Confession: I am a complete chick-flick fanatic. There. I said it.
Here are some of my favorites:
- She’s the Man
- Cinderella Story
- Bridget Jones
- He’s Just not that into You
- 13 Going on 30
- 17 Again
- Love Actually
- Mean Girls
- Easy A
- Crazy Stupid Love
- Never Been Kissed
Anyone else want to fess up? If I’m missing some great ones from this list PLEASE tell me. I’m always semi-desperately looking for new ones to watch.
Another confession: When I write a novel, I imagine I’m creating the next great chick flick. Music plays in my head like a movie soundtrack, building at dramatic moments. Mental camera angles take in expressions of shock, flirtatious winks, tears. And I picture my final scene frozen on the silver screen, credits rolling.
By the way, I’m open to having my new novel Over My Head adapted for the big screen – are you listening, Hollywood???
Over My Head has all the necessary chick-flick elements. There’s a serious rivalry between our heroine Sang and Trish, the girl who’s made Sang’s life hell for a long long time. Check out this scene at the pool:
While I’m watching him, I feel Trish watching me. She’s been glaring in my direction all day. She definitely hasn’t forgotten about being tripped and getting a mud facial.
“Enough of this helpless garbage,” she says to me. “I told you he was mine. He’d never go for someone like you.”
“Whatever, Trish.”
“He’s not into your little doe-eyed innocent act, so don’t go thinking he is. Pretending you can’t swim just so Cameron will pay attention to you. It’s pathetic.”
“I’m not pretending,” I say. I pull myself out of the pool, thinking about the connection I always feel when he and I talk. “This is real.”
Cameron is the intriguing hot guy, and there’s plenty of drama and romance. Like when, a few moments later, Trish gives non-swimmer Sang a little “help” into the deep end, and Sang sinks straight to the bottom:
Water whooshes around me and a strong arm grabs me.
I open my eyes. I’m soaring upward. I break through the lens, gasping and coughing.
“Everybody get back,” Cameron yells. He hands me up to Trish, who lays me on my back.
Cameron jumps out and kneels beside me. “Sang? Say something.”
“Trish pushed me,” I say, my voice hoarse. My arms and legs tremble.
“Please. She’s delirious,” Trish says.
Cameron leans closer. “Are you okay?”
“You saved me.”
“Yeah,” he says, raising his eyebrows. “I guess I did.”
I give him a thank you kiss. A mere peck. But he gets involved. At first his lips are cold and wet, but they quickly warm up. Now my heart is trembling too.
After a long moment, he pulls back. Some of the kids around us whistle and clap. One says, “Aw, gross.”
Cameron blinks at me and says, “Why don’t we continue this later?”
And, as in all the great chick flicks, our heroine is in the middle of a huge mess.
For starters, Cameron is in college, he has secrets, and a bad reputation. Sang’s parents freak out when they discover Sang is spending time with him. Plus there are big problems at home involving money and a serious illness. Her dad, especially, is dealing with lots of heartache, and Sang hates that she keeps fighting with him. But she somehow has to stand up for herself, somehow has to work out what really matters.
And, yes, like in any decent chick-flick there are lots of laugh out loud moments… A catfight… A friend who says all the wrong things… Someone shouting liverwurst in a graveyard. Plus, there’s not one, but TWO makeover scenes. So there.
But who in our big-picture version would play the steamy but suspect hero, Cameron? Or the flawed but trying to do better heroine, Sang? I’m all for up-and-coming unknowns to step into these roles. As long as Hollywood does it right… As long as I’m on set… As long as I can help the make-up artist oil up the hero for those poolside scenes…
Hey, I’m kidding!
Marie Lamba (marielamba.com) is author of the newly published YA Over My Head, which is the follow up to her first novel What I Meant… (Random House). New York Times bestseller Jonathan Maberry calls Over My Head, “a funny, touching, and at times heart-breaking Young Adult novel about the search for love.”
Marie’s humorous YA novel What I Meant… was dubbed “an impressive debut” by Publisher’s Weekly. Marie’s also recently completed writing another novel titled Drawn, about a teen artist who starts channeling one very hot ghost.