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    • Monday Movies – Defiance

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    I’d been looking forward to seeing Defiance all week. Jess B. and I decided to make it our last horrah–at least until she gets back from Australia in February. I don’t know what I’ll do without my writing buddy for more than 2 weeks … but that’s another story all in itself.

    So Jess and I met up at the Cinemark Carefree (so I could use one of the passes I won in the Gazette Holiday Fiction Contest–more details to come on that on my Short Story page) on Sunday afternoon. Now it should be noted that I’m generally not a Sunday-afternoon movie fan, but since we were celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. and his amazing accomplishments and contributions to our country with a day off on Monday, I took the plunge for a Sunday movie.

    defiance-movie-poster

    And I couldn’t have been more thrilled! This is the true story of four Jewish brothers in Eastern Europe who stand against the Nazis. In 1941 Tuvia (played by the very talented–and if I may be so bold, handsome–Daniel Craig) and his brother Zus (portrayed by Liev Schreiber) take their other brothers into the forrest to escape the SS after their parents are killed.

    The story is one of compassion as the brothers tell each other they will not welcome anyone else into their community, yet at every turn, their numbers are growing, as they can’t turn anyone away. And when one of the women breaks the rule of pregnancy, Tuvia is faced with a difficult choice. Should he turn her out of the community or offer her grace?

    The brothers’ story made me want to call Micah and tell him how much I love him and how proud I am of him. And at the end, I was crying, but not really out of sadness. More out of the joy of seeing such a group of people triumph in the hardest circumstances. I think I was also crying out of anger. How on earth did the world let Hitler get to that point? Why did no one stand up for Jews? And it made me ask myself some difficult questions, for which I don’t think I have an answer. What attrocities are happening now that no one is standing up against? Can one person stand up and make a difference?

    I’m glad I went to see Defiance, but I must recommend it with reservations. The language is fairly coarse, especially at the beginning, and as it is a war movie, there’s quite a bit of violence. But all-in-all, I thought it was a well-told, very high quality production. I’ll probably see it again at some point down the road. -LJ

    Boggles My Mind

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    So my family is big into games–of the table variety. We love ’em, and don’t get to play as often anymore, as I live 1100 miles from the rest of the family, and when I’m home, there are 4 little ones needing attention. (The kiddos are totally worth it, btw.)

    When I was back in AZ over the Christmas and New Year holidays, somehow we managed to eek in several rounds of our favorite game: Boggle!

    The source of my demise.
    the source of my demise

    If you’re unfamiliar with Boggle, what rock have you been hiding under? Just kidding. It’s a timed word-search game, the object being to find as many words as possible in 3 minutes–and here’s the clincher–that no one else finds. Sounds simple enough,especially for a writer, right?

    Wrong!

    I have NEVER won a single round, let alone a game. It’s like I can’t get enough of being beaten by my big brother Micah, who I don’t think has read a book since Lord of the Rings in junior high. He definitely hasn’t read my book. But that’s a post for another day. 🙂

    Somehow my computer genius of a brother always seems to wallop the rest of the family. And he even does it without some of our more creative words, ie: gnu: a wildebeest, or nug: one of Pauly Shore’s favorite words. (I, myself, prefer stretching the limits of the English language when playing Boggle. After all, I do it to the rules of spelling and grammar in my writing.) No, Micah simply sees things on the Boggle board that I don’t. I’ll proudly announce my “money-maker” at 5 letters long and worth 2 points-“sweet.” Micah will then calmly say that he has that one too, and he also has “sweeten”, “sweeter”, and “sweetener.”

    So I decided that I was tired of losing to Micah, and I was going to make some changes to the game so that even if I didn’t win, at least I wouldn’t lose to Micah. Enter Jacob, also known as J-dawg or JJ. He may have only been two-months-old at our last match, but I had a solid plan to use him to bring down his dad. It was fool-proof. All I had to do was suggest we break out the game when Jacob was awake and needy and then get Micah to hold him.

    And J-dawg did his job perfectly. He was the cutest handicap ever!

    My plan had only one error. I miscalculated the margin by which Micah usually wins. Turns out that the couple of points J-dawg possibly cost him didn’t even come close to making him even with the rest of us. Micah still beat me by at least 3 points a round.

    I’ll need a new plan of sabotage for my next trip home. Until then … -LJ

    Concert Trip? Yes or No

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    So I’ve come to a quandry. As we all know by now, Brandon Heath is one of my favorites. And Third Day is also near the top of my list. (Hmmm … I should nominate them for a Friday Favorite slot.) I’ve had the opportunity to see both Brandon and Third Day in concert on seperate occassions this past year. Both were delightful shows.

    Imagine my delight when I learned that they’re going on tour together this spring for the Revelation Tour. What could be better? I scurried to see the tour schedule to see when they’d be arriving in Colorado. But with each date in the list, my heart sank a little lower. Each date a disappointment. The east coast. The Midwest. Texas. California. Canada.

    No Colorado. Not even a date in New Mexico.

    But there … off in the distance … a glimmer of hope. The tour is coming to Phoenix, Arizona, a mere 15 hour drive. To the little Celebrity Theater with the spinning stage. The site of my first post-college concert–Chris Tomlin and Louie Giglio.

    Okay, so I wouldn’t really drive it, but I have been seriously thinking about flying down for a long weekend and spending a couple days with my family, who live only about a 3 hour drive away. But is it worth it? To plop down $175 for a plane ticket and another $35ish for a concert ticket?

    My mom laughed at me when I suggested it. But I haven’t written off the idea yet.

    Want to weigh in on if I should make the plunge and go see the show? Leave me a comment. -LJ

    Friday Favorites – Brandon Heath

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    I have lots of favorite things: movies, music, BOOKS, friends, memories. You name it, I’ve probably got multiple favorites–which I’m completely aware makes them not a “favorite.” But I’ve decided to ignore that for the moment and will share my current favorites with you every Friday. Hence … Friday Favorites!

    I debated with myself over what my very first favorite would be. My nieces and nephew? They’re so far above favorites, I don’t think they qualify for the category. (Cutest kids ever to grace my family!) The West Wing? I do love the TV show, and will definitely offer it a Friday Favorite slot, but the first? Hmm …brandon-heath-what-if-we

    Well, I finally landed on grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Brandon Heath. If you haven’t heard Brandon, then you’re missing out–big time! I got hooked on him in the summer of 2008, when I stumbled on his first cd at the Family Christian Store (remarkably, the one that’s right next to the dollar theater mentioned in this week’s Monday Movie).

    You might know his song Give Me Your Eyes from his second album What If We. It’s gotten a lot of play on Christian radio, and has an awesome message of seeing those around us through God’s eyes. He’s a way-talented guy. Amy and I went to see him in concert in Denver in early December at free concert hosted by KLOVE at a church on the north side of town. We had a great time, and Brandon sounded as wonderful live as he does on his cds.

    I just discovered that he’s also on tour this spring with Third Day, who I saw live in Denver earlier this last fall. It’s bound to be a fantastic show.

    If you haven’t discovered Brandon Heath yet, do it! You won’t regret it.

    The Infamous “Books” Folder

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    Am I the only one that thinks I might have a very mixed-up filing system? See, on my computer, I have a folder in My Documents titled “books.” And in that folder is every story note or idea I’ve had since college. There must be over a hundred documents in there, just taunting me to organize them. I have about 12 “final” drafts of Kenzie’s story–all saved by date. And of course I have the new book I’m working on.

    But what does one do with files for chick-lit-Amish-girl-YA-with-an-historical-twist ideas?

    Actually that’s five individual ideas right there. But still … how can I keep my folder’s organized so when I’m looking for notes on Kenzie, they’re handy instead of stuck between the camp ground mystery and random names I liked for characters back in 1998? Ugh. Organization is not my strong point. If you have a brilliant idea leave me a comment.

    I can use any suggestions. It can’t get any worse. Until next time, I’ll be lost between every imaginable document belonging to “books.”  And don’t even get me started on the “shorts” folder. -LJ

    Writing Isn’t for the Weak – At Least Not the 2nd Book

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    As I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, my first novel, The Kidnapping of Kenzie Thorn, is being published by Steeple Hill next summer. I couldn’t be more thrilled, and I know that I owe all of it to God. He happened to use a couple of my friends, Kelly B. and Jess B., to help me get the first draft of that story finished–keeping me accountable to get my words written. But since then, I’ve been in the process of writing two or three other stories and making edits to Kenzie’s story. Now that I’m committed to working on the follow-up novel, I find it especially hard to buckle down and get words written each week.

    Then last week, I chatted with another author that I work with. He’s been writing books for more than 15 years. He’s a great guy, so when I told him that I was working on my second novel, I expected him to give me loads of encouragement. I said something along the lines of, “For some reason, getting this book written is harder than the first.” And he said, “They just get harder.”

    Ouch! Talk about a reality check. He told that no one ever tells aspiring writers the truth–even if it is your calling, writing is tough, and it just gets harder over the years.

    At first I was a little disillusioned. Was he just really jaded after so many years in the business? Was he just telling me that every book is harder to write than the last because I was having a hard time? Was I so different from every other author that says it’s easy because God has given them a message? I grappled with these questions for an evening, until I finally came to freeing conclusion.

    It’s okay for the second book to be harder than the first–regardless of what every other author says. After all, writing isn’t about being easy. It’s about being dilligent with the talents that God’s given me.  Getting in front of my computer and putting words on paper, er, screen. It’s just up to me to be available. God will take care of the rest of it for me. His strength is made perfect in my weakness.

    Now this post just passed 370 words. Would these words have been better used if I’d added them to ch. 6 of my current project? Hmm … Not enough answers tonight. So I’ll say goodnight here before I add a couple more lines to ch. 6. – LJ

    Monday Movies – Eagle Eye

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    It’s pretty much a given that I’ll see at least one movie over any given weekend, so I thought I’d share my views on said films in a weekly segment I like to call Monday Movies. If I haven’t managed to catch a recent flick in the theater or on dvd, well, then you’ll be subjected to favorites from my past, likely ranging from the classic muscial Seven Brides for Seven Brothers to the more recent editions of Pride and Prejudice. But this week, I’m featuring …

    eagle-eye-poster

    I caught this action flick, starring Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan, at the dollar theater on Saturday afternoon. Let me just begin by telling you that the cheap theater–while totally fiscally responsible–is not always the best moving-going experiece. The lines can be obnoxiously long and the seats are hugely uncomfortable, but a friend and I decided to give it a go. We were late, so the theater was dark and pretty full by the time we tried to find seats. We managed to find two on an end toward the front, my feet only sticking to the floor like it was coated with regular Elmer’s glue (not the heavy-duty stuff).

    Let’s just say that by the time I squeezed into my seat, I wasn’t sure I’d made the right decision. After all, the movie is already on dvd, so I was thinking that maybe I should have just rented it.

    And then it got going. From the jump, I was hooked! Its fast pace and detailed plot kept me guessing, and I confess that I really didn’t know who the bad guy was until the end. The acting was tight and the story of two strangers who are coerced into following a mysterious voice on the other end of the phone was completely far-fetched–just what I was hoping for. Shia and Michelle had great chemistry and the screenwriter had a wonderful sense of suspenseful build-up followed by a little down time for the audience to catch our breaths.

    Well worth the sticky floor and itty-bitty seats. I’m so glad that I didn’t miss it on the big-screen.

    Eagle Eye does have some rough language and bits of violence, so I don’t recommend it for the kids. But I sure texted my sister-in-law the minute that we got out of the show to tell her that she and my brother should rent it.

    Until the next one … LJ


    Welcome!

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    Greetings and welcome to I Write About Love and Such.

    I’m delighted that you’re visiting my online home, and I hope that you’ll come back frequently. To help you navigate your way through the posts to come, allow me to present …

    The Cast of (Frequent) Characters:

    Liz Johnson – I’ll be your host on this tour through my life and my publishing journey. I’m a sometimes writer, an infrequent jogger, a full-time publicist, and always loved by God. I live in Colorado Springs, CO and have a novel scheduled to release in July 2009 from Steeple Hill Love Inspired Suspense.

    Amy (on the rt.) and me at a Brandon Heath concert
    Amy (on the rt.) and me at a Brandon Heath concert

     

    Amy – My coworker and housemate, who frequently gets me hooked on new TV shows, goes ice skating with me, and has the world’s worst–and by that I mean, best–puns.

    Mom and Dad – Also known as Twila and Don. They live in Arizona in the same city where I grew up.

    Hannah – My sister, who makes fun of me for using words like “delightful” and “lovely” in every-day speech, but I love her anyway. She’s married to John and is the mom to 2 of my beautiful nieces.

    Micah – My computer wizard of a brother. (Seriously … Amy calls him Micah the Awesome because he literally set up our wireless network from 1100 miles away.) He and his wife Beth are the parents of a little girl and boy.

    Jess – My Monday night writing buddy and coworker. She keeps me writing at least once a week and makes me laugh at least a couple times a day. She also gets me on board with under-appreciated movies and TV shows like Pushing Daisies, which I’m going to miss terribly.

    Katie and Stephanie – I first became acquainted with these sisters when Katie, a coworker, asked if I’d like to join them in hunting for a quality singles group at our church. Then they invited me over to watch Veronica Mars on dvd. Over 60 episodes later, and these ladies have become awesome friends.

    My Mr. Right – I haven’t met him yet … I don’t think. But I hope to … soon.