Ninja News, Amazing Spiderman Review, and Best Directors

Ninja News!

Today I have a guest post with Gabi at The Write Connexion.. She wanted to know more about organizing a blog tour. Not an expert, but I gave it my best shot!

Thanks again to everyone who posted for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. Welcome new members and appreciate all the support you guys give one another. I even received an email from a member who stated that not only has the group helped him to be a better writer, it had helped him to be a better person. Now that is just awesome! Special thanks also to Laura Eno for her post on Writer Etiquette. I also spent some time cleaning up the list of non-participants, so it should be much better next month.

Milo James Fowler at In Medias Res has a new book available - maikro - haiku and microfiction. Congratulations, Milo! (He’s also the most successful short story writer I know.)

DL Hammons at Cruising Altitude just had a short story accepting for Open Heart Publishing’s An Honest Lie anthology. Congratulations, DL!!

Cathy at Life on the Muskoka River is raising money for the YMCA Literacy Services in her area. This involves a marathon with writers locked in a room. Intrigued? Visit Cathy’s SITE for more details!

Beginning Thursday, July 26, 9 PM EST, EJ at The Open Vein will be hosting an all new regular Twitter chat focusing on New Adult literature. (Hashtag #NALitChat) Check out his site for details.

Jade Hart at Dream, Write, Publish just signed a book deal with Curiosity Quills. Congratulations, Jade!

And special thanks to Allison at Geek Banter and Rek at A Chronicle of Dreams for their wonderful reviews of CassaStar this week. You ladies rock!

Movie Review!

The Amazing Spiderman
We didn’t need a reboot of this franchise so soon, but with so many great reviews I had to check it out – and I wasn’t disappointed. Handing over this reboot to an unknown director was a risk but it paid off. Marc Webb handled the action scenes and character development well, adding a humorous edge that was missing before. I really liked the new Spiderman – the kid was the master of snark. As much as I like Sam Raimi and Spiderman 2, this movie was better. It’s not The Avengers, but it’s really good. (And you should’ve seen all the little kids dressed as Spiderman at the show!)

Best Directors

Matthew at FilmMattic recently posted a list of top one hundred directors, so I decided to do my own list of top ten. My list is what I consider the best (and my most favorite) directors.

1 - Steven Spielberg – Jurassic Park, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Close Encounters (Because of his huge body of work.)

2 - James Cameron – Aliens, The Terminator, Avatar (The man’s never made a bad film.)

3 - Christopher Nolan – Memento, Inception, The Dark Knight (He hasn’t made a bad film either.)
4 - Peter Jackson – LOTR trilogy, Dead Alive, The Frighteners

5 - Guillermo del Toro – Blade II, Hellboy, The Devil’s Backbone

6 - Michael Mann – Last of the Mohicans, Heat, Manhunter

7 - Joss Whedon – Serenity, The Avengers

8 - Quentin Tarantino – Reservoir Dogs, Inglorious Basterds, Pulp Fiction

9 - Rob Reiner – The Princess Bride, This is Spinal Tap, A Few Good Men

10 - JJ Abrams – Super 8, Star Trek

Enjoy this week’s IWSG posts? Excited about the news? Did you see The Amazing Spiderman? (It made 35 million on Tuesday alone!) And who are your favorite directors?

Don’t forget to check out Gabi's site!

INGENIOUS & INTROSPECTIVE - A to Z Challenge

It’s the third A to Z Challenge! Blog the letters of the alphabet in order every day except Sundays The participation list is HERE – start with the blog after yours and visit at least five blogs a day. Mostly, make new friends and have fun!

My theme – I have selected a word for each day and will present to you blogger buddies who fit that description, along with movies, music, etc. My theme is to give back, highlight some awesome bloggers, and have fun in the process.

INGENIOUS & INTROSPECTIVE

Suze at Analog Breakfast
This woman is a genius. Her posts are so thoughtful and intricate - a dance of words – and filled with several layers of meaning. You can’t breeze through her words or you’ll miss something vital. Suze touches upon the human equation in such a unique manner and it stays with you long after you’ve left her blog. And she adds depth to her words in her kind comments littered throughout the blogging world. Suze, you are a master!

Rekha at A Chronicle of Dreams
Rekha slipped quietly into my blogging radar one day and before the wisp of smoke vanished yet again, I followed her gentle footsteps. Her blog really is the place of dreams. She explores the world in such an introspective fashion, one can’t help but stop at marvel at the simple brilliance. Nothing she says is without purpose, so you need to pay attention. Rekha, thank you for your considerate words and actions!

Rodney McKay
Stargate Atlantis is one of my all time fav’s and Rodney McKay is such a great character. Brilliant and innovative married with smug and obnoxious and yet it’s balanced with such deftness (by character actor David Hewlitt) that he is truly likeable. Every time the team gets in trouble they call upon the ingenuity of one Rodney McKay.

Jane from the Mentalist
The character of Patrick Jane truly sums up ingenuity and introspection. His off-kilter approach to crime solving is a hoot to watch and his powers of deduction are right up there with Sherlock Holmes.

NINJA NEWS!

Jeremy Hawkins’ new book is available NOW – Retro Zombie: Art & Words! You can watch the YouTube Video or just visit Retro Zombie for more details on this cool book. Jeremy is the creator of some of the really amazing A to Z artwork and a creative writer. He’s also one of my very best friends online, so please take a moment to check out his book.

Jennifer Hillier revealed the cover for her new book, Freak. It looks awesome – congratulations, Jennifer!

And once the A to Z Challenge is over, everyone is invited to join in the Reflections Post on Monday, May 7 – share your thoughts on the Challenge!


Wow! Following Suze and Rekha? Fan of Stargate: Atlantis or The Mentalist? (My wife is in love with Rodney!) Friend of the Retro: Zombie or using one of his creations for the Challenge? And who in YOUR life is ingenious or introspective? Inquiring Ninjas want to know…