOME'? I did! And I was there and thought that then too. I have mixed feelings about this moviethough. Let's start with the love. Love Garrett Hedlund. Love Jeff Bridges. Love, love, love the special effects and the stunning visuals of this movie. Love Michael Sheen, who kind of stole the movie for me with his flamboyant David Bowie homage inspired character. Love the main cute girl (Olivia Wilde) - she is stunning. What didn't I love? I didn't love that sometimes you couldn't understand what was being said because the 'programs' speaking were made to sound electronic. And this isn't a love/no love situation, and it could be I needed to see the original more recently than a decade ago or that my brain was fuzzy from being sick at the time (I'm siding with this one) or I really am slow sometimes, BUT Jeff Bridges' zen thing going on in the movie and the point of it all (I'm guessing) threw me and thus the story line didn't always track for me. It could be it was just too esoteric for my wee poor brain.... or not - who knows. I'll have to watch the original and then this one again when I'm feeling good and sharp and see if I still have the same problem. But I had fun and enjoyed the ride (pun intended).

Now on to the brief rant. I just want to say damn you Hallmark (and occasionally Lifetime) channel! During my convalescence, I have watched 15 to 20 Hallmark channel Holiday movies (with the occasional Lifetime movie as well). Every one meant to be a feel good, cheesy, sometimes love story, always family centered, holiday warmth extravaganza celebrating Santa, the holidays, family, relationships and all things good cheer with the express purpose of making me cry at least once during said film. And I hate crying. I kinda hate being all warm and fuzzy too. And yet I can't stop myself from watching them - year after year. I'm obviously a glutton for punishment. No one does these type of films better than Hallmark - let me say that. So, damn you Hallmark for making me soft and gooey inside when I hate being that way and have no resistance to your wily, emotional charms. And I still have a few on my DVR to watch... and I'll love them... and hate them for making me cry and feel warm inside. I'm having a bit of a Grinch identity crisis over here. You know - that moment when his heart grows three sizes that day.... it's painful troops - don't kid yourselves. Grrr ... and Happy Holidays!

"The Tourist'

...with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. So good! Kept me guessing throughout. Also stars Paul Bettany, Timothy Dalton, and Rufus Sewell. Did I mention so good? Jolie is really gorgeous in this and Depp is utterly adorable and cute and sexy and beautiful and just always, always, always amazing. I may have a teeny tiny enormous crush : )

It's got action, suspense, mystery, romance and is set in Venice for the most part. I now have to go to Venice. Going to a Ball wouldn't hurt either. And a train ride and a boat ride. And since we're on a wish list, I'll just add kissing Johnny Depp to it : ) No spoilers folks - just a resounding Go See It.

A marathon of movie thoughts

Over the holidays, 1) I didn't post anything, so I'm behind & 2) saw a ton of movies, so I'll do a quickie marathon of thoughts... I caught up on some DVDs and streaming movies as well - but today I'll focus on new releases.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, Pt 1: LOVED IT. Special effects rock, story and acting always rock, and it ends in a natural place - can't wait for Part 2 next summer.

Unstoppable: Stars Denzel Washington and Chris Pine (yummy). Really good - on the edge of my seat and couldn't sit still for all the action. And it's based on a real story.

Tangled: Rapunzel as only Disney can do it. Great movie. Laugh out loud funny, beautifully animated, our hero as voiced by Zachery Levi is delicious, and a tear-jerker as well (if my adult daughter, who was sobbing at certain points, is any measure). Not just for kids, folks (we had none with us).

Love & Other Drugs: Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway are wonderful in this. It's an emotional roller coaster full of gorgeous naked bodies (fun for all). I found it an interesting study on medicine, disease, doctors and sales people as well as being a really good love story. At the end - SPOILER ALERT - Jake's character turns out to be the perfect romantic hero as defined by romance writing dictates. I'd buy this one because it's so watchable and not just because I get to see so much of Jake (if you know what I mean).

"Megamind", Morning Glory" and "The Girl Who Played with Fire"

Yes, movies again. It's my addiction, people. POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERTS AHEAD!

Let's start with Megamind (in 3D no less - which was cool). Will Farrell voicing the blue, jealous, confused, smitten, alien wanna be villain and Brad Pitt voicing the super good, super good looking, super everything don't wanna be hero. It was funny (LOL funny) and had a lot of emotion. It's a pretty good movie when the main character has to go thru a lot of self exploration and growth (better him than me). Tina Fey voices the girl reporter all the guys love. Anyway - kids will love it, adults will love it. Did I mention the piranha like wanna be evil sidekick fish named Minion? LOVE HIM.

Morning Glory - Diane Keaton, Harrison Ford, Rachel McAdams, and Patrick Wilson. Something for everyone at any age - and all good. This was a really fun and sweet movie. I laughed a lot, I felt bad for the characters a lot, I cheered for them. It was emotionally very satisfying. I left a happy camper. So, what's it about, you ask? McAdams wants to produce a morning talk show more than anything. She gets her chance at an underdog show that stars Diane Keaton. Needs to boost the rating or lose her dream job. Hires embittered and lonely award winning serious-news journalist Harrison Ford who hates, hates, hates that he's reduced to doing a fluff morning show and makes everyone's lives miserable for it. Patrick Wilson is McAdam's love interest who also produces in the same building, so understands the demands of her job. After, McAdams does boost the show, A LOT, she gets a job offer from a better show. The only thing keeping her from staying at the underdog show- Ford's surly character. Will he invest in the show too in order to keep our young producer there? What do you think? Again - I was a happy camper leaving this one and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Finally, I just watched The Girl Who Played with Fire on DVD. I enjoyed the first movie (in Swedish) and have no issues with subtitles, but this one had an option to watch dubbed in English and that allowed me to watch the movie itself more, so yay for that. I love Noomi Rapace who stars as Tattoo Girl, Lisbeth Salander. She's amazing. As is Michael Nyqvist who plays our helper hero journalist, Mikael Blomkvist. This one is really dark too, but so good. Lisbeth kicks ass. Really. I haven't read the books yet (I am getting to them!), but the movies rock. Saw the trailer for the next one and can't wait. Yes, for all you foreign film snubs - they are making a Hollywood version of the first one starring Daniel Craig that is supposed to be out Dec 2011 (Pretty sure I'll love it too). But, really - you should watch the Swedish ones. They are so worth it.

"Hereafter" and "Kickass"

Let's talk about two movies that were not what I thought they would be. Neither of them - go figure.

Hereafter starring Matt Damon. I wasn't sure what exactly I expected, maybe a little action, a little thriller, a little drama - about dead people. The premise that you get from the trailers is that Matt Damon is a psychic who really can commune with the dead in the hereafter but doesn't want to. That's it. Yes, that's exactly what he is and what it's about. But it's also about a French woman and a British boy who have some hereafter stuff of their own to deal with and how these three lives eventually intersect. It's not fast paced, it methodical. It introduces these three characters, shows you their lives, lets it all simmer and eventually meld. It's character driven and by the end, I cared. I cared about these three people and their lives and their problems and solutions. I thought it was a good movie, well acted and a nice escape for two hours.

On to Kickass which I watched on DVD last night. I remember the trailers for this because I wanted to see it when it first came out but didn't get to. I remember it seemed like a wanna-be superhero sort of comedy not exactly spoof but not without some spoofy elements. That was my impression. There are one or two character actors you'll recognize, but aside from that the only people you'll really know are Nicholas Cage and that kid who played McLovin in Superbad (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) - both are good. The ones you need to watch out for are the kid who plays Kickass (Aaron Johnson) and the little girl who plays Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz). They did a great job, especially this little girl - she was amazing. As for the story. I thought it was going to be a comedy (it's not), although there are a few funny moments. IMDB lists it as an action/adventure/crime/thriller. I'm not sure I see it as any one of those but it is a combination of all of them including comedy of a dark nature. If you know that going in, you may enjoy it more. I did enjoy it. I would have enjoyed it more had I not been expecting dumb comedy. I love the relationship between Nick Cage's Big Daddy character and his daughter Hit Girl - both in and out of costume. Love the girl across the board - when she goes in to kick ass and take names, she leaves no one standing. It's pretty awesome. The complete dorkiness of Kickass and his lack of abilities full of good intentions are endearing. And poor Red Mist, aka the villain's son, aka McLovin is so naive - you feel bad for him. It's good (not great, maybe more okay than good), just be aware - lots of violence (mostly by the little girl - seriously awesome to my sick sense of humor) and not a dumb comedy. I did like it and as I sit here after having returned the movie already - I kind of want to watch it again.

Snow and books and movies, Oh My!

We got our first snow of the year last night and I woke up to a pretty white blanket outside. All I wanted to do at that point was continue to lay in bed and read. But I didn't. I did a little, but not much. Now, I'm sitting here trying to work and all I want to do is lay on the couch under a blanket and read or lay on the couch under a blanket and watch a movie. I'm not going to. Probably. But my books are beckoning and my DVR has new recordings - oh the temptation.

What am I currently reading that has me tempted, you ask? Upstairs by my bed I am reading Lee Childs' The Enemy which is really good. On EpicBlackCar's blog he is reading a romance as an experiment and challenged romance writers to read The Enemy. Not being a reading wimp, I took the challenge. Not that it was really that much of a challenge since I already like the suspense thrillers that are written by the likes of Tom Clancy, Dan Brown and apparently Lee Childs. I need to read something by John Gilstrap too (met him and his seems right up this alley as well). It took me about 30 pages to get in to it, but that could have been my fault - being tired and on the verge of sleep as I read each night, but now I am hooked and can't wait to read the rest.

The book I am working on downstairs in the living room is a historical romance by Michelle Willingham. The Warrior's Touch is the second in a series I'm enjoying. It's set in twelfth century Ireland. I like her characters. They are always well rounded and I connect to them. And I love medieval historical romances, so color me happy.

I haven't watched any movies since RED (I didn't say TV, I said movies - pay attention) but you'll know when I do.... maybe lunch and a nap and a book are in order....