S is for Sookie Stackhouse

Debra enjoyed the books to tv show conversion of the Sookie Stackhouse series.

Converting a book (or an entire series) into a tv show or movie can be tricky business. Many readers have a set image in their minds of what characters and a setting look like, and when it doesn't translate the same onto the big (or small) screen, it can sometimes be disappointing. In addition, invariably in the shows or movies, things are left out. Some of this is simply a visual thing. You don't need as much description as in a book. Some is due to time constraints, although several recent movie franchises have gotten around this by turning the final book of the series into two movies.

Most often I've read the books before I see the movies. Only rarely do I watch a movie and then read the book. Generally I enjoy the conversions, and in fact, I can think of one case in which I liked the movie better than the book. (Which is rare.) Most often I'd say I like them equally.

Some movies/shows stick fairly straight to the text, other than the needed minor changes that have to happen from a page to screen translation.

The first few seasons of "True Blood" stuck pretty close to the books. A few changes were made here and there, but I could recognize each of the books in a particular season. Eventually, though, as the series went on, it got further and further off book. The final couple of seasons had nothing to do with events that occurred in the books. At first I wasn't sure how I felt about this. I enjoyed the books and wanted to see favorite scenes and storylines played out in a visual format. To be so far off book was a bit disappointing.

But I did enjoy some of the additional content that was created just for the show. It stayed true to style, so I decided it worked for me. There are still a few scenes from the books I wish had made the tv cut, but all in all, my "True Blood" experience, which the hubby and I called our guilty pleasure, was a satisfying one. In fact, I'm just about ready to go back and watch the entire series from season one.

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to see my stories translated to the screen. Would I be happy with the results? Or would I feel like they'd changed too much? Maybe one of these days I'll be lucky enough to find out! (A girl can dream, right?!)

Until next time,

Happy Reading (or watching!)

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

What I Read Other Than Romance

For a while I read romance. Exclusively. Probably beginning in high school, other than required reading for English literature classes, I didn't go far without a Harlequin American Romance in my hand. I eventually branched out into historicals and single titles, but for me, romance was queen.

In time I expanded my horizons further. A group of friends started a social book club, and we read a plethora of types of books: historical fiction, women's fiction, chick lit, best-sellers...but no real romance.

As I've gotten older, I still enjoy my romance, but my main fare these days is Young Adult Fiction. Ironic, isn't it? As a teenager I read adult romance and as an adult I'm reading fiction for teenagers.

The thing is, there's so much good writing out there for young adults these days. Perhaps not good in a 'classic' literature sense, but good as in a 'I can't put the book down' kind of way.

For me, it all started with Harry Potter. I was hooked on those books from the moment I picked the first one up. I've found that I have a taste for the paranormal in teen books. I fell totally in love with the Twilight series. (I think I've read them all seven or eight times by now.) I've always loved romantic vampire stories, so this was right up my alley. Recently I read the available books in the House of Night series. (Again, more vampires.) A friend just gave me the first in The Immortals series. (Not quite vampires, but close enough.) This summer I read all of the Alex Rider (He's a teen-aged James Bond) adventures. Another favorite series is The 39 Clues.



Even in adult books I like series more than stand alone. Perhaps it's once I've found something I like, I want more and more of it. I really like the Sookie Stackhouse books. (More vampires, plus HBOs True Blood is my guilty pleasure!) The Chocoholic Mysteries are a fun read. And I really enjoyed Lois Greiman's Chrissy McMullen books. When I need some hard core adventure, I turn to Dirk Pitt or Kurt Austin novels from Clive Cussler.



Most of these are "keepers" and go on the shelves of my personal library, to perhaps be read again and again.

My girlfriends and I share book suggestions, so I'm never without something waiting in the pile to be read. I've also discovered that it's hard to read other romance when I'm writing a romance myself. Things tend to get all tangled in my mind. Still, I have quite a large collection of romance in my library.



So, how about you? What's on your list these days besides romance?

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Favorite Books

Okay, this one is even trickier than choosing a favorite movie. There are simply so many books out there, to narrow it down is nearly impossible. To be honest, I'm not really a big fan of the classics,(I know, I know, I can hear your shocked gasps.) but there are books out there I've become attached to and think of as my own classics.

As a kid I devoured Nancy Drew books. In fact, I'll still pick them up today if I need a quick read. I'm in the process of establishing the entire collection. The Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder are also still among my favorites.

When I started reading "grown up" books, I headed straight for romance. I had a subscription to the American Romance line from Harlequin. Each month four new shiny silver and blue books were delivered to my house. Heaven on earth. Through these stories, I developed my love of the hunky hero, the sassy heroine, and the happily ever after. I dreamed of writing one of my own someday. For many, many years, romance was the only genre I read (outside of reading for classes and such).

When I became a writer, I found myself straying a bit from reading only romance. Part of the reason is, as we've mentioned, when I'm writing, it's difficult to be reading something in the same genre. But romance will always be my first love. In romance I enjoy contemporary the most. One of my favorite sets of books is an old SuperRomance series: Calloway Corners - Four stories by four different authors that follow four sisters - Mariah, Jo, Tess, and Eden. (My copy of Mariah is completely beat up because I've read it so many times.) In historicals my all time favorite is Heather Graham's Civil War trilogy: One Wore Blue, One Wore Gray, And One Rode West.

As I've mentioned before, I love vampires. I first fell in love with them in Linda Lael Miller's trilogy: Forever and the Night, For All Eternity, and Time Without End. These days it's the Twilight series (which I just finished reading for the eighth time) and the Sookie Stackhouse series.

For action-adventure, there's no one better than Clive Cussler. His Dirk Pitt stories are my favorites in that genre.

Obviously, I could go on...but I think we'll leave it at that for the day...

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com