Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Insecure Writer’s Support Group and Anthology Contest Winners! Plus Best Movies of 2017, Flaming Crimes Blogfest, and Mummy Movie Review

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. I encourage everyone to visit at least a dozen new blogs and leave a comment. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs.

Today’s optional question - What steps have you taken or plan to take to put a schedule in place for your writing and publishing?

My awesome co-hosts today are Tyrean Martinson, Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor, Megan Morgan, Jennifer Lane, and Rachna Chhabria!

Today we announce the winners of the third annual IWSG Anthology Contest!

Our third anthology will come out late spring featuring eleven great stories. The title – Tick Tock: A Stitch in Crime.

Top honors go to Gwen Gardner for her story, A Stitch in Crime.
The other winning stories:
Three O’Clock Execution - S. R. Betler
Until Release - Jemi Fraiser
Cypress, Like the Tree - Yolanda Renée
Gussy Saint and the Case of the Missing Coed - C.D. Gallant-King
Reset – Tara Tyler
Center Lane - Christine Clemetson
One More Minute – Mary Aalgaard
The Little Girl in the Bayou - J. R. Ferguson
The Tide Waits – Rebecca M. Douglass
Special Mention: Heartless – C. Lee McKenzie
Lee is a new IWSG admin, but she was absent for most of the fall and did not participate in the judging. When her entry arrived first, we decided to let it ride. When it was in the judge’s top ten, we decided not to deny her the opportunity – or deny the next author in line. Thus, we are including her story as a special mention along with the ten winners.

Thanks again to our official judges - Elizabeth S. Craig, Anne Hawkins, Candace Havens, Ion Newcombe, Patricia (Pat) Stoltey, and Mason Canyon.

Thanks also to the other IWSG admins who read each and every story – Lynda Young, L. Diane Wolfe, Michelle Wallace, Joy Campbell, Heather Gardner, Nick Wilford, Pat Hatt and Christine Rains. (C. Lee McKenzie was absent during that time, Tyrean Martinson didn’t come on board until afterwards, and I was the one receiving the entries through the IWSG email, so we weren’t involved.)

And big congratulations to our eleven winning authors!

Don’t forget to mark your calendar for the next IWSG Twitter Pitch Party – Thursday, January 18!

With hundreds of agents and publishers, this one will be ten times bigger than our first event.


Are you following the IWSG Instagram? This is the prompt for January: 



Flaming Crimes Blogfest

Hosted by Chrys Fey in celebration of her latest release, Flaming Crimes.

Prompt: What is something ridiculous you would save if there was a fire?

My collection of concert t-shirts.
I mean, come on! I’ve been seeing concerts for almost forty years. I have some classic old Rush and Yes t-shirts that I’d have to save. They are worth at least the ten bucks I paid for them...

Flaming Crimes
Series: Disaster Crimes #4
Digital Price: 4.99/Print Price: 16.99
Beth and Donovan are now happily married, and what Beth wants more than anything is a baby. Her dream of starting a family is put on hold as fires burn dangerously close and Donovan becomes a victim of sabotage.
Their lives may just go up in flames…
Buy it at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and The Wild Rose Press

Chrys Fey is the author of the Disaster Crimes Series, a unique concept blending romance, crimes, and disasters. She’s partnered with the Insecure Writer’s Support Group and runs their Goodreads book club. She’s also an editor for Dancing Lemur Press. Find her at website, blog, Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter and Amazon

Movie Review – The Mummy (2017)

Rented it through NetFlix – and it wasn’t nearly as bad as everyone said.
One complaint was that Cruise’s character was unlikeable, but that was the point. The mummy chose him as a vessel because he was that type of person.
Its biggest problem was it lacked cohesion. It fell into the same trap as League of Extraordinary Gentlemen – an idea massaged in a different way would’ve made a more compelling film.
It certainly wasn’t the train wreck I expected though. It even had a few impressive set pieces.
But overall, it had a been there-done that vibe. Watchable but kind of blah.
Worth a rental.


Top Movies of 2017

I usually post the upcoming movie releases for each month on IWSG post day, but since there really isn’t anything of note coming out until Black Panther in February, I decided to cover the best films of 2017.

Now, these include my favorite films of the year, but I ranked them in order of best films. So a couple personal favorites (like Justice League) fell a little lower on the scale.

10 – Fate of the Furious – These films continue to be a heck of a lot of fun.
9 – Spiderman Homecoming – Some really awesome lines and moments.
8 – It – The big surprise – an excellent film.
7 – Justice League – Perfectly captured the feel of the comics.
6 – Thor: Ragnarok – Awesome sets and so damn funny!
5 – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. II – Fell just short of the first but still a lot of fun.
4 – Star Wars: The Last Jedi – Amazing, funny, and jammed-pack full of fun.
3 – Dunkirk – A truly original war film and simply brilliant with stunning imagery.
2 – Blade Runner 2049 – So rich with imagery, characters, story – just incredible.
1 – Wonder Woman – A perfect origins superhero film – they captured a young Diana perfectly. And the scene in No Man’s Land – wow!

Special mentions -
Coco – Best animated film of the year – so stunning and moving.
War for the Planet of the Apes and Logan – Both just amazing films and likely Oscar contenders. But considering the subject matter and how dark and depressing each film is, I will probably never watch either one again. That doesn’t take away from their brilliance though.


What are your writing and publishing plans this year? Excited about Tick Tock: A Stitch in Crime? Ready for #IWSGPit? What weird thing would you save in a fire? Seen The Mummy? And what movies do you thing are the best of 2017?

Hope everyone had an awesome New Year’s and Christmas!

140 comments:

The Cynical Sailor said...

Congrats to all of the winners of the anthology contest! I'm really looking forward to reading Tick Tock when it's published later this year. Congrats also to Chrys on the release of Flaming Crimes.

My plans for this year are to finalize and publish my first book, Murder at the Marina, and finish writing the second in the series, Bodies in the Boatyard.

Happy New Year - Ellen

Michelle Wallace said...

Congratulations to all who entered the contest! There were so many great stories!
Now to get ready for the #IWSGPit...
Happy New Year!

nashvillecats2 said...

Congrats to all the winners Alex,
Also good luck to Chrys with her blogfest, must take a look at that.

Happy New Year to you.... hope it's a good one.

Yvonne.

Erika Beebe said...

Congratulations to all the winners and also to all the hard working judges. I am so excited to read it :) IN a fire? Hm...any memory of my kids and maybe my grandmother's white porcelain christmas tree. :) I haven't seen the mummy but I did love more than half of them on your list. Thor and Wonderwoman were my favorites :) Happy IWSG Day!

Natalie Aguirre said...

Congrats to all the winners of the anthology. I know many of them, so it makes it more exciting.

Will try to take you up on the challenge and will try to comment on new blogs as well as the ones I follow. Happy New Year, Alex. Thanks for everything you do for writers.

Cathrina Constantine said...

A huge congratulations to all the winners of the anthology!! I did rent the Mummy because I like Tom Cruise as an actor. It was good but I still prefer the first one with Brandon Fraser.

Happy New Year, Alex!!

Jennifer Lane said...

Happy New Year, Alex! I saw The Last Jedi and loved it but felt a little confused since it had been two years since #7, so we watched #7 the next night and everything was a lot clearer. I agree Wonder Woman was amazing.

Congratulations to all of the mystery writer winners. I didn't know IWSG was on Insta--I'll look you up!

Thank you for the opportunity to co-host today.

Cathy Keaton said...

Hope you've had a happy New Year, Alex.

Congrats to those winners of the 3rd Anthology!

Stacy McKitrick said...

Happy New Year! And congrats to all the winners. Nice way to start the year off, huh?

I've got two books planned to release this year, which I had hoped to release last year. Oh well, better late than never!

And I'm making a better effort at writing every weekday this year (which is something I haven't done in a long time). Of course, I already broke that yesterday (got too busy doing other stuff), but will not let it stop me from starting late. I'm determined.

Mary Aalgaard said...

Thanks for selecting my story for the anthology. It is an honor and a thrill to be part of such a wonderful collection.

I also liked Wonder Woman. Great list. All the best to you in 2018!

Ellie Garratt said...

Happy New Year, Alex!

A massive congratulations to the winners (Well done, Gwen!) and thank you to everyone involved in the anthology.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Ellen, those art great titles.

Cathrina, so do I.

Jennifer, thanks for co-hosting.

Mary, glad you are a part of it.

Jan Morrison said...

Yay to all the winners - what a beautiful bunch of coconuts!

And thanks for all your hard work Alex. Now off to visit blogs I haven't been to before.

Charles Gramlich said...

I submitted quite a bit of stuff at the end of last year. So far, just rejections in 2018. Sigh

Madeline Mora-Summonte said...

Congrats to all the IWSG Anthology winners!

Was really disappointed in IT. So many missed opportunities to go full on creepy instead of what it turned out to be. Not sure I'd watch the second part.

Still have Coco on my list, even as I cull a lot of shows and movies from Netflix, Hulu, etc.

Happy New Year, Alex!

Tamara Narayan said...

Congrats to the anthology winners! Sounds like a great collection.

I've only seen It from your list. Not sure what movies I'd include on such a list since I rarely go. The Dark Tower was a disappointment. We did see The Greatest Showman and it was good. Maybe it's time to rent Wonder Woman.

mshatch said...

Writing plan: Keep at it!
Best movies: Last jedi and Blade Runner 2048
Weird thing I'd save from a fire: My bunny that I still have from when I was a baby. Hey, he's been with me since practically day one!

Happy New Year, Alex!

Nick Wilford said...

It will definitely be an excellent anthology, such a high calibre of stories.

Concert t-shirts are definitely worth saving! I have a few I treasure.

Need to catch up on movies. Haven't even seen The Last Jedi yet!

Jennifer Hawes said...

Now that you've mentioned it, I will rent the Mummy. I've been wanting to see it, but there were so many bad reviews. Congrats to all the anthology winners! I wish I would have pulled something together. Too much on my plate this fall. Star Wars and Thor were two of my fave movies this past year. Hope you had a great Christmas break!

Rachna Chhabria said...

Hi Alex, hope you had a wonderful New Year.

Congratulations to all the winners, each and every story sounds super. I'm eager to read the anthology.

I'm also looking forward to the IWSG Twitter Pitch Contest on January 18th.

Rachna Chhabria
Co-host IWSG
Rachna's Scriptorium

Angela Wooldridge said...

Loved The Last Jedi. Ok, there were a couple of contrived bits, but easily forgiven with the grand job they've done with the franchise.
Was blown away by Hacksaw Ridge recently (although that may have been a 2016 film, still worth a mention.

Hart Johnson said...

Huge congrats to the anthology winners! Looking forward to that one! And I am laughing at you about the concert Ts but I hear you. Those are markers of experiences, which really is more what life should be than stuff.

Heather M. Gardner said...

Happy new year!
Congrats on another great anthology for IWSG! You've come so far and I know we've only scratched the surface!

I like your list of movies. Now its my ToDo list! :)

Let's get back to work!

Heather

Joylene Nowell Butler said...

Congratulations to all the winners. It's a proud moment in our IWSG history. I watched BladeRunner with a firetv stick. The quality of film was horrendous. I think I better watch it again with a better server.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Charles, the year is still young.

Tamara, rent Wonder Woman!

Marcy, he's important.

Nick, I have at least fifty. Probably more.

Angela, Hacksaw Ridge was awesome.

Hart, exactly!

Joylene, try it again.

Donna K. Weaver said...

I haven't seen Mummy though hubby would like to. It looked very dark compared to the first series which had a lot of humor I loved.

Chemist Ken said...

My goal is to finish one of my stories by the end of the year. I said the same thing last year, but this time I think I have a shot. We'll see. A happy new year to you, Alex.

Mina Burrows said...

WOW! Congrats to all the winners! Well deserved!
Congrats to Chrys as well!

Can't believe Twitter Pitch is around the corner.
I'm dying to see Mummy! I know many people don't like TC, but I still do.
:)

Debra Renée Byrd said...

So many movies I still have to see! I saw IT twice (the second time almost gave me nightmares), Wonder Woman was amazing, and so was Guardians II! I need to catch up before Black Panther comes out, though. My sister wants to do an MCU marathon. HELP.

M.J. Fifield said...

Congrats to all the winners!

I loved Guardians of the Galaxy, and Spiderman Homecoming, and Thor and especially Wonder Woman. You're so right about that No Man's Land sequence.

Happy New Year!

Yolanda Renée said...

Happy New Year!

Congratulations to all the winners in the Anthology. I'm thrilled, starts the year off right!

Congratulations, Chrys! Love the way your mind works.

I've seen Wonder Woman and Guardians, enjoyed them both. And the Mummy, it wasn't bad, but I did enjoy the first one more.

Unknown said...

I'll definitely check out the Instagram! Thanks for letting me co-host today. Happy New Year!

IWSG post: Taking Chances

dolorah said...

Excited to read the anthology. Congrats to the winners. I never seem to get to the theater to see movies, but I'm anxiously waiting to a lot of your list on DVD.

Ella said...

Happy New Year, to you Captain! Congrats, to all the winners~ I look forward to going back and seeing what I have missed~ Off to get supplies for this storm-Bomb Cyclone. Be safe, Captain and like always keep your cool~

Gwen Gardner said...

I'm still in shock about making it in the anthology! I know I'm in good company though, and can't wait to read the other stories. Congratulations to all the winners! Thanks so much, Alex :)

Christine Rains said...

Happy new year to you too! I'd been going back and forth about watching The Mummy. It's free on streaming Netflix, so I might watch it one day. We saw the new Jumanji flick on Monday and it was fun. Concert t-shirts have important memories attached to them. I still have a few shirts that are over 25 years old myself.

Meka James said...

Happy New Year! And congrats to all the winners. Thanks for the movie review of The Mummy. I wasn't all that thrilled about it when I saw the previews so it's something I'll wait to watch whenever it hits HBO.

Sally Bend said...

Congrats to all the Tick Tock contributors!

As for The Mummy, I get what they were trying to do with an expanded horror universe, but what we all really want is one more Brendan Fraser cheesy adventure. :)

C.D. Gallant-King said...

Do you watch anything that's not a big-budget comic book/sci-fi blockbuster?
:-P

I'm sure the anthology is going to be great, except for that one shitty story. ;-) Congrats to all the winners!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Donna, definitely darker.

Mina, he's still a good actor.

Deb, wow!

Yolanda, and now you are in two of the anthologies.

Megan, thanks for co-hosting!

Ella, we are chilling here...

Gwen, you earned it.

Christine, my oldest is thirty-five or thirty-six.

Sally, exactly!

CD, yes! Eager to finally see Wind River soon. And no shifty stories. Authors, maybe...

Chrys Fey said...

Congrats to the winners!

Each of those concert T-shirts has a memory, so that makes a lot of sense. Thanks for participating in my blog hop!

Anonymous said...

Congrats to all of the winners of the anthology contest! And congrats also to Chrys on the release of her new book, Flaming Crimes.

A big thanks to you, Alex, for all your work with this amazing community.

Instagram? Another social media thing I'll dink around on and never "get" the point of it.

Victoria Marie Lees said...

Congratulations to all those who entered the anthology contest, and most importantly, congratulations to all the winners. Way to go Wonder Woman for having an origin scene. If books are supposed to explain why and where characters come from, why can't film? After my family were all safe, I would save my memories: my scrapbooks and photo albums of adventures with that family.

Thanks for all you do to help your fellow writer, Chief! Happy New Year!

cleemckenzie said...

Hi Alex! What a year 2017 was. I'm still reeling, but the #IWSG group has been a real boost for me. Thanks for letting Heartless in the gate. I'm honored to be among the writers who will appear in this new anthology.

I'm working on being better at Instagram. This year I'm focusing on only three social media outlets, so I can do a better job.

I got to see Wonder Woman on a flight. It was darned good for an action film.

Raimey Gallant said...

Congrats to the winners! In the event of a fire, I would save my passport, so I can get home on my scheduled flight. :) And my laptop. Neither are weird, but I'm not sure that I have anything of significant importance to me aside from my work.

Jemi Fraser said...

I'm SO excited for my story to be in the anthology!!!! :)
I missed Chris' blogfest (oops!) but I'd save the photo albums for sure! Might take me 7 or 8 trips, but I'd save them first

Lidy said...

Congrats to the winning authors! Loved Wonder Woman, Guardians 2, JL, Thor Ragnarok and Spiderman Homecoming. As you can see, I was all about the superhero movies last year. Yet to watch Blade Runner 2049 but want to watch the original Blade Runner first. Saw War for the Planet of the Apes and loved that too. Almost sad that the series is over because would’ve love to see how the apes enslaved the humans. From the last movie, they cared for and looked after the girl who was struck by the second wave of the disease that first wiped most of humanity out. And I have to admit that I didn’t like Logan so much. Looking forward to what 2018 have in store, especially Black Panther which comes out in 44 days! :-D

Loni Townsend said...

Grats to the winners! I like your list of movies, though I still need to watch Dunkirk. Sounds like it'll be a good rent.

Sandra Ulbrich Almazan said...

Congrats to the winners!

I still need to watch Wonder Woman and GotG2.

Pat Garcia said...

I am excited about Tick Tock and I look forward to purchasing it.
Congratulations to all the winners. I'm proud of the IWSG.
Wishing you all the best for 2018.
Shalom aleichem,
Pat G

Unknown said...

Congrats to all the winners of the anthology. I'm looking forward to the IWSG Twitter pitch. Though I don't have a completed draft ready to put out yet, I'm hard at work trying to change that. Loved your movie list. I saw most of those, and though I suspect I'm a bit more critical of some of them than you were, none were a waste of money. IT was my absolute favorite. Thanks for hosting, thanks for the post, and happy writing to you! Also, happy 2018. May it be filled with joy and wonder for us all.

Carrie-Anne said...

Congratulations to the winners!

I"d definitely save my 30-year-old stuffed cat Davy, my Velveteen Rabbit. I'd also save the atlas my late uncle gave me in 1986, since it has his writing on the front page.

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

I suppose that War for the Planet of the Apes was depressing, but it's one that I'd gladly rewatch. I've actually been showing the "Planet of the Apes" movies to my friend, Brad, and he's been surprised by their emotional quality. Maybe I'm not depressed about them because I know Charleton Heston comes back from space at some point and gives us another human to root for even if the apes did come across as amazingly human. I really liked Cesar.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Chrys, thanks for hosting it.

Lee, you and me both!

Lee, we couldn't deny you.

Jemi, we're excited you're in it!

Lidy, my wife is also sad to see the series end.

Sandra, yes you do!

Kathy, finish that draft!

Michael, the apes were more human than the humans.

Anonymous said...

Congrats to all the winners.

I have a slight interest in seeing the Mummy, but not big enough to do more than stream it on Netflix. LOL

Roland D. Yeomans said...

Happy New Year, Alex! I think I'll pass on The Mummy; I want my heroes to be flawed but still likable. :-) Wonder Woman in No Man's Land was the heart of the movie. Congratulations to all the winners. Best of sales!

Notes Along the Way with Mary Montague Sikes said...

Congratulations to the anthology winners. That is quite a project for all involved.

H. R. Sinclair said...

The ISWG question made me giggle. I have yet to make plans!

Congrats to all the anthology winners.

Good to know The Mummy might be worth renting.

Tyrean Martinson said...

I love that you would save your old concert t-shirts. I have a few of those, but mine are holey and threadbare - even some of the more recent ones. I liked your movie list for 2017; I might have ordered them differently and I didn't see It or Dunkirk, but Dunkirk is on my watch-list. Like you, I really liked Logan, but I haven't really wanted to watch it a second time.
Congrats to the Tick Tock: A Stitch in Time Authors!!!
BTW - I'm a bit late to the IWSG today because we have a flu victim in our house - not me, but I'm the mom, so ...

diedre Knight said...

Happy New Year, Alex and everyone!
Congratulations to all whose stories will be a part of what is sure to be another excellent anthology! Many thanks to the editors, admins, judges and all who facilitated this exciting endeavor ;-)

I can't wait to see War for the Planet of the Apes. The kids snuck out and saw Coco while I was on the road, but I don't think they'll mind going again - with me ;-)

I just know Flaming Crimes will be a great success - Write On, Chrys!

2018 is looking brighter, positive and more creative than ever! I hope everyone is as excited as I am ;-)

Elephant's Child said...

Huge congratulations to all the Anthology winners. Some of them I know - and love their work already, and some are treat for me to explore.

Sherry Ellis said...

Congratulations to all the anthology winners!

I can understand why you'd want to save your t-shirts. Those are great memories for you, and there's no way you'd ever be able to replace them.

Bish Denham said...

Congratulations to the anthology winners! Saving t-shirts... hadn't thought of that one. I have a Hendrix t-shirt from those long ago times...

J.Q. Rose said...

Sheesh, when do you find time to watch movies, dear Alex, as well as comment on them? You are a busy guy. I will take your list of faves and look on Netflix for them. Will be there some day, I'm sure. Enjoy discovering what's cool in the movies from you. Going to work on my memoir this year and finish it. Can't decide whether it will be published or to keep just for my family. It'll read like fiction even though I actually lived through it. Happy New Year!
JQ Rose

Joanne said...

You've kicked off 2018 with a lot of goodies. Congrats to winners. Yes, I hope to write more - hopes and dreams can come true (wink). I agree completely with your movies. Throw in Lady Bird - excellent "little" flick.

All the best

Nilanjana Bose said...

Happy New Year 2018! And congrats to all the antho winners! All the titles sound really interesting.

I'd save my collection of picture postcards dating from the time I was 8 :) and I'm happy to report I've watched 8 out of 10 of your top picks.

Not sure what my plans are, will make it up as I go along. But a couple projects are nearing completion finally, thank goodness!

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I liked all of those movies. Of course, I loved Despicable Me #, too. Which leads me to what I would save - my Minion collection.

Juneta key said...

Congrats to all winner and new story releases.

Star Wars The Last Jedi #1 hands down the best of the best and of the year.

Wonder Woman was #3 for me. Took me 3 watches before I liked it. It was the lead way they took with known mythologies that caused it not to be an immediate hit with me.

I still need to see Justice League. I want to watch mainly because Jason Moamoa from StarGate Atlantis is playing AquaMan. I loved StarGate Atlantis.

I also want to see the Orient Express, The Greatest Showman and the new Clue movie.

Juneta @ Writer's Gambit

Rebecca M. Douglass said...

So excited to be part of the IWSG anthology! (BTW, I'm hoping you or someone at IWSG can restore that second S to my last name!).

I didn't see a single movie in 2017. I've pretty much given up on them--not because they are bad, but because I have some issues that make reading a book much more satisfying.

Julie Flanders said...

What a cool and fun collection to have! Great choice for a save. Congrats to Gwen and all the other anthology winner. Excellent group!!

Rawknrobyn.blogspot.com said...

Congratulations to all the winners. With such a clever title, I have no doubts Gwen's story is amazing.

I plan to finish my book (sequel to Woman on the Verge) this year. Big plans - we'll see.
Happy New Year, Alex!

Pat Hatt said...

Still haven't forced myself to watch the mummy reboot/remake thing, maybe one day. A fine top ten indeed. Guardians tried to force things way too much this time, kinda rinse and repeat, my only complaint with that one.

Fundy Blue said...

Happy New Year, Alex! I hope that you and your loved ones had a great Christmas and holiday season. Your post is filled with so much news! First, congratulations to all the winners of the anthology contest. Second, thank you to all the judges and administrators who read the submissions and did the difficult job of choosing the winners. Third, I loved "Wonder Woman!" btw, the Lost has returned, and I managed to publish an IWSG post today.

mail4rosey said...

I think Wonder Woman was my fave of last year. It was really good.
She really was the perfect actress to play Diana!

Lan said...

Congrats to all the anthology winners! Can't wait to read their stories.

I haven't seen any of the movies on your list except the two special mentions!! Which is pretty slack considering I'm a huge MCU fan. Just didn't have the time last year. Hopefully 2018 will be better balanced.

Happy New Year!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Tyrean, no worries. You need to see Dunkirk before the Oscars.

Diedra, go see it again!

Sherry, not when some of the bands are dead!

Bish, wow!

JQ, I watch a lot at work.

Nila, that's good!

Juneta, Stargate Atlantis was awesome. And Moamoa is hilarious in Justice League.

Rebecca, sorry! Will fix.

Robyn, awesome.

Rosey, yes she was.

Cherie Reich said...

Congrats to the anthology winners! Happy New Year, Alex!

J E Oneil said...

Probably the only redeeming quality of 2017 was that it brought some good movies with it. Anyway, I hope you have a good year!

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

I agree re your Mummy review.
I was however disappointed by Star Wars Last Jedi. The plot was all over the place, I didn't care about the characters, there were threads that had no impact on the story at all, and even the humour could've been better. It was too forced. Haha, see what I did there? Forced? hahaha Sorry... lol.

Patricia Stoltey said...

I loved reading all the short story submissions for the anthology, Alex. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to serve as a judge.

Beverly Stowe McClure said...

Congratulations to the winners of the anthology contest. Looking forward to reading their stories.

The Twitter Pitch sounds like fun. Wish I had something to pitch. Sigh.

Have a great and prosperous 2018.

Olga Godim said...

Congrats to all the anthology winners. Happy New Year, Alex!

Birgit said...

Congrats to all the winners and Lee for special mention. I would save my stuffed animals that i have had since I was a kid. Rush T-shirts? Well, I might use them to make a fire..I know Ouch! I have missed so many films that came out last year and I so want to see Wonder Woman. I hope your Christmas was nice and same with your new year's.

L.G. Keltner said...

Congratulations to all the winners of the anthology contest!

Some great movies came out this past year. I watched Dunkirk recently and thoroughly enjoyed it. My husband went to see the latest Star Wars film, but I haven't had the chance to see it yet. Fingers crossed that I'll get my chance soon.

Happy New Year!

Liza said...

Congratulations to the Anthology Contest winners. What a great way to start a new year! Happy New Year, Alex. Thank you for all you do for writers!

Andrew Leon said...

I'll get around to The Mummy at some point.

J.L. Campbell said...

Congrats to Chrys and everybody in the Anthology. Haven't seen The Mummy, but I'd still watch it based on having seen the others before it.

John Wiswell said...

Dunkirk and Raw are definitely high among the films of the year for me. Just saw Justice League, which was more fun than I expected. Ezra Miller's Flash is adorable.

Truedessa said...

Happy New Year and Welcome Back Alex!

First congrats to all the winners! I rented the Mummy I didn't think it was that bad. Wonder Woman was a great movie and I really enjoyed Guardian of the Galaxy Vol II.

Coco - That is still on my list of must see. I know I will enjoy it.

hmm - What movies were you most disappointed in this year?

Carol Kilgore said...

Congrats to Chris! Of the films, I loved Wonder Woman. Happy 2018!

Eden "Kymele" Mabee said...

Sounds like a "winning" start to this year, even if the victories occurred in 2017... Really, it's always nice to carry over as much good forward as possible.

Toi Thomas said...

Thanks again for another great post and for stopping by my blog.
Congratulations to all the anthology winners. Very excited about this release.
I like the new Instagram prompts, but that's one more social media presence I'm just not ready to tackle. I'll stick to posting dog pictures for now.
My husband has a few concert T's I bet he'd like to save.
I may check out the Mummy after seeing your review. Glad to know it's not that bad.
What a great list of movies. I still can't get over the fact that I missed Blade Runner 2049 in the theater. Oh well.

Juneta key said...

RE Blogfest Tshirt collection sounds like a good save to me. I'd grab my SW beanie babies if they were not packed in the garage. Really need to find them and bring into my room.
Juneta @ Writer's Gambit

Sandra Cox said...

Congrats to the wonderful authors included in the anthology and a big thank you to the judges.

Hope your weekend was excellent, Alex.

Diane Burton said...

Adding my congrats to the awesome authors in the anthology. Good list of 2017 movies. Totally agree with The Last Jedi. Your t-shirt collection could keep you warm if you had to run out into the cold night. LOL

Denise Covey said...

Hi Alex! HNY to you and yours!
Congrats to the winners in the anthology! Looking forward to its publication!
Looking forward to awesome books being released in 2018!

Susan Kane said...

Loved your list. Didn't see IT, but my husband and gr-daughters did. Fate of the Furious joins my list of all the Furious. Dunkirk was heart gripping; theater was silent for some seconds before bursting out in applause.
Basically, you nailed it.
Happy New Year!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Lynda, bad pun!

Patricia, thank you for judging.

Birgit, that's not funny!

John, he had one of the funniest scenes in the movie.

Truedessa, maybe I should make a list for next week of those.

Toi, it's one more social site than I can handle as well.

Sandra, it was!

Diane, it sure could!

Susan, thanks!

Yvonne Ventresca said...

Congratulations to all the winning anthology authors!

klahanie said...

Hey Alex,

Hearty congrats to all those winners. Well done to them.

Skilfully avoids the Blogfest part. Please, make them stop. Yep, I'm having a flaming good time. Thank you.

Thanks for your movie reviews and your top movie mentions. I think the last time I went to see a movie, some dude was playing a piano off to the side of the screen.

May you and your loved ones have a peaceful, positive 2018, Alex.

Gary

Sarah Foster said...

Congrats to all of the anthology winners!

kimlajevardi.com said...

My writing plans for 2018 are to complete edits for my newest book based on my beta reads and get to submitting. I hope to send all queries out by mid month. Congratulations to all of the anthology winners!

Happy New Year, Alex!

Roland Clarke said...

Congratulations to all the Anthology winners - and those that made the effort to take part (when I failed to write more than an idea).

Those T-shirts have to be worth more - or have you worn them out ;-) ?

Liz A. said...

Oh, so that's why I've been seeing crossed out lists all over Instagram. I was wondering what prompted everyone to post their writing schedules.

Personally, I think any film that's so dark I could not watch it again does not hit my list of top favorites. I get the brilliance comment, and I can appreciate that, but it wouldn't be a favorite.

Tonja Drecker said...

Congrats to all the winners-can't wait to see all the greatness in those pages. Wonder Woman surprised me with how great it turned out. As to the Mummy, that's on my list to see!

stephen Hayes said...

In 2018 I'll be taking a break from writing to pursue my first love---painting.

Liesbet said...

Happy New Year, Alex! And, congratulations to all the winning authors of the newest IWSG anthology. What a great way to start the year! I haven't seen "The Mummy" yet, but it doesn't sound all that appealing, so I'll probably skip it. As a goal for 2018, I have... finish my memoir. :-)

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

Your comments about the movies really matched my thoughts. I haven't seen IT yet. I felt the same way about Logan. I'll never watch it again. Too sad.
Congrats to all the winners. I'm really looking forward to readying it. Hope your holiday was fun.

Helena said...

Congratulations to all the winners -- I'll try to find the time to read their excellent stories.

Thanks for the reminder of the Twitter Pitch; I missed it last time but really should go for broke this time around. As for 2018 -- I'm hoping to finish my sci fi novel now that I've finally plotted it out.

Unknown said...

Congratulations to all the winners!

And I'm right with you on Wonder Woman, Alex!!

Botanist said...

Heard some good things about Dunkirk and looking forward to seeing it some time soon!

Shannon Lawrence said...

I haven't seen Dunkirk or Justice League yet. Still planning on taking the kids to JL. Blade Runner was underwhelming for me, but I know a lot of people loved it. I'm terrible at remembering which films came out in the last year, so not sure what was the best. I did like the other movies you mentioned, including your honorable mentions.

Patsy said...

I have a writing plan I'm fairly happy with. I need to be more organised on the publishing front.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Gary, that was a while ago...

Kim, make it happen.

Roland, some are hanging by a thread.

Liz, that's why those two weren't on my list.

Helena, please participate.

Shadow said...

Aren't a bunch of those Top 2017 movies remakes?
Hallo Alex and Happy New Year to you.

Jo said...

I was really impressed with Wonder Woman. Great movie. Hope Flaming Crimes does well. Sounds like a good story. I really don't know what stupid thing I would save in a fire.

Hey, what about the Tonya Harding Story? Never thought they would turn that into a movie.

Jen said...

Happy New Year! Sorry I'm late to the party but we had a bit of a snowday yesterday, the first for Savannah in almost 30 years!! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year celebration. And what an AMAZING list of winners for the IWSG Anthology! I'm so happy for them all!

Something silly I'd save in a fire? Hmmm...So I made this herb witch hat over Halloween last year. It took a month to get the stitching and gluing and all that. I'd have to grab that on the way out the front door!

Cheers! And it's good to be back :D

Misha Gerrick said...

Congrats to all the winners!

Happy New Year, Alex. :-)

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Alex - cannot add much to the mix here - except to wish you both a very happy year ahead. I thoroughly enjoyed Dunkirk ... and WonderWoman. Good luck to all authors here - the anthology sounds wonderful ... here's to a wonderful 2018 - cheers Hilary

Robyn Campbell said...

Hey, I owe you an email. I have missed you. Sounds like everything is going well with you. I hope you didn't take me off the IWSG. No matter. I'll just re-up. Can't wait to read the anthology.

LOVE Coco.

No schedule as I am just getting back to writing. Will fill you in when I click send. I wanted to visit you and Karen before I emailed you. Sort of a surprise.

Hello to Mini Alex and Happy New Year my friend. (P.S. your email made me feel so good.)

Magic Love Crow said...

Hi Alex! Happy New Year! Congrats to Chrys!! Thanks for the review on The Mummy and for the list of your top 10 movies! I agree for sure on Wonder Woman and Thor!!

The Happy Whisk said...

Wonder Woman #1 for me. Thor #2 and as for TC, I just cannot stomach him. Even before all the "drama". Happy 2018!

Rhonda Albom said...

I hope you also had a wonderful holiday season. This is the first year I started a goal sheet, with detailed and quantifiable goals that annual, daily, and monthly. Only 5 days into the year, and I am already falling behind. Yikes. Maybe I'll just throw in the towel and go watch Wonder Women for some encouragement.

Cynthia said...

I still have a t-shirt from a concert I attended ages ago, so I can see where you're at!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Shadow, only two - It and Spiderman.

Jo, neither did I!

Jen, we had snow as well. And after all that work, you couldn't let the hat burn.

Robyn! Good to hear from you.

Rhonda, you watch Wonder Woman and you'll have to pick that towel up.

Lynn La Vita said...

Hi Alex,
The plot thickens! I commented on your blog early Wednesday morning...but now I can't find it. Here it goes again. Thank you for creating a wide variety for folks to express their written word. There is always something for everyone. Special congrats to Gwen Gardner for her story, A Stitch in Crime. Wishing you continued success and good health in 2018.

kaykuala said...

Belated New Year greetings, Alex. Congrats to all the winners of the anthology and Congrats to Chrys also on her book. So many of the movies Hank had not seen yet. Will keep an eye on them when they reach the local theatres


Hank

DMS said...

Congrats to all the anthology winners. What a great way to start off the year. :) Also awesome to see Chrys here. I am seeing her all over the blogosphere. Yeah!

Wishing you a happy, healthy, and fun 2018!
~Jess

Mandy said...

Congrats to the winners of the anthology contest! I think it was wise to include the new admin as a special mention. :)

As for my favorite 2017 movie? I loved Lady Bird. It was hilarious and I could totally relate to the main character. Have you seen it yet?

Hope you have a wonderful and successful 2018!

Sandra Cox said...

We saw The Mummy and just couldn't get into it.
Wonder Woman was awesome wasn't it? :)
We saw Darkest Hour. Thumbs Up.
Stay warm and stay safe.

Elizabeth said...

Congrats to the anthology winners!

There were a lot of great movies in 2017. Look at all those superhero films, and there are more to come this year :)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Lynn, that is so odd! There is a conspiracy...

Mandy, not my type of film, but I just read another blogger's review of it and he thought it was excellent.

Sandra, I do want to see Darkest Hour.

Stephen Tremp said...

I have yet to see Planet of the Apes. I missed it at the theatres and kicking myself for that. I'll have to rent it this weekend.

Congrats! to the winners f the third annual IWSG Anthology Contest and best wishes to Chrys and her latest release.

Nicki Elson said...

Hey, guess what - I used to SELL concert T-shirts as my summer job during college. And how many did I save? Zero. I'm such a jerk - what I would do for that George Michaels WHAM! T-shirt now...

Congrats to all the authors in the new Anthology!!

Lynda Dietz said...

Thanks for compiling a "best of" movie list! Now I know what I still have to catch up with when I have a moment.

I don't blame you for wanting to rescue those concert T-shirts. I'm sorry I got rid of so many of mine over the years . . . not that they'd fit 52-year-old me like they fit 20-something me all those years ago. I would have loved to see Rush! I have three things I'd probably grab in a fire: photos and movies of the kids from before digital era, as many musical instruments as I could carry (we easily have over 30 guitars alone), and all the signed books from authors I've worked with. Those books have some precious, funny messages in them.

Ray Rousell said...

Dunkirk was my fav out of your list followed very closely by Guardians of the Galaxy. I took my wife to see the later, she usually doesn't go for Sci-Fi, but she really enjoyed it. She hasn't even seen the first film yet either.
I hope you have a great 2018, Alex!

Al Penwasser said...

After many fits and starts brought on by personal issues, I seriously hope to finish my latest in the "Shag Carpet" series of books, "St. Stan's: Tales from the Penguin Academy."
Fingers crossed, I hope I have my "funny" back.

Mason T. Matchak said...

I have to admit, I kind of laughed when I saw this month's question. There's no way I could set a schedule for myself for writing or publishing - I don't need the pressure when it comes to writing, and as for publishing, well... I'd have to be doing that to need a schedule for it. >_<

Leslie S. Rose said...

Hooray that Wonder Woman make #1 - I LOVED that movie. Can't wait to read the anthology. I'm very excited about the Twitter pitch opportunity as well. I'm definitely setting the goal to get my current WIP, revised, beta read, and query worthy by the beginning of summer. Happy 2018.

J.H. Moncrieff said...

Happy New Year, Alex!

Congrats to all the winners of the anthology contest, and good luck to everyone participating in the pitch contest.

I have so many writing goals for 2018 that it's a bit daunting. I'm already behind!

All the best in 2018.