I've written a guest post for the Brave Authors blog that's all about how and why historical fiction authors can and should include minorities in their books.

I've got a guest post up over on Roof Beam Reader about my three favorite adaptations of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.  It's part of the #AustenInAugust celebration held on that blog all month long.

Every now and then, I still find time to write up a guest post for James the Movie Reviewer, showcasing a favorite soundtrack of mine.  And today, I've got a post up here about the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1982) soundtrack.  Enjoy!

Today, I've got a guest post about Henry Mancini's classic score for Charade (1963) up here on James the Movie Reviewer's blog.  It's such a stylish, zingy soundtrack, and I love it.

I also love Bobby Darin's recording of the title track, which I'll share with you here today for Bobby Darin Week.  Enjoy!

Just a quick note to let you know that I've got a guest post up on Counting Your Blessings One by One today.  It's part of a continuing guest post series she's got going on :-)

And, because otherwise this is an exceedingly short post, here's what our azalea bush looks like right now:

I've got another soundtrack post up here on J and J Productions today, this time for the soundtrack to The Princess Bride, one of my favorite movies.

I know I throw the phrase "favorite movie" around a lot, so I'm working on the list of my 100 favorites, which I'll share soon!

Good morning!  Just a quick note to let you know that I've got a guest post up here today on James the Movie Reviewer's blog.  Rachel Portman's score for Emma is one of my favorites, and I listen to it a lot in early spring.  (If you want to know how I feel about the movie as a whole, you can read my review of it here.)  Happy listening!

Today I have a guest blog post up here on James' blog.  This one is about the rollicking, joyous soundtrack for The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938).  If you read my recent review of the movie, you know how much fun it is, and the soundtrack totally matches that.

This is also the first soundtrack I've bought at the request of my children.  They love it when I listen to soundtracks, and are always asking me what happens in different parts of whatever we're listening to.  So they're very excited when we listen to the music from a movie they know well, because then they can tell me what's happening during the music.  And they're way better at that than I am -- they're very observant :-)

I've got a new guest post up here on James' blog today, all about one of the soundtracks I have loved for the longest:  Marvin Hamlisch's score for The Sting (1973).  It's one of those soundtracks that contributes so very much to the story that imagining it with different music changes the whole film.

You all know how much I love the original 3:10 to Yuma (1957), given that I've gushed about it over and over and over.  I finally bought the soundtrack a couple months ago and have listened to it a TON since then.  While I'm writing, while I'm making breakfast, while I'm emptying the dishwasher... I really dig it.  You can read my review of it here on James the Movie Reviewer's blog.

I've written a brief review of The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) for James the Movie Reviewer's blog, and you can read it here.  It's one of my favorite adaptations of Charles Dickens' influential story, the other being Patrick Stewart's 1999 adaptation.

This week, I've posted about the music from the lovely WWII movie The Monuments Men (2014).  You can read about it here on J & J Productions.


I really wish I had seen this in the theaters.  But at least I can watch my DVD copy over and over!  I reviewed the movie here a while back, if you'd like to see what I thought of it as well.

Good morning!  My review of the Anastasia (1997) soundtrack is now up over at J and J Productions.  Listening to this album always takes me back to my college years, especially winter in Minnesota with lots of wonderful snow outside and lots of friends inside.  Happy times!

I've got another post up here today on James the Movie Reviewer's blog.  This time, I'm spotlighting Ennio Morricone's unbeatable soundtrack for The Untouchables (1987).  I remember getting this soundtrack as a gift while in college and listening to it allllllll the time while studying.  And yet, I'm not tired of it like I am of many other albums I over-repeated back then.  Good, good stuff.

I've got a new guest post up here on James' blog, this time for the soundtrack from Brigadoon (1954), one of my favorite Gene Kelly musicals.  Brigadoon is one of my top ten favorite musicals, but I feel like it's not as well-known as other musicals from that era.  So if you like classic musicals and haven't seen it yet, try out the music in my post and if you like it, try to find the movie!

I've got a new soundtrack post up here today on James' blog.  It's for a recent favorite soundtrack of mine, Alan Silvestri's The Quick and the Dead (1995).  I've been listening to it a lot lately while writing my western version of "Sleeping Beauty."  I've dug the movie for years, but only got the soundtrack a few months ago, and it is delicious :-9  Enjoy!

Today I've got another soundtrack post up here on James the Movie Reviewer's blog, this time about the score for Ben-Hur, one of my absolute favorite soundtracks (not to mention a movie I dearly love).  Cowboy gave me the two-disc full score for our first Christmas together because I had once mentioned that I wished I could find the soundtrack (he was wise in the way of internet shopping long before I was).  One of the best gifts I've ever gotten.  Thank you again, Cowboy!  Also, thanks to you, DKoren, for helping me decide which tracks to feature in my post.

I've got another soundtrack review up here on James' blog.  This time it's for Conspiracy Theory (1997), one of my favorite action movies.  I first saw it as a freshman in college, and bought the soundtrack the following summer.  I used to listen to a couple of my favorite tracks to psych myself up to go job-hunting, and later to boost my energy before heading off to the job I'd acquired as a Walmart cashier.  That summer and this album are insolubly linked for me as a result.

I've got another soundtrack review up here on J and J Productions, this time for Chocolat (2000), the delicious, quirky fable about a chocolatier and the way she liberates a village from their addiction to works-righteousness.  The music is as yummy as the movie, and I hope you enjoy it.

I've now seen The Man from U.N.C.L.E. four times, and I'm hoping to go for a fifth viewing this weekend.  (Cowboy is the coolest husband ever, by the way -- he does not bat an eye at me going to the same movie over and over anymore.  I guess he's grown accustomed to my weirdness.)  This movie is just plain fun, folks.  It's like going on a vacation.  Pretty views, attractive people, cheerful music -- it's a playful, play-filled movie, and I love it.  I do.


The first two viewings, I mostly loved Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) and focused on him.  But by the third, I had gotten used to Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) and decided I could trust him.  Um, yes, this was an issue for me.  Sometimes I don't trust fictional characters, especially if they don't always treat other fictional characters I love the way I think they should.  I loved Illya from the get-go -- yes, yes, I was predisposed toward him because he's played by Armie Hammer, but by the time they finished filling in his back story in a few deft sentences, I was a goner.  So I got really upset with Solo the first time I watched it, especially when he took a long time to rescue Illya at one point, and i was getting desperate.  The second time, I was more okay with him, but it took until that third viewing for me to truly like him.  But now I do, so it's all good.


And then there's Gaby Teller (Alicia Vikander).  She's like a sparkler -- spitting and fizzing and lighting up everything around her.  She's just as smart and intrepid as the boys, and has no problem taking them to task if she thinks they're going off track.  She's also beautiful, and her hair is about the same color as mine, which makes me ridiculously happy.  She's not afraid to get dirty, she's willing to admit it when she's scared, and she's not afraid to be feminine.  I want her hats.  And Illya's.


I've read a criticism or two of the fact that Gaby needs to be rescued in the final act being a damsel-in-distress cliche, but I find this completely fatuous.  Solo had to rescue Illya, and Illya had to rescue Solo, so why shouldn't Gaby get her turn being rescued?  Silly people.


I wish soooo much that this movie had done better at the box office, because I crave a sequel.  But I fear it is not to be.  Which is a crying shame, because this movie works so well on so many levels and truly deserves a sequel.  It's smart, playful, funny, stylish... the leads are genuinely likable (yes, Solo too -- it's only my protectiveness of Illya that made me not like him at first), the sets and costumes are delicious, and overall... I love it.  Did I say that already?


Time to talk about the soundtrack.  I've reviewed it for James the Movie Reviewer's blog, and you can read my thoughts about it here.  While I don't love every track on the album, I do enjoy it as a whole, and there's only one track that I generally skip ("Compared to What" by Roberta Flack has a bad word in it I don't want my kids hearing).  Sam likes one song ("Circular Story") so much he asked if I could put it on his laptop so he can listen to it while he writes.  (When my first laptop got old and crotchety and wasn't supported by Microsoft anymore, we took all the internet capabilities and most of the programs off it and gave it to Sam.  He loves to write stories on it while listening to music "just like Mommy.")


I have a million other things I could say about this movie -- favorite lines, favorite moments, things that make me laugh (Solo's apron!  Illya changing his tie because Solo says it doesn't match his suit!  Gaby dancing!), plot points I find so smart and sensible... but I'm tired, and I need to post this so you know where to find my soundtrack review.