A to Z Challenge - A

Time to kick off the A to Z Challenge! During April I am featuring some awesome bloggers, many of whom are participating in the Challenge. These individuals offered so much support of my book, CassaStar, and assisted my blogger journey. Of course I’ll be keeping up with the world of movies, music, and pop culture stuff as well! Ninjas are just talented that way...

A No. 2 Pencil, Stat!
It’s official – RaShelle rocks! She’s a positive, uplifting cheerleader. I can always count on Rashelle for a genuine word and a smile. And her book, Distorted, will be out soon! RaShelle’s a smart, sassy, and beautiful lady, so hop over to her site and tell her “You rock!”

Apocalypse Now
Is the world ending soon? Are we enduring the final days? Well, let’s just enjoy a good laugh on our way to the apocalypse! Chuck runs a fun site that deserves ten times the followers for the weekend graphs alone. He’s cool, so go tell Chuck that he’s The Dude!

Today is April Fool's Day and the release of Source Code and Hop in theaters. Still not sure about a bunny that craps Easter eggs though. And it's only 24% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, Source Code is at 93%! Seeing that one for sure.

Awesome Stop and 400 Followers

Just went live! My stop today is at Grasping for the Wind, run by John Ottinger III.

His reviews, interviews and articles have appeared in Publishers Weekly, Black Gate, Strange Horizons, Fantasy Magazine, SF Signal, Sacramento Book Review, Thaumatrope, and at Tor.com. John is an affiliate member of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America and a self-proclaimed a SF/F fanboy.
My guest post is about blogging to reach readers, something I learned from you guys – and I hope I do it right.
John’s site it awesome, so please show him that Alex’s Army rocks and leave a comment after reading my guest post!

And thanks for visiting RaShelle’s site this weekend, A No. 2 Pencil Stat! Glad her Halloween party was a big success as well.

Oddly enough, I crossed 400 followers on Saturday. That just blows my mind! Seven months ago I hovered around 30 followers, wondering if I’d ever see 100…

I didn’t get to see RED – again! But NetFlix delivered a cool flick and I’ll review it tomorrow. As Shrek would say, really-really!

Don’t forget to enter my contest to win a free copy of CassaStar! Comment on this post HERE and on just one of my virtual tour stops. (See tab above for a full list of stops.) Contest ends October 31 at 9pm EST.

Now, go visit John's site!

Working the Steps

Thanks for visiting Sharp Pen Dull Sword yesterday! Probably my most revealing interview so far. And yes, a guaranteed date every night rocks.

Today, I’m “working it” at RaShelle Workman’s site, A No. 2 Pencil Stat! RaShell’s an awesome lady. And she rocks, despite what her kids think!

And cheers for Clarissa at Listen to the Voices - she got a book deal!

Downloaded ESPN’s Sports Tap ap to my iPad recently. It provides updates on your favorite teams or sport. If a game’s in progress, it announces every new score, even if the device is off. You read that right! Freaked me out the first time I heard the ESPN jingle from my quiet iPad. Remind me not to follow basketball, as it would just chirp all night long.

I plan to catch RED this weekend. If that doesn’t work out, we’ll just watch How To Train Your Dragon again.

Anyone else catching a movie this weekend?

You Guys ROCK!!

My review of Centurion will have to wait, because you guys rock – and I have great news!

My publisher informed me of some early reviews for CassaStar, including one from Library Journal that will appear in their September 15 issue. Is that cool, or what? Okay, it could be or what if they didn’t like it. Dear Lord, I hope they didn’t think it sucked!! I'll have to change my name...

You guys have been so supportive of a newbie author and blogger and I wanted to do something nice for my friends. You visit and leave comments, you’ve posted my book trailer and video – I’m just overwhelmed by the generosity. So, this is officially Alex’s You Rock! Award, signifying that you are one cool dude – or dudette. (Is that a word?)

Since it would be crazy to give it out to just everybody – and I’d like to see the recipients pass it on to others – I’m going to limit myself to just four people. Yes, that will be nearly impossible! But the first four recipients of this award are:

Hannah at Musings of a Palindrome She eventually put her real name on her blog, but I still affectionately call her Palin. I think she was one of my first blogger buddies and never fails to stop by and comment. My favorite Palin chick – you rock! (And you have such a cute smile.)

Lee at Tossing it Out Dude, had it not been for you’re A-Z Challenge, I would’ve never found my blogging rhythm – or gained so many followers! Dude, you really made a big difference with that challenge, and I know most of those who participated will agree. You’ve kept me going strong, too – even helped me launch my own blogfest with The Movie Dirty Dozen. Lee, you rock!!

Yvonne at Welcome to my World of Poetry We met during the A-Z Challenge and continued to visit each other’s blogs. It’s funny – I’m not usually a poetry guy and she’s not familiar with my movies, music, or book genre, but that hasn't stopped us one bit. And if Yvonne doesn’t visit my blog on a given day, I feel ready to send out a search party, because she’s so faithful to her blogging friends! Yvonne, you are a dear, sweet lady – and you rock!

And finally, RaShelle at A No. 2 Pencil Stat! RaShelle is just such a sweet lady. She never fails to stop by and has such a caring spirit. I grin when I see my book cover in her side bar – right below Dezz’s elephant photo! RaShelle, you are generosity in action. You rock, chick!!

I could’ve named about fifty more people – Rayna, Stephen, Cruella, Simon, Hart, Bryan, Ted (I still want to read your book, dude!)… just about everyone in my blogroll. I’m sure this award will arrive at your blog soon!

And the awards keep on rolling…

Award from Rayna at Coffee Rings Everywhere – the Sweet Blog Award. And she made sure all of her recipients were men. (That’s right – we’re sweeter!) Thank you, Rayna and I am passing it to:

Gail at Familiar Spirit
Holly Ruggiero
Jules at Trying to Get Over the Rainbow

Award from Mel at Writings, Musings, and Other Such Nonsense – One Lovely Blog. This is the second time I’ve received it, so thanks, Mel! She also gave me permission to rename it the Frilly Beer Award! Sounds more manly…

A World of Thanks!

Thanks everyone for the awesome comments on my book trailer last week! I had no idea what to expect and was almost afraid to click on the link when I received the email from my publisher last Wednesday. The video was amazing and I’m glad everyone else enjoyed it as well. Wish CassaStar was a real movie! Someone call Nolan or Cameron for me…

And a special thanks to these blogs - Grasping for the Wind, Hollywood Spy, Mithril Wisdom, Sci-Fi Hub, A No. 2 Pencil Stat, Speculative Book Review, Spunk on a Stick’s Tips, Glynis Smy, Beth: A Work in Progress, Edi’s Book Lighthouse, LaFemme Readers, and Tossing it Out for featuring the trailer! Thank you for your generosity – I am overwhelmed!

Now an award - One Lovely Blog from Cassandra Jade in the Realm Thanks, Cassandra!
Rules:
1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award.
2. Share some things about yourself. (Supposed to be 7…)
3. Pass the award along to some bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic for whatever reason! (Supposed to be 15, but I’ll leave that amount up to the recipient.)
4. Contact the bloggers you’ve picked and let them know about the award.

Some things that are perhaps not as obvious as I once thought…
1 – My first book will be released in October. I signed the contract last year with Dancing Lemur Press. Yes, I will soon be an official author!
2 – I am married. Sex is legal in our house.
3 – I minored in music in college and currently play the guitar – for fun. Don’t ask for a concert performance, though. I want you to continue to like me!
4 – I’m a total movie geek. Between the theater and NetFlix, I watch close to a dozen per week. Yes, I do have a life outside of films!
5 – Pet peeves include mowing the lawn (paving the entire lawn sounds better every day) and driving (I ask Santa every year for blasters on my car but he never delivers. Fat guy’s off my Christmas card list!)

I’m passing this on to:
Rayna at Coffee Rings Everywhere
Talli Roland
Rashelle at A No. 2 Pencil Stat!

Creative Liar Award from Lee at Tossing it Out Thanks, Lee! This is the second time, so I will just accept it with grace.

Lee also tagged me to list the contents of my bag, wallet, purse, whatever. Okay, no purse here and the wallet’s kinda boring, so we’ll go with my gym bag:
Empty water bottle
Ipod & earbuds
Small towel
Gym clothes & shoes
And a stray work sock… wonder how long that’s been in there?

I’m tagging I’m tagging Beth: A Work in Progress!!