Mundie Moms

Monday, April 8, 2013

Are City of Ashes & City of Glass Being Made Into Movies?

Showbiz Junkies scored an awesome interview with Cassie at WonderCon two weekends ago, where she confirmed to them that the studio does have plans to film the rest of The Mortal Instruments Series, well at least City of Ashes and City of Glass, back to back, should the sequels get the green-lit. Movie sequels get green lights when the first movie does well. SO, Shadowhunters, we need to make sure we bring in the BIG number for The Mortal Instruments Series: City of Bones when it's out this August.

Of the filming, Cassie said: "They said if they do the next ones, they're going to shoot them back to back, which I think is a really exciting idea because Ashes and Glass happen bang, bang on the heals of each other." 

I also love the idea of them filming back to back, because then the actors won't age much, and we'll be guaranteed two more movies! Not only that, that will save time and costs for the studio, plus it will make fans EXTREMELY happy. Hopefully that will guarantee more Shadowhunter movies will be getting made, like City of Lost Souls, and my favorite series, The Infernal Devices.

Cassie mentioned that the success of City of Bones will determine if sequels get made. She also said that she takes nothing in life for granted, and she would love to see the sequel. She also mentioned that, "I love all the actors. They're fantastic and I think Harald did a fantastic job." 

Yes they are and YES he did! She also went on to say that "Lily IS Clary", and that "Jamie IS Jace!"

I am so excited for this movie!!! I can not wait for August 23rd. You can check out Cassie's entire interview here:

Book Review: One Shot Away: A Wrestling Story by T. Glen Coughlin



By: T. Glen Coughlin
Published by: Harper Teen
Released on: October 2nd, 2012
Source: book to review from publisher for blog tour
4 stars: I Enjoyed It
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

It’s senior year and the last season for Diggy, Jimmy, and Trevor on the Molly Pitcher High School varsity wrestling team. And they all want the same thing: to win.

But Diggy’s got to compete with his older brother’s legacy, and now he’s in danger of losing his spot to newcomer Trevor. Jimmy’s got the cops after him, and a girlfriend who looks down on him. Then Diggy does the unthinkable—he betrays a teammate. Can the team forgive him? And can he forgive himself?


Experience the pressure with Diggy, Jimmy, and Trevor as the stakes rise and loyalties splinter. They’ve got just one shot to make weight and get onto the mat. But pinning your opponent is about more than just winning


Being a big sports fan, I love seeing sports themed YA books. I think there needs to be more. T. Glen Coughlin's One Shot Away isn't a book I'd normally find myself picking up, even though I just said I love sports. Reading a story about 3 different senior guys who all wrestle didn't sound appealing at first, but there was something about this story that made me want to read it. What a great story it was. T. Glen Coughlin wrote a fabulous contemporary for guys! Each of his unique characters, and the over all storyline was engaging, realistic, and hard to put down.

There's something to be said about a well written sport story. No I didn't wrestle, but one of my brothers did and I had friends who did in high school, so I at least understood the wrestling part of this story. But, this story isn't just about wrestling. It was far more than just three different guys all trying to content for a spot on the varsity squad. T. Glen Coughlin introduces readers to three not so perfect characters who are doing the best they can given the situations they are in. Well, I can say two of them are, and one of them takes a bit of a darker turner than the rest of them. One of the things I liked about this story is how relatable these guys are. They're not perfect, but flawed, well written characters who connect with their reader on some level.

 I liked how this story is told from three different points of views, Trevor, Jimmy, and Diggy. Each character's voice is distinct. They each come from different back grounds, and each teen is dealing with something different, yet all three have a common ground in wrestling. I liked that this story wasn't a sugar coated story. The struggles the teens are dealing with are very realistic. Trevor Crowe, the underdog no one saw coming has the most to prove. He has struggled in the past with being made fun because of his mixed heritage embraces his Native American heritage, learns to move on from his father's death, and the new changes his mother's new job brings them. Jimmy, the wrestling star is dealing with his father's mistakes and trying to stay afloat while his father's criminal activity is catching up to him and his family. Then there's Diggy, who is struggling to live in the shadow of his brother's wrestling records, an abusive father, and trying to make a name for himself, but in the process makes some stupid choices that cost him more than he thought.

It wasn't hard for me to cheer on some of these characters. Though I will say I was a bit shocked over the stupidity and bad decision that cost one of the characters. While I didn't relate to what each of the teens where dealing with, I did relate to that stage in life they're in, where they're on the verge of freedom from school, trying to figure out what to make of their life after graduation, trying to make the best of the situation they're in, and figuring out where they stand in the world. Aside from Trevor, Jimmy and Diggy, is a great cast of supporting characters who all play a huge role in their lives. From their parents to their friends, their wrestling Coach and team mates.

 Coughlin's writing was fantastic. He doesn't shy away from the struggles teen athletes deal with, and the drama and hardships that come along with playing a team sport. He delivers a great YA book with three different, yet strong male voices that guys will enjoyed reading. This story felt like I was reading a documentary on three wrestling team mates, their lives, and how they got to where they did (at the end of the story). Over all, I think this is a book readers will enjoy. It's a gritty, realistic portrayed story, and one I think guy readers will enjoy.

Don't miss my One Shot Away blog tour post with T. Glen Coughlin & giveaway here.

Blog Tour: One Shot Away; Author Guest Post & Giveaway


Welcome to today's blog tour kick off for T. Glen Coughlin's One Shot Away blog tour, hosted by Kismet. I'm thrilled to have author T. Glen Coughlin on the blog today. You can read my review for his newest release here.

T. Glen Coughlin, One Shot Away
Origins of the Novel:
I became interested in wrestling when my son, Tom, joined his high school wrestling team.  He was a 99 pound freshman and wrestled 103, under the former weight classes.  He had a tough first year and finished the season 5 and 5.  
Tom fell in love with the sport.  He’d come home from grueling practices, ready to show me what he’d learned.  He recognized that he was years behind his competition, as many wrestlers hit the mat at 7 years old.  My son attended wrestling camps and joined the town’s wrestling club.  The work he put in at camps and practices gave him a good shot at breaking into his high school’s varsity line-up during his senior year. He put on some muscle and size, won a few JV tournaments and was wrestling 135.    
Senior year, my son was ready to be a varsity wrestler.  He had trained for three years.  The only problem was every weight on the varsity team was filled.  He challenged the 135 pound wrestler to a wrestle-off.  My son lost in a close match, 5 to 2.  The loss meant he would not have a starting position.  There were no seniors on the JV team, so in effect.  The only option he had was to be a backup wrestler on the varsity team.    
After the wrestle off, we went home.  The years of training, practice, camps, traveling, and devotion to a sport that had molded him into a physically and mentally strong young man, brought tears to his eyes. He told me he was sorry that he didn’t win.  He talked about quitting the team.  I told him it was okay. I told him I was proud of him no matter what. I said he was a champion.   
         He decided to stick out the season. On the opening day, he sat in the bleachers, dressed out in his singlet and sweats.  I always carried a notebook with me.  I opened it and wrote the first chapter of One Shot Away, A Wrestling Story.  My character, Trevor Crow, was modeled after my son’s experiences.
Wrestling gave my son self-worth, confidence, and values. He learned the rewards of hard work and the ache of physical limitations. The sport gave him a sense of belonging. The word “proud,” hardly describes my feelings for him.  
Wrestling is more than a sport. It’s a way of life. If a wrestler wants to be proficient on the mat, he can not stop wrestling when the season ends. He has to be dedicated all year long.  It separates the good wrestlers from the great ones.
And, my son did get his shot on varsity after a wrestler left the team.  He had a great season!




About One Shot Away - Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, Indiebound
It’s senior year and the last season for Diggy, Jimmy, and Trevor on the Molly Pitcher High School varsity wrestling team. And they all want the same thing: to win.
But Diggy’s got to compete with his older brother’s legacy, and now he’s in danger of losing his spot to newcomer Trevor. Jimmy’s got the cops after him, and a girlfriend who looks down on him. Then Diggy does the unthinkable—he betrays a teammate. Can the team forgive him? And can he forgive himself?
Experience the pressure with Diggy, Jimmy, and Trevor as the stakes rise and loyalties splinter. They’ve got just one shot to make weight and get onto the mat. But pinning your opponent is about more than just winning.

About T. Glen Coughlin - Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads
Coughlin’s first novel, The Hero of New York, was finished when he was 23 years old and explored the dark side of the middle class suburban dream. New York Times reviewer, Dennis Smith (1986) wrote, “The Hero of New York is solid tough-guy entertainment, and Mr. Coughlin’s descriptions can be hilarious.”
Coughlin’s second novel, Steady Eddie, is a coming-of-age story set in Long Island, New York in 1977. George Needham wrote “Coughlin neatly captures a person’s essence in the simplest gesture, but each character is drawn with sympathy and wit, even when the characters themselves lack these attributes. A fine novel.”
Coughlin has published short stories in Doubletake Magazine, the South Dakota Review[3] and DUCTS, an on-line magazine. His story, “The Grief Committee” was analyzed in The Politics of Mourning: Grief Management in a Cross-Cultural Fiction.[5] Coughlin”s poetry has appeared in The Dead Mule – School of Southern Literature and Hanging Moss Journal.
In 2012, Coughlin published his first YA novel, One Shot Away, A Wrestling Story, Harpercollins. The novel is the story of three high school wrestlers trying to balance their personal lives, family conflicts and maintain their weight class on the Varsity Squad.

The Giveaway:
Through out the duration of the One Shot Away tour, followers will have the chance to enter to win a Kindle paperwhite skinned in the One Shot Away cover art! To enter, please fill out the form below.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Shadowhunter Tarot Cards: Artist Cassandra Jean Answers Fans Questions

Yesterday Cassie shared a Q&A Shadowhunter Tarot Card artist, Cassandra Jean posted on Tumblr. Here's what her post entailed:


Okay! I feel like I’ve answered these a bunch of times on twitter and here, but it’s also possible that I just read your questions and mentally think an answer at you and then forget to actually respond in a way you could read without psychic powers. (I’m sorry, I do that a lot. Thinking things and then forgetting to actually type them.) 
So ANYway. Let me answer a few. 
Thank you I’m glad you enjoy them! I have been planning to finish all the cards by the end of March and I’m on track for that. But, then I will be redrawing a few cards and fixing others up so that could take another week or so…. and then a whole mess of things have to happen on Cassandra Clare’s end where she has to deal with the actual hard part (the printing and all that) so I honestly can not tell you when the deck will be ready. But, since it’s not even spring yet, it sounds fairly positive that they might be ready by summer? But don’t hold me to it, sometimes these things take awhile.
Hello Cassandra, exactly how many cards make up the deck of shadowhutners torot?
At the moment I believe there are 79 cards? This deck has two Fool cards so that makes for an extra. The typical tarot deck has 78 cards.  
Is the Shadowhunter Tarot you’re doing for Cassandra Clare going to be sold somewhere? I really love the art.
I believe so yes! This question was answered in a previous post I made in more detail: LINK
Hi! First off, I just want to say I love your art. Secondly, I have two questions about the Shadowhunter Tarot Cards, which is, is there a reason that both “The Scientist” and “The Dreamer and the Innocent” both translates to “the Fool” card in the Rider-Waite Arcana deck? And is the Princess of Steles the same as the Page of Wands? I was just wondering whether you were ‘translating’ the original Arcana or creating cards that are all new :)
Yes, the Princess of Steles is the same as the Page of Wands. The Shadowhunter deck has new names for every card and every suit, but it is basically.. translating the original Arcana into Shadowhunter lingo. They will be easy to follow because the card numbers will correlate with the original tarot card numbers. Maybe the deck will be sold with some instructions about this. The new suits are:
Swords = Blades
Wands = Steles
Cups = Runes
Pentacles = Rings
As for the question about the fool cards, there are two! The fool can be either the 0 or the 22 card. And we decided to have two fools for the sake of having more character cards. When you use the deck, you can always just pick your favorite and use that, and keep the extra card as a gift. 
 
will there be a Cecily & Gabriel and Sophie & Gideon shadowhunter tarot? just the two of them? :)
Okay! I get a lot of messages like this one so I’ll use you as a sample. There are cards that Have Cecily, Sophie, Gideon and Gabriel (though not together). I also get requests for other couples too. Unfortuneately, although 79 cards are a lot of cards. That doesn’t leave enough space for a card for every single couple and every single character in this very prolific series full of unique characters. I think you guys will be happy, very few characters have been left out, and Cassandra Clare has listened to some of your requests if it seems like enough people really want to see a certain card. I am in fact going to be redrawing several cards completely to make up for your Simon/Izzy requests and stuff like that. So, although we are listening to you guys and doing our best..! There might be some pictures that you want to see that get left out. Not to mention that Cassandra Clare has also been very careful about choosing which characters go on which card, so that the character and scene match the meaning of the card. The characters aren’t just matched up with random cards, they are chosen carefully so the symbolism works out just right. (Like Simon scoring the Sun card. Or Maia & Jordan on the Moon card)
You can see all of Cassandra Jean's Shadowhunter Tarot Cards here.

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