New books and telly bits....

I'm in the middle of writing a new novel at the moment ~ nearly finished the first draft, 114k words long so far ~ and so I've been a bit slack on the blogging front!  Stuff keeps occurring to me that might evolve into a blog post, but none of it has yet (I really must do that one about internet dating, though), so I thought I'd stick it all together in one post ~ two book bits and two telly bits!

Edward of York meets Elizabeth Woodville ~ Elias and Lisa in my new novel!

The new novel 
I'm writing another one taken from a story from history, like Kings and Queens and Last Child; this time it's the Wars of the Roses.  It's a stand alone and not in any way connected to the Lanchester Family of the other two.  This time, it's only based on the story rather than retelling it.  I did start off with the total retell, but it was far too complicated, with too many elements of the original that wouldn't translate into 21st century life.  I got to 30K words in before I accepted that it wasn't working, and completely rewrote - not an easy thing to do!  The working title is The House of York; it concerns only one family.  It's much darker than the family drama/romantic suspense of Kings and Queens and Last Child, with a strain of psychopathic murderous intent (or two) running through it, and the suggestion of sinister happenings from early on!  I hope to publish it in October (though at the moment I am convinced it's a load of talentless garbage that should never see the light of day) (it's a writer thing.....).

 
Get in there quick!
I had a new review for Kings and Queens the other day from a lady called SuzM that amused me.  She said she'd had a similar idea; the reason it made me laugh was that she said "I turn my back for 30 years and someone else goes and writes it".  Nice one, SuzM!  I know what she means.  Three years ago I wrote a novel called The Other Side.  At first, it appears to be the stories of four different women, but gradually the reader becomes aware that the characters are all the same person, living the parallel lives possible if different decisions had been made.  A short while after I published it the wonderful Kate Atkinson brought out her excellent Life After Life, which made me want to shout, "but I did it first!".  Oddly enough, mine has not been so wildly successful as Ms Atkinson's ~ now, I wonder why that is??!!  I'm glad, however, that my paltry offering was published earlier, so I didn't look as though I was trying to emulate such a literary maestro.  And the moral of this story is - if you have a good idea, do it quickly before someone else does it first!

And now... 

Treme

I'm currently watching this excellent HBO show on Amazon Instant Video and highly recommend it!  It's about New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and is made by the same people who did The Wire; the Wikipedia link is HERE.  It's highly acclaimed by those who know their stuff about this tragic time, and the music is wonderful, of course.   Here's a link to the theme song/sequence ~ watch it HERE!

Fans of The Wire will enjoy seeing Lester Freamon and Bunk Moreland in starring roles, with appearances by Slim Charles, Prez, Ziggy and the bloke who played Bubble's anti-drug sponsor/buddy, Waylon!  You can also spot Michonne from The Walking Dead - and Elvis Costello!

Mad Men 

I meant to write a whole post about the final episodes of this prince amongst TV shows, but it never happened.  What did you think?  I loved it!  I found the gradual shift from the optimism of the 1960s to the attitudes of the 1970s so well portrayed, but also kind of sad; I felt nostalgic for the 1960s even as I was watching the way in which Don and Roger and co found the transition difficult as they grew older and less in tune with the popular culture of the time.  

Well done to Peggy for the nabbing the suddenly-sexy-again Stan Rizzo...

....but I couldn't bear what happened to Betty - I thought the makers of the show were saying 'don't smoke, kids, this is what will happen'.  Sooooo sad!  I hoped they'd give her and Don another scene, though perhaps they had their farewell in that secret interlude a series or so back....  Great idea to have Roger finally copping off properly with Megan's saucy mum, but I wished they'd given Joan more than a business to keep her warm at night.  Still, they had to echo the ideals of the time - the early 1970s was, after all, one of the golden ages of Women's Lib, and who better to be its poster girl for the series than the strong-and-independent-but-still-sexy Joan?  

Best of all, of course, was the way in which the psychological car crash that is Don Draper finally embraced the 1970s....  and yes, he cried and hugged too! 

His walking out in the middle of the stifling corporate meeting was one of his finest moments... but don't you want to know what happens next??!  Thanks, Emma, for reminding me about the old 1971 Coke advert being played at the end ~ a reflection of the zeitgeist for the purpose of something completely at odds with it, an inspired choice of ending!  Here's my favourite character top ten, in case you haven't already seen it.

Missing you already!

My Top Ten Favourite Characters in MAD MEN

Having just finished watching all there is to offer of this wonderful series at the moment, and having seen all of it, from start to finish, over a period of two or three weeks, I am struck by my usual 'what the hell do I watch NEXT?' quandary.  To keep us going until we get the final seven episodes I thought I'd do a tribute to it, here, for fellow addicts!

So here goes with the rundown of my Top Ten favourite characters in Mad Men, in reverse order....

10.  Just slipping into the top 10 after a few were rejected for this spot, I chose department store heiress Rachel Menken, from series 1 (I think I preferred the earlier ones), played by Maggie Siff, on whom I wasn't so keen in Sons of Anarchy but thought was great in this.  Rachel was really cool, an independent, intelligent woman who wore amazing hats and didn't allow herself to go in for too much of Don Draper's idealistic romantic rubbish.  A match for him, indeed.  You were right not to go away with him, luv, but I think you sussed that out, didn't you? 

9.  Lazing about at number 9, the laid back and funny Stan Rizzo, played by Jay R Ferguson.  Calls a spade a spade, but basically a nice guy.  I love the way he seems to be laughing at his private jokes all the time and doesn't care too much what anyone thinks.  Only question - WHY did he grown that awful fuzz all over his face, later??

8.  Being dead straight at number 8, the delightful Henry Francis, played by Christopher Stanley.  Quietly attractive rather than drop dead sexy, the perfect husband, especially when you've had your heart wrung out by the Don Drapers of this world!  Even when he's being a bit shouty and laying down the law, you can kinda see his point.  I love the way he told Betty he wanted to marry her within only a few short meetings.  And meant it.  The move of a confident man.  Love it.

7.  I thought Michael Ginsberg (aka Ben Feldman) was going to really annoy me when had his first interview with Peggy "hold on while I throw some more toys out of my pram" Olson, but he very quickly made me laugh instead - and didn't he always get everything absolutely spot on?  That is, until the breakdown - I didn't see that coming but I suppose it happens to all the best creative geniuses (or genii!).

6.  How could you not love Lane Pryce?  Such a sweetie.  I always felt sorry for him because he wanted to fit in with Manhattan so badly but didn't quite, even though he loved it.  I also wish he'd had the courage to go off with the bunny girl he loved, instead of being so brow-and-literally beaten by his horrible father that he went back home to England.  Sad, sad end.  Come on, Don, you needn't have been so harsh, he would never have let you down again.  Played by Jared Harris.

5.  Into the top 5, and one of the best television deaths I've seen.  Don's secretary for part of one series, after Joan decided he didn't need any more pretty ones: Ida Blankenship.  Hilarious Brooklyn-Jewish accent, some great comedy moments. Played by Randee Heller.

....and the moment her demise was discovered....

"She died like she lived: surrounded by the people she answered phones for."

4.  ..... so said number five, Roger Sterling!  Played by John Slattery, after a psychiatrist encouraged him to understand his true self, he described himself as an inquisitive child who happened to have a successful business and a huge bank account (or something).  Totally hilarious, loved him. 

  

"Well, I gotta go learn a bunch of people's names before I fire them." 

 "Have a drink. It'll make me look younger." 

3.  Well, self-indulgent, self-obssessed womaniser or not, he has to be in the top 3, doesn't he?  The thing with the totally lush Don Draper is that just when you think he's a complete asshole, he does something that softens your heart towards him, and just when you think that he's a nice guy underneath it all and is actually learning by his mistakes, he does something horrendous.  It's my theory that people who are consistently unfaithful are secretly looking for a type of love that doesn't exist, ie one that will keep the passionate beginning alive forever, when two people adore each other unconditionally.  Aside from the occasional one-nighter, Don's affairs were never just about sex, were they?  A screwed up psyche with a hundred and one hang-ups, all wrapped up in the big hunk of gorgeous that is Jon Hamm!

  

"The reason you haven't felt it is because it doesn't exist. What you call love was invented by guys like me, to sell nylons. You're born alone and you die alone and this world just drops a bunch of rules on top of you to make you forget those facts. But I never forget. I'm living like there's no tomorrow, because there isn't one."

2.  I've seen her described as 'the bitter, vengeful Betty Draper', and my husband thinks she's all kinds of awful, but I really liked her, and I felt sorry for her, too.  In the days when women had little choice but to be a perfect wife and mother, she gave 100% to Don and the kids, always looked fabulous and put him first, every time, unlike 60s girl Megan who kissed goodbye to her happy marriage the minute she made her own career her priority.  Yet still Princess Betty got treated appallingly.

I felt the most sorry for her when, older, overweight and gotten frumpy, she went to pick the kids up from Don and Megan's new swanky apartment and clearly felt bitter and jealous; who could blame her?  She'd given her youth to Don and had the worst of him, whereas it seemed as though Megan had got the best.  I was glad she found happiness with Henry, lost weight and ended up looking gorgeous again - I bet January Jones was pleased to get all that 'fat' off her face, too.  Best moment: when she picked up a guy in a bar for sex, just so she could feel that she and Don were even, although she never told him about it.  Oh, and after their one brief night together in series 6; I thought Don realised what he'd lost, then...

I loved the Rome look! 

1.  Who else could be number one but the fabulous Joan Harris?  Played by Christina Hendricks.  I thought she was just going to be an out and out bitch and gold-digger at first, but then her character was given more dimensions and she showed her supportive and understanding side.  Of course she's one of those terrific women who is smart, independent, but also understands the power of glam!

 Her worst moment was when she made the decision to sleep with a client for the sake of the company; the ghastly thing, of course, was that the partners (Don excluded) had little enough respect for her to suggest it in the first place.  I think she probably gained as much respect in business as any woman could during that particular era, on the whole.

I went off her a bit near the end of series 6, and series 7, when she was anti-Don, but, hey, she had her reasons.  I liked how she chose living as a single mother rather than succumbing to the countless men she could have been with, for the sake of having a husband.  Almost unheard of in those days!  Oh, and she was queen of the icy put down, too.... to the young guys in the office who laughed at her so cruelly, for no reasons other than that they were little boys trying to be big sexist men:  " I can't wait until next year when all of you are in Vietnam. You will be pining for the day when someone was trying to make your life easier. When you're over there, and you're in the jungle and they're shooting at you, remember you're not dying for me because I never liked you."

I still think (hope) she'll end up with Roger... 

What I love most of all about the whole show is how it shows the huge sociological differences that happened during the sixties - the world was a very different place in series 7, when compared with series 1.  Brilliantly observed and illustrated - as were the subtle changes in fashion each year, too.  Didn't you just love the clothes and hairstyles?

Just a few more episodes to go, before the Mad Men 1960s are all over....  

Catch you later, guys!