Happy Holidays
Hi Everyone!
The YA Scavenger Hunt was amazing and so much fun! Thank you so much to all who participated! We had over 1,000 entries for the grand prize. The winners of all the hunt contests as well as the winners from the contests I ran during November are listed below. Watch out for our next YA Scavenger Hunt which will take place on April 1st. Mark you calendars now so you won't miss it!
GRAND PRIZE WINNER OF THE WINTER YA SCAVENGER HUNT
Sandra Lin of AUSTRALIA
WINNERS OF THE UK EDITION OF TIGER'S VOYAGE
WINNERS OF THE AUDIO BOOKS
WINNER OF THE RECIPE CONTEST & FOOD PRIZE PACK
_______________________________________________________________
Giveaways
I have two copies of the Brazilian edition of Tiger's Curse, called a maldição do tigre to give away. If you'd like to get a copy, tell me why you think you deserve to have one by leaving a comment here on my blog. Preference will be given to a person who can read Portuguese or who has a family member who can.
[image error]
________________________________________________________________
LIVE CHAT
I am going to be doing another live chat on my U-stream channel but I want to handle questions a little differently this time. Send your questions to contactme@colleenhouck.com and my sister will get rid of repeat questions and then email me a good list. This way I can just talk and not have to constantly refresh the page and miss questions. I'll be doing the live chat on Wednesday, December 21 at 6 pm pacific time. In the meanwhile, don't forget to send my sister your questions!
_________________________________________________________________
BOLLYWOOD BOY OF THE MONTH
SHAHID KAPOOR
Born Shahid Kapoor
25 February 1981 (age 30)
Delhi, India
Occupation: Film actor
[image error]
Several of you have chosen Shahid as a possible actor for Ren. I can definitely see him playing the role of an Indian prince. Can't you?
Here's a shot of his hair a little longer. Just in case anyone wants to follow him on twitter, here is his handle. @shahidkapoor
Kapoor was born to actor Pankaj Kapoor and actor/classical dancer Neelima Azeem on 25 February 1981. Kapoor's parents divorced when he was three. After the divorce, he lived with his mother and maternal grandparents in Delhi.
As far as his religious affiliation is concerned, Kapoor has stated in an interview that while his father is a Hindu and his mother is a Muslim, both his parents have taught him that he "should look at all religions without hatred and have compassion for every human being whatever his religion may be," saying that he believes that "there is one God up above."
(Huh-that's a little like Ren actually)
He has three half siblings: a sister named Sanah and brothers named Ruhaan and Ishaan Khattar.
Before starting off his career as an actor, Kapoor worked in several music videos and ads, including the Pepsi commercial with Shahrukh Khan.
He joined the Shiamak Davar Institute for the Performing Arts (SDIPA), where he was later seen as a background dancer along with actress Aishwarya Rai.
In 2003, Kapoor played his first leading role as Rajiv Mathur, a carefree young man in Ken Ghosh's moderately successful love story Ishq Vishk.
Film critic Taran Adarsh from indiaFM wrote, "Shahid Kapoor is an actor to watch. He has all the qualities to hit the top slot. Not only is he good looking, but he is an amazing performer as well. Very original as a performer, the youngster has handled the dramatic and emotional moments with flourish. He is an exceptional dancer as well."
(Note: Ren is a good dancer also)
When Shahid played twin brothers in a movie, Rajeev Masand from CNN-IBN wrote, "Shahid Kapur rises to the challenge of creating two entirely different characters out of Charlie and Guddu, and delivers a credible performance as each. Breaking out of his chocolate-boy image, he gives evidence of his potential when trusted with well-written roles."
(Note: not sure what "chocolate boy" means but I have to say I'm intrigued)
Kapoor identifies himself as a vegetarian.
He was dating Kareena Kapoor for three years but they've since broken up. According to him, they remained on good terms, with him saying, "I wish her all the happiness in the world. I have great respect for her. She is a wonderful girl."
(Note: I kinda like a guy who speaks well of his ex-girlfriend)
(Hmm best lips, fun and fearless, likes teachers, youth icon...what's not to like?)
Here he is dressed in white clothing just to give you an idea of what he'd look like as Ren.
Wasn't Ren wearing a blue hoodie at Tillamook with a dragon design? This picture reminds me of that. All in all I'd say he's a pretty good choice. The only think I can't find online is how tall he is.
He has the kind of good looking yet nice guy quality I'm looking for in a Ren actor. What do you guys think? Leave a comment below to tell me if you think he'd be a good choice for Ren or if you have a different suggestion.
_______________________________________________________________
INSPIRATION CORNER
MR. KADAM'S CARS
To make my characters seems a bit more real, at least to me, I wanted to give them little quirks. One of Mr. Kadam's is that he loves pretty much anything with an engine. He has a weakness for luxury cars, luxury anything really. There is a scene that was in my original self-published book that we cut from the current edition of TIGER'S CURSE where Mr. Kadam tells Kelsey all about cars. This scene happened right after they dropped off Ren and before Kelsey and Mr. Kadam toured Hampi.
BONUS MATERIAL ALERT!
Explaining, he said, "There will be too many tourists on the site during the day, so Dhiren can wait here while we walk the grounds and look for clues. We will return for him in the early evening."
I watched Ren out the window as he moved in the tall grass. He turned to watch me as we drove away. Shortly afterwards, we pulled into a dirt parking lot full of tiny vehicles.
"Mr. Kadam?"
"Yes?"
"Why are most of the cars in India so small? Do they have smaller families? Are those styles the most popular?"
"Well, first of all, the middle class in India earns around $2,000 American dollars per year. They don't have nearly as much money as the middle class people of America. The average car in India costs around $2,500 dollars American. The cars here are smaller but much more economical."
"That seems about right, most cars in America can cost about a year's salary."
He nodded, "At present, only a little over one percent of the people in India even own a car, which was fine for many years because they didn't travel very far. For centuries most of the people of India were born, married, and died in their small villages."
"But all that is changing now?"
"Yes. Car manufacturers are targeting India, trying to sell small, economical cars at a very cheap price. They are hoping to take advantage of our rising middle class, as well as the large numbers of young people who desire to have a car of their own. The problem is, the country is so densely populated that the major cities aren't set up yet for that much traffic. For now, smaller sized vehicles are rather a necessity."
"So your jeep is like the Hummer of India?"
He laughed, "Yes, I suppose you could say that. The trunk space in those smaller vehicles will only hold a small duffel bag. When you drive around with tigers, you need something a bit larger."
"I think even the smallest cars in American are bigger than these."
"There are several reasons for that. In the early 1900's Americans were spread out much further and they required a vehicle to help them travel the long distances to town. When cars first started selling, America was a prosperous and rapidly growing nation. The open borders between states gave people the freedom to travel and inspired them to get out on the roads and explore their country. Since the Model T, cars have also been a powerful symbol of freedom and have become a strong piece of American culture. When the middle class started to move out to the suburbs, it forced them to spend hours in their cars commuting and a more comfortable ride was preferable."
"That's true. My foster parents hated the commute so much in Portland that they took jobs in Salem, so they'd spend less time in traffic. When they did that, they actually downsized their cars."
He nodded, "Large vehicles also have a subliminal effect. They make you feel secure, imposing, and denote the driver's personality. In America, the car you drive makes a statement about who you are. I would even say that one of the main themes in American culture is that size matters."
I laughed, "Yes, that's probably true. America doesn't do anything the small way."
He chuckled, "I must confess that I love the large American cars. In fact, I love all types of cars, almost as much as I love airplanes. I have traversed the globe in all manner of accommodations and I have come to appreciate fast travel and enjoy the comfort of not having my head hit the roof as well as the luxury of having plenty of leg room."
I looked across the parking lot, "The little ones here are kind of cute, but you're right, traveling a long distance with your head bent because you're too tall is not a fun thing."
We pulled over and parked in front of the gate. Mr. Kadam didn't stop to purchase a map of the area. He said he remembered it pretty well. He led me to the first and largest structure, the Virupaksha Temple. It was about ten stories tall and resembled a giant upside-down waffle cone.
[image error]
Mr. Kadam's Rolls-Royce
The Bentley Zagato Rental Car
(Note: I don't think you can actually rent one of these)
[image error]
Mr. Kadam's Jeep
[image error]
Another view of the Rolls
____________________________________________________
That's it for now. Have a great week and for you Utah fans, see you next week!
Wednesday, December 14th – 6:00pm-8:00pm
The King's English Bookshop
1511 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City, UT 84105
Phone: 801-484-9100
Fax: 801-484-1595
Excited to see you all!
Colleen
The YA Scavenger Hunt was amazing and so much fun! Thank you so much to all who participated! We had over 1,000 entries for the grand prize. The winners of all the hunt contests as well as the winners from the contests I ran during November are listed below. Watch out for our next YA Scavenger Hunt which will take place on April 1st. Mark you calendars now so you won't miss it!
GRAND PRIZE WINNER OF THE WINTER YA SCAVENGER HUNT
Sandra Lin of AUSTRALIA
WINNERS OF THE UK EDITION OF TIGER'S VOYAGE
Roshni P. (Roshni)
Korrine G. (bkgentner)
Tiffany D. (tifferz)
Crystal J. (TwoTigers)
Britney P. (yaytigersaga)
Alexis L. (sweetkisses)
Brandy K. (bkorzep)
Janet H. (jaydream)
Janet B. (JaxomB)
Crystal B. (CrystalBrown)
WINNERS OF THE AUDIO BOOKS
Sarah K. - Tiger's Curse
Veray C. - Tiger's Quest
Jenna D. - Tiger's Voyage
WINNER OF THE RECIPE CONTEST & FOOD PRIZE PACK
Melody M.
THE WINNING RECIPE
I would have had a really hard time choosing a winning recipe if I were judging this contest instead of the random number generator. Every single recipe sent to me sounded so good! I loved the variety. I got drinks, desserts, and main dishes of different ethnicities. Oh, so yummy... I was drooling.
Melody wrote me this: "If I were going to attract a tiger/man, I would make him dessert. If that's not the way to a man's heart, I don't know what is! I recently found this dessert on Pinterest. I've not tried it yet, but I'm not sure how it could be bad. I mean, really."
Oh, and just wait until you read the recipe and see the picture. This is a SEVEN layer cake. It is a brownie, cheesecake, cookie, smores, yummy, drool worthy cake. Because this cake is so in-depth and because I want to give the original blogger credit for it, I am going to link to her post. Seriously everyone, go check it out!
-Suki
All winners have received an email from Suki.
Respond quickly so we can get your prize to you!
_______________________________________________________________
Giveaways
I have two copies of the Brazilian edition of Tiger's Curse, called a maldição do tigre to give away. If you'd like to get a copy, tell me why you think you deserve to have one by leaving a comment here on my blog. Preference will be given to a person who can read Portuguese or who has a family member who can.
[image error]
________________________________________________________________
LIVE CHAT
I am going to be doing another live chat on my U-stream channel but I want to handle questions a little differently this time. Send your questions to contactme@colleenhouck.com and my sister will get rid of repeat questions and then email me a good list. This way I can just talk and not have to constantly refresh the page and miss questions. I'll be doing the live chat on Wednesday, December 21 at 6 pm pacific time. In the meanwhile, don't forget to send my sister your questions!
_________________________________________________________________
BOLLYWOOD BOY OF THE MONTH
SHAHID KAPOOR
Born Shahid Kapoor
25 February 1981 (age 30)
Delhi, India
Occupation: Film actor
[image error]
Several of you have chosen Shahid as a possible actor for Ren. I can definitely see him playing the role of an Indian prince. Can't you?
Here's a shot of his hair a little longer. Just in case anyone wants to follow him on twitter, here is his handle. @shahidkapoor
Kapoor was born to actor Pankaj Kapoor and actor/classical dancer Neelima Azeem on 25 February 1981. Kapoor's parents divorced when he was three. After the divorce, he lived with his mother and maternal grandparents in Delhi.
As far as his religious affiliation is concerned, Kapoor has stated in an interview that while his father is a Hindu and his mother is a Muslim, both his parents have taught him that he "should look at all religions without hatred and have compassion for every human being whatever his religion may be," saying that he believes that "there is one God up above."
(Huh-that's a little like Ren actually)
He has three half siblings: a sister named Sanah and brothers named Ruhaan and Ishaan Khattar.
Before starting off his career as an actor, Kapoor worked in several music videos and ads, including the Pepsi commercial with Shahrukh Khan.
He joined the Shiamak Davar Institute for the Performing Arts (SDIPA), where he was later seen as a background dancer along with actress Aishwarya Rai.
In 2003, Kapoor played his first leading role as Rajiv Mathur, a carefree young man in Ken Ghosh's moderately successful love story Ishq Vishk.
Film critic Taran Adarsh from indiaFM wrote, "Shahid Kapoor is an actor to watch. He has all the qualities to hit the top slot. Not only is he good looking, but he is an amazing performer as well. Very original as a performer, the youngster has handled the dramatic and emotional moments with flourish. He is an exceptional dancer as well."
(Note: Ren is a good dancer also)
When Shahid played twin brothers in a movie, Rajeev Masand from CNN-IBN wrote, "Shahid Kapur rises to the challenge of creating two entirely different characters out of Charlie and Guddu, and delivers a credible performance as each. Breaking out of his chocolate-boy image, he gives evidence of his potential when trusted with well-written roles."
(Note: not sure what "chocolate boy" means but I have to say I'm intrigued)
Kapoor identifies himself as a vegetarian.
He was dating Kareena Kapoor for three years but they've since broken up. According to him, they remained on good terms, with him saying, "I wish her all the happiness in the world. I have great respect for her. She is a wonderful girl."
(Note: I kinda like a guy who speaks well of his ex-girlfriend)
Here are some fun awards he's won over the years:
2004: Sansui Awards, Best Male Debut
2005: Blistex Awards, Best Lips - Male
2008: Annual Central European Bollywood Awards, Best Couple (along with Kareena Kapoor)
2009: Voted as the Sexiest Male Vegetarian In Asia by PETA
2009: Teacher's Achievement Awards, People Achiever Award
2010: Indian Television Awards, Best Anchor - Music/Films Show (for 16th Anuual Star Screen Awards)
2011: Fun and Fearless Awards 2011, Male Actor 2010
2011: Telly Chakkar's New Talent Awards, Youth Icon Of The Year
(Hmm best lips, fun and fearless, likes teachers, youth icon...what's not to like?)
Here he is dressed in white clothing just to give you an idea of what he'd look like as Ren.
Wasn't Ren wearing a blue hoodie at Tillamook with a dragon design? This picture reminds me of that. All in all I'd say he's a pretty good choice. The only think I can't find online is how tall he is.
He has the kind of good looking yet nice guy quality I'm looking for in a Ren actor. What do you guys think? Leave a comment below to tell me if you think he'd be a good choice for Ren or if you have a different suggestion.
_______________________________________________________________
INSPIRATION CORNER
MR. KADAM'S CARS
To make my characters seems a bit more real, at least to me, I wanted to give them little quirks. One of Mr. Kadam's is that he loves pretty much anything with an engine. He has a weakness for luxury cars, luxury anything really. There is a scene that was in my original self-published book that we cut from the current edition of TIGER'S CURSE where Mr. Kadam tells Kelsey all about cars. This scene happened right after they dropped off Ren and before Kelsey and Mr. Kadam toured Hampi.
BONUS MATERIAL ALERT!
Explaining, he said, "There will be too many tourists on the site during the day, so Dhiren can wait here while we walk the grounds and look for clues. We will return for him in the early evening."
I watched Ren out the window as he moved in the tall grass. He turned to watch me as we drove away. Shortly afterwards, we pulled into a dirt parking lot full of tiny vehicles.
"Mr. Kadam?"
"Yes?"
"Why are most of the cars in India so small? Do they have smaller families? Are those styles the most popular?"
"Well, first of all, the middle class in India earns around $2,000 American dollars per year. They don't have nearly as much money as the middle class people of America. The average car in India costs around $2,500 dollars American. The cars here are smaller but much more economical."
"That seems about right, most cars in America can cost about a year's salary."
He nodded, "At present, only a little over one percent of the people in India even own a car, which was fine for many years because they didn't travel very far. For centuries most of the people of India were born, married, and died in their small villages."
"But all that is changing now?"
"Yes. Car manufacturers are targeting India, trying to sell small, economical cars at a very cheap price. They are hoping to take advantage of our rising middle class, as well as the large numbers of young people who desire to have a car of their own. The problem is, the country is so densely populated that the major cities aren't set up yet for that much traffic. For now, smaller sized vehicles are rather a necessity."
"So your jeep is like the Hummer of India?"
He laughed, "Yes, I suppose you could say that. The trunk space in those smaller vehicles will only hold a small duffel bag. When you drive around with tigers, you need something a bit larger."
"I think even the smallest cars in American are bigger than these."
"There are several reasons for that. In the early 1900's Americans were spread out much further and they required a vehicle to help them travel the long distances to town. When cars first started selling, America was a prosperous and rapidly growing nation. The open borders between states gave people the freedom to travel and inspired them to get out on the roads and explore their country. Since the Model T, cars have also been a powerful symbol of freedom and have become a strong piece of American culture. When the middle class started to move out to the suburbs, it forced them to spend hours in their cars commuting and a more comfortable ride was preferable."
"That's true. My foster parents hated the commute so much in Portland that they took jobs in Salem, so they'd spend less time in traffic. When they did that, they actually downsized their cars."
He nodded, "Large vehicles also have a subliminal effect. They make you feel secure, imposing, and denote the driver's personality. In America, the car you drive makes a statement about who you are. I would even say that one of the main themes in American culture is that size matters."
I laughed, "Yes, that's probably true. America doesn't do anything the small way."
He chuckled, "I must confess that I love the large American cars. In fact, I love all types of cars, almost as much as I love airplanes. I have traversed the globe in all manner of accommodations and I have come to appreciate fast travel and enjoy the comfort of not having my head hit the roof as well as the luxury of having plenty of leg room."
I looked across the parking lot, "The little ones here are kind of cute, but you're right, traveling a long distance with your head bent because you're too tall is not a fun thing."
We pulled over and parked in front of the gate. Mr. Kadam didn't stop to purchase a map of the area. He said he remembered it pretty well. He led me to the first and largest structure, the Virupaksha Temple. It was about ten stories tall and resembled a giant upside-down waffle cone.
[image error]
Mr. Kadam's Rolls-Royce
The Bentley Zagato Rental Car
(Note: I don't think you can actually rent one of these)
[image error]
Mr. Kadam's Jeep
[image error]
Another view of the Rolls
____________________________________________________
That's it for now. Have a great week and for you Utah fans, see you next week!
Wednesday, December 14th – 6:00pm-8:00pm
The King's English Bookshop
1511 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City, UT 84105
Phone: 801-484-9100
Fax: 801-484-1595
Excited to see you all!
Colleen
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message 1:
by
Mary
(last edited Dec 08, 2011 07:30AM)
(new)
Dec 08, 2011 05:38AM
This is so awesome!! Thank you so much for the bonus material and for tell us a little more about Shahid Kapoor. He would make a perfect Ren. :)
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I think he would play Ren wonderfully. He has the look and definitely the body ;op Thank you for the bonus material Colleen!
He would work pretty well as a Ren. But he's a bit old, Ren's supposed to be 21. But I guess it doesn't matter since Ren's technically over 350 years old....
thanks Colleen for the bonus materials !
I think that Shahid Kapoor is perfect to act as ren, but with blue eyes!
Shahid Kapoor is absolutely perfect for Ren!!! I honestly can't picture anyone else playing that part! I know there are people concerned about his age, but I recently saw the movie Milenge Milenge that he stared in... it was made 3 years ago and they made him look so young for the age that he actually is. And most actors portray someone younger than their actual age. I have no doubt in my mind that he can pull it off!!!
