Who Is That Masked Man? (or What Movies Do for Book Characters)

Tip of the Day: The Greater Rochester Teen Read during Teen Read Week with A. S. King was amazing! Thanks to all the teachers, librarians, teens, and Amy(!) for making it a success! You can also check out a new interview with me in the YALSA blog for winning the YALSA/Dollar General TRW grant.

Some might say that movies/TV shows based on books are not as good as the written versions. In many cases I agree with that.

However, as Halloween approaches and costumed enthusiasts make their party appearances, it is clear that without Hollywood making our book characters visually concrete in our heads, many a costume would go unrecognized -- or unimagined.

Can you tell who this character is?

 

How many people dressed as Katniss before THE HUNGER GAMES became a movie? How about Legalos? Or Deanerys Targaryen? :)

 

How often do you think a movie that flops hurts the book it was based on? If potential readers see the movie first and then don't even try the book?

 

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing



Literary Costumes

Tip of the Day: I just booked my flight for the February New York SCBWI conference. Let me know if you're going!

So last week was a washout here, with schools closed and no internet service. I hope my friends and family on Long Island and New Jersey are recovering. I grew up on Eastern Long Island and my hometown had 92 mile an hour winds! I'm thankful my family is safe and sound.


Halloween was rainy because of the storm. Actually it hasn't stopped raining since. But I bought a costume so I wore it. I don't usually dress up at Halloween but I had an idea this year. My daughter was sure I would traumatize the preschoolers down the street as I handed out candy, but all they cared about was the candy. Still, here is my first literary costume. I am one of the permanent inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel from THE SHINING.

Can I just say nobody understood my costume? It didn't help that the weather kept me inside of course. My mother in law said I looked pretty. Noo, I'm supposed to look creepy! Well, I didn't really expect people to say, "Oh, you're from the 1920's party in THE SHINING, I love that novel."

Also, have you seen this movie coming out about THE SHINING? I'm dying to see it!

Have you ever dressed up like someone from a book for Halloween? There are three sisters on my street who all came to my door as Hermione. That was adorable. What's your dream literary Halloween costume?

Personally, I'm wearing this one again next year. Hope for better weather.

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Oh the Horror! (or YA Books Not For Halloween Weenies)

Tip of the Day: Did you see Tina's cover reveal from Monday? No?!? Go check it out and then link to her personal blog for a chance to WIN STUFF!!!

Last week I mentioned five recent middle grade novels that are great reads for the creeptastic month of October. As promised, here are five young adult titles that you must check out if you like to have your mind rattled!

1. ASHES and SHADOWS by Ilsa J. Bick. Teens are turned into flesh-eating monsters after an EMP rocks the planet. The first book came out last year, the second just this month, both are action-packed, gory, and startling.

2. THE RAFT by S. A. Bodeen. A plane crash, a raft rescue, an island marooning, and dead bodies grace this novel that makes you hope to never be floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

3. EREBOS by Ursula Poznanski. The creepy overlord character watches the players of Erebos and makes them do real world tasks that may result in death. While at first I was sure this book would be paranormal, it was actually more normal normal, which made it even creepier. A unique, foreign addition to scary YA.

4. THIS IS NOT A TEST by Courtney Summers. An zombie-esque tale about teens trapped in their high school while outside are the living and the undead. What makes this novel stand out are the personal demons each character also faces.

5. THE UNQUIET by Jeannine Garsee. Is Rinn's school haunted by a girl who drowned in the swimming pool, or does she simply need to go back on her bipolar meds? Either way, Rinn is scared and should be.

Which ones have I missed? There have been so many great new releases this month too and I just can't keep up!

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

A Season for Writing

Tip of the Day: there's tons of cute fall and Halloween decorating ideas on Pinterest!

Fall...

It's one of my most favorite times of the year. 
 

Whether it's because of the beautiful scenery outside with the changing of the leaves...

the fact that there's an entire day in October where it's perfectly acceptable to pretend to be someone else and dress in costume..

it marks the season I was born in...

Or merely because it's the start of a fun, new TV season :) 

Whatever it is, there is something special about fall to me, and for that reason it's become one of my favorite seasons to write about and the season that seems to motivate me to write the most. The amount of free time I have seems to perfectly align with the work that needs done and the writing flows more than any other time of the year. I've also lucked out that NaNoWriMo happens to take place in late fall, so it's always great motivation to keep writing even when I don't officially participate.

For these reason, I'm not only very excited it's fall, but I'm also considering doing NaNoWriMo officially for the first time in three years.

Anyone else participating?

Does anyone else feel like their best writing times revolve around a certain season?

--Emily, Miss Querylicious

My Son is a Prisoner

Tip of the Day: Shop for Halloween costumes now before they're picked over!!!!

From Target: http://bit.ly/OFQgZu

My kids have two days off of school this week, so I took them shopping for Halloween costumes. My 10-year-old daughter gravitated toward the skanky teen vampire costumes (luckily I was able to steer her toward something less-slutty than the others), but my 6-year-old son had a really tough time choosing.

First it was a ninja (he takes tae kwon do), then a Power Ranger (he loves the show), and finally he zeroed in on a hotdog (he loves food). None of them spoke to his blackened Halloween heart.

Frustrated, we left the big Halloween store and headed to Target ... where he decided to be a prisoner. Of all things, a PRISONER! But it was cheap, so I said, "Okay!" lol

When we got home, I was still a bit flummoxed over his choice. He's never been in trouble at school, and he delights in telling me who was bad every single day. He's a little rough with his sister, but I'm pretty sure that's just normal sibling stuff.

So why a prisoner?

Probably for the same reason I dress up every day, slap on a pen name, and write a book. It's an escape. I'm relatively shy. I don't enjoy crowds. Public recognition isn't even on my list of lifetime goals. Yet, here I am, throwing myself out into the world as this vivacious author.

Writing gives me the same fantastic escape that my kids experience every Halloween. Even though I haven't dressed up in years and really hate trick-or-treating (I prefer to stay home and hand out the candy), I encourage my kids to give it all they've got. Why not? Kids are so regimented these days. It's rare for us to spend a day at home doing nothing. Sports and activities get in the way.

I hope when they grow up, they remember how it feels to put on a mask, or a painted face, and present themselves to the world as something that's the opposite of what they are. It might give them courage in a stressful work situation or help them fake it until they make it.

Have a great weekend!!!!

Megg, Miss Enchanted ePubber