In other news, my copy of Tyra Banks' MODEL LAND (it's supposed to be one word, but the double L makes me crazy for some reason) came in to the library today. I placed a hold on this book not because I was excited for it to come out; no, this is more about curiosity. There seems to be an onslaught of celebrities jumping into the YA field. Starting with that girl from The Hills (her clothing line at Kohl's is nice), then Hilary Duff, and now Tyra. Hilary supposedly had "assistance" and Tyra's claiming to have done it on her own (says that it took five years from conception to final draft; and that it was initially 1000 pages. I guess I need to stop worrying about my page length for SURRENDER). She's been getting slammed in reviews (both Barnes and Noble and Goodreads) and I'm curious in how much of it comes from haters (who are put out that she probably used her celebrity to get published. I'll admit that I've got my toe in this pool of thought.) and how much of it is legitimate gripes about poor storytelling/writing. I'm scared of what I'll find in the pages of this book. I secretly want to love it and cheer her on (cause it's gotta be hard to be taken seriously), but I'm already finding things to dislike. And then....... the main character is named Tookie de la Creme (not lying) and the first seven pages is told from some unseen narrator who says "dahling" a lot. It could be good and it could be very bad. I'll try to make it through the first chapter at least and will report back. I have my doubts... and I'm a little bothered that she has six pages of acknowledgements in the back of the book (it's in small font so it could be more). I always read the ackloweledgments to learn a little more about the authors (and to see if they drop agent names!). Six pages seems a bit self involved (especially since she's thanking Greece at one point). Sigh.Oh well, I still love Top Model. I don't watch it for Tyra... the girls are always interesting.
@Jammi: What did you think of Supernatural this week? Let's discuss!
Congrats on the laptop! Your editing will probably go a lot faster now.
ReplyDeleteI think Tyra's book wouldn't seem so obnoxious if she toned it down. And changed the names. I mean, it sounds like a parody of something Tyra would do, not a serious bit of work that took five years. I agree with the double l in Modelland should have just been Modeland, or, you know, have a name that is less lame.
I am in the field that she might have gotten published because of her celebrity, and I still can't decide if it was brilliant for her to stick with what she knows [modelling/ANTM type world]or if she should've tried her hand at something less in your face.
I don't dislike Tyra, I mean, I still follow ANTM, but I feel that her ego overwhelms any talent she may have outside of modelling. She always manages to make something about her, and LOL at her thanking Greece. Beautiful country I'm sure, but seriously?
I enjoyed this episode even though I feel like they're taking everything away from them and we're not even halfway through. When Dean finally gets Sam back and then the house is burnt down? That actually hit me pretty hard because I never thought they'd take away their one constant safe place.
And now that they got rid of Cas so easily, I want to know what happened to Bobby.
The Leviathan story line, I still don't know, I think it'll get better once the boys are actively fighting them. Right now, I'm still thinking of them as Demons but who do a weird mouth thing when they get shot, lol.
Yeah, I think she thanked Greece because she spent time writing there (as well as four other exotic "it must be nice" places). I think it would be better if it was a little toned down and that there wasn't something called a SMIZE in the novel (it's some kind of magical charm that helps them into modelland, or something like that). There are moments (and I'm still not that far into it) where it has the possibility of being good and well written and then I just see Tyra (or hear her) on the page.
ReplyDeleteI love my new computer. So far so good... no editing yet, but it will come. It's just a lazy Sunday for me.
As for the episode. I was shocked to see Bobby's place burned down. I didn't think of it like you did, but you're totally right. That was their safe place. I can only hope that Bobby was still on the road when that happened. As for Cas, I'm not sure that he's actually gone. You know what they say about not seeing the dead body. We got his bloody trench coat, but that's not enough for me. Maybe I'm holding on to the hope that he'll come back and help them fight. The Leviathan... the mouth thing was crazy weird. They seem like demons to me too and I'm curious about who they all answer to.
I hope this doesn't turn into one long dream sequence and they're all under some tripy hallucination. I don't think they'd go that far, but you never know.
I'm pretty sure making it a 'this is just a dream' would piss off way too many people for them to actually do it. I thought that was what they might be going for with the whole Sam's still in hell thing but thankfully I was wrong.
ReplyDeleteI don't think they got rid of Bobby, I'm thinking he's going to come and save the boys since Dean's leg is shot and Sammy suffered some pretty severe damage with that head wound.
And that's a good point about us not seeing his body but I assumed that the Leviathans tore it to shreds when they exploded in the water.
And SMIZE is an America's Next Top Model term. It means 'smile with your eyes'. So when you're taking a photo and you have your serious face going your eyes have to speak to the camera so you 'smize'.
Look for the word 'tooch' or 'booty tooch' this week she said it was a new word added to the 'America's Next Top Model lexicon' so I wonder if she already used it in her book, lol.
And I think the whole point of being a writer is so that people who know you forget about you, you want them to get pulled into the story and not have the author intrude. But then again it's probably her first novel and people probably didn't give her the criticism she needs to get her to learn the balance between her writing Voice and her actual personality if that makes sense.
Oh yeah, I know all about Smizing (I've watched Top Model since the beginning). I just thought it was a bit much, especially when right after it's introduced in the book the narrator was like "who on earth made up that word?!" (or something similar). And that Booty tooch thing was ridiculous last week... Tyra likes making up stuff. I know nothing about the modeling world outside ANTM, so maybe it's real... I don't know. I might read a little more of it tonight. Lol. The more I talk about it, the more I don't want to read it.
ReplyDeleteAnd it makes perfect sense (the writing voice vs. personality). Who knows what kind of feedback she got and perhaps she's banking on the idea that die-hard Tyra fans will find all the quirky, obviously Tyra-isms funny. I don't.
Good point about Cas being torn apart. I didn't think of it that way, but his body/vessel was falling apart. Poor Cas... he didn't really get a good send off as a character if that's the case. I'm gonna hold out home that he somehow escaped death. We'll see on Friday!
I think Tyra takes actual criticisms used in the modelling world like 'arch your back to make it more interesting' or 'we need more expression, use your eyes to convey it' and then changes it to 'smize' and 'tooch'. I honestly don't know why, I feel like the longer the show goes on, the more she goes for gimmicks.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point about his send off. For a character who was widely loved, they way they got rid of him doesn't do him justice at all, so he might come back even if it's just to kill him off in a way that would highlight his true character before he got pulled under thanks to the angel war.
And I wonder if they're going to tell us about the consequences in heaven since now heaven is full of angels and now guidance and I think Cas already killed all of the angels who wanted the Apocalypse.
I do hope they focus on what's going on in heaven. I'm sure another leader will rise up in the angelic world or Crowley will start stuff again. I sorta want Cas to come back and clean up the mess he started. There are just so many possibilities on where things could go. Have you heard if this is the last season or not?
ReplyDeleteI wonder how much longer ANTM will be on. She's had a pretty good run. What cycle is this now, seventeen? That's really commendable in a way.
I forgot that now that Cas is disposed of, Crowley can go back to his old tricks. I think it would be great if Cas can come in and clean up this mess although I don't know how they'd do it without being unbelievable, I mean, if he does come back I doubt he'd come back with all of his angelic powers since he has done some major damage to himself. Although that might be interesting, going from being all powerful for a few days to being just a bit more powerful (magically) than a human.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I thought cycle 16 was going to be her final one since I know she stopped her talk show but I think she'll keep it going as long as people are willing to watch. I think cycle sixteen was the first in a while where she didn't have a 'short' models 'tall models' 'plus sized models' type of gimmick in it and now she's back to All Stars.
Which might actually be one way to end with a bang, or maybe she'll do one where it's all past winners and then she'll end it.
Yeah, and not only is she on her 17th cycle there are versions all over the world, she turned an idea a lot of people thought was ridiculous into a franchise.
I agree that ANTM will go on until the ratings die, and even if she gets bored with it she may give the reigns over (wait, who are we talking about now?!?!? lol). I'll likely watch until it goes off the air. I don't care for the gimmicks and I can definitely see why people get annoyed with her. She doesn't really bother me all that much. Sometimes I roll my eyes, but that's about it. All past winners would be pretty interesting (or at least all number 2s or something).
ReplyDeleteAs for the book... I think I'm like 30 pages in now. It's not poorly written--just overdone at times. I'm really not sure how much more of it I'll read. I'm ready to be lost in a book again.
That sucks, I think I could handle a poorly written story with a great premise and hint at a good voice more than I can one that's well written but the voice is too much or not enough.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, I probably will watch until it goes off air, lol, I do find the photos interesting and the glimpse of the model world, even if it's exaggerated it fascinating to me.
I just hope she doesn't reach the point where she becomes a full blown caricature of herself.