Bøger af Christina Hamlett

Wolves, swans and French angelfish are among a litany of species which mate forever. If a partner dies, the survivor literally becomes a lost soul and gives up all interest in continuing alone.Humans, too, often embrace the mindset of there being only one true love allotted to each of us per lifetime. In Eve's Diary by Mark Twain, an inconsolable Adam weeps at her grave with the words, "Wheresoever she was, there was Eden." Even if Eve had been the first one to face the future newly single, there'd have been no Central Casting to which she might easily apply for a replacement.In a perfect world, we would blissfully exit our shared existence hand-in-hand. In an imperfect one such as that in which I suddenly found myself after 25 years of marriage, we can either fold to despair like a cheap suit or stride boldly into grand adventures and do our dearly departed lovers proud.My vote is for striding boldly. Who's with me?

When Morgan Selby, a writer for a Seattle children's show, advertises for a boarder to help share the rent on her Whidbey Island lighthouse, she has no idea it will bring with it a part of the past she yearns to forget. Her new tenant is Barry Wells, an entertainment lawyer from New York. Wealthy, articulate, respectful, handsome and, from the ring on his left hand, married. While Wells will certainly solve her current financial woes, a new crisis was created the moment their eyes met. Suddenly, her peaceful life is turned upside down by unsettling questions, not the least of which is his connection to her ex-husband-an aspiring musician at the time they divorced but now a rock superstar with all the excesses that go with it.

It was bad enough finding out she had just become newly deceased on the morning of a major corporate merger she had spent months putting together. The real bombshell for Gwen Truax comes when she's informed by the powers that be in the Hereafter she has an assignment which must be completed by Christmas; specifically, to find a new wife for Dan, the husband she was planning to divorce. Sent back to Earth in the frumpy persona of an inept typist, forced to live in a terrible flat above a noisy Chinese restaurant, and-even worse-to be fraternizing amongst the lowest rungs of her former executive ladder, Gwen has yet to discover that all of her actions are being evaluated by an angel in disguise.

On a February morning in 1922, the body of Hollywood film director William Desmond Taylor was found in his living room, the victim of a single gunshot fired at close range. Nearly a century later, his murder has never been solved.

In 1853, Archduchess Sophie of Bavaria decided it was time for her beloved son, Franz Joseph, to take a wife and start producing heirs. Rather than trust such an important union to Fate--or worse, Romance--she sent for her sister Ludovika's docile older daughter, Helene, to come to the court for a once-over and a quick proposal of marriage. Accompanying Helene and their mother on the journey was the 15-year-old Elisabeth. Free-spirited and beautiful, is it any wonder that the Emperor of Austria took just one look and realized he had found his soul mate. This one-act drama intercuts between two conversations that would ultimately change the course of history--the volatile exchange between Ludovika and Sophie (the latter who abhors losing) and Helene and Elisabeth (the latter who dreads winning).

There's no question in anyone's mind that Dr. Muriel Morrison has had a good life. Unfortunately, the capacity of her own mind to remember any of it is being rapidly diminished by the onset of Alzheimer's. In a fragile race against time, her younger daughter seeks to record as many memories as she can. Muriel's older daughter, however, believes that some elements of the past can't be erased nearly fast enough.

Who told your muse she could go on vacation? While one could say that hard-working muses are just as entitled as the rest of us to relax, refresh and recharge, why does their absence always seem to coincide with publishing deadlines and the inability to squeeze forth a single clever thought, turn of phrase or imaginative plot twist. Writing is--and always will be--a solitary craft but never so lonely as when you realize you've been staring at a blank page or blinking cursor for two hours and worrying that your creative wellspring has suddenly run dry. Fear not! Within these chapters are tips and story-starters for unclogging your mental logjam and getting your ideas and words to once more flow.

FOLLOW CHARLIES JOURNEY FROM ORPHAN IN ITALY FROM BOY TO MAN: TO AMERICA, CITIZENSHIP AND SUCCESS Born during World War II and orphaned, Charlie's journey takes you through the pain of losing his whole family as a young boy. Travel with him through danger; watch him confront hardship with humor, humility and wisdom. Come with him as he comes of age in America, finds a new family, a path to citizenship and success. Cry, laugh and cheer as you come of age with him along this boy to man hero's journey.

San Francisco wedding planner Kate Jefferson couldn't have cared less that her former boyfriend was tying the knot...until his too rich/too thin/too snooty fiancée hired her to orchestrate The Event of the Century for them. With her business under threat of unfavorable publicity if even the teensiest thing goes wrong, Kate has no shortage of challenge in dealing with cost-cutting fathers-in-law, bickering bridesmaids, hourly demands and complaints from the bride, and a family emergency that forces her regular photographer to send a last-minute substitute named Jack Armstrong. While the latter is clearly easy on the eyes and has an uncanny way of diffusing every crisis, he's also on the estate this weekend to capture something which has nothing to do with photographs in a wedding album.

Against the bright colors and even brighter lights of Hollywood was an icon whose fashion sense and dazzling couture rocked celebrity circles for half a century and earned her eight Academy Awards. Small in stature but super-sized in confidence, costume designer Edith Head's rise through the ranks of Paramount and Universal made her a favorite of the film industry's most beautiful women and most dashing men. Just like her creations for the silver screen, Edith embraced the belief that classics never go out of style, a belief reflected in her personal fondness for tailored suits in black, white, brown and beige-a diminutive dove amidst the plumage of star-studded peacocks. This one-act play, set in 1977, imagines an encounter between the intrepid designer and a young woman sorely in need of some wardrobe advice.

"You'll probably starve," my mother said when I moved into my first studio apartment. This wasn't just a reflection of her belief that any career in the arts (but especially the theatre) would doom me to certain poverty; it was a fact-based observation that the extent of my culinary skills up until I turned 20 involved making toast, heating soup and putting frosting and sprinkles on store-bought shortbread cookies. Determined to prove her wrong, I bought a cookbook, stocked my new little kitchen with pans and utensils, and recruited my fellow actors for fun after-rehearsal dinners. The memories-and the menus-live on in this essential guide for anyone with (aspiring) champagne taste on a (starving artist) beer budget.

As if juggling two married lovers weren't enough on Professor Dana Buchwold's plate this semester, she's under pressure by the university's hierarchy to publish her latest academic work, an absolute necessity in competing for a tenure-track position. Nor, it seems, is she exempt from the red-tape rules of elitist politics that permeate her own classroom. When one of her wealthy students engages in plagiarism by submitting a sexually explicit thesis he purchased from an anonymous author at an online writing service, it clearly constitutes grounds for his expulsion. Revealing his secret, however, cannot be pursued without exposing even darker secrets about herself that Dana can't afford to be made public. In a vicious game of campus blackmail, can murder be far behind?

A loving daughter takes a page from her father's story of "butterfly moments" to ease the pain of his impending death. A besotted waiter conspires to get a beautiful woman who is out of his league to call in sick for a day of hooky. A teenager experiences 'three's a crowd' when her dad brings an unexpected stranger to lunch at their favorite restaurant. Twenty wonderful stories penned by essayists worldwide deliver memorable morsels of humor, romance, nostalgia, disappointment and authenticity. Like its predecessor titles-"Unfinished Chapters" and "Finding Mr. Right"-"Table For Two" is the product of an anthology competition that invited writers to submit their true stories about dining experiences that sometimes served up much more than they actually ordered.

"Lights!" "Camera!" "Action!" Before any of these commands can be shouted on a soundstage, somebody's got to come up with a great idea that everyone else will want to be a part of. Whether their job is to cry on cue, focus the camera, or ensure that none of the paychecks bounce, they're all in the picture because of one person - the screenwriter whose imagination gave them an exciting starting point. Could that person be you? Within these pages, you'll not only discover what skills are required to write a screenplay for today's market but also what kind of factors dictate which ideas get gobbled up faster than a holiday turkey and which ones go the way of a fruitcake. You'll also learn how to acquire and adapt pre-existing material for a screenplay; how to find markets for the kinds of films you want to write; how to predict what tomorrow's audiences will want to see; and how to work successfully with partners, agents, script consultants and independent producers. Most importantly, "Could It Be A Movie" reinforces the fact that not every great idea translates well to the silver screen. Perhaps a different medium - plays, novels, short stories - could be your true calling as a storyteller. This is the book that will help you discover which road on your wordsmithing journey will take you where you want to be.

Since the 16th century, the Russians have had a secret weapon-an elite military brigade answerable only to the Tsar himself and striking terror in the hearts of its enemies whenever the moon is full. As the present-day war in the Middle East continues to escalate, American intelligence officer Lucy MacDonald and her aide, Captain David Armstrong, have been sent to Moscow to engage Soviet assistance in wresting nuclear weapons from Islamic fundamentalists. Against a backdrop of double-dealing terrorists, chauvinistic superiors, supernatural interventions and a media that's literally out for blood, Lucy's off-limits attraction to the charismatic Dmitri Volkov begins to challenge her well-grounded sensibilities regarding rumors that the brigade of legend is actually real. But will her endeavors to uncover the truth about the existence of an unacknowledged Romanov heir behind the scenes put her in jeopardy at the hands of the brooding officer with whom she feels an inexplicable bond?

After a lifetime of bachelorhood, retired handyman George Mertons is finally tying the knot. His roommate of the past 40 years, however, is none too pleased with the impending nuptials; the bride-to-be is Bernard's ex-wife, Margaret, a successful romance novelist with a home on Beacon Hill. Though the flames of matrimonial ex-passion have long since died for Bernard, he is nonetheless intent on fanning whatever controversy he can into a minor inferno in order to validate his worth to George as the latter's best friend. The friction only escalates when George and Bernard's rent-controlled apartment goes condo, now leaving Bernard with nowhere to hang his hat.

The first thing Michael McKay needed to do once his Virginia tobacco plantation began to flourish was to keep his promise of bringing his beloved sister Fiona over from Scotland. The last thing he needed was to not only find out she had become a nun during his long absence, she intended as well to bring the elderly sisters of Thistleburn Abbey across the ocean to join her. There's more than holy smoke, however, which will soon be blowing across Michael's property; romance is in the air in the form of Fiona's dearest friend, Daphne, a beautiful but rebellious Englishwoman who has her own reasons for seeking refuge in turn-of-the-century America.

Another openin'! Another show! And what could be more exciting than seeing your own name on the program as "Playwright." When it comes to taking your idea from page to stage, mastering the craft of dialogue and finding your characters the audience they deserve, this must-have guide has everything you need to know for building an applause-worthy script.

It was George Bernard Shaw who once wrote that there are two tragedies in life: One is to lose your heart's desire. The other is to gain it. Shaw wasn't being deep. He was talking about dating. At any given moment anywhere in the world, someone is falling in love, falling out of love, or falling to pieces because of not getting what was really wanted or not wanting what was actually delivered. Yet for all of the tears, fears and challenges that the quest for everlasting love so often engenders, romantics repeatedly throw themselves into the sea in order to confirm - or dispel - the rumor that it is still aplenty with eligible fish. Whether the quest for a soul mate is currently a work in progress or a happily done deal, this breezy beach read featuring the true stories of 20 accomplished authors will resonate with women of any age who have ever loved, lost and loved again.

The mystical landscape of Tintagel on the Cornwall coast has long been rumored to be the birthplace of King Arthur. But have more than ghosts been summoned to settle a scandalous score when a film company sets up shop with its own spin on Medieval legend? Between cheering a friend's debut as Merlin, dealing with a diva and missing her knight in shining armor, Rocky may need more than magic talismans to get her through a holiday which seems to have "cursed" written all over it.

What could be more romantic than exchanging marriage vows in Scotland on a snowy morning just before Christmas? For Rochelle Reid, the obvious answer would be celebrating her own wedding day with Jon. Instead, the two of them find themselves invited to Paisley to watch his childhood crush marrying into a moneyed family. Yet all is not quite as perfect as it seems at Granndach Manor. Before the first course is half-finished at the elegant dinner the night before, a member of the bridal party is not only dead but Jon is also the first one to discover the body. Whatever wistful hope Rocky may have had to catch the bouquet is, alas, supplanted by the quest to catch a killer instead.

The picturesque harbor village of Lynmouth on the Devon coast was supposed to be a respite after being made redundant from her job at a prestigious import/export firm in London. But when her landlady is poisoned by chocolate a scant three days after she moves in, Rochelle Reid and her new neighbors discover they have become overnight murder suspects. Red herrings abound, romance teases, a heroine learns her past is about to collide with the present, and a daylight break-in at the house hints that-even with a victim neatly out of the way-the murderer is not yet in the clear if a damning piece of evidence hidden within its walls isn't recovered.

Can teens be taught to write scripts for the movies? Absolutely! This "for teens only" informative theatre text demonstrates how any student can create a salable screenplay idea or script. After telling the reader how to sell their work in Hollywood, this workbook gives nuts and bolts instruction in all basic writing principles for visual media. The activity assignments provided with every chapter may be used in a full classroom or for independent study. Inspirational interviews with successful Hollywood writers of all ages accompany most of the fourteen chapters. This book is helpful for adults as well. Sample chapter topics include: What Kind of Movie Should You Write?, How Do You Write Good Dialog?, Movie Terms (and Career Advice) You Need to Know, and more. Christina Hamlett is a former actress/director and an experienced teacher of screenwriting online, in film camps, and school workshops.(248 pages, 5¿ x 8¿, paperback)