…Stefanie D. Congrats, Stefanie! E-mail me with your address and the title of which of my books you want signed and I’ll send it to you ASAP.
Thanks to everyone who participated. And don’t forget to check out Robyn’s blog on being a fangirl below. 
After all the recent talk of movies–bad, sad, and otherwise–here at Jaunty Quills, I was surfing some of the quiz sites and ran across this quick little quiz that is supposed to tell you which movie heroine you are the most like. (This is one we may have done before, but bear with me. There’s a different question coming at the end. I think. 
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According to the results, I’m Lizzie Bennet. I guess I’ll go for that, LOL. It could have been worse, and I have to admit that there is some truth to the personality description. So what about you? Which movie heroine are you? Do you agree with the results?
Which movie or literary heroine do you think you are the most like? If I had to choose, I’d say I’m a cross between Jo and Beth March of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. I have a touch of Beth’s painful shyness and her homebody tendencies, while I can connect with Jo’s desire to be a writer and her solitariness, as well as her stubbornness, her impatience, and her fierce loyalty to her family. Do you have a heroine that you can identify with?
And just to add to the fun, anyone who comments before midnight tonight will be entered into a drawing for a signed copy of your choice of one of my first four books. The winner will be announced tomorrow morning. Good luck!
About ten years ago, I attended a concert with a good friend of mine at the Louisville Motor Speedway. It was a spur of the moment thing, one of those free concerts where no tickets are required. You just show up and the early birds get the best seats. It turned out to be one of the more memorable concerts of my life. Why? Not only was the headliner my very favorite singer at the time, country music star Bryan White, but we were right up front, next to the stage. So close I could have reached out and touched him. Or at least, it felt that way, as you can see from the pics above. Sigh… The only way the day could have been any better was if I’d had the chance to meet him personally.
Unfortunately, that was my one and only close brush with a real celebrity, LOL. But I know people who claim they’ve had a bit more luck in that area than I have. One of my friends still waxes poetic about the time she met Donny Wahlberg backstage at a New Kids on the Block concert. She can describe in great detail exactly what he looked like that night, from the way he fixed his hair, to what clothes he was wearing, to how he smelled. Believe me, I’ve heard the tale more times than I can count. Another friend of mine swears he met actress Kirsten Dunst at a local convenience store when she was in the area shooting Elizabethtown a few years ago. (Yeah, I didn’t believe him either. It kind of ruined his credibility when he swore up and down that she asked for his phone number.)
So have you ever had the chance to meet anyone famous? Rubbed elbows with a celeb or shook hands with someone you admired? And if not, who would you like to meet if you could?
Have you ever absolutely loved a movie that everyone else you knew hated? That you actually felt embarassed to admit that you have in your movie collection? You dig it out when no one else is around and curl up on your couch to watch, praying that none of your friends or family members show up unexpectedly to catch you at it. You live in dread of hearing them say “You’re watching that?” one more time. And heaven forbid that the pizza delivery guy knocks on your door while it’s blaring at a major decibel on your television set. (Which really happened to me this past weekend, BTW. I’m still pink-cheeked from that one. Note to self: Not a good idea to be singing Suddenly at the top of my voice when expecting a pizza.)
For me, one of those movies is Xanadu, with Olivia Newton John. I saw it for the first time on cable when I was a little girl and I fell in love with it. I must have watched it a million times. The rest of my family members were less enchanted with it, however. In fact, I think my brother once mentioned that being forced to watch it had definite possibilities as a form of torture. (Please, please, I’ll tell you everything I know! Just don’t make me watch Xanadu!)
Of course, I was a kid back then, so my terrible taste in movies was excusable. Or so my siblings tell me. But now that I’m an adult–Well, sort of–I still love it. I don’t know if it’s the combination of Gene Kelly and a terrific soundtrack (The title song, Magic, and Suddenly were all hits for Olivia when the movie first came out) or if I’m just into corn. Maybe it has something to do with the absolutely gorgeous animated segment by Don Bluth, formerly a Disney artist. Or it could be that I just like roller skating. Whatever the reason, I still enjoy getting it out and watching it on occasion. (For some hilarious insight into the movie, check out this website.)
Come on, time to fess up! What movies do you love that make other people squirm?
P.S. Pssst. As a quick sidenote, I’ve finally joined up with My Space! You can stop by and say hello at http://www.myspace.com/kimberlyloganauthor
Snicker. Okay, I haven’t had one of those since…hmmm…er…well, let’s just say I can’t remember the last time. I’ve never been a big partier and was never the sort of person who liked to get together with a big group of people and go barhopping or clubbing, even in my early twenties. And even without kids or a significant other right now, my idea of a great weekend is a quiet one spent curled up with a good book or in front of the T.V. for my favorite shows. (Although I don’t mind the occasional dinner and a movie out with friends.)
So with the weekend coming up, it seemed like a good time to ask. What do you like to do with your weekend? Do you enjoy going out with friends and family or are you a homebody, like me? Or is there a secret wild child in you? Do you still have the occasional wild weekend? I promise, we won’t tell.
Okay, chances are if you were a picky eater as a kid (Like me!) you probably heard the above statement from your mother, father, grandmother, etc. more times than you can count. I was definitely hard to please and very finicky as a child, and I’m sure I must have dealt my parents fits. I can remember turning my nose up at peas, augratin potatoes and tuna noodle casserole, just to name a few. And I’m still not too fond of peas. Yuck! (Though, strangely enough, I tended to like veggies that other kids hated, such as brussels sprouts, broccoli, and lima beans.) I was what you might call a texture person, meaning how the food felt in my mouth was a big decision-maker. Anything mushy, gushy in the center was out. (One of the reasons why I like cherry flavoring, but hate actual cherries.)
I’m still pretty picky to a certain extent. Whenever I go to a restaurant, I have my favorite dishes and I tend to order them over and over. I know what I like and very rarely do I venture out of the box. But on a recent trip to Applebee’s, I was feeling particularly adventurous and decided to try the Fiesta Lime Chicken that a friend had been raving about. Now, lime flavoring in chicken just didn’t sound right to me, but I tried it and I have a new favorite.
This philosophy can also apply to other aspects of your life. Take movies, for example. I am not a huge Die Hard or Bruce Willis fan and had no desire to see the new Die Hard movie that came out over the summer. But my friend poked and prodded at me until I finally gave in and it ended up being one of the most enjoyable movies I’ve seen in the past few months.
So, are you a daring person and try a lot of new things, or do you tend to be a bit more like me and play it safe, sticking to the things you know? And have you ever tried something you were certain you would hate, only to end up loving it?
Amid all the hype over the release of the long-awaited last book in the Harry Potter series, I haven’t been able to help but wonder just what author JK Rowling has up her sleeve next. As wonderful as I know it must feel for her to finally write THE END after 17 years of living with the boy wizard’s story in her head, it has to be a little daunting for her as well. Not only is she saying goodbye to this wonderful world she has created, but for the first time in years what lies ahead for her is unknown. What an exciting yet frightening crossroads to be at.
Where does Rowling go from here? Having created such a beloved character and mega-bestselling series, what will she do next? To be perfectly honest, I don’t envy her at all. Well, okay, maybe a little. She is, after all, an ultra-talented writer and obviously far, far wealthier than I will ever be. (Sniff-sniff) But I can’t even begin to imagine the sort of pressure she will more than likely be feeling when it comes time to sit down and come up with the idea for her next tale. I’ve watched her recent interviews on the Today show and she has said that she definitely wants to keep writing, that she can’t imagine not writing, and as an author I can totally understand that sort of drive. However, at the same time, any work she turns out after this is bound to be subjected to intense scrutiny and will probably constantly be compared to Harry Potter. What a very difficult act to follow!
So, what do you think? If you were JK Rowling, what would you do? Would you continue with the Harry Potter series or perhaps write some sort of spin-off with some other character from the series? Would you try something completely new? Or would you retire your pen, content to know that you are going out at the top of your game?
…here’s a neat link where you can take a fun little quiz to find out which Hogwarts house you belong in.
I’m a Ravenclaw! What about you?
And scroll down to read Robyn’s blog about Harry Potter!
…as a way to pass the time until the rest of the Quills check in from conference (And just to prove that I do actually go to some of these events on occasion, LOL) I thought I would share a couple of pics from the Reader/Author Get-Together that I recently attended in Cincinnati, Ohio. Hosted by authors Lori Foster and Dianne Castell, it was a lot more laid back than your typical conference or convention, and I had a blast mixing and mingling with readers and fellow authors!
Here I am, stuffing myself at the first night pizza party. (My friend caught me on camera with a mouthful of soft drink, but that’s par for the course with me. ) That’s Harlequin author Kay Stockham in the background on the far left. I shared a table with Kay and author Catherine Spaulding during the event and really enjoyed talking with them.
And here’s a group shot of all of the authors who attended. Can you find me in the crowd? It’s a bit like Where’s Waldo, isn’t it? If it helps, I’m next to author Erin McCarthy. Now, all you have to do is find her…
I definitely plan on going back next year!
Boy, Saturday mornings sure aren’t what they used to be.
On a recent overnight babysitting stint at my sister’s house, I awakened on Saturday morning and turned on the television with the intention of letting my niece watch cartoons while I fed my nephew his bottle. I was surprised when my niece informed me that she never watched T.V. on Saturday mornings because there wasn’t anything good on, just the local news and reruns of old Disney Channel live action shows like Hannah Montana and That’s So Raven. I was determined to prove her wrong, but imagine my total shock when I discovered that she was right! After flipping through several channels, I realized that the only one with brand new cartoons playing was our local CW/WB affiliate.
Whatever happened to the good old days? The days when unveiling each station’s new Saturday morning line-up every fall was as important as unveiling the rest of the new fall schedules? The days when my sister, brother, and I would awake at 6:30 or 7:00 on Saturdays and plant ourselves in front of the television until noon for what seemed like an endless supply of cartoons?
It got to me thinking about some of the Saturday morning shows that I used to love as a child. Of course, there were scads of them. They came and went through the years, and there were those I loved and those I didn’t care for. But there were a few favorites that I remember fondly even today:
1. The one cartooon that really sticks out in my mind from my earliest years is Josie and the Pussycats. Wow, was I crazy about that show! I can remember papering the closet in my bedroom with stickers of each of the show’s characters. Think of it as Scooby Doo meets the Partridge Family–only with an all-girl band and their friends. I loved the combination of girl power and mystery. (And believe it or not, while Josie got on my nerves, I adored scheming Alexandra. Hmmm. Wonder what that says about me?)
Honorable Mention goes to The Krofft Kids Super Power Hour, which had several different live action shows that included Sid and Marty Krofft’s puppetry. Land of the Lost, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, Electra Woman and Dynagirl, Bigfoot and Wildboy. I ate it up!
2. Later, I graduated to the misadventures of Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels. Think of it as Scooby Doo meets Charlie’s Angels, only with a caveman instead of a dog. (And once again with the girl power/mystery theme. Noticing a trend here?) To my family’s annoyance, I picked up a lot of Teen Angel Taffy’s sayings and started bursting out with expressions like Zowie! I think my sister finally threatened to glue my mouth shut one night when I was sleeping if I didn’t cut it out.
Honorable Mention goes to The ABC Weekend Special, which showcased a different live action show each week taken from a book for children. Some of my favorites through the years were The Haunted Mansion Mystery, Mayday!, The Ransom of Red Chief, and Zack and the Magic Factory.
3. My absolute favorite Saturday morning cartoon ever came along in my later grade school years. Dungeons and Dragons was about six kids who boarded the D&D ride at an amusement park and wound up getting zapped through a portal into the real thing. Amid zombies, orks, and other creatures from the game, the kids tried to survive and get back to their world with the help of the elfish Dungeon Master. The best part was that each kid got their own character designation and a cool weapon. Hank the Ranger had an energy bow, Sheila the Thief had an invisibility cloak, etc. I was devastated when they took it off after three seasons. So imagine my extreme happiness when the entire collection recently came out on DVD! (My niece and nephews love it!)
Honorable Mention goes to Pole Position, a cartoon about a brother and sister team with the Pole Position stunt riding show who drove race cars that talked. (Yes, it was based on the video game of the same name) Think of it as Scooby Doo meets Knight Rider. Didn’t last very long, but a way cool theme song.
There were others through the years. Whoofer and Whimper, Speedbuggy, Thundarr the Barbarian, Rubix. If I really thought about it, I could probably come up with a whole lot more. What about you? Do you have any fond Saturday morning memories? Any favorite shows you look back on with a sense of nostalgia?
And don’t forget to check out the winner of Margo’s contest below!
November October
October October
