Sophia Knightly's Blog, page 2

It's Party Time!!!

Welcome and thanks for coming to my virtual launch party for SOLD ON YOU, a holiday romantic comedy, and WILD FOR YOU, a romantic suspense. I wrote SOLD ON YOU around the holidays because Christmas is my favorite holiday.

 

Every hour today from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm, I'll choose a random guest to receive a FREE ebook copy of SOLD ON YOU. To be eligible, post a comment about what you look forward to most during the holidays.

I'll start the ball rolling...I most look forward to spending time with my family, cooking, laughing and eating homemade delicious treats. When my daughters are home for Christmas, we bake cookies and make Italian rum balls together as we watch classic movies on TCM. On Christmas Eve, we make homemade gnocchi and braciole. Our version of Italian braciole is made with pork tenderloin that is filled with garlic, parsely, grated cheese, pine nuts and golden raisins and rolled up. It is then simmered in a tomato sauce until it is very tender. Mmm, so good!

 

What do you most look forward to during the holidays? Post here for all to enjoy!

Double the Merriment Ebook Launch Party with Giveaways!

Sophia Knightly proudly announces the arrival of her contemporary romances, SOLD ON YOU and WILD FOR YOU as ebooks! A free copy of my holiday romantic comedy, SOLD ON YOU, will be given to one randomly chosen guest every hour on Wednesday, Nov. 9th from 8:00 am EST to 8:00 pm EST.

To qualify, either RSVP on Facebook as attending and/or add a comment here on what you most look forward to during the holidays!

Names: SOLD ON YOU(romantic comedy) and WILD FOR YOU (romantic suspense)

Launch Date: Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011

Place: www.Amazon.com and www.BarnesandNoble.com

Fun details: Set in South Florida, the books have two related protagonists -- Dr. Marcos Calderon in Sold on You is the overprotective older brother of lively Marisol Calderon in Wild for You.

[image error]Confirmed bachelor Dr. Marcos Calderon is in hot water. He needs to come up with a fake fiancée fast or he'll disappoint his beloved grandma who's arriving on the next flight to meet her. Proper social worker Gabriela Morales should fit the bill—but tonight, in that sexy, slit-to-there red evening gown, she looks anything but proper. Gabriela only volunteered for the hospital's charity bachelorette auction to benefit a cause dear to her heart. Now she's reeling from the hot doctor's bid of fifteen thousand dollars for a weekend date with her! She's not sure what Dr. Handsome has in mind, but the smoldering look in his eyes is unmistakable…

 [image error]Detective Clay Blackthorne figures he'll have his hands full when he promises to safeguard an old college pal's sister without letting her know what he's up to. Sassy Marisol is used to doing whatever she wants—and right now her plan is to shake up the hot detective's hard-edged demeanor. But the fun turns to danger when a mystery stalker bent on marrying her marks her as his prey. As passion ignites and Marisol falls for the tender heart buried beneath the tough detective's chest, Clay's true identity is revealed and she begins to wonder who—if anyone—she can trust…

"Breakfast at Tiffany's" - the quintessential love story

"Breakfast at Tiffany's" has all the elements we writers strive to create in a story: strong character arcs, twists and turns in the plot, and a heart-wrenching climax followed by a beautiful, poignant ending.

Warning: Spoilers to come for those who haven't seen "Breakfast at Tiffany's".

 

Thursday night, I had the thrill of attending the 50th anniversary screening of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center. The moment Julie Andrews took the stage at Alice Tully Hall to talk about her husband, Blake Edwards, who directed "Breakfast at Tiffany's" she was greeted with thunderous applause and a standing ovation. During her Q & A with Richard Pena, director of the Film Society of Lincoln center, Julie mentioned three memorable scenes: 1) The party scene depicting New York City in the sixties and amuses her because Blake filled it with his friends and relations. 2) The scene where Holly puts on an earring and asks, "How do I look?" Julie called it one of the most beautiful shots on screen. 3) The scene where Holly has a shattering emotional breakdown after learning of her brother's death and she collapses on her bed amidst a flurry of pillow feathers after she has trashed her bedroom. Julie said the scene was masterful because in it, Blake said it all…

 

Gorgeous, bejeweled party girl Holly Golightly first appears on screen in a black evening gown eating a pastry and sipping coffee as she peers into Tiffany's window after a late night on the town. For years, people have debated whether Holly was a high paid call girl or merely a blithe spirit who accepted jewelry or "fifty dollars" from rich men every time she went to the powder room. In her talk, Ms. Andrews said, "When you've got Audrey Hepburn and Hubert de Givenchy…I don't think anyone for a second believed that this was a heavy hooker, for God's sake." 

 

Hepburn's sparkling charisma saves her character from being unsympathetic as she carelessly breezes through life. As the story unfolds we see that beneath Holly's "It" girl glamour, lurks a sad orphan from the wrong side of the tracks named Lulamae Barnes who battles bouts of "the mad reds" when she feels desperately out of control and anxious. Holly's goal in life is to save enough money to provide a good life for herself and her older brother Fred when he returns from military service.

 

When her handsome new neighbor, Paul, played by George Peppard, first meets Holly he can't help but be captivated by her stunning beauty and charm. Holly insists on calling Paul "Fred" because he physically resembles her older brother whom she adores.  Never mind that she's kooky and unabashedly shallow enough to expect men to pay her for being their companion.  She's out to marry rich for unselfish reasons which Paul finds out much later.  He is initially nonjudgmental over her lifestyle because he's no saint either.  Paul is an out of work writer with writer's block -- a kept man by a wealthy matron. His relationship with Holly deepens when he stumbles upon her past secrets -- her impoverished childhood before marriage at fourteen to a much older country veterinarian, Doc, and her escape to the big city, far away from the widower and his kids from his first wife.

 

By the film's end, Paul has conquered writer's block and has fallen madly in love with his muse, Holly.  Yet when he tells her, "You belong to me," she panics and replies, "People don't belong to people. I'll never let anyone put me in a cage." Her raw fear of letting go long enough to accept another's love is riveting to behold. She finally breaks down and admits she loves Paul as she clutches her nameless cat that she'd previously thrown out of a cab.  Forming a tight circle around Cat, they kiss in the driving rain and Holly's character comes full circle.

I think Blake Edwards masterfully turned Truman Capote's somewhat darker novella into a beautiful love story.

 

What do you think?