I’m going to admit something that may be shocking, particularly since I’m a writer.

I don’t like Shakespeare. There I’ve said it. I’ve tried, really I have. I saw a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream once that was okay, but overall I find my mind wandering. In fact, I watched a BBC production of The Tempest this week because it’s referenced in the book I’m writing and I’d never read or seen it, and it literally put me to sleep. When the phone rang, I about fell out of the recliner. The Tempest was still going on the TV. So how could I use this to my advantage? I made one of the characters in my book dislike Shakespeare and call him the “sure cure for insomnia.”

Shakespeare isn’t the only “classic” I don’t like. Remember those required reading lists from high school? While I tended to like the more modern writers like John Steinbeck and Willa Cather, earlier ones made me want to poke my eyeballs out. I had to read The Great Gatsby twice — once in high school, once in college. Hated it both times. And being a lover of nature, I thought I’d read Walden by Henry David Thoreau. When I was quite a ways into the book and he hadn’t even managed to get to the dumb pond yet, I gave up. Same with James Fenimore Cooper’s Last of the Mohicans. LOVED the movie. The book? Zzzzzzzz. Didn’t finish it either.

Maybe I just don’t appreciate what others are seeing, or maybe I just like a more modern voice, perhaps a more popular culture voice. After all, I like Jane Austen, but at the time she was writing she wasn’t considered a high-brow or classic writer. Only years later was she deemed so. She was the Nora Roberts of her day.

What writers of today do you think will show up on those high school reading lists in the future? My guess is that writers such as J.K. Rowling and Stephen King will be there.

And what classic writers/books are snoozers for you?

My Entertainment Weekly came today, and I was thrilled to see Twilight featured on the cover. There’s a nice article/interview with Twilight book author Stephenie Meyer, and another article about the movie due out Dec. 12. You can read both on the EW Web site via the links above. I can’t wait for Breaking Dawn, the final book due out in a mere three weeks, then the movie.

Any other Twilighters out there? Are you rooting for Bella to end up with Edward or Jacob?

I hope everyone had a great 4th. Having done our cookout and partying last weekend, we didn’t even leave the house except to step out onto the front porch to watch the neighbors shoot off fireworks. And as you can tell from my lack of blogging the past couple of days, I’ve been in the writing cave. I’ve written 33 pages in the past two days. I’m really pushing to have a rough draft done by the time I head to San Fran so I can do editing on the train.

You know how you get those meme things in e-mail and are tagged by other bloggers all the time. You know the ones that ask things like — tell us six random things about you? Well, I’ve decided to start my own and see how long it takes the world of the Internet to send it back to me. So, here goes:

Famous People Meme — Which famous person in each of the following categories would you like to meet?

Author — J.K. Rowling

Movie Actor — Orlando Bloom

TV Actor — Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, also Sarah Michelle Gellar

Musician/Singer — Bon Jovi

Historical Figure — Queen Elizabeth I and Sacajawea

Fictional Book Character — J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood brothers

Fictional Movie or TV Character — Buffy Sommers

Okay, if you have a blog, go forth and blog. Everyone, including the bloggers, share your answers in the comments section. I’m verrry curious.

I was midway starting to revise my fourth chapter of the day when hubby came home from work this afternoon and says, “Let’s go see Wall-E.” Considering he is not normally the one to suggest we go to the theater and the fact that my brain could use a break after revising three chapters, off we went. It is a mark of good writers and animators when I can feel the emotions of a robot — his wonder, his loneliness, his hope, his happiness. It’s a sweet story of a little robot who just wants someone to love, but there are also a couple of interesting observations about modern society expertly woven into this fictional, futuristic context. Hubby and I really enjoyed the movie, as we have every Pixar film.

I just finished revising that fourth chapter for today. Good thing because I’m getting tired, and that doesn’t make for maximum productivity.

Time flies when you’re…busy. I finished up the requested revisions to the first three chapters of the outline for my next YA book and sent them back to my editor yesterday. Then, I’ll admit, I played hooky the rest of the day to give my brain a break before diving into the next round of revisions on my second Harlequin American today. I’ve already gone through it once, but now I’m doing another pass of revisions based on the fabulous Mary’s suggestions. I should really count how many times she wrote “more emotion here” and “tone” on my pages. Okay, so while playing hooky yesterday, I did actually clean a couple of rooms of the house. Real cleaning happens when I’m between projects. When I’m in the middle of writing or revising, things just get a quickie cleaning.

But I also watched a couple of movies. The Other Boleyn Girl inspired me to do a bit of research about the British monarchy and particularly Henry VIII’s six wifes, three of whom it turns out were named Catherine. Must have been a very popular name. I liked Scarlett Johannson and Natalie Portman in their roles as Mary and Anne Boleyn, but I have to say that Eric Bana is just way too hot to play Henry. I mean, all the paintings I see of Henry show a portly, red-bearded man. Let’s just say Eric isn’t portly. I’m a fan of Natalie Portman’s, so it was a bit jarring to see her playing such a scheming bitch. Even so, she made you feel her despair and heartbreak when she realized that the failure to produce a male heir was going to lead to her death. Let me just say, what a sucky time to be a woman noticed by the king. I think I would have rather been an ugly peasant, thanks.

Netflix delivered Into the Wild today, and the next few things on my queue are all about or set in Alaska to inspire me as I get ready to start writing YA #2.

I’m late on announcing last week’s book winner, which is Teble! E-mail me with your address and I’ll get the books out to you. Up for grabs this week:

Something’s Cooking by Joanne Pence
Countess in Buckskin by Merline Lovelace
The Family Next Door by Janice Kay Johnson

Did you hear the sigh of relief today? That was me after I finished my chapter outline for my new YA book. I’ve now sent it off to my friend Monica for a read before I make final edits and send it to my editor. Yay! Of course, then it’s on to revisions on my second Harlequin American and my Supernatural essay. I did get good news from my YA editor. Heartbreak River came back from the copyeditor so clean that it’s now off to the printer! I may have bound galleys next month!

Thursday was my birthday, so I took that day off. Hubby took the day off from work. I had lunch with friends, then hubby and I went to see Prince Caspian, which I really enjoyed. In fact, I’m basing the hero in this new YA on Ben Barnes, who plays Caspian. Then I zipped into Books-a-Million to pick up my friend Jeanne Adams’ debut novel, Dark and Dangerous. Finally, we went out to dinner at Olive Garden, which was yummy. It was nice to have a day off to just play in the middle of hectic deadlines, and I think it actually helped me be fresh enough to power through to the end of my outline last night.

Okay, I’ve mentioned before how much I LOVE Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series and how I’m eagerly anticipating the movie Twilight this December. So, I did a little squee when I saw the gorgeous new poster for the movie and discovered there’s a new trailer available for viewing. You can see these at the movie’s new Web site, and you can also download the poster image as your computer’s wallpaper, like I did. Now the image below of Bella and Edward will greet me each time I turn on my computer.

Hubby and I had a date day today. We went out to eat and then to see the new movie, Iron Man (click here to watch trailer). I’ve mentioned before that I’m a fan of superhero movies, so I’ve been looking forward to this one since I saw the first trailer. And the movie did not disappoint.

It had action, funny lines, intrigue, kickin’ music (I still have “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath playing in my head), and Robert Downer Jr. was great in the role. He put the necessary snark in Tony Stark.

If you plan to see the movie, a tip — stay until the end of the credits. There’s an extra scene that gives a definite hint that we’ve not see the last of Iron Man.

So, I’m curious — any other superhero movie fans out there? If so, what is your favorite? Superman? Spiderman? Fantastic Four? X-Men? Batman? Iron Man?

This video of a very sleepy bear cub is so cute. I think most of us have felt like this little guy at some point. In fact, I think I could take a nap now if I tried. But there’s too much to do. I seriously think my to-do list multiplies when I turn away.

I’m eagerly awaiting the release of Twilight in December, but until then I keep popping over to Stephenie Meyer’s blog (she’s author of the book on which the movie is based) to get updates. There are links to this series of videos about the filming of the movie. Cool!

Got a lovely e-mail back from my Razorbill editor yesterday, thanking me for getting my revisions back early and that hopefully the next time I see the manuscript it’ll just be the copy editor’s  line edits. Yay!

Hard to believe, but another summer movie season is just around the corner. Yahoo! Movies printed their list today of the Top 10 Most Anticipated Summer Movies. Four of them (Prince Caspian, The Dark Knight, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and Iron Man) were already on my list, but after perusing the Yahoo list, they all sound good, though I probably won’t see Sex in the City since I never watched the show. I didn’t realize the new Incredible Hulk was coming out this summer. I’m a fan of superhero movies and Edward Norton, so this new version sounds interesting. You can see the full list, with links to trailers, here.

What movies are you anticipating this summer? What about the rest of the year? I’m eagerly anticipating Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in November.

A few years ago, I remember a anime movie called Howl’s Moving Castle getting some positive remarks from those who remark on movies. It was also up for an Oscar for Best Animated Movie. But like so many movies, I missed it at the time. (My Netflix queue will attest to how many such movies I’ve missed.) I TiVoed Howl’s Moving Castle over the weekend, possibly the first thing I’ve TiVoed off Cartoon Network. But I’m really glad I did. I really liked the look of the movie, the musical score, and the love story Sophie the hat maker and Howl, the wizard. I definitely recommend it if you have a chance to see it.

As with most weeks after a big deadline, I’m in catch-up mode this week — all the things that didn’t get done while I was revising. Even so, I’m beginning to brainstorm my next book to pitch to Harlequin American as my option book (the next book they have the first “option” to buy but which is not included in my current contract).

While I’m mulling, here’s a fun video for Howl’s Moving Castle set to a song I just discovered, “Nemo” by Nightwish, another Finnish rock band.