March 22, 2007

I know it's late in the day for a post, but I've been completely out of synch with my normal schedule. If I even had a normal schedule.

Anyway, I'm feeling cranky today. No particular reason–and really, I shouldn't be, because it feels like spring is here in Michigan. So I'm happy about that. But still cranky.

For example, I called someone today on their cell phone and they had the longest message! Does that make anyone else crazy? Why can't they just say, "Hi, it's Sandra Dee and I can't answer the phone. I'll call you back."

That's really it. This message today was: "Hi, you've reached the voice mail of Benita Benjamin. I'm sorry I can't take your call right now. If you would please leave me your name (pause) number (pause) and a brief message, I will be glad to get back to you. Have a great day!"

Nice and chipper and oh so polite…but please. Do we really need those instructions? I mean, who doesn't know what to do when they get someone's voice mail? Huh? Anyone?

Okay then. So. Homework. Go change your voicemail on your cell phone, home phone, work phone, whatever to the basics: Hi, it's Colleen. Leave a message and I'll call you back.

That's it.

All right…so since I'm feeling cranky, I'd better give away another Advance Review Copy of Rises the Night. Make a comment and you're in the drawing. I'll probably draw on Saturday sometime, so it'll be a short contest.

Oh, by the way, I got my first review for Rises. Here's a snippet:

"Rises the Night deftly portrays the dilemmas, moral,personal and intimate, that Victoria faces as she continues her Venator work.

"Colleen Gleason raises the stakes on this vampire series with a heroine who lets nothing stand in her way, even when the hardest blows are yet to come."

(That's from Sarah at Romance Junkies. Thanks Sarah!)
 

March 19, 2007

My Music Man and I cued up our Netflix list and got the two "magician" movies out of the way over the last few weeks, and I've been looking forward to writing a blog post about them.

But now that it's two weeks later, all of my great thoughts have sifted away and I'm left with some vague, half-baked recollections. (That's what happens when you get old.)

(Not that I'm old. Yet. But a milestone birthday's rearing its ugly head in April…)

We liked them both. I liked The Prestige better than The Illusionist (not just because of Hugh Jackman, by the way), but because  I liked the mystery better. I actually had The Illusionist figured out wayyy early–earlier than The Prestige; it felt much more obvious to me that it was a set-up.

I did figure out The Prestige before it became obvious. But even though I liked it better, that whole movie left me with a much more squicky feeling than The Illusionist–it was so dark and full of malice and hatred that it left me with odd dreams and an uncomfortable feeling. I thought it was a much better mystery, and at the end, everything that Christian Bale's character had said throughout about his trick and its prestige held so true and made sense.

And I was so glad the little girl had a happy ending. Whew. That would have been a deal-breaker for me.

(I also like ScarJo better than Jessica Biel; the latter was so colorless and limp in that movie, I thought.) 

I could also empathize–at least a bit–with The Great Danton and his belief that what he was doing when he did his trick (trying to keep from giving spoilers here for people who haven't seen it) wasn't so bad…after all, who were these men who fell through the trap door? Were they real people? Such an odd weirdness. What's the mortality of this issue?

But, yes, his need for vengeance usurped his whole life. He ended up being the bad guy at the end (guess I can't keep away from spoilers; sorry!), even though he was the one who'd been wronged at the beginning.

(OH! And now I understand why Christian Bale's character kept saying he didn't "remember" which knot he'd tied! Doh!)

As for The Illusionist, I felt that the prince was completely wronged at the end–even though he was a bad guy, he hadn't done what everyone thought he'd done. And he killed himself over it. That didn't sit well with me.

Now, of course, we have a similar situation with The Prestige too–one man is allowing another man to bear the brunt of a crime he didn't commit–and that isn't rectified completely in the end, but as I said, at least the little girl gets her happy ending.

Is this vague enough? Sheesh. That's what you get when you try to write a comparison without giving spoilers.

So for those of you who have seen these flicks…what did you think? 

March 17, 2007

As promised, I drew a name from those who are on my newsletter list, and the winner receives an Advance Review Copy of Rises the Night.

Congrats to:

anik

(I'll contact you by email to make sure you get the notice).

Everyone have a great day today and don't drink too much Miller Lite with green food coloring in it. (Ugh.) 

March 16, 2007

Big, splashy article in the Detroit Free Press today about me and the Gardella Vampire Chronicles–and the Smart Bitches blog is mentioned too. Yay for Sarah and Candy!

Love it! Check it out!

And remember:

1. I'm signing books in Flint today at the Borders on Miller Road–so come on by if you're in the area!

2. I'll be interviewed on SuperTalk AM 1570 out of Flint today at 4 pm if you can get that station.

3. If you want a chance to win an advance copy of Rises the Night, sign up for my newsletter by midnight tonight for a St. Patty's Day drawing.

Have a great weekend…won't be around much today. 

March 14, 2007

Thirteen (More) Albums (Mostly from the '80s)

Hanging on My Basement Wall

(this is a follow up to Thursday Thirteen #22)

1. Bryan Adams   Reckless

2. Robert Palmer  Riptide

3. Led Zeppelin IV  

4. J. Geils Band   Blow Your Face Out

5. AC/DC  Back in Black

6. Foreigner  Head Games

7. The Fixx  Reach the Beach

8. U2  October

9. Stray Cats  Built For Speed

10. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers  Long After Dark

11. The Babys   Anthology

12. The Romantics

13. The Cars  Shake It Up

And, so…how many of these do you admit to have owned? Or still own?