The End

Yes, once again I get to write the two most marvelous words in the English language. THE END. I finished Halo, Goodbye this weekend, and was quite pleased with it. I have a secret confession. I was having trouble wrapping my words around the main character. I mean, she's dead (not a spoiler) and how can I relate to that? However, a writer-friend of mine posted on a loop of mine about some of her insecurities and then WHAMO, she turned into Madelyn (albeit not dead). She was the absolute perfect combination of denial and optimism and stubbornness. Pretty much in every story I've ever written there's been a WHAMO moment. Sometimes it's character, sometimes it's plot, and sometimes it's just some fun bit of fluff that I know would be perfect. It's a great, great feeling.

I took my kids to see Garfield today. Usually I avoid movies that involve characters from twenty years ago, but they wanted to go see it, and "the end" had been written, so who was I to play mean mommy? So we went. It wasn't bad, actually. The story was very functional and un-lame. Now, I'm not saying it's the best thing out there, but it stands tail and paws above The Cat In The Hat. That's all I'm saying....

And speaking of movies, this one has been bugging me. The Stepford Wives. Now, I saw the original and I really liked it. It's a great horror movie, and then they decide to remake it as a black comedy? I don't get this. And if they had asked me (which they didn't), I would have given them my idea for a great horror movie: The Stepford Boyfriends. Can't you see this? Women who can opt for a Mr. Perfect boyfriend? Not a lover, not a husband, but a boyfriend. He knows all the right lines, he calls when he says he will, he's always there on Friday nights to watch The Big Easy with you, and runs out late on Saturday's for Coffee Heath Bar Crunch ice cream. And now, here comes the horror part: the men of the world start getting anxious. Women are getting it somewhere else, and these 'boyfriends' are threatening their very existence. And guess what, women can reproduce without men, so you know, the male of the species becomes a novelty, right up there with New Coke and Pet rocks. There's your true horror. THAT's what they should have made, not this one... and I even like most of the cast (does anybody else think Matthew Broderick is a stud? (besides SJP?)).

Oh, well. Tomorrow I have to start thinking of my book for Harlequin. It's a Temptation, set in New York during a blizzard. I could another one of the WHAMO moments about now.....