Q&A with Nicole Campbell, author of What Comes of Eating Doughnuts With A Boy Who Plays Guitar

I’ve been thinking of how there are books that I own that deserve a little more love because they’re not as known as they should be. They’re these small treasures that stand out to me above the rest; these tiny gems that I value so much that I think twice before sharing them because they’re way too special to me. These books that I’m talking about are books that you rarely see around on bookstagram, or books that don’t have a lot of reviews out there.
Back in January I shared my love for Diana T. Scott’s Half of Me series and we did a Q&A of seven questions about her books. That was, as I look back into now, the beginning of what I want to call: Books That Need To Be Loved. I will do my best to feature here every once in a while these types of books and maybe do Q&A’s with their authors. I got lucky a few weeks ago and Nicole Campbell, author of the Gem City series sent me her three books for me to review. I read What Comes of Eating Doughnuts With a Boy Who Plays Guitar and I adored it so much that I suggested to do a Q&A about her books. Specially What Comes of Eating Doughnuts With a Boy Who Plays Guitar which is the first book in her Gem City series.

 

The title of this book is quite enough to get your attention so if you want to know more I’m going to give you a summary of what it is about before you get to read the Q&A. And here I gooooo.
What Comes of Eating Doughnuts With a Boy Who Plays Guitar is about Courtney, who goes back to her old hometown (which she haven’t visited for years) to spend her summer vacation with her bff Vanessa. Once there Vanessa insists that Courtney has to meet this guy because he’s perfect for her and they’re introduced to each other in a welcoming party that Vanessa throws for Courtney. Sparks fly between Courtney and Ethan and soon enough they become inseparable. Do you want to know what I think about this book? I adored it. The cuteness was so palpable that I felt like a seventeen year old when reading it. Even though Courtney,’s and Ethan’s love happened so fast, Nicole wrote their relationship, banter and chemistry in such a way that made you believe in the possibility of falling in love in less than four weeks. I’m usually hesitant when it comes to love stories like this, you know, instalove, but everything felt so real that I would just read and fangirl by myself. You want to read a first love story with a lot of fluffy moments, a girl who blossoms into a better self and about a boy who brings you doughnuts and plays the guitar? Then this one is for you.

Now. Do you want to know more of Nicole and her Gem City books? This is our Q&A.

1. How did your characters come to you? Who came first, Ethan or Courtney?

The whole idea of Courtney came about because I wanted to re-write myself as a teenager as a more admirable person. That’s how it began anyway, but she definitely took on a life of her own as the story progressed. Some of her quirks (talking to herself, dealing with social situations) are mostly auto-biographical, but a lot of her stronger traits are just fictional. Ethan, Ethan, Ethan. I would say he’s about half fictional, half a mish-mosh of every guy I ever dated/was friends with. The majority of my friends growing up were guys, so I feel like I had a good assortment to choose from. One of my greatest friends from childhood and adolescence is quite present in Ethan as far as his guitar skills and his taste in music (he is aware of this, so I’m fairly certain I’m safe in saying that lol). Interestingly, the way this story turned out is almost nothing like what I outlined. Once I got to know the characters better, their story sort of wrote itself.

2. Courtney goes through major character development in the story; she comes out of her shell and starts to be less of an introvert, and also grows out of her anxiety. Did you plan on inspiring other girls to be influenced on love (not only from falling in love, but the love that comes from friendship and family) to become a better self?

As I mentioned above, I really wrote Courtney to be who I wished I had been in high school. If I had to answer the question about going back in time and giving yourself a piece of advice? I would have handed myself this book. I was so worried about everything all of the time, and as I’ve grown up and dealt with some really difficult, in some cases life-altering, circumstances, I just realized how much I wished I could have enjoyed being young and having fewer responsibilities. I totally hope that girls who read this realize that it’s ok to be yourself and be a nerd or a Harry Potter freak, or whatever it is, and that the right people will love you anyway, and will push you to be the best version of yourself. It always makes me really happy when I read a review and someone says that Courtney’s anxiety issues resonated with them because I hope that they can see themselves differently too.

3. Music is a key to this book. A big one. I want to know, how did you come up with the playlist for the story? More importantly, how did you come to pick the songs that are in the story, like, wonderwall, and I and love and you, and how’s it going to be?

I think I knew I wanted my novel to have a playlist before I really even knew the full storyline of the book. I went through five or six titles for this one, and it came down to either The Perfect Playlist or What Comes of Eating Doughnuts With a Boy Who Plays Guitar. Yeah, they’re a bit different lol. I always err on the side of quirky and different, so that’s why I went with the insanely long title, but music was always going to be a part of the book. Two of the three songs you mentioned played a big role in my own life growing up. Wonderwall was one of the first songs my husband and I bonded over when we were dating, and How’s It Going to Be was like the break-up song of my generation I think. The Avett Brothers just happen to be a current band that I love, and when I listened to that song, I could picture Ethan playing it for Courtney once they were separated, so I just love that scene of him sitting alone and her sitting alone and having this song going on about how difficult it is to be in love. It even gives me goose bumps thinking about it right now. I have a 90’s obsession, so this playlist is the most of my own taste. I had to ask for a LOT of help from my musician friends to compile Ethan’s playlist in book two.

4. As expected of Ethan and Courtney’s summer love, long distance becomes a thing in their relationship. Do you know someone who has been in a long distance relationship? If so, do you know how they made it through the hardships of it?

Ah, the dreaded long-distance relationship. I have been in two. The first did not work out for many of the same reasons that Courtney and Ethan’s didn’t, though the stories are very different. When you’re young life is all about what’s going on in your immediate “bubble.” The longer you’re apart from someone, and the longer they’re outside of your “bubble,” the harder it becomes to maintain the same type of connection. Young love is just so intense and passionate and explosive (which is why it’s so much fun to write about), that it’s not something that I think works out well when it requires an extra amount of reason and logic and waiting. My second long distance relationship was with my (now) husband, and we were apart for a year in different cities. Obviously this one worked out, but again, I was a bit older and we had the end goal of getting married and starting a life together, so the circumstances were very different. This was a good question :).

5. I started reading How One Attempts to Chase Gravity (book two of Gem City) to see that this book is what happened in What Comes of Eating Doughnuts With a Boy Who Plays Guitar but in Ethan’s perspective PLUS a sequel told in dual perspectives. This is sort of unconventional. What made you decide to write the book this way?

So many things about How One Attempts to Chase Gravity had a mind of their own. I always intended for book two to be from Ethan’s perspective, but I never really intended to write an overlap of almost the entirety of book one. I really wanted it just to be the Prologue that overlapped, but then I wrote another chapter, and then another, and I found this whole story there about Ethan and his family (his mom is one of my favorite characters) and his band, and how there was this whole side of him that you didn’t get to see from Courtney’s perspective because she was sort of blinded by her infatuation with him. Most people say they like Ethan a little less after reading his POV, but understand him better, and I’m good with that. I never wanted him to be “perfect,” so reading that about him in reviews made me want to move forward with publishing the book this way. I needed readers to see his flaws too. I also didn’t go into this book thinking about bringing Courtney back as a narrator, until it became very obvious that I needed her. Adding her into the last part of this book made all the difference, and I actually feel like some of my best writing took place here. I’m gotten mixed reviews about the format of this book- people either love it or hate it, and I have contemplated going back and making all of book one a dual POV story and evening out the page count a little bit. Time will tell if I actually do this or not!

6. Vanessa and Luke are such interesting characters in What Comes of Eating Doughnuts With a Boy Who Plays Guitar. Do you want to tell us a bit of Gem City three?

I can’t even tell you how much I love these two. I was SO worried going into book three that it would feel like the forgotten stepchild of the series, but I can assure you it is NOT. Vanessa, when told from Courtney’s POV, is strong and carefree and witty and fun- and she is all of those things, but getting there came at a price, and I needed to tell her story. Book three has a totally different vibe from the first two. Vanessa and Luke are a little less intense than Courtney and Ethan, and I feel like there was a lot more room for witty banter and humor. But for them to get there, there’s a lot of very real teenage situations that Vanessa has to navigate through that she’s completely unprepared for. I think a lot of people will relate to this story in remembering mistakes they made or difficult situations they had to traverse as teenagers, or for teen readers, things they are going through now.

7. Do you have any new books on the way? Would you want to share what you’re planning?

My newest project is so exciting. It’s completely different than Gem City. A bit darker and less romantic. It will be dealing with a modern teenage witch (of the non-evil variety) dealing with several pieces of her world crumbling around her. I am three chapters in at the moment, and I am in love with this character, Rowyn Black. I really hope my readers will be willing to follow me on this journey of something new- I think this is going to be my most exciting project yet. It is tentatively titled The Girl Who Fell From the Tower.

Lastly, and you’re the first person (or people, considering this will be up on the internet 🙂 I’ve even mentioned it to, I recently outlined a novella in the Gem City series for the characters’ ten year high school reunion. I plan to release this as part of a boxed set, or just put it out there for probably 99 cents once it’s finished, but I just need to write it. I was getting ready to go to lunch last weekend, and almost instantaneously the entire plot for the novella showed up in my brain. I grabbed my phone and typed out everything I could think of in my notes so that I could come back to it later, but I can tell you that fans of the series will love it.

That’s all I’ve got on the horizon right now, but I am hoping to do big things with this new series, so stay tuned 🙂

I hope you all enjoyed this post! Until next time 😙

PS pictures belong to Nicole Campbell.

Q&A with author Diana T. Scott and giveaway!

My dear readers, it’s been a long months since I made a post in my blog and it’s time for a blog revival. It’s a new year and one of the things I want to do more often is blog. My way of beginning this blog revival is with my very first Q&A with an author and that’s Diana T. Scott. Diana is the first author of the Half of Me series which started to be self-published last year.
I’ve gotten the chance to read the first two books of these series. The first one is called Our Demons, Best Friends and the second Love Me While I’m Gone. I won Our Demons, Best Friends in an instagram giveaway a few months back but received it a long time later because it got lost on its way to me. I loved it so much that I literally had a hard time putting it down because there’s something about Diana’s writing that keeps you stuck to a chair, your bed, or wherever you decide to read her work. On December Love Me While I’m Gone was published to prove that it’s as good as Our Demons, Best Friends. Once again, I did not want to stop reading and when I did I quickly returned to it. These series focus on different characters that are connected one to another. These books are written during the same timelines more or less which is very interesting because while in a book the main characters do something and the ones in the background do something, on the next you get to know how the background character was really feeling behind their behaviors.

So, Diana and I teamed out for a little insta giveaway where you could get the chance of winning Our Demons, Best Friends so you too can get caught up in this new obsession. I’ve even read some reviews which regard Diana’s writing to Colleen Hoover’s and John Green’s if he wrote adult books. If you want to know more of this book before participating on our giveaway then I would blurb it like this: This book is about two medical residents that have these demons that hunt them (not literally though, this isn’t Supernatural) and how these demons make them understand each other as friends and as lovers. This is one of those stories that squeezes your heart but at the same time make it grow tender. Now, if you want to win this book, head to my instagram @odellian and follow the rules to participate.
The time for the Q&A is here and if you want to know more of these books and a few other things then keep on reading!

Questions to Diana T. Scott
1. Can you tell us the story of how you began writing? How is it that everything started?
It was one of those strange situations you look back on and think “that couldn’t have been a coincidence” or “that was the moment that changed everything”. About two years ago, I was talking to a friend and suddenly, without any correlation to what we were talking about, he says “You know, I’ve always wanted to write a movie script. I have this movie in my head for about fourteen years now, but something stops me from giving it a go”. In that second I remember thinking how lucky he is to actually have an idea like that. He was afraid to use it, but still… the idea was inside of him. For the next few days that thought never left my mind. I spent night after night thinking how I wish I had his idea stuck in my head. Because if I did, I would do something about it.
Two days later, I had a notebook full of ideas and the whole time I kept wondering how I never even thought about the possibility of writing something. A short story, a script, a novel. Anyhting. I loved reading, people used to say I had a way with words. How come the thought never even crossed my mind? I still don’t’ know… it was just one of those things. Maybe it was timing. Maybe I needed to learn a few things first. Maybe it was just luck. But six months later I was looking at my first novel, paperback, in my hands.
2. Why should everyone read Our Demons, Best Friends?
Read the blurb. If you like it, give it a go. It might just be the novel that changes something in you. I know it changed everything for me.
3. What are your favorite qualities of your main characters and how did they come to you?
Not a lot of people know this, but Ava and Sebastian are two sides of myself. Our demons, best friends was as much an attempt to find a dream I never knew I had, as it was an effort at getting over some things that happened in my past. Things I never allowed myself to think about. So, I guess, part of the story was based on real life events and part was me, trying a different form of self-help. It worked.
4. Would you want to share a bit of your plans with your Half of Me books without giving away much?
Half of me became a series only thanks to my readers. They became invested with the characters and they wanted to know more. Instead of just answering an endless string of emails, I told them to be patient. Now I’m working on the third book of the series and I couldn’t be happier with my decision, because everyone will get their happy ending – Ava and Sebastian, Emily and Collin, Lana and her mystery guy, Paige and Miles and even Rick, the hot paramedic who took Ava out in the first book. So the plan is to have five books in total.
5. How do you develop your stories? How is your writing process?
This is a tough question to answer because, so far, all my stories treated me differently. The whole process is exciting, fun, heartbreaking, exhausting and exhilarating (in this order) only to be all worth it in the end. But never the same.
6. On another note, what are some of your favorite 2015 reads?
And I thought the last question was difficult. I’ve loved so many books and so many authors either consolidated their position in my top favorites or made their way up there (quite violently, I might add), that I can’t just pick one. I can’t even pick fifty. But I will always love Confess and Colleen Hoover, my heart will always beat a little bit faster for Mia Sheridan’s stories and Susan Ee will always have a fan in me. The rest of you, the ones I didn’t mention – thank you! I will never have a full night’s sleep because of you, but I still love you!
7. And last but not least, what kind of advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Don’t be afraid. Fear is the only thing keeping you from writing and you know it. It knows it, too. Don’t let it win. I believe in you!

thirteen horror movies you just have to watch

It’s horror movies month! I mean, it is to me at least. If there’s something that I love to do in October it is to watch as many horror movies as I can. I have already given you guys a heads up about this post and I hope you go and watch some of these movies and get all freaked out. I highly recommend you watching these at night. And if it’s raining? I recommend you to watch them even more.

Since September I have been going through horror movies lists online and some have not convinced me at all, which is why they are not here. In here, I am giving you movies rated 4.5/5 and 5/5. In this list I am only including movies I have watched recently (between this year and maybe two years before this one). I know there are more horror movies out there and I have another faves but if I start to make a list like that you wouldn’t be reading this. Now, may the horror recommendations begin!

Evil Dead (2013) // Mom always used to talk to me about the old Evil Dead whenever I asked. I wanted to watch it so badly but never got the chance. This movie happened before I got to find a way to watch the original. I tried not so long ago to watch the original but didn’t finish it. For you, those who don’t know, Evil Dead is about this group of friends who go to a cabin in the middle of the woods to get Mia (one of them) clean from her drug abuse. Once there they notice someone else had been in the cabin and they come across this super wired wrapped up book. If you ever find a wired book DO NOT OPEN IT! Wires are a warning, not a ‘touch me’ sign!

Starz will be premiering an Evil Dead tv show on Halloween with the original Ash. From the trailer it looks gory as hell. So go and watch these two!

The Loved Ones (2009) // What’s crazier to watch than a father and his daughter kidnapping boys the girl gets obsessed about? It gets crazier than that: father and daughter also torture the boys. It gets even crazier! Both organize three people themed parties! You’ll be going like: “what the-“ through the entire thing which is a very good sign.

Honeymoon (2014) // Newlyweds (yes, John Snow’s girl is in this! And yes, the Penny Dreadful mad scientist is in this too!) go to a cabin (I love the idea of cabins but all these horror movies tell me it’s a very bad idea) and in there the wife starts to act unlike herself. Let’s say the honeymoon doesn’t last that much.

The Babadook (2014) // A mother and her son go through the scariest time of their lives when the boy finds a book for his mom to read before bed time. Turns out the book is about the Babadook, a thing that warns to be let in willingly… and if you don’t it will otherwise possess the mother’s body so it kills her son.

It Follows (2014) // It Follows was this movie I highly anticipated  because not only the trailer looked amazing but the music sounded great too. The style of the movie and its plot is very different from what you see these days. It Follows is the story of a girl who hooks up with a guy she really likes. Afterwards she ends up tied up to a chair and the guy explains to her that he passed something to her (no, it isn’t an STD). He explains something is going to start following her and that it would look like anyone: a stranger, a friend, a family member, etc. and even though this thing would be slow she shouldn’t let it catch her. This was so creepy that I started looking outside windows before going to sleep to make sure no one was coming straight towards me.

A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) // Yes, I never saw this movie until this year. I always saw pieces of Freddie’s movies around tv in October but never truly took my time to see them. This one was brilliant. I loved every single second. What can be scarier than someone who’s in your dreams and wants to kill you and if he does you really die? Scary, scary, scary shit; I am warning you.

As Above So Below (2014) // This movie is about a group of people who go to Paris Catacombs (which are real guys! I googled the shit out of them after seeing the movie.) to find Nicholas Flammel’s stone. (Yeah, the one from the Sorceress Stone in Harry Potter.) There, under Paris, the group starts to come across very strange things that you must see with your very own eyes! I don’t understand how this movie is so underrated.

Unfriended (2014) // Unfriended is the sort of movie that will make you think more than twice about using the internet and all the media that we use to share our things. You will definitely freak out. I did. What to know what this is about? A group of friends begins to be stalked on Skype by a stranger in the anniversary of the death of a girl that they knew from school. Secrets on top of secrets are forced to come out by this stranger until the truth behind this girl’s suicide comes out.

The Descent (2005) // Want to visit a cave? This movie will change your mind. A group of friends go to come caves to make one of them feel better but they come across some horrors inside them will haunt you, for real. This is one of my top favorites of this list.

Starry Eyes (2014) // An aspiring actress gets herself cast in a horror movie where the ones making the film will ask her to do a couple of not so common things in order for her to become truly successful.

Rosemary’s Baby (1968) // I loved, loved, loved Rosemary’s Baby. There was so much tension in it that I watched it in awe and fascination. Rosemary gets the perfect apartment with her perfect husband and wants to have a baby now that things are doing so well. She meets these lovely neighbors who aren’t as lovely as she thinks but that have certain intentions…I won’t say anything else.

Let Me In (2010) // I haven’t seen the original movie but this remake. I am sure someone reading this must have read something about this movie about a bullied boy who meets his strange neighbor, who is nothing but a vampire.

The House of the Devil (2009) // A college student needs deposit money to move to a house and takes a babysitting job from a flyer she found on campus. She later finds out she was lied about the babysitting job and it all escalates to a very scary scenario. What makes this movie scarier is the fact that the say in the beginning as if parts of the story happened in real life. You and I know that when this appears on movies you know you will get scared even more.

There you have it; an amazing list of horror movies. If you get scared very easily don’t try to watch these because you’ll probably cover your eyes 99% of the time when you see any of the movies. These are very scary and can be quite bloody and gory and not everyone can manage watching them. Also, for those who are super weird like me…

I love when ladies get covered in blood in movies like you know, Carrie but I don’t like Carrie. Point is, there are three movies where bloody ladies are featured: Evil Dead, The Descent and The House of the Devil.

Enjoy my list!

With love (lots of scary love),

Natasha

twelve books to read in the fall

Holiday or seasonal things always get me in a great mood. In the fall, for example, I get annoyingly excited by the huge amounts of Halloween candy or items that come out exclusively for the season. In the fall I also love to make myself watch horror/scary movies. The other day I was staring at my bookcase and I thought it might be cool that just as I am planning to make a post with a bunch of movies for you to watch this month, I could make a list of books for you to read in the fall. So, if this season gets you in the mood of reading eerie things but you have no idea what to read then this is the list for you. The books in this list will come from the ones that occupy my bookcase and that I have read and liked/loved. I am going to be rating them from not-scary-at-all from holy-crap-this-gave-me-the-creeps.

FROM NOT-SO-SCARY-AT-ALL (from least scary to scarier)

A Certain Slant of Light of Laura Whitcomb // I remember being impressed with the book when I read it because I thought it would disappoint me but it did the complete opposite. This book is basically a ghost love story. Not one of the impossible and typical human/ghost love story but one more complicated and one that’s rather really touching.

Balefire of Cate Tiernan // I own a big book that contains these four short books. If you ask me right now why I loved these books so much I wouldn’t know how to reply. I think that what I feel these books is just what I feel for the Vampire Academy books or the Twilight books; something that is just the embodiment of melancholy. They’re just a part of you, or the old you, if you really think about it. These books are about two cursed twin sisters who find each other. There’s another interesting thing besides the one just mentioned: they are witches.

Affinity of Sarah Waters // I am a Sarah Waters fan since I read The Fingersmith. Which also fits this list but I read Affinity a bit ago and I don’t feel like reviewing it because I feel a hurricane of emotions towards it. There’s so much dread in this book, so much mystery that you’re always questioning yourself: “what’s going on here?” and like The Fingersmith you’ll likely be fooled just like I was fooled once again and I knew it was going to happen but I never saw it coming. Damn you and your epic mind, Sarah. Want to be fooled? Read this one.

Gone Girl of Gillian Flynn // This one is one of my favorite books from 2014. Almost everyone has read it, or seen the movie. If you haven’t, please do read this. Please be lured in this cat and mouse game that will very likely come and haunt you for more than a little while.

The Collector of John Fowles // The Collector was one of the first books that I read this year and it stunned me. This one is about this man who loves to collect things but the things he collected were nothing to what he wanted the most: to collect a college girl he had set his eyes on. A completely disturbing and chilling read. The Collector is one of those books that if you do read, you’ll wish you had not.

The Raven Cycle of Maggie Stiefvater // Anyone who knows me knows these books are my favorites. They contain tons of eeriness that feel like magic, characters you’ll fall in love with in less than two seconds, the story of dying by true love’s kiss instead of the usual waking up from the dead from true love’s kiss and a beautiful writing style that regularly baffles me. I could go on if you let me. I won’t say “Please, check this books, will you?” but “Go buy the three existing books before chaos comes in book four.”

♦
TO HOLY-CRAP-THIS-GAVE-ME-THE-CREEPS (from least scary to very scary)

The Diviners of Libba Bray // The Diviners is absolutely HUGE. If you love big books go and get this one first. The book is set in 1926 and it contains multiple POV’s and a malevolent spirit on the loose with an affinity of killing and leaving puzzling clues.

The White Forest of Adam McOmber // This is a period horror/ish story. This book is like when you watch a scary confusing movie but you end up loving it anyway even though you didn’t get crap of it. I am still not sure what really happened so I love it even more because of that.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer // Mara Dyer is the kind of girl who can wish people to die and then next or soon after they do die. What’s not to love? What’s not to want to know?

The Forest of Hands and Teeth of Carrie Ryan // I will always love these zombie books. It’s a trilogy full of zombies here and there and basically everywhere and it will creep you out. But what I loved about these was that each book was from a different perspective and how they also connected through from book one to book three.

Anna Dressed in Blood of Kendare Blake // This book was cliche and short but enjoyable and silly. It is also gory. Very gory. This one is from a boy’s POV who is pretty much a Dean Winchester but way younger. He falls in love with this monstrous ghost girl called Anna and I am pretty you can guess the rest of the story. Still, it’s one of those books you read in a day because it is somehow addicting.

The Secret History of Donna Tartt // The Secret History isn’t only one of my top favorite reads of this year but of my whole fucking reading life. You’ll get shivers up and down your spine and arms and pretty much it will lure you in and keep you there at its grasp. Now, this book is sort of dense. When I began reading it I was wondering how I would make it and if I was going to quit it but I didn’t and I am glad I never did. If you want to know what this one is about here it is: This is the story about this compulsive liar named Richard who becomes too curious to this exclusive group of students and their professor; all of them are very cult and intelligent. Once Richard is in the group some intense shit is bound to happen and it will twist your guts and you’ll love it so much it’ll hurt.

I hope you get to read one of these this month! Let me know if you give any of these a shot. Thank you for reading this 🙂

With love,

Natasha

movie review: before we go

Sometimes I choose to watch movies without really paying much attention to the trailer and without reading much of their description. This was one of those. This was one of those with which I took a leap without even thinking and it was one of the greatest things. So great that it became a favorite. Now, if you are a fan of the Before Sunset trilogy, this one will grab you by the heart.

Lately I am hard to convince with movies and books and how romance is created in them out of the blue and how they make the romance exist and how they make it evolve. I am just tired of cheesy and predictable love stories. I bet you’re wondering though: Is this a love story?
Sort of.

Let me tell you why you should give this movie a shot. First things first: Chris Evans. Charming. Chris. Evans. While I haven’t followed much of Chris’ work I know there’s a lot of people that are irremediably in love with him and his roles. I find him very nice to look at, but I don’t think this is the point of this review. I did love him in this and that does have a point in the review. Also, on another note, I saw on the credits that he directed Before We Go. So, look at that, reason number two to watch this.

I am the worst person to review things. Truly the worst. I love to keep things brief and short but I am going to try to do a decent job with this review and other book and movie reviews that I will be doing in this blog. Here it goes.
Before We Go is a sparkling story of two people that spend a night together because of certain circumstances. No, I don’t mean that they spend a night together, like sleeping together. I mean they go through a chain of events together in one night. This is a movie where two people help each other; giving me hope that there’s still people out there, strangers, who would be kind enough to give you a hand, or a conversation when things just get slightly crazy.

Anyway, point is, this movie mostly revolves around our two leading characters just talking and slowly opening up to each other through the night who they are and what’s troubling them. I loved how everything built up, I loved how they became close to each other, how there wasn’t sex thrown in without any purpose and how things concluded. I wish there was a sort of Before Sunset thing going on and for them to make another movie about what happened afterwards. Or maybe, the point is to leave you reminiscing long after you’re finished with the movie.

I wish this is enough to make you take of your time to see this movie. I absolutely loved it. If you do watch it, if you want to fall in love with two strangers who become friends and accomplices, would you let me know? I would love to speak to someone about that ending.
If you have any type of reccomendations for me: from books, to movies, to tv shows, let me know. I love checking out things I have not seen or read. I am planning and preparing myself to do a movie post on scary movies since October is coming. If you love horror as much as I do, stay tuned.

Love,
Natasha

four hours at the art museum

On July 22 I went to the Museum of Art of Ponce (or how we call it: Museo de Arte de Ponce. This is in Puerto Rico) for the first time, not only my first time there but my first time at an art museum. In the past two years or so I’ve become more inclined to art because of tumblr and I am glad of its effect on me. My bf, Javier and I have wanted to go for a while but we never had concrete plans to visit the museum until that Wednesday, the day of our second year anniversary.
We were greeted by the sleek atmosphere of the museum and could not help but to smile pleased about the stunning art that welcomed us once we were in. We were told we could only go through the first floor because the second was under renovation. Even though I was a bit disappointed at first because I wanted to see everything, later on through the day I changed my mind about that because checking out the entire first floor took us about four hours. And those four hours of going around and taking in so much art actually drained us.
First we made it through the lobby where we found some beauties. Here’s a peek of my favorites in the lobby:

The first art work that captured my attention at the lobby. This one comes from Germany and in it you can see intricate details about justice.

The museum was divided by the regular artworks and the other side was about an exclusive exposition. I don’t want to spoil everything about the wonders of the museum and also it is too much to cover the entire thing because every hall turned into another and then I was stunned about something and then about something else. If you were here and asked me about the museum I would keep going on and on for a while and I would not finish and then you would give me a look as if I lost my head. So in here I just will mention some of the highlights of the museum.
Here it goes:

The entrance to the regular artworks. Here I was looking at Miguel Pou’s masterpieces.

Side A: Regular Artworks
In the beginning of this hallway we admired several artworks from a Puerto Rican artist called Miguel Pou. What I liked about Pou was how he projected the scenery of my country and the way you can tell how much of Puerto Rico he carried in his soul. There was only a painting there that wasn’t about scenery but a portrait of his son. And that painting was breathtaking; the way he painted his son, in such a way that he looked soulful and brave at the same time. Having a Puerto Rican in the beginning of the gallery was a great way to start.

This was my favorite painting of Miguel Pou. It’s a painting called: “View From My Studio” and you can appreciate, literally, that the painting shows the view he had from his studio. I am so in love with it and how the frame makes the whole thing look as if you’re peeking through a window.

There was a room where I almost loved every painting. I loved four out of five. First there was a Young Girl in a Wood from Henri Lebasque.

My favorite room.

This is Young Girl In A Wood. I loved this one so much that I ended up getting a postcard of it at the museum’s store.

After seeing my fave room we came across Portrait of a Girl and it was instantly my favorite one in the museum. This one was from Jaroslav Czermak. The thing about his painting is how it looks like this enigmatic girl looks like she’s following you with her dark brown eyes. I looked at it for a while and I couldn’t help but wonder vigorously who was this girl? how is it that the painter paid so much detail into making everything behind her so dark and why is here so much light in her face and the gold that envelops her? why does she looks so sad? I wish to know the story of this girl. We don’t even know her name and I need to know more. When I go back to the museum I am going to ask for anything there is to know about this painting because I need to.

I want to stare at this girl forever.

I shared Marguerite on Instagram because there is something about Marguerite that just needs to be shared: her expression. Marguerite looks so smug in the painting, like she knows you’ve been talking some shit about her but she doesn’t mind. I bet she knew a lot of secrets.

Isn’t she captivating?

SCULPTURES! There were so many and none of them showed who made them which made things very intriguing. The best one yet was this one. Look at her closely, look at the detail. There’s something that blew my mind about her, can you see it? Let me know if you noticed 😉

The details of this sculpture had me and my bf in awe.

Side B: Special Exposition of Jack Delano
Where can I begin with Jack Delano? Never in my life I had heard of him until I saw his works at the museum. Here’s a bit of the typical intro so you know about Jack: was born as Jacob Ovcharov (yes, Russian) but he and his family moved to Unites States when he was nine years old and it was there where he made his life. Now, he made a lot of studying in different schools where he became a handful of a multitasking and talented man. Jack was talented as you wouldn’t believe, he was such an inspiration at photography, illustration, music and film.
As I saw all of his work all I could think was: this man, didn’t have a life. He focused on everything and everything he did was beautiful!

Jack Delano’s camera.

I didn’t follow a tour about his work but him and his wife Irene worked together for a book called The Emperor’s New Clothes. Guys, this thing was hilarious. The Emperor’s New Clothes is about this emperor that doesn’t care about anyone but himself and everyone getting him new clothes. Everyone would try to satisfy his thirst of having new clothing every single day. The illustrations were shown first in sketches and then they developed better the ideas of it. Together, Irene would pick the theme colors of the illustrations and give her husband ideas and the Jack would do the rest. The results of their teamwork was aesthetically pleasing and funny.

Some of Jack’s and Irene’s work with “The Emperor’s Clothes”.

Jack moved to Puerto Rico and devoted a lot of his time in visiting my entire country, all the towns, to get photographs among different times to showcase how things and people changed with time in PR. It was a simply stunning work of his.

Side C: The Museum Store
The museum has some precious gems at good prices and I wanted to get everything in there and if you go to the museum do yourself a favor and visit their store, ok???
That Wednesday was indeed one of the best days of my life and this museum was one of the best things I have seen. If you ever plan to come to Puerto Rico or if you are from here and want to do something different and especially if you love art, come! Come to be amazed and tell me your story there. Or let’s go together!

Love,
Natasha