Jade Varden's Blog, page 34

Writing 101: You're Your (Own Enemy)

It happens every single day without fail. I get on Facebook to link a post or put up a photo, and I see it: your. And every time I see it, the word is being used the wrong way. As an author, you should always be ever-aware of word possessiveness -- whether you're Tweeting or Facebooking or writing a novel (or writing an email to your own spouse). If I see you using your the wrong way, I'll never read any of your books. And I'm going to start a movement to get others to join me on this blanket ban. And I'm going to succeed...because I'm right. 

Yore
Don't get me wrong; I understand why it's confusing. Your isn't an easy word to know. It's possessive, but it doesn't have an apostrophe. That could blow anybody's mind. Then there's you're, spelled almost the same way and pronounced exactly the same. Neither of these words have anything to do with yore, but that word exists as well. I'm pointing it out because it sounds the same, and it's a fun word. 
But that's moot. The point is, you'd better use your the right way. Once you can, you won't use you're the wrong way, either. 
Your is a possessive word. When you say it, you're talking about an object that belongs to you. Examples:
Is this your favorite song? 
Wasn't that your brother?
Who said your hairstyle is the cutest? 
Usually to make something possessive you're required to add 's. Example: That was Stacey's dress. But when it comes to you, you don't add an apostrophe. It's confusing because you're exists, and there's an apostrophe in that. But here's what you've got to remember about you're: it's not one word. It's two. 
You're the biggest jerk in the world.
Who said you're the boss of me?
I don't know what you're talking about. 
You see, every time you see you're what you're actually seeing is you are. 
You are the biggest jerk in the world.
Who said you are the boss of me?
I don't know what you are talking about. 
Two words. You're and your are, therefore, not interchangeable. I can prove it with more examples: 
Is this you're favorite song? 
Wasn't that you're brother?
Who said you're hairstyle is the cutest? 
 Replace you're with you are in these examples, and you'll see how wrong it all is: 
Is this you are favorite song? 
Wasn't that you are brother?
Who said you are hairstyle is the cutest?
Learn how to use your and you're the right way, and you won't go wrong when it comes to the correct forms of you. It's a mistake that's made by people every day...but it should never be made by an author. As an author, it's your job to use words to paint a picture. You make words beautiful...so write them down right.

Movie Review: Petals on the Wind

In case you haven't noticed, I've been making a big deal about the Petals on the Wind adaptation for a few days now. Last night it finally aired. So how does this long-awaited movie match up to its book?
Not very well. In case you weren't enjoying my live Twitter session last night while the movie was on, I ought to warn you: I'm pretty angry about the adaptation. 

Faded Buttercups 
The movie begins 10 years after the events of Flowers in the Attic, which is already wrong. The book actually begins right where Flowers left off. Seriously, the reader misses a few hours (at best) of Cathy's life. Cathy is 15 when she leaves the attic.
This means that in the advanced timeline, Cathy is already 25. And in the movie, Paul Sheffield is dead. This is an insult to the fans, because Paul figures prominently in Cathy's adult life. She marries him, after all. As a girl just meeting Paul, Cathy sets out to seduce him almost immediately. She's already all messed up, and desperate to explore her femininity with someone who isn't related to her. So her relationship with Paul is very complex, and affects many other relationships. To cut him out is an injustice.

That's not even the worst of it. The adaptation further insults the reader with the character of Henny Beech, Henrietta. She can't talk. She never talks. In the movie, she speaks. It's outrageous. 
The book is told exclusively from Cathy's point of view. However, scenes are added in the movie that don't include her. Almost every scene featuring Corinne (Heather Graham) was wholly fabricated, as were all the scenes in which Chris appeared that did not also feature Cathy. To that end, Chris was given an entire girlfriend out of nowhere who was in most of the movie. How infuriating! In the books, Chris never loves anyone but Cathy. He's incapable of it. He's incapable of trusting any woman other than Cathy, ever. That's how broken Chris is. He's optimistic and smiling all the time, but inside he's so very broken he can never love someone other than his sister. Cathy never sees Chris with a date, not in her entire life. So for Lifetime to change this for the movie is truly bad storytelling, to put it mildly. 
Chris's character is radically altered by this, but he's not the only one to undergo a change. Cathy is also changed. Near the top of the movie she makes a simpering call to Corinne, which Cathy did not do and would not have done. Cathy was angry at Corinne and began messing with her almost at once, sending hateful things in the mail. Paul petitioned the court for custody of the three attic mice, and Corinne didn't even show up to court. This made Cathy hate her even more. Cathy began sleeping with Paul when she was about 16 in the book, and met Julian around this time as well. She knew him until she turned 18, and he convinced her to go to New York.
In the movie, Cathy meets Julian one day while at ballet class (ballet class, and she's 25! How silly) and runs off to New York with him two minutes later. That didn't happen. Julian spends a great deal of time wooing and convincing Cathy before she leaves, and she was in a relationship with Paul at that point. In the film, Cathy and Julian live together. In the book, Cathy is rooming with two other ballerinas in Madame Z's ballet company. Madame Z somehow became a man in the movie. 
Cathy and Julian don't wed in the movie, which is incorrect. Julian also didn't break Cathy's toes in the film, something that happened in the book that ended her career as a prima ballerina. Cathy never really achieves success as a ballerina in the movie, but we all know that is incorrect. Cathy is driven by revenge in the book, and her career is part of that revenge. She is determined to become a ballerina and dance on the biggest stages, to show Corinne Foxworth who she is. 
Julian is abusive in both the book and the movie, but Cathy's reactions are different. In the book she often stood up to Julian, pushing him to further extremes. In the movie she is weak and timid with him. Cathy defies Julian in the book. This is why he eventually drops her hard enough to break her toes. There's also no mention of Cathy's trick knee in the movie, something that crops up in the book several times. Cathy first injured that knee in the attic.
Julian dies abruptly in the movie, and in the wrong way. It's significant that in the book Julian doesn't die in the car accident. He's injured, and paralyzed. It's when Julian learns that he's paralyzed that he commits suicide, because he will never dance again. He commits suicide knowing that Cathy is pregnant with his child. It's very significant because of the events that unfold in Seeds of Yesterday, so Lifetime clearly plans to mess that book up as well. Cathy goes back to South Carolina, and Paul, to have the baby in the book and then moves to Virginia for her revenge.
In the movie, all of this is altered. Instead of going away to school, Chris is at home (at Paul Sheffield's home). Carrie likewise doesn't go away to school. Her experiences aren't altered greatly for the movie, but there are some differences. I don't even have time to address all of them, because that's how bad Lifetime was at adapting this book. 
Cathy does finally get mad and set forth on her revenge in the movie, but things are advanced so greatly Jory is still a tiny baby. It's J for Julian and the rest for Cory, by the way. The movie doesn't explain this. His full name is Jory Janus Marquet, because like I said his parents were married. In reading comments on Twitter, it seems the movie doesn't make it clear enough that Jory is Julian's son. In the book it's very clear. Jory looks just like Julian, and practically does a pirouette coming out of the womb.
As in the book, Cathy in the movie seduces Bart Winslow (who didn't have a mustache for the movie, which is a big wrong). Jory is all but completely absent, and remains a baby the entire time. By the time Cathy gets around to seducing Bart, Jory is a toddler and already learning ballet. 

The Christmas party confrontation is changed around quite a bit. For starters, Lifetime engaged in a subplot with Corinne where she renovated Foxworth Hall. It didn't happen, and she didn't shut off the attic as happens in the movie. Actually, Cathy goes back to the attic the night of the party and looks around. It's a very poignant scene. Cathy also replicates the famous green dress Corinne wore the night that Cathy and Chris watched the Christmas party during their time in the attic. It's an important dress in Flowers in the Attic and Petals on the Wind, and there was absolutely no reason for it to be changed but Lifetime did it anyway. 
Cathy makes a scene on the stairs like she's supposed to, but Bart doesn't cut the scene short and move it as he does in the book. Instead they all have it out right in front of the party, which is ridiculous. The end of the movie is changed around, because in the book Chris shows up to get Cathy only because Paul has suffered a heart attack. He never supported her thirst for revenge to begin with. Upon seeing him, Corinne begins to rant and scream and she runs off. This leaves Cathy, Chris, Bart and Olivia in the library. Bart and Cathy make plans to be together, and Chris is trying to get Cathy to leave so they can go to Paul's bedside. But then the fire starts, originating in the attic I might add. The reader is left to believe the fire is set by Corinne. In the movie, we see it happen as Corinne sets fire to her own mother. There's also a gruesome moment in which Chris discovers Cory's body that never happened in the book. Cathy discovers the body in the book, though she's not completely sure that it's Cory.
The movie ends with Cathy and Chris living in California as the Dollangangers, which is not correct. They used Sheffield, and Chris practiced medicine. This is inexplicably changed in the movie because Chris's finance (who didn't exist in the book) discovers he and Cathy passionately kissing and everyone finds out about them. That didn't happen. Corinne Foxworth is left screaming in an institution, totally gone. That did happen in the book, and Chris visited her over the years.
Lifetime changed almost everything that they could change, and I'm disappointed. I thought they did a fair job with Flowers in the Attic, so I had high hopes. But so much was shifted and so many details changed, so much nonsensical story added, that I just feel really let down. I have no hope that the planned adaptations of If There Be Thorns and Seeds of Yesterday will be at all worth watching, and forget about My Sweet Audrina. Lifetime really could have done a much better job. This movie isn't any good if you're a big fan of the book...it's just really upsetting.

Writing 101: Your Origin Story

Is there a specific book or author who made you want to be a writer? For many who pursue this path, the answer is yes. Lots of authors today can tell you stories about their yesterdays, days filled with reading other people's words...until soon, those days became filled with writing their own. 
And my origin story, like this holiday weekend, begins with V. C. Andrews.

In the Beginning...

I was a bit of a precocious child. I was never much interested in children's books. And besides, I didn't have a whole lot of access to children's books anyway. When I was growing up, I was always the only kid around unless I was in school. Around any of my family members, I was the lone kid.

So it was perfectly natural for me to go off and do things by myself. What, was I going to hang around the adults? No way. And since being by yourself isn't always fun but reading is, I was a reader. 
That's how I discovered V.C. Andrews. It was Thanksgiving, and I was 9. Too early, I know, to read V.C. Andrews. Seriously, don't let your young kids read V.C. Andrews because they may turn out like me (and I'm terrible, quite). But I did read it, and it was Flowers in the Attic. And at the end of the first chapter, my mind was made up. 
I was going to be an author, too.


What inspired you to become an author? Feel free to share your story with me using the comments section. And don't forget to follow me tonight on Twitter, where I'll be live-tweeting the Petals on the Wind movie on Lifetime. It's the sequel to Flowers in the Attic, which of course holds a special place in my heart. 
So join me while I point out all the flaws and get very dramatic about it. Petals on the Wind weekend ends tonight, so nab your copy of The Full Deck while you still can!
Deck of Lies: The Full Deck

Petals on the Wind: Looking Ahead

In case you haven't heard, it's Petals on the Wind weekend here at the blog. So instead of indie news, this week it's all about POTW news. What can you expect from the adaptation that airs tomorrow night? 
Sex scenes. 
At least, that's what the trailer indicates. Of course there's more than sex in the film. The trailers and stills are very limited, but to me it looks as though Corinne's role has been somewhat extended for the Lifetime movie. I could be wrong, of course, but since the entire book is told from Cathy's perspective the reader sees very little of Corinne throughout. Contrarywise, Heather Graham is peppered throughout the trailers. Follow me on Twitter Monday night, and we'll watch Petals on the Wind together. I'll be live-tweeting the movie and, as always, pointing out anything that deviates from the book. To celebrate POTW weekend, I'm giving away the Deck of Lies series for free. Click the image below to get Books 1 through 4 in Kindle or Nook format, and get embroiled into a whole new set of family problems: deceit, adultery, murder...and kidnapping. Deck of Lies: The Full Deck

Future Books on Film: Petals on the Wind

Petals on the Wind was the first follow-up book to the massively successful Flowers in the Attic. And like its predecessor,  Petals was picked to become a big screen adaptation. It was meant to happen about 25 years ago. It finally will happen this weekend.


The Book
POTW picks up right where Flowers left off, with the three surviving Dolls on a bus headed south. They plan to go all the way to Florida.
They won't ever get there. Carrie is violently sick on the bus, and they're kicked (literally) to the curb. Also on the bus is Henrietta Beech, and though she can't talk she takes matters into her own capable hands.



The three sickly youths are taken to the home of Dr. Paul Sheffield, for whom Henny works. He ends up taking them in, all three, and our jaded heroine Cathy thinks she knows why.
Soon enough she begins her campaign to seduce him. It's for Chris's benefit as well as her own, so he can move on and look at her as a sister again.
After the attic? Fat chance of that. Cathy persists anyway, and in her self-destructive fashion begins to ruin everything she touches.  Her thirst for revenge becomes a festering poison, but it doesn't diminish her sex appeal one whit.
She snares Paul with little effort,  but without trying captures another's heart as well: Julian Marquet. He is dark and  broody, so different from blonde,  sunny Chris. After a visit from a malicious future in-law, Cathy abandons her plan to marry Paul and weds Julian instead.
Like so much of what Cathy does, it's a mistake. Their marriage is volatile and unhappy, and Chris is always there just waiting to pick up the pieces. Julian comes to tragic ends, and Cathy finds herself free to pursue what she loves most: revenge.
She'll have to do it while raising Julian's son, but why should that stop her? So she returns to Virginia to seduce her mother's husband and make Corinne Foxworth pay.
It all ends quite badly, as you might imagine, with yet another fatherless child to care for. Cathy finally makes good on her promise to marry Paul, too late to save him. It ends for Paul, too. But there is Chris, as always...waiting. 
The Movie
After its 1979 release, Flowers in the Attic became a full-length film. It wasn't very good, and neither the fans nor the critics were impressed. A Petals sequel was planned, however.  It even had a script.
Kristy Swanson, who played Cathy, didn't much like it. She was prepared to play the part anyway, but no one ever called her again. Like so many adaptations, this one fell apart. Until now.

As a follow-up to their hugely successful Flowers remake, Lifetime will at long last create the PITW movie. It premieres Monday night, but don't expect to see the same book you remember.
Lifetime will start the show about 10 years after the book. The three Dolls are grown up, and Paul Sheffield isn't even in the cast list. Much of the story will be cut out to focus on Carey's relationship with Chris. Bart and Julian will both make an appearance. And unlike the once-planned sequel, Corinne Foxworth will return to the cast. That's the good news. The bad news is that the role is still being played by Heather Graham. 
But I can't help but to be excited about the long-awaited adaptation of one of my favorite books. So this Monday I'll be live tweeting the movie. Join me if you like, and help me point out all the flaws.
Unadapted
To celebrate Petals on the Wind weekend, I'm giving away my own series about twisted family connections, ugly lies and wealth. Deck of Lies: The Full Deck is free until midnight Monday, so go download your copy right now! 
 Deck of Lies: The Full Deck

Petals on the Wind Weekend

It's Petals on the Wind weekend here at Jade's blog! The movie premieres on Lifetime this Memorial Day, and we're going to celebrate with special blog posts all weekend long. But what good is a holiday weekend without freebies? 
Deck of Lies
FamiLIES  Use the link above any time this weekend to get your free digital copy of Deck of Lies: The Full Deck. That's Books 1 through 4, the entire series. If you like Petals, you'll enjoy this tale of family deception. Can you uncover all the secrets?

Writing 101: Do You Have Trouble Opening Up, Too?

Ever wondered what's going on behind the scenes of my blog? Well, I'll tell you: it's a damn mess. I have like 40 half-written blog posts, and at least 6 of them are all about how I have trouble writing blog posts. Sort of like this one. It's another one of my attempts to explain this problem I have: when I write, it's difficult for me to open up. And since I am a writer, this is a fatal flaw. Have you got it, too? 

It Ain't Easy Being Green
Some time ago, I made a big deal about my New Year's resolution. The resolution was that I was going to get more personal with my blog posts, in the style of another blogger that I admire. This goal quickly deteriorated into several rambling blog posts, each worse than the next, which have never been published. You see, I have difficulty opening up about things -- particularly with anonymous strangers I don't actually know. And since I'm a writer, that's a really big problem. Writers have to open up and tap into their own feelings. Otherwise, the writing isn't going to be as good as it can be. 
So, what can we do about it? 
...It's at this point that I generally stop the blog post and try to figure out something to write about punctuation instead. I'm still not happy with the heavy-handed use of the comma, but this time I'm trying to stay on topic. And here it is: every writer has to find their own way to open up and release the stuff that's inside. That's how you get to the really good writing you have inside you. 
I Got the Books in Me 
When I'm writing my blog, I'm being me. And like most people, I'm not always comfortable with that. Sometimes it's terrible to be me. I sometimes become a ravenous monster who can only be calmed with copious amounts of coffee and anything containing some amount of chocolate. I sit in one spot for hours and hours typing on a keyboard. What reason have I got to open up and share all of that? 
But. When I'm writing books, I'm not me. I'm all the characters in the books. Not just the main one, but all of them. Well, most of them. Some characters are other people that I know or have known, but much of the time they're all me. And they allow me to open up and share memories or experiences. They let me talk at length about foods I've eaten or movies I've watched, or whatever. And they allow me to find an interesting way of doing that, because trust me if I'm blogging about my day-to-day life people will cry actual tears of boredom. But in my books I can edit all that stuff down and leave only the entertaining parts, and it's easier to open up because I don't have to do it as myself. 
Even if you're a shy person or a quiet person or a very private person, you can still be a writing person. You may still have what it takes to be an author. Access all the stuff that's inside of you, and find a safe way to share it with the world. I do it through fiction. Maybe you'll do it in a similar way, or find something totally different. Lots of people, even writers, have trouble opening up. So find the method that works best for you, and don't worry about the rest. Personally, I fixed my problem. I'm not making New Year's resolutions anymore! And now, back to my newest manuscript. It's about a shy girl who must become brave. Sound familiar?

Sweet Justice

"This certainly turned out to be a great read."


"There are still a lot of lies to uncover...I am excited to find out more."
Justice (Deck of Lies #1) has been reviewed at Random Things in Action. Visit the blog to read the entire review, and then go get your copy of the book!

Writing 101: How to Use QR Codes

When you're an indie author, the ebook market is where you live. And if you're going to be a part of the digital market, you're going to have to stay well-versed in all the trends, gadgets and gimmicks that are being used in the mobile world. So if you don't already know how to use QR codes, now's the time to learn.

Quick Response
QR codes look like graphic representations of bar codes, and in a way they are similar. QR codes, Quick Response codes, can be read by cell phone and tablet cameras. They're used to take users instantly to a web page, so no one has to go to Google or type in a long web address.



Use apps to read QR codes quickly. I like Google Goggles, but only because my lifeblood pact with Google Drive has made me beholden to all Google products from here on in. Google Drive is a tyrant.
But I digress. The point is, you can make your own QR codes. Put them on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, business cards, bookmarks...whatever you like. It's free to generate a code, so start using them. 

Writing 101: Third-Party Marketing

As a self-published author, you have to be your own publicist. But you don't necessarily have to do all the marketing yourself. There are ways to encourage others to do your marketing for you. 

Marketing, Pass it On 
It's more possible than it sounds, and there are no loaded guns or weird ransom notes required. In fact, you still have to do most of the work (which is always going to be the case).


Find other ways to make the promotion work easy on yourself. Use third-party marketing to spread the word about your book, and get others to help you carry the message far and wide.