Fact Number One: I am NOT a huge Nicholas Sparks fan.
Before you start to throw your Cheerios at your computer monitor let me explain. I wanted to be a Nicholas Sparks fan. You see, he moved to New Bern, NC, shortly after the success of his first novel. And that happens to be a little town in the same county where my husband grew up. So you see, Sparks is the resident celebrity in Pamlico County. So, when I finally picked up one of his books (I chose "Message in a Bottle"), I wanted it to be really really really good.
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It wasn't really really really good.
STOP throwing Cheerios, people!
In truth, the writing wasn't horrible. I'll give him that. But there were scenes in the book that I knew were specifically written to force me to feel something: sadness, anticipation, hope, deep desperation. I felt like Sparks, as an author, was pushing me to go the places he wanted me to go, rather than leading me there with good storytelling. And when it got to the end...well, I felt cheated and angry. Like I'd wasted my time.
I haven't read another Nicholas Sparks book since.
(Confession: I did see The Notebook. And it was a good movie. But I won't read the book. I also saw Nights in Rodanthe. I wanted to strangle Sparks after that one, too.)
Fact Number Two: I'm a musical junkie.
This you should already know, if you've been reading Abby Gabs for any length of time. It doesn't take much to pull me in to a television series or a movie if there's singing and dancing involved.
Rewind to 2007. I'm watching the Oprah Winfrey show, and she's interviewing her bestie, John Travolta, about the upcoming revival of "Hairspray." I was psyched about it from that point on. And a few months later, with the release of the movie, I was introduced to Zac Efron for the very first time.
Ok, that's a total lie. I already knew about Zac Efron. And I might have also already known all the words from High School Musical...
What? Don't judge me. Musical junkie, remember?
At any rate, I loved Zac Efron before Zac Efron was cool. It didn't bother me that he was young enough to be...well...my significantly younger brother. I thought he was adorable, and talented, and adorable...
Ahem.
Anyway, to say that I'm an Efron fan might be considered a slight understatement.
Bringing it back to modern day, I recently saw a trailer for a movie that I'm dying to see. Starring Zac Efron. Based on a book written by Nicholas Sparks. And because I love my readers, I'm sharing the trailer for The Lucky One here today.
There are two very important statements I need to make in order to close this post efficiently.
Statement Number One: Wow. Somebody grew up. Hello, Zac Efron.
Statement Number Two: TGIF, indeed!
If any of you have read The Lucky One by Nicolas Sparks, please warn me ahead of time if someone dies. Particularly if it's Zac's character, the love of his life, his mother, his dog, his ailing grandparents, the child, or anyone else. I know Nicky's M.O. I'd rather be warned. Thanks a million!
