Deja Vu Blogfest - A SyFy Classic!

DL Hammons of Cruising Altitude fame, along with several others, is hosting the Déjà vu Blogfest today!

Before I jump into the blogfest, just a reminder – this is the last weekend to vote in the The Movie 411 Awards! I’m up for Best Sci-Fi Blog and Best Blog Post for The Worst Movies Ever Blogfest and I’m not above groveling. Need help with Best Post!!! Don’t forget to vote for my buddies Cinemarvellous! iZombie! Melissa’s Imaginarium and MsMariah’s Space Blog-yssey

I did tie for Best Writing Blog over at A Peek at Karen’s World. Tied with Jennifer Hillier! Damn, I should’ve lost by a landslide. Jennifer is just so amazing.  Thanks, Karen!

On a sad note, has anyone heard from Ellie Garrett? She was taking a short break to write, but Jeremy and I have both sent emails and she hasn’t responded!

The Debutante Ball: Feast of Debut Authors continues with stops at Joseph Beekman December 16 and Pendragon Innmen December 17. Then on Monday, it’s my turn. Lots of cool things to win!
 

And now on to the blogfest!

When DL announced the Déjà vu Blogfest, I knew instantly which post I wanted to select. My older followers will remember I’ve done play-by-plays of some of SyFy’s more craptastic movies, but none beat this cinematic marvel:

I give you - Sharktopus – A Play By Play. Enjoy!

My thoughts while watching Sharktopus, recorded by the minute. 

3 min – The “ding” of the elevator sounds just like my microwave oven chime. 

7 min – They didn’t waste any time with pesky details like plot or exposition. 

10 min – Roger Corman must have pictures of Eric Roberts with a donkey or something. 

13 min – Roberts isn’t even trying. I think he’s cold-reading the script from cue cards. 

15 min – Hot woman on beach – the movie is getting better. 

16 min – Oh wait, Sharktopus killed her. Movie sucks again. 

19 min – Not so attractive woman goes bungee jumping. I’m okay with her dying. 

30 min – Various shots of sun-soaked, bikini-clad hotties flashes across the screen. This should be the centerpiece of the film. 

37 min – Sharktopus attacks sunbathers. The CGI is so bad I find myself growing nostalgic for a guy in a big rubber suit. 

42 min – A man tells Roberts there’s something on TV he has to see. I’m pretty sure it’s not Sharktopus. 

44 min – The lead actress’s voice keeps shifting from British to American. She must’ve studied at the Kevin Costner Robin Hood School of Acting. 

51 min - Is there enough alcohol in the house to get through this movie? 

62 min – Pretty sure Roberts is drunk. Lucky bastard. 

64 min – They should rename “SyFy Saturday Night” to “SyFy Saturday Craptacular.” 

73 min – The upside to being eaten by Sharktopus: you don’t have to sit through the rest of Sharktopus. 

80 min – A pirate radio DJ mocks Sharktopus and is devoured. This is a life lesson, people! 

83 min – Sharktopus just pantsed some guy. That was… awkward. 

93 min – No really, Roberts is hammered. The guy was on a three-day bender shooting this film. 

98 min – The movie just morphed into a Puerto Vallarta travelogue. Or a bad Bollywood film. Not sure which. 

107 min – Roberts is killed by Sharktopus and there was much rejoicing. 

110 min – Our hero now intends to run over Sharktopus with a minivan. Hope he’s insured. 

122 min – Sharktopus is arrested on tax evasion charges. Movie over. 

Now you don't have to waste two hours of your life! You can thank me later... 

Visit Cruising Altitude for the list of participants.

Anyone else suffer through this craptastic film? Following the Debutante Ball: Feast of Debut Authors? Want to know what you can win here on Monday? Going to see Sherlock Holmes this weekend? Still wondering what the hell is a Sharktopus…?

Major Ninja News!

No, the Ninja Captain has not changed rank – I just have a lot of cool stuff for you guys today.

First, I have the honor of a guest post at Melissa’s Imaginarium! Melissa is awesome in every way possible, so please visit her. And Thursday is her birthday!

The Debutante Ball: Feast of Debut Authors continues! December 13 was Regan Guerra, December 14 is Melissa Pearl, and December 15 is Joseph Beekman. Lots of cool things to win!

Our very own Talli Roland has a new book out – Build A Man! Yeah, I know you ladies would rather do that then deal with us… Talli is the most supportive and cutest English-Canadian you will ever meet, so go say hey!

One of my most favorite blogger buddies, Yvonne Lewis at Welcome to My World of Poetry, has a new book -“Written From the Heart” Yvonne has worked SO hard on her second book and so many things went wrong in the process. Please stop by and congratulate her and check out her book!!!

Voting is still open for The Movie 411 Awards.

The most successful author I know is Milo James Fowler at In Media Res. He’s sold dozens of short stories this year, and that is due in part to his participation in Write1Sub1:

Once upon a time, Ray Bradbury was a struggling young writer in love with the craft. He wrote a short story every week, polished it up, and submitted it to a magazine. Rejection letters flooded in, mainly due to his prolific number of submissions, but there were also acceptances along the way, and they inspired Bradbury to keep doing what he loved: telling stories as only he could.

This year, over 150 writers decided to follow in Mr. Bradbury’s footsteps by joining Write1Sub1. Some have written and submitted a new story or poem every week, and some have done so every month. So far, more than 40 participants have had their work accepted by over 100 different markets—from Twitter fiction to pro-paying, SFWA-qualifying short story markets—and we've cheered each other on every step of the way. But we've also been there to commiserate with disappointments and rejections, because that’s what Write1Sub1 is all about: community. We're dedicated to creating high-quality written works, and we're determined to submit them until they find good homes.

It's never too late to join as either a weekly or monthly participant, and Write1Sub1 RELOADED is only a few weeks away: 1/1/2012!

David Powers King co-founded Ink Pageant, a parade of blog posts for writers!

We want to help writers improve their craft and reach their goals.
We're not alone. There are scads of authors and aspiring writers out there willing to help each other, and they're willing to share advice through their blogs. We want to help bring it to you and make it easy to find.
Ink Pageant has a few other purposes. You can share recommended reading or sell your books through your profile page; announce book signings, conferences, and other events; and share movie or book reviews. Most importantly, posts you submit can be put in front of an interested audience, benefitting them and bringing your blog a little extra traffic.
Right now their December giveaway is an in-depth 10 page critique from Eschler Editing – check it out HERE

See some good books? Ready to tackle Write1Sub1? Join Ink Pageant? Head about to explode from all the news? Now, go visit Melissa’s Imaginarium!

The Ease of Making a Book Trailer - NOT!!!

Today I have something that will rock your world – an awesome author and the premier of a brand new trailer. Ciara Knight is here to share her experience of creating a book trailer. (And after reading it, I’m really glad my publisher does all the work!) If you’ve created your own trailer, you’ll understand. If you haven’t, well I hope this doesn’t scare you into a quivering pile of goo…

I’m so excited and nervous about this book trailer. I mean, maybe if it’s good enough I’ll be accepted into Alex’s Ninja Army! Hey, I can dream, right?

I have to admit, designing and creating my first book trailer was an interesting experience. You see, I’m always full of crazy ideas, it’s the execution I struggle with.

First off, I thought I’d contact a local art school to see if one of the students would be interested in creating a book trailer for me. I ended up with a few responses and even met someone for lunch to discuss it, but even the students wanted a LOT of money to create what I wanted. I came home to Mr. Knight and told him about what I’d have to pay for a book trailer and he laughed for about five minutes. Okay, so first brilliant idea squashed.

I did some research and came up with my second brilliant idea, I’ll do it myself. Hey, my heroine in The Curse of Gremdon, Arianna, isn’t scared of anything. I decided to channel my inner Arianna and go for it. Why not? I mean, I can figure it out. I’ll buy a book or something. What could be so difficult? We already had Adobe Premiere Pro, so I was set.

After about eighteen hours of watching You Tube instructional videos I knew how to create a new project, import, and use some of the special effects. Great! I was set. I grabbed my husband’s HD video camera and headed for a hike near our home. Oh, did I mention my knee and foot were swollen. No worries, if Arianna can battle hideous creatures with nothing more than a dagger, I could make it through a hike. I gimped for a mile using the monopod as a walking aid (don’t tell Mr. Knight about that) and set up for some great footage. Of course, I had to choose a day that every hiker in the southeast was out. Finally, I take the PERFECT video, hobble all the way back to my car, and return home for a couple of ice packs.

My husband pulls the video in and we discover the monopod did absolutely no good. It looked like I’d been on a caffeine high when I took the video. Hope is not lost because Mr. Knight says that he might be able to stabilize the video in Adobe, so I get to work creating my awesome book trailer. Ten hours later, I’ve got my video in there, I’ve learned how to make it look like the woods are changing to fall, then make it go dark. I’ve pulled in images. Hey, it’s looking pretty good.

Mr. Knight arrives home and says, “The video needed to be stabilized first.” Um…seriously? Geesh, maybe this entire book trailer thing wasn’t such a great idea. No, I’m not going to give up. Arianna would never give up so easy. I wait for hubby to stabilize the video for me, because he knew how and I didn’t have eighteen more hours to watch You Tube instructional videos.

The next day I pull up his video and it looks great. I spend all day, while my little monsters are at school, working on the trailer. Mr. Knight arrives home that evening and takes a look. “Well, I think we need to start over.” At this point I realize I’m not Arianna and it’s probably a good thing, because if I had her dagger in my hand I might have harmed my husband.

The next day Mr. Knight started over and spent all of his day off working on it for me. At that point I realized I’m nothing like Arianna, but we did have one thing in common. A great hero to watch our back.

I hope you like the trailer my awesome husband helped create. Although, I still think I’ll be able to do the next book trailer without his help. Seriously.


Now that I think about it, Mr. Knight might be the one accepted into Alex’s Ninja Army.

Author bio: Ciara is happily married and enjoys family time. She has learned to embrace chaos, which is a requirement when raising three boys, and utilizes the insanity to create stories not of this world including: Fantasy, Paranormal, Sci-Fi, and Young Adult Biopunk. Her first love, besides her family, reading, and writing, is travel. She's backpacked through Europe, visited orphanages in China, and landed in a helicopter on a glacier in Alaska.
Follow Ciara here: Website and blog Facebook Twitter Goodreades

Questions for Ciara? Or her Ninja husband? Have you created a book trailer? Are you terrified to try now…?  

Debutante Ball: Feast of Debut Authors kicks off today – twenty days of prizes! I’m participating next week and today it begins with Elizabeth Mueller.

Yvonne Lewis at Welcome to My World of Poetry has a new book coming out today! More on “Written From the Heart” on Wednesday. Congratulations, Yvonne!!

The Movie 411 Awards I’m up for two awards, Best Science Fiction Blog and Best Post for the Worst Movies Blogfest. (And it’s a close race for the Best Blogpost.) Don’t forget to vote for my fellow blogger buddies: Cinemarvellous! nominated for Best Design, Best Gossip, and the Gold Award. iZombie! nominated for Best Horror. Melissa at Melissa’s Imaginarium nominated for Sexiest Female. MsMariah’s Space Blog-yssey nominated for Best Newcomer.

You are now free to comment and move about the blog!

The Insecure Writer's Support Group

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.

 
So many good things have happened in the last year. My first book’s release and eventual rise on Amazon’s Best Seller chart. The scheduled release of my second book next February. Over a thousand blog followers. The success of the IWSG.

Will all of that change me? Will I have to change who I am if that success is to continue?

I’ve tried to remain humble. After all, I’m still just Alex. I’m an average writer with a movie, music, and science fiction obsession. I’ve done nothing really special. I’ve just been me.

And I want to continue being me. I don’t think I’d be where I am today if I wasn’t true to myself. I certainly wouldn’t be here if not for my friends and fans! For you, I want to remain true. I want this blog to stay the same – an informative celebration of your achievements. It’s your growth and success that fuels the fire.

So, here’s hoping I’ll remain just Alex!

I do want to mention that The Movie 411 Awards is now open for voting!!! I’m up for two awards, Best Science Fiction Blog and Best Post for the Worst Movies Ever Blogfest. (Remember that blogfest? And the voting is really close for that award.)
But I really want my Ninja Army to support my blogger buddies who are also nominated:
Cinemarvellous! nominated for Best Design, Best Gossip, and the Gold Award. Nebular is such an awesome friend and he runs a top-notch movie site.
iZombie! is nominate for Best Horror. You may remember Jeremy when I featured his book, Chatterbox.
Melissa at Melissa’s Imaginarium is up for Sexiest Female. Melissa’s had so many challenges lately – she really needs a big win.
MsMariah’s Space Blog-yssey is up for Best Newcomer.
And A Life in Equinox is up for Best Action.
If you haven’t voted yet, please go vote for my awesome movie buddies!

And Friday I have a special guest, one of my very best blogging buddies in the world...

Now, what’s your insecurity today?

The Long Weekend News...

Lots of cool stuff happening! And Thanksgiving for my American friends. Food, family, and football – the essentials to a comatose day of overindulgence. 

All nominations for The 411 Movie Awards must be in by November 28! I’ve been nominated for Best Science Fiction Blog and Best Blog Post (for the Worst Movies Ever Blogfest.) But, it’s only the top five nominated blogs who go on to the voting stage. No groveling, but I would be really thankful if you clicked over and nominated me. 

And don’t forget these awesome sites, also in the running for an award or two:  

Cinemarvellous! GOLD! Nominate George’s site for the Gold Award and Best Design! 

iZombie! 

Melissa’s Imaginarium  

The Geek Twins 

DL at Cruising Altitude, along with several co-hosts, are holding a Déjà vu Blogfest. 

“On December 16, re-post your favorite blog offering or one that never received the exposure it should have.” 

I already know which post I’ll select – do you? 

This is also the weekend for three family-friendly movie releases. I’m not ashamed to say I will be seeing the Muppet movie. It’s part of my childhood. A part I’m not letting go of just yet! No laughing – I’ll have to sic Animal on you. 

Arthur Christmas also intrigues just because it’s from Aardman Animations. (The people who created Flushed Away, Wallace and Gromit, and Chicken Run.) Ladies, you can swoon over James McAvoy’s voice – he’s Arthur! 

And since it’s Thanksgiving weekend, here’s my short list of things for which I am grateful: 

My wife 

My relationship with Jesus 

My job 

My home 

My friends, including all of you

The case of Hot Tamales I’ve requested from Santa for Christmas 

(And a new guitar would be cool as well!) 

Your turn – what are you grateful for? 

Don’t forget The 411 Movie Awards nominations. 

And the Déjà vu Blogfest. 

And Muppets! 

Don’t make this Ninja go all Animal on you…(Bet some of you would like that, wouldn't you?)