DARK WATER (2002)

I find this movie so upsetting, I can’t even tell you. I haven’t been this disturbed by a movie since Tremors when I was five and that’s laughable but there is NOTHING LAUGHABLE ABOUT THIS MOVIE. You’ve probably heard of the American remake with Jennifer Connelly. Maybe you’ve seen it. Maybe that’s the reason you are laughing at me right now. I saw it before I saw the original and foolishly thought I was prepared for this thing since I knew what was coming. Not. So. Dark Water is about the love of a mother for her daughter and a creepy little ghost girl who threatens to come between them both. It has the staples of a good J-horror (maybe milder than most) but all I want to do is tell you to STAY AWAY from it. I enjoyed it until I got to the last 20 minutes and then I started crying and I could not stop. This movie has an ending I will never get over. NEVER! It depressed me for days. When I tried to tell people about it, I’m not kidding, I would cry. Needless to say, I will never watch this movie again. I CAN’T. Because I tried once and the SAME THING HAPPENED. But if you want an emotionally traumatizing Halloween this is the perfect pick for you!

THE HOST (2006)

If you are my friend and you saw this movie before I did and you didn’t tell me about it YOU ARE NOT MY FRIEND. The Host is a South Korean monster movie that is pure genius. It’s the most recent movie I can remember enjoying absolutely every single second of. It’s about a horrific tadpole mutation in the Han River who kidnaps this guy’s daughter and he and his whole family work together to get her back but they’re a pretty mismatched slapstick bunch that has never gotten it together before so that proves to be difficult. I just butchered the whole synopsis. Family values! Political commentary! Are both in this movie! It’s just excellent. It made me tense, it surprised me, it made me laugh, it made me cry–a lot. And the ending! I can’t think of the last time an ending really SHOCKED me, but this one did. I thought it was bold. If this movie got remade by Hollywood (please no), I feel the ending would never ever be allowed to happen. Hollywood is lame.

LAKE MUNGO (2008)

This Australian documentary-style ghost movie is a GEM. I LOVE IT. If you like shows like A Haunting, I think you’ll dig this. If you love The Changeling, I think odds are good you’ll like this. The synopsis for Lake Mungo on Rotten Tomatoes is simply: “A supernatural drama about grief.” After their 16-year-old daughter Alice drowns, the Palmer family finds themselves haunted by her ghost, which eventually leads them to discover Alice had something of a double life going on. (I know Twin Peaks fans are raising their eyebrows, but I can’t comment because I haven’t seen Twin Peaks.) In all I’ve read about this movie, I feel the double life aspect is overemphasized. To me, Lake Mungo is more about the idea of people never really knowing you before you die and how tragic that really IS. How do you make that right? In death, Alice seems determined to give as many missing pieces as she can to the people she loved but these pieces don’t necessarily mean they will make who she was and how she died any less of a mystery. I found this so tragic and melancholy and subtle and thoughtful and genuinely creepy–it didn’t go places I expected to at all and I thought the ending was perfect. I think if you watch any movie on this list, it should be this one. I can’t believe I am saying that about a list that includes Pulse, but there you go. What a lonely, sad, eerie movie this was. I LOVE IT. Hollywood is remaking it and MARK MY WORDS, Hollywood will ruin it. You suck about that, Hollywood. PS stay for the credits because they are the final punch.

PULSE (2001)

You will either like this one or hate it, I think! The first time I watched it I found it frustratingly slow and then the second time I watched it I was like MAN I AM IN LOVE and then I went through this month where it was all I wanted to watch. I would play it in the background on repeat while I wrote novels. Yeah. It might be my most favourite J-horror ever, in fact. Or at least in my ever-rotating top 3. And it is definitely one of my favourite movies of all time in general. Pulse is directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa (I love him, he is a genius). It is about ghosts invading the world through the Internets! But more than this, it is about isolation and loneliness. You know that good old line, This is how the world ends… not with a bang but a whimper? That is basically Pulse. And that is a magnificent thing. It’s haunting and languid and beautifully shot and the sound is fantastic. Like I could talk forever about how good it SOUNDS. But I have noticed that about all of Kurosawa’s films. I just like the way they sound. CRAZY atmosphere. I could just look at this film or listen to it all day and it would make me so satisfied. Also it features parallel storylines which is exciting. You won’t find many–if any–jumpy scares in this movie but watching the world disappear right out from under the two main characters who are trying to escape a fate which seems inevitable is so thoughtful and unsettling and I LOVE IT SO MUCH. Avoid the remake, which is a crime against filmmaking. SERIOUSLY HOLLYWOOD, WOULD YOU PLEASE CUT IT OUT.

PONTYPOOL (2009)

This is a really clever Canadian (represent!) zombie movie that I love with all my heart. It is about zombies (yay). It is about a zombie plague that is spread by words–but what words? You won’t know until you speak them. And by then, it’s too late. And then you will try to eat your way out of someone else’s mouth D: to cure yourself. It takes place in a small town radio station and much of the action happens off screen until it all goes to hell in the most awesome way ever. It is unnerving and fascinating and fun and a really fresh take on a–it pains me to say it–kind of tired genre. It’s not an overtly violent or gorey movie. It is quiet and loud in all the right ways. Perfection. But it’s Canadian so perfection is a given. Mwahaha. Pontypool is based on the book Pontypool Changes Everything, which is really crazy and pretty much nothing like the movie but fantastic in its own way.

A TALE OF TWO SISTERS (2003)

Stay away from the craptacular remake known as “The Uninvited.” Ugh. Hollywood, I give up on you. A Tale of Two Sisters is ~superb~. It’s a mess-with-your-head type movie about two sisters who come home from hospital together after some STUFF happens. But that STUFF hasn’t been resolved, to say the least. It’s even exacerbated by a wicked stepmother. What follows is like–I don’t even know how to describe it. Constantly escalating psychological warfare between the eldest sister and the wicked stepmother. This movie is not a thrill-a-minute variety but there are a few genuinely terrifying ghostly moments here and there that will have you covering your eyes and wishing for them to be over because they are so intense. Overall it is a slow but expertly paced puzzle and the tension just gets tighter and tighter as each piece clicks into place until you’re like ugh my stomach hurts is this even worth it? And then when you see the whole picture, it’s like, “YES, YES IT WAS.” It is a beautiful and tragic nightmare. Which is what you need for Halloween, amirite?

Other movies you should consider that I did not have the time to do enthusiastic write-ups for but feel enthusiastic about are The Devil’s Backbone (a poignant coming-of-age ghost story), The Eye (the original–a really neat story about a girl who gets eye cornea transplants that enable her to see ghosts… which is not a good thing) and Tremors (THEY’RE UNDER THE GROUND!). And that’s what I gots.

Now it’s your turn! What movies should everyone watch on Halloween? I don’t want to say our friendship is contingent on you participating in this blog post, Internet, but, well, it IS.


In other news, there are still a few days left to enter my Fall For Anything ARC Giveaway. I’m completely bowled over by how many people have expressed interest in the book and so I have decided to draw two extra winners and they will each get pre-ordered copies of Fall For Anything, to arrive on their doorsteps upon release (December 21st). I just thought you should know!

Okay.

Here goes.

I hope we can still be friends after this.

I keep mentally comparing these two characters:

With these UNCANNY similarities, it is only natural that I should be forced to choose between them.

After much soul searching, I came to the conclusion that Tuxedo Mask has it all over Edward Cullen. Wasn’t Tuxedo Mask AWESOME, you guys? How did we forget the timeless awesomeness of Tuxedo Mask? How did he get so far removed from our idea of the perfect fictional boyfriend? Sure, he’s not a vampire, but since when is that a BAD thing, really?

So I now propose we all aspire to make our fictional love interests of the rose-throwing mask-wearing variety from this point on.

Sad, true story: I loved Sailor Moon when I was tiny, but that was a teasable offense at school, so I had to keep it a secret. Also, Sailor Jupiter was my favourite. She kicked SO MUCH ASS. Also I still know all of the words to Rainy Day Man. Also I hope this stuff is cool to admit on the internets! Also, I don’t care if it is. Also, I loved Power Rangers too. Trini was my favourite. <3

Uhm. ANYWAY.

Some Girls Are is up now up on GoodReads! If you want to read it, I bet it would make a sexy addition to your To-Read List (also, a simple act like that helps get word out, which I always appreciate). Speaking of Some Girls Are, I got an email from my editor earlier in the week to let me know St. Martin’s Press is getting a photographer to shoot a Regina look-a-like for the cover, which is really exciting. I can’t wait until I can see and show the final version!

In other news, I continue to work hard on Book 3, and by working hard, I mean “organizing a playlist for it.” I consider that working hard because if I didn’t, I might have to confront a truth about myself that I don’t want to confront. The first line of this book is, “Put your hand over my mouth.” It’s been difficult to write, but I really want to write it.

Also, I am sure my Twitter peeps are tired of hearing this because I tweet about it often, but I am HARD UP FOR BLOG ENTRY TOPICS. Like, thank God I started mentally comparing Edward and Darien or this entry may never have happened. And what would the internet be without THIS BLOG ENTRY?

I know. It’s too horrifying to contemplate.

Anyway, this is my sad and unclever way of saying if you guys ever want to see a particular entry about writing or books or How Chuck Bass Would Never Get Away with Any of that Shit if He was a Chick, you should let me know and then maybe I will write it. And then maybe I will update more often! And there will be more Courtney!

And I just assume everyone wants more Courtney.

But I guess maaaaaayyybeeeee there could be such a thing as Too Much Courtney. Honestly, it’s too hard for me to gauge that kind of thing because I live with myself EVERY SINGLE DAY and THAT hardly feels like enough Courtney, if you want the truth.

… PARTICULARLY NOW THAT I AM SPORTING THESE 24/7:

Here are the photographs:

But before you give me your input (please), here are notes on the photos, which we will call Canadian Brick Wall Face and Australia T-shirt Face respectively.

Canadian Brick Wall Face was in the running, then it was out of the running and now it is the running again! It was taken at the end of May. The PROS for this photograph is that the brick wall is pretty hot (please note the green will be cropped out if selected) and check out my hair! That was a pretty good hair day and I wouldn’t mind immortalizing that, since they don’t happen often. It looks like it was intended to be an author photo. The CON is that I have been told the photo makes me seem aloof and unapproachable.

Australia T-shirt Face was never meant to be an author photo, which is not a point against it. I just thought I would mention that. It was taken like, 5 months ago. The PROS for this photo is that I have been told it is warm and smiley, and I like to think I am both of these things when I am not giving you a death glare while secretly judging you. Also, people might assume I am Australian and Australia’s pretty hot. That’s a pretty big PRO right there, actually. The CON is that you can totally tell I am holding the camera and taking a picture of my face and that makes me think of self-portraity MySpace photos, which do not exactly exude an author vibe.

So.. what do you think, everyone? Which one do you prefer? Canadian Brick Wall Face or Australia T-shirt Face? Because between all the social networking sites I’ve got going on, there’s not enough angst in my life. Gimmeh gimmeh moar, as Britney would say. Judge my face!

(Thanks!)

Discuss.

To pop corn or not to pop corn?

grandparent: So what’s your book about?
me: You wouldn’t like it! There’s swearing!

But I can’t imagine the conversation going any other way. I don’t want my grandparents exposed to the word ‘fuck’ written by my hand because it would be too traumatising for all parties involved!

So that is why I tell them that.

But then I noticed that I seem to have an evasive answer for EVERYONE when any type of question relating to my writing arises. Like so:

family friend: So what type of things do you write?
me: Oh, young adult novels. For teenagers.
family friend: What kind of novels? What sorts of stories?
me: Oh. Stuff. You know. Stuff.
family friend: Would my daughter/son like it?
me: Uhm, well, you know. Hmm. Stuff.

Or:

neighbour: So what’s your book called?
me: It’s untitled! Doesn’t have one. And besides, titles are so uhm, you know–like, you get a title and then if you get a book deal, it might have to be changed for the market or something. So it doesn’t have one.

But the thing is, MY BOOK HAS A TITLE. And I like the title! My sister thought it up! It may not stick, but we high-fived over it and I gushed at her about how perfect it was for several days! And yet, when someone asks me what the novel is called or what it is about I get as flustered as I would if someone pointed out my skirt was tucked into the back of my underwear and start babbling like a fool! What is UP with that? I realised if I don’t work to combat this strange affliction, pretty soon all conversations pertaining to my novel are going to go like this:

person: So what’s your novel about?
me: OH MY GOD LOOK BEHIND YOU!
person: [turns] What?!
me: *flees*

But even that wouldn’t be as bad as the time a family friend asked me what I was doing late last year and I couldn’t even tell them I was writing. At least I can do that much now, thank goodness. Still, does anyone else go through this? I am trying to break out of my ‘shell’ a little more so I can be semi-coherent with my responses, but I’ve been finding it kind of hard. In attempting it, I’m also trying to figure out WHY I have this shell in the first place. What is it about artistic/creative endeavours that can inspire such secrecy and toe-scuffing in people?

Anyways, I’ve narrowed down my own toe-scuffing to four primary reasons.

#1 is not wanting to jinx myself. I can’t help it, I’m superstitious!

#2: in the case of fiction, I know I’m not my characters but do the people asking me about my novel know that? Character X might hate their mother, but I don’t!

#3: I’ve always been guarded about my plots, because I guess that is just the way I am.

#4, and probably the biggest, is the general stigma that comes with pursuing a path with less than the usual guarantees (I’m pretty sure every aspiring starving artist knows what I’m talking about here). When I was young, I wanted to be a Big Time Movie Star. In school, when the question of what we all wanted to be when we grew up inevitably arose, I inevitably answered “Big Time Movie Star” and I was almost inevitably asked in return what my BACK UP PLAN was. After a while, you tend to notice no one’s asking the aspiring dental hygienist what their back-up plan is. And I HATE the back-up plan question (in fact, my hate for this question is a blog entry unto itself), I HATE IT SO MUCH that if someone asks me what kind of future I’m trying to carve out for myself, I start anticipating it and do my darndest to head it off. Even if it ends up making me look like a huge dork. Which it usually does. And how.

But I really must get over this because I know there is a middle ground. I can still admit I am writing and talk about my novel in appropriately vague ways that give nothing of it away or jinx anything, thereby satisfying that secretive, toe-scuffing part of myself.

So I will now practice on you all:

It is a contemporary young adult novel.
It’s been called the ‘e’ word.
And it has a title but I’m not saying what it is!
It has a plot too but you’ll hear about none of that at this juncture.
And yes, maybe you would like it if you got the chance to read it, which I hope one day you do!

Unless you are my Grandparents.


In other news, I have slightly altered my blog layout and I like it a lot better. If it lasts 10 minutes, I will know it was one of the better ones. Yay!

I’ve recently read various published authors takes on the character naming process. For some it’s a snap else it prevents you from writing, for others it’s a painstakingly agonising process. I think I’m middling. Names do present a writing roadblock for me until I find the one that belongs to whoever I’m writing about, but on the flipside it never takes me that long to figure them out. With a few exceptions, I generally go to a website of names, scroll through the list and wait until I feel a click. It’s a click system. If I feel the click, that’s the character’s name regardless of my personal feelings about it because I have this weird superstitious tendency to OBEY THE CLICK.

Probably because it’s been so good to me. <3

I like old-fashioned/plain names, too, but ones with a rougher sound than the usual classics, which probably doesn't make any sense so using an example: I would choose Ruth over Mary. And I think a lot of older names are relatively timeless and easily fit in contemporary settings. Also, if this makes sense, I find them less alienating as well. As a reader and a writer I am consistently very alienated and removed from names like Skylar and Blair and so on. Maybe the reason for that is simply a matter of preference but I just thought I'd throw that interesting fact out there.

... And in doing so have probably just alienated any potential Skylars or Blairs reading this blog. Whoops x 2.

Anyone got any thoughts on character names as a reader and/or a writer? It's probably not a very inciting topic. You know what is inciting, though? Thinking up character surnames. Doing that incites me to grab a pen and stab myself in the eye because I hate trying to think them up that much. You’d think that’d be the easy part aka wtfbbq.

In other news, Thanksgiving dinner = best ever.

First I searched for the word fuck in my current work in progress, which is a contemporary YA. So far fuck and variations of fuck make an appearance close to a 100 times. It mostly appears in dialogue between characters and high-stress moments in the narrative. I used it because people–teenagers–talk like that and more importantly, my characters talk like that. That is no justification or defence of my use of the word (because I’m not sorry I used it), just context. Also, it wasn’t a conscious decision in this particular novel so for the time being I’m going to assume and trust that this is the way the story wants to be told. If I get published it might be something I have to give more consideration to but since I’m not at that point yet, never mind.

Can we still assign the word fuck the same kind of power it might have had 50 years ago? I don’t think so. Even used sparingly, I don’t think you can rely on fuck to pack the wallop that it used to. Realistically, this is no longer a word most people extend themselves to use when they want to get vicious. Look at it’s progression through movies. The Best Picture of the Year probably had the word fuck in it more than once and I’m sure people younger than I am have seen it. And I know people younger than I am have fouler mouths than I do.

Lots of people don’t like swearing. I get that, sure. I know plenty of them.

But then I ran across someone using this quote in the comments:

“Let’s rise above profanity, shall we? It alienates conservatives and makes liberals think you’re second-rate.”
David Mamet

Quoting it in relation to swear words in novels flummoxes me. I don’t think of profanity as something you ‘rise above.’ Especially within the arts (literature, plays, movies etc.,) and I don’t think the people who create art use profanity with the idea that they are degrading their work or improving upon it by doing so. I’d like to think they’re more or less doing as their creation dictates. I certainly don’t think I am lessening or cheapening my own novel in progress when I write fuck and I definitely don’t think it could be improved by eliminating it. I’m kind of hoping the entirety of the text would be judged by more than that. I also realise I have no control over how people interpret my work once it’s out there and that’s fine. But I can still hope.

I also find the line of thinking–which I’ve run across in the past–’if good books can be written without swearing in it then they can all be written that way!’ to be out of touch. Language has changed and so have the times. When a novel I’m reading wants to reflect something I’m exposed to–in this case, profanity–I haven’t got an issue with it. If the novel is cuss-free that’s also cool with me. If the book is good, I honestly don’t notice the word fuck (and all of it’s sisters, brothers and cousins) nor do I notice the absence of the word fuck. Profanity doesn’t pull me out of the reading and it doesn’t make me cringe. Bad books make me cringe but that’s usually for more reason than whether or not I find some swears in the dialogue or narrative.

So I want thoughts from anyone reading this! How do you feel about profanity in novels? Weigh in.