I got a press release!

 

For Immediate Release

Date: January 15, 2021

Contact: J.D. Fitzgerald, 336-926-7958, mcneairjonathan@gmail.com

Manhattan Girls: A YA Coming-of-Age Book Series

Promotional Use for Manhattan Girls and A Change Would Do You Good. Books Written by J.D. Fitzgerald.

Lexington, North Carolina-J.D. Fitzgerald is the author of an ongoing book series titled Manhattan Girls. Two Books are now available for release. Manhattan Girls, which is available now on Amazon, Barnes & Nobles, Kobo, and various online retailers, and Manhattan Girls: A Change Would Do You Good, which is also now available. The series is mainly targeted to the YA audience. It is a contemporary coming-of-age story focusing on a group of friends going through the ups and downs of life at a New York City prep school.

“Life is a journey. Make of that what you will.”

AUTHOR BIO: J. D. Fitzgerald

Born and bred in the Triad of North Carolina, ever since he was a child, Fitzgerald always had a vivid imagination. Drawings on notebooks became ideas in written form. By the age of fifteen, he realized his passion. He wrote his first novel, Christine: The Strawberry Girl, along with two short stories inspired by singers Tori Amos and P.J. Harvey. Christine: The Strawberry Girl, unfortunately, never came into development, but elements of it can be found in Manhattan Girls, his very first fully developed novel during his sophomore year. Through the end of high school and his adult years, Manhattan Girls had gone through plenty of revisions to become the novel that is now. Not only does Fitzgerald focuses his time on novel writing, he also has two screenplays in development. His other hobbies include studying film and television, learning the basics of astrology, and practicing the graceful movements of interpretive dancing. He is an avid fan of late-night ’80s primetime soaps such as Knots Landing and character-driven teen dramas such as My So-Called Life, which is an inspiration for Manhattan Girls. Currently, he is taking classes at The Los Angeles Film School to learn more about the organic flow of storytelling in film and television. You can check out his blog here: https://thestoriesofjdandivy.blogspot.com/

 

Synopses

Manhattan Girls:

WELCOME TO HAMILTON ACADEMY, THE FINEST OF THE FINEST OF PREP SCHOOLS FROM ALL AROUND, WHERE OPULENCE DWELLS AND SECRETS ABOUND…

Fifteen-year-old Gwen Stevenson gets a chance of a lifetime. Escaping from the depths of small-town boredom, she finally sets her sights of embellishing the wonders of New York City. While entering the halls of the prestigious Hamilton Academy, she meets reserved bookworm Kyle, aspiring filmmaker Vera, Valley girl Shawnie, and gets an unexpected reunion from her two childhood friends, Maxine, a southern belle who plans to take over the popularity food chain, and Mona, a reclusive rebel who dreams of becoming a rock star.

Gwen soon realizes that she is no friend of honor society president Bianca Walworth, who doesn’t appreciate her longtime boyfriend, Chace, making flirty eyes with Gwen.

Having a new life in the city has never been so complicated but in the end…

Will there ever be solace in the city?

 

A Change Would Do You Good:

A NEW DAWN AND A NEW DAY BESETS THE CONCRETE STONES OF HAMILTON ACADEMY

It is the eve of September and a new student has arrived at Hamilton. Anita Deveraux, an aspiring singer-songwriter from Louisiana, has set foot in New York City. Trying to find her place in the world, she joins in with Gwen Stevenson and her friends. They soon become enraptured by her natural vocal abilities and wistful tales of her hometown down south. Meanwhile, Gwen is still having an identity crisis. Worst yet, it’s only a few weeks until her sixteenth birthday. She soon realizes that life is about taking risks, so she decides to finally fulfill her transformation by gaining a new sense of style. Gwen’s childhood friends have other plans. Maxine is organizing a party to impress popular senior Rain Bosworth while setting her sights on the newly single Chace Fairbanks. Mona Margulies and her new gal pal suddenly break the barriers of the friend zone, which brings back what she lost in the past. Kyle Durmsdale is enjoying the perks of being a newly ordained honor society secretary by wooing the new president Jared Milton, but, unbeknownst to her, there is a certain someone who wants to take Bianca Walworth’s empty nest. Upon getting prepared for the Annual Short Film Contest, Vera Hudgens is confident with her finished project and her new beau but Vera’s new boyfriend may not be as honest as he seems, and when the truth comes out, it goes into a suspension of disbelief. Maxine’s new BFF Shawnie Jenkins faces a dilemma in her love life. Being duped by who she thought was her Prince Charming, Shawnie vows to take revenge upon Blake Kingston…by making him jealous, of course. But as she rekindles with an old flame, those familiar feelings makes the lessons of the past come back to the present…

For the girls at Hamilton Academy, change is a one-way street …

 

A Review from Chick Lit Café:

“Manhattan Girls by J. D. Fitzgerald is a story about growing up, adjusting to change, and the strength of true friendships. The story starts with Gwen, a teenager growing up in North Carolina. Her home life is troubled with an alcoholic father, so when her mother gets a job opportunity in New York City working for the New York Times, Gwen and her mother move to the big city and a new life. Gwen enrolls at Hamilton Academy and is nervous about making new friends, having left her two best friends back in North Carolina, but she needn’t have worried as there is a grand reunion, and making friends is not as difficult as she anticipated. Soon there are five firm friends, all with different characters and life stories, but the girls blend together well as their lives unfold and they evolve and adapt to city life.

The author, J. D. Fitzgerald, has crafted a great coming of age story, where the characters and the situations of the girls help them to cope with their changing roles. Take Gwen, for example, a shy girl embarrassed by her braces and dull clothes, who blossoms into her true self with the help of her friends. Each of them realizes their dreams as life takes them on their journey. The author has done an excellent job molding the individual styles, home life, experiences and characters of the girls to turn the story into a mix of Grease meets Friends in a novel that will excite and empower every young adult reader.

J. D. Fitzgerald has skillfully written the transition from country girl to city girl and painted a vivid and candid picture of life at a city academy, with all the stresses of growing up and relationships, to style and personal achievements. With a little touch of humor and personalities that will excite and frustrate, this true to life story will have you engaged from the beginning and satisfied at the conclusion. There is no doubt that many readers will be able to relate to the situations the girls find themselves in, from the makeovers to the stirring of attractions to finding one’s true identity, this book has it all. Get ready to immerse yourself in life at Hamilton Academy and New York City and marvel at the resilience of the girls as they set out on life’s journey. Manhattan Girls is a great read and hopefully, the author will have more tales to tell of the intrepid five as they continue their adventures.” –Jewel Hart, chicklitcafe.com

 

 

 

 

A word from J.D. Fitzgerald:

Let me be honest with you. My chosen path of self-publishing has not been an easy one. It’s been like two years since I’ve published my first novel and the marketing of it was a very hard task, indeed. I’ve put my heart, my soul, every bit of my hard-working money into this project. I’ve scoped out reviewers, promoters, and websites just to get my work known. It was exhausting. So, I decided to put more of my time into writing my next novel, which again took me about a good year to get finished. I haven’t been putting my time into marketing like I should have, but hopefully, I’ll get back in the game. Like I said in my opening quote, “Life is a journey. Make of that what you will.” And boy, is it a journey. I’ve dealt with a lot while focusing on my writing, but I don’t want to get too personal. It wasn’t all bad, though. I found it exciting, putting my words into text. Creating stories from my imagination for the world to share. I met a lot of amazing people during my writing journey and I have no regrets. Right now, I feel like I’m on the right path. I am getting the resources that I needed for so, so long and I’m finally looking at the bright side of things. It’s never too late. I’ve always realized my passion and now I’m looking forward to making it happen. Just like the characters in my books, my life is going through a metamorphosis. I have good moments and I have bad moments, but there is always a balance to things. And I think I found my balance. My life is only just beginning.

My first book, Manhattan Girls is now available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Google Play, Apple Books, and other online retailers[vv1] .

https://www.amazon.com/Manhattan-Girls-J-D-Fitzgerald-ebook/dp/B07FR7FDBF

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/manhattan-girls-jd-fitzgerald/1129217282?ean=9781723506529

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/manhattan-girls-4

My Second Manhattan Girls book, A Change Would Do You Good, is available on Amazon now.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08R5P9ZDQ

 

Here’s where you can contact me:

https://www.facebook.com/jonathan.mcneair.1/

https://www.pinterest.com/mcneairjonathan

https://twitter.com/jd_fitzgearld

https://www.instagram.com/jdfitzgerald22/

I also host a blog titled J.D. and Ivy’s Domain where I mostly write TV and Movie reviews:

https://thestoriesofjdandivy.blogspot.com/

 

P.S. I haven’t exactly got an author’s website, but I will put it up real, real soon, so keep a look out for that. Thanks!

 

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Merry Christmas Everybody!

 

Just wanted to say hey, hello, and how are you. I hope you all are having a safe and well-deserved Christmas. I do have a very special present for you but it's pending at the moment, so be extra patient if you can. I've had a pretty busy year with all the taking the time blogging, writing, going to school, and working. Yeah, it's a trip but all is well, and hopefully, all my hard work will pay off in a big way.

Here's what coming in store for next year:

Romeo and Juliet (1996)

1999 The Year of Classic Literature and theTeen Film: She's All That, Cruel Intentions, Ten Things I Hate About You

Ginger Snaps (soon)

Jennifer's Body (soon)

Cat People: Book, Movie, and Remake

I Know What You Did Last Summer: Book and Movie Review 

I hope you all have many blessings and an incredible New Year...

Black Christmas (2019)

 

Since Scream 2 is set around a college campus and it is around Christmas time, I thought I take a dive into the 2019 version of Black Christmas.

Um...this movie was forgettable and definitely fails as a horror movie. Although it's a very loose remake of the 1974 cult classic, I"m still going to make comparisons, along with the equally dreaded 2006 version.

Let's give a little backstory. Director Sophia Takal was originally going to remake I Spit On Your Grave but was offered to remake this instead. Okay, let me stop there. Don't we already have a remake of I Spit On Your Grave? It came out 9 years before this movie. Plus there have been two sequels to that film, including a spiritual sequel to the original. Why is Hollywood so remake and reboot happy? (I just now heard they're rebooting True Blood and it's been only 6 years since that show's been canceled.) But I guess Black Christmas is the more appealing of these choices, so Sophia Takal agreed to direct this one. 

This movie reportedly had only five months to shoot with an incomplete script. You can imagine how the end result turned out. It's a movie that's lost in translation. It has a message but it doesn't know how to tell that message within a story. Everything is spoken loudly. It demands your attention. It PREACHES to you from the screen. I get the director's intention. I really do. But I wish she would've been more subtle about it.

You think that by looking at the poster of the four girls that they would be the main focus of the movie, but only Riley and Kris are better developed than the other two. They are what you call the Four-Girl Ensemble: Riley, the shy reserved one, Marty, the nice one with the steady boyfriend, Kris, the outspoken one, and Jess, the slightly ditzy one.

Let's start with Kris first. She's sort of set up as the mouthpiece for the film, being very vocal against the DKO fraternity and uses her activism to get Professor Gelson fired along with the removal of Calvin Hawthrone's statue. But unfortunately, that's basically Kris's character. A mouthpiece for the message of the film. 

Okay, let me put my two cents here for a minute, just to see how better written this character should be. Yes, her activism should be a vital point to the story. Let's say Kris had this friend during her Freshman/Sophomore year and then suddenly that friend gets date raped by one of the DKO frat brothers. Her friend tries to seek justice but to no avail. There's a court date and her friend's rapist gets only one year and finishes his education at another college while her friend falls into a deep depression and drops out. Kris soon finds out Professor Gelson, who is one of the founding members of DKO got that frat brother off scot-free. Kris is livid. So in fierce determination, she uses her activism to take down the DKO fraternity. This will also explain why she's so pushy towards Riley. It's because she doesn't want her to end up like her friend did. I feel like that would've been much better character development for Kris than the one we have here. Furthermore, Kris could've been much more likable as a result. Her personality can be grating at times. She is self-righteous and opinionated to the point of nausea. I feel like if the filmmakers give her better development, she might've been a compelling character.

Riley was the only character that was actually properly developed than the rest. Her story arc involves a terrible incident where she was date-raped by DKO Fraternity brother Brian Huntley. It leaves Riley into a sort of sheltered state, not knowing how to cope with the events of what happened. She tries to seek justice but to no avail. Brian is out scot-free and she has to deal with his lingering presence. 

There is actually one scene that I liked and that's the "Ho Ho Ho, I didn't know," sequence. Besides the song being earwormingly catchy, it also strengthens Riley's character. At first, Kris convinces her to go on stage as an understudy and she isn't sure if even wants to do the performance. But once she faces Brain, she looks at him straight in the eye and sings out loud, basically saying, "Hey, I'm not gonna let you forget what you did to me, asshole." I found that to be a powerful moment but sadly that's the only good thing I can say about this movie. 

Imogen Poots did a decent performance, displaying the emotions needed within her character, which made her distinctly relatable.

I wouldn't say the same for the other two girls though. Marty and Jess are just so one-dimensional without a pinch of character development. All we know is that Marty is the nice one and Jess is the ditzy one and you think by judging from the movie poster, they'll survive for the rest of the movie. But *spoiler alert* they get killed off fairly easily. There's just isn't enough time to get invested in them, unfortunately leaving the characters to be interchangeable. 

Speaking of interchangeable, the men don't fare much better. They're your typical smarmy, misogynistic frat boys with their overly overt toxic masculinity, looking to cause a disturbance amongst the MKE sisters.

The only good male characters are Landon, a guy who has a crush on Riley, and Nate, Marty's boyfriend. Though there is one scene where Nate goes into a rant about how men get blamed for everything leading him into a heated argument with the girls including his girlfriend. However, it's revealed that it was the migraine effects of the Hawthrone statue bringing out his "inner alpha." Ooookay. yeah, I'll talk about that later.

This is how I think this should've played out:

Let's say that Nate speaks from the heart and approaches Kris and the girls in a calm manner to where Kris opens up about her friend and why she's so headstrong when it comes to her activism. She wants to make sure her MKE sorority sisters feel safe and that comes from a place of sincerity. The dialogue felt like something out of a Twitter thread, not hitting the different viewpoints well. If the filmmakers wanted to do a scene like this, I think it would've worked better if it was set in debate class. 

Landon was developed a bit better since he was Riley's love interest. He's this sort of shy kind of guy who becomes fiercely protective of the girls later on. It shows that he genuinely cares and wants to do the right thing, which was one of the good points of the script.

So this leaves us to the more antagonist male characters:

Brian Huntley, Riley's tormentor, is just another typical smarmy jerk jock character who has some sort of grudge towards the DKE sorority sisters. This comes from having his ego bruised by the Christmas performance. The only way this movie portrays him is cartoonishly evil. Sure there are guys like him that do exist but I wish the movie would've handled him better.

To my surprise, Cary Elwes, of all people is in this movie. I haven't really seen him in much lately which puzzles me as to why he would take on such a one-note villain role. For the most part, Cary Elwes just does a phoned-in performance. 

He plays Professor Gelson, the misogynistic founder of the DKO fraternity who refuses to do women's studies and is the one who helps out the frat brothers when they do their misdeeds.

He is very protective of the Calvin Hawthrone Statue and the reason why because it's filled with a mysterious black goo that somehow brainwashes the frat brothers into violent sadists. Yeah, I have to talk about this for a sec. I think this is the most stupid and nonsensical thing in the movie. This black goo is never explained. It's mentioned that Calvin Hawthrone has dabbled in the black arts but it never goes beyond that and some part of me thinks that this was a rushed attempt to finish the final draft of the screenplay.

This is how I think would've played out better:

What if Brian was Professor Gelson's nephew and the reason why he gets away with Riley's assault is that his uncle was able to get him the best lawyers on his case just like what he did with the previous frat brother that I mentioned earlier. This is where I think the movie could've kept the whole murder mystery angle to where Brian and Professor Gelson are responsible for the murders and it's because they have a vendetta against women. I think that's far better than the whole black goo turns you evil scenario, which I found to be ludicrous.

Most of the criticisms that this movie has is how terribly edited it is. In my opinion, there is just no way that a PG-13 slasher can work. But then again, I can see why the filmmakers wanted to cut down on the blood-letting. Looking at the 2006 version, the blood and gore are extremely gracious, sometimes unnecessarily with Billy making Christmas cookies out of his mother's skin and also eating the eyeballs of his victims. Yeah, it was a little too much. I totally understand. But, unfortunately, it's at the cost of suspense and tension, which this movie really needed.

Oh and side note, I wish the filmmakers would've kept the whole creepy phone call angle. I just don't find creepy text messages scary. 

And here's one example of a poorly edited scene:

The scene in question is where Riley and Kris are trapped in the sorority house and the DKO frat brothers are lurking about. They wait for the cops to arrive and once a police officer bursts into the door it cuts to a scene where another group of sorority sisters had just killed a frat brother in self-defense. After that, the police officer is suddenly impaled by a frat brother. It sort of took me out of the movie and ruined the suspense.

The next scene is more at the fault of how terribly rushed the screenplay is:

Riley and Kris narrowly escape from one of the frat brothers and as they drive off to safety, Riley goes off into exposition mode, practically explaining the entire plot. I feel like there is a time and place for exposition in movies and this wasn't it. It would've been better if they place the scene in a library where Riley and Kris do a little research on the Calvin Hawthrone guy. But then again, it shows how clumsy the movie is written.

The final takeaway of the movie is its social commentary. I don't mind the message, though it's more so of how it's told. Its very...forced and the dialogue doesn't feel natural because of it.

When looking back at the 1974 film, I felt it was pretty progressive at the time, particularly based on the topic of abortion, which was a big deal during the early to mid-70s.

There's a pivotal scene where the main character Jess sits and argues with her controlling boyfriend Peter. He talks of quitting his training as a concert pianist and insist Jess do the same with her ambitions because of the baby. But Jess refuses and sticks to her decision. She clearly tells him that just because he's getting rid of his ambitions doesn't mean she's getting rid of hers. I thought that scene was handled incredibly well by being very subtle with its feminist message to where the 1974 film works better in that regard. 

And that's what missing with both versions. They have no subtly and character development whatsoever. What I liked about the 1974 film is that it felt like a drama slowly turning into horror. We have time to really get to know the girls and their personalities. Their weaknesses and their strengths, the bad traits and their good traits. They were portrayed as actual human beings and the character development was handled much better than most slasher movies. This is what the 2019 version should've been. Where it puts more focus on the human drama and understanding the characters. 

Okay, now it's time to talk about the ending: *spoiler alert*

It turns out one of Riley's sorority sisters, Helena, betrays her and becomes a mole for the DKO fraternity. Then Professor Gelson goes into this long exposition monologue to where it made me think that this was another script flub from the filmmakers. Now I can accept Scream for doing this kind of thing, but I felt that this was not needed. Just to show how evil the fraternity brothers truly are, they kill Helena by snapping her neck.

It seems like it's all over for Riley until Kris and a group of sorority sisters come and save the day. A fight ensues. Riley defeats Brian, Professor Gelson gets caught on fire, Landon, who was brainwashed, gets out of his spell, and Riley destroys the statue of Calvin Hawthorne.

Riley, Kris, Landon, and the other Sorority sisters escape from the fraternity, locking the frat brothers in to be burned alive. Jesus! I mean didn't they stop to think that the rest of the frat brothers were brainwashed too? If Landon broke out of his spell, I'm pretty sure the rest of those guys did as well but then the group decides to burn them anyway? I don't find that to be the best moral of the story. And...the movie just ends. There's no sense of closure or anything. And that's why the overall message just fell flat for me.

So that was 2019's Black Christmas. I just didn't think this was a good movie. They were seeds to be planted here, some really good seeds but it was executed quite poorly. If Sophia Takal wanted to make a movie with a powerful message, she should take the time to put more care into the process.

My Last Word: It's a no for me.