HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!
Hope you’re all having a wonderfully romantic day with your sweetie…and if you don’t have a sweetie, be sure to show yourself a little love with some self-pampering!
Now, I’m wondering, have you gotten into the fairy tale frenzy on TV this season?
I was super excited as soon as I heard about One Upon A Time, the ABC show where fairy tale characters are living in our world because they’re under the spell of an evil queen. And the show has lived up to my expectations–and all the hype. Everybody I know who watches it absolutely loves it. Believe it or not, my favorite character is Mr. Gold–aka Rumpelstiltskein–and the Beauty and the Beast episode of Sunday night just cemented that for me. I’ve loved that actor since seeing The Fully Monty, and he brings such a sliver of sympathetic humanity to the villainous character. Unlike the mayor–the wicked queen, who I never like at all–Mr. Gold is fascinating in both his incarnations. Especially now that we know his backstory.
I really don’t like infidelity, so I’m having a harder time with Snow White’s (Mary Margaret’s) relationship with Prince Charming (David.) Even if they are under a spell. So that’s not totally doing it for me–I wish they’d have come up with some other conflict between them rather than him having a wife.
Beyond that, I love Henry and Emma’s relationship. Really like Ruby (Red Riding Hood) and can’t wait to see what happens with her story. I also really like Archie (Jiminy Cricket.)
Interestingly, if you’ve missed the first half of the season, you can actually already get it on DVD. They’re releasing a half-season dvd collection this week, I believe. I will definitely be grabbing it!
Now, while I’m on the subject of fairy-tale TV shows, I should mention Grim. Believe it or not, I expected to like that show better before the TV season started. But it just didn’t click with me. I watched it a few times but just never really liked it so I gave up. I think part of it was the actor playing the main character–just never totally bought him in the role.
Oh, speaking of Grimm…my prediction is that the new writer in town in Once Upon A Time–the guy with the typewriter in the suitcase–is going to have the last name Grimm or something along those lines!!
Now, just a reminder, if you really like fairy tales, don’t forget to check out my current Blaze novella, ONCE UPON A VALENTINE. In case you didn’t know, I have been writing sexy fairy tales for Blaze for a few years now. The stories are set in the magical land of Elatyria, “just a few degrees away from our reality here on earth” where fairy tales are real. I did Red Riding Hood, The Princess and the Pea, the Prince & the Pauper, and now, the newest story (and my favorite!) is Sleeping Beauty. The book is called ONCE UPON A VALENTINE! (Click on the title to order it on Amazon Kindle for just $2.99!…just in time for Valentine’s Day!)
In case you haven’t decided on that one, here’s another fun excerpt! Click below!
Carly Here - My Annual Fresh Fiction Valentine’s Day Blog is up today where I’m both talking and giving away … CHOCOLATE (sort of!) READ LESLIE’S EXCERPT BELOW – and then come back and CLICK HERE to read/enter!
“Okay, princess, we should cover a little more ground.”
She fell into step beside him. “I’m no princess.”
Flexing his hand, which was reddened from her bite, he replied, “No, I guess you’re not. Princesses don’t fight dirty.”
She snorted. “Nobody fights dirtier than a princess in a world where they outnumber the princes two to one.”
“Why is that?”
“Because stupid princes are always trying to find a way to prove their manhood, so they go out and try to slay dragons or capture hydras and get themselves chomped into tiny bits.”
A hint of a smile appeared on his lips. “I meant, why were you willing to fight so hard you could end up getting hurt?”
“You wouldn’t have hurt me,” she insisted.
“No, I wouldn’t have. How’d you figure it out?”
“Intuition, I suppose.”
“That and I’m slightly less intimidating than the knife-wielding wonder-thug back in the village?”
She chuckled. If he were like most men she knew, he would be acting sulky or angry that she’d managed to get her bag back without telling him anything. Instead, he seemed good-humored. “Well, at least you’re cleaner than he was.”
“Wow. Thanks.”
“And you don’t have a black eye and blackened teeth.”
“His teeth weren’t black, that was just a big giant hole where they used to be.”
“What did his two companions look like?” she asked.
“During your Disney movie marathon on Earth, did you happen to catch Alice In Wonderland?”
She sneered. “I did. Ridiculous. As if the Queen of Hearts’ courtiers were giant-sized playing cards!”
“Did you happen to notice Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee?”
“You mean that’s what the other two men looked like?” That didn’t sound too threatening.
“Not exactly. More like Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee’s mom had sex with a giant and produced Tweedle Dangerous and Tweedle Deadly. They’re each at least seven feet tall with big bodies, tiny heads, and lots of scars. They have mean scowls but soft voices, which, in my world, means that, like Alice, they’ve been popping some ‘Eat Me and You’ll Grow’ pills.”
“Oh dear,” she murmured.
“Speaking of Disney movies and Earth…what exactly here you doing over there for so long, anyway?”
“Looking for something.”
“In every bookstore in Philadelphia, yeah, I know.”
“How do…oh, right. You were following me.” She wrinkled her nose, surprised she’d been oblivious to his shadowing. Then again, she had been on another world. Everything had felt strange and unusual, so maybe that was why the presence of a secret bodyguard hadn’t stuck out.
“What was it you were looking for?”
“That’s classified.”
He chuckled. “You watched some spy movies while you were there, didn’t you?”
She couldn’t deny it. “That James Bond, he’s a scary man, isn’t he?”
“You went to a Bond flick?”
“There was a, what do you call it, a movie marathon? It was on the television at the hotel once when I had nothing to do.”
He hesitated, then asked, “You do know those movies are fictional, don’t you? I mean, you didn’t really think one guy went from looking like Sean to Roger to Timothy to Pierce to Daniel…but was always the same man, right?”
She waved a hand. “Don’t be ridiculous, of course I know that. But considering your people have fictionalized so much about my world, who’s to say Mr. Bond doesn’t exist on yet another plain of reality that neither of us know about? Personally, I hope there’s one where that little boy wizard lives—I quite enjoyed those books during my recent stay.”
He paused mid-step. “Touché. I never thought of that.”
Pleased that he didn’t immediately tell her he was wrong, like one of her colleagues had when she’d dared to suggest there might be more than two worlds, she smiled and continued. “He could be utterly real, and might very well watch movies in his world about men walking on the moon and think they’re the most ridiculous thing he’s ever seen.” Then she thought about it, tapped her fingertip on her mouth and added, “Of course, that’s also what most people here think.”
“Hey, don’t sweat it. A lot of people on Earth think that, too. They’re called conspiracy theorists,” he said with a grin.
She liked that grin. Liked his laugh. Liked that they were walking through the forest in the darkness of night, utter strangers, well, at least, he was a stranger to her, yet she was actually enjoying herself.
She could like this man. A lot. Which would normally be a good thing. But when combined with the heated attraction she’d felt for him at first sight, was probably a bad one instead.
Leslie Kelly used to say she wanted to be a doctor when she grew up, but then she discovered Nancy Drew books. Being a flashlight-under-the-covers-nose-in-book reader throughout her childhood, she couldn’t think of anything else she’d rather do as an adult than continue to lose herself in fictional stories. Her real life marriage of 20 years to the man of her dreams is a constant reinforcement that happily-ever-afters really can happen…and that they’re worth writing about. Living in Maryland, Leslie spends her non-writing time laughing a lot with the above-mentioned romance hero and their three daughters. Though an author of more than thirty sexy, contemporary comedies, she has recently branched out to write dark romantic suspense under the pseudonym Leslie Parrish.
Blazing Midsummer Nights
Dirty Little Secrets
Karma
Through The Night
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The actor who plays the lead in Grimm just doesn’t click for me. He looks perpetually startled. I do like the cop drama backdrop to the supernatural though and his cop partner and bludbaden (sp?) buddy.
While OUAT is creative, I only really like the Henry and Emma plot line. I only watch it occasionally.
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Anne, I felt the same way about the lead actor! In the first couple of episodes I watched (especially the pilot) he kept striking this really odd, “fisted hands on hips” pose that looked totally unnatural and silly. Just grated on my nerves!
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I’m a big Robert Carlyle fan from all the way back to The Full Monty as well.
The Beauty and the Beast episode is my favorite so far with the Hansel and Gretel one a close second.
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Yes, I really liked Hansel & Gretel. I loved the Jiminy Cricket one, too!
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I love “Once” which is strange because I don’t like Sci-fi non-contemporary type shows. I love Mr Gold, too! I wouldn’t think that I would. I couldn’t believe that last scene on Sunday. OMG. I think they are trying to show with Snow and James that you can be with someone else and true love will prevail. I don’t know. James is very adorable, though. I also was shocked by the conversation between Gold and Regina….although not surprised.
My husband is totally into “Grimm” only because it’s filmed in Portland and the office is his office (do you know how many times I have heard that?). Me, I’d rather have my teeth pulled after only one episode. Too gruesome. That’s why I stopped watching “SVU”. I am sure it’s reality, but too much violence against women and kids kind of get to me. Just a personal thing.
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I liked the comic relief of the werewolf–he was a really good character–and I like the partner. Just not the main guy. I dunno, something a little cheesy about him and about the special effects.
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I had to laugh when the evil queen said, “I have a mermaid for you”. LOL.
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I adore Once Upon A Time. Mr. Gold/Rumple is definitely one of my favorites. I think the actor and the writers have done a wonderful job motivating him and giving him depth. I love the Beauty and the Beast episode especially the way they wove the Disney movie in.
It will be interesting to see if Regina will get more depth once we finally find out what made her hate Snow so much. She is getting to be a bit too one note for me.
I agree on Snow/James. I really didn’t mind the wife at first but is has just dragged on too long. I think they have two problems. First they are trying to make the Storybrooke part last as long as the fairy tale plot but they really don’t have enough plot. Second, the triangle doesn’t really ring that true. If his wife had been by his side the whole time he was in a coma you could understand his conflict, but they couldn’t do that because then Snow couldn’t have woken him up. I think they kind of wrote themselves in a corner. Hopefully next week will resolve that part.
I’ve watched Grimm a few times and couldn’t get into it either.
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Count me in the OUAT camp! And yes, Gold is most fascinating. I’m two episodes behind but have them on DVR and they’re up next in the queue. We’re still watching Grim and while I really like the premise, so far the lead actor isn’t doing it for me. He’s too…boy next door-ish.
My new favorite is SyFy’s Lost Girl. The Light and Dark courts of fae exist along side unsuspecting humans. Bo was taken out of the fae realm as a baby and raised by humans. She didn’t know what she was until she started killing men during lovemaking. (She has succubus powers.) It’s dark and gritty so don’t be expecting Tinkerbell. Les, I think it will be right up your alley.
And if any of you have missed Leslie’s forays into Elatyria, you’ve missed some GREAT stories! ONCE UPON A VALENTINE is awaiting my attention on the Fire. Must make more time for reading to go with the TV watching. LOL
Happy
Day, everyone!
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Finally a show to watch on Sunday night! I am loving this show. Yeah, Mary Margaret’s storyline is bothering me too. Gosh, when David gave her the wrong Valentine card! How crushing.
I didn’t think Ruby had her story so looking forward to that one too.
And yeah – I watched bits of Beauty and the Beast while switching to the Grammys. I wish I watched all of it.
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Not watching Once or Grimm, just not my cup of tea. That said I’m glad you are enjoying it.
Happy Valentine’s Day to Everyone. Have a wonderful day…eat chocolate.
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Once Upon A Time is one of my favorite shows on tv right now. I actually was excited for both it and Grimm, but couldn’t really connect with Grimm after a couple of episodes, so I gave it up. I think Once is so well written between the two worlds and can’t wait to see what happens next. I still have the B&B episode to watch this week. Guess I’ll watch tomorrow night as I play catch-up on my dvr on Wednesday nights.
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!
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I’ve been watching both shows from the start and like both equally. I love Mr. Gold, even as Rumpelstiltskin. And there are times, lots of them, I want to reach through the screen and slap the Evil Queen! Goes to show that beauty really is only skin deep. Did you see the previews for next week? Might show us why he is married to who he is and maybe it won’t be so bad, his liaison with Snow.
As for Grimm, I really do love his unofficial partner, the Werewolf. OMG he cracks me up! The Christmas episode especially. The one who actually irks me is the girl friend.
And has anyone seen Lost Girl on SyFy? She’s a Fae. Then there is Being Human, which I really need to catch up on.
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I love reading Fairy Tales, but I haven’t gotten into the shows on tv. I probably won’t. To be honest I would rather spend my time reading.
I read your antho with Stephanie and Michelle. My fave story out of them all was yours. Stephanie’s story had a different feel than I am used to for a Blaze and for her style too. Michelle’s was great too. I really wish each story could have been longer though. I know, I always want more. Looking forward to more stories from Elatyria, Les!
I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine’s Day. I’m on my way home. I am going to get some reading done and do a lot of catch up work.
Peace and love,
Paula R.
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It’s online at abc.com.