Sat, 31 Mar 2012 21:56:39 -0800WeeblyMon, 26 Mar 2012 23:11:35 -0800http://www.bronwynstuart.com/1/post/2012/03/5-things-i-wish-id-known-before-i-started-writing.html
Valerie Parv blogged the other day about 6 things she wished she’d known about being published. You can find that post here. It got me thinking. I’m soon to be published so I can’t outright steal her blog heading and add my own words (I could but I don’t actually really know how it feels to be published or the pitfalls, etc.)This is 5 things I wish I’d have known before I started writing... Well, this is the top five on the list, it goes on forever!

RWA – God, how I wish I’d known about RWA and SARA and all the other amazing writer’s groups out there in the wide world and on the www. When I look at how terrible my writing was at the beginning when I was going it alone to show the author of the book I’d just read that I could do better, I gasp! Yes, literally gasp at the awfulness. Over the years of attending monthly meeting and yearly conferences, having published authors around to answer questions when they came up, to have people who could honestly critique my work and tell me where I was going wrong. Wow! What a difference it makes. If you haven’t joined, are sitting on the fence or didn’t know, finish my blog post and then rush off and google to find a group near you.  

Grammar and Punctuation – My recent revisions show me just how bloody bad I still am but I wish someone would have pulled me aside in High School and told me to stop mucking around and concentrate. Didn’t help that I had a teacher who gave out A’s for writing stories about cats. I learn more and more everyday but there’s still so much I don’t know. I nearly jumped for joy when I finally came to two pages in a row on my revisions that didn’t have any changes or marks. On the last two pages!

You are not alone – Writing is such an isolating job. I felt so alone and if it wasn’t for the support from my friends and my man, I would have given up long before I discovered RWA and Facebook. With the invention off Facebook and Twitter you are never, ever alone. If you have a question, want to rant or get stuck and need to talk out a scene, you can log in somewhere and someone will come to the party. I didn’t know this way back when either.

Ideas will wake you up in the middle of the night – You will never be without a pen and a pad ever! I thought it was bad enough being woken every few hours by the babies, try having an idea in  your brain that feels like it is trying to manipulate your hand into picking up a pen. I can’t sleep without getting up and writing it down. Hence the notepad in every room, oodles of notes in my phone and scraps of paper with bits and pieces all over the house and car.

You need your own space! – had I known this particular gem, I would never have given our cubbyhouse a second look. Not only do I not have an office, I barely have a third of the dining table and a spare chair to balance my Flip Dictionary. If I want to get my sewing machine out, I have to unplug the computer which it like switching off my own life support. Then I war with myself over what I want to do versus what I should be doing. Like right now. I have a pinafore cut and pinned and I have revisions to do but here I sit tapping out a blog post while the man does the dishes I hadn’t got to yet...

Another reason why I stopped at five =)

]]>Sat, 17 Mar 2012 21:47:38 -0800http://www.bronwynstuart.com/1/post/2012/03/sometimes-i-get-a-little-soppy.html
I like to think of myself as a good mum, mostly because the alternative is just too hard to bear, but the challenges of being a good mum and a writer are uncountable (or is that innumerable?), some days even, unfathomable. So how do we do it? How do we juggle the kids, the house, the day job, the hubby, time for ourselves? The answer is that we don’t. Or at least I don’t.

My writing was just starting to take off when I stopped to have two beautiful girls and when they were little, I was still stuck in must-write-all-the-time land. We had a three metre gate across the kitchen so I could sit at the dining table and write but still see the kids as they sat in front of the babysitter. I was in the same room but often on another planet, in another reality. I know this doesn’t make me a bad mum, just a passionate writer. It was the first time my eldest said she couldn’t play with the little one because she was too busy that made me feel kind of crappy. How many times had I said I was too busy to read a story? How many times should I have been on the floor playing with them instead of nutting out a scene? But then how many times did I miss putting them to bed because I was at work five nights a week? Sometimes I beat myself up, other times I just put it out of my mind and did what I had to do. Sometimes the five nights a week were like a holiday that gave me some of my sanity back.

As authors and mothers I think we need to find our own line in the sand and then choose. Do you stay on the safe side and put your dreams on hold for the few years they are little? Do you live on two minute noodles so you don’t have to work just so you can say goodnight? Or do you ride the line? I think if each and every one of us sat down and took a look at the hours in the day, we could find a happy balance. My kids are now at the age where they know I’m writing love stories because that’s what makes me happy. They are okay with playing outside while I try to organise a scene. They’re okay with getting themselves a snack or a glass of water so I don’t have to get up and out of the zone. Does it make me feel good? Not really. What makes me feel good is when my four year old tells me she wants to write stories too. Or when they wake in the morning and the little one jumps in the big one’s bed so they can read together. I have two independent, well adjusted and very intelligent children. All those times I wondered if too much television as toddlers would hurt them and they rarely watch the idiot box now and when they do, it’s because I ask them if they want to. Otherwise they read or make craft stuff or run outside. I tortured myself for nothing. But on the other hand my first book comes out this year and my family all know just how important this is to me. They forgive a little neglect. They ride out the days I don’t do the washing. They love it when I make mac and cheese after forgetting to take something out of the freezer for dinner.

So the point, I hear you ask? I have the best family who even when I’m not, make me feel like the best mum in the world. I drew my line in the sand and I’m so glad they’re standing there with me!  

]]>Wed, 07 Mar 2012 17:45:14 -0800http://www.bronwynstuart.com/1/post/2012/03/happy-international-womens-day.html
Well, it’s international women’s day so I thought what better day to celebrate being a woman! Easier said than done for me as I recover from surgery that saw most of my women’s bits removed (I had to have a hysterectomy ten days ago). But my father in law gets squeamish when I go into the details so I won’t do that today.

Here a few things I love about being a woman...

1 – The ability to create life (well, before the surgery). Yes I know we still need a man but nothing made me feel more feminine than having babies. It is the right of women everywhere who want to, to experience how it feels to be kicked from the inside, to nourish your child at your breast and to know you are the bomb to a couple of little people.

2 – My girlfriends make me feel blessed to be a woman. We talk about everything and anything, they are there for me the same way I’m there for them and guys just don’t get that.

3 – Dresses. I would look funny wearing them if I had equipment and facial hair (no offense to drag queens or transsexuals). Dresses are so fun and feminine and comfortable.

But seriously, the point of international women’s day is, ‘International Women's Day is celebrated across the world on March 8th each year. The day is about celebrating the vital role women play in enhancing economic security for their families, communities and countries as a whole while recognising that significant barriers to achieving women's economic security and equality continue to exist.’

 I’ve been working since I was fourteen and earning my way in the world even before that. I’ve studied and grown as all women should have the right to do. Apart from maternity leave after I had the kids, I’ve never been unemployed or bitten by the i-don’t-want-to-work bug. Just as we have the right to learn, work, and play, we also have an obligation to contribute to society. This starts by being the best mums we can. I know that sounds strange and for those who don’t have kids, you can still help with your friend’s and family’s girls.

My girls are only 4 and 6 years old but already I foster in them a sense that they can be whoever they want to be. I tell them they can be doctors, lawyers, veterinarians, teachers, or checkout chicks. When they get a little bit older, I’ll teach them the importance of each of these roles in society, I’ll show them what they can do to change the world. After that, I’ll try to give them empowerment to make sure they achieve all they set out to. It starts with self confidence. It starts with raising them up rather than putting them down.

Which brings me to the mothers and fathers of boys. Please raise them to be against the objectification of women. Raise them to be respectful and courteous, to treat the girls around them as though they talked and walked with their mothers. If each and every one of us start here, we can begin to change the world. If the men in the highest places stopped seeing us as manic for twelve weeks of the year and only half insane for the rest, we may get picked for top jobs. Two hundred years ago men saw women as heir carrying vessels and the attitude continues in every bare foot, pregnant and chained to the kitchen sink joke told today.

If they stopped seeing us as the weaker or fairer sex, we may earn as much as they do because they would see just how strong we are. When one of our women get through and hold an element of power, then we can look to the bigger picture.

Eradicate the slavery of girls for sex. Ban underage marriage in third world countries. Teach those men that their women should be schooled, should be given rights. I certainly haven’t seen Julia Gillard step up to exercise any women’s rights. Abortion, adoption, equal pay and jobs. The last huge fight I remember (before paid maternity leave) was if there should be GST on tampons and hygiene products.

A woman I have a lot of respect for is Oprah. She gave so much to women, in America and Africa and so many countries and circumstances around the world. If we all took a leaf out of Oprah’s book, we’d be on the right track... Another very important woman I love is my mum for giving me confidence. For showing me that women are strong and very capable! For doing a man's job in a man's world and giving them hell along the way.

]]>Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:07:23 -0800http://www.bronwynstuart.com/1/post/2012/01/is-it-cheating-if.html_

I’ve been ordering books from the book depository for a few years but now I have a tablet with a Kindle app and I find myself camped out at Amazon. I feel like I’m cheating on the book store (and the actual book) with a giant most hate right now and a format other’s loath with a passion bordering on obsession. As a soon to be published digital author, I know I (and everyone else with a pulse) has a right to buy up big and save time and money, but should we? With Barnes and Noble and Amazon in a fight for the monopoly, where should my loyalties lie? Amazon is going to help me sell books in the future but B&N and other book stores, like the Book Depository, offer me the books I’ve been collecting in series’ forever. I have a perfect set of Lian Hearn's Tales of the Otori (if you haven’t read these and you love medieval fantasy Japan, you’re missing out!) I have all of Robin Hobb’s books and most of Ian Irvine’s, Raymond E Feist’s, Stephanie Lauren’s, and the list goes on.  Should my conscience rest easy knowing I still buy paper and am helping in the livelihoods of book sellers, editors, publishers, authors, etc? Or should I just stop buying altogether and help them all over to (what I term affectionately) the dark side?

For so long before I submitted to Carina I toed and froed and couldn’t put my foot in either camp, then I decided I could have my feet in both camps but I’d never thought of it from a book buyer’s perspective, only an author’s. What do you think? Do you think ebooks are an inevitable way of the future? Do you think we can all live harmoniously and get along for the next thousand years or so? Or are you a tree hugging hippie who would love to see the end of the print book altogether? (not that electricity to run your tablet or computer does much for the environment either...)

]]>Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:24:56 -0800http://www.bronwynstuart.com/1/post/2012/01/want-a-great-book-to-read.html_ I was lucky enough to get on my hands on an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of The Rogue's Pirate Bride by Shana Galen and I loved it! Let me count the ways...

There are two things I absolutely love in a hero. One is an accent. I don’t think it really matters what country – although Scottish and Irish brogues are hot! – and the second is the pirate factor. I don’t think the hero has to actually be a pirate but if he has any pirate traits (kidnapping, ravishing, adventure on the high seas, cheeky and devilish) then he’s mighty fine in my book. Shana Galan’s Rogue’s Pirate Bride ticks all the boxes for me! This is the third in a series that introduces a family separated by the French Revolution, each believing the others dead. (The Making of a Duchess) Julien and his English mother escape together and set sail for England. (The Making of a Gentleman) Armand was held in a prison for so many years he lost track and became a mute (everyone loves a tortured hero), and Bastien became Captain Cutlass in The Rogue’s Pirate Bride, a privateer (pirate) sailing for the Spanish (or greed really) and terrorising anyone he wanted to but mostly searching for the man who killed his friend and mentor.  

The heroine, Raeven, throws punches, wears breeches, fights with a sword, swears like a sailor and just happens to be the daughter of a British Admiral. She keeps escaping her father’s ship intent on killing Captain Cutlass for the death of her fiancée in a fight between the navy and Cutlass’s ship, the Shadow.

I’ll go off on a tangent here for a sec. I’ve noticed so often in romance novels lately that in the hero’s POV, they almost brag about the number of women they’ve bedded and how beautiful those women were. We all know that a titled man is going to have had a heap of sex. Those were the times that a good deal of titled men met their maker with syphilis and sores in places sores had no right to be. To be honest, I don’t think it needs to be elaborated on and thank the good lord, The Rogue’s Pirate Bride didn’t dwell on that.

What it did have was a hero who unashamedly shot at and wounded men who were after him. He kidnapped Raeven, fired on ships, fought bravely and never apologised for being a pirate. Raeven was equally as bloodthirsty (and not unhappy to be kidnapped) and I liked it! You won’t see any ‘no horses or pirates were harmed in the writing of this book’ in the acknowledgements and it made it more exciting, almost made them even more human (readers everywhere will know exactly what I mean when I say that). If you like a book that you can go “awwwwww” at the end of, then add it to your list. You won't be sorry!

The book comes out early in Feb but you can already preorder your copy wherever good books (Amazon or Book Depository) and ebooks are sold but in the meantime, go and get the first two, The Making of a Duchess and The Making of a Gentleman, and read them in order. You can guess how they’re going to end but I betcha can’t guess what happens in the middle...    

]]>Sun, 08 Jan 2012 18:55:48 -0800http://www.bronwynstuart.com/1/post/2012/01/hello-2012-and-a-publishing-contract-with-carina-press.html_

Since so many of you asked for the call story, here it is =)

I would start at the beginning but I can’t actually remember where I got the idea for Scandal’s Mistress. I only knew that I had a great idea on my hands and if I wrote it well, it would be the book to launch my career. In hindsight I was right, but along the way-when I was sweating over the small stuff-I never thought it would ever see the light of someone’s ereader!

Back on the 22nd of April I sent the full manuscript for Scandal’s Mistress to Angela James at Carina Press after submitting via an eHarlequin Write Stuff pitching contest. My pitch wasn’t chosen but I was invited to submit anyway and that’s what I did. And then I waited. And waited. And chewed my fingernails down and waited some more.

Then at the end of July, being as impatient as I am and with the conference looming and Angela James coming to the conference, I sent a follow up email and asked how it was going. I know you’re not supposed to but I so wanted to talk to Angela about it if they liked it (not sure what I would have done if they hated it, lol). And then a few days after that, I got an email from an editor saying that she loved it but the pacing was off and there were a few bits and pieces that needed improvement. It wasn’t a rejection, it was a revise and resubmit. I squealed like an idiot. Lucky for me I had the awesome Evangeline read over it and her list of suggestions were almost identical to the editor’s so most of the changes had already been made. Still, I didn’t get the R&R back to them until October.

Then it was back to waiting. Don’t worry, I didn’t sit on my hands during this time, I’ve been editing and writing away on the next book. In December, I got impatient again and sent the editor an email. Kind of a how are you going, did you love the changes or hate them. Then she sent me one back saying she loved the changes and had sent the book to the acquisitions team with a recommendation to accept. More squealing followed but I still wasn’t home by any stretch of the imagination.

A silly little piece of information about me? I check my emails on my phone every morning when I wake up. OCD? Wishful thinking? All of the above? Anyway, on the 21st of December, I rolled over in the morning and opened Yahoo mobile and there was an email from Angela James. When I read them on my phone, the subject of the email comes up along with the first few words reading “I’m sorry I was unable...”  A few days before this there was a Twitter thread going about whether you would want bad news before Christmas or wait till after. I said I would rather know ASAP than dwell on it over the festive season but then I move on reasonably quickly after a rejection.

So with my heart in my throat, expecting the “I’m sorry I was unable to sell this to acquisitions, better luck next time” speech, I nearly squealed right out of bed when it started with “I'm sorry I was unable to make this offer via phone, but I am happy to say that Carina Press would like to an extend an offer to publish SCANDAL’S MISTRESS.” (don’t ever be sorry you didn’t call me at 4am) First person I called? My man, Doug. I was all like “guess what just happened to me?” and since it was before 7am, I think he expected it to be something bad.

I then had to keep a lid on it until I had formally accepted, and then told my family (including Kelly and Lex), and then my writing family, South Australian Romance Authors, before squeeeeing it from Facebook and any other platform that would listen. I have say huge thank you’s to everyone who helped me along the way with this story but mostly to Lex, Kelly, Amy and Zee for reading and praising and suggesting and to Evangeline for reading it like an editor and telling it to me straight! And the biggest thanks (after Doug and the kids for sticking with me) is to Lynne, who will be my editor. Thanks so much for believing in me and my story. I know it’s going to be a tough road ahead but I’m ready!  

So later in the year my first historical, Scandal’s Mistress, will come out with Carina Press and be available as a digital book. I know I still have so much to learn and I couldn’t be happier that it will be with Carina, with my editor who I’m already half in love with and the other awesome Aussie Carina authors. Stay tuned for more details but in the mean time, I’ll leave you with the pitch...

 

Love. It’s the cruelest mistress of all. When you have it, it hurts. When you lose it, it nearly kills you. But what if he doesn’t believe in it and she doesn’t want it…

Italian opera singer, Carmalina Belluccini, has been alone with her bad luck and morbid thoughts for too long. When a man who is no angel offers her an affare, dignity and desire start to battle within her. She is no courtesan and certainly not mistress material, only, when her beautiful voice fails she finds herself in a position too difficult to refuse Justin Trentham’s protection. But what is he hiding and why is he so desperate to create the scandal of the season?

]]>Fri, 30 Dec 2011 12:28:18 -0800http://www.bronwynstuart.com/1/post/2011/12/goodbye-2011.html_

With Christmas firmly behind us and a new year looming, packed with possibility and fun times, I wanted to share a few of my favourite things with you. One of them is Christmas. Yes, call me crazy but it’s my favourite time of the year besides Easter. I do have to admit that in our house, it’s not the birth of baby Jesus that gets us excited, it’s the chance to unwind and spend a few days being merry with our families.  It’s about watching my four year old just about have an apoplexy when she opened her Nintendo DS and it was bigger than her sister’s. It’s about my six year old sticking her nose in the first book and forgetting about opening the rest of the presents until reminded there might be more books (and there was!). It’s about my father in law’s third hug for the year (despite not being a hugger, this one I know is special).  

A couple of my superficial faves are handbags and shoes but if you know me, then you already know I have a slight obsession. Only slight though. If you’re wondering if I went to the boxing day sales, then the answer is a big fat yes!

Some of my fave movies include What Dreams May Come with Cuba Gooding Jr and Robin Williams. You need a whole box of tissues to watch that one! I love the fluffy ones like Pirates of the Caribbean and the not so fluffy like the Underworld series about vampires and lycan, and the Lara Croft series. I own everything with Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson together and a heap of Sandra Bullock and Brad Pitt. In fact, in my box of movies, I have them sorted by actor. Bones and Castle have me gripped and won’t let go (but I think that has more to do with the eye candy than anything else).  

I love reading Ian Irvine and Raymond E Feist. The series that shoots off from Magician written with Janny Wurts about Mara of the Acoma (Daughter of the Empire, Servant of the Empire and Mistress of the Empire) are still my favourite fantasy reads although seconded very closely by Anne Bishop and Robin Hobb (esp the Live Ship Traders series).

My favourite colours (or non-colours if you want to get technical) are black and grey. I don’t mind a little coral thrown in these days but I prefer dark shades. Our house is now decked out on the inside with black white and red which is awesome to look at!

Instead of doing the usual contest after Christmas about the best or the worst present you ever received, I want to know about what makes you smile. My kids do that when they’re not making me cranky, but I want the superficial stuff. Like one of my best presents this year (not the best but right up there) was the gift voucher I got so I could shop at the Boxing Day sales. Made me grin like an idiot! I’ll get one of the kids to pick a winning comment at random and send a box of Cadbury Favourites to make the commenter smile some more =)  

Have a safe and happy new year’s eve and I’ll see you on the other side!

]]>Tue, 13 Dec 2011 21:56:35 -0800http://www.bronwynstuart.com/1/post/2011/12/merry-christmas1.html_ I'll get to the merry Christmas but first, a little something on rejections...

A few of my friends have been woe-is-meing over rejections lately (rightly so) and I’ve had my fair share already so it begs this question – what do you do about them? Do you Google the agent/editor/publisher, print their picture out and hang it on your dart board? Do you count them so you can avoid some magical number you have in your head that it takes to get to before you’ll get a yes? Do you save them all in a special file tagged ‘people to eliminate first in the event of a zombie apocalypse and then pin the blame on the undead’ .  Me? I don’t do any of that (I promise). I’ve never even counted them. I do keep the rejections in my email, though this is more so I don’t double up and resend the same thing to the same person. I don’t want to upset someone so they dump my name on their spam list. Or worse. Gulp. Block me.

But really, at the end of the day, you sent your submission to an agent/ed/publisher and they didn’t want it. Upsetting? Yes. The end of the world? Never. Read the rejection word by word, slowly and with dry eyes. Did they give any feedback on the why’s and why not’s? Did they offer an invitation to submit again? After you’ve established this, put the letter/email away for a few days and come back to it and read it again. Never send an email asking them to change their mind. Never send a letter asking for a reason. Say thanks for your time and then move on to the next agent/ed/publisher. If it’s the 36th rejection you’ve received for the same manuscript and you’ve never got any feedback or further requests, it might be time to shelve the story for a bit and work on something new...

It’s really important to stay professional and to think positive. Especially at this time of year. I hate getting bad news at Christmas but could you imagine getting hate mail at Christmas? Nasty emails? Paper bags filled with poo? I don’t much think agents/eds/publishers would either. I don't know if it's just me but I don't get upset over rejections any more. Maybe I'm used to them? Just kidding. I think it's because I'm in this for the long haul and eventually I know the right person for my story will come along and they'll love it so much they'll buy it. And then we can all live happily ever after.

Now onto something that isn’t a rejection. I won Spacecoast Authors Launching A Star contest in the historical category!!  Merry Christmas to me! It really has been an interesting year filled with wins, finals, rejections, happy dancing and commiserations. Here’s hoping next year is filled with sales! For everyone!

 

Happy holidays and have a merry Christmas! I’ll catch you in the new year =)

]]>Tue, 29 Nov 2011 17:26:29 -0800http://www.bronwynstuart.com/1/post/2011/11/2national-year-of-reading-challenge.html_I've decided (gently nudged by the challenge) to read more next year. I'm signing up to read 20 books written by Australian female authors. Should be easy. One every fortnight with a few weeks off for good behaviour =) Will you sign up and give it a go?


2012 Challenge Australian Women Writers 2012 National Year of Reading Challenge

Keen on romance, fantasy, crime, YA, literary, mainstream women's fiction? Contemporary or historical? Memoir, other nonfiction or poetry? 

Whatever your preference, whether you're a fan of one genre or a devoted eclectic, the 2012 Australian Women Writers Book Reading & Reviewing Challenge invites you to celebrate a year encountering the best of Australian women's writing.

Objective: This challenge hopes to help counteract the gender bias in reviewing and social media newsfeeds that has continued throughout 2011 by actively promoting the reading and reviewing of a wide range of contemporary Australian women's writing. (See the page on gender bias for recent discussions.)

Readers should approach this challenge with a spirit of willingness. There are no failures, just personal goals. Reviews can be long or short, favourable or "this book is not for me". Hopefully, along the way, we'll all discover some future classics and perhaps a few surprises among genres we're not familiar with. The main aim is to have fun.

Challenge period:  1 January 2012 -  31 December 2012

Goal: Read and review books written by Australian women writers – hard copies, ebooks and audiobooks, new, borrowed or stumbled upon by book-crossing.

Genre challenges: 
Purist: one genre only
Dabbler: more than one genre
Devoted eclectic: as many genres as you can find
 
Challenge levels:
Stella (read 3 and review at least 2 books)
Miles (read 6 and review at least 3*
Franklin-fantastic (read 10 and review at least 4 books)*
* The higher levels should include at least one substantial length review

Authors as guest reviewer : Request a special "Guest Review" badge for your website. Read and review one book in a genre other than your own and write a considered review. You will be invited to share this review - along with some information about your own writing, if you wish - on the Australian Women Writers blog page.

Added option : WeLove2Read2 campaign. This page gives participants the option of a further challenge which could help redress the genre imbalance of the National Year of Reading's, Love2Read "Our Story" campaign. Dedicated bookbloggers and reviewers are particularly invited to add this element to their challenge. ]]>Sat, 12 Nov 2011 03:26:34 -0800http://www.bronwynstuart.com/1/post/2011/11/fairy-tales.html We all love Fairy Tales. Don’t shake your head and say that you don’t because you’re lying. Even if you don’t right now, at one stage in your life, you were a huge fan. Disney had made a motza from remakes like the most recent Tangled which is the tale of Rapunzel. It’s now one of my favourite Disney animated films of all time followed very closely by Beauty and the Beast.

We’ve all seen them remade over and over either in full or as a base for a story loosely modelled on or around them. Some of the first epic tales of love and happily ever afters were Fairy Tales. I personally love Drew Barrymore in Ever After (not A Cinderella Story like I originally thought) and other more unconventional remakes like The Brothers Grim. There are romance novels galore based on Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast and it works. Take Beauty and the Beast. Usually she is judged unfairly by her beauty or she suffers pride and he is the other way around, crippled by scars or ugliness on the outside or the inside (because remember beauty is only skin deep) and together they have to sort it out, overcome, and then live happily ever after. I love the Shrek movies because I’m a sucker for the underdog (or ogre in that case). And I love, love, love Hoodwinked which is a blend of so many fairy tales it’s hard to separate and pick them all out.

I got so excited about the remake of Little Red Riding Hood in 2010. I decided for once to read the book before watching the movie. It worked with Twilight—so glad I was to read the books and look at it in my own mind before letting crappy acting skills ruin it for me—that I decided to do it with Red Riding Hood too. Well, if you haven’t seen the movie, don’t bother. It was not worth the money I paid or the night I lost and I don’t usually bag movies especially in a public forum, but it was crap. The book I quite enjoyed for the twists and turns and I worked out who the wolf was about halfway through but the movie was badly done.

The only thing I’m excited more about this week than the second-last instalment on the Twilight series is the trailer I saw today for Snow White and the Huntsman. Charlize Theron is hot (So is Sophie Monk). Home and Away Dude from Thor (Chris Hemsworth is his name) is super freakin’ awesomely hot! Kristen Stewart I’m not so sure of. I wasn’t on the bashing bandwagon over her in Twilight. I actually think she did the part justice since Bella stutters and trips over a lot in the book. So Kristen Stewart has a chance to redeem herself in the eyes of so many in the next few months (I don’t know when it’s releases yet and I thought I’d leave it as a surprise for you). I am going to try to find the book first if there is one because I like that.

My question for you is what is your favourite Fairy Tale story and what format is it? Mine changes but right now it’s Tangled/Rapunzel remade into a Disney movie. I think Rumplestiltskin would be interesting if they wanted to take that on and before Tangled it was Beauty and the Beast. I’d like to say my love of Disney classics is a result of having children but the truth is I had them all well before the babies =) I can sing along with the movies and I know most of the words to The Lion King, Aladdin and Cinderella. Yes, very sad, but there it is.

Now it’s your turn...   

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