I had an amazing time celebrating the opening of the Beastly movie with local author, Alex Flinn, who wrote the novel.  Wow!  I don't even know where to start.  It was such an incredible event.  A few of us got really dressed up and I brought my family (my girls each brought a friend, too). 

Before the movie started, our wonderful SCBWI RA, Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld, made a sweet speech.  We're lucky to have her leading our region--she not only puts together amazing conferences, but organized this special Beastly viewing party.  Thanks, Linda!  Then my incredible mentor (and fairy godmother to many writers) Joyce Sweeney spoke about how proud we all are and gave Alex a special gift.  We celebrated with incredible cinnamon vanilla cake made by Gaby Triana.  Check out this photo--Gaby should have her own Cake Boss type show on TV.  I'm always amazed with the designs she makes. 

We all cheered when we saw Alex's name up on the screen.  I LOVE the movie!  The stars were great--Alex Pettyfer, Vanessa Hudgens, Neil Patrick Harris, Peter Krause, and Mary-Kate Olsen.  I definitely plan to see it again (and again, and again).  I can't wait to read the book again, too--the writing is awesome.  Definitely read it! 

We each went home with all kinds of swag...t-shirts, a poster, pins, some people got a copy of the Beastly novel with the movie tie-in cover (I have the original cover on mine).  They also gave out boxes of candy with a Beastly picture on one side.  You can check out more of my photos here.

It's been a whirlwind of incredible movie news in South Florida!  Beastly was spoofed on Saturday Night Live, with Miley Cyrus playing Lindy.  Here’s a blog post where Alex shares photos and fun details about the Beastly premiere.  And I’m sure you’ve seen the commercials, but if you’re like me and just can’t see it enough, here’s a link to the trailer.  And here’s a great article in the Miami Herald.

So...what happens when you take an amazing book and turn it into a movie?  I've been having so much fun shouting out all of Alex's fantastic news.  Beastly is #1 on the New York Times Best Sellers List for children’s paperback books and is #26 on the USA Today Best Sellers List.  Wahoo! 

So huge congrats to Alex Flinn for her novel, Beastly, and the movie based on it being so successful!  And congrats on the recent publication of her newest novel, Cloaked.  It's sitting on my bookshelf now, begging me to finish up the novel I'm reading so I can dig into it.  I can't wait!

Time to stop blogging and get back to my synopsis.  I had to put my Mom Wars revision aside for a few days so I could whip the synopsis into great shape and send it along with the beginning of my middle-grade novel for the SCBWI WIP Grant by Friday.  It's amazing how much more difficult it feels to write a synopsis than an entire novel!  I think the bones are all there now.  I'm waiting on some more feedback from my wonderful critique groups to make sure I have enough of my main character's personality shining through, and that everything is as streamlined and clear as possible.  Critique groups and crit buddies rock!

Good luck to all of you who are applying for a grant.  I hope to see many of your names on the winner's list!