Guest Blog Roundup – Weddings, Characterization and Speaking

Posted on April 19, 2012 by MAL

Wedding Celebrations: Who Does it Better, Brits or Americans?

Based off my original post on Smitten by Britain, I re-explore my stint as a professional wedding goer on both sides of the pond in Expat Blog’s “Displaced Nation”. They asked me to tell what I wanted my future wedding to look like…I didn’t want to reveal:

I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that with all of these weddings I didn’t think about how I would like my half British, half American wedding to go…but I simply can’t admit to what I dream of just yet. Call it superstition or what have you, but until I get engaged I won’t disclose my dream wedding. My worst nightmare is having my dream wedding down on paper, and then it never happening!

In the meantime, I’ll continue to break down the weddings I go to and figure out which bits I want to keep for myself.
(Click here to read more)

Writing: C is for Characterization

Over at the blog The Masquerade Crew, they had a month challenge where writers wrote in to give tips from A to Z. I took C – as characters and characterization is one of my favorite things to discuss. (The ex-actress in me comes out!). Below is an excerpt, click the title if you want to read more!

Whether you’re studying classic acting techniques by Meisner, Stanislovsky, Adler or Commedia Dell’Arte, you will be observing human interaction, movement and habits.

You don’t need to know the specifics of each of these teachings to understand that in order to realistically and believably act as another person, you must first have a basic understanding of how humans engage. Human engagement can be anything:

the way a person holds his/her coffee cup

a body posture shift that happens when he/she is getting hit on

tension that arises when there is danger around

the way two people shake hands
(Click here to read more)

“Technology and Media: Quick Tips on Working Harder, Not Smarter”

Now, this is pretty cool. I’ve been asked to speak at a networking event put on by eWomen Network here in Chicago. The title right now doesn’t exactly say what I’ll be speaking about – yes, it will be social media, but it’ll also be using 20 years of acting techniques (similar to my post above) to educate how people interact on social media.

If you are in Chicago, and want to attend, please sign up at the eWomen Network website.

Three Questions with Brittany Laughlin: Traveler, Entrepreneur & Trailblazer

Posted on April 6, 2012 by MAL

As some of you may know, I wrote a little book called “Three Questions” that is based off a couple getting to know each other through, well, three questions! I’m now doing an interview series based off this concept, but for AWESOME women from all walks of life.

This week, we have Brittany Laughlin who describes herself as someone who wants to do everything. This makes sense since she is one of the most successful female entrepreneurs that Chicago has (although now, sadly, she’s leaving us for New York to work an undisclosed project). She was recently named one of the world’s top ten trailblazing women travelers (right next to Angelina Jolie and Amelia freaking Earhart by Cheapflights.com).

She’s been to all 7 continents, 36 countries and hops on a plane nearly every other week, according to Business Insider. Previously, she co-founded gtrot - a local discovery tool. And, she launched new products at American Express OPEN.

So, yeah, I’m excited to have her answer these three questions.

1. What is the craziest mode of transportation you’ve ever taken, and where were you?

Brittany: I rode a mountain bike with broken breaks, down a mountain in Bariloche. It wasn’t until half-way down until I realized the breaks were broken. Talk about a surprise thrill ride.

2. What is the greatest thing you’ve learned being an entrepreneur?

Brittany: Anything is possible. I’ve gotten to meet people with huge crazy ideas and they’ve taught me that if you have an idea, it’s worth trying. If it fails, you’ll still learn something. It all starts with taking that first step.

3. What question have you always wanted to be asked, and never been? (Seems like a cop-out question, but it’s not. I think this question tells a lot about someone)

Brittany: (Oh, this is a good one, but tricky!) If you could go back in time and change your major in school, what would you study? Mathematics — I loved Calc and Calc-based Physics. I’m curious how much more I could’ve learned. Might be something to check out down the road…

So excited to have had Brittany on here. What question do YOU wish someone asked you, but never has?

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Three Questions: Because a quarter life crisis needs answers (Paperback)

By (author) Meagan Adele Lopez

List Price:	$14.99 USD
New From:	$10.79 In Stock
Used from:	$44.40 In Stock

I Challenge You, Ex-Actor

Posted on March 31, 2012 by MAL

Two years ago, I took the Script Frenzy challenge with Michelle over at The American Resident to write 100 pages of a manuscript during the month of April. I won, and successfully completed this challenge. However, I don’t think I would have completed the challenge had I not had a partner to keep me in check. (I still need to edit that manuscript, but that’s another story.)

Time to Act

So, it’s April again (nearly), and I’ve been itching to act again. Let me clarify, I’ve been itching to get on stage in a live theater or on film and perform. I posted it yesterday on Twitter and Facebook, and got a few responses from ex-actors who feel the same way. For those of you who don’t know me, I started studying acting at eight years old, went to an arts high school, studied at USC in Los Angeles, and acted in a few bits of TV, film and lots of theatre up until three years ago.

Instead, I started writing.

The Challenge

So, now that I know I’m not the only one out there who used to act and/or perform, I need a partner in crime to go and actually act. I don’t want to make a career of it anymore, but I do want to create a character and get up and do it.

If you’re interested in keeping each other accountable, and have been complaining that you miss it, let’s go and do it together. And email each to make sure we’re actively seeking some sort of gig.

Waddaya say? If interested, tweet me @meaganadele or shoot me an email meagan at ladywholunches dot net.

This could be fun….imagine getting to look like this again:

Professional Review for “Three Questions”

Posted on March 29, 2012 by MAL

You set about writing one thing for one audience, and you end up hitting another demographic that you didn’t know would even be interested in what you had to say. Male readers are starting to read my book!

I’m so grateful to have readers who appreciate it – male or female.

Jon-david, local Chicago celeb, hairdresser and fellow author of a series called The Mafia Hairdresser, says it best in his recent AWESOME review of my book at The Local Tourist blog:

I hate Chick-Lit. I’m a dude. I may be gay and a hairdresser, but I’m a guy so I think like a guy: I do not want to over analyze broken relationships nor talk about my feelings let alone read about them.

However, he went on to say:

Meagan Adele Lopez has woven what seems to be two storylines, a philosophy to ask questions of oneself and others for personal growth, and page turning prose into a delightfully relatable story that both women and men of all ages can enjoy. Her writing style seems as straightforward and transparent as the main character seems to be but when you get near the end of the book you irrefutably understand that you never saw what was coming because you thought you knew where you were going.

I’m so touched that my first professional review is a GLIMMERING one! I couldn’t have asked for more praise in this review.

A little bit more of the review to whet your appetite, (and if you want to read the full review, please go to this link “Book Review: Three Questions”):

And my hats off to Meagan Adele Lopez for coercing me to feel like I caught a glimmer of what it was like to actually reason like a woman; as well as be able to show how a man thinks. I related to the men characters and that is why I know men will love Three Question too but damn it if this book won’t get you thinking or relating about how you (dis?)function in your own relationships and career goals.

Thank you so much, Jon-david! I’m so appreciative that you not only took the time to read my novel, but write about it.

Four Years: The Roulette Anniversary

Posted on March 24, 2012 by MAL

Four years ago yesterday, I met a Brit in the Las Vegas’ Palms Hotel at the Ghost Bar, and thus started a love that inspired a novel, and countless other blog posts, dribblings, and musings.

Since we didn’t actually start getting serious until four months later, we have two anniversaries. This March anniversary is a fun, casual date that always involves some sort of gambling. Our first ever date, we gambled – so, we carry on the tradition!

Our first anniversary, we went to the dog races in Portsmouth and won a bet on a dog named “Vegas” and “Ghost Dog” (or something VERY similar – it was bizarre).

Our second anniversary, we hit the Bingo tables with all the other blue haired ladies, and lost terribly.

Our third anniversary, we bought a bunch of scratch off tickets, and spent the evening scratching one off for every beer we had. We won $5.

So, for our fourth anniversary, we decided to gamble our entire evening…meaning, there was not one decision we could make on our own, we had to either flip a coin, spin a roulette wheel app, or pick a name out of a jar.

I knew the evening was going to go awry when we started naming “types of cuisines” (everything from delicious French to mouth-watering Thai food), but I threw in “Irish” as a joke at the end. Well, of course, I picked “Irish” out of the 16 other types of cuisines. I love Irish pubs on a good day, but not exactly the most romantic way to spend a four-year anniversary.

We threw in a bunch of shady places, but luckily the one we picked was Timothy O’Toole’s – not too far away, a fun, lively pub (underground), and one I had been wanting to go back to for some time (not sure why…).

The next steps went like this:

Number each item on the menu
Associate number with number on roulette wheel
Order whatever item the roulette wheel fell on

Needless to say, Jock was limited to veggie choices (he gave up meat for Lent) – and ended up with 1. a pretzel and 2. a bread bowl of tomato soup. But is soup supposed to do this??

I ended up with a Reuben sandwich (which I haven’t ordered since I was a teenager), and we both drank some Stouts mixed with Sam Adams (because the wheel told us to).

The next place we went was determined by a coin – we picked North or South, and then headed in that direction to the first bar we saw. Whether or not we met up with some friends was also determined by a flip of the coin, and the rest of our night, we had to drink the following beverages:

Bloody Mary
Gin Spritzer
Red Wine
Lager
Stout

Surprisingly, I feel pretty damn good today.

Moral of the story? It may sound freeing to not have to decide anything for an entire night, but ultimately, you know what you like better than some dumb iPhone roulette app!

Lots of love, Jocko.

P.S. If you want to see some embarrassing photos of us the night we first met, find my profile on Facebook.