Wednesday, January 5, 2022

IWSG Anthology Winners, #IWSGPit, Spider-Man: No Way Home Review, and January Movie Preview


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.

The awesome co-hosts for the January 5 posting of the IWSG are Erika Beebe, Olga Godim, Sandra Cox, Sarah Foster, and Chemist Ken!

January 5 question - What's the one thing about your writing career you regret the most? Were you able to overcome it?

Probably that I didn’t begin sooner or that I am such a slow writer. I did begin although I have never sped up my writing.


The Seventh Annual IWSG Anthology Contest Winners!


The genre was sweet romance and the theme first love.

Thanks to all who entered – it was a record amount of entries this year.


Now we present the authors of First Love: The Art of Making Doughnuts:

The Art of Making Doughnuts - Linda Budzinski
Paper Faces - Sylvia Ney
The Real Thing - Sammi Spizziri
My Heart Approves - Melissa Maygrove
Oliver’s Girl - Michael Di Gesu
Clyde and Coalesce - Kim Elliot
My First Love(s) - Templeton Moss
How to Save a Princess - Katie Klein
The Castle of Ohno - SE White
Marmalade Sunset - Denise Covey


A special thanks to our official judges:

Author Nancy Gideon
Nancy Gideon is the award-winning bestseller of over 70 romances ranging from historical, Regency, and series contemporary suspense to dark paranormal and horror, with a couple of produced screenplays and non-fiction writing books tossed into the mix. She’s also written under the pseudonyms Dana Ransom, Rosalyn West, and Lauren Giddings.

Agent Caitlin Blasdell, Liza Dawson Associates

Caitlin Blasdell has been a literary agent with Liza Dawson Associates since 2002 with a focus on commercial fiction. Before becoming an agent, she was a senior editor at HarperCollins Publishers.

Author Susan Gourley
Susan Gourley is traditionally published in fantasy and science fiction romance using the name Susan Kelley. She is currently serving as the President of the Pennwriters writing group renowned for the annual conference.

Author Jennifer Lane
Jennifer Lane writes sports romance and romantic suspense with a psychological twist. She has published nine novels and two short stories, including Behind the Catcher’s Mask as part of the IWSG Masquerade Anthology.

Author Meka James
Meka James is a writer of adult contemporary and erotic romance. A born and raised Georgia Peach, she still resides in the southern state with her hubby of 16 years and counting. Mom to four kids of the two legged variety, she also has four fur-babies of the canine variety. When not writing or reading, Meka can be found playing The Sims 3, sometimes Sims 4, and making up fun stories to go with the pixelated people whose world she controls.

Author Loni Townsend

By day, she writes code. By predawn darkness, she writes fantasies. All other times, she writes in her head. People call her peculiar with a twisted sense of fashion, but don't let those understatements fool you. Her behavior is perfectly normal for a squirrel disguised as a human.

First Love: The Art of Making Doughnuts will be published by Dancing Lemur Press' imprint, Freedom Fox Press, later this year.

This is our seventh anthology! Previous titles include Dark Matter: Artificial, Voyagers: The Third Ghost, Masquerade: Oddly Suited, Tick Tock: A Stitch in Crime, Hero Lost, The Mysteries of Death and Life, and Parallels: Felix Was Here.



#IWSGPit
is this month!
If you’ve never participated in a Twitter pitch party, this is your chance.
Dozens have signed book contracts as a result – you could be next.
Visit the #IWSGPit page for the rules and hashtags.
And then join us on January 26!



Goodbye My Brother


On Monday, January 3, I lost a dear friend – Jeremy Hawkins.

Jeremy and I had been good blogger buds for twelve years. His blog was Being Retro / Hollywood Nuts and he was a producer for Howling Wolf Records. He also interviewed many celebrities over the years and visited many cons.


He also designed the t-shirts for the IWSG and A to Z Challenge and many more, sold at his NeatOShop.

This is a huge loss and we will miss Jeremy tremendously. He was a very giving person and did everything he could to help his fellow creatives. May we never forget him.

To find out more about Jeremy, you can read about him About - HERE.



Spider-Man: No Way Home Review


Spider-Man ask Doctor Strange to make the world forget his identity, but when the spell goes wrong, villains from other universes begin to appear.
This is the third of the Tom Holland films and definitely the best.
Tough review to do as there are so many spoilers and surprises. (At several points, our audience clapped and cheered.)
The movie hits on every level as it deals with the multiverse, portrayed well in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. It tugs at the heartstrings, zings with action, and delivers a great story.
Only complaint – ten-fifteen minutes could have been shaved from this two and a half hour film.
But this is the ultimate Spider-Man film and you just have to see it on the big screen. And as always, stay for the two bonus scenes.
Highly recommended!


January Movie Preview

Here are the upcoming theatrical releases for January. Descriptions courtesy of the IMDB. Snark provided by me.


21 –


Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre
Special agent Orson Fortune and his team of operatives recruit one of Hollywood's biggest movie stars to help them on an undercover mission when the sale of a deadly new weapons technology threatens to disrupt the world order.
Director: Guy Ritchie
Stars: Cary Elwes, Jason Statham, Josh Hartnett, Aubrey Plaza
Statham is really growing as an actor – apparently in this film, he punches a lot of people.


28 –


Morbius
Biochemist Michael Morbius tries to cure himself of a rare blood disease, but he inadvertently infects himself with a form of vampirism instead.
Director: Daniel Espinosa
Stars: Jared Leto, Michael Keaton, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris
Morbius trades one incurable disease for another…seems silly, doesn’t it?



What do you regret and did you overcome it? Excited about the IWSG anthology? Ready for #IWSGPit? Did you see Spider-Man? Seeing any movies this month?

93 comments:

Pat Garcia said...

Hi Alex,
Happy New Year!
I am deeply sorry about the loss of your friend. Goodbyes are always tough to deal with.
Wishing you all the best for 2022.

Shalom aleichem,
Pat G @ EverythingMustChange

nashvillecats2 said...

Wonderful post as always Alex, there are always regrets but as long as one learns by those regrets then all will be well.
Take care.
Yvonne.

Erika Beebe said...

I think I regret in my career, not majoring in English and Creative Writing back in college. I think my writing would have been clearer sooner. I saw Spiderman! It was fantastic! Happy IWSG and Congrats to all the anthology winners!

Michelle Wallace said...

Happy New Year, Alex!

Such sad news about Jeremy Hawkins.

Congrats to all the anthology winners!
The anthology cover is sweet... pun intended! It's a great cover and a wonderful selection of stories.

The word regret is not one I'd use. All I can say is - I wish I could write as fast as I read.

Cherie Colyer said...

Happy New Year, Alex!

I'm very sorry to hear about your friends.

I wish I could write faster. This is something I've been working on for a while. I have a personal goal to try to write a first draft in 45 days. Fingers are crossed I can do it.

I saw Spider-Man last week and loved it!

Congrats to those who have stories in the anthology!

Liza said...

So far, every post I have read has mentioned wishing they'd started writing soon, including mine.

So very sorry to hear about Jeremy...

H. R. Sinclair said...

I so sorry for your loss. My thoughts are with you.
--
I'm a super slow writer, but I'm trying to get myself together and get stuff out there.

And I love the title of this anthology. Congratulations to the writers.

Natalie Aguirre said...

I totally wish I was not such a slow writer. It makes it hard to see myself ever getting published.

Congrats to the anthology winners!

Sorry for the loss of your friend. It can be so hard to lose those we care about.

Lynn La Vita said...

Thank you for introducing me to Jeremy Hawkins. He was an exceptional individual. I'm so sorry for your loss. May his memories remain warm in your heart and heal as you adjust to his passing.

Heather M. Gardner said...

Alex, I know what he meant to you. So sorry for his passing.

Congrats to the winners.

Hmg

Jennifer Lane said...

Congratulations to the anthology winners and to all entrants. I enjoyed reading the clever, creative takes on first love!

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Congrats to the winners. I look forward to working with them.

I saw that on Facebook about Jeremy. So tragic.

L.G. Keltner said...

I'm so sorry to hear about Jeremy Hawkins. So sad.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Tonja Drecker said...

I'm so sorry to hear about Jeremy. He will be missed.

Congrats to the winners, and I believe I'm going to be visiting the theater more often this year.

Madeline Mora-Summonte said...

Congrats to all the anthology winners!

I'm sorry for your loss, Alex.

Watched a couple of new movies we didn't care for, but we did re-watch The Shawshank Redemption which is always amazing. :)

Nancy Gideon said...

Thanks for the opportunity to work on the Anthology this year. What wonderful stories! A little something for every reader.

It takes a lot to get me into a theatre these days but Spiderman was totally worth it. Tom Holland is so good as the friendly web swinger. Of course, I was in it for Dr. Strange who always looks great on the big screen!!

Joylene Nowell Butler said...

Happy New Year, Alex. I'm not participating this month because I'm sick. I just wanted to stop by quickly and wish you the best in 2022. Oh, there's going to be another Jason Bourne movie this year! Looking forward to your review.

Michael Di Gesu said...

Hi Alex,

I am SO sorry to hear about Jeremy. He will certainly be missed. I wasn't very close with him, but I knew him through blogging all these years, too.

Wishing all a HAPPY, HEALTHY, and PROSPEROUS new year!

Thank you for the opportunity to submit to the anthology! I am THRILLED to have one of the chosen stories. And, a special thanks to the judges for their time! I am looking forward to reading all the other stories.

Nick Wilford said...

I remember Jeremy very well from the "old" blogging days. So sorry to hear about this. He did so much for the IWSG.

I had a similar regret. But I suppose starting is what counts, regardless of age!

Mary Aalgaard said...

How sad about Jeremy. I have some of his shirt designs.
You make the latest Spiderman movie sound terrific. I'm sure I'll be watching it with my boys.
Still working on my post for this month. Regrets, I have a few.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Michelle, I do neither at a fast pace!

Lynn, thanks - that was sweet.

Nancy, and it was the most packed I've seen a theater in almost two years!

Michael, glad you're in it.

Nick, yes he did.

Thanks, everyone.

E. Arroyo said...

So sorry for your loss.

I did cheer during Spider-Man. Loved it and am looking forward to watching Morbius. Congrats to all the winners of the anthology. Thanks for sharing.

Loni Townsend said...

I'm so sorry to hear about your friend. My condolences, Alex.

I want to go see the latest Spiderman movie, but I kind of want my kids to watch all the previous ones first so they can recognize the characters when they pop up.

Rachna Chhabria said...

Hi Alex, Happy New Year. Congratulations to the winners. I too am trying to speed up my writing.

Sorry for your loss. Jeremy Hawkins sounds like a wonderful person.

Jan Morrison said...

Alex,
So sorry for the loss of your friend - Jeremy appears to have been such an interesting and enterprising sort of fellow. Friends are gold and I know you treasure yours.

Congratulations to the winners - looks like a great lineup!

And thanks for the info on the twitter pitch. Maybe I'll give it a go this year. I'm sort of twitter-dyslexic so not sure.

Yolanda Renée said...

Sorry for your loss. Jeremy was a very creative individual.

Congratulations to all the winners!

I hope Spiderman is released to video soon.

Happy New Year!

Cathrina Constantine said...

Alex, it seems we are somewhat similar when we began writing. Never too late!

I liked the new Spiderman movie, but not as much as the previous one. I've been watching all the marvel movies like Loki and Hawkeye, etc, and the multiverse thing, I believe they are creating something big.

Happy New Year!

newsstand pilgrim said...

So sorry to hear about your friend.

And I also wish I could write faster. Didn't realize so many writers struggle with that.

Thanks for posting the contest results. Congratulations to the winners!

Julia Quay

Joanne said...

Happy New Year, but sorry for the loss of your friend.
Congrats to the anthology winners - very cool.
Writing regrets - I have trouble taking myself seriously. It seems like such a dabble.
Still need to see new Spidey on the big screen. Maybe this week - was waiting for holiday crowds to fade.
Thanks as always for your posts, cheer, and snark.

Sherry Ellis said...

Oh, no! Jeremy is gone? He was a great guy! It's so hard to lose blogger friends who have been around so many years! So sorry to hear this.

Congratulations to the winners of the anthology. It sounds like it has a lot of cute stories. Nice cover, too.

I started reading your book, Cassa Dark. Am enjoying it!

Wishing you a happy, healthy 2022!

Jemi Fraser said...

I'm so very sorry for the loss of your friend. So sad - sending hugs your way.
I wish I'd started earlier with my writing as well - it never occurred to me that I could be a writer even though I was such a bookworm!

Diane Burton said...

Condolences on the loss of your friend. Hugs.
I've never seen any of the Spiderman movies. Your review makes this one sound great. Have you seen the new Matrix movie. I'm not sure how I feel about that one.

Tyrean Martinson said...

I'm deeply sorry we lost Jeremy. I have one of his designed t-shirts for IWSG.

cleemckenzie said...

Remember Aesop, Alex. Fast doesn't mean as much as endurance! Congrats to all the writers and to everyone behind the scenes who make the anthology possible. It's going to be a hit, I'm sure.

Love your movie reviews. Did you see Just Don't Look Up! on Netflix? It's a laugh/shake your head/cry kind of movie.

Steven Arellano Rose Jr. said...

I'm sorry about your friend passing away. He sounds like he was really involved with IWSG and had a lot of skills and talents.

I haven't read any of the Spiderverse comics so probably won't understand the movie that well. Operation Fortune does sound like it can be a good espionage. I've read several Morbius comics and like the character so I would be willing to give the movie a try.

Gwen Gardner said...

Your regrets are the same as mine. Live and learn, though.

Happy New Year, Alex!

Truedessa said...

Welcome back Alex! I have often visited Jeremy’s blog. This is sad news (wiping a tear). I am sure he touched many lives. It’s hard to lose a friend.

Peace & love

kjmckendry said...

Oh no! I'm so sorry to hear about Jeremy! There has been so much loss these past two years. :(

Chemist Ken said...

Seems like a lot of authors wished they had started writing earlier. And I should have added being a slow writer to my regrets too, although that wasn't my choice.

Saw Spiderman, and had mixed feelings about it. The plot seemed to depend too much on the heroes making stupid choices over and over again. But it was fun to watch.

Happy 2022!

Sandra Cox said...

I am so sorry for your loss, Alex. This is the 3rd author passing I've heard of in as many weeks.
Congrats to the winners of the anthology.
Spiderman is on my to-see list.
Wishing you a happy-writing New Year AND you'll have a new book coming out;)

Sadira Stone said...

Happy New Year, Alex. I'm curious--did you watch Don't Look Up? That's my standout movie for January. It perfectly captures & magnifies the weirdness of our social media-driven lives. Wishing you happy writing in January, and my condolences for the loss of your dear friend.

Victoria Marie Lees said...

Happy New Year, Alex! So sorry to hear of your friend passing. Always difficult to move on. I'm a slow writer, too. Still, you have an editor and I don't, so bravo! I wish you every success in 2022!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Mary, I have several of the shirts he made.

Jan, hope you participate this year.

Cathrina, they are making something big.

Sherry, I know. And cool - thanks!

Diane, saw it and my review will be up next week. Not impressed.

Tyrean, I have several of his shirts.

Lee, I haven't yet.

Steven, I've never read them, but I've been able to follow along.

Trudessa, he did.

Sadira, not yet, but I will check it out.

Thanks everyone.

diedre Knight said...

Happy New Year, Captain!

So sorry to hear about Jeremy. He won't be forgotten.

The latest anthology is bound to be another winner - congratulations to all!

Kids saw the new Spiderman and can't stop talking about it ;-)

Enjoy the journey, sir. It makes the destination so much better.

April 5th, huh? Can't wait!

Elephant's Child said...

Congratulations to all the Anthology authors, welcome back and I am sorry for your loss.

Christine Rains said...

Congratulations to all the authors! I wish I started publishing sooner too. I didn't share my writing with anyone for years. I've heard nothing but good things about Spiderman, and I'm curious to see how well they'll do Morbius. My holidays were a very Rifftrax holidays! I needed to tune out the world for a while and laugh.

So sad to hear about Jeremy. We interacted a bunch on Facebook, and I'll miss his compassion and humor. He was a kind and creative soul.

Anonymous said...

So very sorry for the loss of your friend. Hugs.

Congrats to all the winners of the new anthology! Great cover/title.

Regrets - ah, all the things we'd have done differently, if only we'd known . . .

Wishing you a blessed new year!

talklady said...

Hi Alex,
Happy, yet not so happy, New Year due to the loss of a friend. Very sorry and grateful you shared a link so that I could get to know him, too.
I always look forward to your movie reviews for guidance - thanks. Have you seen DON'T LOOK UP - satire and sad and definitely worth seeing for its warnings about climate change, the takeover of vapid social media, and the hazards of ignoring science.
Wishing you all the best for 2022.

Helen said...

Alex, you did begin and you have kept at it. Something about slow and steady wins the race? I also want to thank you for organizing/herding (cats) the various writer's groups online that you do. The ISWG is one of the points of the month to which I look forward. (Did I keep that preposition from the end of the sentence?) Here's to a better New Year.

Andrew Leon said...

But why would you want to shave any time from it? It was so much fun. No boredom involved.
Unlike the movie I reviewed today, which made me want to take a nap during the -fight- scene.

Also, bad pun or awesome pun?
I think awesome.

J E Oneil said...

How sad about Jeremy.

Bish Denham said...

Congratulations to the anthology winners!

I'm sorry for the lost of your friend. May your memories of him bring you peace and put a smile on your face.

Onward, into the New Year.

Carrie-Anne said...

I'm really sorry to hear about Jeremy. He was a very important part of the blogging community.

Congratulations to the contest winners!

Fundy Blue said...

Happy New Year, Alex! And congratulations to all the winners in this year's anthology. I can't wait to read it. I'm sure the judges did a stellar job. I'm sorry that you lost your friend Jeremy. I haven't been to a theatre yet. I've been curled up on the couch watching Netflix. Have a happy IWSG Day, and thanks for all you do!

Melissa said...

I'm excited about the anthology, but I'm sad about Jeremy. I'm sorry you lost a friend.

Liz A. said...

So sad to hear about Jeremy. I do want to see the Spiderman, but I doubt I'll be getting out to the movies any time soon. Congrats to the writers in the new anthology.

Elizabeth Mueller said...

Congrats to the IWSG winners! Is that the cover? It's so different from the rest. I'm loving it.

♥.•*¨Elizabeth Mueller¨*•.♥

Sarah Foster said...

I'm so sorry to hear about Jeremy.
I definitely enjoyed seeing Spider-Man in the theater and seeing all the audience reactions.
Congrats to the anthology winners!

Birgit said...

I am dumbfounded that Jeremy has died. I fell by the wayside in commenting but I always liked what he wrote. He wrote, quite a while back, about his sadness and so, I pray...I pray that he did not take his own life. Regardless, no matter, he was was a gentle soul who loved to blog and create neat shirts etc for the people who follow the April challenge, he loved movies and comics etc... I am so sorry for you, to have to go through this loss at the start of this new year. He truly rocked! I can imagine you playing something he would love to listen to.

On the movie front, I want to see West Side Story but we are in lockdown again. I like Cary Elwes and Jason Statham who does know how to throw a punch or 6. I have to catch up on the To. holland Spider-Man films and hope to. I hope you had a nice Christmas and New Years.

Mary Kirkland said...

I'm so sorry for the loss of your freind.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Deidre, April 5 - thanks for your excitement!

Christine, he was! Always a giver. And we did a bit of RiffTrax binging as well.

PJ, so many have recommended it. Been leery due to the reviews.

Helen, that's why we do it!

Andrew, somewhere in between...

Elizabeth, that's the cover!

Sarah, that was the best part.

Birgit, where do you live? And sadly it was Covid that got Jeremy.

Thanks, everyone.

Birgit said...

Oh, I live in Canada..Ontario and just looked it up on Facebook and saw it was COVID19. This is so, so sad. I am waiting for my booster shot but I have had people near me who got COVID19 and are immunized but, thankfully, they were not severe. My heart goes out to him. And his family.

Denise Covey said...

Hi Alex. So sad at the loss of your friend. Always hurts. Congrats to all winners in the anthology. Finally...romance...sigh. I just had to enter this one!

Shannon Lawrence said...

This is the first I've heard about Jeremy. How terrible. I had a lot of fun talking movies with him and discussing projection booths in old theaters. I'm so sad to hear this.

Congratulations to the winners!

Jenni said...

I'm so sorry about your friend. It sounds like he was a great guy.
It seems like a lot of people are saying they wished they would've started earlier. I started young, but since I'm slow, it's still taking me a long time. :)
Haven't seen the Spider Man movie, but hubby and my boys loved it.

Olga Godim said...

Losing a friend is always sad. I'm sorry for your loss.

Botanist said...

I hope you enjoyed a peaceful Christmas, Alex, but so sorry about the loss of your friend.

kimlajevardi.com said...

My condolences on your friend.

mshatch said...

I am very sorry to hear about Jeremy :(

Andrew Leon said...

I think this is a first:
We have liked the same movies before, but I don't think we have ever had a movie we both disliked. Usually, that's just me.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Alex - Jeremy was so special to 'our community' - I've watched over the years on how he helped us with so much. Just desperate to lose him - I know how much he meant in the early years of A-Z and blogging in general with this group. His designing was awesome ...

Thanks for all your introductions to new bloggers, new publications and then the films you've seen ... I hope to get back to cinema in April when the Towner Gallery has been updated and is open again.

Happy New Year and all the best - cheers Hilary

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Birgit, I too have family members who had both the shot and the booster and still got sick. This round it getting everybody.

Denise, you did and good thing you did!

Andrew, oh no - I thought it was really subpar. Very glad I saw it at home rather than wasting money on it.

Thanks, everyone. Jeremy was very special. I hope to put together a special tribute day for him soon.

Liesbet said...

I’m so sorry to read about your friend, Alex. Jeremy seems to have been an amazing person, artist, and friend. January has just begun and is already eventful.

Congratulations to the anthology winners, to the judges for picking the best stories, and to Dancing Lemur Press for another incredible cover!

I don’t regret much about writing and publishing Plunge, as every decision was part of the Indie author experience.

chickangell said...

Not starting sooner and not writing faster seems to be a common regret for many of us. But you are right, we all did start and we are each doing the best we can, so it is best not to let regrets weigh us down!

Meka James said...

Condolences on the loss of your friend.

I'm also a slow writer. I've been trying to find ways to speed up my process, but so far, I write how I write.

I'm terribly behind on the Marvel movies. I'm not the biggest fan. My family saw the new Spiderman and they sang its praises. I'm sure I'll watch it eventually.

Happy New Year!

J.Q. Rose said...

So sorry to hear about your friend's passing. Sounds like you have memories to help comfort you.

You really praised the Spidey movie. It must be something special. When it hits Netflix, I'll watch. Will it ever be on Netflix???

Happy New Year!

Rebecca M. Douglass said...

I'm sorry to hear of the loss of your friend. Thanks for sharing some of who he was and what he did.

Congratulations to the authors in the new IWSG anthology!

As for your regrets, I think regretting you are a slow writer is like regretting you are however tall you are. You might be able to find a way to spend more time at it, but I suspect the basic time needed to write is what it is.

Rawknrobyn.blogspot.com said...

Oh, Alex, I didn't know about Jeremy's passing. I'm so sorry. I could tell that you two were very close. He was such a unique creative sweetheart. So sorry to learn this.

On a different note, that looks like a spectacular compilation and kudos to all who worked on and contributed to the anthology.

Dihiwi said...

I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your friend, Jeremy. It seems many of us have lost dear friends and family during these past two years. I wish you many good memories that you can hold in your heart. Thanks, also, for talking about the Spider Man movie. I want to go but this COVID virus has me a bit spooked. Perhaps if I wore a spider man costume, I would be better protected to go see the movie. Sorry - I digress. Keep up the good work and writing. I may visit the Pitch Party if it's possible. Happy New Year!

Susan Kane said...

Spider Man was excellent. I was surprised, had no expectations. I enjoy Jason Statham, he is who he is, and what he films. I also enjoy Vin Diesel, Bruce Willis, and Dwayne Johnson. Something about bald men, I guess.

Sandra Cox said...

This is the 7th anthology? Wow.
Wishing you much creativity, and hope your muse is continually dancing on your shoulder, in the coming year.

Deniz Bevan said...

Squee! Congratulations to the winners! I love these anthologies :-)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

JQ, it will probably hit Disney+ first.

Rebecca, well said - it is what it is.

Dihiwi, hope you join the pitch party. And I'm glad we saw Spider-Man when we did. Little gun-shy about theaters right now myself.

Deniz, and you were in one of them!

Thanks, everyone.

Toi Thomas said...

Thanks for another great hop.
Congratulations to the anthology winners.
I really liked Spiderman.

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

My regret is similar to yours. I go through periods of writing fast and then writing slow. I've been on slow.

I love the Spiderman movie. My youngest son usually goes with me since my husband isn't into the Marvel universe. I will probably see Morbius sometime.

So sorry about Jeremy. I have a number of teeshirts he designed.

Janet Alcorn said...

I'm so sorry for your loss.

I'm excited to read the IWSG anthology! I love the title and cover.

Pat Hatt said...

Congrats to all the winners. Great cover indeed.

Spiderman sure is hitting all the right notes.

Starting sooner is something would have been nice to do indeed. But then who knows how things go. Change one thing and everything changes. Multiverse and all lol

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Susan, so do I. Check back here tomorrow.

Janet, you did make a fan out of one of the judges with your entry!

Pat, very true.

Anne Higa said...

Condolences on your loss, Alex. Here's to a successful 2022 for all of us.

Lidy said...

I'm the same. I regret not getting back into writing sooner. I'm a slow writer too, slow as molasses, slow as a snail, slow. I used to envy other writers who wrote prolifically and wished I could write as fast as them. But that pace isn't for me.
Haven't seen the third Holland Spiderman film yet but can't wait. Besides getting to see Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield as Spiderman again. The movie also introduces the multiverse in the MCU.

Deniz Bevan said...

My condolences, Alex <3
I still have my shirt with that wonderful IWSG design!

Heather Musk said...

Happy New Year Alex, and my condolences on the loss of a great friend.

I saw Spider-Man over Christmas with my daughter and we both loved it. I cried, I laughed, and just enjoyed the whole thing.

Susan Flett Swiderski said...

I'm so sorry for your loss. We've lost way too many blogger pals.

I must be old. (Yeah, I know I am...) The first "crazy" song I thought of was... wait for it... "Crazy" by Patsy Cline.

Congrats to Robyn on her new book.

Not likely that I'll be watching any of those movies, but I thought you'd get a kick out of this: my son-in-law is part of the set crew for Guardians of the Galaxy 3, which is being filmed here in Atlanta. He's got the coolest job ever!