Simone DaCosta's Blog: Depicting The Writer in You, page 4

Book Reviews

Hi everyone,

I post previously written book reviews on my blog for FREE. So, if you would like publicity or more publicity, please contact me @:dacostasempire@yahoo.ca

Below is a link where you can review previously posted book reviews.

http://simonesblog.net/book-nook/sugg...

Stellar Book Review

Another great review of my children's book.

"A Sillly Rhyming Alphabet Book About Animals" is a fun and educational exploration of the alphabet and word rhyming.

Pre-readers and early readers will enjoy and learn as this book engages them with the English language with each of the alphabet's adorable representatives, from A is for Ape to Z is for Zebra. Each page introduces the next letter and its hilarious animal:

"M is for Monkey, who dresses very funky. 'Yeah, man, I look very spunky...'”
and
Dale the Quail who waits for his Mail

are but two of the classic critters representing their letters, all of which continue with more wordplay to keep you smiling before they're done. And of course there are twenty-four more letters and their adorable critters!

As a father, I can easily recommend this book to my fellow parents who have young children. It is sure to delight.

David Wilson
Author, "Luna Raccoon"
https://www.facebook.com/LunaRaccoon

FREE eBook Giveaway!

Ahem..... FREE eBook or Kindle giveaway of, A Silly Rhyming Alphabet Book about Animals from A to Z.

I only ask that in return an honest review is posted on Goodreads and Amazon at:

http://www.amazon.com/Silly-Rhyming-A....

Giveaway ends tomorrow at 5 pm. Contact me if you are interested.

Precious Invades Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)

There was so much buzz about the film 'Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire,' the film's Executive Producers were daytime TV goddess Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry. It seemed like everyone was talking about the bleak, dark and inspirational film; it was mentioned on just about every media outlet which made it merely impossible to forget it. Precious became known as 'The movie Oprah does not want you to miss.'

As most everyone knows, Oprah is a powerful influence on just about everything and if Oprah was endorsing something you knew it was a guaranteed success. In the same way, when Oprah gives her opinion on something no one asks any questions, nor do they think about it they just take heed and believe that Oprah knows what she is talking about. So, when Oprah gave her review on Precious, "The film is so raw and powerful -- it split me open." I took heed and believed that the day time queen knew what she was talking about and I decided to go see the film with my sister and a couple of my friends.

'Precious' was the first film premier, I had ever attended at TIFF. A dear friend of mine stood in line on her lunch break at Ticket Master Downtown, Toronto and waited for about an hour trying to buy tickets, that's how much buzz there was about this film. The day of the premiere, I looked semi-casual after all it was only the premier of a film-no big deal, right? Well, so, I thought and boy was I sadly mistaken. My sister, however, thought the complete opposite because she was dressed like she about to grace the red carpet, but that was no surprise because she always dresses like she is about to meet the Queen of the United Kingdom (I am not kidding).

The night of the film's premier we arrived at Roy Thomson Hall and the line to get inside was two and a half blocks long, literally. There were people from all walks of life eagerly awaiting to see the much talked about film of the year and, to boot all the girls/ladies were thinking in the same manner as my sister; they also looked like were ready to strut their stuff down the red carpet. I mean, they were decked out from head to their four inch heels in designer dresses and shoes. Some wore formal gowns embezzled with scads of crystals you would have thought that Elie Saab designed them, some wore elegant cocktail dresses only celebrities could afford (so you would think) and others wore that infamous little 'black dress' with a sexy pair of stilettos - everyone was looking stunning! As for me, I was clearly underdressed and here, I thought it was just the premier of a film. I have to admit; I was feeling a bit out of place, can you blame me?

The film lasted about one hour and ten minutes and at the end everyone in the audience gave it a standing ovation, but the highlight of the night was when Oprah, Tyler Perry and all the film's star studded cast (Monique, Mariah Carey, Sherri Shepherd Lenny Kravitz, Paula Patton and Gabriel Sidibe); including Mary J Blige who is on the film's soundtrack, the writer of the novel, Sapphire' and the director, Lee Daniels graced the stage to graciously thank everyone for their support. Needless to say, everyone was in awe and broke out clapping, whistling and shouting Oprah and Mariah's name while they scurried to take pictures from there cameras, Smartphones, iPhones and Blackberrys. And, of course, I scurried to get my camera and took a few pictures of my own as well.

My sister, my two friends and I departed the auditorium after Oprah and the rest of the cast graced us with their presence, we hung around for awhile to mingle with a few other people when we heard several people shouting, "Oh my god, oh my god there is Oprah" and they ran off towards the direction, we presumed Oprah stood. After hearing that broadcast, my sister, my friends and I dashed towards the crowd of people huddling together hoping to see, Oprah. And as, I was making my way towards the crowd, this lady comes from behind me and almost pushes me over. What's your problem, I said fuming. "Oh, my god, it's Oprah! Oprah! Oprah!" the woman yelled having not a clue that she almost knocked me over and get this; Oprah was not even on the same floor as us, she was on the main level far beneath us.

In conclusion, I must say that it was definitely an experience and I really enjoyed myself, but if I intend to experience another year at TIFF, you better believe that I will be dressing the part. You never know, I might meet the Queen of the United Kingdom.


This article was first published on Yahoo! Voices at: http://voices.yahoo.com/precious-inva...

My Unforgettable Experience as a Movie Extra

Hi Y'all.

I published my first content on Yahoo Voices and I love for everyone to view it when the time permits. The more the views my content receives, the more popular it will become.

Link: http://voices.yahoo.com/my-unforgetta...

Leave a comments if you feel led to.

Much thanks!

Virginia McKevitt

Writer, Author

Virginia McKevitt was born in Long Beach, California, but lived most of her life in the suburbs of New Orleans, Louisiana.

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Life urged her on, so when she found the first ch...

Julianne Pellegrino Grider

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J.P. Grider, born in 1966 in Paterson, New Jersey as Julianne Pellegrino, was raised in Haledon, New Jersey, the oldest of six siblings. Her love of writing started early in her childhood when she started writing poetry in-between homework assignments. As part of a school work program as a Journalism major in high school, J.P. Grider worked as a freelance reporter for a local newspaper, writing feature stories about exceptional high school classmates. She studied Television...

Carol Bond

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Co-founder of Terra Australis, a group of Australian writers, she is working towards publishing two anthologies of Australian-themed short storie...

Mrs.D (Olga D'Agostino)

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Surrounded by nature and the real world, without TV and toys, she learned to read at a very early age and books became a huge part of her life. As a child, she used to create her own imaginary world populated with characters from books she read.

She f...

Kim Cayer

Entertainer, writer, author

Kim Cayer has been a professional entertainer for thirty years. In the start of her career, she also wrote screenplays and plays, one of which, "Memories of Marilyn," toured most of Canada.

In addition, she compiled the works of her mother, a small-townnewspaper columnist. Choice Joyce went on to sell out all the copies printed.

Kim is still impersonating Marilyn Monroe, still performing at children's events, but these days the children are almost grown and the...