Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys?

That's the central theme question behind the newest Spike Lee joint Inside Man. I took the kids to see it yesterday (while Mike was playing golf...ahem, you missed a great flick, Mike--but don't worry, I'll go see it again just for you) The film is rated R, and while my kids aren't little (I have 3 teenagers) I was a little hesitant about my youngest seeing it. And while there was some really strong language in the film (yup, they use the c*** word) I'm really gald I took them. It stars Denzel Washington (yum), Jodie Foster (love her!) and the deliciously yummy Clive Owen, who should be the next 007, damn it, but I digress...

After the movie (which is about a bank robbery in Manhattan) the 2 youngest kids and I talked about it in the car. I was really surprised (but I shouldn't be, cuz I have really smart kids) that they actually GOT it. Yes, it was a thriller, an action packed movie with guns and excitement and even a few laughs, but beyond that, they actually got the message behind the movie (because you know that being a Spike Lee film, there's lots of those)

I give this one a big thumbs up!

Oh, and speaking of good guys, my friend, Terri Garey whose book Dead Girls are Easy (isn't that an awesome title--it's coming out some time this year!) is related to one of the super good guys. Her brother in law is a Federal officer who works on the FBI's Innocent Images task force, tracking down Internet predators and pedophiles. (Anyone see the recent Dateline report, 'To Catch A Predator'?) In addition to devoting the last 21 years of his life to making other people's lives safer, Phil's an all-around great guy, and he's just been nominated as an America's Most Wanted All-Star.The grand prize is $10,000 and a trip. Like most contests these days, it's based on votes. Please take a second to go vote for Phil Dubord at America's Most Wanted All-Star.
Thanks for your vote!

The Easiest Way to buy a Book

You know the old saying: Don't judge a book by it's cover. But in this case, I certainly hope the saying is wrong. Yowza! This anthology features a fellow RWA Online chapter mate of mine, Teresa Bodwell. I just bought the book through RWA Online's Cybersignings program.

The program features different books each month, all personally signed by the authors themselves. You purchase them online and voila! A few days later you get the books in the mail. It's that simple.

I just bought 6 new books sitting in front of the computer with my jammies on. It doesn't get much easier than that!

Round 5 Begins!

Yesterday was the beginning of Round 5 of the American Title 2 contest. It's hard to believe that we're finally to the end! It seems like just yesterday (and also like forever) that the contest started. I'd like to congratulate all my fellow finalists. We've become a close little group and it was incredibly difficult for me to vote for just one of them yesterday. If I had my way, we'd all get publishing contracts (and one day, we will!)

I was so sad to see my friend Gina eliminated in this last round. The Raven's Revenge made it almost all the way to the end and Gina deserves a huge round of applause. She was the founder of our American Title 2 loop and is such an inspiration for me. I know that only great things are in store for Gina.

Another RWA Online chaptermate of mine Michele Young was also eliminated in the last round. Michele's manuscript is set in the Regency time period just like mine, so I was very sad to see Michele eliminated. But the good news is that another of her novels, Pistols at Dawn is coming out this June from Five Star Expression. You can bet that I'll be buying a copy of that!

This leaves 2 really talented ladies left in the competition:

Gerri Russell

and

Ruth Kaufmann


One of them will win a publishing contract from Dorhester and your vote can make it happen!
Go to www.americantitle2.com and vote by April 2 for the best Romantic scene.

Sexy Ugly

I first heard the term used in the movie Kissing Jessica Stein, one of my favorite romantic comedies (If you haven't seen it, run to the video store!) As you can see from the pics, Jessica is sort of torn between 2 lovers. And while I love Helen (in a strictly straight girl platonic sort of way) I absolutely adore Josh (played by the very yummy Scott Cohen) who I think is one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood.

But I digress...

In the flick, Helen uses the term sexy ugly to describe Harvey Keitel, who, I don't necessarily find sexy, but apparently there are lots of women who do. And in my current wip, The Church of Bunco, Carmen (my heroine's sassy Cuban best friend) uses it to describe her husband, Mick.

I asked a few of my friends and co-workers who they thought was sexy ugly. This is what we came up with:

Nicholas Cage
Sarah Jessica Parker
Helen Hunt
Harrison Ford (Harrison Ford??? Judi are you hosing me?)
Heath Ledger (Mel thought I was crazy--she thinks Heath is just sexy, period, but I'm sticking to this one)
Mick Jagger
Adrien Brody
James Woods
Ed Harris

There were some more, but you get my drift. Interestingly, I fould that sexy ugly is just like sexy beautiful.

It's all in the eye of the beholder, baby.

My new favorite player

No. I'm not fickle. I never said Shane was my favorite. Not really. He's just so entertaining. But I don't necessarily want Shane to win the million. I just want him to keep me laughing.

Austin (as seen on left) has definitely emerged as my favorite Survivor this season. He's smart, not too bad to look at and a writer to boot. What else can you ask for?

Last night Austin proved his power over Terry when he got Terry to vote out his pal Dan. I loved Dan. He was a great guy, but the handwriting was on the wall for him. Austin also got Terry to keep Sally over Ruthmarie 2 weeks ago. Although Terry seems like the leader of the tribe, I think it's definitely Austin who's running the show.

Good.

I'd love to see Austin win this whole thing. Ethan from Africa is the only young guy to actually win the game. It's high time for it to happen again.

My new favorite player?

I wouldn't exactly go that far, but I have to say if Shane leaves Survivor next week, I'll be disappointed.

No doubt that his nicotine deprived skinny ass is annoying. WAY annoying. But the guy really impressed me last night. And I never thought I'd say that. I mean, here's a guy who begged his fellow survivors to send him home on day 3 because he needed a cigarette and has his tribemates swearing loyalty on his son's life (yuck!)

But I can't deny that he's been performing really well in the challenges. He's emerged as one of the strongest players out there.

After his tribe lost the Immunity challenge, Shane told his alliance they needed to vote out Bobby. Even though Bobby was a strong player, Shane felt like he would flip sides once they merged. Pretty intuitive of ole Smokey (my new nickname for Shane) considering that Bobby had just told Bruce that exact same thing in the outhouse the night before (uh...yeah, Bobby and Bruce actually spent the night together in the outhouse after Bobby had stolen the team's only bottle of wine)

But when his alliance wouldn't listen, Shane caved in and made a deal with Bobby, shaking hands on his son's life.

Then... of course, came the switcheroo. Yes! said the girls. You're right. We need to vote out Bobby. He's crude and not a gentleman. Which of course, is the perfect reason to vote out someone in Survivor (What the hell are these girls thinking?!)

So Shane blew a casket. Why didn't you tell me this an hour ago?! I just shook hands with the dude!

Now Shane faces a dilemna. Go with his alliance and his gut and vote out Bobby which would mean breaking his word, or stick to his word and screw up his game plan.

I wondered what ole Smokey would do. Well, the dude surprised me. He voted for Aras. It was a throw away vote because he knew Bobby had enough votes to kick him off. Thus, he kept his word and he still got what he wanted. I was impressed. Apparently Shane's word is his bond and the 3 packs of ciggies a day haven't completely killed all his brain cells.

In the previews for next week, we see the girls plotting to vote out Shane. To this I say, No! Please don't vote him out. He's just too damn entertaining!