Marianne loved Sarah Snook in TV series Spirited, and so, thanks to Spotlight Report, we got to ask the Aussie actress some questions!
Jorge: Speaking of this transition – you were working on Spirited, which was a big hit in Australia, to film. So, how did you feel when you were going to take the big step from working in TV to films?
Sarah: Uh huh. I think when I was working on Spirited, I was very fortunate to be just a semi-regular character. So I was able to learn a lot from the people around me, without much pressure on myself as an actor. So, I didn’t have the responsibility of a lead. So, therefore, I could watch Matt King and Claudia Karvan and Rodger Corser, and the people who I’d been working with for a while, and see how they approach things and how they go about a character. So – making the leap to films…that challenge of holding together a feature film was still great and big, but I felt like I had a lot more experience, you know, had had some training, I suppose, in a way, to approach that.
Jorge: A friend from another site, who’s a science fiction writer (ahem that would be Marianne!) who also runs a young adult blog, also asked me to ask you what kind of advice you’d give to young, aspiring actresses.
Sarah: I’m not sure that I feel like I’m … One thing that I’m learning, I guess, is that everyone has a different journey and a different path. So, where people might compare you to someone – which has been happening a lot lately – and that’s fine. But, you know, I’m a different person and I’ll have my own journey, whatever that is. However that happens, it’ll happen in my way. And, I guess, for people who are starting out, that it’ll happen for you in your way.
Jorge: My friend from the Burn Bright blog also wants to know if you have a favourite book, or what the last book you read was.
Sarah: Right now I’m reading the Game of Thrones. ‘Cause I used to really like all that kind of fantasy stuff when I was a kid. And I haven’t read it for a while, so I’m getting back into it. But I think my favourite author is Gabriel Garcia Marquez. My favourite book is ‘100 Years of Solitude’. I just really loved that book.
**Many thanks to Bec Stafford for transcribing this interview.
Black Heart is the third book in Holly Black’s Curse Worker series, following up from White Cat and Red Glove. You can read my and Kylie Fox’s reviews of them [intlink id=”8055″ type=”post”]HERE[/intlink] and [intlink id=”8029″ type=”post”]HERE[/intlink] at Burn Bright.
Black Heart picks up almost immediately from where Red Glove finished up. Cassel Sharpe is in deep trouble. After finding out his not-so-charming brothers have been using him for years as an assassin and then wiping and replacing his memories, he’s trying to get on with life. He’s trying to be good. He’s trying to win back the girl he’s loved for longer than he can remember (which, considering he’s a bit hazy on the memory-front, is a tricky situation) and he’s trying to stay alive. And that’s where things get complicated. The Feds want him to do their dirty work, and so does the Mob. But who’s telling the truth? You’d think that growing up in a family of con artists would make Cassel an expert on picking fact from fiction, but it’s not always that easy when you’ve been raised to believe the government is the enemy and the love of your life is the daughter of the Mob boss.
In a world where an ungloved, naked hand is classed as a deadly weapon and Curse Workers like Cassel and his family are both feared and sought after, nothing is as it seems.
The Curse Worker’s series took a little while to hit its stride. Red Glove was a much stronger book than White Cat, and the same applies again for Black Heart. Cassel is finally a character that the reader can relate to and like, flaws and all. Deep down, he’s a good guy. It just depends on which side of the fence your alliances sit. Told in first person, we get a great insight into the way Cassel works through things in his mind; how he steps through each con, how he figures out how to con the con artist. Black Heart is clever in its set-up and delivery of the not-so-unexpected twist – it’s just that the twist isn’t so easy to spot until you’re deep within it.
While Cassel might be a more likeable character, I did miss some of the others. Cassel’s grandfather, a retired Death Worker, only makes a small appearance, which is a shame. The rest of Cassel’s family are here – his mother as despicable as ever (seriously, it’s about time you divorced yourself from her, Cassel) and while it’s easy to hate older brother Barron, even he has a moment where it’s impossible not to feel sad for him. A small subplot, while making things more complicated for Cassel at school, does nothing much except give Sam a little air time – which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
If you enjoyed White Cat and Red Glove, you’ll *love* Black Heart. It’s more complex than the first two, but worth it. As with the others, I enjoyed the explanation of the way con artists work, how they pick their mark, carry out the crime and sometimes… they even score.
Black Heart by Holly Black.
Published by Gollancz / Orion.
Paperback – 296 pages.
ISBN – 978-0-575-09680-6
If you’ve spent any time on the fashion watch-dog blog Go Fug Yourself dot com, you may (or may not) be aware of the co-creators of the website writing two YA books together.
** If you have no interest in fame and fashion you have my permission to stop reading now **
Spoiled starts the series off on an awkward spike stiletto heel. Molly Dix receives a death bed confession from her mother of the true identity of her paternal father. Brick (as in, thick-as-a) Berlin is a huge action movie star with a daughter to another woman. So when Brick offers to take Molly in, there isn’t much left for her to do but say yes.
Brooke, Brick’s other daughter, is on the brink of greatness and wants nobody to forget it. Having a half-sister turn up on her doorstep and suddenly not being the center of attention, throws Brooke into a tail spin.
You can only imagine what happens when the faux fur starts to fly.
Messy has been described as the half-sister to Spoiled. Brooke is running with her five seconds of fame and wants it to last a little longer. In her pursuit of stardom, she acquires the help of Max McCormack to be a ghost writer for a fabulous blog about the life and times of Brook Berlin.
Max and Brooke enter into a mutually beneficial agreement. Though, as the girls find out; all is not necessarily fair in love and war.
I would say that my favourite book of the two is Messy. There were moments in both books where I had to get out the tissues and dab away a tear or two, but the pretense and writing style were more believable in the second book in the series.
Of all the characters, I think Max has been given the most influential and interesting character arc. Without giving away too much she is a good friend and an excellent sister. I actually would love to have her sit with me at lunch so we could get snarky about things that make us cringe.
I dislike Brick Berlin as a character. I dislike him so much he almost had me flinging the books at the wall.
If there are to be more books by Heather and Jessica I really hope they keep the emotional depth of Messy mixed with the humor of Spoiled. I like to see the nasty people get their comeuppance, and I don’t mind a happy ending. If they can do it in Jimmy Choo Shoes then what they hey…
These books are not to be taken seriously. They are meant to be fun and carefree. If you go in knowing this you’ll probably be able to get through both in a short period of time and walk away feeling lighthearted. Go ahead and add them to your winter/summer holiday reading list.
http://heatherandjessica.wordpress.com/
Hardcover, 368 pages
Expected publication: June 5th 2012 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
ISBN 0316098299 (ISBN13: 9780316098298)
Hi Burn Brighters, some good news this morning. Firstly we have a new reviewer on staff, namely Renee Thomas from Renee’s Book Channel. She’s already an experienced reviewer and you’re going to LOVE her work. Go check out her profile on the [intlink id=”987″ type=”page”]STAFF[/intlink] page.
Secondly, the Spotlight Report and MDPWeb (Burn Bright, Tara Sharp and Marianne de Pierres sites) will be partnering on some content. SR is one of Australia’s leading entertainment news sites and they’ll be sharing exclusive pics and interviews. To begin this great alliance, here are pics from Jorge’s interview with Katy Perry in Sydney on the red carpet of her new film.
Jorge spoke to Katy on the red carpet and we love her message to her fans …
This film is about following me all around last year and it tells my story of how I got here. It shows some obstacles I had to go through to get here…and it basically, and hopefully, inspires people, like these beautiful fans around us right now, that they too can do it and follow their dreams if they want and they don`t have to change who they are to do it…they don`t have to fit in, they can stick out and always being themselves!
You can read their full interview over here at The Spotlight Report. Many thanks to Jorge and Sandra for this exclusive.
