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Post by sapphire on Aug 24, 2008 20:25:18 GMT -5
OK, I am into the worry part now, and determined to hang in there. It is interesting to see how Stephenie inserts little clues, ala JKR, although I probably shouldn't use the two names together. Cissa, I came to the line I refered to earlier about Bella and her mom, finally: "I hadn't seen my mother since the wedding, but I found I could only be glad for the gradual distancing that had begun two years ago. She was too fragile for my world. I didn't want her to have any part of this. Charlie was stronger." (BD pg 654) Again, I don't think people should be so protected. Mothers, especially have more strength than that. I have really enjoyed having these books to read, and am finding myself entertained and sometimes bewildered by all the emotion, one way or the other, surrounding them. The question I have been asking myself the whole time, and especially since the release of Breaking Dawn, is why is this bringing out such strong feelings in people? What is it about this seemingly harmless story that has teens screaming like the Beatles have returned, causes rabid PC spouters to foam at the mouth and has unhappy readers returning books to the bookstore?
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Post by Cissa on Aug 25, 2008 18:57:39 GMT -5
Sapphire, I understand what you mean about not being able to put these books down. I am trying to take it slow this time and only read about 1 chapter a night, but there are times when I just can't stop myself. I also don't understand how a series can evoke so much emotion. A friend of mine finished BD on Thursday night and she came in my office to let me know and she said that she was kind of depressed now that she was finished because she wanted MORE, MORE, MORE. I have to admit I was a little down about finishing the series too. I guess that's why I jumped right back into them. I'm just not ready to give them up.
Now about the movies...I'm thrilled that they're going to do "all three movies", but what about Breaking Dawn??? Are they going to condense the four books into three movies or have they just not gotten the movies rights for BD yet??? I haven't had time to do any research on this, but I can't imagine how they could possibly cut it down that much. As far as changing the actors, I would hate to see that happen. Thankfully, people don't change a whole lot in their twenties. With some good make up I'm sure they could carry it off. What they really need to do is just start filming all of the remaining movies at the same time like they did Lord of the Rings and then they can take their time during the post-production phase. I would hate to see another actor as Jacob too. There is just something about his smile that screams JACOB!!! In my opinion, that is one part of the book they can change for the movie and I will be completely fine with it.
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Post by sapphire on Aug 25, 2008 20:00:54 GMT -5
Cissa, I have a feeling they have optioned the series--at least the first 3, and whether we get more than one probably depends on box office receipts. However, I have a feeling this movie will have a huge following, so am not too worried about getting the others. I got a funny phone call last night from Cathy. She said she had a big problem and since it was my fault, I was responsible for fixing it. She was almost to the end of Eclipse and was worried that the big battle was not going to take place until the next book, and she refused to peek. I had to assure her that there was no need to panic, all would be wrapped up. Later she called me and said, "Victoria just got her head chopped off." Well, it just so happens that her boyfriend's teenage daughter is named Victoria, and there had been some heated issues between Victoria and Cathy, so you can imagine my first thought! "What did you DO?!!!" I asked, trying to figure out if I had enough available funds to bail her out of jail. She rotflhao. ;D
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Post by Cissa on Aug 27, 2008 18:39:20 GMT -5
That is too funny.
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Post by sapphire on Aug 27, 2008 22:17:25 GMT -5
OK, I need to know if the rest of you are listening to the Playlists Stephenie so generously provides for each book. They have made a huge difference in how I connect to each story, and I am completely hooked on them. Every morning I turn on the computer and blast the songs through the house while I get ready for work. I just don't feel right without them. Anyone have favorites? I am really partial to "Clocks" "Fix You" (kills me!),and "In My Place" by Coldplay, "Empty House" and "Stare" by Marjorie Fair, "Lullaby (Goodnight My Angel)" by Billy Joel, both Dido songs, the lovely, "I'm Not Okay (I Promise), by My Chemical Romance, and "Creep", by Radiohead, and every single thing by Muse, (although they had to grow on me, I am badly addicted.) Oh, heck--I love them all! Rockin' to "(Ya Mama)Push the Tempo" by Fatboy Slim, and THAT is a sentence I never imagined myself typing. ;D
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Post by * amanda on Aug 31, 2008 6:52:11 GMT -5
LOL.... that is funny about Cathy.
I went on SM's website the other day and noticed that she had experienced a particularly unhappy betrayal. She had apparently sent out a partial draft of BD to some individuals and one of them was leaked. A website actually devoted to attacking her and ruining her (how SICK and disgusting is that? ugh, it makes my stomach turn that individuals can be so evil) leaked one of the copies to the general public. She decided to comment on this leak and say that she is no longer interested in completing the project. Basically, if you read her note, she not only sounds upset, which she has every right to be, but very burned out on Twilight. No wonder... after all of the unreasonable negativity surrounding it by a very vocal group of "critics." Anyways, I am disappointed about this loss to the series. SM cannot seem to bring herself to go back to the Twilight universe yet and I hope after a year or so of a break she changes her mind. She shouldn't let the actions of a few individuals dictate her projects! Anyways, as a final part of her comment, she offered the leaked file up to download (so that people won't continue to download it from the "bad guys.") I downloaded it but haven't opened it yet. It somehow seems like a betrayal even though she gave it to us.
I have been listening to her playlist songs. Some of them I've already had. (Sapphire - you'd enjoy Coldplay and Keane's full CDs). Muse was new to me, and they have grown on me. Some songs that aren't on her playlists but are by Muse have actually really captured me.
Sorry I missed out on some discussion for a few days/weeks. I am back but I might be in and out for a while... starting a new job on Tuesday! eek! I am extremely confident, however, that it will be exponentially better than my last one.
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Post by * amanda on Aug 31, 2008 6:56:13 GMT -5
I forgot to comment re: the mom issue you brought up a while back, sapphire. I agree with you. And I think my mom would agree with you. I feel that (and I hate to say this) that comment was a bit of a cop-out on Stephenie's part. It's hard to believe that Bella's mom would really just allow her daughter to float away like that, and I hardly imagine she didn't know something very different about her and want to come and see what that was all about.
I think I mentioned before I also had a hard time stomaching Charlie's part in Bella's life. It was touching that they could still see eachother and he knew his bizarre granddaughter, but on the other hand, I wonder how he couldn't question her more on such bizarre changes.
The one thing I do think that saved that issue, however, was his relationship with Sue... um, they definitely can relate on the supernatural level (even if they don't understand it completely!)
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Post by * amanda on Aug 31, 2008 22:14:20 GMT -5
So, tonight my fiance's cousin was telling me about Comi-con. Before he left for this a few weeks ago, I told him jokingly, "hey can you get any Twilight autographs for me?" And he looked at me funny and said, "any what?" He had no clue what I was talking about. Let's just say tonight he told me that he definitely found out what I was talking about at the convention. Apparently this huge convention was overrun by extreme Twihards/Twilighters. There were squealing girls everywhere. He saw them lined up the night before the panel. He also went to a Batman panel after the Twilight panel, and he said that Twilight girls stuck around for that panel as well. He was completely annoyed by them because they were so noisy. Apparently they were squealing and chattering the whole time. When he asked them to please quiet down, they retorted proudly that they had been "much louder" at the Twilight panel earlier. Anyways, I found it funny that before he went he had no idea what I was talking about and afterwards he knew all too well. (Unfortunately the girls didn't sound like terribly good ambassadors of Twilight fans, however.) I also got my fiance's sister to read it and she said to me tonight, quite simply, "I am so addicted." She's made it thru the first 3 books in a little over 2 weeks... this with 2 young kids, in-laws visiting, and part-time school! Tonight I told her I have the 4th and final book ready and waiting for her and she was practically drooling.
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Post by sapphire on Sept 1, 2008 14:18:07 GMT -5
Amanda, I also discovered the horrible news about the leak on Friday evening. My heart fell right out onto the floor. I can not understand what it is about this series that brings out such hateful behavior in so many. It is so obvious that Stephenie is a lovely, dear person, and her books never claimed to be more than what they are. So, now I must confess that, after several seconds of soul searching, I went right to Midnight Sun and read the whole thing. Then I read it again. By this time it was 5 am Saturday morning and I had an 8:00 appointment, so spent the rest of my sleep time reading Midnight Sun. This gave me a burning desire to reread Twilight, so I restarted it, even though I had just finished and started on New Moon. You would think that, having missed one night of sleep, I would turn in early Saturday night, but I thought perhaps one more read through of Midnight Sun might be in order. Fortunately I finished it by 1 am. Not so fortunate last night--due to late chatting, didn't get done until almost 2. So much for my goal of rising at dawn and taking the dogs for a sunrise stroll. I plan to start much earlier today, so that I can appear at work tomorrow with some semblance of sanity. Perhaps that is tmi, as my ocd is certainly shining through at this point.
Would I surprise anyone by saying that I absolutely LOVE Midnight Sun? I was stuck on Edward before, but now...he wouldn't have a chance to escape, if he came across my path. His intensity blows my mind, and the fact that he was absolutely crazy in love with Bella before he could even think straight just makes me want to give him a great big old vampirey hug. We have to have this book. Truly, I don't think Stephenie can stop writing it. She is just hurt and angry, but once she sees that for every moron who attacks her, there are legions of people who love her books, she will return to it. It really seems to be a labor of love. As to the Comic-con twits, they did nothing to further the cause for the Twilight movie, coming off as what they are--a bunch of screaming, brainless preteens. Too bad we have to share our wonderful story with such idiots.
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Post by sapphire on Sept 1, 2008 14:39:48 GMT -5
Forgot to say that, on Tuesday's girl's night, Cathy suddenly slugged me hard on the arm and said, "You didn't tell me she is PREGNANT!" I have a bruise. ;D
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Post by Cissa on Sept 2, 2008 19:29:15 GMT -5
Hey all. I've been so busy with work that Brian was actually the one to break the news to me about Midnight Sun. My eyes are extremely fatigued so I haven't been spending a lot of time on the computer or reading, but I will definitely have to download it and read it. I certainly hope that Stephenie will get over her anger and decide to take pity on those of us who are true fans and finish it. I personally wouldn't mind if she wrote all of them from Edward's point of view (especially Eclipse). There are so many times in that book that I just want to know what the heck he's really thinking. I haven't had the time to really enjoy the playlists like I would like, but I'm trying to get Brian working on downloading them for me so I can make playlists on my iTunes and listen on my iPod.
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Post by * amanda on Sept 5, 2008 21:47:49 GMT -5
On a bit of a happier note, check this out: www.forkswa.com/blog/2008/09/146/The "real" Forks, WA is having a B-day celebration for Bella's birthday and they have a whole bunch of events planned. There are hundreds of guests expected to be there that day. Isn't it cool how a little town suddenly got a big following? They seem to be great sports about it and taking advantage and trying to accommodate visitors!
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Post by sapphire on Sept 7, 2008 15:16:41 GMT -5
Amanda, I so wanted to go to Forks. Spent half the day yesterday trying to figure out how I could get there, where I would stay and how on earth I thought I could afford it. Fortunately, I have a sister who doesn't mince words. When I told her what I was trying to do, she said, "That is sick and wrong. Keep your butt in Albuquerque." So, I guess I'm not going. If I had had more notice, I would have been there, definitely.
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Post by * amanda on Sept 8, 2008 7:13:16 GMT -5
Oh my goodness sapphire... Well you know what, I think they're expecting this year to be very successful and I am sure the town will do the celebration again. Next year it will be after the movie (and hopefully just before the next movie!) and so I am sure the hype will be just as big. You could always plan for next year!
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Post by * amanda on Sept 15, 2008 20:49:54 GMT -5
I read Midnight Sun, sapphi, finally. Thanks for your patience with me. I have read like 2 chapters every night and would have kept reading if I didn't have to get up in the morning... a new job so I didn't want to risk staying up all night! It definitely took self-restraint. All I have to say is.... "wow" and *sigh*. If I had my way, I think it would be beautiful if it was published as a part of a super giant Special Special Edition of Twilight. I kept wanting to flip over to Twilight and read Bella's side of certain conversations/etc. So it would be amazing if it could be published as a part of Twilight; one side Edward, the other side Bella. I think my original copy of Twilight is long gone (too many people borrowing it) so I could totally use a Special Special super-giant Edward and Bella Twilight.
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Post by sapphire on Sept 17, 2008 21:20:24 GMT -5
Amanda, I am still stuck on that little draft--I just really love seeing the "real" Edward. His all engrossing love for Bella is so endearing, and it makes his slightly obnoxious behavior in Eclipse so much more understandable. I think Bella must have hurt him terribly in that book, with her insistence on seeing Jacob. I got to see Stephenie on Ellen today, by taking a later lunch and racing to my sister's house (plus, having to arrive at work early in order to have enough time.) All that for maybe 5 minutes of interview, but it was worth it. Stephenie feels like a friend. Nothing fancy about her. I just hope she gets over her anger and hurt with Midnight Sun soon and puts it out there for us.
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Post by * amanda on Sept 19, 2008 22:07:01 GMT -5
I agree. I loved seeing Edward's perspective. I think Stephenie did a pretty convincing job at portraying him even in Twilight, but it's so easy to misread or misunderstand some of his actions, words, and expressions, and it was so incredibly cool for Midnight Sun to really bring to light the man behind all of that. I think that the Twilight story would have been complete without telling Edward's side; like I said, I think Stephenie did a good enough job developing him as a character through Bella's eyes that we didn't really need to see the story through his pov, but certainly having his perspective adds an extra dimension. And clears up many of the misconceptions that *some* people had. I love that guy!
So Steph definitely should finish this project. It would be such a pity if the project was never completed. Oh, and why oh why did that draft have to stop before chapter 13??? I would love to know how Edward felt to have kissed Bella for the first time.
I think that Stephenie's next task (after finishing BD) is to really tell a story from Jacob's point of view. Not to get back on the topic of the BD criticism, but I have a feeling that Jacob's story is really rounded out once he imprints on Re. (Too tired to type the whole name.) I think it would be fascinating to see how he views her and Bella after he imprints. (unless he really is "brainwashed" in which it could be a bit tedious... I loved how she wrote his perspective before the "event", he's a great guy.)
Have a great weekend!
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Post by Cissa on Sept 29, 2008 17:33:46 GMT -5
Hey everybody. Sorry I haven't been around in a while. It's football and band competition season and add Caitlyn's dance classes in and it makes for a hectic time of year. So hectic in fact that I had completely forgotten about reading Midnight Sun. YIKES!!! I guess I'm just gonna have to break down and print the dang thing out so I can take it with me and read while I wait on the kid. I hope everyone is doing well. I just found out that we will be in Nashville for a dance workshop when Twilight premieres so I guess I'll have to find a movie theatre there. I'm not gonna miss out on opening night. I HAVE to see that movie (and so does Caitlyn...she won't read the book because "she doesn't have time" so I'm gonna make her watch the movie and try to get her hooked...that's my evil plan anyway...mwwwhhahahahahah). ;D
Take care and be good!!!
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Post by sapphire on Sept 29, 2008 20:52:15 GMT -5
Great to see you, Cissa. I don't think you can print out Midnight Sun. If you manage it, tell me. Hope you get to read it soon. It really is wonderful, even in rough draft form. It makes everything so much more interesting seeing what Edward is thinking and feeling. He is so sweet and charming, aside from that one little sidetrip he takes in the first chapter.
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Post by * amanda on Oct 3, 2008 22:02:07 GMT -5
Hey Cissa, hope you get a chance to read Midnight sun! you can do what I did - read little bits at a time when you can, at night. it's painful to quit each night after only reading a chapter or so, but worth it!
So a few weeks ago I gave my sister-in-law-to-be the Twilight series to read.
This week, she bought a silver Volvo S60.
Coincidence? I think not.
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