By James Dinh
Lauren Conrad might not be the center focus of “The Hills” anymore but her career as a writer is just about to propel. She's written two books — the New York Times Best Seller, “L.A. Candy” and the upcoming, "Sweet Little Lies: An L.A. Candy Novel," which will be released in February — and, according to People, will now be penning another.
While her first two books were fiction-based, Lauren is about to bring some “reality” to something else besides the small screen. She'll be spilling her unique style tips in the guide, “Lauren Conrad Style.” The book, which will be published by Harper Collins next fall, will also include exclusives shots of the ex-"Hills" star and her own personal advice on how to infuse her fashionable traits into every day life.
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A word of advice for all writers looking to spend 143 weeks on the "New York Times" bestseller list: do what "Twilight" mastermind Stephenie Meyer did and listen to your mother. The author appeared on the "Oprah Winfrey" show Friday afternoon for her only interview leading up to the release of "New Moon" and revealed a little-known fact about her second novel — the ending would've been much tamer if not for her mother's advice.
"My mom was like, 'You know, Stephenie, maybe a little more action at the end would be a good idea. Maybe you need that.' And she was right, as usual. So after kind of stewing about it I introduced the Volturi a little bit earlier in the series than I was planning. That whole scene at the end — that's kind of my favorite part now — is there because my mom told me it would be better that way."
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Stephenie Meyer wanted to make it clear when she announced that she would be a guest on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" Friday, that this was going to be her one big interview about "New Moon." Arguably, Oprah is kind of a big deal, so we get it. The "Twilight" author took to her blog to announce that she was excited to chat with the talk show maven when she sits down with her on Friday (November 13). Yes, the author extraordinaire will be stopping by "Oprah" on — wait for it — Friday the 13th!
"You know I've been doing the hermit thing this last year, in so far as media is concerned, and I'm not changing that now, but I am making an exception," she wrote on her website. "I'm doing this for a good reason: I am so pleased and amazed and thrilled with what Chris Weitz has done with 'New Moon' that I want to talk about it, and to show my support for him. And since I'm only doing one interview, better make it big. Really big. So....I will be on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' on Friday, November 13th."
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I can't be the only Twilighter who's experienced this: A year and a half after telling everyone about my new obsession, friends and family are just now coming up to me and asking, "Have you read 'Twilight'?" Welcome back to the world, cave-dwellers. I'll forgive them for not listening to me the first time, but now that they've all caught Cullen fever, maybe they'll pay attention to my other recommendations. After "New Moon" comes out this month, we're all going to be serious V-juice withdrawal. So, I'm going to stock the Book Report with plenty of bloodsucking novels to feed your addiction for the months to come.
And if, like me, you were constantly frustrated with the fact that, for all her bravery, Bella always had to rely on others to protect her from dangerous vampires, Richelle Mead's "Vampire Academy" is the perfect antidote. In this book and its three sequels, the vampires are the ones who need protecting from the likes of Rose Hathaway. She's a Dhampir, half human and half vampire, in training to be a guardian of full-blooded vampires called Moroi (yeah, all these special terms are annoying at first, but you get used to 'em), who are constantly in danger of being attacked by Strigoi — the evil, undead bloodsuckers along the lines of Dracula (you know, red eyes, kill people, can't go out in sunlight). But when we first meet rebellious Rose, she and her best friend, vampire princess Lissa Dragomir, they've been on the run and living among humans for two years. And though Rose hasn't finished her training, she's got an extra skill that helps her take care of her friend, she can slip inside Lissa's head, seeing what she sees and feeling her emotions.
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By Kara Warner
Attention Vampire fanatics: For those looking to fill the void before "New Moon" opens, the next season of "True Blood" and "The Vampire Diaries" latest episode, check out "Vampire Taxonomy: Identifying and Interacting with the Modern-Day Bloodsucker," by Meredith Woerner. One part witty how-to interaction guide and two parts vampire glossary, this book is a humorous, yet authoritative look at pop culture's current fixation on all things fang-tastic.
"Taxonomy" begins with an overview of vampire origins, and then delves right into the gory detail of five definitive vampire types: Romantic (aka Edward Cullen, Bill Compton — see an illustration after the jump), Villainous (Count Orlok, Dracula), Tragic (Angel, Jasper Cullen), Halfies (Blade). We like the Tragic vamps best, in large part due to an adolescent crush on "Buffy" heartthrob Angel (it wasn't the same after he left!), and also because we are suckers for those tortured souls. Er, tortured soul-less? Ha. Who knew there were so many puns to be had in writing about vampires? Anyway, moving on...
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Author Carrie Ryan is doing her best to prove that zombies — like the "Unconsecrated" in her book, "The Forest of Hands and Teeth" &— are the new vampires. On Thursday, Carrie and fiancé JP Davis (the man responsible for her zombie craze) shared #6-10 of their favorite zombie-infected movies, books, TV shows and video games. Here, just in time for your own Halloween marathon, are their top five:
#5: "World War Z" (book)
Carrie Ryan: Max Brooks book proves that the zombie apocalypse is, in fact, possible. Not only is this book riveting in scope, but it's really amazingly well written.
JP Davis: The "zombie occupation" period of our history has been sadly neglected in our educational system, and many of our children don't even know that once the world was largely occupied by living corpses with a taste for human flesh. Max Brooks says "never again."
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With "Twilight" producers helming the film adaptation of Lauren Conrad's hit novel "L.A. Candy," is it possible we could see a few familiar vampires and werewolves stalking Hollywood?
"I have no idea!" Lauren told MTV News when asked which "Twilight" actor she'd like to see in the film. "I think I'm kind of taking it step by step. I'm gonna work on the script first and then go to actors. As soon as I get back... I'm going to start meeting with writers and try and decide on a writer to write the movie."
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If the rumors are to be believed, author Carrie Ryan may soon be responsible for taking Kristen Stewart away from vampire-infested Forks and dropping her into the zombie-infested "Forest of Hands and Teeth." In the meantime, she's doing her darndest to make the rest of us fans of that other undead genre. So, in honor of Halloween, we asked Carrie to give us a list of her favorite zombie-flavored movies, TV shows, books and video games. And because she has fiancé John Parke Davis to blame/thank for her zombie obsession, she let him weigh in, too.
#10: "Fido" (2006 movie)
JP Davis: This "zomedy" explores a '50s-style world where the zombie outbreak has been turned into a convenience as zombies are reprogrammed to be manservants. In case you have never seen a zombie movie before, this does not end well.
Carrie Ryan: Even though I'm not as big of a fan of sentient zombies, this is a great movie, especially for those who prefer their zombies with a touch of comedy rather than too much terror. Plus, like all great zombie movies, it still makes you think once the credits start to roll.
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What would Mr. Bear say? In a new tell-all memoir, "Full House" actress Jodie Sweetin, who played middle daughter Stephanie Tanner on the '90s series, admits to being high while giving sobriety speeches at universities across the country.
In "unSweetined," due out November 3, Jodie reveals that she continued to do coke, Ecstacy and meth even after her much-publicized recovery, going as far as to light up before her university engagements.
"I did a few key bumps and headed to the lecture hall, where a sold-out crowd waited to hear me speak," Jodie writes in an excerpt posted to Amazon.com. "I thought for sure that one of the professors would take one look at me and kick me out. But none did. They wanted to hear about the trials and tribulations of Jodie Sweetin, or at least the Jodie Sweetin I had created by appearing on 'Good Morning America' and talking to People magazine."
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"Catatonic" is how author Maggie Stiefvater describes her reaction to the news that her novel "Shiver" had been optioned for a movie just a month after the book's August release. "There was a lot of staring at the wall and blinking."
But now that Stiefvater has snapped out of that shocked state, she has some definite ideas about what she'd like to see in the movie version of her story about the doomed love between a human girl and a werewolf boy.
"I'd love to have a director who would do it at a slow pace, more 'Benjamin Button' than 'Tomb Raider,'" she told us. "More of a mood piece, just because I think so much of 'Shiver' 's action is more internal in setting."
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