To Vote for Group D, scroll down to the bottom of the page and hit the Start button in the little vote box. Don’t forget to click on the links for A, B and C as well!
Round 1 Group D
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Category Archives: News
Round 1 Group C
To Vote for Group C, scroll down to the bottom of the page and hit the Start button in the little vote box. Don’t forget to click on the links for A, B, and D as well!
Round 1 Group B
To Vote for Group B, scroll down to the bottom of the page and hit the Start button in the little vote box. Don’t forget to click on the links for A, C and D as well!
February Romantic Movie Madness!
February is our favorite month for romance and what better way to experience TruLOVE than to curl up in front of the TV and get lost in Hollywood Romance. But which romantic movie is the best? We need your help to decide! Our Romance Experts have put together a list of the 32 greatest romantic movies of all time and they will square off against each other all month long until we are left with a winner. So get your votes in and make sure you check back at the end of the month to see the winner!
We have reached the final round. 30 Movies have come and gone and we are left with our two favorites. Will The Princess Bride trump the mighty Gone with the Wind? Vote now below and we’ll announce the champion on Friday the 28th! Vote now!
Final Round!
Round 1 Group A
To Vote for Group A, scroll down to the bottom of the page and hit the Start button in the little vote box. Don’t forget to click on the links for B, C and D as well!
Jealousy Is Half-Baked Joy
Women of the ‘30s were, above all, modern. They had ingenuity, smarts and guts. Faced with the worst economic crisis in history, they still managed to do it all. One out of every four women worked outside the home, while the others worked hard as homemakers (cooking, cleaning, entertaining guests with wit and style) with perfectly coiffed hair. They were hardly the weaker sex. Their need for laughter, love, friendship and passion prevailed.
In the 1930’s, True Romance Magazine gave cash prizes to readers who sent the best letters on the subject—“The Happiest Moment of my Life.” This week we launch our new “Blast from the Past” blog with the September, 1934 first place winner, Mrs. J.W.C. who was awarded $25. Here’s her Happiest Moment:
Jealousy Is Half-Baked Joy
Jim and I were practically engaged, when Cousin May came to spend the summer with mother and me. She was pretty, gay and talented. She could sing, play the piano, swim and drive any car. I couldn’t do a thing but keep house and cook!
As the summer advanced, I was actually ashamed of myself, for I was filled with anxiety that I might lose Jim to her. How could he help falling in love with such a girl!
One day Mother received a telegram announcing the coming arrival of other guests. Jim was delegated to meet them at the station, twelve miles away. Of course, he wanted someone to accompany him. I insisted Mother and May go, as I had a cake to bake, but May refused emphatically.
“It’s your place to go,” she said. “I’ll bake the cake—just give me a good recipe to follow.”
“Sure,” agreed Jim, in smiling admiration. “I’ll wager she can bake a cake! She can do anything!”
We returned with the guests and found May with red-rimmed eyes, a burned arm, and a sodden, sticky, flat mess on the table before her.
“Why.” I exclaimed in an experienced voice, “It’s too rich. Didn’t you follow the recipe exactly?”
“Sure did,” she retorted. “Mixed the butter and sugar, but you didn’t put down how much cream to put in.”
“Cream? Did you think you had to put cream in it?”
“Why, yes, it just says—`cream butter and sugar thoroughly,’ so I dumped in a cupful.”
How we laughed, guests and all—Jim, too, regardless of May’s anger and confusion.
It was the happiest moment of my life. The humble little cook and dishwasher had scored one over her brilliant cousin! Evidently Jim noticed, because today I am Mrs. Jim.
—Mrs. J. W. C.
John & Yoko: Their Art, Their Love
In 1957, Julia Lennon bought her 17 year old son, John, his first guitar, a Gallotone Champion acoustic “guaranteed not to split.” The first song he learned to play was Fats Domino’s “Ain’t That a Shame.” At age 15, Lennon formed the skiffle group, the Quarrymen–named after Quarry Bank High School. Lennon first met Paul McCartney at the Quarrymen’s second performance, held in Woolton, England, at the St. Peter’s Church garden fête, after which he asked McCartney to join the band. The pair quickly bonded, and began rehearsing and writing songs together at McCartney’s home. Continue reading
Labor Day Is Lesson in Love
With the end of summer closing in and a steamy Labor Day weekend looming in the town of Holton Mills, New Hampshire, thirteen-year-old Henry—lonely, friendless, not too good at sports—spends most of his time watching television, reading, and daydreaming about the soft skin and budding bodies of his female classmates.
But all that changes on the Thursday before Labor Day, when a mysterious bleeding man named Frank approaches Henry and asks for a hand. Over the next five days, Henry will learn some of life’s most valuable lessons: how to throw a baseball, the secret to perfect piecrust, the breathless pain of jealousy, the power of betrayal, and the importance of putting others—especially those we love—above ourselves. And the knowledge that real love is worth waiting for.
Jason Reitman has taken the director reins and adapted the novel into a feature film. Josh Brolin and Kate Winslet have been given the lead roles and the results have been positive so far—with Winslet having been nominated for a Golden Globe.
Watch the Trailer Here:
In a manner evoking Ian McEwan’s Atonement and Nick Hornby’s About a Boy, acclaimed author Joyce Maynard weaves a beautiful, poignant tale of love, sex, adolescence, and devastating treachery as seen through the eyes of a young teenage boy—and the man he later becomes—looking back at an unexpected encounter that begins one single long, hot, life-altering weekend.–GoodReads
The Challenge of Creating A Good Villain
By Katherine Sharma
Today we want to introduce and welcome our latest new blogger, author Katherine Sharma. She spent more than 15 years as a newspaper writer and editor, but is now focused on writing her own fiction. Her latest mystery, “Lies Agreed Upon” has received high praise from critics. Her blog, Novel Viewpoints, explores the love, life and the challenges of fiction writing.
A traditional mystery, especially a murder mystery, requires a proper villain or two. Like a spider in a web, these antagonists are the prime movers at the heart of the mystery — murdering, abetting, lying, betraying, and generally causing pain, grief and turmoil. Usually, the protagonist, who seeks to solve the central secret of who did what and why, can be flawed or tortured but must ultimately be on the side of justice if not the angels. And the villain can be sympathetic, even admirable, but must ultimately pay for choosing the wrong/evil path. So creating a foil or nemesis of the protagonist is central to my plotting, and crafting “evil” motives and characters is always the most challenging start of my writing process. Continue reading
As Graceful as Nicole
The annual film festival in Cannes is the place to watch groundbreaking cinema. The legendary festival will open this year with the premiere of Grace of Monaco. It is the biopic of actress turned princess, Grace Kelly. The early reviews are in and Nicole Kidman is fantastic playing the title character, not to mention the very enjoyable story wrapped up in this film.
The film portrays a period in her life after marrying Prince Rainier III (Tim Roth) in 1956. Six years later, amid occasional difficulties in fulfilling her role, she was invited back to Hollywood by Alfred Hitchcock, to star in Marnie. At the time, France was threatening to tax, and even annex, Monaco. The film asks the question: Was Grace still an actress or was she really Princess of Monaco? Frank Langella, Parker Posey, Jeanne Balibar, Derek Jacobi and Paz Vega also star. The festival runs May 14-25 and although the official release dates in the U.S. have not been announced, look for her majesty to arrive in early summer.
