April 24, 2007

I mentioned awhile back that I'm so very into the ballroom dancing idea. I wish someone would open a dance club for ballroom dancing here in my area–I'd drag my Music Man, even though he doesn't quite lead the way I wish he would.

(Hmm. Now there's a telling statement about how much of a control freak I am.)

So, since I had my little ballroom dancing experience, I've been interested in seeing a few of the recent movies that have come out, and the first one I watched was the ever-hot Antonio Banderas in Take the Lead.

The premise of the movie is that Banderas, playing the real-life Pierre Dulaine, volunteers to teach the detention class of an inner city high school how to ballroom dance.

As you can imagine, this doesn't go over very well with the hard-asses who are relegated to detention for the rest of the year. Or are they? Hard-asses?

They all have their own stories, and we really only get a glimpse of two or three of them…but of those, the stories are sad and frightening and pretty much what one would expect from this setting.

The movie isn't sickly sweet, either. It takes its time, especially at the beginning over the credits, but it works. It doesn't wrap everything up neatly either, which I like. In other words, it's not "and they lived happily ever after…" but more of "and they had a different outlook on life and learned something."

During one scene, Banderas/Dulaine is called into a meeting with the principal and a teacher, and the parent association. They want him to stop wasting his time teaching their children the "box step" when they should be learning math and reading.

Dulaine's explanation is the crux of the movie, the whole theme, and I loved it. He says, (I'm paraphrasing here): "By teaching your daughters to allow the boys to lead, they learn to trust them, as well as trust themselves. It gives them confidence and assurance. Do you think a girl who has learned that is going to allow a boy to knock her up?

"And it teaches the young men how to treat a woman with respect. If he learns this, how do you think he will treat women all his life?"

Loved it.

I really enjoyed the movie and definitely recommend it for its thought-provoking theme, as well as some fabulous dancing. My ten year old daughter absolutely loved it too.

I'm also interested in seeing Step Up–anyone know anything about that?

I'm planning on seeing Strictly Ballroom again soon (I think my daughter would enjoy that too).

April 16, 2007

Happy Monday!

Is it? Do tell!

The sun's shining here, the kids are back to school after Spring Break (yay!) and I just paid all the monthly bills, so, despite the lightness of my checkbook, I'm still in a good mood.

Got a little project done over the weekend I was working on, and I'm giving away an Advance Review Copy of Rises the Night over at my other home today.

Got some great reviews about Rises over the weekend, too, so that helps. One's already posted on Vampire Romance Books, and another on Romance Divas, so check it out.

Took the kiddies to see Meet the Robinsons on Friday. It was cute, but not one I'd rave about. Nice message, and I (doh!) didn't figure out the twist until too far into it for my ego. Maybe that's because I was just half watching it, and using the other half of my brain to plot Gardella Four. (At least, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.)

Disturbia did well at the box office. Anyone see it? 

April 5, 2007

says PW*, on Rises the Night. W00T!!!

Here's more:

"…Those who've read the first title, however, won't be disappointed: Victoria is a more determined, fleshed-out character, having grown wiser, sadder, and more ambiguous about the morality of her mission.

"Her world, too, expands significantly in this adventure. A tense plot line and refreshingly diverse supporting characters complete the package, giving series fans plenty to sink their teeth into–and plenty more to look forward to."

I'm absolutely delighted!

So…if you haven't read The Rest Falls Away…enter the contest! Comment here or on the post above for a chance to win.

*PW=Publishers Weekly, 4/9/2007 

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!)
 

January 3, 2007

My blog-friend Carl V. of Stainless Steel Droppings just posted his review of The Rest Falls Away. I have to admit, I was more than a bit nervous about what he might think.

Actually, I get nervous about what anyone might think–especially people I know. I mean, I want them to like the book and they, I’m sure, want to like the book too…but if they don’t, that shouldn’t make for an awkward moment between friends.

Which is why I’ll never ask anyone directly if they’ve liked the book.

Read the rest of this entry »