Skip to main content

Lady Wynwood #7 early release Kickstarter

I worked on my first Kickstarter and it got approved! It’s for the Special Edition Hardcover of Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 1: Archer and the release of Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 7: Spinster. I contacted my graphic designer about the Special Edition Hardcover of vol. 1: Archer—it’s going to be SO beautiful! The Kickstarter focuses on the Special Edition Hardcover, but it’ll also include vol. 7: Spinster so that it’ll sort of be like a launch day for vol. 7, too. A third special thing that’ll be in the Kickstarter is Special Edition Paperbacks of all the books in the series. They won’t be available in stores, just in the Kickstarter (and later, from my website, and also in my Patreon book box tiers if I decide to do them). The Kickstarter is not live yet, but you can follow it to be alerted when it has launched. (You may need to create a free Kickstarter account.) Follow Camy’s Kickstarter

Sense and Sensibility (BBC 1981)

Captain’s Log, Stardate 04.04.2007

Elinor and Maryanne…

I’m quite disappointed in the BBC version of Sense and Sensibility. While some things were much better than Mansfield Park, other more important things were lacking.

Costumes: score 4. I loved the costumes. Elinor and Marianne’s clothes were plainer than the richer ladies like Lady Middleton, although Marianne’s dress was a little too plain during her time in London, and Mrs. Jennings did not dress as richly as one would suppose from her wealth.

Acting: score 3. I liked the actress who played Elinor. The actress who played Marianne was very pretty, but she was a bit melodramatic at times, and especially bad when she was ill at the end. Mrs. John Dashwood was horrible. Mrs. Dashwood was a good actress, but her portrayal of the character was very different than the book, which disappointed me. I liked Edward quite a bit, as well as Lucy. The actors who played the other characters were okay, although not quite true to the characters in the book.

Camera/filming: score 4. I don’t know if I’m giving this a 4 only because Mansfield Park was so appalling, but there it is.

Musical score: score 3. For a low budget series, the instrumentation was good—some nice violins and a relatively full-sounding score—but the tone of the music was very different than the tone of the book or the series. It was rather melancholy, and the book is supposed to be a comedic romance.

Script: score 1. Absolutely awful. The series was almost 3 hours long, but the early episodes were devoid of emotion and did a poor job setting up the romances between Elinor and Edward, and Marianne and Willoughby.

I didn’t feel for the lovers at all, and the script didn’t set up the situation with Lucy Steele, so when the blow fell on Elinor, I didn’t feel for her at all. The script also didn’t set up the intense affections of Marianne and Willoughby so that when he slights her in London, it seemed like she was overreacting.

The scene structure and pacing were also very uneven, and I felt like it whipped along at the wrong moments.

The acting wasn’t bad, but the script’s dialogue multiplied the evils of the weaker actors. I liked the actress who played Elinor quite a bit, but it was painful to watch her trudge along with the lines she was given, especially in the more emotional scenes.

And then the script didn’t hold to Regency mores and traditions—people used proper names most improperly in different scenes, as well as terms of endearments that I’d have expected from Marianne and Willoughby in their early courtship, not from Edward, Elinor, or even Lucy.

And then Marianne’s sickness—pffaugh! And the last scene!!! (Camy tries to contain her disgust.)

In sum: 3 out of 5. In fact, despite the motion-sickness-inducing camera direction of Mansfield Park, I enjoyed that series much better and would be more likely to see it again than Sense and Sensibility.

I didn’t compare it to the movie with Emma Thompson because it’s been so long since I’ve seen it, but I remember liking it a lot and being swept along by the script and acting.

Comments

Ruth said…
There's a new Sense and Sensibility miniseries being filmed now, should be on TV this fall (I hope). It was scripted by Andrew Davies, who wrote the script for the Colin Firth Pride and Prejudice, so I have high hopes for it being good!
Ruth said…
Oh here's the link:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0847150/
Anonymous said…
The Emma Thompson movie is even better than the book.

But nothing beats the BBC Pride and Prejudice--although the more recent theatrical Pride and Prejudice depicts the differences between country and city balls quite well.

Darcy rocks! I want to be Darcy!

(And I'm terrified that I'm actually Mr. Collins.)

Popular Posts

Camy's Big News about a new (old) series!

I joined two Christian suspense multi-author anthologies that will release next year in May and October! The May anthology is Danger in the Shadows , and the October anthology is Don’t Blink . I have taken down Year of the Dog from my blog and will instead finish editing/rewriting it for the May anthology, Danger in the Shadows . I decided to do this because I was only working on Year of the Dog sporadically, and I wanted to set a deadline for myself to finish it sooner. To complicate matters, I’ve been unhappy with my decision to leave Sushi and Suspicions as a stand-alone rather than putting it in a series. And I’ve also been unhappy with putting The Lone Rice Ball as a 5th book in the Sushi series when it’s more romantic suspense than the other books in the series. Now that I’ll be writing Year of the Dog for the anthology, and because I haven’t yet released Sushi and Suspicions and The Lone Rice Ball as individual ebooks, I decided to switch things around. I’m rem

Toilet seat cover

Captain’s Log, Supplemental Update August 2008: I wrote up the pattern for this with "improvements"! Here's the link to my No Cold Bums toilet seat cover ! Okay, remember a few days ago I was complaining about the cold toilet seat in my bathroom? Well, I decided to knit a seat cover. Not a lid cover, but a seat cover. I went online and couldn’t find anything for the seat, just one pattern for the lid by Feminitz.com . However, I took her pattern for the inside edge of the lid cover and modified it to make a seat cover. Here it is! It’s really ugly stitch-wise because originally I made it too small and had to extend it a couple inches on each side. I figured I’d be the one staring at it, so who cared if the extension wasn’t perfectly invisible? I used acrylic yarn since, well, that’s what I had, and also because it’s easy to wash. I’ll probably have to wash this cover every week or so, but it’s easy to take off—I made ties which you can see near the back of the seat. And

CWO - Stumbling

Captain’s Log, Stardate 08.08.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Thursday book giveaway is THE SIMPLE LIFE by Wanda Brunstetter . My Monday book giveaway is MY SO-CALLED LOVE LIFE by Allie Pleiter . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for THE SIMPLE LIFE and post the title for another book I'm giving away. "Remember, we all stumble, every one of us. That's why it's a comfort to go hand in hand." ~ Emily Kimbrough ~ Check out Christian Women Online (click on the button above) to see what other women are blogging about this quote! I have to say that God came through for me in this area. I’m not an extrovert, but He knew I needed sisters in Christ both online and locally in order to continue on this writing career. I didn’t seek these women out, they found me (with the Holy Spirit prodding them). Some of them are listed in my Blogroll to the right. They have held my hand, prayed for me, p

Jeremiah 33:8

Jeremiah 33:8 I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. Dear Lord, Thank you that no matter where we go or what we do, you will wash us clean when we turn to you. Thank you for your grace and for loving us even when we are hard to love. Please help us to live for you and for your glory. Amen エレミヤ33:8 わたしに対して犯したすべての罪から彼らを清め、犯した罪と反逆のすべてを赦す。 親愛なる主よ、 私たちがどこへ行こうとも、何をしようとも、私たちがあなたに立ち返るとき、あなたは私たちをきよめてくださることを感謝します。あなたの恵みに感謝し、私たちが愛しがたい者であっても愛してくださることに感謝します。どうか私たちがあなたのために、あなたの栄光のために生きることができますように。 アーメン

Tabi socks, part deux

Captain's Log, Stardate 07.25.2008 (If you're on Ravelry, friend me! I'm camytang.) I made tabi socks again! (At the bottom of the pattern is the calculation for the toe split if you're not using the same weight yarn that I did for this pattern (fingering). I also give an example from when I used worsted weight yarn with this pattern.) I used Opal yarn, Petticoat colorway. It’s a finer yarn than my last pair of tabi socks, so I altered the pattern a bit. Okay, so here’s my first foray into giving a knitting pattern. Camy’s top-down Tabi Socks I’m assuming you already know the basics of knitting socks. If you’re a beginner, here are some great tutorials: Socks 101 How to Knit Socks The Sock Knitter’s Companion A video of turning the heel Sock Knitting Tips Yarn: I have used both fingering weight and worsted weight yarn with this pattern. You just change the number of cast on stitches according to your gauge and the circumference of your ankle. Th

Agave vs. Stevia

Captain's Log, Stardate 07.19.2010 Update 9/10/10: I did a little more research and added it to the end of the blog post. I had a discussion with Captain Caffeine okay, okay, I admit it was primarily me ranting at Captain Caffeine about an article I’d read recently about how aspartame (Nutrasweet) is bad for you because it breaks down into formaldehyde and methanol in your body. Yes, you read that right. And no, formaldehyde does NOT keep you young, it is primarily to keep DEAD cells from breaking down in DEAD animals (Captain Caffeine insists formaldehyde will preserve his cells or at the very least help him in a zombie attack). The article then went on to rant about how honey and agave were terrible sweeteners, and yet the article writer highly recommended Stevia. Now, I had heard that Stevia, while it comes from a plant, undergoes processing, while agave nectar is relatively unprocessed. But I did not know for sure, so I went online to find out. Granted, who knows

CWO - Reading quickly

Captain’s Log, Supplemental "Those who read fast reap no more advantage than a bee would by only skimming over the surface of the flower, instead of waiting to penetrate into it, and extract its sweets." ~ Madame Jeanne Guyon ~ Update: I rewrote my post when I discovered Madame was talking specifically about Bible reading and not just reading in general. My point is essentially still the same. I admit I’m torn about this quote. I do enjoy meditating on the Bible. Certain passages deserve the time and mental energy to dwell, savor, contemplate, investigate, journal about. Those are some of my closest times with God. But I also started the Bible in 90 Days challenge last year, and it was the most incredible experience I’ve had in a long time. I had never read the entire Bible through before I did the Bible in 90 Days. I always lost interest in the normal books—the Pentateuch, usually around Leviticus somewhere. For the Bible in 90 Days, the point is to just read. Keep reading.

Irish Tea Cozy

Captain’s Log, Stardate 02.16.2007 Blog book giveaway: To enter, go to the blog links below and post a comment there. Along Came Jones by Linda Windsor Two books for moms by Jenn Doucette I knitted a tea cozy! Here’s a picture of the original , and here’s the original pattern . I pretty much followed it, except I used a ribbon instead of a knitted tie at the top. I made it a little too big because I used the wrong size needles, so I also made two squares in garter stitch and sewed them to the inside of the cozy for a bit more insulation and better shaping. I’m so impressed with myself. This was the first time I did any complicated designs like the bobble/bubble/popcorn stitch and the diamond panel. Now when I host our local Christian writers’ group, our ginger peach tea won’t get cold so fast.

No Cold Bums toilet seat cover

Captain's Log, Stardate 08.22.2008 I actually wrote out my pattern! I was getting a lot of hits on my infamous toilet seat cover , and I wanted to make a new one with “improvements,” so I paid attention and wrote things down as I made the new one. This was originally based off the Potty Mouth toilet cover , but I altered it to fit over the seat instead of the lid. Yarn: any worsted weight yarn, about 120 yards (this is a really tight number, I used exactly 118 yards. My suggestion is to make sure you have about 130 yards.) I suggest using acrylic yarn because you’re going to be washing this often. Needle: I used US 8, but you can use whatever needle size is recommended by the yarn you’re using. Gauge: Not that important. Mine was 4 sts/1 inch in garter stitch. 6 buttons (I used some leftover shell buttons I had in my stash) tapestry needle Crochet hook (optional) Cover: Using a provisional cast on, cast on 12 stitches. Work in garter st until liner measures

Grace Livingston Hill romances free to read online

I wanted to update my old post on Grace Livingston Hill romances because now there are tons more options for you to be able to read her books for free online! I’m a huge Grace Livingston Hill fan. Granted, not all her books resonate with me, but there are a few that I absolutely love, like The Enchanted Barn and Crimson Roses . And the best part is that she wrote over 100 books and I haven’t yet read them all! When I have time, I like to dive into a new GLH novel. I like the fact that most of them are romances, and I especially appreciate that they all have strong Christian themes. Occasionally the Christian content is a little heavy-handed for my taste, but it’s so interesting to see what the Christian faith was like in the early part of the 20th century. These books are often Cinderella-type stories or A Little Princess (Frances Hodgson Burnett) type stories, which I love. And the best part is that they’re all set in the early 1900s, so the time period is absolutely fasci