The Librarian Writer

The big day is tomorrow! Yeah, yeah, there's some kind of shindig going on at Westminster Abbey, but I'm talking about the screening of Royal Wedding at the TCM Classic Film Festival . Royal Wedding is a little gem, often overlooked as one Fred Astaire's best movies. Directed by Stanley Donen, the 1951 film stars Fred and Jane Powell as a brother/sister dancing team going to London for the royal nuptials of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. Of course there's romance and hijinks and plenty of dancing. One of the highlights of the film is the sequence where Fred Astaire dances on the ceiling. It is flat-out awesome and a remarkable achievement of choreography, filmmaking, and ingenuity. See for yourself: Once you've picked your jaw up off the floor, you may want to know how that was done. A revolving room was created and a camera mounted to follow the room. Someone on YouTube was kind enough to deconstruct the scene. Even though Fred Astaire makes eve...

Sometimes you reach that point in your story when you want to hit your head against a brick wall. Repeatedly. The flow is gone. The characters are flat. The dialog limps along. Or your beautifully structured outline crumbles like graham crackers. Don't your characters know they're supposed DO THIS, NOT THAT?!? Or you've got too many ideas and don't know which one to write. Or you've got no ideas, at least nothing that has that spark, that makes you want to write. Whatever the situation, writer's block is that point when a writer stops. Sometimes that's a good thing. Taking a break away from a project can let the ideas percolate and that moment will come (usually while in the shower, or driving, or doing dishes) when you can't wait to go back the story because now you know what to do. But others let writer's block be an excuse for not writing. At all. And there is no excuse for this. Because writer's block does not exist. Writer's block is mer...

In honor of National Library Week, I thought I'd post some of my favorite library related videos. Cookie Monster in the library : Old Spice parody in the library : Mr. Bean in the library : Library Girl music video : Ghostbusters parody in the library : Erik the Librarian : Grover in the library : Please share some of your favorite library videos!

The motif for March was fierce redheads who find themselves leaving the world they knew behind for something not only completely different, but downright scary. The first redhead was Amy in Across the Universe by Beth Revis, reviewed here . The second redhead was Ellie in Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton, reviewed here . I don't know what it is about redheads, but apparently there's something in their genes that gives them extra kick-ass-itude. (Yes, I just made up that word.) The thing I loved about both Amy and Ellie is the fact that they're not afraid to be afraid. They react to incredible obstacles like a normal human would. They cry. They run. They hide. But then they overcome their fears to take a stand against big, scary obstacle. Even if they think they may fail. Even if they think they may die. That's kick-ass-itude (Can I get that trademarked?) . So March was a good reading month. Now I'm reading Bumped by Megan McCafferty, which I'm enjoying...