Liane Spicer's Blog, page 8

Novel Spaces: The Brangelina Syndrome

Just as the celebrity-actor curse spoils movies for me, the celebrity-author curse diminishes my enthusiasm for some novels. Am I alone in this? How does an author's celebrity affect the way you approach his or her books?
Novel Spaces: The Brangelina Syndrome

Novel Spaces: Overcoming writer's block

"Long ago, in the Precambrian era before I was a published author, I used to think that writer's block was an affectation trotted out by lazy writers who wanted to bask on their laurels instead of greasing up their elbows and getting down to work. Well, you know what they say about hubris. I've taken many a fall since.
I'll spare you the painful details of my own blood-splattered duels with blocks. What I will do is share some of the techniques I use to knock this opponent of productivity on to the ropes long enough for me to get some writing done."
Novel Spaces: Overcoming writer's block

Novel Spaces: The Novelist and his Work: Degrees of Separation

Who else found VS Naipaul's assertion that no women writers are his equal amusing? Join me on Novel Spaces for another view on the controversy.

Novel Spaces: The Novelist and his Work: Degrees of Separation: "The furor is at least a week old and has seemingly given way to newer feeding frenzies such as Weinergate . Yet, the uproar over VS Naipaul'..."

Novel Spaces: Grist

Novel Spaces: Grist: "As a writer I've discovered that my life experience feeds into my writing. Writers by nature are keen observers of life..."
As writers we tend to mine not only our own lives, but the lives of those around us for raw material for our fiction. You've invited to join me on the NOVEL SPACES author blog as I talk about some of the people whose passions fuel my own.

Bet you don't know who wrote Jumping the Broom

Anyone who has been reading this blog from its start in 2007 will remember nyc/caribbean ragazza , a friend to wordtryst and a blogger herself. She hails from LA and has blogged her own journey from Hollywood film producer to her move to Italy to follow her dream of writing screenplays. I'm a great believer in following one's passion so I've read her blog with much interest over the years and felt vindicated when she sold her first screenplay. See? I told you it would happen! Following your dreams might not make you rich and famous in the short term (or ever) but it's the very best thing you can do for your soul.
Nyc/caribbean ragazza' s soul must be doing cartwheels across the psychic universe right now because that screenplay was made into a lovely film starring the beautiful Angela Bassett. It's Jumping the Broom which opened in theatres last week and came in at #3, grossing $15.3 million on its debut weekend. The reviews are spectacular. This all reiterates pretty much the same thing that that nyc/caribbean ragazza , otherwise known as Arlene Gibbs, has been insisting all along: that there's a lucrative market for films like these, films written by, featuring and starring women, and Black women in particular, a demographic that's terribly underrepresented in Hollywood. Take note, studio honchos: we're not all young males, there are oodles of us out here, and we spend money on movies we enjoy.
I take it personally when blog friends score wonderful things, whether it's a new writing shed, a literary agent, a book contract - or a winning screenplay. The icing on this cake is that Arlene comes from Caribbean stock: her parents are from the island of St. Martin.
Congratulations, ragazza. Wishing you a long, fruitful career doing what you love.
Note to fellow Trinis here at home! You can catch Jumping the Broom at Movietowne right now. See you there!

Novel Spaces: Movie or book?

What happens when you see a movie version of your favourite novel? Utter disappointment, that's what. Here are the rules for keeping Hollywood from driving you crazy.

Novel Spaces: Movie or book?

Novel Spaces: A Week of Firsts

Novel Spaces: A Week of Firsts: "I've been wondering when my charmed publishing life of the last two and a half years would come to an end. The truth is I'd never seen a bad review of..."


Ever seen your book being stolen in front of your very eyes? Or had it trashed by a 'reviewer' who probably never even read it? Join me on Novel Spaces for my Week of Firsts.

Novel Spaces: Why I write

Novel Spaces: Why I write: "I know you think I feed my Internet addiction with Amazon wish lists chock full of delectable perfumes and femme fatale shoes. Well, you're ..."

Fair warning

Dear Diary,

I've neglected you of late, haven't I? The odd article here, the pointer to my posts over on Novel Spaces there, and not much else in between. Well, that's life for you: it ebbs and it flows; the focus changes; other interests usurp.

Much has been happening off the page: additions to the family, crises, sickness (not me, thank God), achievements and disappointments, publisher woes, changing landscapes, friend-scapes and love-scapes, the soap opera that passes for local politics...

Some things don't change, though, like the beauty of this here island, the supporting rock that is my family, the comfort of close friendships, the ongoing challenges of living life, growing up and growing older. My part-time day job is now half of a part-time job. The silver lining is that I now have more time to repair to my psychic bamboo grove to be quiet, to listen to the rustle of the leaves and the song of the birds, to think, to read, and very importantly, to write. My languishing WIPs must languish no more.

I'm giving you fair warning that I'll be visiting regularly, Dear Diary, my cyber-bamboo-grove in this thickly forested blogosphere. There are books to be read and reviewed, authors to be interviewed, tales to be told, issues to be explored. Today I'm sharing one of my favourite things: Blue Nude by
wordtryst

Novel Spaces: What's in a Name?

Today on the