strange and random happenstance

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Felicia Day, The Guild, The Knights of Good, Will Wheton

The Agency: The Body at the Tower by Y.S. Lee
Published by: Candlewick
Publication Date: August 10th, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Mary Quinn is back, now a trusted member of the Agency, the all female detective unit operating out of Miss Scrimshaw’s Academy for Girls. Her new assignment sends her into the grimy underbelly of Victorian London dressed as a poor boy, evoking her own childhood memories of fear, hunger, and constant want. As she insinuates herself into the confidence of several persons of interest, she encounters others in desperate situations and struggles to make a difference without exposing —or losing —her identity. Mary’s adventure, which takes place on the building site of the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament, offers a fictional window into a fascinating historical time and place. "

Oh, how my tbr pile keeps growing, but I vow to read the first before picking up the second. Really, I vow... could someone maybe check on me later today to make sure I don't run to the bookstore?

Dracula in Love by Karen Essex
Published by: Doubleday
Publication Date: August 10th, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"From the shadowy banks of the river Thames to the wild and windswept Yorkshire coast, Dracula’s eternal muse, Mina Murray, vividly recounts the intimate details of what really transpired between her and the Count—the joys and terrors of a passionate affair that has linked them through the centuries, and her rebellion against her own frightening preternatural powers.

Mina’s version of this Gothic vampire tale is a visceral journey into Victorian England’s dimly lit bedrooms, mist-filled cemeteries, and asylum chambers, revealing the dark secrets and mysteries locked within. Time falls away as she is swept into a mythical journey far beyond mortal comprehension, where she must finally make the decision she has been avoiding for almost a millennium.

Bram Stoker’s classic novel offered one side of the story, in which Mina had no past and bore no responsibility for the unfolding events. Now, for the first time, the truth of Mina’s personal voyage, and of vampirism itself, is revealed. What this flesh and blood woman has to say is more sensual, more devious, and more enthralling than the Victorians could have expressed or perhaps even have imagined. "

Yet more Mina... I really think this is the new tread. No more zombies and werewolves and other supernatural beings trust into classics, just Mina Harker and her take on Drac.

Wigs on the Green by Nancy Mitford
Published by: Vintage
Publication Date: August 10th, 2010
Format: Paperback, 192 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Eugenia Malmains is one of the richest girls in England and an ardent supporter of Captain Jack and the Union Jackshirts; Noel and Jasper are both in search of an heiress (so much easier than trying to work for the money); Poppy and Marjorie are nursing lovelorn hearts; and the beautiful bourgeois Mrs Lace is on the prowl for someone to lighten the boredom of her life. They all congregate near Eugenia's fabulous country home at Chalford, and much farce ensues. One of Nancy Mitford's earliest novels, Wigs on the Green has been out of print for nearly seventy-five years. Nancy's sisters Unity and Diana were furious with her for making fun of Diana's husband, Oswald Mosley, and his politics, and the book caused a rift between them all that endured for years. Nancy Mitford skewers her family and their beliefs with her customary jewelled barbs, but there is froth, comedy and heart here too. "

Out of print for years, due to the fact that she's so deftly skewering her own family, who were not pleased, this is one of the many Nancy Mitford re-releases due to Deborah Mitford's 90th birthday (she of the Duchess of Devonshire and the last remaining Mitford sister).

The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford
Published by: Vintage
Publication Date: August 10th, 2010
Format: Paperback, 240 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Nancy Mitford’s most enduringly popular novel, The Pursuit of Love is a classic comedy about growing up and falling in love among the privileged and eccentric.

Mitford modeled her characters on her own famously unconventional family. We are introduced to the Radletts through the eyes of their cousin Fanny, who stays with them at Alconleigh, their Gloucestershire estate. Uncle Matthew is the blustering patriarch, known to hunt his children when foxes are scarce; Aunt Sadie is the vague but doting mother; and the seven Radlett children, despite the delights of their unusual childhood, are recklessly eager to grow up. The first of three novels featuring these characters, The Pursuit of Love follows the travails of Linda, the most beautiful and wayward Radlett daughter, who falls first for a stuffy Tory politician, then an ardent Communist, and finally a French duke named Fabrice. "

Nancy's most famous novel and I just have to say, loving the new covers, this is Nancy as a young deb!

Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford
Published by: Vintage
Publication Date: August 10th, 2010
Format: Paperback, 256 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"One of Nancy Mitford’s most beloved novels, Love in a Cold Climate is a sparkling romantic comedy that vividly evokes the lost glamour of aristocratic life in England between the wars.

Polly Hampton has long been groomed for the perfect marriage by her mother, the fearsome and ambitious Lady Montdore. But Polly, with her stunning good looks and impeccable connections, is bored by the monotony of her glittering debut season in London. Having just come from India, where her father served as Viceroy, she claims to have hoped that society in a colder climate would be less obsessed with love affairs. The apparently aloof and indifferent Polly has a long-held secret, however, one that leads to the shattering of her mother’s dreams and her own disinheritance. When an elderly duke begins pursuing the disgraced Polly and a callow potential heir curries favor with her parents, nothing goes as expected, but in the end all find happiness in their own unconventional ways. "

The sequel to The Pursuit of Love, in other words, a must read.

Don't Tell Alfred by Nancy Mitford
Published by: Vintage
Publication Date: August 10th, 2010
Format: Paperback, 240 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"In this delightful comedy, Fanny—the quietly observant narrator of Nancy Mitford’s two most famous novels—finally takes center stage.

Fanny Wincham—last seen as a young woman in The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate—has lived contentedly for years as housewife to an absent-minded Oxford don, Alfred. But her life changes overnight when her beloved Alfred is appointed English Ambassador to Paris. Soon she finds herself mixing with royalty and Rothschilds while battling her hysterical predecessor, Lady Leone, who refuses to leave the premises. When Fanny’s tender-hearted secretary begins filling the embassy with rescued animals and her teenage sons run away from Eton and show up with a rock star in tow, things get entirely out of hand. Gleefully sending up the antics of mid-century high society, Don’t Tell Alfred is classic Mitford. "

Why did I not know until recently that there was a third book in The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate series!?! Why!?! I want to know how this essential piece of information slipped me by!

The Blessing by Nancy Mitford
Published by: Vintage
Publication Date: August 10th, 2010
Format: Paperback, 256 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"The Blessing is one of Nancy Mitford’s most personal books, a wickedly funny story that asks whether love can survive the clash of cultures.

When Grace Allingham, a naïve young Englishwoman, goes to live in France with her dashingly aristocratic husband Charles-Edouard, she finds herself overwhelmed by the bewilderingly foreign cuisine and the shockingly decadent manners and mores of the French. But it is the discovery of her husband’s French notion of marriage—which includes a permanent mistress and a string of casual affairs—that sends Grace packing back to London with their “blessing,” young Sigismond, in tow. While others urge the couple to reconcile, little Sigi—convinced that it will improve his chances of being spoiled—applies all his juvenile cunning to keeping his parents apart. Drawing on her own years in Paris and her long affair with a Frenchman, Mitford elevates cultural and romantic misunderstandings to the heights of comedy. "

And a final Mitford book to round out your week! Gosh, I have a lot of book buying to do...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 3 comments  

Labels: Don't Tell Alfred, Dracula in Love, Karen Essex, Love in a Cold Climate, Nancy Mitford, The Agency, The Blessing, The Pursuit of Love, Wigs on the Green, Y.S. Lee

Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock
Based on the book by Boileau and Narcejac
Release Date: May 9th, 1958
Starring: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes, Tom Helmore
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy
John "Scottie" Ferguson has left the police force. After the tragic death of his colleague following a criminal through San Francisco's rooftops he has severe agoraphobia. He spends his spare time hanging around his friend Midge's apparent, which she doesn't seem to mind in the least. One day he gets a call from an old college buddy, Gavin Elster, who wants to see him. Gavin wants Scottie to use his spare time to find out what's wrong with his wife, Madeleine. He doesn't know what's wrong with her. He has not taken her to doctors because he fears that she is possessed, as he tells Scottie "Do you think the dead can live again?" Scottie reluctantly agrees to at least see Madeleine. That night at Ernie's Scottie catches a glimpse of Madeleine and there is no doubt he will accept the case. The following day he trails Madeleine from a florist to a grave to a painting in an art museum to a hotel. The painting being the most unnerving, in that the flowers match those in the painting, as does Madeleine's hairdo. What's even stranger is that the portrait is the woman whose grave Madeleine visited earlier in the day. With Midge's help, they learn the history of the woman, Carlotta Valdes, who lived in the hotel Madeleine visited and committed suicide after her lover took their child for his own. When Scottie presents this information to Gavin, it's clear Gavin knew all this and more, as Carlotta is Madeleine's great-grandmother. But Madeleine does not know this, so it can't be an obsession with her family's history. Scottie continues to trail Madeleine and even hauls her out of the bay after an apparent suicide attempt. Scottie now becomes her protector and they start to fall for each other. But soon a fall from a bell tower will end Madeleine's life and Scottie's will be shattered. Time passes and Scottie wanders the streets he walked with Madeleine till one day he sees Judy. Judy, not only looks like Madeleine, but unbeknownst to Scottie, she is the Madeleine he knew, the one hired to help Gavin murder his wife and use Scottie as a pawn. But Judy, instead of running, decides to stay and hopefully get Scottie to love her for her. But all he wants is to turn her back into Madeleine. Can either of them survive this destructive path they are on?

As Hitchcock said, in regard to adapting a book for the screen: "What I do is to read a story only once, and if I like the basic idea, I just forget all about the book and start to create cinema." This is what takes the fairly good book by Boileau and Narcejac with unlikable characters and no real passion, and turns it into a classic of cinema. Hitchcock added mystery to Madeleine by us going with Scottie on his discovery of her "possession." He also gave the characters a love for each other, that made Judy stay for love, not to play out some sick game. But more than anything, with the score and the beauty of San Francisco, we fall under the spell of the story. Instead of watching the headlong rush to oblivion that the book captures so well, we are wound in the web of a story, slowly building and entwining us like the lissajou spirals of the opening credits. Like the book before, being a love letter to Paris, here we have a love letter to San Francisco. This film is the quintessential film of that beautiful city. I don't think that the film would be what it is if Hitchcock himself was not so in love with the city. Plus, there could not be a worse place for an agoraphobic to live, which gives a certain dark jab to the character of Scottie. Of course, I find it interesting how much the film does mirror aspects of Hitchcock's life. His obsession with Grace Kelly could easily be Scottie's obsession for Madeleine. Whatever it was that made the fates align so perfectly for this movie makes me easily proclaim it one of my favorites and now that I've read the book, it's amazing to me how Hitchcock distilled it down and made a classic out of a decent novel.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Boileau and Narcejac, Carlotta Valdes, Gavin Elster, Grace Kelly, Hitchcock, James Stewart, Judy Barton, Kim Novak, Lissajou Spirals, Madeleine, Paris, San Francisco, Scottie, Vertigo

Vertigo (The Living and the Dead/D'entre les Mortes) by Boileau and Narcejac
Published by: Bloomsbury
Publication Date: 1956
Format: Paperback, 170 Pages
Challenge: Thriller and Suspense
Rating: ★★★
To Buy
Roger Flavieres begrudgingly went into the police force, but after his partner dies tragically because of his own fear of heights he quits and goes into the law. One day his old school friend Gevigne looks him up because he is in the midst of a very odd situation at home. His wife, Madeleine, seems remote. She has also been behaving very oddly. Gevigne is convinced it has something to do with Madeleine's great grandmother, Pauline Lagerlac, who killed herself. He's not sure what is going on, but thinks the the spirit of Pauline is inhabiting his wife. Flavieres, thinking it perhaps an act of a dissatisfied wife is thrown when he learns that Madeleine knows nothing of Pauline. Intrigued he agrees to trail her. Flavieres instantly becomes obsessed with Madeleine, whose behaviour bears out Gevigne's theory. She sits in a hotel room in a house that Pauline once lived in and often visits Pauline's grave, but not with a sense of someone visiting an ancestors grave, but of someone visiting their home. After Flavieres rescues Madeleine from a suicide attempt by drowning, the same method Pauline used, he decides not to leave her side. But in the fatalistic days leading up to full out war with Germany, Paris is hardly the place to keep a vibrant, young woman in the here and now, versus slipping into some unhappy past. What Flavieres had dreaded from his first loosing his heart to Madeleine comes to pass. On a frantic drive through the country she rushes out of the car and into a church with a tall bell tower. Unable to follow her to such heights, Flaviers cannot stop the inevitable, Madeleine throws herself off the top of the tower. Having lost the woman he loves and with the war beginning, Flavieres leaves. He leaves Gevigne being investigated for his wife's murder, he leaves his practice and he leaves France. Four years later he returns to Paris a broken drunkard. But a new obsession gripes him when he sees a woman in a newsreel who is Madeleine, but isn't at the same time. Rushing to Marseilles he eventually encounters Renee Sourange, Madeleine's doppelganger. Flavieres becomes more obsessed than ever thinking that Renee IS Madeleine. That it is possible for someone to live again. Just as it took awhile for Madeleine to realize she was once Pauline, he is sure that Renee will eventually realize she is Madeleine. But what if the truth is darker than that, not dealing with spirits, but with the connivances of man?

There is no chance while reading this book that you will be able to separate it from the film it became. Vertigo is one of Hitchcock's best films and one of my favorites. But, it is interesting to see what captured Hitchcock's imagination and what he kept and what he discarded. The book is written in a very basic prose with all the facts laid bare before you. At first there is no mystery. Flavieres has all the information handed to him and he just must bear witness to the veracity of Gevigne's observations. It is more Flavieres inner self loathing and self obsession with Madeleine that is the driving force of the book. None of the characters are very likable, and Madeleine does not seem the type of woman to entrance and capture the ferocity of feelings she receives from Flavieres. Once Madeleine "lives again" it's just a waiting game as to who will break first. Will Flavieres drink himself to death? Will Renee admit she is Madeleine? Or is it all in Flavieres head? If you have seen the film, you will know that the outcome is tragic. But the book is even darker, laying the death of Renee not just on Flavieres conscious but, quite literally, on his hands. Instead of Renee staying for any real affection, she just seems to be playing her part a second time and reenacting the earlier mystery to ride herself of Flavieres. The fatalism of life during wartime is perfectly captured in the downward spiral of these two souls who are desperately lost. The original title, The Living and the Dead, or in a more direct translation, Enter the Dead, is more fitting to the book than Hitchcock's title Vertigo. Even if it is that downward spiral that Hitchcock captured in a more mysterious, more visual way. But the tower, the grey dress, the painting, the drawing, the hair... all of it are essential to both. All of it comes together as a fascinating study of man.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Boileau and Narcejac, Enter the Dead, Flavieres, Gevigne, Hitchcock, Madeleine, Paris, Reading Challenge, The Living and the Dead, Vertigo, WWII

So, a few weeks back, the cover for the new Lauren Willig book was unveiled. You can kind of imagine my shock when it was the above image, and not the type of classy affair us readers have been used to. To paraphrase the angry letter I wrote to Penguin: "Her followers have voiced their dismay at the change in cover design from that of sophisticated elegance, which greatly compliments her writing, to that of a trashy romance novel with a headless heroine, befitting a mass market paperback, not a New York times bestselling author. I would like to bring your attention to the fan hatred of the new cover, expressed on Lauren's site, in blogs and on facebook, and the fact that you will not gain any new readers with a cover that looks just like every other cover out there. Please realize that this change will hurt a very strong and successful franchise and that people do not want a change from beauty to tawdry. Please keep the integrity of this series in tact and get a new cover." Ok, well, that was actually pretty much the entire letter. The thing is, spending so many years in publishing, I know the author seldom, if ever, gets any say in what happens to their books, coverwise or promotionwise. So there's little chance of getting a change, and therefore my "perfect set will be ruined." Ah, I do loving a matching set, and every time Professor Slughorn comments on having the complete set, even if he was collecting "Blacks," I totally agree.

But Lauren, be the amazing, awesome and truly great writer she is thought of a compromise for the fans! How about a cover re-design contest? This couldn't be the cover, but it could be a limited edition fan cover. Seeing as I was already tinkering with the idea of doing this for myself. As I said to myself, Elizabeth, you are a graphic designer, if you don't like the cover, do a new one... in fact, I've often thought it would be fun to do this for lots of books, but I'd never been given the challenge before. Lauren has thrown down the gauntlet, I have picked it up!

Here are some of Lauren's previous covers. Now I wanted to maintain that "set" look. The feel of a collection and a unity in design. So I had a lot of fun it must be said, and I came up with my three entries.

This is a painting by Jules Bastien-Lepage, who did one of my Dad's favorite paintings at the MET of Joan of Arc, which I couldn't turn down seeing as it's called Flower Seller, and for a series based on spies with flower monikers, too too perfect. The spine and the banner come from the paperback edition of Pink Carnation, while the flowers are from istock, yes I spent a little money on this. I also exact matched fonts, because, you have to have continuity people!


For this one, the painting I used is Queen Victoria, it's just so pretty! Plus as Lauren said, "Another prescient cover! One of the pivotal scenes in the book involves an artist’s studio, a crimson velvet throw and Laura letting her hair down. " Oh, I can't wait! The Lace on the spine for this one was taken from Night Jasmine, while the binding is all my own work. The orchids are the same from the previous image (different color of course).


The final one is actually painted by an ancestor of mine, Jules Joseph Lefebvre, and is just so perfect for this, more flowers! The orchids here are also from istock.

So there you go, a little glimpse into my mind, and you might be wondering, why am I interrupting valuable time with Alfred Hitchcock to bring you cover re-designs!?! Well, because now you can go and vote on them! Now I'm not saying to go and vote on mine (*cough, numbers 20, 21 and 22 cough*) but you're totally welcome too! But just go and look at how awesome the other entries are and see how much time and devotion Lauren's fans have to her books. She really is the coolest author, with some of the coolest fans around! So go check it out (*cough 20, 21, 22 cough* Man, I have to get this tickle in my throat looked at!)

Posted by Miss Eliza at 2:00 AM 3 comments  

Labels: A Cartoonist's Life, Flower Seller, Hitchcock, Jules Bastien-Lepage, Jules Joseph Lefebvre, Lauren Willig, Pink Carnation, Proffesor Slughorn, Queen Victoria, The Orchid Affair

<a href="http://www.bing.com/videos/browse/originals/the-guild?&amp;from=&amp;videoId=8b02bc4f-0dc6-4a75-9317-80fe7809e59c&amp;from=en-us" target="_new" title="Season 4 - Episode 3 - Oversupportive&#39;d">Video: Season 4 - Episode 3 - Oversupportive&#39;d</a>

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Felicia Day, The Guild, The Knights of Good, Will Wheton

Death's Excellent Vacation by Charlaine Harris and Tony L.P. Kelner
Published by: Ace Hardcover
Publication Date: August 3rd, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"New York Times bestselling authors Charlaine Harris, Katie MacAlister, Jeaniene Frost-plus Lilith Saintcrow, Jeff Abbott, and more-send postcards from the edge of the paranormal world to fans who devoured Wolfsbane and Mistletoe and Many Bloody Returns.

With an all-new Sookie Stackhouse story and twelve other original tales, editors Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner bring together a stellar collection of tour guides who offer vacations that are frightening, funny, and touching for the fanged, the furry, the demonic, and the grotesque. Learn why it really can be an endless summer-for immortals. "

A new Sookie short story... I don't know whether to be happy or afraid, cause there's a fifty-fifty chance it's a piece of crap. Short stories are not Charlaine's forte.

The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory
Published by: Touchstone
Publication Date: August 3rd, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Heiress to the red rose of Lancaster, Margaret Beaufort never surrenders her belief that her house is the true ruler of England and that she has a great destiny before her. Her ambitions are disappointed when her sainted cousin Henry VI fails to recognize her as a kindred spirit, and she is even more dismayed when he sinks into madness. Her mother mocks her plans, revealing that Margaret will always be burdened with the reputation of her father, one of the most famously incompetent English commanders in France. But worst of all for Margaret is when she discovers that her mother is sending her to a loveless marriage in remote Wales.

Married to a man twice her age, quickly widowed, and a mother at only fourteen, Margaret is determined to turn her lonely life into a triumph. She sets her heart on putting her son on the throne of England regardless of the cost to herself, to England, and even to the little boy. Disregarding rival heirs and the overwhelming power of the York dynasty, she names him Henry, like the king; sends him into exile; and pledges him in marriage to her enemy Elizabeth of York’s daughter. As the political tides constantly move and shift, Margaret charts her own way through another loveless marriage, treacherous alliances, and secret plots. She feigns loyalty to the usurper Richard III and even carries his wife’s train at her coronation.

Widowed a second time, Margaret marries the ruthless, deceitful Thomas, Lord Stanley, and her fate stands on the knife edge of his will. Gambling her life that he will support her, she then masterminds one of the greatest rebellions of the time—all the while knowing that her son has grown to manhood, recruited an army, and now waits for his opportunity to win the greatest prize.

In a novel of conspiracy, passion, and coldhearted ambition, number one bestselling author Philippa Gregory has brought to life the story of a proud and determined woman who believes that she alone is destined, by her piety and lineage, to shape the course of history."

Ever since I saw Philippa Gregory speak last year promoting the first book in the Cousins' War Series I have been waiting to get my hands on the second book, The Red Queen. Well, finally the wait is over!

Labyrinth: A Greywalker Novel by Kat Richardson
Published by: ROC
Publication Date: August 3rd, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Harper Blaine was your average small-time P. I. until she died-for two minutes. Now she's a Greywalker, walking the line between the living world and the paranormal realm. There are others who know about her new powers-others with powerful tools and evil intentions, and now that the man who "killed" her has been murdered, the police are also paying close attention. That means Harper has to watch her step while searching for the ghost of her "killer"-who could be a valuable clue in the puzzle of Harper's past and her father's death, as well as a key to figuring out who's trying to manipulate her new powers and why. But with her growing powers pulling her into the Grey, Harper might not be able to come back out... "

Yet another series I have just picked up. There are just too many books that I want to read!

Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex by Eoin Colfer
Published by: Hyperion
Publication Date: August 3rd, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Artemis has committed his entire fortune to a project he believes will save the planet and its inhabitants, both human and fairy. Can it be true? Has goodness taken hold of the world’s greatest teenage criminal mastermind?

Captain Holly Short is unconvinced, and discovers that Artemis is suffering from Atlantis Complex, a psychosis common among guilt-ridden fairies - not humans - and most likely triggered by Artemis’s dabbling with fairy magic. Symptoms include obsessive-compulsive behavior, paranoia, multiple personality disorder and, in extreme cases, embarrassing professions of love to a certain feisty LEPrecon fairy.

Unfortunately, Atlantis Complex has struck at the worst possible time. A deadly foe from Holly’s past is intent on destroying the actual city of Atlantis. Can Artemis escape the confines of his mind – and the grips of a giant squid – in time to save the underwater metropolis and its fairy inhabitants?

New York Times best-selling author Eoin Colfer delivers a knockout, fast-paced, and hilarious adventure in Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex, the seventh book in the blockbuster series. "

I really need to pick up the Artemis Fowl series again, if just for the awesome re-design. I love that "AF."

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Artemis Fowl, Charlaine Harris, Death's Excellent Vacation, Eoin Colfer, Kat Richardson, Labyrinth, Philippa Gregory, Sookie Stackhouse, The Atlanta Complex, The Red Queen, The White Queen

You've heard the whispering in the halls. A shifty glance from a co-conspirator. So you've heard the rumors are true? Why would I spread false gossip? I'm turning a year older this month, so therefore I must leave behind rumor and insinuation and proudly declare my age (but only if you message me secretly by carrier pigeon). My birthday, besides being extra cool cause it's on Friday the 13th, is also cool for the fact I share it with a very famous film director. I'm sure you're dizzying with anticipation! Yes, if you didn't get the picture above or the lame joke, I share my birthday with Alfred Hitchcock. Besides being perhaps the best film director ever for suspense he also has a long connection with literature. Many, in fact, almost all of his movies are adaptations of books. Rebecca being the more obvious, as the book by Daphne Du Maurier has fame equal to the movie. But even Vertigo and Rear Window have their basis in literature. I thought it would be fun to read the books and then compare them to the movies for a month long Hitchcockian Hoot'nanny (yes, I did struggle to think up some good alliteration for that, but alliterate I did do.) What will I be reviewing... well, I'm going to do one book and movie combo a week, so that's at least four, and no, I did not do this just to have a Daphne Du Maurier binge, even if that's what it looks like... There will be Vertigo, Jamaica Inn, Rebecca and Rear Window or The Birds (depending if I can find my copy of Rear Window... I know it's around her somewhere, and no, that wasn't a stack of books falling over and burying me alive that you heard!) But besides that, there will (hopefully) be guest posts and of course a giveaway! Drop me a line if you want to participate, or just read and watch along! The more the merrier! Now onto the giveaway...

The Prize:
The Alfred Hitchcock movie of your choice on DVD from Amazon, full list here, or use the widget on the left hand side.

1. Open to EVERYONE, just because you haven't been following me all along doesn't mean you don't matter, you just get more entries if you prove you love me by following.

2. Please make sure I have a way to contact you if your name is drawn, either your blogger profile or a link to your website/blog or you could even include your email address with your comment(s) or email me.

3. Contest ends Tuesday, August 31st at 11:59PM CST

4. How to enter: Just comment in the space below!

5. And for those addicted to getting extra entries:

• +1 for answering the question: Which is your favorite Hitchcock movie and why?
• +2 for becoming a follower
• +10 if you are already a follower
• +10 for each time you advertise this contest - blog post, sidebar, twitter (please @MzLizard), etc. (but you only get credit for the first post, so tweet all you like, and I thank you for it, but you'll only get the +10 once). Also please leave a link!

Good luck!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 12 comments  

Labels: Birthday, Daphne Du Maurier, Giveaway, Hitchcock, Hitchcockian Hoot'nanny, Jamaica Inn, Rear Window, Rebecca, The Birds, Vertigo