50 Shades of Terrible Writing

I'm a big pop culture junkie and like to keep up on things that are buzzed about: books, movies, TV shows, music...whatever people are excited about, I like to know about so I can join in the conversation. The big craze of this year has been 50 Shades of Grey. I'm not into romance novels at all so erotic women's fiction is new to me. But since it was being talked about everywhere I knew I had to read them.

I read 50 Shades of Grey pretty quickly. It's not exactly a challenging read and I buzzed through it on my Kindle. I know a lot of feminists were upset about the content and while I find Ana annoying, it's really E.L. James' writing that offends me. How did these books make it past an editor?? Good on her for turning Twilight fan fiction into a massive juggernaut, but the writing is atrocious.

I read 50 Shades Darker and am now on 50 Shades Freed, but I'm struggling to get through it. I find the psychological aspect of the story interesting. Christian's damaged childhood and the impact that had on his adult self appeal to the psych major in me. But his obsessive, stalkery vibe makes him kind of creepy.

My real problem is with Ana, or more specifically, the writing around Ana's inner dialogue and actions. This is where I'd like to ask E.L. James if she's ever heard of a thesauras. I made a comment yesterday that if there was a drinking game around 5 phrases in this series, it would kill the people playing. Try reading these books and count how many times you see "I gasp", "I gape", "Holy cow", "Holy sh*t" and "Holy fu*k" (usually in italics for some reason). Do people even talk like that in their internal dialogue? I certainly don't. The writing is so repetitive and immature that I keep wanting to put it down and walk away. I'm a glutton for punishment (like Ana!), though, and I will see this through. I'm halfway done with the last book so hopefully it'll be over soon.

I keep reading about the movie that's supposedly going to come out. How can they put this in a movie and keep the rating down? People are reading them for the sex scenes and they'll have to significantly cut most of them down or out entirely. But ever since the movie was announced, casting rumors have been flying around. Matt Bomer from White Collar was mentioned as a potential Christian and I haven't been able to get that image of my mind while reading the books. I think he'd make the perfect Christian. I don't know who would be a good Ana. They'd likely have to cast an unknown who'd be willing to take the risk. And hopefully the writer of the screenplay will improve the dialogue 1000%.

Motivation

Motivation...the bane of my existence. I finally got a new job after complaining for years that I was bored with the one I had but even that came to me without my doing a lot of work. This isn't a bad thing - I'm grateful my new company is giving me a chance and I will work hard to do a good job for them.

Now I need to do a better job with the rest of my life. I joined a gym 10 months ago with the intent of dropping weight and getting healthier. I've increased my exercise with weekly group classes but haven't dropped any weight at all. My eating habits have definitely not improved. I still can't cook. My body doesn't feel good and that affects my head. I fear that my New Year's resolution will be the same this year as it was last year, and the year before, and the year before. I need to change my way of thinking and habits asap but motivation is always escaping me.I need to start working on a new motto.

Learning to Blog

I'm a bit late to the blogging game but I've been tasked with learning a bit of HTML at work so I thought this might be a fun way to practice. I've just started a new job in a legal marketing department, which is completely new to me. I've been wanting to move into marketing for a long time so I'm excited to have the opportunity to learn new skills. At the same time, a lot of new stuff is being thrown at me so it's a little overwhelming.
I named this blog "dreaming in a book" because I love to read. Usually I'm reading 2-3 books at a time and I change them up based on where I happen to be: home, on the train, if it's a "real" book or on my Kindle, what bag I happen to be carrying that day. I'm not going to give full book reviews but I thought it might be fun to make some comments on what I happen to be reading.

One Summer by David Baldacci

I'm only about 1/3 of the way into this one and I like it so far. David Baldacci typically writes legal thrillers so this book is a major departure for him. The story centers around a family, the Amstrongs. Jack Armstrong is dying of a terminal unnamed, incurable disease that no one has ever recovered from. His wife, Lizzie, is running their house, working, and caring for their 3 children. Jack is expecting to die right after Christmas and for a week leading up to that, he's written Lizzie one letter each night saying his goodbyes. On Christmas Eve, Lizzie realizes she forgot to pick up Jack's pain meds and goes out into a storm to pick them up. On the way home, Lizzie dies in a car accident. Her family decides to split the 3 kids up amongst relatives and leave Jack in the care of hospice to live out his last days. In a miraculous twist, Jack all of a sudden starts to feel better. He gets stronger each day and reunites with his children. Lizzie's grandmother dies and leaves Jack and his family property she owns on a beach in South Carolina, where Lizzie grew up and intended to take the kids for the summer after Jack's passing. Jack decides to pack up his kids and spend the summer at the beach house where they will heal and bond over losing their mother and his surprising recovery.
The story so far has been predictable but it's also very well written and I've found myself tearing up more than once. I can already see where the story is going: Jack meets a woman who sparks his interests, he wrestles with the guilt of being attracted to someone after losing his wife, has a long heart-to-heart with his teenage daughter who eventually gives her blessing, and he moves on. I'll be VERY surprised if this not what happens but it will still be a fine story. It's not a masterpiece by any means but it's a feel good family story meant to pull at the heartstrings and so far, it's succeeding.