Cleolinda Jones is the author of Movies In 15 Minutes and is a prolific blogger with an impressive cult following. Her movie recaps have been cited in articles on MSNBC, New York Magazine, and Urban Dictionary.
In your own words, who is Cleolinda Jones?
Well, "Cleolinda Jones" is me — I know that sounds like an obvious answer, but what I mean is, it's not a constructed persona. It's just me. Granted, in a text-based format, I have time to think before I speak (as it were), and I can edit out the rough edges or the less flattering aspects of myself, if I want. But I've always had the most success writing about things that appealed to me, and in my own voice — no matter how silly or embarrassing those things might be. So when you're reading my journal, you're getting me, not a created persona.
As for who that is — maybe instead of Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice, I'm made of affectionate snark and storytelling and squee? And the occasional capslock outburst for seasoning, I guess.
At what point would you say you went from "random person blogging on the internet" to "random person blogging on the internet who now has a large cult following"? In other words, what was the turning point?
I don't know how "large" it was, exactly, but that point was "Troy in Fifteen Minutes" in May 2004. That was the watershed moment--when people I didn't even know started reading my journal, when the book editor found me, when things started to snowball. The other really, really big point was when I started writing about Twilight last year, culminating in the Breaking Dawn recap being linked a number of places, like nymag.com and io9.com, which was kind of crazy.
In regards to your various internet endeavors (Secret Life of Dolls, M15M, podcasting, etc) what has been the best experience so far?
Podcasting's a relatively new thing--well, now that I think about it, I've guested here and there over the last year, so maybe not as new as I was thinking--but that's been tons of fun. But as for the absolute best... this is really silly, but the thing I've enjoyed most is taking the Edward Cullen character, someone so many people hate — either because they have serious issues with Twilight or because they're just sick of the media overexposure — and making people love him in The Secret Life of Dolls. I get the biggest kick out of the "I love the Littlest Edward! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?!" comments. Basically, the Littlest Edward (7" NECA action figure) character is extrapolated from the positive/sympathetic qualities of the two "canon" versions of Edward — the book and the movie — while the Tonner (17" doll) Edward is everything from them that is (or should be) dark and creepy and disturbing. My next challenge is to make the readers love him, too, but without sacrificing the creepiness, just to prove that I can. Hey, everyone's gotta have a hobby.
Article comments
1 - Bev in Maine
Cleolinda Jones makes my good days better, and my worst days bearable.
2 - Soph in Canada
I discovered Cleo through a random link to her re-caps and never left, her entires brighten any gloom, no matter how dark =]
3 - Mali in Arizona
Cleolinda is a fantastic writer. She's wonderfully snarky and funny without being mean-spirited or offensive.
4 - Carla
What a fun interview!
5 - Emm
Cleolinda Jones saved my life. Without her, I would have felt compelled to read Breaking Dawn. Thank you Cleolinda!
(Great interview).