Alyssa Embree Schwartz's Blog, page 2
May 22, 2013
5 Ways to Get Through a "Scandal"-less Summer
If you’re anything like us, you’re still reeling from last week’s Scandal Finale. Ummm, excuse me Shonda Rhimes, you tell me the guy who wanted Olivia dead all season was her DAD and now you expect me to wait until September to find out what happens next?!
As the authors of Georgetown Academy and ridiculously huge Scandal fans, the end of the season has left us with a gaping hole in getting our beloved D.C.-drama fix.
You, too?
Well, fear not. The end of the season doesn’t mean you have to go through withdrawals all summer. We’ve found five things guaranteed to give you that same Scandall buzz:
1. Check out Capitol Hill Style.
This D.C.-centric blog penned by the all-knowing Belle reads like it was written by a younger, fashion-obsessed Olivia Pope. With snarky but accurate style tips for professional women and dead-on career advice for working your way up (on the Hill or elsewhere), she’s like the female mentor you never had but always wanted (kinda like someone else we know…).
2. Read Georgetown Academy.
Obviously. The book series, which takes place at an elite prep school in D.C. where everyone’s parents are Senators and Congressmen, and where one misstep can catapult you into the national spotlight faster than you can say Bristol Palin, has already been referred to as Scandal set in high school. Spend some long summer days at the pool reading and wondering whether Brinley Madison is even more devious than Melly Grant. You’ll be in good company. Eva Longoria called the series “Fun, Juicy and Scandalous just like D.C.” and Gossip Girl executive producer Josh Schwartz proclaimed it the “new must-read series”. Book Four comes out June 11, so there’s still time to catch up!
3. Watch House of Cards.
This ten-episode dark and twisty series set in D.C. and starring Kevin Spacey as House Majority Whip and Robin Wright as his wife has plot twists and cliffhangers galore. And we’re convinced that it’s the same guy playing President in both shows. Either that, or they’re twin brothers. (Available on NetFlix). OR: Watch Veep. Yes, this laugh-out-loud dark comedy starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the Vice President is vastly different in tone to Scandal. But both series revolve around powerful women in D.C. surrounded by a team of lovable misfits we can’t get enough of. And who knows, though we’ve yet to see POTUS on Veep, there’s still time for them to throw in a Presidential affair storyline. If you haven’t started watching this season, tune in on Sunday nights on HBO.
4. Buy Something White.
Everyone knows Olivia Pope’s favorite color to wear is white, from her trench coats to that dress she wore to the White House in Season One to the Lululemon zip-up she wore as reporters swarmed her in the finale. We’ve got months until Labor Day, so you have permission buy a little white number, stride around town purposefully and channel your best Olivia. While you’re at it, you can fix a few scandals of your own…or create a few.
5. Start a summer fling with an eligible D.C. bachelor.
Of course, Scandal wouldn’t be Scandal without the s-e-x. Sparkology.Com, the new invite-only dating website exclusively for those with degrees from high-ranked universities, launched in D.C. this spring. No promises on whether you’ll meet your Jake Ballard, though. Don’t fret, if you’re not in D.C. but still feeling selective with your dating preferences, Sparkology is currently in twelve other cities, including L.A., New York and Chicago.
May 14, 2013
Georgetown Academy Book Four Cover Reveal
“With the second highest office in the land up for grabs, everyone is picking sides. But where does the heart lie when duty, truth, and love collide?”
That’s what you are in for with Book Four of the Georgetown Academy series. And without further ado, here’s its hot, new cover!
We are so excited about our cover, we are having a giveaway!
Check out some of the awesome bloggers celebrating with us today!
Georgetown Academy Book Four launches June 11, 2013. Add it to your Goodreads shelf today. If you haven’t caught up on the series, Book One is 0.99c for a few more days only!
April 29, 2013
March 26, 2013
March 25, 2013
Win a limited edition print copy of Georgetown Academy Book One
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Goodreads Book Giveaway
Georgetown Academy
by Jessica Koosed Etting
Giveaway ends April 26, 2013.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
Enter to win
March 6, 2013
Top Ten Political Movies...According to us
With all the popular political movies and television shows getting love at the Golden Globes and Oscars this year (Game Change, Zero Dark Thirty, Homeland, Political Animals, Argo), it made us think about some of our all-time faves. Check out our list of the Georgetown Academy girls’ must-see political movies…
The Bourne Identity: As far as political action thrillers, this is definitely our fave. And comparing Jeremy Renner’s Jason Bourne to Matt Damon’s isn’t as harsh as comparing the first two Sex and the City movies, but Matt Damon is a hard act to follow. Unfortunately, Franka Potente’s mid-movie makeover was more awkward than our braces phase, but luckily for her, Jason Bourne was too distracted with not getting killed to mind that her haircut made her look like Andy Samburg.
The American President: Classic D.C. rom-com. We loved everything about this movie from the Sorkin dialogue to the Michael J. Fox Alex Keaton-style quips to Michael Douglas actually sleeping with an age appropriate actress in a movie.
The Ides of March: We actually thought plot-wise this movie was a bit of a letdown. But what wasn’t a letdown was almost every scene had either George Clooney or Ryan Gosling in it. So even when it was bad, it was good. After every girl at Georgetown Academy saw this movie, we asked our parents why their junior campaign managers don’t look like Ryan Gosling. At least it would serve as motivation for us to hand out those buttons to voters. Most of the people working on our parents’ campaigns look like they spend their rare free time prepping their costumes for Comic-con.
Enemy of the State: We can’t help but get sucked into this movie every time it’s on TV (which is A LOT – FX, you may want to try to shake up the rotation every once in a while). Will Smith spends two hours getting chased by a rogue NSA agent who owns some serious stalker equipment. We would hate to be the chick who breaks up with that guy. And bonus points for the Lisa Bonet cameo in this one. We’re not sure how she chooses her one film role every eight years, but she’s still our favorite Cosby.
Election: Every school has a Tracy Flick. Georgetown Academy has several (male and female) since most of the students plan to follow in their parents’ footsteps and run for office someday. Watching all the Tracy Flicks at school is painful, but watching Reese Witherspoon play the character is hilarious. And the race for school president in the movie is surprisingly reminiscent of a lot of recent elections in Washington. Is it us or was Sarah Palin channeling Chris Klein during her run for VP?
Nick of Time: Let’s be clear. We don’t think this was an Oscar quality film. But it makes the list because it’s Johnny Depp running around trying to save his daughter from a bunch of crazies who want him to assassinate a gubernatorial candidate. While JD does a lot of soul searching, sweating and stressing, his trademark floppy hair is perfectly askew and we were even fans of the “serious” wire-rimmed glasses some costume designer must have decided made him look more dad-ish. For us, it just solidified his win for hottest DILF in a 90’s movie. If you’re wondering, he was neck and neck (no pun intended) with Brad Pitt in Interview with the Vampire, but Pitt was ultimately disqualified since he half made out with his vampire daughter/girlfriend, Kirsten Dunst, and it grossed us out.
Dave. On the page, the plot for this quintessential D.C. rom/com sounds a little convoluted. Dave, a man who happens to look just like the President is hired to stand in for him at boring events while the real President is busy banging his hot aides. But when the philandering Prez dies during one of these explicit encounters, a covert plan is hatched for Dave to continue as President, allowing everyone from his wife to the public to continue believing he is the real Commander-in-Chief. It’s like a weird version of The Parent Trap only they’re not identical twin sisters and instead of summer camp hi-jinks they’re trying to fool foreign heads of state. But, for some reason, on screen, it totally works. Sigourney Weaver plays the First Lady and her romance with Dave carries the movie enough to make you suspend your disbelief at any of the plot holes. Plus, if nothing else, we love the film for its White House tour scene that gave us the infamous catch phrase, “We’re walking, we’re walking…”
Black Sheep. The caveat to us selecting this mid-90’s Chris Farley/David Spade comedy is that we find everything Chris Farley and David Spade do to be absolutely hilarious (we dare you to follow David Spade’s Twitter Feed and disagree). This movie is basically Tommy Boy, but with the backdrop of a gubernatorial election, so how could we not like it?
The Campaign. Though the previews made this comedy about two rival candidates for a Congressional seat in the South look more silly than funny, once we sat down and watched it, we’ll admit to laughing our asses off. Even better, under the humor is a modern message about the flaws in today’s political system.
Bulworth. This satirical comedy not only popularized the impossible-to-get-out-of-your-head ditty Ghetto Superstar but also featured Warren Beatty as a politician who’s put a hit out on his own life, living out what he thinks will be his last few days. As a result, now that he doesn’t have to worry about actually winning another election, he begins saying the things he wished he could say for years, spouting what he sees as the raw truth in a completely unfiltered and non-P.C. way. But when his honesty starts winning him popularity, he decides he wants to stop the hit on himself. Easier said than done. Along the way, he falls in love with Halle Berry and raps. Yes, raps. It’s a testament to W-Beatz (as we call him now) that the raps come off more hilarious than cringe-worthy.
January 13, 2013
RSVP for the Book Three Launch Party!
Just in time for the Presidential Inauguration we bring you Georgetown Academy: Book Three!
We will drop the link for Book Three at 9 am EST on the 15th at our event!
Eight lucky attendees will be invited to join a Google Hangout with the authors Alyssa Embree Schwartz and Jessica Koosed Etting later this month to discuss writing for Hollywood, how they got the idea for Georgetown Academy and of course, some hot DC trivia and gossip!
Here’s what you can look forward to in Book Three:
The frosty chill that’s settled over Georgetown Academy isn’t just from the winter weather—growing up in the D.C. fishbowl isn’t for everyone, but a break from the Beltway might just restore some sanity.
Privileged kids in a posh hotel with nothing to do but scheme and ski—and they thought D.C. was a pressure cooker? One thing’s for sure: what happens in Vermont definitely won’t stay in Vermont.
RSVP HERE: http://bit.ly/WBPQAw
December 7, 2012
Pop Quiz, Hotshot!
We used to hate pop quizzes in high school. You slide into your seat, ready to have a perfectly normal class of half-paying attention, half-staring at the guy you stirred up drama with last night on the phone and then you notice a smug look on your teacher’s face. You know it can mean only one thing. Pop quiz. We were much bigger fans of the open book test, although the point of those still escapes us. But hey, we would never look a gift horse in the mouth.
So speaking of gifts, here’s a quiz you can prepare for. Read Book One, take the quiz, get the questions right and you have a chance to win a preview copy of Book Three.
Now that’s way better than a pop quiz where you look down to see a shockingly low number in red at the top of your paper and wish you had just finished the last fifty pages of Macbeth (instead of staying on the phone, trying to make that hot guy jealous by insinuating that his best friend hit on you at a party last weekend).
xx A & J
Take the quiz now!
November 1, 2012
The Players
Want an insider’s sneak peek into the main players at GA?
Ellie: Deep down, she’s a regular every-girl, but two years ago, she was transformed overnight into a GA It Girl and has been willingly (and sometimes unwillingly) riding the wave of popularity ever since. She’s naturally pretty, sensitive, smart and has a dry sense of humor. However, after having a powerful mother in the Senate since childhood, Ellie has learned the hard way she has to be guarded if she doesn’t want either of them to get burned.
Brinley: She’s an unabashed elitist snob, tough, fiery, enterprising, but fiercely loyal to those in her inner-circle. Her family is D.C. royalty (her great-great-great-great-etc. uncle was James Madison) and Brinley loves boasting about her family lineage (and using it to manipulate situations the same way her political strategist father does). She’s an expert on how the D.C. political system operates both in school and on the Hill and she works it like a seasoned pro at every possible angle.
Evan: She’s shy, a perpetual worrier, honest, compassionate, quick-witted and cares more about her journalism aspirations than breaking into the popular crowd. Not only is she a scholarship student, but neither of her parents work in the government (a rarity at GA). The lack of powerful D.C. connections doesn’t bother Evan, though, it just pushes her to work even harder.
Taryn: She’s easygoing, friendly, upbeat with a funky boho-chic style. She’s just moved to D.C. from Los Angeles and this is her first semester at GA. Her father is the former governor of California and now a congressman (though it’s widely predicted he’ll be the first Hispanic President of the United States in four years). GA is nothing like Taryn expected, but she’s determined not to participate in the consuming social politics of the school.
