April 23, 2015 by Lori L MacLaughlin

A to Z Challenge: More Fictional Favorites! Day 20: Trixie Belden from The Trixie Belden Mysteries

T is for — Trixie Belden from The Trixie Belden Mysteries

I loved to read mysteries when I was growing up. I read every Nancy Drew book I could find, and I wrote about her last year for my A to Z “N” post. This year, I’m writing about another teen mystery series I loved: The Trixie Belden Mysteries.

Trixie Belden is a young teen with three brothers who lives in the Hudson Valley of New York. She and her best friend and neighbor, Honey Wheeler, stumble into all kinds of mysteries at home and during their travels. They brave many dangers and, along with their brothers, manage to solve the mysteries.

I liked Trixie, because she was an ordinary kid with the same insecurities and angst as any teen of that day and age. Coming from a family with two brothers, I could relate to her on that score as well. The stories were good clean fun with enough mystery and excitement to keep me reading to the very end.

The first book in the series, Trixie Belden and The Secret of the Old Mansion, was published in 1948. The series had 39 books in all, the last being The Mystery of the Galloping Ghost, published in 1986. For middle-graders who like mysteries, they are well worth the read.

To learn more about Trixie Belden, visit http://www.trixie-belden.com/index.html.

April 22, 2015 by Lori L MacLaughlin

A to Z Challenge: More Fictional Favorites! Day 19: Spock from Star Trek

S is for — Spock from Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek

Live long and prosper.

Words made famous by Mr. Spock, First Officer and Science Officer aboard the Starship Enterprise. Chief Engineer Scott may have been my favorite character in the Star Trek series, but Spock, played by the inimitable Leonard Nimoy, was the most interesting. Half Human, half Vulcan, Spock fought a continuous internal battle against his emotions, always trying to suppress his Human half and be the quintessential Vulcan — coldly logical and detached. Most of the time, he succeeded. On rare occasions, though, his impassive exterior cracked with powerful results.

What Trek fan can watch with dry eye Spock’s farewell to Captain Kirk as he gives his life to save the Enterprise at the end of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn? I know I can’t.

My favorite emotional moment of Spock’s is at the end of Amok Time, an episode from the original series in which Spock is pitted against Kirk in a battle to the death. While not in his right mind, Spock kills Kirk. Once the battle is over and Spock is thinking clearly again, he realizes he’s just killed his captain and his best friend, and he prepares to turn himself in for court-martial. The moment he discovers Captain Kirk is alive, Spock’s emotional reaction is priceless.

Leonard Nimoy played the character of Spock for almost fifty years. His final performance as the Vulcan came in the 2013 movie, Star Trek: Into Darkness. He transformed Spock into an unforgettable character, a cultural icon whose words, Live long and prosper, and whose hand raised with his fingers split in a V are instantly recognizable. No one else could ever be Mr. Spock.

RIP Leonard Nimoy, 1931-2015

Photo Credit: http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com

April 21, 2015 by Lori L MacLaughlin

A to Z Challenge: More Fictional Favorites! Day 18: Rapunzel from Disney’s Tangled

R is for — Rapunzel from Disney’s Tangled

When Disney’s 50^th animated movie, Tangled, hit the theaters in 2010, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Since the early 1990s, their animated movies had been, in my opinion, less than impressive. I needn’t have worried this time, though. Tangled was delightfully funny with a lot of heart and great music. I laughed and cried. I loved it.

Rapunzel’s story may have strayed quite a bit from the original fairy tale, but I loved this Rapunzel’s personality — her wide-eyed innocence, her adventurous spirit, her inner strength and courage. She wields her hair almost like a weapon, swinging on it like Tarzan to escape pursuit. She swings a pretty mean frying pan, too.

One of my favorite scenes is in the beginning when Rapunzel is trying to figure out what to do with the unconscious Flynn Rider after beaning him with the frying pan. It’s absolutely hilarious. Another favorite scene is when she sees the floating lights for the first time. I loved the wonder and magic of seeing it all unfold through her eyes. The scene where she reunites with her real family still brings tears to my eyes.

Officially the 10^th Disney princess, Rapunzel has become a favorite, second only to Belle from Beauty and the Beast.

Photo Credit: Disney Wikia

Photo Credit: http://www.awn.com

Photo Credit: Amazon.com

April 20, 2015 by Lori L MacLaughlin

A to Z Challenge: More Fictional Favorites! Day 17: Queen Galadriel

Q is for — Queen Galadriel from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion

Descended from Elven Kings, the fair Galadriel was one of the greatest and most powerful of all the Elves in Middle-earth. She and her husband, Lord Celeborn, ruled the forest realm of Lothlorien, and they aided Frodo Baggins and the Fellowship of the Ring on their journey to destroy the One Ring. Galadriel wears one of the three Elven rings of power, Nenya, the Ring of Water.

Her daughter, Celebrian, married Lord Elrond, ruler of the Elven House of Rivendell, making Arwen Evenstar her granddaughter.

I admire Galadriel’s courage and quiet strength, her wisdom and grace. She, along with Gandalf, maintained vigilance against the return of Sauron and stood strong in the face of Sauron’s evil. When tempted by the power of the One Ring, she was one of the very few to resist its lure.

Though her character did not appear in The Hobbit book, Peter Jackson’s Hobbit movies included her in scenes of the White Council and the battle of Dol Guldur. Purists may beg to differ, but I enjoyed the added scenes and the historical depth they brought to the story.

Photo Credit: LOTR Wikia

Photo Credit: pixshark.com

April 18, 2015 by Lori L MacLaughlin

A to Z Challenge: More Fictional Favorites! Day 16: Miss Piggy from The Muppets

P is for — Miss Piggy from The Muppets

I’ve always loved the Muppets. Last year, I wrote about Kermit the Frog for my K post, so it only seems fitting that this year’s A to Z includes his diva co-star, Miss Piggy.

Miss Piggy began as a chorus girl on the Muppet Show, but soon became one of the stars of the show. Her saccharine-sweet-one-moment, temper-tantrum-the-next personality, her romantic pursuit of Kermit, and her trademark “Hi-ya!” karate chops to those who draw her ire always made me laugh.

She prides herself on being a fashionista, and in the various Muppet movies, she displays an amazing array of talents, including motorcycle and truck driving, and some impressive roller-skating skills. Miss Piggy’s karate chop moments, though, are my favorites.

I discovered that Miss Piggy is also an author. One of the books she “wrote,” Miss Piggy’s Guide to Life, spent 29 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list in the early 1980s. She has her own perfume called Moi, and she even has a Facebook page and Twitter account. A true show-biz prima donna, she is always entertaining.

Photo Credit: Muppet Wikia

Photo Credit: Amazon.com

April 17, 2015 by Lori L MacLaughlin

Celebrate the Small Things! and A to Z Challenge: More Fictional Favorites! Day 15: Olaf from Disney’s Frozen

Celebrate the Small Things is a weekly celebration created by VikLit and now hosted by Lexa Cain to celebrate the happenings of the week, however small or large. You can learn all about it and sign up for it here.

Today, I’m celebrating independent bookstores! Here’s my book, Lady, Thy Name Is Trouble, on an actual brick-and-mortar store bookshelf! Phoenix Books (in Vermont) is carrying it at both their locations, the Burlington store on Cherry Street and the Essex store in the Essex Cinemas shopping plaza. Yay! (Happy dancing!)

Phoenix Book Store

And now for today’s A to Z —

O is for — Olaf from Disney’s Frozen

“Hi, everyone. I’m Olaf and I like warm hugs!” Olaf, the animated snowman, stole the show in Disney’s hit movie, Frozen. Talk about comedy relief. Just about everything he said and did had me in stitches.

From the beginning when he meets Anna and Kristoff on their way to find Elsa, to his receiving his own personal snow flurry at the end of the movie to keep him from melting, Olaf infuses the story with warmth and humor and a childlike innocence that makes me smile even now as I’m thinking about it.

So many hilarious moments — that first meeting with Anna and Kristoff; Olaf’s middle and bottom parts running away from the snow monster and leaving his head behind; when Olaf tells Anna to run from the “rocks” Kristoff is talking to; and when he slides down the hill toward the town after being told by Kristoff to keep a low profile and you hear a scream from someone as Olaf says hello to them.

Olaf is one of the funniest and most endearing characters I’ve ever met. My favorite Olaf moment is when he tells Anna that “some people are worth melting for.” Wise words from a true friend.

Photo Credit: http://wondersofdisney2.yolasite.com

Photo Credit: Amazon.com

What other celebrations are going on out there?

April 16, 2015 by Lori L MacLaughlin

A to Z Challenge: More Fictional Favorites! Day 14: Nellie Gomez from The 39 Clues

N is for — Nellie from The 39 Clues series

Nellie Gomez is not your typical au pair. Sporting a punk rocker style with colorful hair, glittery eye shadow, and a silver snake nose ring, she spends most of her time singing to the loud music on her iPod and reading exotic cookbooks. She drives like a maniac and isn’t above whacking someone upside the head if they deserve it.

She takes her job seriously, though, and accompanies Amy and Dan Cahill on their perilous quest to find the 39 clues that lead to a secret formula others are willing to kill for. As the series progresses, she becomes increasingly involved in the quest, and Amy and Dan discover she has other talents, like being a pilot, and other secrets that shock them and change their whole relationship.

I like quirky supporting characters, and Nellie is one of those that really adds another interesting dimension to the story. She’s smart, brave, and unpredictable and becomes like a big sister to the Cahill kids. Later, she becomes their guardian and is inducted into their branch of the Cahill family.

Photo Credit: the39clues.scholastic.com

Photo Credit: Ebay

April 15, 2015 by Lori L MacLaughlin

A to Z Challenge: More Fictional Favorites! Day 13: Milo from The Phantom Tollbooth

M is for — Milo from Norton Juster’s The Phantom Tollbooth

One of my favorite books when I was growing up was The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. In it, I met Milo, a young boy who spends his days in perpetual boredom. He has no interest in anything at all and thinks everything, particularly learning, a waste of time. There is nothing he wants to do, nowhere he wants to go, and nothing worth seeing.

Then he comes home from school one day and finds a huge package in his room — a magical tollbooth complete with a car, directions, and a map. The tollbooth transports him to a wondrous world of strange places, stranger creatures, and eccentric people, who challenge him to think and feel and experience life in all its glory. He realizes that it’s the journey that’s important, not just the destination. He learns many things about himself and discovers that even he can be a hero, when he rescues the Princesses Rhyme and Reason from the Castle in the Air.

I love this book, not just because I get to travel vicariously to a fantastical world, but because reading about Milo reminds me to engage in life and take in everything around me, and to never, ever take anything for granted.

The Movie
Photo Credit: Wikipedia

April 14, 2015 by Lori L MacLaughlin

A to Z Challenge: More Fictional Favorites! Day 12: Long John Silver

L is for — Long John Silver from Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island

My favorite villains are those whose personalities aren’t all black. Yes, they’re bad, but they have some redeeming quality somewhere that makes you like them in spite of what they do.

Long John Silver is another such pirate of dubious distinction. He’s the main antagonist in Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, and he shows his black nature by, among other things, instigating a mutiny aboard the Hispaniola and killing a fellow pirate in cold blood. He changes sides, depending on whoever has the upper hand, his charisma, silver tongue, and ingratiating manner smoothing the way and instilling a false sense of trust. Make no mistake, though, he’s as ruthless as they come and only out for his own gain.

And yet, his treatment of Jim Hawkins speaks of another side of him — a tiny sliver of honor and decency that offsets his treachery and inspires ambivalence of feeling toward him. Silver protects Jim from the other pirates and seems truly fond of him, treating him almost as if he were a son. When Silver escapes with a share of the treasure by sneaking off the ship in the dark of night, Jim wishes him well. And despite Silver’s villainous actions, I do, too.

I remember watching Disney’s Treasure Island as a kid and dreaming of pirate adventures. The 1950 movie starred Robert Newton, who became the quintessential Long John Silver. Later, I saw Disney’s miniseries, Return to Treasure Island, but I don’t remember much about it, except that Brian Blessed also made a good Silver. Several other movie versions of Treasure Island exist, including a Muppet version, which is quite silly, in their usual tradition. My kids enjoyed it.

Photo Credit: Amazon.com

April 13, 2015 by Lori L MacLaughlin

A to Z Challenge: More Fictional Favorites! Day 11: Amanda King

K is for — Amanda King from the TV series, Scarecrow and Mrs. King

I’ve never been one to watch a lot of television, but back in the 1980s, there were a few shows I enjoyed. One of those was Scarecrow and Mrs. King. Kate Jackson played Amanda King, a slightly ditzy housewife and mother of two boys, whose mundane everyday life included nothing more exciting than grocery shopping, the PTA, and being a den mother for her sons’ Boy Scout troop. Her life is turned upside down when a handsome spy, played by Bruce Boxleitner, waylays her and gives her a package to deliver for him and then disappears, pursued by his enemies.

From there, the two become unlikely partners, thwarting various plots by those who would endanger national security. The shows were lighthearted and fun, focusing more on the mismatched partnership of Amanda and Lee than on serious plots, which was one of the reasons I liked it so much. Jackson and Boxleitner had great chemistry and played their roles well. I liked the supporting characters, too, particularly Amanda’s mother, Dotty, who was a bit dotty.

I also liked how the characters grew and changed over the seasons. Amanda became more competent and eventually signed on as a spy in her own right, while Lee matured from his playboy ways and came to truly value Amanda’s contributions. Inevitably, they fall in love, and halfway through the final season, they get married.

The show ran for four seasons, from 1983 to 1987. During the fourth season, Kate Jackson was diagnosed with breast cancer, which curtailed her appearance on the show. The show was never the same without her, and it was canceled at the end of that season.