Welcome to Bridie Blake, author of the contemporary YA novel, A Distant Voice. Looking for a movie to watch this Halloween? Bridie Blake shares her favorites along with her favorite magical literary characters.
Top 10 Movies to Watch on Halloween
With Halloween approaching it got me thinking about scary
movies. And then I quickly stopped thinking about scary movies because I can’t
handle anything scary. At all. Some people love the thrill of watching
something that terrifies the life out of them. Not me. The scariest I can go is
Scream or I Know What You Did Last Summer, and as most people tell me,
they’re not scary. Yes, I’m a wimp. And I embrace that. So I’ve put together a
list of movies with magical elements (and the one scary movie I’d ever re-watch)
that you’d likely find me watching on Halloween.
10. Scream – as I said, this movie did scare me when I
watched it as a teenager. I’m sorry, but that opening sequence with Drew
Barrymore still freaks me out. And I’ll only ever watch it now during the day.
And never alone.
9. The Craft – a somewhat strange choice and while I admit
it’s not the greatest movie ever made, I enjoy watching it.
8. The Chronicles of Narnia
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – oh boy I love this movie. The
White Witch is perfectly terrifying and I never tire of watching her.
7. Casper – such a fun movie. I took my little brother to
the movies to see this and he was so scared we had to leave about halfway
through. See, I can watch scary movies:) I eventually got to watch it when it
came out at the video store and it was worth it to see Devon Sawa appear at the
end. I wonder what ever happened to Devon Sawa.
6. The Witches – I spent my childhood terrified of Anjelica
Huston after seeing this. I’m proud to say I’ve overcome that fear and can now
watch her on screen without breaking into a sweat.
5. Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban – the first two
Harry Potter movies were light and fun, but The Prisoner of Azkaban shed that
image and took a darker turn. One of my favorite scenes is when the choir sings
‘Double Trouble’. It sets the mood perfectly.
4. Return To Oz – I don’t care what anyone says, this movie
is scary. Electro-shock treatment for Dorothy? The Wheelers? The witch that
takes off her own head? Terrifying! But I love it!
3. Practical Magic – yes, I love this movie! The gathering
of women to break the spell cast on the family is my favorite part. And Aidan
Quinn coming to his senses at the end? Swoon!
2. Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, Parts 1 and 2 – I tried
separating the two but they’re a packaged deal. These go onto my Halloween
viewing list for one reason, and one reason only. The magic. Both good and bad.
A great conclusion to a fantastic series. And while I wasn’t overly happy with
how the final battle strayed from the book, I can still appreciate it for what
it was.
1. Hocus Pocus – this has to be number one, right? Bette
Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy as witches? Yes, please! Loved
this movie as a kid, and still love it today.
Five Favorite Magical
Literary Characters
5. Adesina, The Threshold Trilogy by Callie Kanno - she is
driven, passionate and still able to remain level headed despite the power she
can yield. There is a huge amount of responsibility placed on her shoulders, as
the queen of the L'avan and also as the Threshold Child, but she never lets it
overwhelm her. Sure she has moments of fear and doubt, but that only makes her
more relatable.
4. Daine, The Immortal Series by Tamora Pierce – Her love of animals and
the sadness she feels for them when they are injured or killed is one of the
reasons I love her so much. And I loved watching her come into her powers and
harness her wild magic.
2. Alanna of Trebond, The Song of the Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce –
disguises herself as a boy so she can fulfill her dream of being a knight and
ends up kicking butt. She not only wins her shield, but goes on to become the
most powerful sorceress of the realm.
1. Harry Potter, Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling – was there really
another option? What I love most about Harry is that he grapples with
self-doubt and uncertainty. He doesn’t think he’s all-knowing and he leans on
and learns from the people around him. A humble character who can do some
pretty cool magic.
A Distant Voice
Bridie Blake
YA Contemporary
Evernight Teen
October 2015
Add
A Distant Voice to your Goodreads
page HERE
Follow
along with the tour HERE
Book Trailer:
In
life you don’t find your voice. It finds you.
Violet Hayes knows how to
survive the year living with her grandmother in the small town of Wandorah,
Tennessee.
• Make Rose happy
• Don’t sing or play
guitar
• Avoid Sally Shaw
• Ignore Carter
Jenkins
It seems simple enough,
right? Wrong.
• How do you keep a
depressed sister happy?
• How do you deny yourself
your dream?
• How do you avoid a
friendship?
• And how do you ignore a
boy when he’s everywhere you turn?
Violet’s to-do list just
became a whole lot harder.
14+
due to adult situations
Excerpt
He smiled and reached out
to pull the guitar toward him. He strummed his fingers over the strings and
played a few chords before glancing over at me proudly.
“Impressive.”
He offered me the guitar.
“Your turn.”
“And what makes you think I
can play?”
“Your bloodlines.”
I snorted out a laugh and
clapped my hand over my mouth in horror.
“Play away,” he said,
ignoring my snort, and pushed the guitar into my hands.
I stared down at it with my
mouth hanging open. The way my heart raced you’d think he’d pulled the pin on a
grenade and handed it to me. Relax Violet. It’s an instrument. It can’t hurt
you. Unless I tripped over it and broke my neck. And that could happen.
Probably not entirely realistic while I’m holding it, but if I dropped it and
then got up and tripped, it … oh dear god, what is wrong with me?
His mom called out his name
and he gave me an apologetic shrug. “I’ll be right back.”
He left the room and I
remained where I was, the guitar still burning my hands. It had been months
since I’d played. Months since I’d felt that wave of joy I got whenever my
fingers ran over the strings.
A yearning, so strong it
sent butterflies fluttering in my stomach, washed over me and my fingers moved.
They ran over the strings, playing whatever came to mind. I closed my eyes and
let myself be swallowed up by it all. I allowed myself to forget and be
something else. Someone else.
I didn’t know how long I
stayed like that but a shuffle behind me forced me back to reality. I opened my
eyes and twisted around. Carter stood in the doorway, a look of wonder on his
face and it made me squirm. I dropped my hands, rested the guitar on his bed,
and scrambled to my feet. “I should go.”
He moved toward me slowly,
as though scared a sudden movement would startle me. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I mumbled and
folded my arms across my chest, tucking my hands into my armpits where they’d
be safe and wouldn’t stray towards anymore strings.
His brow creased and I saw
him trying to work out what had happened but I didn’t want to talk about it. I
tried to duck out of his room before he asked me anything. He gripped my arm,
stopping my quick exit. “It’s okay,” he said. “You’re allowed to enjoy things.
You’re not betraying your sister by having fun or doing the things you want to
do.” His voice, filled with sincerity and kindness, caused a lump to take up
residence in my throat.
His hand ran along my arm
and towards my hidden hand. He tugged on it until he freed it and he squeezed
my fingers gently. I shook my head because he’s right, but he’s wrong at the
same time. It was guilt over Rose that stopped me doing things but when it came
to music, there was so much more to it.
Music destroyed Gran’s
life. It ruined Mom’s childhood. I couldn’t love something like that because if
I did, I’d open myself up to the same hurt. And I’m not anywhere near as strong
as Gran. It would destroy me. It would be my trigger.
I wanted to tell him that.
I wanted him to understand. But the words wouldn’t come out of me.
About the Author
Bridie lives, daydreams and writes in Melbourne, Australia.
She’s happiest at her computer, coffee in hand, Tim Tams on standby and her
furry companion Poppy at her feet. When not writing she’s usually found with a
book in her hand or playing with her tribe of nieces and nephews.
Discover more about her at www.bridieblake.com, https://www.facebook.com/AuthorBridieBlake or @BridieBlake on Twitter!
Tour-Wide Giveaway
Wow! Excellent post! I really enjoyed reading the excerpt. This book sounds like such an interesting read! Also, I like the book cover! Very intriguing! Also, I really liked the 10 movies to watch for Halloween list! Lots of great movie ideas!
ReplyDeleteThe blurb really drew me in. I don't read a lot of contemporary but Violet sounds like an interesting character.
DeleteA distant Voice sounds like a good read. Thank you ♡ I would like to read this book.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine a musician having to silence herself for the good of the family.
DeleteAll great movies and characters. Hocus Pocus is always my go to Halloween movie along with Poltergeist.
ReplyDeleteI love the sound of the book, very unique and different. The excerpt has me intrigued definitely going on top of my tbr.
Poltergeist was one of the few movies to scare me to death when I was a kid. Maybe the clown...
DeleteI am always looking for new authors to read. the book sounds like the kind I really enjoy reading. I have added it to my TBR list.
ReplyDeletejwisley(at)aol(dot)com
I hope you like it :)
DeleteThanks for dropping by!
ReplyDeleteViolet faces an interesting dilemma- what if your talent is also your curse? Do you ignore your inner calling out of fear?
ReplyDeleteYikes. I'd say from experience that we regret what we didn't do more than what we did. Go for it or you may regret it the rest of your life.
DeleteI love the beautiful cover. How much input do you have in the final product?
ReplyDeletesherry @ fundinmental
I'm pretty sure that Evernight Teen does let the authors have input into the cover. I love publishers that ask for the author's opinion and input.
DeleteThank you! I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to send Evernight Teen cover suggestions and what they produced was perfect. Couldn't have been happier with it!
DeleteWell, we share the same joy from Hocus Pocus. Remember when that movie came out, loved it then and still love it. A Distant Voice excerpt drew me in and I want to know more. Not usually a comtemporary reader, but somes the characters just draw you in. Looking forward to reading.
ReplyDeleteI agree- this contemporary drew me in, probably the musical aspect.
DeleteThank you for all the support! I'm glad you enjoyed my Halloween movie choices:) It was a really fun list to put together and brought back a lot of childhood memories. Especially Hocus Pocus!
ReplyDeleteIt did bring back lots of memories :)
DeleteI’d have to check with you here. Which is not something I usually do! I enjoy reading a post that will make people think. Also, thanks for allowing me to comment!
ReplyDeleteUlule.com
Information
Click Here
Visit Web