Cuppacafe � Blog Archive � Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom Fabulous and flattering blog entry on the deal and my books (thanks!) and even with a bit of info I didn't know. Looks like WB has snagged a domain name. Cool!
 

So, a few weeks ago, I'd posted a blog note about how an episode of CHARMED is named "Carpe Demon." So you don't have to scroll down to find it, basically, I said that when I'd first picked the name, I was the only "Carpe Demon" out there, and when I saw the Charmed title, I felt a little proprietary. Like, man, that's my title! Sulk, Sulk! But then I stepped back, thought about it, realized that was a totally whiney attitude ... and realized that cross-promotion is a good thing!

Surprisingly, though, I've now gotten a few emails from folks asking how Charmed can do that. Isn't my title copyrighted, they ask? Isn't whoever named the show a copycat? And the answer is nope. Absolutely not! You can't copyright a title! (Even if you could, I still don't think I'd complain. I figure folks who search the Net for references to Charmed might run across my book and be intrigued. The more the name is out there, the better.)

The fact is, titles are used and re-used all the time. So I can't copyright CARPE DEMON or THE GIVENCHY CODE or NOBODY BUT YOU or any of my other titles. Authors do feel proprietary about titles, don't get me wrong (well, sometimes the book ends up with a title they don't like, in which case the author might not be so proprietary!).

In the case of my summer books, the titles fit beautifully. "Carpe Demon" is a perfect fit for that book. "The Givenchy Code" is a perfect fit for that book. But at the end of the day, the title is just a title. It belongs to the book, but not to me. It's what's inside the book that matters. And if I get a little cross-promotion by having something out there with the same name (like an episode of an extremely popular tv show) then great! (Hey! Maybe I should thank the network for helping me cross-promote!)
 

FilmForce: Carpe Demon at Warners More, more, more!
 

Kathleen O'Reilly's Diary of a Mad Romance Author: Breaking news... You know it's news when it's reported by your good friend and critique partner :)
 

Kevin And Dan Hageman To Adapt 'Soccer Mom' And another! (Okay, I must quit googling, but, hey, this is fun! The last time (and only) time I was in Hollywood Reporter and Variety was when my wedding announcement was published there!)
 

Freeze Dried Movies Dot Com More commentary on the movie deal. Cool!
 

Fangoria - America's Horror Magazine Fangoria.com picks up the Variety article about film rights to Carpe Demon going to Warner Brothers and 1492!
 

Variety.com - WB seizes Kenner's 'Demon' Yay!!!! Here's the Daily Variety article about 1492 and Warner Brothers optioning CARPE DEMON!! Screewriters are now attached! More news to come ... (you might need a subscription to see this ... not sure... but it's there, it really is!)
 

Word� Museum Bringing Authors and Readers Together The Word Museum Interview!
 

Amber Alert Issued Sunday February 20 2005 There's currently a Texas Amber Alert. Seeing it made me think that I ought to call attention to the Amber Alert scroll I've got at the bottom of this page and my home page. Hope y'all remember to check it whenever you visit the site. Better, if you have your own site, add your own Amber Alert ticker. The more eyes out there looking for these kids the better.
 

Wordbeats just posted a nice interview with me in their February newsletter. Not up on their website yet, though. If you'd like to read it, drop me a line at julie@juliekenner.com and I'll forward the interview your way!
 

Appearances I've updated this page to reflect upcoming appearances, on-line chats and booksignings. But there's more in the works, so be sure to check back as summer approaches!
 

REVIEWERS INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION Here's a bit of good news: I just found out that THE SPY WHO LOVES ME is a Romantic Suspense RIO Award Finalist for 2004. What a lovely bit of news to round out the day!


 

 

Well, I've changed the format of this page. And now I'm off to order Chinese food for dinner ...
 

OK, lest any girlscout groups get upset with me, let me state loudly and clearly that I THINK THE GIRLSCOUTS IS A SUPER KEEN ORGANIZATION. I DO NOT REALLY THINK THERE'S ANYTHING EVIL ABOUT THE GIRLSCOUTS. Except, maybe, their cookies.

I have no self-control. And yet, there they are, foisting cookies in front of Wal-Mart, in front of Office Depot. And, yes, I'm trying to lose the ten pounds that have leeched onto my hips since I started working at home (okay, it's only 6 pounds, but its all in my hips and MY CLOTHES DON'T FIT. But I'll rant more about that later.)

Anyhoo, there I am, innocently off to buy folders, .07 HB lead mechanical pencils, rubber bands, and, if I'm feeling really wild and crazy, some odd-sized Avery labels. I'm thinking after shopping I'll get a Venti Nonfat Latte from the Starbucks a/c the street (one of approximately 897,254 in the greater Austin area), but noooooo. That plan is shot to heck by the darling little pigtailed blonde in the green vest, standing there with her mom, hawking cookies.

And before I know it, I have 3 boxes, I'm driving to Starbucks, and before I've even exited the parking lot, I've snarfed down two Animal Treasures. I tell you, it's not my fault!

You know, it's almost enough to make you empathize with the spate of criminals and punks out there in this brave new world we live in. You know the type: It's not my fault: the girl was wearing a really short skirt. It's not my fault: my neighbors were making too much noise. It's not my fault: there was too much sugar in my Twinkie. It's not my fault: my parents didn't read to me at bedtime. There's a dearth of personal responsibility in this country lately and, frankly, it ticks me off.

But no more. I mean, how can hypocritical would that be? After all, the sudden tightness of my blue jeans is not my fault: it's those damn girlscouts.

 

Pithy Blog Entry Re Irritating Windows Operating System (That I'm now patting and saying nice things about so it doesn't freeze up on me for the trillionth time today...). If entries have been added, scroll down and look for the headline: I don't do Windows, and neither should you.

Alas, I *do* do Windows, but I'm seriously thinking about getting an ibook or a Powerbook. What say y'all, oh gentle blog readers???
 

So this morning, on the way to school, C told me that this weekend we have to go back to Build-A-Bear. Why? Because Emma needs a boyfriend.


 

Declassified information - PittsburghLIVE.com Okay, so, yes, I do have a penchant for thrillers and spy books, but how many of them are actually written by someone within MI5? This one is, and how cool for Ms. Rimington. Definitely adding to my list of books to buy!
 

Times Online - Britain A SCHOOLGIRL has become a publishing sensation after her first novel sold 50,000 copies in six weeks. -- click the link to read more. (And way to go, Emma!)
 

SnarkSpot Is it cheating to blog another blog? I don't care if it is. This is too much fun to pass up. And am I the only person on the planet who never much cared for The New Yorker? (Gasp! Shock! She's admitting that out loud! On the Net! More public than dropping your drawers in front of the Cinemark. I'm ducking now, lest the sky fall in.) But oh, yeah, I do love the cartoons.
 

Carpe Demon When I chose "Carpe Demon" as the title for, well, Carpe Demon, I just knew it was a good title. I mean, "seize the demon"... how fabulous is that? And so perfect for the book!

I googled it, of course, and at the time (fall of 2003) the only "carpe demon"s on the web were race horses. Not too shabby, I thought.

Now, if you google the term, you get comments and fan sites for Charmed. Apparently an upcoming episode has the title, too. I love paranormal (obviously) but I've never watched Charmed. (Limited tv viewing time, what w/ C and all...) But I've put all the past episodes into my Netflix queue. I mean, if the writers have my taste in titles, the show must be awesome, right? I can't wait for the disks to start arriving. Guess it's going to be a "Charmed" spring!
 

My fabulous crit partner Dee Davisand her family gave C a Build a Bear gift certificate for Christmas, and we finally used it yesterday.

Off we went to the mall, and C was sooooo excited! We'd never been to BaB before, and it was great fun, watching C carefully examine each of the animals lining the wall (for those of you who are not familiar with BaB, the bear – or dog or cat or Elmo or whatever – you choose is just a limp shell of a toy. Then you go to stations to finish out the toy). She settled on a white bear that she named Emma. The second she saw Emma, she knew she was the one. Being a careful mom, I wanted to make sure, so I pointed out a cat, Elmo, and a cute little dog that came with a puppy. But no, C knew what she wanted, and Emma it was.

No problem. We moved on to the next station. Or, rather, we moved to the line to wait for the next station.

And that was where my little girl really surprised me. She waited patiently for our turn, playing a bit with her Emma-shell and saying that Emma was going to be clothed in pink ballet slippers (which I hoped the store actually sold. They do. I'm pretty sure they sell everything, actually).

OK, here's a mommy confession: we skipped station number 2, where you pick out a sound for your bear. Nope. Got enough talking toys. Instead, we went to the stuffing station. First C picked out a heart for her bear (and, again, she knew exactly what she wanted: the solid red hard that had "I love you" printed on it, with "the words down, Mommy." No problem.). Then she handed the bear and the heart to the girl working the stuffing machine. The girl had C kiss the heart, warm it up, and make a wish. Then into the bear the heart went, followed by the stuffing, blown in at the speed of my little girl stepping on the pedal.

Next to the bath to get rid of the extra fluffies (an air bath, to be exact). Then to the dressing area, where the ballerina gown and shoes were put on. And then to the checkout, where we received Emma's birth certificate.

All in all, a lovely day, a lovely toy, and a lovely memory.

After that, we went to the little playhouse in the mall where the kids can burn off energy and exhausted mommies and daddies can sit and stare and try to recover from taking their kids to the mall.

C has been twice before (what can I say? I'm not a big mall-goer these days). The first time, she didn't interact. Just sort of staked her territory. She was much younger then, not the sophisticated 3.5 that she is now. No, this trip, she bonded with a little girl and they played chase. Soon, a little boy joined them, playing monster to the girls' damsels in distress. And all I could think was that my little girl was growing up. Soon, boys would be chasing her for more than playing monster. And, soon (to the horror of my husband), she'll probably be chasing boys.

There are a lot of good guys out there. I know that. Heck, I make my living off of it, because isn't the heart of romance writing all about finding the good guys? But I also know there are a lot of duds out there (believe me; I've dated a few). And I got to thinking: Isn't it too bad there isn't a Build-A-Boy store in the mall?

My then-grown(ish) daughter could just head to BaB and look at the models on the wall. If Emma is any indication, she'll give them all a once-over, but there will be one that fully and completely grabs her attention. She can even pick out what she wants him to say (how fabulous she looks, how he'd love to take her to a chick flick), stuff him so that he's nicely built, just the way she likes him. And, most important, she can pick out his heart. And, yeah, his heart will really and truly belong to her.

It's not a bad fantasy, but it's not likely to come true.

I guess the most I can do is help her grow up the best she can and hope that, even though she can't actually build a boy, when it gets right down to it, she picks the best one from the wall.

 

Well, it must be true, cuz I've seen it several times around the web now (and, really, isn't that the earmark of veracity these days?): Author Larry McMurtry (Lonesome Dove, etc.) is barring the door to Booked Up, his used and rare bookstore in Archer City, Texas.

Apparently (according to an article in the Ft. Worth Star Telegram reported in today's PW Daily email list), McMurtry wants to travel a bit, so he's closing the doors for a year.

For those who don't know, for the last some-odd years, McMurtry has owned (and, apparently, operated) some really amazing bookstores in Archer City, which is in way north Texas, and not really easily accessible from anywhere, though the drive from Dallas is really pretty (and, in parts, really boring). My husband and I went up there in, I think, 2000, not long after we moved back from Los Angeles. At the time, we were hot and heavy into collecting rare books, and when we heard about Archer's store, it sounded too good to pass up.

We drove and drove and drove, not really knowing what to find. What we finally found was, in fact, a charming little town that (to us anyway) seemed dominated by several huge buildings that made up the bookstore ... and not much else (there was a cute little antique store that sold bar-b-que. That was lunch. There was also a bed and breakfast, but ours was a one day trip.

We started prowling through the buildings, which seemed to be organized more or less by the type of book (really rare books, for example, were housed in one building, while your traditional used book store fare was in another). And we're talking lots and lots books here. Towering shelves reaching up to towering ceilings. It was, in a word, cool.

We got some great stuff there, putting quite a dent into our credit cards. I'm trying to remember the exact timing, but I know I was working on Silent Confessions because I picked up some historical erotica for research purposes (no, really!).

The interesting thing, though, to me about McMurtry's shutting of the doors is that we never once saw McMurtry himself. The stores seemed to be operating just fine without him. So I have to wonder: why keep folks away? Why not let the business operate as so many businesses do? With managers and employees in charge?

I don't know, but even though we didn't have a tripped planned this year, I'm a little sentimental. Even though we'd only gone once, the idea of a bookstore town appealed to me, and I have to say, I'm sad to see it go, even if it's only for a year.
 

Neo by AlphaSmart

And, no, I wasn't originally intending to blog about my Neo (I really am naming it Fred. I can't type along every day picturing Keanu Reeves in a long black coat. I just can't do it).

Anyhoo, so I'm on my computer, typing away at a blog entry about snacking while working at home and my hips and chasing cookies in the conference rooms of Skadden Arps, when all of a sudden I move my foot under my desk, kick the d*&^ plug, and turn off my computer. Poof. It's all gone. And considering I work with about 8000 things open at any one time, who knows what I've lost. And b/c the computer hates me, it has not backed up anything, so there are no restored files popping up.

Sigh. Rather than recreate that tonight (I'm tired. I give up.) I decided to post about what I should have been doing anyway: Fred was delivered today (ain't he cute?) and I SHOULD have been typing my blog on him. (Well, I should have been typing a book, but let's not go there.) Fred doesn't have a plug to kick. Fred isn't temperamental (not yet anyway), and with Fred, I would still have the work!

I guess I should take some solace in the fact that it was a blog entry and not manuscript pages (which, I'll note, I SHOULD be working on. I have 4 pages to go to hit today's goal, but I'm having my taxes done tomorrow, and that requires a good night's sleep).

So anyway. If any of you have a love/hate or hate/hate relationship with your computer, your powersupply, or whatever ... check out Neo (the electronic one; not Keanu).

Signing off...
 

My undergrad degree was in film, but since I had C, I've seen fewer movies (in the theater), and I miss that. The absence is always more pronounced around Oscar time. When I lived in LA, I used to have throw an Oscar party, and I'd have an eclectic group of friends (actors, lawyers, waiters, artists, you get the drift) and we'd sit around watching popcorn, critiquing the movies and the presenters. Grand fun.

But about Sideways. I watched it yesterday and, wow. What a brilliant movie. All the more brilliant because in the first five minutes I was thinking, "yeah, okay, but surely everyone who's raved has been just a tiny bit on drugs." But, no, they weren't. The movie is brilliant in its unpredicatability, its wit, its charm and its ability to present a cohesive story without resorting to convention. Plus, I learned a bit about wine (not too much, which was also good. I loved how the bits of expert wine talk tended to fade into the background. You knew Miles knew wine, but we didn't have to know exactly why.)

I had no idea the movie was based on a book until I saw the opening credits -- very cool! -- and now Pickett has a buck or so coming in courtesy of moi, since I just ordered the book. Check out the link about his success and the road thereto:
Guardian Unlimited Books | By genre | Oliver Burkeman talks to Rex Pickett, author of Sideways
I went with my mom to see the movie (rather than using those 3 hours -- driving time, buying popcorn time, movie time) to write because I'm going to NYC in March to take Robert McKee's Story workshop, and before I go, I want to make sure I've seen the movies he discusses. So I'm going back on a bit of a movie binge. It feels good. And you can expect a few mini reviews here, too!