Love Story

This is what kind of roll the Ravens are on now: they've even inspired a love story. It's not a gauzy, Hallmark Channel tale, but a story of serendipity, fate and perseverance - and a football team at the center of it all. It stars an Overlea couple named Daisy Sudano and Jim Pellegrini, who will travel to New Orleans next week and tie the knot the day before the Ravens play the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII. But if you're thinking it's the story of two crazy, love-struck kids about to get hitched in the Big Easy on a purple-and-black lark, think again.

For romance writer Suzie Carr, inspiration comes from everyday life. Through her lesbian romance novels, she tackles topics such as adultery, temptation, bullying and coming of age. She says she hopes those themes resonate with her readers and bring awareness to social issues. “Through my books, I feel like I'm touching lives. There's a positive message behind it,” says Carr, who lives in Elkridge. “It's more than just a love story. This literature could be mainstream because it deals with real-life issues.” Carr's first novel, “The Fiche Room” -- which is currently being adapted into a short film -- was published in 2007 by LavenderDoor.com, a website that sells e-books.

A Glen Arm woman accused of shooting her estranged husband to death is mentally ill, her attorney told a jury this morning, going so far as to compare Mary C. Koontz, 60, to John Hinckley Jr. — the man who shot former President Ronald Reagan — during opening arguments. Koontz, whose trial began today, faces seven charges, including first-degree murder and first-degree assault. The prosecution intends to seek a sentence of life in prison without parole. Ronald G. Koontz, a former teacher and wrestling coach at Towson High School who later became an administrator in the Baltimore County school system, was killed June 19, 2009, three days before father's day. Prosecutor Robin S. Coffin told the jury that Mary Koontz flew from Florida where she was living, woke up before 6 a.m. in the Towson hotel where she was staying, took the gun and ammunition she had earlier purchased and went to Glen Arm. There, Koontz parked at an adjoining property and snuck through the woods.

Chris Bohjalian's novel "The Sandcastle Girls" has many traditional elements of compelling fiction - people with secrets, shocking plot twists, compulsively likable characters and a rich love story. It also describes the 1915 mass killing of Armenians - "The Slaughter You Know Next to Nothing About," as one of the characters in his book calls it. Bohjalian, who is at work on his 17th book, was inspired to write this one by the story of his Armenian grandparents. The author will talk about the novel April 22 as part of the new Baltimore Sun Book Club (see details, Page 7)

Washington -- Say ''Hi'' to Madge and Donald. They don't know each other yet, but they will, since this is a love story. As New Yorkers they experience all the tensions of urban life and, like everyone else in their age and income bracket, they feel they aren't Realizing Their Inner Potential.Madge decided that her problem was that she was too self-effacing. So she bought a self-help book: Dr. G. Alvaro de la Blanc's best-seller ''Blow Your Own Horn: A Guide to Self-Assertiveness.'' She had a soft little voice: Dr. de la Blanc taught her to speak resonantly from her diaphragm.

If only a few minutes of "At First Sight" rang true.Although based on a true story, this tale of a blind massage therapist whose busybody new girlfriend convinces him to undergo a risky operation to restore his sight comes across as phony as anything Washington has to offer these days.Leads Val Kilmer and Mira Sorvino exhibit hardly any chemistry (though they do share the bond of being inordinately attractive people), the script never opts for a single tug at your heartstrings when a dozen will do, and the supporting players (including Nathan Lane, Kelly McGillis and Bruce Davison)

Comparisons are inevitable between Robert James Waller's guaranteed tear-jerker and two other authors' works that tugged national heartstrings in the sentimental '70s. (Interesting to note: The best-selling novel of the hard-edged 1980s was "Clear and Present Danger," the techno-thriller by Maryland author Tom Clancy, which sold 1.6 million copies in hardcover)."Love Story" parallels "The Bridges of Madison County" in several ways. It, too, was a very short (131 pages), hyper-romantic but bittersweet first novel written by an academician -- in this case, Yale classics professor Erich Segal.

An interview with Rita Snyder, founding member of the Sampler Book Club. How did your club get started? We started in August of 1997. All of our kids went to the same nursery school. ... We had eight members. A few have moved on, but we've replaced them. We decided to stick with eight because we did not want it to be too large. We had decided to name the club Sampler because we were not going to be hard and fast about what we read. We really like to read a variety of different things. We each take turns choosing the book.

Sometimes it seems this first novel's purpose is to rehabilitate the literary image of the black man. And there is nothing wrong with that.He has been portrayed as an irresponsible lout, often weak, usually unsupportive, not up to the level of his woman.That is not the case with "Urban Romance," which is built around a simple city-boy-meets-suburban-girl love story. The men here come in all types: devoted, pining lovers; hustlers; arrogant, opportunistic politicians."I am not all men," one character says.

"Grace" is about an elderly woman who can't remember what day it is and who continually breaks into tears. She needs help dressing and eating. Her eyes often have the look of an animal caught in a trap.One of the few things she connects with are the lyrics, "Jesus loves me this I know/ 'Cause the Bible tells me so." She sings it with the voice of a child."Grace," which airs at 10 tonight on MPT, is one of the greatest love stories you are ever going to see on TV -- anywhere on TV. That's not exaggeration.

In its nearly two dozen years, Signature Theatre has presented a rich variety of works, but none by the Bard -- not that there's anything wrong with that. The Tony Award-winning company has now taken the plunge in a terrific way. "Shakespeare's R&J" examines the star-crossed lovers of Verona through the unexpected prism of a repressive, all-male Catholic boarding school. This brilliant and provocative work, created by Joe Calarco, first appeared in the late 1990s and has been widely performed since.Calarco recently revised the piece, and that new version is receiving its North American premiere in a bracing, in-the-round production that he has directed with considerable flair.

With Valentine's Day approaching, it's a good time to review some of the literary love stories that have been set in Baltimore. In an article in the latest issue of the Sun magazine, reporter Jill Rosen highlights the relationships of H.L. Mencken, Edgar Allan Poe and F. Scott Fitzgerald -- all three of which ended in tragedy. Here are excerpts from that article. -- Sara Powell Haardt ... understood Mencken's commitment to his work. He appreciated her independence. They were two level-headed agnostics who loved Baltimore.

This is what kind of roll the Ravens are on now: they've even inspired a love story. It's not a gauzy, Hallmark Channel tale, but a story of serendipity, fate and perseverance - and a football team at the center of it all. It stars an Overlea couple named Daisy Sudano and Jim Pellegrini, who will travel to New Orleans next week and tie the knot the day before the Ravens play the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII. But if you're thinking it's the story of two crazy, love-struck kids about to get hitched in the Big Easy on a purple-and-black lark, think again.

As a self-described hopeless romantic, it's no surprise that Ellicott City resident Stephanie Verni recently published a love story. Earlier this year, Verni, 47, added author to her already extensive résumé, which includes her current position as an assistant professor of business communications at Stevenson University, where she teaches courses in magazine, feature and public relations writing. Before that she spent 13 years as a publishing professional for the Baltimore Orioles.

Nora Ephron, who died this week, will be remember for writing books such as "Heartburn" and movies such as "Julie and Julia. " But around here, as Baltimore Sun columnist Susan Reimer notes, she'll also be remembered for helping to bring Baltimore to the big screen, as a setting for the classic comedy/love story "When Harry Met Sally. " "Sleepless in Seattle. " Here's an excerpt from Reimer's story: Ephron ... was called in to doctor a screenplay about a long-distance love affair between an architect in Seattle ( Tom Hanks )

If you ever thought writing a book was tough, just consider the pain of marketing it. One example: the 66-city tour by Loyola University Maryland writing professor Ron Tanner in a beat-up van -- a voyage that has included savage mosquitos, a busted toilet and a fair share of overnights in Walmart parking lots. (You can follow along on his blog. ) Tanner is promoting his latest book, " From Animal House to Our House: A Love Story," which describes the work in renovating a Baltimore rowhouse.

There's too much sound and not enough fury in "The Cemetery Club." It can't make up its mind whether it wants to be a love story about a widow and a widower who fight through class differences and the prejudices of friends to have a mutually satisfying relationship, or a Neil Simon roadshow full of zippy one-liners to keep cheap seats tittering.So, basically, it just doesn't work.Of the two themes, I much preferred the first. Ellen Burstyn and Danny Aiello are two performers who have always carried with them an unusual patina of authenticity, and as they grope toward this thing called love they're quite impressive.

There's a moving, complicated love story at the center of "Angel Eyes." It's too bad a peripheral plot line draws attention away from it. Not content to merely tell the tale of two damaged souls clumsily trying to repair each other's lives, director Luis Mandoki ("White Palace" and "Message In a Bottle") and screenwriter Gerald DiPego tack on a subplot about domestic violence that not only seems grafted on, but never seems sure of what it's trying to say. What the movie does unequivocally, however, is showcase Jennifer Lopez as a film talent of the first order.

The American Craft Council Show has been coming to Baltimore for 36 years, and the two have been good to each other: Workmanship that is as much art as craft has been embraced each year by huge crowds. But like any relationship, it can benefit from a little freshening. So organizers scoured the country — and other craft shows — for new talent, and there will be almost 200 new artists among the 700 exhibitors this weekend at the Baltimore Convention Center. They bring a wide range of offerings: exotic dolls, intricately carved gourds, whimsical furniture, jewelry that tells a love story, flowers preserved forever as glass.

It's another remarkably beautiful but simple video from Baltimore's Future Islands. "Balance," a cut from their Oct. 11 LP On the Water , gets a video courtesy of director Jay Buim. A nomadic couple hitchhikes along, finding enjoyment in innocent pleasures that feel wholly American - parking lot mischief, carnival rides and fried dough, aimless wandering down a highway hand-in-hand. The couple have little - really, just a backpack and each other - but their moods are never morose.