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Any more comments? What did you think?

I’ll try to answer the questions that cropped up in your comments a little later today. Overall I’m relieved that so many readers/viewers were willing to give the film a chance and not have to be a word-by-word retelling of the book.

Last night was the fourth time I’d seen the whole thing. The first time was with a roomful of librarians in Colorado. I couldn’t stop crying at the end. I still cry in the scene when she shows Mr. Freeman her closet. That’s my favorite part. You want to know what made me goofy excited last night? Seeing it listed in the cable guide. I thought “Wow, it is really real!” Dumb, I know, but amusing.

I hope you caught the Public Service Announcement at the end. Does anyone know how I can get a copy and post it on my website?

Thanks to all of you for supporting SPEAK and my other books. I consider myself blessed beyond reason. Now I will eat breakfast and get back to work to the next one!!!

(That is a famous passage from Beethoven’s 5th symphony, BTW.)

Yep. It’s here. It’s tonight. And I am supposed to get a lot of writing done today. (insert hysterical giggling)

Games to play while watching SPEAK movie: (9pm EST on Showtime (which I can’t afford) & Lifetime (aka “The Estrogen Channel”) check local listings for Midwest and West coast)

1. count how many times Melinda speaks.
2. watch for lines that came from the book.
3. figure out what famous teen movie the director paid homage to in one of the cafeteria scenes.
4. if you live in Ohio and were one of the extras, look for yourself on screen.
5. throw popcorn at the TV whenever IT shows up.
6. figure out what scenes were NOT in the book.
7. speculate on why the director chose the ending she did.

I know some of you are not going to like the movie as much as the book. That’s cool. When you post here to complain, give me REASONS why you didn’t like it as much. Same with those of you who really like the movie – let me know your favorite scenes!!! Which characters looked like you imagined? Which didn’t seem to fit at all? Which actors deserve Oscars for their performances? Did anybody really stink?

My Menu Suggestions…. food with ties to SPEAK:
Ho-Hos
Mashed potatoes
Powdered doughnuts
Pop-Tarts (thank you for reminding me!)
Very bad turkey soup
Pizza

If have read CATALYST in addition to SPEAK, award yourself five points and add these to your menu:
Jello salad
Cheetos

Did I forget anything? What are you eating at your party?

Here are a couple photos my daughter took while we were on the movie set.

If you really want to dissect the movie and you forgot/can’t tape or Tivo it, the DVD comes out at the end of September.

Roll tape!

The clocking is ticking…. I’m excited, nervous, happy, nervous….I feel like one of my kids has the lead role in a school play.

Some people still haven’t heard the news so here goes: the film version of SPEAK will be shown on both the Lifetime and Showtime channels tomorrow night, Monday, Sept. 5, at 9 pm. Lifetime will be breaking for commercials. Showtime will not.

Where do I begin? I have so much to tell you about this!

First – I love the movie. A lot. The director, Jessica Sharzer, did a fantastic job. She had a budget of one million dollars (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants had a budget of 25 million), one camera, and three weeks to make the movie. We filmed it in Columbus, OH, during a killer heat wave. The air conditioning in the building had to be turned off because the noise messed up the sound recording. A record-breaking thunderstorm opened up holes in the school’s roof – over the room that held all the electrical boxes – and we lost power for a day. I have no idea how Jessica pulled it off, but she did.

The movie is very faithful to the book, but obviously, some things had to be cut. If they had filmed the whole darned book, it would have been a twelve hour movie. Even my rear end would have protested that. I was offered a chance to work on the screenplay, which I turned down because of other writing obligations. The screenplay was co-written by Jessica and Annie Young, the woman who spent several years fighting and struggling to get the book made into a movie. When Annie first approached me about turning the book into the movie, I had my doubts. But she made it happen, a minor miracle as far as I am concerned.

I was on the set for a couple days, with my oldest daughter, Stephanie. It was a very moving, fun experience for both of us. The cast and crew were sweet, though I found that whenever Mr. Neck walked in the room, my stomach started to hurt. Even though he was sweet off camera, his on-camera role was intense – he nailed it.

Everybody nailed it. Melinda, David, Mr. Freeman – they all rock this movie hard. One unknown actress gave a stunning, if brief, performance in her role as The Lunchlady Who Puts Mashed Potatoes on the Plate. Yes, folks, that was me. Watch quickly. I’m on camera for almost a full second. Kristen Stewart, the actress who plays Melinda, had the most difficult job – showing a character’s emotions without speaking much. It is fun to read her opinion of the process in this interview.

I don’t want to go into details about my favorite parts of the movie before you guys have seen it. I’ll try to remember to talk about that on Tuesday.

Several reviewers have already commented on the film. Jonathan Storm is a national TV critic based in Philly, yo, and he sure liked it. Other reviews and interviews are here, here, here, and here (I’m interviewed a little in this one). Showtime has several pages of background material and photos. Oh, and Entertainment Weekly picked the movie as a Must Watch for this week – they gave it a B+

I’ve had notes from readers and teachers who are holding SPEAK movie parties – I know a couple of my kids at college are doing the same. Please send photos of your party I can post here!! Are any of you LJ readers having a party?

What else do you guys want to know?

added later… I’ll give you my menu suggestions for a SPEAK party tomorrow.

Ghastly day yesterday. I must find a way to deal with my feelings about the suffering caused by the hurricane and the inept, inadequate response to it. After 9/11, I fell into a depressed funk and spent a month staring at the walls and listening to Mozart. I’m not going to let that happen this time.

So, in my first-cup-of-coffee enthusiasm, let me share with you the charities our family is contributing to. Feel free to add your own in the comments section.

Red Cross – the grandmother of disaster relief.

Second Harvest – experts on feeding the hungry.

Louisiana Library Association – accepting donations to rebuild school and public libraries in the affected areas of Louisiana. (See the box in the left column.)

CALCASA’s Hurricane Relief Fund – to aid sexual assault victims and the crisis centers that serve them in the affected region. CALCASA is the coalition of sexual assault crisis centers in California and they do great work. When I needed to find an expert ASAP to participate at a news conference when SPEAK was screened to the TV journalists of the world, CALCASA helped out. They are preparing a new PR campaign that promotes the definition of a “real man” as a guy who respects and honors women instead of hurting them.

Before you give anywhere, check out your charity at the Charity Navigator to make sure your money is going to help the needy and not line the pocket of a scumbag.

This is going to be a busy week. The SPEAK premiere is Monday. I’ll post a couple of things about that tomorrow. BH and I leave later in the week for Florida. We are moving my parents from there up to Mexico, NY, near us. Oh, yeah, that’s going to be an adventure.

All I can do today is pray for the people of New Orleans.