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Friday, January 22, 2010

Giveaway Winner and the End of a Love Story

Happy Friday, All!!

First and foremost, the winning name for Nancy Parra's drawing has been chosen. And that person is (drumroll)...Terry!! Congrats! Please email me with your mailing address (MarilynBrant AT Gmail DOT Com) and I'll pass it along to Nancy so she can send you her cool prize.

In far less pleasant news, I was incredibly saddened to hear of Erick Segal's death this week. I first read Love Story in high school (and then again several times in later years), laughed then sobbed through the film and wished more writers had his ability to create characters as memorable as Jenny and Oliver... To write dialogue that was, by turns, so funny and so heartbreaking.

The Washington Post has a thoughtful article on Segal and the story behind the story. And while I never bought into the line that "love means never having to say you're sorry," I think the high-brow literary critics who dismissed this screenplay/book and its author missed the mark. Big time. Anyone here also read or watch Love Story? If so, what did you think? (And, no, I won't pitch soggy Kleenex tissues at you if you say you hated it! But I would want to know why...)

Since it's "Friday," today's probably a good day to officially announce this: You may have noticed there's been a slight title change to the book at the right. Fridays at Nine, my second novel, slated for release this fall, will now be called Friday Mornings at Nine. Because being specific is a good thing in the writing world. Well, we hope so, anyway! It was a recent publisher decision and, as we get closer to seeing a cover, I'm looking forward to discovering the artistic choices the design team has made as far as images and font and color. I loved the way According to Jane turned out and have my fingers crossed for this one, too.

Nancy, thanks again for visiting this week--it's so fun when friends stop by! And for the next two weeks I know I'll get that same pleasure because I have two more friends popping over for great Q&As and book giveaways--Susan McBride and Laura Moore!! I must say, 2010 has been off to a wonderful start with new releases... My TBR pile is towering ;). What are some of the books you're looking forward to reading this year??

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on your new and more specific title. I like it!!


Yes, I read the book and watched movie. I loved them. But I loved The Notebook too.

And I liked March of the Penguins too..another love story. :)

Edie Ramer said...

I can remember crying while watching Love Story. I was so young, and admired Ali McGraw's character's bluntness. She was an awesome character. So brave and not into self-pity.

The like the new cover! I'm looking forward to reading many books this year, most by friends and too many to list.

Pamela Cayne said...

I've actually never read nor seen Love Story (I swear I'm not hopeless, Marilyn--I swear!) so can't comment on it, but I know of it which speaks to its staying power.

Love the change in the title, and if your new cover is as gorgeous as According to Jane, you'll be two for two!

Happy weekend to all!

Maria Geraci said...

I think Love Story was the *it* romance for that generation.

True story: Once, we were in a department store and my younger daughter who was about 14 at the time, and has straight dark hair, tried on a white knit cap for fun. A woman was walking by and pointed to her and jokingly went, "OMG, it's Jenny from Love Story!" Of course, Megan had no idea who the woman was talking about!

Marilyn Brant said...

Tina~thank you! I still have yet to read/watch The Notebook--I *know*! I need to get to it. I did see March of the Penguins, though, and got teary during parts of that, too. :-)

Edie~I agree with you on Ali McGraw. She played that part incredibly well, and added a lot of depth to an already unusual character. And I have too many books to list, too!! I just gave away 2 huge bags of novels, but there are hundreds more left that I still hope to read...

Pamela~Not seeing "Love Story" is the emotional sappy movie equivalent to not seeing "Star Wars"! *wink* I see we're going to be busy when you're here for S.F. I may have to bring my portable DVD player to the hotel... ;)

Maria~LOL about the "Jenny" comment! I'll bet your daughter looked adorable in that cap, though! I wonder if that film would be of much interest to todays teens and twenty-somethings. I'd be curious to know what younger people think when they watch it. It's just SO early '70s in tone and style--would they find it too dated to appreciate the other themes?

Hope you all are having a great start to the weekend!!

Nancy J. Parra said...

Hi Marilyn, thanks again for hosting me. It was great fun!

I did love "Love Story" - I agree they missed the mark.

Yay for specific titles. I love your current cover and also can't wait to see what they do for cover #2. :)

Unknown said...

Never seen or read Love Story.

I'm really looking forward to finishing Stephen King's Dark Tower series in 2010. Two (giant!) books left!

Marilyn Brant said...

Nancy--thank YOU!!

Heather--oooh, I've heard about those King novels but haven't read them. I'm sure they'll be great. (I'll always have a soft spot for Firestarter. ;)