Thanksgiving and Some Announcements

Hello folks,

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone who celebrates Thanksgiving has a wonderful day full of food, friends, family, and fun. (This post is brought to you by the letter ‘F.’) I’m having lunch with my family and dinner with friends, and I’m just looking forward to the day.

And now the announcements. A few weeks ago I posted that I had a story published. (YAY!) That story went on to win the editor’s choice award for this month at Fiction Vortex. (YAY!) I’m over the moon, and I hope everyone who read the story enjoyed it.

Which brings me to announcement part two. I am also in the running for reader’s choice for the month of November. So if you did in fact read To Forever and enjoy it, I would appreciate your vote.

Here’s the link to the poll

Voting closes on December 2. If you do choose to vote for me, I want to give you a thousand thanks. After all, that is what today is all about, and it means the world to me when people read and like my work.

Anyway, I think that’s about it. I’m still writing, and I’m looking forward to a great holiday season.

Again, Happy Thanksgiving!

-Mary
On Twitter @desantismt

Good News! (No, the wicked witch is not dead.)

We interrupt this blog hiatus to bring you a special news bulletin.

Today is a good day. It’s a published short story day!

Yes, my fantasy short story, To Forever – approx. 2300 words, is live at Fiction Vortex today. I’m super excited!

Yes, that excited!

Anyway, this is the part where I wave and bow and say “go read it. It’s good. I promise.” Well, of course I think it’s good. I wrote it. Seriously, though, this is one of my favorite short stories I’ve ever written, and I’m so pumped to be able to share it with the world. Fiction Vortex blurbs it as a story about a young couple who thought they’d be together forever but with a new magical drink every year, they drift apart. Only, you know, they say it a lot better, and essentially, yes, that is the plot of To Forever. It’s about so much more. It’s about love and change and morality and addiction and how growth changes us for better or worse. It’s about fairies and unicorns and elves and vampires and zombies. Mostly, though, it’s about people. I’m big on writing about the condition of people. It’s a story that was inspired by a piece of art where I live, and after writing it, putting it away for a year, and revising it, it’s now on the internet, and that means the world to me.

So there you go. I got all author-y about my story. So now when this story is discovered by someone big in the industry and immortalized in an anthology of the best works of 2014 and goes down in history as a story that made people think, you can pass the contents of this post to your children’s children’s children, and they can quote me in their English class, and we can take our first steps toward really analyzing literature according to what the author meant instead of what we thought they meant.

Hey, I can dream, right?

And so this concludes this post (and this interruption from the blogging hiatus). I’m headed back into my cave now, but big things are afoot. I’m working hard and writing a lot and revising some, and I have 55k of a book that I (fingers crossed) should be pitching at the beginning of next year. So hopefully I’ll be back with more good news soon.

As always, thanks for reading.

-Mary
Find me on Twitter @desantismt.

Official Lockbox Blogging Hiatus

Hi folks,

Yes, it’s true. I’m taking a break. I had every intention of getting back on the personal blogging wagon, but it’s not the time. I need to focus on writing and some other stuff. Blogging at the Lockbox needs to take a back seat.

I will still be blogging about books over at Kit ‘N Kabookle, and if I get any kind of news, I’ll post it here. As for the Disney posts and any other stuff, I’m not sure when I’ll pick it back up, but you’ll be the first to know.

Take care.

Lots of love,
Mary

-Keep up with me on Twitter @desantismt.

MCS #24: The Hunchback of Notre Dame

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)

IMDB blurb
A deformed bell-ringer must assert his independence from a vicious government minister in order to help his friend, a gypsy dancer.

I haven’t watched this in years. It kind of terrified me as a kid. I think I want to watch it again now. I think there’s a lot to get out of this as an adult. This isn’t a story of pure good. The good guys aren’t picture perfect heroes. And the villain, well, have a look.

The music is actually beautiful. The first part is heartbreaking/heartwarming. Then Frollo starts singing, and things get a little odd.

I saw this in theatres with my parents when I was a kid. To quote my mother “You could have heard a pin drop in that theatre. The kids were oblivious, and the parents were, like, ‘oh my…uh….’”

On the other hand, this guy is terrifying in a very real way.

K, now for an upper.

Love that song.

Writer’s Lockbox

Watch this if you haven’t since childhood.

That’s about all I have.

Last week: Hercules

And join me next week for The Hunchback of Notre Dame II.

-Find me on Twitter @desantismt.

MCS #23: Hercules

Hercules (1997)

IMDB blurb
The son of the Greek Gods Zeus and Hera is stripped of his immortality as an infant and must become a true hero in order to reclaim it.

Now that that’s out of the way.

K, I’m done. Really.

If you can’t tell, I love this movie. Meg is kickass. Pain and Panic are hilarious, and Hades is possibly one of my favorite Disney villains ever. I mean really.

See what I mean? Also, mushroom cloud. Enough said.

“Somebody call IXII!”

That’s 911 in Roman Numerals. I was so pumped the day I figured that out, and my friend was pumped the day I told her.

“The Big Olive itself.”

Here’s to New York puns.

Voices: Meg is voiced by Susan Egan who was Belle in Beauty and the Beast on Broadway and also the singing voice of Angel in Lady and the Tramp II. Phil is Danny DeVito, who also voiced the Lorax in the Lorax. He also played Matilda’s father in Matilda. Panic is voiced by Matt Frewer who, ready for this, voiced Jackal in Disney’s Gargoyles.

Bonus Round – The young heroes TV show. That’s all I need to say.

Writer’s Lockbox

Actually, to be completely serious for once, I offer this song.

It’s something all writers need to keep in mind. Last week, I forgot this, and I had zero productivity. We can go the distance. This is more important than any writing lesson I could have extracted from the movie. So listen to that again. Then listen to the movie reprise version, which is the theme song of my thesis because it involves a Pegasus flying off into the night sky.

Now go be awesome.

Last week: the Frozen guest post

And join me next week for The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

-Find me on Twitter @desantismt.

MCS #22: Frozen guest post

Frozen (2013)

Welcome to this week’s Morning Cartoons Saturday. For the first time (in forever), I’m hosting a guest. She’s here today to talk about Disney’s newest hit animated feature, Frozen. Please welcome Amarilys Acosta.

Five Frozen Quotes That Got Me Thinking

I’ve been a fan of Disney Princess movies since forever. Even now that I’m older, the last three that have come out—Tangled,Brave, and Frozen—have managed to strike a chord with me. I can still identify with many of the things these princesses go through and empathize with the story presented in the movies. So, below I want to share with you five of my favorite quotes from Frozen which I watched recently…and then re-watched the day after because it was that good.

1.

Grandpa Troll: Born with the powers or cursed?

This quote got me thinking that all of the princesses before have been cursed or affected by a curse. Ariel is cursed by Ursula to have no voice. Pocahontas isn’t cursed, but magic is still worked on her by Grandmother Willow so that she understands the words of the foreigners. Rapunzel’s magic hair is the reason Mother Gothel kidnaps her, so it’s sort of a curse. Merida puts her mother under a curse spell. And on and on the examples. Elsa is the first princess to be born with power of her own, and yet the way they handle it becomes her curse. But it was nice that Grandpa Troll made the distinction between the two states—born with power or cursed.

2.

Grandpa Troll: The heart is not so easily changed. But the head can be persuaded.

The old adage of follow your heart comes to mind. The heart knows the truth and it’s never confused about what it wants, but the mind…yeah, easily changed and confused 100% of the time!

3.

Kristoff: You know, most people who disappear into the mountains wanna be alone.

Anna: NOBODY wants to be alone.

TRUTH.
    

4.

We aren't saying you can change him

'Cause people don't really change

We're only saying that love's a force that's powerful and strange

People make bad choices if they're mad or scared or stressed

But throw a little love their way, and you'll bring out their best

True love brings out the best

I really loved that they included these lines in the song! Love is not about changing the person, but about sharing your love with them. And maybe your love and care will open them up and turn them into something better.

5.

Olaf: Love is putting someone else's needs before yours […] Some people are worth melting for.

How love should be always = Selfless.

Amy is a writer and lover of books, currently making her way through the MFA in Writing Popular Fiction at SHU. She writes YA paranormal romances, fantasy, and has been known to dabble in a sci-fi piece or two. She's a hopeless romantic, mint chocolate chip ice-cream worshiper, and a shameless procrastinator (If I'm reading when I should be writing is not procrastinating, is it? It's research…)

Blog / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Amy's Book Den

MCS #21: Fantasia 2000

Fantasia 2000 (…1999…)

Video time.

Enjoy 

Last week: Fantasia

And join me next week for a guest post about Disney’s newest animated feature, Frozen.

Thanks for reading.

Mary
@desantismt on Twitter

Follow My Blog With Bloglovin

-Kit ‘N Kabookle
My book blog