Call for Beta Readers for "Capture Me" Re-release! Email KatherineBacher@gmail.com if interested!
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Author: Katherine Bacher
Katherine Bacherhttp://katherinebacher.comKatherine Bacher is the Amazon Kindle Best Selling Author of the Roxy Summers Mystery Series.
With a wacky, positive view of the world, she is an avid reader and movie fanatic. With a knack for writing stories since childhood, at age five she won second place in a children’s Easter poetry contest. The prize? A stuffed animal in the form of a little sheep. She’s been hooked on writing ever since. Sheepie stands tall in her parent’s home.
She’s a proud graduate of Central Washington University’s print journalism program. During her time at CWU she was a copy editor for the student newspaper, The Observer. (Go Wildcats!)
You can find her writing in her home state of Washington balancing a husband-of-many-hats, being a co-biped parent to goofy dogs, cheering for her favorite hockey team, and enjoying a classy glass of wine.
Would you believe a sort-of-classy glass of wine?
Okay, fine. She enjoy wine from her plastic The Red Green Show mug.
Katherine Bacher’s Blog – www.katherinebacher.com (You're here!)
Katherine Bacher’s Facebook – Katherine Bacher Author Page (Find me there!)
Katherine Bacher’s Twitter – @katnundrum (Read my quips!)
Katherine Bacher’s Instagram – @katnundrum (Home life photos!)
Trifecta Publishing House – www.trifectapublishinghouse.com (Awesome publisher!)
All writing exercises are proprietary to me. If you’re going to use my content, CITE ME. (Plagiarism is bad. Really bad.)
Yesterday was October 13th, a Friday, (though I’m not superstitious). My mom came out to watch our Little Buddy Bacher last night. It was literally the first full night off from parenting for both Pilot and I at the same time since New Year’s.
I’ll remind you: It is October. Welcome to parenthood!
That’s right, 10 months of Pilot and I being non-parents at the same time. What did we do?
I have never understood parents/guardians who take a “date night” and spend it seeing a movie. You literally have time off to talk about anything and everything outside of your child(ren) and outside of your role as caregiver, but pick an activity where you don’t speak to each other? Nah, that’s not the way we roll, people. Nope, not us! Instead, we attend a comedy show to watch someone else talk, while Pilot and I don’t speak to each other!
For real though, months ago we bought tickets to see Adam Sandler perform stand up on his I Missed You tour. He came to Seattle last night and performed at Climate Pledge Arena.
It was Pilot’s first time being there. I happened to be at Climate Pledge Area with some friends during The Mixtape Tour, a musical tour encompassing New Kids on the Block, En Vogue, Salt ‘n Pepa, and one of my all-time favorites, Rick Astley. Yes, I love getting Rick Rolled. He’s amazing, the voice of an angel, and one of the nicest people. Love Rick Astley. I’ll never give him up.
We felt like super, ultra, mega VIPs having paid for “club seats.” Pilot and I have never done anything like that ever. We’re economy class flyers, nosebleed section attendees, hopefully “paid everything with a coupon” type of people. And that was before becoming parents.
The show was super fun. It started out with two warmup acts, then a surprise stand-up routine with Tim Meadows, and then, of course, the Sandman. There he was, Adam Sandler in all of his Hawaiian print polo shirt glory. He did some of his iconic singing jokes, with some of the melodies being throwbacks to music he wrote for his many movie roles.
Pilot was especially tickled during a song for new parents. I’m not sure exactly what the title is, but it’s melody went along the lines of, I’d like to do/be doing [enter activity here] but I’m tired. So f*cking tired. Another line something like, “…I’m in an office meeting trying to listen, but I’m staring off into space because I’m tired. So f*cking tired.” BAHAHAHAHAAA! Pilot leaned over to me and whispered, “I’ve never felt so seen!” A grin, laughing with tears in his eyes.
And those “club seats!” Oh man, they were amazing! (P)leather, plushy, extra leg room, and I think we were maybe 10 rows up from the ground level. I’ve never had such amazing seats for anything like that. The only caveat was our food bill:
2 canned drinks 1 slice of pizza 1 scoop of gelato 1 gigantic cookie
TOTAL: $75USD
I asked Pilot how the pizza was. He shrugged and replied, “It’s not bad.” I told him he better eat every bite because that single slice of pizza averaged to $15. As he finished the last reasonable crumb, he laughed about how it was the most expensive piece of pizza either of us had ever eaten. This includes one time when I ate a medium salmon pizza from one of Wolfgang Puck’s airport restaurants in Las Vegas, waiting for a flight home.
Other than that, it was an excellent night. While I certainly won’t be someone who springs for plushy seats, I would definitely consider paying for those again, maybe once every few years for the comfort.
Lesson learned? Luxury is awesome, but I wish it was affordable for everyone all of the time. Also, Adam Sandler’s still got it! Thanks for a memorable night out, Mr. Sandler.
You can see more of our photos from last night on my Instagram.
Pilot and I have looked back upon this year with a fresh lens and dubbed Summer 2023 as “The Summer of Suck.“
While I’m a firm believer of “Any day above ground is a good day,” as stated by Gene Simmons’ mother, it still doesn’t always remove the sting out of a rough period in one’s life.
June 2023 was one of the most challenging yet. We had purchased a used van—yes, we became “van people”—and four days after purchase it died. Was in the shop for ONE MONTH, and after two weeks after a month of work, it died again while I was on the freeway with my child in the backseat. All for us to turn around, sell it back to the dealership and bought a different van. Luckily, this one is still running. (Keep those fingers crossed and prayers up.)
A family member broke their wrist earlier this summer. Their other wrist. They first broke their left wrist about two years ago and required surgery. This time, they broke the right wrist, which also required surgery. Two of Pilot’s family members were in and out of the emergency room 4 times in 6 weeks. They’re still recovering.
I’ve lost contact with another family member. This particular person has had a rough go at life, made poor decisions, had difficulty in the romance department and been heartbroken many times. If cutting themselves off from our family is what is needed for that person to find peace and joy within their life, I wish them well, and I’ll explain why further down. The remainder of my side of the family is still really confused, but we hope this person comes back if they want to.
My (now former) best friend, of the last eight years had two people from their life come up to me on separate occasions within the same week indicating that I was “too poor to be my (former) bestie’s friend,” in front of said (former) bestie, and my (former) bestie didn’t stick up for me. These two elitist people are ones in friend’s life that she openly, and quite frequently, complained about during the course of this eight-year friendship, and she often wondered why she kept them in her life. And she would mention these feelings to me about them. While I never expect anyone to fight my battles, I’d at least like to think a person who identified as my ‘best friend’ would at least be willing to stand with me during said moments of discomfort. She did not. I ended said friendship. Who wants to stay friends with someone who, by omission of any backup, must obviously believe the same thing? She treated me more like an assistant the last year of our friendship than an actual friend. It’s a bad habit of mine to become a doormat for the sake of friendship, and unfortunately, I learned this lesson again. However, I stuck up for myself this time, said no negative things to her, and instead wished her well in a “break up friendship text,” hoping they find happiness in their future, without me in it, and I moved on.
Another of Pilot’s family members and one of their kids has determined that not only do they wish us a bad life and misfortune, but they also hate me specifically regarding things I had zero involvement with.
Have you ever been hated? It’s a strange feeling to know there are two people in the world who feel my existence is enough to have a negative impact upon their lives—people I see maybe 5-6 times per year, and we don’t live anywhere near each other or in a situation where our paths would cross outside of family get-togethers. (Enter shrug here.) In reality, they are dealing with an extremely real villain within their own home but choose to focus their pain into hatred against me because it’s easier choosing to find strength within themselves to leave the monster at home. Luckily, it’s been made clear to me by other members of Pilot’s family, Pilot’s parents, and super obvious to myself anyway, that they are the ones with the problems, and they have a lot of pain they’re working through. I happened to be in the crosshairs of their pain rage against the monster at home, and they decided to keep me there instead of focusing on the extremely real and present danger in their lives.
Is it fair? No. Is it sane? No. Do I care? Well… that’s a complicated answer.
Is it a good feeling to be hated? No. Do I like the idea of someone out there feeling my existence is enough to cause rage in their day (beyond the usual crowd of bigots and/or misogynists)? No. As far as trying to repair this bridge they set on fire, while I wasn’t even in the same town of said bridge, I’m not the one with the problem. I’m happy to see them at Christmas and wish them well. Will I still continue crocheting hats for the 3/3 kids despite 1/3 hating me? Yup. Will we be there if there’s an emergency and they need something? Of course, they’re still humans and we should all care and support our fellow humans. These people have zero impact on how I problem solve, make decisions, act within my marriage, act within my home, parent Buddy Bacher, or treat my side of the family. Their issues are widely known, and they continually choose to go back to the same cycle of problems instead of leaving the shitshow. Pilot and I simply hope they don’t end up on Dateline someday.
Pilot and I have been together for over twenty years now. 20 years. I’d like to think we know each other’s families well enough to know when a problem is us vs them. This is definitely a “them” problem. If they’re in the same room, cool. If not, cool. (Again, insert shrug.) All I can personally say about those two: I hope they find the strength to leave said horror shit-show, may the 3/3 kids not repeat the cycle, and may they learn how to build happiness and healthy, positive relationships within their own lives, because they deserve that.
Embrace the words of Keanu Reeves:
“I’m at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1 + 1 = 5, you’re right! Have fun!” – Keanu Reeves
If it doesn’t directly impact Pilot, Buddy Bacher, myself, our home, or our day-to-day living—It’s all moot to me. I am other people’s lives neutral at this point. Pilot leveled up to 40 this year. I leveled up to 39. If someone needs to drop contact from me to find peace within their lives, I 100% understand as Pilot and I have also cut ourselves off from others in search of that same inner peace. And you know what? Letting go of the trauma-drama cycle those people have going on that they tried to drag us into, has significantly reduced the stress in our home, how we spend our free time, and it’s opened both Pilot and I up to having time for our hobbies once again. One perfect example is I’m actually able to write this blog again.
The peace comes once you embrace the lesson from The Summer of Suck, which is: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Yes, it’s been ANOTHER 2 years. There’s a lot of reasons I haven’t written, most of which boil down to:
I’m tired.
I’m just going to get into it. I haven’t written in 2 years because the day after I posted my last blog, long ago in April 2021, I had a miscarriage. It was bad, and I almost died.
I didn’t know that I was pregnant. It was about 2 AM, my husband and child were asleep, and all of a sudden, I was bleeding everywhere, and it wouldn’t stop. Due to it being the middle of the night, I didn’t want to wake my (then) toddler (now 4-year-old), for him to be tired, meltdown, and upset, and have all three of us in the hospital. Especially during spring of 2021, as this was during the height of the Covid lockdowns. I was transferred by ambulance to another hospital to handle it since the ER I was currently was unable to continue with the needed procedures my body required. At the next hospital, I vomited, and was given a medically-induced abortion to expedite the process of the miscarriage, and to save my life from the blood loss.
I was sent home later that day, and my body went through some post-partum hormone changes that I was familiar with from my first pregnancy, including some hair loss. That was fun.
Needless to say, the same moment of learning that I was pregnant, and also simultaneously losing the pregnancy, is an experience I don’t wish on anyone. There is a strange cocktail of emotions (and hormones) that get mixed up in that moment. It affected both Pilot and I differently, and the same, for a while. It took us each a long time to process.
There really aren’t any more details I wish to share on such a public platform. So, there’s that.
Covid happened shortly after that last post, and frankly Covid sucked for everyone.
I don’t want to get I into politics here, especially with my debut post of trying to get back into a routine of writing on the regular.
I’m still debating if I should self-publish or resubmit my books to a new publisher. I was burned so badly with my first/last experience of it, I’m a bit at a decision overload and have been stuck at a stalemate with my brain for the last few years.
Being a first-time parent was extremely overwhelming, and having post-partum depression the first time was rough. Going through some post-pregnancy hormone changes a second time without knowing I had been pregnant was also a wild ride that I don’t wish to get into much.
One comment I will write is this: If you know of someone who has recently had a miscarriage, PLEASE DO NOT WRITE THEM A “SORRY ABOUT YOUR DEAD BABY” GREETING CARD.
Yes, this actually happened to me. 0 stars. Do not recommend.
My son just turned 4 this month. The one we introduced to you two years ago. We’re considering preschools already. It surprises me how nowadays the time seems to fly by when the newborn phase seemed like a never-ending phase of no sleep fog.
My *intention* is to get back into monthly writing here again.
It has never *not* been my intention.
For those who have stayed subscribed to my little blip in the internet world, thank you. My books (despite no longer being on the shelves at this time), would never have been as successful as they were without the people who read my little blog. It all started with you.
I call you “Precious” for a reason. You are all virtual strangers, but so dear to me.
Take care, and please know that my *intention* is always there and I haven’t forgotten about you.
I hope you haven’t forgotten about me. And most importantly, for those who are still here:
It’s been quite some time… almost TWO YEARS! I can’t believe it!
Here’s the short version:
Nope, I didn’t die. Kid is healthy, and so are all of us.
No, I didn’t forget you. (How could I? You’re who got me started!)
No, I haven’t given up writing.
Here’s the (somewhat) longer version:
Nope, I didn’t die. Kid is healthy, and so are all of us. After my last blog post, life became quite hectic for Pilot and myself. I was at my third trimester, Pilot and I had moved to a new home, we were expecting the birth of our son, the adjustment to becoming first time parents, my book rights were reverted back to me, and then Covid-19 happened. Pregnancy was extremely difficult for me, and made the newborn phase for all of us quite tiresome. More on this in the future.
Nope, I didn’t forget you. There is a lot going on in the world at this time. I won’t condense what happened to me and my family in one post. Instead, I’m going back to basics. I’m using this blog to help me warm up back to writing a little each day. Becoming a first time parent was quite overwhelming and, frankly, I wasn’t able to find the time to write due to exhaustion. (But more on that later.)
This blog post, on April 10th, 2021 is a promise of a monthly blog post to you, Precious Reader, but mostly to myself. That I haven’t lost the writing bug, and proof that is truly my life’s purpose to bring words to the world that, hopefully, make you smile, make you think, and most importantly, laugh your asses off.
No, I haven’t given up writing. Like most of you, Pilot and I are hunkering down and working from home. This means that life adjustments were made to find a way to create an at-home office for Pilot while we lived inside of it. This has prevented office space for me as items were moved to various rooms, desk surfaces became priority real estate in our small apartment for things like dinner, and the fact that I am now a full-time Stay At Home Mom (SAHM), his work has priority over my needs for technology in exchange for a roof over our heads and food on the table.
While I haven’t given up on writing, it became a lesser priority in 2019-present day to preserve my sanity. This blog post is my tiptoeing back into the writing world. My publisher and I are no longer under contract, and the rights to my Roxy Summers Mystery series were reverted back to me. I’ve been sitting on my books for several months due to motherhood, and also trying to decide what next steps there are for me. I’m greatly considering a career change that will allow me more time to write books.
For those who follow me on social media you already know what’s been going on. For those who don’t follow me on social media, here’s a quick breakdown:
Pregnancy was tough. Our birth story isn’t a happy one, even though it ends with a healthy toddler and healthy parents (now). More on that in the near future.
After George Floyd’s death, I became quite vocal in support of the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
Our family was on the receiving end of an attempted hate crime in June 2020. When we reported it to the police, the officer tried to intimidate me from reporting, and also tried to turn Pilot against me during the filing since he’s White. More on that in the near future.
I received several death threats on social media simply for not being a White person, and for defending Black Lives. This caused me to take down any photos of my child, my family, and friends, except for Pilot. He is a public figure in his own right and doesn’t care that his face appears on my social media. My child’s face will always be blocked, even on this post.
Covid-19 hit the world.
In more recent times there has been a steady increase of active harassment and violence against the Asian and Pacific Islander community, of which I am a part of.
Our family and friends have dealt with a lot of personal losses since 2019, including some of my own family. Since 2019-present: Seven people in our family’s life contracted Covid-19, two of which were on ventilators and weren’t sure if they would make it. Despite some deaths in the family, those who contracted Covid-19, gratefully, survived it.
I’m literally getting my Covid-19 vaccination today. I’m receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccination. One and done, Precious Readers.
The Present
As I’m sure most of you are in a similar situation, Pilot and I have spent the last 21 months discussing how to make our lives recession-proof, which morphed into “plague-proof.” We have been incredibly grateful that Pilot has continued to stay fully employed at his job, and reached his three-year milestone last November. I’m so proud of him. He found a job that brings him so much joy, despite not having seen any members of his team face-to-face in over a year. I’m grateful we already had a plan in place for me to become a SAHM prior to the pandemic, so it wasn’t as much of a disruption to our lives as it may have deeply impacted yours.
If you, or a loved one, is suffering the affects of Covid-19 in any capacity: as a pandemic that is affecting your job, your ability to find and keep shelter, your mental health, your physical health, the life of a loved one, the loss(es) of a loved one, I highly encourage you to reach out for help with your local community resources, if you can. Or find someone in your life who is able to find resources for you.
On January 1, 2021, Pilot and I decided we needed activities in which to look forward in participating. They didn’t have to be anything that put us at risk, or our child’s health at risk. We believe in science, we believe in masking up, we believe in social distancing. One of those activities was an outdoor photo session.
Let me explain. In my childhood, my parent’s didn’t really believe in the use of cameras. There are few photographs of my childhood, of my parents, or of our family. Pilot may be a talented and skillful photo/videographer, but he’s an aviation and real estate photo/videographer. He cannot take a portrait photo to save his life. I want our child to be able to see the memories we’ve built together. If we over-document our child, it’s because I’m a forgetful person and want to recall our lives together while Baby Bacher grows. Funnily enough, I came across a random Facebook Marketplace ad asking for “models.” I didn’t really think much of it, until I read the description.
Kalie and Devon, the owners of Filling the Frame Photography were looking for regular people of all genders, races, sizes, backgrounds, etc. who wanted a confidence boost, all to expand their portfolio. It would be done outdoors and/or socially distanced in a safe environment. This was intriguing, and I reached out. Surprisingly (to me) they were excited to work with us.
Pilot and I haven’t had a professional photo of our immediate family since our wedding over 10 years ago. (Our anniversary is next month! Squee!) We had never had a professional photo taken of Baby Bacher. Here was our opportunity!
Wehn we arrived, I was provided a dress to wear for the photos. While I was humorously far too short for it, she liked Pilot’s teal sweater and Baby Bacher’s outfit, so we kept a “blue” theme. I haven’t felt that fancy for a professional photo since my wedding and high school Proms. (Okay, being from conservative, Christian, private schooling, it wasn’t called “Prom.” It was called “a banquet, followed by a non-school sponsored, musical, aerobic activity.” Which, frankly, sounds far more creepy than simply calling it a dance. But, since some denominations of Christianity don’t like dancing, it has to be called the sterile, depressing name that it was.)
I did my own makeup, but my hair is not quite how I wanted it. You want to know why? It started hailing during our photo session. I wish I was kidding. You see my exposed arms? I was freezing! We were getting pelted with rain, and then hail started slicing down. Little pinpricks were smacking us on the head. Apparently nature had other plans as to how that session would go.
We worked only with Kalie, and she was one of the warmest people I’d ever met. Despite Pilot’s many talents, he absolutely hates being the subject of a camera. He freezes and the situation turns into one of the early scenes of Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Kalie got him to completely relax on camera, kept Baby Bacher calm and entertained, and even managed to get a few solo shots of our little buddy.
We are so grateful to Kalie for her time and the opportunity to work with her. The experience was literally one of the brightest spots of entertainment in our lives in almost 2 years. As you can tell by the photos, it was fun, relaxed, super easy to be in the moment, and preserved images of us as a first-time family with so much joy. I will be forever grateful for these awesome photos provided by Kalie’s hard work. If you live in Western Washington, I highly recommend Filling the Frame Photographyfor yourself, you and a loved one, your family, your pet, whatever. We will definitely be hiring her again.
The Future
A quick moment of seriousness: Essentially, this is a blog about my journey of being an author, and I hope it to remain as such. At times, political issues may arise in the future as they affect my life and how I currently live it now. If someone leaves any comment of hateful speech against me or another person, I will delete those comments and those people will be banned. Anyone who writes comments against the science around the virus Covid-19 will be deleted and those people will be banned. While I am a Christian, I believe in wearing a mask, getting vaccinated, and social distancing until this pandemic becomes a paragraph in a history book and is no longer physically present as a threat in our world.
Boiled down: I have a zero tolerance policy on hate speech, racism, anti-science, and threats.
And now, back to our regular programming…
Be on the lookout of your inboxes, Precious Reader. I am committing to writing monthly blog posts for myself and you. It will contain stories about our pregnancy, Baby Bacher’s birth, our lives, career starts and stops, and everything mentioned here. I’m looking forward to getting acquainted with you again, and I hope you’ll enjoy restarting this writing journey with me. I’ve missed you, and I hope you’re happy to hear from us as well.
Ready to win? I’ve teamed up with Night Owl Romance and other authors to bring you the chance to win a Waterproof Kindle Paperwhite (USA ONLY)
and Amazon Gift Cards (open to the World). During this event I’m going to help you find some great new books.
Make sure to check out my novels CAPTURE ME, CRUSH ON YOU, and MISSING YOU, the entire Roxy Summers Mystery Series, along the way! (A reminder that CAPTURE ME is an Amazon Kindle #1 Best Seller, and last month that MISSING YOU was named one of Wiki’s Top 9 chilling mysteries set in the cold!)
Start with Capture Me and meet Roxy in a case of cat-and-mouse for a grand Seattle adventure! Then, travel with Roxy to sunny Los Angeles for a food competition to die for in her sequel novel, Crush On You! Roxy’s third book, Missing You has Roxy and friends searching of her ex-boyfriend, lost in a blizzard-riddled Alaska, hoping to find him before time runs out.
A reminder that today is the LAST DAY to enter to win a FREE COPY of my third Roxy Summers Mystery, MISSING YOU. This is in celebration of MISSING YOU being selected by Wiki as a Top 9 book to read for mysteries set in cold climates. Enter today!
I can’t begin to share how excited I am that I hit a “Top” list. They even did a small video to help visualize Roxy Summers’ adventures tromping around the fictional town of Ptarmigan, Alaska to search for her missing ex-boyfriend, Aiden. Missing You is featured as #8 and the promo video they created features Roxy Summers’ third adventure around minute 4:02.
I’m honored to be a part of this list. In celebration of this grand news, I’m going to host a GIVEAWAY! That’s right! You could win a free, personally autographed copy of my book, Missing You! Just follow the rules below.
CONTEST RULES
Answer the question: “Do you prefer warmer or cooler climates and why?” in the comments section.
“Like” this blog post.
BOTH of the above must be completed on or by May 31, 2019 at 11:59 PM (Pacific Standard Time) to be considered entered in the contest.
Your name will be entered for a chance to receive a personally autographed copy of my third book, Missing You.
United States shipping only, no P.O. Boxes allowed.
Limited to 1 entry per individual. Commenting multiple times does not give the participant multiple entries.
Seattle magazine blogger and photographer, Roxy Summers finds herself frozen in place still stinging from the harsh rejection of mercurial Detective Charlie Bennett and wracked with guilt over turning down Seattle’s favorite hunky bachelor, Dylan Hunt. Life throws her a snowball when her ex, Aiden disappears under suspicious circumstances. Roxy is forced to confront her past while facing an uncertain future in the middle of nowhere.
While trapped in a blizzard-ridden remote town of Alaska, and with the clock ticking down over Aiden’s survival, Roxy finds herself surrounded by volatile guests and evasive staff. She soon learns that it’s those closest to you who are capable of the darkest betrayal.
What an honor and opportunity. Thank you to Ezvid Wiki: The World’s Video Wiki for listing me. I’m beyond psyched in the most awesomely way possible!
-KB
Haven’t read the Roxy Summers Mystery Series? Start with Capture Me and meet Roxy in a case of cat-and-mouse for a grand Seattle adventure! Then, travel with Roxy to sunny Los Angeles for a food competition to die for in her sequel novel, Crush On You! Roxy’s third book, Missing You has Roxy and friends searching of her ex-boyfriend, lost in a blizzard-riddled Alaska, hoping to find him before time runs out.
The Night Owl Romance Spring Fling reader event is here! Ready to Win? I’ve teamed up with Night Owl Romance and other authors to bring you the chance to win a Waterproof Kindle Paperwhite (USA ONLY) & Amazon Gift Cards (Open to the World)!
During this event I’m going to help you find some great new books. Make sure to check out my novel my first book, Capture Me along the way!
Nothing ends a first date faster than finding a dead body.
Photographer and sassy Seattle-lite Roxy Summers swears off men after catching her ex-boyfriend, a.k.a. her ex-boss, in a compromising position. Newly single and facing eviction, Roxy puts all distractions (men!) aside as she begins her new job assisting an international fashion photographer and notorious playboy.
No one told Roxy her new job would entail dealing with her new boss’ fiery temper, his emotional girlfriend, his conniving ex-mistress, his partner who has a melt-the-polar-ice-caps blinding smile, have her stumbling over a body, become an amateur detective and find herself annoyingly attracted to Detective Charlie Bennett, who seems determined to put Roxy in handcuffs!
Not bad, eh?
I love participating in Night Owl Romance‘s Scavenger Hunts because I get to connect with readers like you, readers get to meet other readers, and you get to meet a ton of new authors.
As most of you know, I am a Nancy Drew fan, and if you haven’t heard, there is a new movie in the theaters (right now!) with a modern twist to the character.
While I was concerned that in a seemingly whole world of sequels and reboots in Hollywood at the moment this one would be another disappointment, I was pleasantly surprised. While not going to win any awards, I found this to be a more authentic modernization of the Nancy Drew character. She still had global appeal, there was more diversity in the film (though the only Asian was in the move for 5 seconds at the beginning of the movie), and actually had some gasping jump-scare moments.
Part of the reason I think I enjoyed the film was because I went in with ZERO to LOW expectations. This was not 1930’s Nancy. It’s about a girl with exceptional reasoning and deduction skills, sassiness towards authority, and with the help of her friends try to figure out strange happenings in the small mid-western town of River Heights.
With that criteria, I believe they succeeded, including a positive message towards female empowerment and fighting the “mean girl” stereotypes. It also doesn’t hurt that it was produced by Ellen DeGeneres. (Whatever your opinion, I love Ellen.) I was deeply disappointed in the lackluster advertising for the film. The movie itself only played in 1 local theater and had a tepid launch. I firmly believe that if Ellen and other producers had put in more money for the advertising, it would have reached a wider audience. There were a few scattered attendees at the theater and while the film wasn’t great, it wasn’t bad.
You may recall a film back in 2007 starring Emma Roberts, but I have to admit I was sorely disappointed in that version. They made it like Nancy Drew was an old fashioned “freak of nature” trying to make life work in Hollywood, California. She was even considered absurdly old fashioned in her hometown of River Heights. I figure, if you’re going to have a person with 1930’s mannerisms, have them exist in a 1930’s world. This did not prevent me from adding the movie to my DVD collection, but I will be far prouder to have the 2019 Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase featured alongside it on my DVD shelf.
If you decide to watch the movie, take the little ones in your life, grab some snacks, and sit back to watch a pleasant family film.
I give it a solid C, but hopefully look forward to more being made. Maybe if a wider audience purchased more tickets to see it in the theater, it will encourage another.
This blog post is of my sole opinion. I have not been compensated in any way to review this movie.
I really, really don’t understand the backlash regarding Captain Marvel. As a lifetime fan of graphic novels and comic books, especially Marvel brand comics, (though DC Comic’s Batman and his villains will always have a special place in my heart amongst my Marvel Comics love), there are so many powerful and practical female superheroes who happen to be female.
In case you haven’t heard, there has been a massive backlash to Captain Marvel starring Brie Larson. (Seriously, Google “backlash on Captain Marvel“.) The website Rotten Tomatoes has let public reviewers to provide ratings before a movie has been released to the public.
Why?
What is the point of that? It makes no sense to give reviewers that power before anyone has had a chance to see it. As someone whose writing depends on *honest* reviews, there is a trust that someone will have read the entire book before commenting about it. It is completely unfair to rate something without having tried it. It’s ridiculous, pointless, trolling, and nonsense. If you’re not interested in a product, just don’t use it. Did you try it and it had fundamental issues with the results? Then review it.
I firmly believe that the pre-release movie review hatred of Captain Marvel prior to its release was simply misogynistic hatred of females not being in a comic for visual or sexual gratification. The idea that a female could be a lead character, not be hyper-sexualized in costume or looks, or be there merely as backup to men is still a difficult concept for society to accept. While it is 2019 and behavioral change about “toxic masculinity” is being addressed, the reduction of toxic masculinity and misogyny is still not the rare-experience. It is still the norm.
Recent ads (e.g. Gillette’s recent ad about real men) are targeting the dangers of men not stepping up against toxic masculinity, and are promoting the idea of all genders raising up and supporting women. Unfortunately, this is happening because this behavioral change is still needed. It’s sad that in this time of American history we still need this education. I am not a man-hater. I am all about equalism. Fe/Male, or whoever in between, if you have the knowledge and skills or readiness to learn, you are worthy of the work you’re dedicating your time to. If you treat other people like human beings, a tip of the hat to you. No gender or race is better or worse than another. We are all human.
For all ticket holders who have actually seen the film, I agree. It’s not the strongest Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film, but it’s certainly not the worst. (Iron Man 3 anyone? Does anyone remember anything about that movie?) My honest rating of Captain Marvel is a solid B-. Its oddly selected Jude Law addition to the cast, a blase, non-threatening feeling of the villains, and cookie-cutter origin story for its main character show that MCU still loves cranking out high-visual-effects movies as quickly as possible without adding much character development and substance to its films. The acting of Brie Larson and her portrayal of Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel is to be highly, highly praised. I have never seen this Larson not deliver on her acting chops. I continually look forward to watching her career advance in Hollywood.
However, it is falsely being identified as man-hating. If anything, it is showing equality across all genders. The partners-in-justice vibe of this movie was the unexpected delight of the film, and I wish the marketing had been more focused on that. Nick Fury is not her guide, he is not her mentor. Carol Danvers is her own soldier and beacon of heroism. The banter between Danvers and Nick Fury inspire nostalgia of buddy cop films. They’re two leaders who focus on their mission. They are both pursuers of knowledge, truth, and delivering justice. Take away gender, and you get two well-trained operatives who know how to get the job done, and have fun while they’re doing it.
It was entertaining with decent fighting sequences, and a surprise small part played by actress Gemma Chan (who enchanted audiences as Astrid in Crazy Rich Asians) and pop-ups of younger and less-experienced versions of villains we would come to know in more present-time MCU films, and filled with ’90’s kids Easter Eggs (Blockbuster, anyone?) the film is adventurous eye-candy with friendship and bravery at the helm.
Katherine Bacher 
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