Because I’m officially under deadline and suffering for reasons I’d rather not whine about here….I’m shamelessly stealing this from Stephen Parrish.

What I want to know from fellow Blogtopians is what books (particularly novels) you love so much you’ll say to me, “Just read it, dammit.”

What book(s) would you FORCE into someone’s hand and insist they had to read it before they died. I’m not talking about what you read last week. I’m talking about what you consider the greatest book(s) of all time (any genre, fiction or non-fiction).

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (I read this my freshman year of HS and I still remember being blown away.  I think it’s time for a re-read.
2. Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody. I actually thought this was called Growing up Black in Mississippi but I guess I was wrong. I read this in college for a history class and wish I’d kept the book. Granted it’s been 20 years but they didn’t/don’t teach the Civil Rights Movement in Texas. I’m not sure about anywhere else.

3. The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks–because it was the first fantasy book I ever read and really opened my mind to the possibility of ANYTHING.
I’m sure I left off some other good ones, so now it’s your turn.

So today I went down to a Seattle Health Expo thing with Jammie and our daughters (our daughters are half sisters, we’re great friends, long story!) Jammie and I are both on a health kick and losing weight. Her more so than me lately. It was fun, it was informational, and it was lusty (for a moment, when she made me take my pic with a parking attendant I thought was somewhat hot).

So really, today inspired me again to get my health on again. And Jammie (she’s so cool!) gave me an Ipod for my birthday, since she knows I got the shaft on the first MP3 player I bought. This Ipod let’s me have a playlist!!!

Here’s what I spent three hours arranging today for my hour long elliptical sessions.

Crazy In Love Beyoncé
4 Minutes Madonna (feat. Justin Timberlake & Timbaland)
Smack My Bitch Up The Prodigy
Ready To Run Dixie Chicks
It’s Not Over Daughtry
Maybe I’m Crazy Gnarls Barkley
Suddenly I See KT Tunstall
I Am (Markus Schulz Vs. Chakra) Markus Schulz
Kerosene Miranda Lambert
Fast Cars And Freedom Rascal Flatts
Amado Mio Pink Martini
Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow Paula Abdul & Randy Jackson
Cowboy Take Me Away Dixie Chicks
Big Girls Don’t Cry Fergie
Would You Go With Me Josh Turner
Caribbean Blue Enya

So I start with a fun kick and have a big old trance song at the halfway point (that stuff makes me go double time!) and then slow it down toward the end. I love variety, all genres, it keeps me from getting bored.

Do you work out? Care to share your songs that get you grooving? Or if not, what other playlist do you have. Or what’s on your MP3 player.

This is wrong on so many levels…but we’re still posting it.

What they don’t tell you when you start writing…

One of the most common questions people ask me during an interview situation is about my advice for aspiring writers. What tips would I give to anyone starting out writing?

Aside from the advice to read, read and read some more and to sit down and write, my best tip is to exercise on a regular basis, because writing and all the sitting involved during the writing of a book, leads to bottom spread.

Yes, sadly true….take it from one who knows. It even bears repeating. Beware the dratted bottom spread.

“Exercise?” you cry. “I don’t have time to exercise.”

Yes, I can hear your words of disbelief echoing around the globe now.

The thing is, bottom spread is insidious. It creeps up on a writer and suddenly…wham! Shaking head. It’s not a pretty sight.

Luckily I have a solution to halt bottom spread. One word, and no, it’s not a dirty one.

Exercise.

I’m all about multi-tasking whenever possible so here are some ways to add exercise to your routine without too many radical changes.

1. Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
2. Park your vehicle in one central place and walk to different shops/destinations to complete your chores.
3. Walk your children to school instead of driving them.
4. Go for a walk after dinner. Take your children and husband wi th you and make it into family time.
5. Explore some of the National and State parks during weekends and holidays.
6. Walk barefoot on the beach.
7. Take the dog for a walk.
8. Do the housework – not my personal favorite, but I’m just laying out all the options!
9. Go dancing or put on some music at home and shake your groove thing.
10. Use that gym membership.
11. Drag the old bike out of storage.
12. Take up a new sport.
13. Try gardening – grow your own flowers and vegetables.
14. Fancy a swim? My local pool has water aerobics, which actually tur ned out to be a lot of fun. Swim or walk up and down the pool.

As well as a great way to combat weight gain, regular exercise helps with concentration. It gives you time to think about your characters and plot. Yes, it’s that multi-tasking thing again. Exercising is me-time and although you mightn’t think so at first, it’s also fun. So get to it! Sweat those toxins out and you’ll find you’ll feel better. You might even live longer and gain in self-confidence. And above all, you’ll stop that nasty bottom

spread!

What do you think about exercise? Do you like it or hate it? Do you exercise? Pssst – do you suffer from the dreaded bottom spread?

Shelley Munro lives in New Zealand and loves to write. She was horrified to discover the truth about bottom spread and has worked hard to combat said problem ever since. Shelley likes walking the dog and cycling but hates housework. Her most recent release is Wanderlust, a contemporary tale of travel through India. It combines all of Shelley’s favorite things: ex1otic location, love, and lashings of intrigue and murder. Wanderlust is available from Cerridwen Press as of yesterday! You can visit Shelley’s website at http://www.shelleymunro.com

Feisty and Karen have abandoned us sauntered off to RT (for those who don’t know, the Romantic Times Convention). So sadly they will likely not be blogging this week.

They’ll be enjoying things like….

And….

And of course…

So you ladies have fun! We’re so f*cking jealous excited for you! Take lots of pictures!

Swiped from the Mavens, (and CE Murphey), who swiped it from Melissa Marr . Sorry for being so lame but the deadline calls.

So, Cece, what books have you written?

Surely you jest.

No, I never jest. *blinkblink*

You want, like, all of them?

Sure, great. That’ll be fine.

OMG……. fine, but I”m skipping all those short stories okay?

(more…)

I’ve been following one of my chapter member’s recent success with her book being turned into a movie. If you haven’t heard about Jane Porter’s book Flirting with Forty, the movie version is in filming right now (Heather Locklear!) in Hawaii! More details on that can be found here.

It got me to thinking about the conversion of books to movies. Some of them are done okay. Some of them are terrible. And some are outstanding! In most instances I’ve rarely read the book that gets transformed into a movie (though I did read Flirting with Forty and LOVED it!). Jane’s said upfront the movie will be different from the book (which I’m guessing tends to be the case). So it’s all good, I’m expecting it. And I think she says it’s going to be a Holiday movie.

I know one of my favorite movies that once was a book, was Bridget Jones Diary. I saw the movie first, loved it, and when I went to pick up the book couldn’t get into it. Odd, I know.

I saw The Princess Diaries before I read the book(s), but loved the books when I picked them up later.

I read Message in a Bottle and hated it so much (wall banger, never kill my hero damn it) that I refused to see the movie. The Da Vinci Code, I loved the book, hated the movie.

So how about you? What movie do you love that started its life as a book?