The Growing Relationship Between Books and Television

At the beginning of the year, Laura Miller wrote at Salon that "The novel and television are commingling as never before. And it’s about time."

She went on to discuss the latest acquisitions being made and the way in which several literary novels are being adapted to television. It's exciting in many ways, as TV has the potential "to spread out and explore the byways and textures of a novel’s imagined world." TV makes a better fit for book adaptations than film, she argues, and in many ways I agree. I think the trend towards books like The Corrections and Faulkner's works is fascinating and feels like new ground in a lot of ways. I love books and TV best, as you know, they sometimes war in my heart for which I love more and the complementary nature of this growing world appeals to me in many ways.

But...I don't actually like many of the shows that have been adapted from books I love. The first example that springs to mind is Rizzoli and Isles. In some ways, I actually resent the show for not being everything I hoped it would be. I don't mean to be a stickler about screen adaptations never living up to the books, but there are certain elements I certainly hope to find present in a show that is based on characters I love. I guess, at minimum, I hope to find the heart of the characters and the defining characteristics of their relationships to be adhered to. Certainly I recognize that TV is entirely different from novels--new storylines will open up and things will change the characters in fundamental ways, but I want to think that a show will start out in a place that feels true to the heart of the books. And that was absolutely not the case with Rizzoli and Isles. I love the characters in the books to death, they are both incredibly intelligent, hard working women who have a layered and complex working relationship. The show decided to go for a silly, over the top, BFF vibe. It's not that the show isn't fun, I'm sure it's fun for a lot of people. It's just that I look at the source material and then I look at the show, and think...this was the best you could do?

Even book-to-TV factory Alloy adaptations let me down. The Lying Game completely abandoned the premise of the books and as a result the title makes no sense, since the actual Lying Games never feature into the story!

But even more interesting to me is the forthcoming The Corrections since Franzen himself is writing on it. The book is ten years old! And now he's being given a chance to go back to the book and revisit the characters and stories. It's almost like being given a second chance on the story itself. It will be interesting to see how it does and what he chooses to do with the opportunity. Miller also raises some interesting questions about how Franzen's adaptation of The Corrections will have a status any other person's adaptation wouldn't.

Despite the exciting opportunities being presented by adapting books to television series, there is still much to consider as a reader. Could we eventually lose something with this new phenomenon? I have to admit that A-J Aronstein's recent essay at The Millions on this subject is one of my favorite things I've read on the internet in ages and explores this question with depth.

What can I say? The brain is sometimes lazy. It conjures approximations of Mr. Darcy, or Daisy Buchanan, or Chip Lambert based on people we know. We try to understand a novel in the vernacular of our own experience. Our relationships condition our mental, emotional, and psychological connection with characters. And when we say that literary fiction is “character-driven,” we mean this: our private interactions with texts depend as much on the associations and imagination of the author as on the associations and imaginations of the reader. Our desire to know them — and to know them on our own terms — drives us to read.

When books are adapted to the screen, we begin to lose bits of what made those stories our own and the ways they were grounded in our own experience. A whole new ingredient has been added into the mix, or an intermediary if you will. We aren't directly engaging with the text, we are engaging with someone else's interpretation of it. But because of the ties they hold to the novel, names, locations, plot details, they have the potential to interfere with our own memories of the experience of the book or the world we found inside the pages.

It's an exciting world to be sure, and I still think there are a lot of books that would make great television series. But I also think wholly original content on TV can be just as fulfilling and work to the advantages of the medium.

How do you feel about the growing trend in adapting works of literary fiction for television?

Books on TV: Gossip Girl and The Beautiful and Damned (AKA Really Long Thoughts on Serena's Arc)

"Beautiful things grow to a certain height and then they fail and fade off," Serena van der Woodsen quotes to a movie director in Gossip Girl's fourth season finale. "I relate to it more than I should admit," she adds. The quote is from F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Beautiful and Damned and Serena meets the director, David O. Russell, after a chance encounter with his assistant who was reading the book on the beach. When a book is given such prominence in a show, it's worthwhile to consider what exactly the writers are trying to convey by giving it screen time. This wasn't the first time The Beautiful and Damned made an appearance in the show, earlier in the same season Serena gifted it to her professor/love interest and told him it was her favorite book.

I decided to read the book to see if it could give me any insight to the way the writers think about the character of Serena. For anyone who doesn't watch the show, Serena is sort of the it-girl of the story, beautiful and desirable, things generally fall into her lap. But she lacks direction, is often guided by her impulses in the moment, and is constantly trying to remake herself and become a better person. Of course she is given a background that explains her behavior, her mother was neglectful, her father abandoned her, and she's often been objectified by men.

I'm glad I read the book, because I can see how Gloria Gilbert guided the characterization of Serena in season 4. The above quote is Gloria's, she says it to Anthony when they are looking at old buildings and Gloria is oddly offended by the idea of preservation. The full quote is: "Beautiful things grow to a certain height and then they fail and fade off, breathing out memories as they decay. And just as any period decays in our minds, the things of that period should decay too, and in that way they're preserved for a while in the few hearts like mine that react to them. Trying to preserve a century by keeping its relics up to date is like keeping a dying man alive by stimulants" It's fitting that Gloria in the novel, whose entire sense of self worth revolves around her beauty, would take issue with the attempt to preserve the fleeting and the temporal. She later says in this same section, "there's no beauty without poignancy" and it later bears out when they leave their honeymoon behind, she weeps over the fact that nothing can ever be repeated, and will never quite be the same again. Beauty by its very nature is transient, and since Fitzgerald casts Gloria as beauty incarnate, this combination of adoration and loss creates an interesting dilemma for Serena.

Serena as Gloria Gilbert

At the beginning of Season Four of Gossip Girl, Serena and Blair are vacationing in Paris. Serena is having the time of her life, having left behind a complicated relationship situation where she was torn between two boys, she's seeing many men, living in the moment ("home doesn't exist until we're there" she tells Blair at one point) and Gossip Girl herself even declares her "a muse to us all." This is Serena at the height of her Gloria Gilbert characterization, living in the moment, indulging in the pressing passion of the now, and captivating the people around her with her beauty and her presence. In The Beautiful and Damned, Fitzgerald describes this mentality as Gloria at her normal state of mind, "existing each day for each day's worth."

It's not only the way Serena herself lives, though, but the way people react to her. There has never been a time when Serena fancied a boy she couldn't have, and at the beginning of the fourth season she feels she must decide between two boys, Dan Humphrey--her first real boyfriend of the past, and Nate Archibald, the golden boy and friend since childhood. When she returns home, both boys have made attempts to move on thus delaying her choice. When they talk about her, it's almost as if she's an addiction they can't shake, and they strike an agreement to not have anything to do with her (purportedly to preserve their friendship). But when tough times hit Dan, he seeks Serena out as an escape, she represents a kind of idealization of the past for him, a sense of things being easy and free from emotional complications. The same holds true for Nate, after being emotionally manipulated by another girl, he shows up at Serena's doorstep in hopes of rekindling their relationship. Both of these relationships had ended for legitimate reasons, but Dan and Nate seem to forget them when presented with the idea of Serena. And a third love interest, Colin, feels that after meeting her he's willing to forgo his playboy ways in an effort to get to know Serena better.

The Colin relationship is somewhat puzzling, but I feel it holds some significance outside of it's linear narrative purpose. In the episode before she meets him, Serena declares to Blair that she can't choose between Dan and Nate and that she needs to find someone who can give her what she finds appealing about both men. It would make sense that this would be Colin, who, according to Serena is "handsome in an old Hollywood way and smart." Colin is a self made businessman and unfortunately, also Serena's professor. They decide to get to know each other outside of a romantic relationship while he's her professor and Serena gives him a copy of The Beautiful and Damned which he amazingly reads in like one day. (so unfair it took me a week!) In the original script for episode 4x07*, Colin was supposed to quote a passage about Gloria and say that it reminded him of Serena. The episode was changed to make his reference much more subtle and generic, but I think that we can believe that even though Colin might represent the ideal partner for Serena, he still viewed her as Gloria Gilbert. The passage from which Colin's favorite quote is meant to have come from: "...she moved him as he had never been moved before. The sheath that held her soul had assumed significance--that was all. She was a sun, radiant, growing, gathering light and storing it--then after an eternity pouring it forth in a glance, the fragment of a sentence, to that part of him that cherished all beauty and all illusion."

Irrelevancy

I guess all of this begs the question, why did the writers choose The Beautiful and Damned as a framework for Serena's character? The story of Gloria Gilbert is depressing and slightly outdated. Her relationship with Anthony more closely resembles Blair's relationship with Chuck than any relationship Serena has had. Personally, I think it's tied to the label Gossip Girl gave Serena at the end of season 2--irrelevant. Gossip Girl labelled Serena this way because her status as the it-girl in high school was coming to an end. On top of that, Gossip Girl herself gave Serena her relevancy--thus creating a complicated relationship between the two.

When Serena is first slapped with this label, she reacts badly. She attempts to take Gossip Girl down and fails. After all, if Serena can get rid of Gossip Girl, she is getting rid of the person who controls the narrative about her relevancy. It's also interesting that in this episode, Dan seems to think that perhaps their friendship might be over, feeding into Serena's insecurities about how she matters.

This is not unlike Gloria. Gloria is loved for her beauty, and dreads growing old. When she goes out for a part in a movie, she is at first encouraged but then rejected. She does not receive the lead role, but rather a smaller part, she is cast aside, her beauty is no longer opening the doors for her that it once did. I think this is at the root of Serena's insecurity--she is aware that she is known and often loved for things that are fleeting, and that the real Serena is overlooked or unknown.

In episode 4x19, she hits her lowest point on the irrelevancy scale when she discovers that Dan and Blair have formed a secret friendship and have become so close that they consider they might have romantic feelings for one another. She is angry and hurt, but Blair strikes at her deepest fears when she says that she shares a connection with Dan where they do things they could never do with her. Serena has suddenly become irrelevant to a relationship her two best friends share.

This drives her to make a decision in 4x22 to choose herself, which is the first step in developing a Serena beyond Gloria Gilbert. Her chance encounter on the beach centered around The Beautiful and Damned gives voice to her awareness of the limiting value of the superficial and it launches her into a career that gives her a chance to develop purpose.

Season Five--Taking Control of the Narrative

5x01 opens with Serena happily working her production job in Los Angeles as the filming for The Beautiful and Damned wraps up. She loves her job, she's eager to take on more work, and let her own ideas be known. But when a co-worker tries to sabotage her job, she's once again confronted with the existing narrative about Serena van der Woodsen, when he bitterly says to her, "So it looks like things really do come easy for Serena van der Woodsen, just like I heard." This prompts Serena to take responsibility and ownership of her actions. But, interestingly enough, The Beautiful and Damned also makes an appearance in this episode. The episode opens with a shot of the film Serena has been working on all summer. Anthony holds Gloria and declares "you're such a swan in this light." In the book, I feel this is another passage about the elusive nature of beauty, but I'm going to be rebellious and say that in the show it's about the transformation of Serena van der Woodsen.

Serena again butts heads with someone else's narrative about her life in 5x04. Her ex-boyfriend/step-brother/good friend Dan wrote a book about all of his friends and in this season's most fun episode to date, the book is released. Serena has served as a muse to Dan in the past, and fully expects that she will be portrayed well. She feels Dan knows the real her, and if anything she'll simply be put on a bit of a pedestal. But the reaction of her co-workers clues her in to the fact that this is not the case. Instead she feels she's been depicted as selfish, insensitive, and shallow. And while this leads to an emotionally charged scene with Dan where she tells him she always thought he was the only person who saw her for who she really was and who she wanted to be, it's also worth noting that because of Dan's book Serena loses a valuable and highly sought after meeting at work. The existing narrative about her interferes with her job and her own goals.

It's interesting that in 5x06, Serena and Dan's career goals come up against each other. Serena has convinced Dan to sign over the film rights to his book to her as a way of making things up to her boss. But her boss has different ideas about how to use Dan's book than Dan does and Serena ends up sacrificing her job to protect Dan and his reputation. In some ways, it's a precursor to her eventual goal to become a new and improved Gossip Girl. While she makes a sacrifice that's admirable, she also makes the choice on her own about someone else's portrayal. She is, in a sense, controlling the narrative about her friend. Additionally, she also agrees to write her own blog in this episode and tell her own story. Keeping in mind that part of Serena's Gloria Gilbert characterization is based on how others react to her, it's significant that both Jane and Diana express support for Serena being someone other than the current public opinion holds she is.

In 5x07, Serena is now writing her blog, but she doesn't know what to say about herself. Her cousin suggests that if she wants "people to read you, then they need to read about you first." In other words, get Gossip Girl's attention! It puts Serena back to the step one, her relevancy being dependent on Gossip Girl. She agrees, though, and a convoluted plot ensues. Diana suggests to Serena that Gossip Girl is heartless and cruel when a blast comes out that Serena has been stood up on a date, but Serena says it's nothing compared to the past, and the first example she uses is when Gossip Girl called her irrelevant! Diana says they need to work together so that Gossip Girl "loses her readers and their attacks lose their power." Serena declines at first, but when Charlie comes under attack by Gossip Girl, she agrees to help Diana take down Gossip Girl. Charlie also tells Serena she doesn't need to be seen with some guy to define who she is. ♥

One other thing that is kind of interesting to me about 5x07 was the choice to film at Sleep No More. I puzzled over the idea that this was a pivotal episode in the story line of Gossip Girl as an idea until I read a few reviews of the play from friends that went together. They each had an entirely different experience, because there is no one story to be told at Sleep No More. As a backdrop for an episode about confused encounters it works, but it also works as a framework for exploring the idea that there are multiple ways to tell a story and the perceptions and life experiences one brings to a story affect the way it is received. On the show, Gossip Girl generally sends out suggestive blasts with pictures, but could the same gossip have an entirely different impact in someone else's hands? This is the idea Serena engages with as the season progresses, so Sleep No More is actually a really interesting place to launch that part of the story.

Episode 5x10 is when old Gloria Gilbert!Serena begins to battle with new emerging Serena. Serena is confused about where her own story is going and wishes she had a way to look back at where she's been and maybe where she's going. Dan suggests she look back at Gossip Girl blasts to get a sense of things. As she does, feelings for Dan begin to stir within her as she reflects on their relationship. She knows that Dan is in love with Blair, though, and makes no mention of her feelings to him. Even so, when Chuck and Blair are in a car accident believed to be caused by the paparazzi who were alerted by Gossip Girl, Serena decides Gossip Girl has to go down for good...and Nate agrees with her.

In 5x11, with Nate, Serena decides to become the new and improved Gossip Girl after she realizes that it's not just the pictures and secrets that are a problem, but the assumptions that come with them. This is important to me in the progression of her story line this season because you start with Serena reacting and taking ownership over her actions due to what people say about her and in the important mid-season episodes, she's at the point where she now wants to take overall control of the narrative. But...you also have these lingering feelings for Dan that seem to me to based on old Serena, the Serena that looks to what someone else says about her and thinks maybe that part of being Serena is being with a man. I feel like since Serena's feelings were sparked by reading Gossip Girl blasts, her feelings for Dan come from a place where she's insecure about where she's headed. My understanding of her relationship to Gossip Girl thus far is that in order to defeat her label of irrelevancy she needs to come to a place where she no longer depends or cares about what Gossip Girl says about her.

I make no predictions about where this story line will lead, and I wouldn't be surprised if it takes a bit of a backseat to other story for the next run of episodes. And...I don't know I don't relate AT ALL to this idea of being valued for surface beauty and yet the irony is it all feels rather poignant to me, I can't help but sympathize with Serena as she struggles to find worth beyond the worth she has to offer men.

I HOPE that it's relevant that Nate is the one helping Serena forge this new identity even as he works on his own independence. And at the moment, he's certainly doing it out of friendship with no ulterior motives. But I'm slightly nervous it's just going to end up in some big mess where we find out everyone is even more related than we thought.

Coming Up

Next week is Gossip Girl's 100th episode and several weeks ago a video leaked of a dream sequence Serena will have. In the dream, she sees herself as Marilyn Monroe singing "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend." I feel like the song is the perfect choice and Marilyn the perfect movie star for Serena to see herself as. The song is about the importance of a girl securing a future for herself before her looks fade and in so many ways that seems like what Serena is battling towards this season. And yet, she's distracted by the fact that she has lost Dan's attention to Blair. My loose Serena-centric interpretation of this dream is that Serena is battling to be herself and yet she's not quite there yet, she still hasn't fully let go of the idea that Dan's/men's attention is important. And yet she realizes that Dan is interested in a girl who in the past would never have been a threat, a girl known for her smarts and incidentally, Serena's best friend.

*totally useless bit of information, but Marilyn Monroe was married for a time to Arthur Miller who described her this way: "She was a whirling light to me then, all paradox and enticing mystery, street-tough one moment, then lifted by a lyrical and poetic sensitivity that few retain past early adolescence" After all the Gloria Gilbert as light talk I waded through in The Beautiful and Damned I have to admit that I thought Marilyn was an excellent choice for Serena's dream. (along with the obvious--blond sex symbol reputation!)


*Gossip Girl had a huge script leak problem last season which is the only reason I know there were changes from script to screen in episode 7.

Thoughts on The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald

When I was in high school, they split up our junior year (mostly American lit) reading between classes--one class read The Great Gatsby and one class, my class, read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I was slightly bummed at the time because I remember my sister loved The Great Gatsby and at the time, of course, I still idolized my older siblings, but I ended up loving Huck Finn. (there is a probably a life metaphor in there somewhere) I never took the initiative to read The Great Gatsby on my own, but now years later, I have finally read F. Scott Fitzgerald! I read The Beautiful and Damned and it was not necessarily a fun read, but I guess I'm glad I read it since he is considered to be such a great American novelist, etc. The setting for the book is the 1920's? But the book was published in 1922 so maybe a bit before that, the war in the book is the first world war.

The Beautiful and Damned is primarily Anthony Patch's story and he is in no way a likable protagonist, there was nothing redeeming about him really, but obviously that wasn't the point. Anthony Patch has enough money to get by, certainly, but what he really wants is his grandfather's inheritance, so he's basically waiting throughout the entire book for his grandfather to die, so he can have this unlimited amount of money to squander on the pursuit of pleasure. He meets Gloria Gilbert, and thinks he falls in love with her. Gloria is beautiful, like the most beautiful girl ever (of course) and Anthony must have her! So when she sort of turns him down at one point, he gets very childish and pretends he doesn't know her for like five weeks in order to make her see the error of her ways...and that's pretty much the story of their relationship. It's hard to believe they really love each other, but rather the idea of each other and the idea that they are young and beautiful and indulging in their greatest passions. But the reality of their relationship is ugly. Gloria clings to the sentimentality of it and Anthony essentially hates her and the hold she has over him, so he's manipulative and abusive and it's just not a lot of fun to read?

The book is divided into three sections, the first section being about how Anthony and Gloria meet, fall in love, and get married, the second section is about how their marriage slowly begins to dissolve, and the third section is pretty much about their utter destruction. I feel like the story meanders in some places, I hit the halfway mark and almost gave up. But even so, it's kind of a depressing look at desire. I mean ultimately I feel like it's the satiation of desire in the moment that both characters live for and that ultimately destroys them.

Anthony's feelings for Gloria are largely centered around his desire to possess her. "He was not so much in love with Gloria, but mad for her." She is the one thing he really wants in the beginning of the novel and for awhile she remains out of reach for him. An old family friend is also interested in her and that drives Anthony mad with jealousy, but eventually he...wins? And marries Gloria. And it's good times at first, they go on their honeymoon, and rent a house and they are happy and indulging all their inner passions. Only they have serious problems and those come out in the a scene that made me think, "why am I reading this book?"

Fitzgerald prefaces the scene with saying it was an incident that stole Gloria's brightness or whatever, but really it was just Anthony being abusive. They were out with friends and Gloria wants to leave but Anthony doesn't and he's annoyed by her insistence that they need to leave. And they argue about whether or not he's drunk, and then comes this gem: "In his mind was but one idea--that Gloria was being selfish, that she was always being selfish and would continue to be unless here and now he asserted himself as her master." They fight and Gloria is miserable, but Anthony thinks, "Ah she might hate him now, but afterward she would admire him for his dominance." It's just really gross, but it does take place approximately halfway through the novel and signifies the turning point in their relationship...things are never quite the same again, while they might find temporary reprieves, whatever trust Gloria had in Anthony is shattered in a way that can never really be repaired. The closest she comes to feeling things for him again is when he goes to war and she's writing him letters overcome with sentiment.

But nothing seems to stop Anthony and he continues to work his way to his own destruction. He goes to train in the army for war and self sabotages the opportunities he has there, strikes up an affair with a local girl, and continues to drink. He neglects Gloria until it becomes clear she might be forgetting about him at which point he does everything in his power to try fix things. And that's pretty much the story of Anthony Patch. He doesn't want anything until it's out of reach and then he wants it desperately. He even says at one point, (to the girl he's having an affair with for crying out loud!) "Things are sweeter when they're lost. I know--because once I wanted something and got it. It was the only thing I ever wanted badly, Dot. And when I got it, it turned to dust in my hands.*" Honestly that pretty much sums up the story of Anthony's life! He only ever wants what is just out of reach.

Gloria spends the novel preoccupied with her own beauty and its inevitable deterioration. When she thinks at one point in the book she might be pregnant, she's upset over the idea that her body will lose its shape because that is what Anthony loves. She is told again and again how beautiful she is, so when something happens towards the end of the novel to make her feel like she is losing her youth, she's really upset. And there's this weird thing in the beginning I think, where we are supposed to believe that Gloria is beauty itself incarnate.

The book wasn't without humor though, sometimes I did just laugh at how ridiculous Anthony was. He never wants to work and at the beginning of the book he thinks that he wants to be an author, but the very thought of having to sit down and try to pour all his thoughts out is off putting. I mean, I could actually recognize some elements of real human behavior in a funny way through some of these stories. And oh the disdain for the middle class! Anthony would rather be poor or rich than middle class.

Supposedly The Beautiful and Damned is really closely based on F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda. If this is true what depressing lives they had and what a jerk Fitzgerald was! But I do think it's an interesting read if you can bare hating the characters and knowing they will make every wrong choice available to them based on their desires in the moment. As you might guess, there's no happy ending in that. And I suppose there's still quite a bit of a cautionary tale in it. Also I was looking at some reviews and I saw someone say the characters are really complex and so is their relationship. And I don't quite agree with that because I felt like I understood everything about their driving motivations and how they related to each other, and I don't know if that's because Fitzgerald painted them so well or if it's just because it all boiled down to selfishness.

I read this book because the show Gossip Girl wove the book into their framework as a reference point for the characterization of Serena. I'm a sucker for shows that do this (hello Lost) and it was actually pretty illuminating. I will talk more about that tomorrow, but don't you think it's fascinating how stories build upon stories and no story exists in isolation? It makes me wish I could read more books and consume more stories, but alas I am only one person, I must rely on others to do a lot of it for me!

Rating: ha ha how do you rate a classic? like this 4/5
Source of Book: Bought it
Publisher: Signet Classics
*Okay so this reminded me of a line in a Cure song, "A Letter to Elise" so I looked up the song just for fun and discovered is actually does have literary influence in the form of Letters to Felice by Kafka!

The Sunday Salon -- I ain't changed but I know I ain't the same

Hey guys happy start to a new week!

This week I went to the Book Warehouse for the last time. This is the second time I've watched a store that sells remaindered books go out of business in the last couple of years and they always mark the books down to a dollar. And THERE ARE STILL SO MANY GREAT BOOKS LEFT! It's really surprising to me, but then again, it's pretty hard to stock up on books. Especially these days with how slow I'm reading, but the temptation is big and of course I got some.

The National Book Critic Circle Awards finalists were announced and in keeping with my stellar track record, I've read none of them! In more exciting news, the Newbery, Caldecott, and Printz awards will be announced on Monday and you can watch it all via webcast. And the Edgar nominees were also announced! An exciting time for book awards, I guess.

In other fun book news, Fyrefly is offering her great spreadsheet for tracking your reading again, Ana offers an annotated reading list of ladies in comics, and there's going to be a Jane Eyre board book, which might be the coolest thing ever.

TV

Alcatraz--I liked this. I think a lot of the appeal is the lead, she's fun and cute (and female which is always a plus with me). The mysteries of the prisoners might become a bit formulaic? But with the longer ongoing mystery, I think it has potential. Jorge Garcia is pretty much playing the same character he played on LOST, and Michael Giacchino scored the pilot beautifully, too bad he's not doing the rest of the show. I feel like both episodes they showed ended with good surprises, so I don't know I'm willing to stick with it awhile. Also you know, with so much of the LOST team involved it's hard for me not to want it to be great.

Switched at Birth--I loved this episode, toooo! It's always a good sign when a show is willing to bring things back and have consequences to actions, and also I just kind of love that they don't shy away from things like the fact that yes, sometimes Emmett hates hearing people or that Daphne might run up against being used for her "disability". And...I don't know I think it's just kind of amazing that Daphne was able to determine the root of her problem being with her dad and facing him. But the real winning scene to me was the one between Bay and Daphne, I can't imagine a more complicated relationship than theirs. They alone can understand each other, yet at the same time there's just so much resentment between them.

Revenge--I actually thought this was pretty good this week, I was kind of struck by how Emily was kind of facing what she'd given up. When she saw how Jack cared for Amanda, if she'd just come back, with no thought for revenge, that's the life she could have had. Instead, she's stuck in this never ending cycle of destroying people. I thought it was sad when Daniel proposed, though, and told her he could be his true self with her. I guess I'll stick with this one for a little while longer.

Gossip Girl--Ha ha ha, are they serious with this storyline? Okay I have actual serious issues with the way they ripped The End of the Affair for their show, but maybe I'll save those for another time.

Ana pointed me to this great piece on Racialicious about The Vampire Diaries, and it paints a pretty clear picture about the problems with the show. It was eye opening for me, I knew I had vague issues with the show I couldn't exactly define, they are well defined here.

Film

The Ides of March--I liked this a lot actually. I thought it was a clever and interesting look at just how one man's idealism was shattered. And in smaller ways, it was just a convincing look at the lengths people are willing to go to win and how they sort of lose the things that were once important to them.

I also watched Don't Be Afraid of the Dark and Fright Night neither one was great.

Books and Reading

I read Sara Zarr's How to Save a Life this week and it was amazing. Truly a great book, I'm kind of scared to try to review it. I also read Stewart O'Nan's new one, The Odds which was typical O'Nan meaning amazing characterization. Right now I'm reading Legacy of Eden by Nelle Davy which is good as well, except that she makes out every single event in the past to be like the EVENT THAT CHANGED EVERYONE FOREVER.

Enough about me! Tell me what's new with you, what you've read that you loved or if you liked Alcatraz or even just you know, what you had for breakfast.

The Vampire Diaries 3x12: The Ties that Bind and The Secret Circle 1x12: Witness

So TVD. I liked this episode for the most part, in that I was pretty entertained throughout. Bonnie's mom is like the worst mother ever, so maybe there's more to that story. I don't know, I guess she wasn't apologetic enough for me. I liked the scene where Bonnie told her about Grams, though, I thought it was played perfectly, Bonnie's grief still so big, yet she managed to contain that big huge story in just a few lines and her eyes..I don't know I thought it was good.

Caroline was there for what..two lines? I thought it was brave of Tyler to ask her father for his help, knowing what he did to her before. And having to turn so much is bound to be painful for him. I guess I just feel like this Tyler as a hybrid story line is still all over the place and not that interesting. Nothing about it has been about Tyler's character or even Caroline's, with the exception of last week, so I don't get it and I don't care. I'm still kind of mad at the writers for doing it in the first place to be honest. Also...like it's SO painful to turn into a werewolf, and if gratitude is what keeps Tyler bound to Klaus, why did Klaus want to be a hybrid in the first place? I can see why werewolves would, but it's interesting that they don't really talk about the appeal of being a werewolf at all, which...there has to be some right?

I have to admit I was laughing a little bit when Elena told Stefan about the kiss...which, she just plucked some wood out from his chest NICE TIMING but it's like...there's all this HUGE stuff going on, but this had equal emotional weight to all of that. I mean I totally understand that this triangle is the focal point of the show and this is a teen drama so of course this stuff seems just as huge, it just felt odd and like too much to me tonight. I really felt for Stefan, though, wow!

Klaus was annoying tonight. Please stop whining about your family and be a majestic kingly vampire instead okay?

And lastly...yay Elijah! That was a GREAT comeback!

The Secret Circle

I really liked this episode! It gave me Harry Potter vibes again, with the flashback to their parents' deaths. I love Jake, I can't help it, and I'm annoyed by it because I ship him with Cassie but the show already told me that ADAM AND CASSIE ARE WRITTEN IN THE STARS. I'm annoyed by how often Melissa gets shipped off to Seattle and how they have no storyline for her anymore, when she's around she's always propping someone else. I hope they fix that. But seriously I liked this episode.

It was pretty sad to see Jake's parents die and that scene where his mom was begging for help was just...perfect and sad. I like that Cassie is trying to figure this stuff out about her father and that we learned some details..i.e. he's still alive! And I like Diana and Adam working together. I thought Faye's story line was pretty interesting, the way she's isolated from the circle which automatically puts her in danger, and I wondered if drug guy could be Cassie's dad? Not sure he's old enough.

Loved Ethan tonight! I thought that was one of the most interesting developments of all, he was such a sad sop before, but he's got a little spark. And I guess the fact that he was on the scene of the fire...maybe he was more drawn to magic then he let on before, maybe it wasn't the deaths of all the people he loved that drove him to drink, but the loss of his magic. He seemed like a whole new person with the crystal. I just thought this episode was really tight, and the Adam and Diana relationship stuff in the middle of it didn't feel ridiculous and out of place like Elena telling Stefan about the kiss did in the Vampire Diaries. I feel like Thomas and Shelley really sell those scenes, and I guess I kind of appreciate how much emotional weight the show puts into their relationship.

There are all these things I really like about the show, I like, for example, that when they needed a shocking death they killed a boy instead of a girl. I like that the cast has more females than males, I like how important the girls friendships are to each other and that you can have really great scenes like the one last week between Diana and Melissa where they talk about how their friendship sort of faded away. I feel like the Adam and Diana relationship is so well handled, and I love that it hasn't been glossed over or tossed aside but that it's a genuine struggle the way those things really are. It doesn't have the same shocking fast moving plot of The Vampire Diaries, but I still love it and look forward to it each week.

And you guys? What did you think?

Review: LoveSick by Jake Coburn

I started LoveSick right before the end of the year because I wanted to read a book I was fairly certain would not become a favorite and miss out on my favorite books of the year list. I know it's wrong to head into a book with so much prejudice, but in this case it actually worked because I enjoyed it much much more than I thought I would*.

LoveSick is about two young college students who each have a huge demon they are battling in the form of an addiction. Ted is a recovering alcoholic. His alcoholism led to a drunk driving accident that ruined his life via an injury that would keep him from a basketball scholarship. Erica is a wealthy girl who is battling bulimia. Her father is very controlling and when Erica insists on going to college on her own, he devises a plan to hire someone to keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't return to binging and purging.

He hires a private consultant who locates Ted and offers to pay his way to college completely in exchange for keeping an eye on Erica. Ideally the situation shouldn't require Ted to do much except look for alarming signs that Erica is relapsing, and in exchange, he'll be able to attend college after all.

I'm pretty sure you can guess where the story is going. Ted goes to school but soon finds himself in a surprising friendship with Erica. And he feels more for her than friendship. He starts to feel guilt ridden about what he's doing. And Erica really likes Ted, too, she likes him more than she's ever liked anyone. After this is established, the story escalates in ways that feel REALLY BIG for the quieter story it felt like before. I guess I can understand the reasoning behind it, but to be honest it was my least favorite part of the book. Still, when you are messing around with big money, bad things are bound to happen.

I really loved the characters in LoveSick I thought both Ted and Erica were well developed and their individual struggles with their addictions fleshed out. The scenes where Erica is binging were just..I don't know described so well. She would carefully plan each second of her activity, from where she would buy her food, to the kind she would get, and the rush she would feel. Even in its nitty gritty horrific details, I could really feel the pull and hold it had over her. And I liked that she had a complicated view of herself, that she struggled with both wanting to be free from the shackles of worrying about how others saw her, to the reality that she wasn't. For example, I loved this part:

"Erica skipped hurriedly past his eyeline and then paused outside the door to the bathroom. She couldn't decide if she was embarrassed by her messy ponytail, or her swollen pores, but she suddenly felt like turning into the bathroom and meticulously inspecting herself." (She spends some time then trying to figure out what to do and talking herself into the fact that only she has a right to judge herself when..."Ten feet from the lounge, Erica realized she'd instinctively refastened her ponytail, and it infuriated her. Reaching again for the elastic, she yanked it from her hair.

Erica continues to meet her therapist from home, but because she doesn't trust him quite yet, or her father, she meets him in online chess games to chat about her life. The therapist is really endearing, but I loved how she described Ted to him at first, and how she didn't want the things Ted had done to be what defined him to anyone else.


DrMTRudas: Then how would you describe the 'real' Ted to me?
ep149846: i don't know...i guess i feel like i can be my alone self with him
DrMTRudas: I think that's a contradiction in terms, Erica.
ep149846: you know how you can't really feel like you know yourself unless you're alone....cause there're a million eyes on your or people telling you what to do or say or think...cause people are like static for the soul
DrMTRudas: I'm following you.
ep149846: well with a real person i can be myself around them...my alone self

I also really liked Ted and his struggle with the morality of what he was doing and his growing feelings for Erica. I never doubted that he wanted the best for Erica, but at the same time this money they were giving him represented his last real chance. His roommate drinks a lot, and Ted is never unaware of the temptation. He even thinks to himself that he could outdrink him, when his roommate looks down on him for not partying like everyone else. His emails with the private consultant who hired him are hilarious and reveal his level of discomfort with what's he's doing.

To be clear, when the truth comes out Ted faces the consequences of his actions. Ted and Erica don't save each other, the narrative holds that change can only happen when the individual is ready. But they do provide friendship and understanding for each other in a time when they don't have it anywhere else.

So while the plot is not all that original, I enjoyed LoveSick for the characters and the realistic depiction of their addictions.

Rating: 4.25/5
Things You Might Want to Know: Profanity
Source of Book: Paperbackswap
Publisher: Speak (Penguin)

*Jake Coburn writes for Gossip Girl and I never like his episodes they often include problematic elements and are sometimes offensive. I do not understand how the person that wrote the LoveSick characters gets the Gossip Girl characters and their issues so wrong though. Also, he's a recovering addict himself according to his website.

Class of 2k12 Interview with Megan Bostic, Author of Never Eighteen

Throughout the year I'll be bringing you some interviews with the authors over at the Class of 2K12! I hope you will enjoy getting to know these authors and thoughts on their books better. Today Megan Bostic shares some thoughts on her book, Never Eighteen.

How has your personal history influenced your writing of your book?

My personal history has greatly influenced me in writing Never Eighteen. I cared for my mother-in-law as she was dying of cancer, so I saw firsthand the effects of the illness and the treatments for it as well. And all the problems Austin’s friends and family face? I’ve faced these same problems either personally or indirectly through friends and family. It’s funny, because people have said that maybe it’s too unbelievable that so many people Austin knows have these issues, but truly I’ve known people with every single one of these struggles, and I’d bet most people out there do too. I don’t want to elaborate because I don’t want to give away too much of the book.

How did you react when you saw the cover of your book?

Honestly, I wasn’t really sure if I liked it, or maybe, it just wasn’t what I expected. I guess I was expecting something dark and dynamic. My editor alleviated my reservations. First, she explained to me that just about every cover on bookshelves these days is black. The light blue color of my cover will stand out from the rest. Also, the artwork on the cover is original, and I LOVE the mustang—I’d rather have original art than stock art. The cover is also androgynous; it would appeal to boys as well as girls. I did have them change the color from a creamy yellow to the soft blue it is now. In my opinion, my cover is uber cool, and I’m totally in love with it.

What was your reading life like as a child?

I love to read—always have. I read all the time when I was a kid, a virtue my mom instilled in me. Mysteries were some of my favorites growing up. I used to read the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and Encyclopedia Brown. I also liked poetry a lot. I used to read Robert Louis Stevenson’s, A Children’s Garden of Verses, over and over. The Judy Blume books were probably my favorite, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Blubber, and my all-time favorite, Are You There God It’s Me Margaret. I went from Judy Blume to S.E. Hinton, and then at about thirteen, straight to Stephen King.

What’s the last book you read?

The last book I read was from a very talented debut author and member of the Class of 2K11, Bettina Restrepo. The title is Illegal, and it’s about a girl and her mother crossing the border from Mexico into Texas after the disappearance of her father. It’s a very heart rending, but thoughtful novel. I highly suggest it.

How do you feel about book blogs and using social media?

In this day and age, I think both of these media aspects are very important to writers, especially debut writers. With the economy the way it is today, publishing houses just cannot put much money into publicizing their authors -- this goes double for unknowns. Social media has made it easier for authors to market themselves. Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube have become very effective tools for the self-promoting author. Book bloggers are also instrumental in getting authors out in front of the masses. They always seem so willing to help a debut by doing interviews, reviews, and blog tours. I think without social marketing and book blogging, writers would have an extremely difficult time marketing their work.

Would you rather deal with an alien invasion or a zombie apocalypse?

I would much rather deal with a zombie apocalypse. Aliens would more than likely be more intelligent than humans, plus have better technology, making our weaponry look primitive. Zombies are slow and stupid and most the time can be killed by merely cutting their heads off.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure food?

Definitely pizza. I’m Italian after all. I love it! I could eat it every day and wish I could. Any kind of pizza will do, just hold the anchovies.

What are you working on next?

Presently I’m writing a novel about a girl who is a self-harmer (cutter). It’s about the events that steer her to that dark place and what it takes for her to recover. The tentative title is Sad, though I’ve thought about changing the name.

About Never Eighteen: Austin Parker is on a journey to bring truth, beauty, and meaning to his life.

Austin Parker is never going to see his eighteenth birthday. At the rate he’s going, he probably won’t even see the end of the year. The doctors say his chances of surviving are slim to none even with treatment, so he’s decided it’s time to let go.

But before he goes, Austin wants to mend the broken fences in his life. So with the help of his best friend, Kaylee, Austin visits every person in his life who touched him in a special way. He journeys to places he’s loved and those he’s never seen. And what starts as a way to say goodbye turns into a personal journey that brings love, acceptance, and meaning to Austin’s life.

You can learn more about Megan at her website.

FIRST: Sinners and Saints by Victoria Christopher Murray and ReShonda Tate Billingsley

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card authors are:

Victoria Christopher Murray 
and
ReShonda Tate Billingsley 
(Chapters written by alternating author)

and the book:

Sinners and Saints

Touchstone; Original edition (January 10, 2012)

***Special thanks to Shida Carr of Simon & Schuster for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Victoria Christopher Murray is the author of nine Essence bestselling novels, including The Ex Files, Too Little, Too Late, and Lady Jasmine. Winner of the African American Literary Award for Fiction and Author of the Year, she splits her time between Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.

Visit the author's website.


ReShonda Tate Billingsley is an award winning former television and radio reporter, as well as the author of twenty-one books which have appeared on the Essence bestseller list more than twenty times. She is married with three small children and lives in Texas.


Visit the author's website.

SHORT BOOK DESCRIPTION:

TEAM JASMINE or TEAM RACHEL?

Bestselling and award-winning novelists Victoria Christopher Murray and ReShonda Tate Billingsley bring their favorite heroines together in a novel that will delight their legions of fans.

Jasmine Larson Bush and Rachel Jackson Adams are not your typical first ladies. But they’ve overcome their scandalous and drama-filled pasts to stand firmly by their husbands’ sides.

When a coveted position opens up—president of the American Baptist Coalition— both women think their husbands are perfect for the job. And winning the position may require both women to get down and dirty and revert to their old tricks. Just when Jasmine and Rachel think they’re going to have to fight to the finish, the current first lady of the coalition steps in . . . a woman bigger, badder, and more devious than either of them.

Double the fun with a message of faith, Sinners & Saints will delight readers with two of their favorite characters from two of their favorite authors.



Product Details:

List Price:  $15.00

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone; Original edition (January 10, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1451608152
• ISBN-13: 978-1451608151

AND NOW...THE FIRST TWO CHAPTERS:

Chapter One 

How in the world was Jasmine going to keep her promise to God now?

Two years ago, she had promised Him that if He saved her daughter when she was kidnapped, if He brought her home safely, then she was going to live a life devoted just to Him. Jasmine had vowed that with Jacqueline’s return, she was going to live the life that God had for her as Hosea’s wife, as Jacqueline and Zaya’s mother. She wasn’t going to want for anything more than what God had given her, because surely, He had supplied her with enough.

God had done His part.

And for the last two years, Jasmine had done her part, too.

She’d lived a low-key life, thrilled that her greatest dramas were debates about fashion choices every morning with her seven-year old daughter.

But how was she supposed to keep her promise to God now? After what her husband had just told her?

“So, hold up,” Jasmine said, slipping into the chair across from Hosea. “I thought you were just going to the convention as the keynote speaker.”

Hosea nodded.

“So, explain this to me again.”

With a sigh, Hosea folded the newspaper he’d been reading and placed it on the table. He stuffed his mouth with a forkful of pancake, chewed for a moment, then said, “The call came in from a friend of Pop’s, Pastor Earl Griffith. He thinks I need to submit my resume.”

“To be the head of the American Baptist Coalition?”

Hosea nodded.

“But we’re not Baptist.”

His eyes danced with his amusement. “Get out of here.”

“You know what I mean,” Jasmine said, waving one hand. “I just don’t get it. Why would they call you?”

“They didn’t call me. Only Pastor Griffith.Seems like there’re a couple of men in the running, though according to Griffith, the front-runner is Pastor Adams, Lester Adams from the Southern region.”

Jasmine frowned. “I’ve never heard of him.”

“Out of Houston. But Pastor Griffith doesn’t think Adams is the man. Seems that the last four presidents have been from the South and Griffith and a couple of other pastors on the board think that the Coalition needs someone from the North, someone more progressive, to really move the organization forward.”

“And they think that can be you?”

“Not they, darlin’. I told you—Griffith called me.”

“But you said there were others who agreed with him.”

Hosea nodded. “Apparently, they don’t have anyone from the North who they think can go up against Adams. I guess they think my name could win this.”

“That makes sense to me.”

“It doesn’t matter how much sense it makes, darlin’. I told Pastor Griffith that I’m not interested.”

As if she didn’t hear any of Hosea’s last words, Jasmine whispered, “Wow.” Old thoughts, familiar desires came to her mind—of power and prestige and money. How much money would a president receive?

She didn’t know a lot about the American Baptist Coalition, but she knew enough. Like the fact that they were the largest African American religious organization, and wielded major political clout. And as much as black folks loved religion, the head of the ABC would have a boatload of power—and so would his wife.

Talk about being the first lady!

“Jasmine?”

I’d be the first lady of like . . . the world!

“Jasmine?”

“Huh?” Her eyes were glassy with images of her future and it took her a moment to focus on Hosea.

His admonishment came before he even said a word. It was in the way his eyes narrowed and the way he’d already begun shaking his head. “Don’t even think about it.”

“What?”

“You know what. I’m not gonna do it,” he said slowly, as if he was speaking to one of their children. “I’m gonna go to the convention and speak, just like they asked. But I’m not gonnarun for that office. The little I know about Lester Adams, he’s a good man. They’ll be fine with him.”

“How could he be the one if I’ve never even heard of him?”

“Like you know every pastor in the country.”

“I’m not talking about knowing every pastor. I’m thinking that Pastor Griffith is right. The head of the ABC should be someone who’s known and who can add to the Coalition. Think about what you bring as the pastor of one of the largest churches in the country. Then, there’s your show.” She nodded. “Pastor Griffith is right,” she repeated. “It has to be you.”

His head was still shaking. “No. I don’t want the drama.”

“Who said anything about drama?”

“Any type of election—political or religious—is always about drama.” He stood and placed his plate in the sink. “And then there’s you, my wonderful wife. As much as I love you, darlin’, anytime you’re involved in anything, drama makes its way into our lives. No, I don’t want any part of it.”

“So, you’re just gonna let this huge opportunity pass us—I mean, pass you by?”

“Yup, because it’s not an opportunity that interests me. The church, the show, and most importantly you and the children are enough for me.” He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Speaking of the church, I’m gonna get dressed and head over there. I have a meeting in a couple of hours.”

“Okay,” she said, dismissing him with words, though she’d already dismissed him in her mind. Jasmine stayed as Hosea left her alone in the kitchen.

You and the children are enough for me.

Until a few minutes ago, she would’ve agreed with her husband. But this conversation was a game changer.

Hosea was right—their lives were without drama, but it had gotten kind of boring. Every day it was the same thing—getting the children off to school, then working on the women’s committees at the church, then coming home to meet the children, then helping Mrs. Sloss with dinner, then . . . then . . .then . . .

Not that she had complaints; she loved her life, her family. But she would still love everyone, and maybe even a little bit more if Hosea were the head of the ABC .

Oh, no. She wasn’t going to sit back and let this opportunity pass Hosea. He needed this position, even if he didn’t know it.

Standing, she moved toward their bedroom, the conniving wheels of her brain already churning. She stood outside the door of their master bathroom, listening to her husband praise God, the spray of the shower, his accompanying music.

“I trust you, Lord!” He sang the words to one of Donnie McClurkin’s songs.

“Babe,” she said, interrupting his praise time. “I’m gonna run over to Mae Frances’s apartment, okay?”

“Don’t you have a meeting at the church?”

“Yeah, but it’s not till this afternoon and Mae Frances just called and she really needs me to help her with something.”Jasmine paused. It had been a long time since she’d manipulated the truth to get somethingshe wanted. But it wasn’t like she was going back to being a total liar again—she just needed to get this done and after Hosea was in his rightful place, she’d go back to being on the side of righteousness. 

“Oh, okay. Is Nama all right?” he asked, referring to Mae Frances by the name their children called the older woman.

“She’s fine. You know Nama. I’ll call Mrs. Whittingham and tell her that I may be a little late for my meeting.”

By the time they said their good-byes and Jasmine grabbed her purse, she already had a plan. But she’d need some help, and Mae Frances, her friend who knew everyone from Al Sharpton to Al Capone and his offspring, was just the person to help her.

“Sorry, Pastor Adams,” she said to herself as she rode down in the elevator. “Whoever you are, you can be the president of the ABC once Hosea and I are done—in, say, ten or twenty years.”

She stepped outside of their Central Park South apartmentbuilding and into the New York springtime sun. Slapping on herdesigner glasses, she laughed out loud.

Oh, yeah, today was gonna be a really good day.

Chapter Two 

Watch out, Michelle Obama!

Rachel Jackson Adams smiled in satisfaction as shesurveyed her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She’d had toleave the prestigious American Baptist Coalition regional dinnerand step inside the restroom to compose herself. After all, shewas about to be the first lady of one of the most prestigiousorganizations in the country. She couldn’t very well be actinga plumb fool because she was overcome with excitement.But Rachel had wanted to do a backflip, front flip, toe touch,cartwheel, and anything else she could think of to express herjoy.

Rachel fluffed her honey brown curls, then lightly refreshedher MAC Oh Baby lip gloss. She had come such a long way. Hermother was probably dancing in her grave at the sight of Rachelas not only a first lady, but a soon-to-be prominent one at that.Rachel had worked hard to garner the respect of the parishionersat Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church. She’d grown up inthat church, so everyone knew her dirt—all of it—and it hadtaken God himself to get these people to respect her. And whileZion Hill had grown tremendously, it still wasn’t considereda megachurch, and outside of Houston there were few whohad even heard of it. As the first lady of the American BaptistCoalition, her status would go to a whole new level. Shoot, if shehad to be first lady, she might as well be the top first lady.

Rachel savored the thought as she dropped her lip gloss backinto her clutch and stepped back into the corridor.

“I was beginning to think you’d fallen in,” her husband ofeight years said before leaning in and lightly kissing Rachel onthe cheek.

Lester Adams wasn’t her true love—that title belonged toher thirteen-year-old son’s father, Bobby Clark. But Lester wasgood for her. Her love for Lester was that agape love they talkedabout in First Corinthians. It brought out the best in her. Well,for the most part anyway. Life with Bobby had been filled withdrama—Rachel admitted much of that was her own doing, but itwas drama-filled nonetheless. And although Bobby still remaineda part of Jordan’s life, Rachel had finally gotten him out of hersystem and was focusing all of her attention on making hermarriage work.

“What took you so long?” Lester asked, snapping Rachel outof her thoughts.

“Sorry,” Rachel said with a slight smile, “but you know I’mabout to be the preeminent first lady, so I had to make sure mymakeup was on point.” She tossed her hair back. “Come to thinkof it, I think I’ll change my name to Lady Rachel so I can havethe title to go along with the position.”

Lester narrowed his eyes and glared at his wife. “Rachel,” hebegan in that voice she hated—the one that he always used whenhe was chastising her.

“What?” Rachel shrugged, already getting defensive.

“I don’t have the position yet,” he said matter-of-factly. “Theregional board just nominated me tonight. There’s still a nationalelection.”

Rachel waved him off. “That’s just a formality. Did you hearthose election results? You beat Pastor Johnson seventy-three totwenty-five percent!”

Lester sighed. “Pastor Johnson also got his sixteen-year-oldstepniece pregnant.” As soon as Lester said it, he looked like hewished he could take the words back.

The smile immediately left Rachel’s face. Lester was no sainthimself. He’d had his own little pregnant-woman-on the-sidedebacle. But thank God, they’d worked through that crisis.“I’m just saying,” Lester quickly continued, like he wanted toprevent Rachel’s mind from traveling down that rocky memorylane, “Pastor Johnson wasn’t that hard to beat. I still have to runagainst whomever they nominate from the North region, andrumor has it they’re bringing out their top dogPastor HoseaBush.”

“That jack-legged TV preacher?” Rachel asked with a frown.

Lester shook his head. “Pastor Bush is not jack-legged. He’swell established, comes from a highly respected family, and heleads one of the largest churches in the country.”

“So? He’s. Not. You,” Rachel said, reaching up and adjustingLester’s bow tie. Lester had been an extreme nerd when theywere in high school—which is why Rachel had never given himthe time of day. But he’d pursued her relentlessly and eventuallyhad worn her down. He was willing to be a father to her twokids and he loved her unconditionally. So she agreed to givetheir relationship a try, but not before having him shave off thatred mop of a hairstyle he wore and introducing him to Proactiv.She’d revamped his wardrobe, taught him how to have a littleswagger, and now, even she had to admit, he had it going on. Notto mention the fact that he was an awesome preacher. “Lester,sweetheart,” Rachel said, taking her husband’s hands, “you heardthat emcee tonight. For the past sixty years, the president of theABC has been a Southerner. That’s not about to change. I don’tcare how prominent this Rev. Tree is.”

Lester let out a small chuckle. “Pastor Bush,” he corrected.

“Tree, Bush, Leave, whatever,”she said, flicking her hand.“The bottom line is, that position is ours. God said so.”

He laughed again. “Oh, God said so, huh?”

Rachel nodded emphatically. “He sure did. And if God said it,then it’s so.” She grinned widely.

“Look at my baby,” Lester said proudly. “And to think, youthreatened to divorce me for entering the ministry.”

“Well, that’s because I’d spent my life as a preacher’sdaughter. I wasn’t trying to be a preacher’s wife. But I’ve gottenthe hang of it now.”

“You do make a great first lady,” Lester said, kissing heragain. “And can I say it again—you look lovely in that dress.”

“Thank you. And I’m going to make an even better first ladyon a national level.” She tightened the belt on her royal blueDiane von Furstenberg silk dress. Her attire tonight was justone indication of how far she’d come. Just a few years ago, shewould’ve shown up to an event like this in the latest Baby Phator Apple Bottoms style that she could find. And although she stillloved her some Kimora Lee Simmons, she didn’t have to wear iteverywhere.

“Congratulations, Rev. Adams,” an elderly man said as hewalked past them.

Lester stopped and smiled. “Thank you, sir.”

“I can’t wait until you officially claim that presidency,” theman said as he stepped on to the elevator.

“From your lips to God’s ears,” Lester replied as he wavedgood-bye.

Rachel waited for the elevator door to close. “See, everyoneknows you’re the man for the job. And I’m the woman that needsto be next to the man for the job.”

“Since when did this kind of stuff excite you?”Rachel’s hands went to her hips. “Since I did my homework.Do you know that the last wife of the ABC president wasinvited everywhere? To White House dinners, commencementceremonies, the Grammys—she even cohosted on The View!”

“But wasn’t she a TV journalist anyway?”

Rachel frowned. Lester and all this negativity was about towork her nerves. “That’s beside the point. Everyone knows theABC president is one of the most powerful men in the country,so that means the ABC ’s president’s wife would be one of themost powerful women.”

“I’m just saying, don’t get ahead of yourself.”

“Whatever, Lester.”Rachel rolled her eyes. She’d beeneuphoric since they announced he’d won the election an hourago. Of course, she always knew he would, but hearing itconfirmed was the icing on the cake.

As thoughts of hanging out with Michelle Obama danced inher head, Rachel once again smiled.

“Rachel, I see your mind working.”

“Just trying to determine where I’ll get my dress for yourinduction ceremony.” Maybe she could get Kimora to design hersomething personally.

“Rachel—”

She put her finger to his lips. “Shhhh,” she said, draping herarm through his. “Let’s just savor the moment tonight. Let’s goback in, mingle with the people, and enjoy ourselves. My dadand Brenda have the kids, so the night is all ours. Tomorrow,we’ll talk about the national election.” Rachel decided to justchange the subject because she didn’t care what Lester said,he would win the national election. And if this Reverend Bushproved to be a problem, well, Rachel might just have to revertto her old bag of tricks—just for a moment—to make sure thathe wasn’t a threat. She wasn’t going to let anything, or anyone,stand in the way of claiming what was destined to be hers.