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Nov.27,2014
Thanksgiving, c. 1951
Wishing all who read this and celebrate Thanksgiving a very happy day.
Archive for November, 2014
DruAnn Love (in purple) moderates a panel on crafts and fiction
Back from Bouchercon, mytery conference in Long Beach. Estimated 1800 people attending, about 700 of them crime fiction authors. Panel after panel populated by writers (like the one above) and what was my favorite? A panel of TV people—the producer, actors, and writers of the TV show Major Crimes. The ballroom was filled with fans, like me, cheering when a small hint of a scoop was dropped (there might be a spin off with Provenza and Flynn). You’d think Provenza and Flynn were household names as applause erupted.
Can’t help it—stories that come to life on the television screen can grab me like no other.
A TV addict should never marry a television engineer. It’s like a giving an alcoholic a job as a bartender. OK, it worked for Sam Malone on Cheers, but that was fiction.
My name is Camille M., and I’m addicted to TV. Preparing this blog, I was shocked to learn just how serious my addiction is. Never mind that I pretend it’s research that every crime fiction writer needs to do; it’s embarrassing.
The Can’t Miss Shows, roughly in order:
1. “Homeland,” it’s like having “24” back, with slightly less torture.
2. “Ray Donovan,” because who doesn’t love a Fixer with a Boston accent?
3. “Hawaii 5-0,” to pretend James Caan is back, and therefore, so is The Godfather.
4. “Revenge,” because I’m Italian and need a good laugh.
5. “Criminal Minds,” for the philosophical wisdom as they fly to the scene.
6. “Law & Order, SVU,” because it’s the only L&O left.
7. “The Good Wife,” because now and then I need a courtroom.
8. “Major Crimes,” because now I’ve met the writers.
9. “Blue Bloods,” in spite of Tom Selleck, who still SIGHs as if he’s Jesse Stone.
10. “Covert Affairs,” for Annie’s Manolo Blahniks.
11. “White Collar,” because it’s set in New York.
And let’s not forget
12. Reruns of “Flashpoint,” for Hugh Dillon.
13. “Blacklist,” for James Spader.
I’m lucky I don’t like comedies, even when crimes are involved (ix-nay on “Castle” and the like). Won’t watch talk shows; vampires; fantasies; reality shows; or any dancing or singing amateur talent. (I got that last category out of my system with Ted Mack.)
In case you’re wondering how I manage watching all these shows: my TV engineer husband’s latest achievement is providing the means (schematic on request) to record 16 different shows simultaneously. It’s a wonder we have room in the house for books.
At an hour when everyone should be sleeping, I’ll be heading for Long Beach and Bouchercon.
If you’re looking for me, here’s where I’ll be unless I’m in the book room:
1) On Friday, November 14, 10 – 11 AM: “Little Things Mean a Lot,” demonstration and Takeaway of simple minis that can be made for gifts
2) On Saturday, November 15, 8:30 – 9:30 AM: Panel “Add Spice to Your Crafts—Murder With Your Favorite Hobbies”
(with Moderator Dru Ann Love, Barbara Graham, Sybil Johnson, Jennifer McAndrews, and Clare O’Donohue)
Above is what I’ll be transporting for the auction — lots of glue involved!
See you there!
OK, I'm done with kid stuff.
Here’s the article I’ve been waiting for. I’m hiding behind A. O. Scott, linking to his recent article in the NYTimes: The Death of Adulthood in American Culture.
I do this a lot (find someone smart, with creds, to hide behind), whenever I want to speak about an unpopular topic, or rather, a topic that will make me unpopular.
In case you’re pressed for time, here’s one of my favorite passages from Scott’s rather long article:
In my main line of work as a film critic, I have watched over the past 15 years as the studios committed their vast financial and imaginative resources to the cultivation of franchises (some of them based on those same Y.A. novels) that advance an essentially juvenile vision of the world. Comic-book movies, family-friendly animated adventures, tales of adolescent heroism and comedies of arrested development do not only make up the commercial center of 21st-century Hollywood. They are its artistic heart.
Why do I think this is a topic that will make me unpopular? Because it has. Any time I’ve tried to express something related (such as my blatant reduction to: Why do kids rule?), I’ve had backlash, often from people close to me.
They rule, as Scott points out, by governing what passes for entertainment in books, movies, and on television. Adults insist that books and movies that are written for children have “so much to offer adults,” as if I’m missing something by not spending time with young boys who fly and lions that talk.
When did that happen? Do I want to go back to when children were “seen and not heard?” No, but isn’t there something between that and “children are the center of the world,” so that of 68 movie screens within a few miles of me there might be one adult movie?
Oops, I’m ranting. I’m beginning to regret writing this. I’ll stop before I delete it all. I want to be liked, after all.
Pretend I simply gave you a link to A. O. Scott and respond to him.
