books

Book Recommendation: The Bridge

/ MB / 4 Comments

The Bridge by Jeri Massi is quite possibly one of my favorite books ever!

It has been a hot minute since I last read this book (don’t worry though, it’s on my list of ‘books-to-re-read-asap’!), so my synopsis for it might end up a little janky – but here’s what I remember.

Rosalynn is a young princess, who’s home is invaded in the middle of the night in a coup! Her parents are locked up and she barely manages to escape on horseback with her trusted bodyguard Heron.

Somehow (I can’t quite remember how at the moment) the two end up separated!

Rosalyn awakens later to find herself, after having gotten lost and wounded in the woods, in the safe keeping of an old lady’s house. The old lady cares for her, protects her, strengthens her, reunites her with Heron, and ultimately aids her in returning to her home and rescuing her parents.

I genuinely can’t remember the finer details (I seriously need to re-read it asap!!), but it is a classic lost princess story. I am almost 1000% certain that this book contributed to my love of ‘lady and bodyguard’ stories, and my love of lost prince/princesses tales.

I still distinctly remember the scene where Heron and Rosalynn are reunited, I remember that he’s got a bandage around his eye, and that his wound is pretty infected. The old lady (who I think is old royalty herself, if I remember correctly…?) cleans and treats his wounds with herbs and medicines. He is kind’ve standoffish at first, cause he’s not sure if he can trust her or not. Ultimately though, of course, he does, and the three of them are the group that return to the castle and free the King and Queen.

This book was out of print for awhile, but now it’s back in rotation, thanks to the author getting the rights back. So now, you can find a copy of the book on Amazon (just make sure to look up the complete title and author name, as there are actually quite of number of books and movies titled ‘The Bridge’.).

I really need to come up with a ranking system, something unique…

How about typewriters? Like, 5 typewriters out of 5? I think I like that…

Yeah, let’s go with that for now, and we can always change it later, but for now From A Writer’s Point of View, The Bridge by Jeri Massi gets 5 typewriters out of 5!

(What do you think of this???? FaWPoV was my original site name idea, it stands for From a Writer’s Point of View. I think I like the idea of the typewriter ranking system! Thoughts??)

Anyhoo, yeah!

If you’re looking for a gently romantic medieval tale of princesses fighting for their families, or if you’re looking for an age appropriate book to recommend to your young daughter, sister, niece or friend – then The Bridge by Jeri Massi is a definite MUST READ!

Subscribe (if you wanna!) thanks!! 😆 until next time 💕

Writing Tip #1

/ MB / Leave a comment

Limit yourself.

Wait, don’t click away yet! This is a really good genuine tip, I promise! Without this tip you won’t be able to accomplish the #1 writing rule.

I’m not saying ‘limit yourself’ as in ‘limit your imagination’ or ‘limit how good your are/can be’.

No.

I mean – Limit Yourself.

Give yourself a SET TIME.

A certain amount of pages.

A minimum (and maximum!) daily word count.

Set. A. Limit. (you can make it the sky if you want!)

Trust me, with this tip you will be able to achieve the #1 writing rule of WRITE EVERY DAY.

Cause, let’s face it – writing every day sounds easy enough (you know, even getting a few words down on the page is good work), but what about when we’re reeeeeally tired? Or, we’ve got too much laundry to do? Or the ideas just aren’t coming?

Well, if you LIMIT YOURSELF – telling yourself that you’ll only write for 20 minutes a day, or 1 page a day, or 500 words a day – then suddenly, that daunting task of putting pen to paper (or fingers to keys) becomes a doable feat.

Even is you only write for 5 minutes, or a single sentence, that’s something and it keeps the momentum going so that when the muse strikes – it will strike a lot sooner and more often if you’ve kept up the daily habit.

Also though – limit yourself on stopping after reaching your maximum word count, page number, time limit. You’ll get a lot more done if you write a little something every day then if you burn out in one intense night (just like with working out, eating right, praying daily or any other habit).

So – let’s make it a HABIT and remember – WRITE DAILY – LIMIT YO’ SELF! 😉

bye 🙂

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Book Rec: The Host

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The Host by Stephenie Meyer is quite possibly my favorite novel ever!

I really struggle with that question “What’s your favorite book?” But if you forced me to give an answer, then it would be a hard tie between The Host and Jane Eyre (with all of the LOTR books, The Harry Potter series, The Narnia Chronicles, the Twilight Saga, Escape to Witch Mountain and soooooo many others tied right along with them!!!).

I think in the end the only sensible thing to do would be to Fahrenheit 451 the situation and memorize all of my favorite books! Starting with Jane Eyre and The Host.

Originally pitched as ‘An alien story for people who don’t like alien stories’ The Host is Invasion of the Body Snatchers CONTINUED, or, A Day in the Life of Wanda (no not that Wanda!)

Not that one either!

Wanda, or Wanderer, is the body snatching alien that has taken over the body of our main human Melanie. Melanie, or Mel, is one of the last surviving humans, who’d been living rough on the run with her baby brother Jamie and her apocalyptic lover Jared, till they got separated and Mel ended up captured.

After Wanda was implanted Melanie was supposed to go away – but she didn’t.

2 souls, 1 body and a family that they now BOTH love – is a happy ending even possible?

Not to spoil anything but – YES! Yes a happy ending is possible!

Now, I want to share my fancast with you! I know there’s a movie, but the movie really could’ve been better imo (sorry Fickle Fish). This book needs/deserves to be done in show format, anywhere from 6 to 24 hours dedicated to it’s telling. (BTW Fickle Fish if you want/need someone to write the scripts for a show for you I WILL I WILL I WILL!!)

Anyways, my dream cast would include:

Melanie Stryder played by Lindsey Morgan (I mean, wouldn’t Raven by PERFECT!!??)

Or Alycia Debnam Carey (Lexa also has that fierce but soft attitude to play both Mel and Wanda)

Jared Howe played by Jensen Ackles (I know he’s in his 40s now, but this is my dream cast dammit! JENSEN IS PERFECT FOR JARED!!!)

Ian O’Shea played (this is the hardest one to cast for me cause he’s my FAVORITE! So, we’re gonna try to find someone that looks like he could be twins with my Kyle fancast) either John Krasinski

Or (because he’s got those baby blues…) Tom Hiddleston

Kyle O’Shea played by Jeremy Renner (once I had this thought there’s been no going back for me, Jeremy IS Kyle!)

And Finally Wanderer aka Wanda in the body of Pet played by Lucy Hale (with her blonde hair she’s perfect for pet!!!)

So, that’s it! What do you think??

The Host gets all the thumbs that I have in my possession way way up!!

If you haven’t read it yet, please give it a go! And if you don’t like it – well, then maybe you just don’t deserve to get what you want! (IT Crowd reference 😉 )

BTW, here’s the song that sold me on Jeremy Renner as Kyle. I feel like the show would need to have a soundtrack like this!! 100%!!!

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Book Recommendation: Jane Eyre

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Do you like drama?

Do you like rain?

Do you like mysterious strangers that just randomly appear and disappear on the road only to later end up being the master of the house at which you were just recently employed as a governess and now you find yourself falling for him even though he probably has a crazy wife in the attic?

Then Jane Eyre is the book for you!!!

Seriously, this is one of my favorite books! 🙂

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte follows the life of a young orphan girl in victorian times that deals with all of the hits – dead parents, horrible aunts, terrible teachers, bad orphanages, the consumption and so on and so on. Despite all of this she grows into a practical, pretty smart, plain young lady who has the good fortune of being employed as a governess at Thornfield Hall.

Jane had no idea that her brief tenure there would be the starting point of the rest of her life. And she certainly had not been prepared to meet her future husband when she’d sent in her application. But, fate has a funny way of giving us exactly what’s good for us – even if it’s a little dark, broody and damaged at first.

The only thing standing between Jane and happiness (in her mind) is her social status.

She had no idea about the reeeeal obstacle!

I’ve been trying to think of a unique ranking system. You know, like 10 out of 10 or 5 stars or S Tier or something like that but I want it to be fun and different. Maybe it’ll be some kind of pudding scale?… But anyways, point is on any scale this book sits at the top!!

Have you read it? And if not, why not? … 😉 Are you going to read it?

Whatever your answer let me know your thoughts on Jane Eyre in the comments! 😀 That way we can squeal and rant about it together!!

Happy Friday! ❤

BTW, yes there is a manga version of Jane Eyre!

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Disney & the Shakespearean Formula

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If I were to say that “Disney is just Shakespeare!” you’d be like, “I know, Lion King, duh.”

But I’m not just talking about The Lion King here.

I’m talking about the entirety of Disney, I’m talking about what makes a Disney film a Disney film, you know the thing that whenever there’s a major cliche moment people are like “What is this, a Disney film?”

That, my friends, is the Shakespearean Formula that I’m talking about, and today we’re going to talk about The Tempest.

In the Tempest we have the magical lead Prospero (a banished for-all-intents-and-purposes ‘good guy’, and the father of the female lead Miranda). Prospero makes me think of Merlin from Sword in the Stone or Mushu from Mulan (idk maybe you have a better disney comparison that I just can’t think of) – he is the main character, but in the Disney movie version it would ‘technically’ be Miranda that was the main character. Regardless, Prospero is the magical lead that was banished, that has a score to settle, and that is driving the plot.

The female lead Miranda (a beautiful innocent young maiden who’s never even seen a man before, aside from her father and a gargoyle like creature). Reminds me of Aurora from Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Belle, Cinderella and basically every Disney princess out there. She’s lovely, innocent and kind but also isolated away from everyone and everything until she meets Ferdinand.

The male lead Ferdinand (the handsome, kind, but not-too-deep-and-still-has-a-lot-to-learn prince). He reminds me of every classic Disney prince.

(We all agree that Prince Phillip is the best Disney prince, right? No need to even discuss!)

The villains and bewitched-by-the villains in Alonso (the king and father of Ferdinand and the bewitched one) Antonio (the evil brother of Prospero who’s just backstabbing people left and right) and Sebastian (the brother of Alonso who’s so ready to backstab). I mean – think of any Disney villain and boom these guys are it.

Then, we have the comical but diabolical but in-the-end-harmless characters in Caliban, Trinculo and Stephano (the gargoyle-like servant of the magical lead, and two drunks from the royal shipwreck). This trio provides much needed comic relief with a dash of danger – very similar to your eels from The Little Mermaid, or the hyenas from The Lion King, or Lucifer the cat and the evil stepsisters from Cinderella – all groups that were scary sure, but more funny then anything else and in the end none of their plans came to fruition.

And last, but not least, we have the literal fairy godmother character in Ariel (Prospero’s spirit helper that does Prospero’s bidding). He’s your Genie from Aladdin, your Fairy Godmother from Cinderella, your Grandmother Willow from Pocahontas, and so on and so on. Without him, the magic doesn’t get done, a lot of the comedy is lost, and the ‘hero’ of the story remains at the bottom.

It’s not just the characters though. It’s the structure too. It’s everything really, but I’m blanking on terms here.

To break it down, in The Tempest there’s a big event that happens (the storm), just like a lot of Disney movies, (Tarzan, Frozen, Pocahontas are just a few that start out with a big storm) and then after the wreck the Prince finds and falls in love with the Princess, the bad guys plot and scheme to get rid of their leaders and in the end the magical wizard saves the day and there’s a wedding.

The big scene that I noticed that made me go “Oh c’mon!” is there’s literally a ‘date scene’ for Miranda and Ferdinand where, after they’ve already gotten engaged after like 3 hours, they watch a musical performance put on by these magical creatures (just like Kiss the Girl, Can you feel the love tonight?, So this is Love, that one from Tangled with the lanterns on the water!) and they fall even more in love.

Anyway – I’m getting a little lost here – my point is, I think that that’s why Disney movies are so famous. Walt Disney copied the formula of one of the most famous playwrights of all time, William Shakespeare.

Wait a minute! Walt – William – is there a little similarity there? 😉 Oh, I think there is! (*cough* John Candy reference *cough*)

TTFN! (Ta Ta For Now!)

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