Sarvenaz Tash's Blog, page 33

Movies I Love: Pillow Talk

My dad is somewhat of a classic film buff and I grew up watching a lot of old movies (and an inordinate amount of musicals). There are some truly delightful films out there that I think are a bit under the radar for people of my generation. Sure, most everyone has seen or at least knows of The Wizard of Oz, or Gone With the Wind, or Citizen Kane. But have you seen...Pillow Talk?

This 1959 comedy centers on two people who share a party line. What the heck is a party line, you might ask. Apparen...

Gift Card Giveaway Finalists: Vote for the Winner!

#janeaustenactionfigure has had a massively busy week. She met everyone from Dr. Who to Lord Voldemort, kicked some butt, sang some songs, and even came face-to-face with a giant or two.

This is what she looks like after-the-fact:

Jane Austen action figure throws her hands up in the air, as if to say, "What can I say? I remain poised and awesome."I've adored reading each and every one of your Jane Austen action figure tweets...but now comes the hard part. One of the five finalists below will wi...

Oh the Villainy: Dolores Umbridge

In some stories, a good villain is just as important as a good hero. Someone whose guts you can hate, who makes the hero's life as hard as it can possibly be, and whose demise we ultimately root for.

Everyone knows the villain of Harry Potter's story: the Dark Lord himself, Voldemort. And what a terrifying antagonist he is.

But I actually think there's a villain in the series that I hated even more than He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. That's right: I'm talking about the power-hungry, hair-bow-wearing...

Guest Post: Children's Librarian/Writer Sarah O'Holla's Recommendations For National Poetry Month!

Sarah O'Holla was one of the first people I ever knew to keep a blog. A real blog, which she updated frequently and with care to reflect her love and knowledge of the world of children's and YA literature. Without further ado, here's Sarah!

I don't want tobecause boysdon't write poetry.
Girls do.

That is the first poem in Sharon Creech's novel written in verse Love That Dog. Doesn't it make you want to keep reading? Don't you feel like you're not even reading poetry? 

I've always been the kind ...

AUTHORized

So, apparently, my book deal got announced in Publishers Marketplace yesterday. This is what it said:

Sarvenaz Tash's THE MAPMAKER AND THE GHOST, about a girl who sets out to make the most accurate map of her hometown that ever existed, and discovers that there is no adventure without danger, pitched as MATILDA meets THE GOONIES, to Stacy Cantor Abrams at Walker Children's, for publication in April 2012, by Marissa Walsh at FinePrint Literary Management (World).

You might be wondering, "wh...

Twitter Contest: Win a $50 Amazon Gift Card!

I've reached 250 followers. First of all, yay and thank you!! Now before some twitterbots unfollow me, I present: the giveaway!

I'm running a contest with awesome, book-buying prizes. They are:

- One $50 Amazon gift card
- Two $25 Barnes & Noble gift cards

The rules are simple. Here's how to play

1) Follow me on Twitter and write me a Twit story using #janeaustenactionfigure as a character.
(Make sure to @ me so that I see the story!) Each Twit story can be no longer than one tweet. But you can ...

What's in a Name?

As you may or may not know, my first name means cypress tree.

Which looks like this:
Up until about three days before I was born, my name was supposed to be Taraneh (which means song). Right around that time, my dad was reading a novel which he then passed on to my mom. Guess what the heroine's name in this novel was? If you said Sarvenaz, you win a blogger gold star.
My sister, who was born 3 1/2 years later, was named after a flower but also given a name that "went" with mine: Golnaz. That's k...

Have You Met Miss Jones?

Tomorrow, I'll be co-leading a writing workshop for Girls Write Now, the volunteer program I'm a part of that pairs pro women writers with teen mentees. The workshop is on screenplay adaptation which means I've spent a lot of this past week thinking about them.

As I've mentioned before, it's very rare for me not to come out of a movie and think "the book was better." But there ARE some exceptions to that. One of which is the great and powerful...Bridget Jones's Diary.

I happen to love the book...

More 'Bad' Movies I Love: The Cutting Edge

This weekend, I unpacked a box of DVDs into my new apartment, and I got a little jolt of happiness when I came across my copy of The Cutting Edge.

That's right: I love The Cutting Edge. The original The Cutting Edge, mind. I'm not sure what's going on with those ABC Family remakes that feature fake Doug Dorseys and Kate Moseleys.

My boyfriend already makes fun of me for this. In the interest of fair and balanced reporting, I'd like to point out that his DVD collection includes Freddy Got...

My First Giveaway!

It's spring in New York! My book's getting published next year! I'm feeling generous! Exclamation points are fun.

Really, though, I'm about to switch jobs and I want to take all the most fun parts of my old job (which involved social media and competitions) and use it in my author life as an apropos way to bid adieu. And also as a way to give you prizes.

So, here's the deal. I've come up with a fun little contest that I'll be running on Twitter AND I can tell you the prizes:

ONE grand prize winn...