Give Me Is At Mad Moose Mama and JeanzBookReadNReview
Today Give Me stops at two blogs, JeanzBookReadNReview for an interview and Mad Moose Mama for another installment in the short story Piccadilly Woo.
Some changes … I’ve been let to know in no uncertain terms that Piccadilly Woo is a bad title. Very bad title. I’m crying as I acknowledge this is so. So, there is a new title already picked, inspired by today’s installment at Mad Moose Mama. To keep things from being TOO confusing, I won’t announce the new title until the tour is finished.
The other change is – today’s part of the story is out of order, but I do think it still makes sense. This is the prologue.
Suddenly Books! (Formerly 100 Stars Or Less)
Erika’s blog has a spiffy new name – and a new url to go with it.
Go check out her post about the change and enter to win a nifty book journal!
John Dotegowski At Two Ends of the Pen
Two Ends of the Pen has an interesting article today about the work of cover artist and illustrator John Dotegowski.
Isn’t his detail wonderful?
Give Me Book Tour – Day One
Jane Eyre 2011
When I type “Jane Eyre” into the Google search window, the second auto choice kindly fills in the 2011. And that is how I will always think of this latest rendition of the classic story: Jane Eyre 2011.
I wanted so much to like this new movie, to love it. Somehow I missed it when it came out in theaters, and I finally rented it last night on that Amazon Prime streaming thing. Which is fabulous, by the way, if you have fiberoptic cable. I’m sad to report that the only thing I really enjoyed about this production was Thornfield Hall – and actually, not the house itself but the grounds.
I believed the scenery. I could smell the clean dirt and feel the mist on my face and long for the spring lilacs. Nice.
Other than that, the story was butchered, told from the inside out – starting with Jane running away from Rochester and landing at the Rivers’s cottage. Her childhood is told in flashbacks; sadly, the resultant sacrifice of early detail does not result in a fuller telling of the Rivers section of the book – which is almost always misunderstood and given short shrift.
(I used “short shrift”!) 
Everything was cut off. I didn’t believe Jane and Rochester loved each other or were even attracted to each other. I didn’t believe Aunt Reed was cruel! St. John Rivers was completely wasted as a character, despite Jamie Bell’s valiant efforts.
And while I thought it was a good choice to make Adelle’s voice offkey and her delivery painfully mediocre, the same choice for Blanche Ingram? Disaster! Blanche should be the antithesis of Jane – outwardly sublime and inwardly barren. (The same applies to Rochester and Rivers; at its core, Jane Eyre is about oppositions and contradictions.)
Using my Mr. D’Arcy voice, I will tell you that Michael Fassbender made a tolerable Rochester, but not juicy enough to tempt me. I think Samantha Morton might have saved him, but not the rushed surface playacting Mia Wasikoska brought to the task. It didn’t feel as if the rush was her fault – it seemed more like she and Fassbender both had had no chance to rehearse.
Sigh. I need to watch the Timothy Dalton version again, because my memory is that it was very good. I loved the chemistry of Samantha Morton and Ciaran Hinds in their attempt. If they’d had the Toby Stephens/Ruth Wilson script – ah … with a script like that, they could have ruled the world!
And with that script, Toby Stephens and Ruth Wilson almost did.
Almost. I think we’re all still waiting for the perfect Jane Eyre.
“Jobs takes possession, fumbles to Skully; women are wearing Herringbone ….”
Rest in peace, Steve Jobs.
The quote in the title is from a song I wrote in the 1990s. Steve Jobs has been a force in the zeitgeist spanning generations. It’s difficult to believe he was only 56 years old. It’s insanely infuriating that we have failed to conquer cancer.
The Quest For Nobility – free at Amazon
The Quest For Nobility is a classic science fiction/fantasy adventure with a twist – it takes place on two worlds, contemporary earth and Otharia, a feudal world ruled by dukes.
I just finished reading it, and I enjoyed it very much. There are twins with telekinetic powers, assassins, and an evil duke in one world with a surprising connection to earth – plus some Arthurian lore thrown in.
And for a limited time, The Quest For Nobility is free!
The Wormies Are Giving Away 10 Copies of Give Me!
The Book Worms are one of my favorite groups at Facebook and Goodreads. It’s not that the group subject matter makes them so unique – we talk about books, ha. All kinds of books, with the common denominator being “books we like” instead of a particular genre.
I think it must be because the people in the group are nice, friendly, and interesting themselves that we end up having nice, friendly, and interesting conversations. Right now, there’s one going on about fairy tales.
And get this – Book Worms are giving away 10 – 10! – copies of Give Me. The giveaway ends in a few days. You can enter right here.
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Give Me Goes to Kindle Obsessed
Misty at Kindle Obsessed has reviewed Give Me. This is just the kind of review I love – interesting and funny – whether you end up wanting to read the reviewed book or not.
If you don’t follow Misty’s reviews … snap out of it! (imagine Cher slapping Nicolaus Cage)
I’m sitting here thrilled to have a book reviewed at Kindle Obsessed, and delighted that
Misty enjoyed
the story!
I love my Nespresso machine
I’ve tried going caffeine free, and it just doesn’t work for me. Coffee is necessary to my happiness.
I’m brutal on espresso machines. I’m too cheap to buy a really good, several-thousand dollar orgasmatron device, and yet I’ve broken/overused/abused so many of the things that I’ve spent enough to buy a commercial monster.
About a year ago, I took the Nespresso plunge. I thought, what the heck? It’s only $350. Only! ha. Little did I know I was about to get sick and not be able to work so much. That seems like a fortune to me now! But anyway, I bought a Nespresso Citiz and fell in love! 
It’s quiet, quick, clean – and the espresso is delicious.
There’s only one small problem. I broke it. First, the milk frother just stopped working. I didn’t do that! But then, I tried using a fake pod that you can refill in the pod compartment, and it didn’t work. I think it must have bent something inside.
Anyway. About three weeks ago, I got a call from Nespresso customer service asking how everything was with my machine. They must have noticed that I stopped ordering pods. I told them about the milk frother and that I thought I’d broken the brewing part of the machine.
No problem! The customer service guy said, “I’m sending you a new frother right now and a loaner machine with a return box for yours. We’ll fix it.”
And that’s what happened. Within a few days, a lovely machine just like mine showed up in a returnable UPS box and full postage. I’ve been using the loaner, and falling in love with the delicious Nespresso lattes all over again. I sound like a commercial.
I just got an email that my machine has been fixed, and they’re extending the warranty another 6 months. This cost me nothing. Not even postage.
Some companies do it right. I love my Nespresso machine.
Rigelodeon – Newsletter Schmoozeletter
Alrighty then! I dipped my toe into the newsletter pool and I still have my toe. So far, so good. It was a little bit fun – enough to make me want to do it again. And better.
Here’s the deal: Rigelodeon (isn’t that a great name?) will go out via email sporadically. Twice some months, some months not at all. I’ll talk about books or movies or espresso machines that I’ve loved.
I’ll also include easter eggs – little giveaways that only subscribers can win, things like gift cards and free books – with each Rigelodeon.
Right now (through September 30) I’m having a subscription drive through my Facebook page here. Sign up for Rigelodeon through that, and you could win a $25 Amazon gift card. See, it’s already starting!