Mar 20
This tumblr is closing
I have apparently been banned from ljanesmith.net. I say “apparently” because I was told this secondhand, by a friend who inquired on my behalf since none of my emails on the subject was answered. This is apparently related to a message on the guestbook I apparently left.
And yes, if you notice the frequency of “apparently”, that means I’m highly skeptical. That aside, I will not be updating this tumblr anymore for the foreseeable future. Not only is it hard to update about an author who denies you access to her site, I also don’t like giving free advertisements and endorsements to authors who behave as L.J. Smith has been.
If you’re still a fan of LJS, all power to you. That’s your right. I, however, choose to support authors who can accept constructive criticism and who treat their fans with respect. Happy trails!
Nov 29
LJSanta!
Not strictly about LJS’s books, but… hey, it’s my Tumblr and I’ll post what I want.
LJSanta is a fanfic project that has run, on and off, for the past few years. It’s a Secret Santa style thing, in which you sign up to write a fanfic for someone else, and someone writes a fanfic for you in turn. In my opinion, some of this fandom’s best fanfics have come out of this project, so if you like writing LJS fanfic (only the books!), please take a look!
Jun 30
(Found at Vampire-Diaries.net.)
Well. Looks like the secondary characters are getting the covers for The Hunters. Does that mean Bonnie will be on the third book? Of course, this is a cover for a book coming out in 2012, and thus subject to change.
First guess is that it’s Matt, although he looks a little too… ethereal. I always pictured him as All-American Boy, and this guy is more… “artsy and sensitive guy”. (Which isn’t to say he couldn’t possess all those qualities.) As much as I dislike the TVD show, I will say that the casting for Matt is about the only one that comes close to canon.
General notice about the “ghostwriter” issue: Some fans are vehement about not reading The Hunters. That’s fine. I, however, am not boycotting them. I want to see what the ghostwriter can do first. I will respect all stances, but flames directed at ANY school of thought will not be tolerated. If you don’t want to read it, that’s fine, but don’t condemn those who do; if you do want to read it, respect that others do not.
May 03
A fan (Fan A, for clarity’s sake) contacted me and said that L.J. Smith had insulted another fan (Fan B) on the guestbook. Fan A left a message saying that she thought this was rude and checked the next day. As you’d probably suspect, this message has been deleted.
Bad form from the author, and bad form from the webmaster. I don’t exactly want to support an author who calls her fans “morons”. Sure, Fan A’s post wasn’t the most amazing, considerate thing I’ve read, but it’s not like he/she wrote “Wow. LJS sucks, and you’re all a bunch of losers!”
Mar 04
(With thanks to Guinevere at the vampire-diaries.net forums for posting this.)
Yes, this technically isn’t an LJS book, since it will be ghostwritten, but she did say some of her writing might remain. Besides that, there are still a lot of Vampire Diaries fans who will give the book a try, so I think it’s relevant. Guinevere found this at GoodReads. Of course, covers are subject to change.
I don’t like the red background. Perhaps if it were a darker red, not as it is. My first guess is that the girl is supposed to be new!Meredith. You know, the one who has “grey eyes” and her friends just realized this, even though they’ve known her since first grade. (Yeaaaaah. Right.) Straight dark hair? Check. “Grey” eyes? Check. Missing the olive skin, but since when are these covers ever accurate? I suppose it could be Bonnie, but then the hair colour AND the eye colour would be wrong, and the covers usually seem to get at least one right.
I want Meredith to have her own cover. I do. She’s an important character, and she deserves her due. I just wish it had been on “an LJS book” and not “the book that’s going to divide the fandom even further”. Then again, The Hunters may be the series where she gets to shine. Supernatural investigations? That’s right up Alaric’s alley. And given the spoilers leaked about Meredith from Midnight, she’ll have some … skills to lend.
Honestly, I’ll just be happy with more Meredith in any incarnation. I’ve been in this fandom long enough that I can gloss over whatever canon I dislike. It’s a survival mechanism.
Mar 02
And so begins what I’ll call “Spamming the ever-loving hell out of you with Secret Circle covers so you remember it was a goddamn Batman book series before CW ‘adapted’ it into a TV show that is basically Another Teen Show But With Witches”.
Yes, I’m bitter. I’m at one with my bitterness. We get along fabulously.
First up: The original German cover of SC1: The Secret Circle: The Initiation. My German is too rusty to reliably translate the cover, so I’ll leave you do that yourselves.
First thoughts: Who let the cult members in the photo studio?
Second thoughts: Why does Deborah look like she’s channelling her inner Jim Morrison? Oh, wait. That’s a guy. (Unless Germany is far more progressive about showing women’s breasts on YA book covers.) So who the hell is Mr. Hippie supposed to be? If we’re going off hair colour, my best guess is Nick. Yeah. Certainly not how I ever pictured Nick.
On to the ladies. White lacy bras and see-through toga-like dresses? This looks like either a frat party or a bad horror movie. White backdrop, white candles. Maybe the photo was sponsored by a laundry detergent. Get your white magic whiter! Okay, okay. I guess the girl on the right is meant to be Diana, since she’s blondish and has the arm cuff and “diadem”. So maybe that’s meant to be Faye holding the book? And droll Melanie at the end, wondering how the hell she got caught up in these shenanigans? (With Nick looking down, thinking “Yeah, you’re jealous. These are my bitches! Witches. Whatevs.”)
Oh, Germany. Your book covers are so fun. Maybe not as cracky as Italy’s, but you outscore them in the earnestness column.
Cover courtesy of the LJS Cover Resource; click to enlarge.
Feb 28
I can’t remember where I found this image, unfortunately, but it made me smile. Since not a lot about LJSdom is happy-making these days, I figured this would be worth a smile.
(Coming… whenever I get around to it: I’ll focus on Secret Circle covers before the TV show comes out, bastardizes the story, and people “forget” there was ever a book series to begin with.)
Feb 18
Tentative details on the Secret Circle TV show
“The Secret Circle scoop”, or how CW butchers yet another book series.
Fair disclosure: Some of my commentary may sound overly snarky. I’m not apologizing for that. I’m tired of books being turned into TV shows and movies in name only, because all the stuff I loved about the source material (neat secondary characters, “small moments”, etc.) inevitably get tossed aside for “dramatic elements”, which end up being cliche crap.
Highlights or, given the situations, LOWS:
- Doug is a football player. I don’t know about you, but I see the Hendersons (yes, PLURAL) more as the type to bomb the locker room than to hang out in it.
- Cassie is “forced to move to New Salem to live with her grandmother when her mother dies in a tragic accident”. Anyone else tired of the orphan trope?
- New Salem is now in Maine, not Massachusetts. Because apparently Massachusetts would put them over their quota for cliches.
- “Melissa”: “17 years-old and African-American, Melissa is close with Faye and a member of the coven. She is steely and disinterested… at least in the school’s hallway.” What’s that? You don’t remember a Melissa in SC? That’s because there wasn’t one. They axed four of the girls and this is their answer.
The Nick situation getting worse: “We also really liked a cute moment between Nick and Cassie where they both are in their bedrooms (they are neighbors whose bedrooms face each other) and he holds up a sign asking “R U OK?” We swooned a little bit. Yes, we’re aware it comes straight out of a Taylor Swift music video and we’re okay with that. Clearly, they are making Nick much more accessible in the series.”
From 12 to 7: “Fans of the Henderson twins, look away! In the books the coven is compromised of 12 members, which has been reduced to seven in the TV series. We expected this to happen as it would be pretty hard to introduce and fully develop 12 different characters — in the coven alone. The coven members in the book who didn’t make the cut? Chris Henderson, Deborah Armstrong, Sean Dulany, Suzan Whittier, Laurel Quincey and Melanie Glaser. It’s still unclear if these characters will show up in a different capacity on the show.”
Why do they continue to option things and then basically strip everything away but the general premise and a few character names?
The Melissa factor: “Melissa is a new coven member created for the series who we’re assuming might have some of the qualities from Deboarh [sic], Suzan, Laurel and Melanie.”
Feb 09
LJS’s “official statement”
LJS has finally made an official statement. Of course, she’s vague. If you haven’t read the emails, you may not fully grasp what she’s talking about.
But that means, officially, that Midnight is likely the last Vampire Diaries book written by LJS. The new trilogy, if it goes ahead, may still bear her name (just as “V.C. Andrews” is still on VCA books, even though she’s been dead for years), but her influence on those books will be minimal.
Feb 06
LJS: “I’ve been fired from writing the Vampire Diaries series”
Before I go further, I want to make VERY CLEAR that LJS has not made any official statements on her website or through Twitter or any other avenue I can find. The links below all lead to “emails”, allegedly from LJS to fans. I would like to think LJS wouldn’t lie about something of this magnitude and that fans wouldn’t make it up, but … stranger things have happened.
Links to three different emails, in which LJS claims she has been “fired” from writing further Vampire Diaries books.
http://www.fanpop.com/spots/damon-and-elena/articles/94295/title/lj-smith-email-delena-fan
http://damon-elena.tumblr.com/post/3137499168/lj-smith-email-to-me-regarding-being-fired-se-endgame
