Insecure Writer’s Support Group #IWSG, Altered Carbon Review, Ant-Man and the Wasp Movie Trailer, and Ninja News

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.

My awesome co-hosts today are Stephen Tremp, Pat Garcia, Angela Wooldridge, Victoria Marie Lees, and Madeline Mora-Summonte!

Today’s question - What do you love about the genre you write in most often?

I write science fiction and I’ve always been drawn to it and fantasy. They both provide a world beyond our own, a place where our imaginations can run wild. The gadgets, new worlds, new creatures – it’s all fascinating and a great way to escape.

But science fiction does more than provide a diversion. It often takes real world issues and places them in a setting where we can better understand and deal with them. We’ll learn as much about our own world and ourselves as we will about the made-up world.

Besides, science fiction has blasters! What I wouldn’t give to have blasters on my car. Or at least some photon torpedoes…

Are you following the IWSG Instagram?

This is the prompt for February:

Altered Carbon Review

In the future, consciousness is stored and can be downloaded into a new body. Kovacs is a former soldier and a prisoner who is brought back in a new sleeve to sold a murder and win his freedom. Available on NetFlix.
This film has a strong noir mystery vibe even though the story is set in the future. (A little like Blade Runner, but it has its own story and tone.) It’s stylish and intriguing. New secrets and elements appear as the series progresses, deepening the mystery.
Really impressive are the special effects. They are movie-quality good. The creators spent some money. The acting is also quite solid.
Altered Carbon has borrowed heavily from Game of Thrones in the violence and sex department, no doubt going for the same audience. (And it’s similar in tone, but not in plot.) Keep that in mind – not for kids or sensitive souls.
You won’t love it the way you love Stranger Things (it’s not that kind of show) but I do recommend it.

Ninja News

CassaStar is just .99 through February 10!
You can download it here: Amazon, iTunes, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon UK

Appreciate any help spreading the word. If you’re on Twitter, you can share my pinned Tweet or send out your own –
Amazon Best-Seller CassaStar by @alexjcavanaugh on sale for .99 cents! iTunes https://tinyurl.com/yapjekrs Amazon https://tinyurl.com/ycfgofq3 Barnes and Noble https://tinyurl.com/y8j78cpx #99cents #scifi

WEP Challenge for February:
FLASH FICTION, POETRY, NON-FICTION, PLAYSCRIPTS, ARTWORKS, PHOTOGRAPHY...
SUBMIT your name to the Inlinkz list NOW if you wish to participate
CREATE your entry according to the theme - February In Too Deep.
EDIT your entry until it sparkles
POST your entry on your blog/facebook on the dates shown - remember to state
feedback preferences (full critique to general comments).
READ other entries, giving feedback as requested. This is key to the WEP's success.
Open to all genres. Maximum approx. 1,000 words.

Andrea Franco-Cook’s novel, Pawn of the Gods, is up for nomination on Kindle Scout.
The books with the most votes will be selected for publication.
You can vote for Adrean’s book HERE.

New releases:

Bitten by Love Series, books 1-3 by Stacy McKitrick
This box set includes the first three books in the Bitten by Love series: My Sunny Vampire; Bite Me, I’m Yours; and Blind Temptation.
Find it at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and iTunes

Terror on Sunshine Boulevard by J. Q. Rose
Rescuing a naked woman lying in a geranium bed? Investigating mysterious murders? These are not the usual calls in a Florida retirement community for volunteer first responder Jim Hart.
Find it at Amazon and other retailers.

Ant-Man and the Wasp Movie Trailer

In case you missed it last week – the ending is hilarious!

What’s your favorite thing about your genre? Have you been watching Altered Carbon? Picked up CassaStar? Participating in WEP this month? And are you eager to see Ant-Man and the Wasp now?

Defining Author Success, RiffTrax: Live, Sicario and San Andreas Reviews, Mini-Alex on Vacation, Ninja News and New Releases, BOTB Results, and Movie Trivia Answers

I’m at the IWSG today and my subject - Lists of Markets Open to Writers and Hot Writing Topics. 

RiffTrax: Live!

RiffTrax Live #18: SANTA and The ICE CREAM BUNNY - December 3, 2015. Get tickets through Fathom Events. You can also see Mike, Kevin & Bill perform LIVE on stage in Nashville at The RiffTrax Theater (Belcourt) or as a simulcast in a theater near you. Plus, there is an encore presentation on December 15.

Movie Reviews

Sicario
IMDB - An idealistic FBI agent is enlisted by an elected government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico.
This is a very intense and slow but well-paced film. The tension builds nicely and the soundtrack plays a big part in that. I liked the gritty realism of the film.
All performances are outstanding - Benicio Del Toro, Emily Blunt, and Josh Brolin do a great job in their roles.
The audience experiences the film as Blunt experiences it – we don’t know things until she knows – which adds to the mystery.
This is definitely an adult film and not for kids.
Highly recommended and couldn’t be surprised if it was nominated for several Oscars.

San Andreas
IMDB - In the aftermath of a massive earthquake in California, a rescue-chopper pilot makes a dangerous journey with his ex-wife across the state in order to rescue his daughter.
This is a follow-by-numbers disaster film. No surprises, dumb, but enjoyable.
Dwayne Johnson is the star and everyone turns in a serviceable job of acting. The effects are also decent and what you would expect of a large-scale disaster film.
If you want to turn off your brain for two hours, this is your movie.
Worth a rental.

Mini-Alex on Vacation

I’m back from vacation and it was great! Involved family, which was fun. And yes, despite the odd looks from strangers (and some family members,) Mini-Alex went along (at my wife’s insistence.)

Ninja News

Alexia Chamberlynn is hosting a monthly fest.
The blog hop is called Taste of Magic, and it's the third Friday of every month, to share things literary and culinary!
Visit her BLOG for details.

Join Denise Covey, Yolanda Renée, and the enthusiastic writers at Write…Edit…Publish, (WEP) as they gather together around the campfire for their Halloween challenge this week -- October 21 - 23. You are invited to share a scary book, poem, movie, artwork etc for Part A and tell everybody why it's your favorite. The optional Part B is where you can post your own creepy story, non-fiction piece, poem, photo/s or artwork. So if you have a creepy gene, now is the time to exploit it. Oh, and there's a prize for the best entry, judged by Annalisa Crawford and a random prize just for entering. Click over to Write…Edit…Publish, for more information.

David Black is one of the authors involved in a Kickstarter campaign - Arts in Entertainment: A Series About Art Impacting Life. Reflections on how creative works shape lives and the way we view the world. A six-volume series by six accomplished authors.

Next week is the The Listing Hop, hosted by Bish Denham and myself. Join us for a list of good fun!

Just a two weeks remaining for the IWSG Anthology Contest. November 1 is the deadline! The theme is Alternate History/Parallel Universe and any member of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group is encouraged to enter. Winners will be published in a royalty-paying anthology next year.

New Releases!

The Gaijin Girl by E.E. Giorgi
Find it on Amazon

The Wishing Steps by Karen Helene Walker
Three Women and a Single Story That Unites Them Across the Millennia
Find it on Amazon
Be sure to visit Karen’s new Website.

Battle of the Banned Results

Hosted by Shady Del Knight, here is the vote tally. It was neck and neck until the very end, but even with my vote, the tie could not be broken. (I voted for Rob Zombie.)

Ozzy Osbourne – Bark at the Moon – 15
Rob Zombie – Living Dead Girl – 15

New battle next week – continuing the Halloween theme!

Movie Trivia Answers – Submarine Movies

1 – Denzel Washington, Gene Hackman, Viggo Mortensen – 1995 – Crimson Tide
2 – Kelsey Grammer, Lauren Holly, Rob Schneider – 1996 – Down Periscope
3 – Stephen Boyd, Raquel Welch, Donald Pleasance – 1966 – Fantastic Voyage
4 – Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Sam Neill – 1990 – The Hunt for Red October
5 – Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, Jon Bon Jovi – 2000 – U-571
6 – Doug McClure, John McEnery, Susan Penhaligon – 1975 – The Land That Time Forgot

What Defines Author Success

My post last week garnered a lot of comments on the topic of Five Years or Five Books to Make it as an Author.

Many of you said it depended on the goals of the author. That author success cannot be measured by money earned or books sold.

So, what does define author success for you?

There is no wrong answer. Some of you aren’t published yet. Some of you have no desire to be authors. But your viewpoint still matters. And it might be something that published authors need to note.

Before I answer, I want to thank everyone who stated that I was already a success, between my books and contribution to the blogging world and the IWSG. I was very humbled by the response.

So, what defines success to me? The amount of people I have reached. And regardless of sales or royalties, when I boil it down to that one thing, I’ve reached over 100,000 people. Toss in all the friends I’ve made along the way and the IWSG, and it’s just mind blowing. I can’t think of anything else I could’ve done to touch so many lives.

Especially since I never wanted to be an author.

And today marks a special moment in my author career. Five years ago, CassaStar was published. My first book. The one that started it all. The book that would go on to hit number one in science fiction on Amazon almost a year after its release. The book that would spawn a series I never intended to write. The book that sat in a drawer for thirty years before I drug it out and decided to re-write it. Having that book picked up by a small press and published was a dream come true.

Which means all else is gravy. And more precious than any sales ranking.

Going to Rifftrax: Live? Seen either movie? Been on vacation lately? Participating in any fests or hops? BOTB results surprise you? Get any of the trivia correct? And what is your definition of author success…?

Don’t forget to visit the IWSG today - Lists of Markets Open to Writers and Hot Writing Topics!

Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Plus Best Time for Blog Posts, New Releases, and Ninja News

Double shot today!
I am visiting Roan Publishing with The Importance of Community – How to Get Involved and the Unicorn Bell with What If?
Special thanks to Terri and Liz for those opportunities.

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.

My awesome co-hosts today are Charity Bradford, S.A. Larsen, AJ, Tamara Narayan, Allison Gammons, and Tanya Miranda!

I wanted to point out that the awesome Julie Flanders wrote an article for College and Research Libraries News about some of the best websites for writers, and she listed the IWSG site! Thanks, Julie.

Thanks also to everyone who helped announce the boxed set of my trilogy, CassaSeries! (And if you’ve read all three books, the series could use with some love on Goodreads.)

At the moment, I’m working on a short story that will take place after Dragon of the Stars. Truedessa has read the book three times and she told me it was because she was hoping for a different ending for Aden and Tamsin. So I am writing one for her that promises some happiness in their future.

And finally, this just blew me away. Thanks to Edi at Edi’s Book Lighthouse for finding it. The Best Sci-Fi Books site listed The 21 Best Space Opera Books and CassaStar was number four. FOUR!!! Ahead of Dune and Ender’s Game. In reality, no way, but it was really awesome to see.

Be sure to visit other members of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group!

Ninja News

Thanks also to Edi for this one – Dark Roasted Blend listed the World’s Strangest Theme Parks. (That site always has the wildest stuff.)

The the WEP-Write...Edit..Publish Bloghop is back!
Hosted by Denise Covey and Yolanda Renee, this is a fun monthly event you don’t want to miss.

Damyanti is hosting a blogfest on July 24, 25, and 26 – The Cherished Blogfest.

MsMariah at A Space Blogyssey is hosting a blogfest – This is How I Work Blogathon. The deadline is July 20 to join and post.

Liesel Hill gave me the Creative Blogging Award.
Thanks, Liesel!
I’m passing it on to Pat Hatt and the Cat at It’s Rhyme Time.

New Releases

Hands by L. Ashley Straker (Known to the blogging world as Ash-Matic.)
A novella
Find out more about the book HERE and purchase it Amazon

A Taste of Pain by G.B. Miller
For an autographed copy, visit his site HERE

When is the Best Time for a Blog Post?

I’ve always heard that it was best to post around 5:00-6:00 am Eastern. I thought I’d do a bit of research and found some interesting stats.

According to the Huffington Post:
70% of users say they read blogs in the morning
More men read blogs at night than women
Mondays are the highest traffic days for an average blog
11am is usually the highest traffic hour for an average blog
Comments are usually highest on Saturdays and around 9am on most days
Blogs that post more than once per day have a higher chance of inbound links and more unique views

From the graphic, it appears that the lowest times are in the middle of the night for those of us in the USA. 12:00–4:00 am are the worst. However, I’m not too sure about the highest comments coming on Saturdays. (Mine come on Mondays, except for IWSG Wednesday.)

Kissmetrics had a great graphic, breaking down times and readers. They also stated:
The average blog gets the most inbound links on Monday and Thursday.
The average blog gets the most inbound links at 7am Eastern Time

Bang for the bucks, I’m sticking with my 5:00 am Eastern Monday postings.

When do you see the most comments and visits?

What are your writer insecurities today? Signing up for any of the bloghops and fests? Picking up some new books? And when do think is the best time for blog posts to go live?

Don’t forget to visit Roan Publishing and the Unicorn Bell!

Happy Fourth of July to my American friends!

Riff Trax Live – Anaconda! Plus the Trick-or-Treat Bloghop, Living Dead Girl, Alex the Author, and Ninja News

Riff Trax!

This Thursday, October 30 2014 is the next RiffTrax Live - the guys from MST3K strike at 1997's ANACONDA!
You can visit their site for a theater showing the broadcast, and if you live near Durham, NC, you can see it live. That’s right – time to hit the road north! I’m very stoked to see Mike, Kevin, and Bill do the show in person. I’ll give you a full review of the experience on Monday.

A Little Halloween Tune

Since it’s almost Halloween, if you’d like a little scary music while you read the rest of this post, just click play and enjoy Rob Zombie’s Living Dead Girl:

Ninja News

We are VERY honored to have million-copy NYTimes bestselling author, Ruth Harris, at the IWSG Site today!

The IWSG has also expanded with a second group on Facebook – the IWSG Critique Circle.

The aim of that group is to put writers who want to exchange critiques and find beta readers in touch with each other. And of course, there's the support and encouragement with the WiPs. So check it out!

Jeff Chapman’s Give Me Your Teeth: A Fae Tale comes out this Friday on Halloween!

Like most children, ten-year old Jimmy wonders where the Tooth Fairy keeps all those teeth.

He learns there's more to his mother than he ever imagined, and the Tooth Fairy isn't so harmless.

You can pre-order it now on Amazon.

Cindy is looking for guest reviewers for Good Book Alert. In return for a review, the guest reviewer will receive one guest post on the site. In both posts, your book/bio information will be posted as well. Visit Good Book Alert for details.

Sylvia Ney is holding a NaNo contest and giveaway – visit her site for details!

J E Oneil alerted me to this freaky story –

The ghastly Lake Natron, in northern Tanzania, is a salt lake—meaning that water flows in, but doesn’t flow out, so it can only escape by evaporation. Over time, as water evaporates, it leaves behind high concentrations of salt and other minerals, like at the Dead Sea and Utah’s Great Salt Lake.

Unlike those other lakes, though, Lake Natron is extremely alkaline, due to high amounts of the chemical natron (a mix of sodium carbonate and baking soda) in the water. The water’s pH has been measured as high as 10.5—nearly as high as ammonia.

You have to see the stunning images of birds turned to stone by the water at the Smithsonian Mag! In black and white, they are haunting.

And thanks to everyone who weighed in on Monday’s post - Are Authors Killing Blogging? There were some really detailed and thoughtful comments weighing in on promotion overload. If you missed it, go back and check it out.

Trick-or-Treat Book Bloghop!

Hosted by Patricia Lynne

The theme is EBooks are the Candy. We’re giving away books to one or more lucky commenters.

Hashtag #trickortreatreads

My treat for one lucky commenter is your choice:

EBook copies of all three of my books or

One print copy of your choice (CassaStar, CassaFire, or CassaStorm) with swag or

One print review copy of Dragon of the Stars (when available)

Just say Trick-or-Treat in comments to enter – winner will be announced Monday.

Alex the Author

Since I’m trying to put more of me here, I thought I’d give a unique run-down of what I’ve written. Some of you might not know what I write. Yes, it is mostly science fiction, but of the lighter space opera variety. (Think Star Wars.)

Sometimes it's wild to look back and think Holy crap, did I do that? This journey wasn't planned. I mean, how do you predict all of this - the blog, the books, the IWSG, the friendships? I'm grateful for the opportunity though.

CassaStar
The original version was written in the 70’s when I was a teen. Thirty years later, I rewrote it, and the story will always have a special place in my heart. Yes, this book started it all. I wouldn't be here otherwise.

CassaFire
Readers wanted a sequel. And a female character. (Crap!) Fortunately, I had a short story I could rewrite and I knew the main character well now. I wrote this during NaNo 2010. So if you’re participating in NaNo this year, if I can do it, you can do it!

CassaStorm
This story came from scratch and took me a long time to pull together. I’m proudest of this one, especially the fact I was able to write a convincing ten-year-old boy. (And I don’t even have kids!)

Heroes of PHENOMENA
I was invited to contribute to an anthology that tied in with a CD. I chose the song Drakon’s Empire and wrote a short story called CassaFate. I actually had to cut words to hit the 1500 word limit. (That has never happened before. Trust me!)

Indiestructible: Inspiring Stories from the Publishing Jungle
I was also asked to contribute to this anthology. I wrote a piece about the power of networking and having an online presence. (I sure as heck wasn’t going to offer any writing tips. I wanted to help not hinder.)

How I Found the Write Path: A Compilation of Letters
My letter was Prepare for Changes. Yeah, big time!

Overcoming Adversity
This book was a fund raiser for Andrew, who sadly passed away. My contribution was My Friends, My Heroes

Coming soon -

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group Guide to Publishing and Beyond
Available this December, this book features over a hundred articles on writing, publishing, and marketing. So much good information! Ironically the word count is higher than any of my books…



Dragon of the Stars
Available next spring, this story is separate from the Cassan universe. I took the story idea of the song Dragon on the Sea by Ayeron and wrote my own. (I don’t recommend doing that, as a book is much longer than a seven minute song…)

Crap, that’s a lot! And I didn’t even want to be a writer. I’m just a dude with many guitars. And even more clones…

Anyone else seeing Riff Trax? Ready for Halloween? (Any other Halloween songs you’d like to suggest?) Did you go look at the Lake Natron photos? Did you say Trick-or-Treat? And are you as stunned as I am that a man of few words actually wrote all that…?

Don’t forget next Wednesday is IWSG post day!

Writing Influences, Movie Reviews, Movie Trivia Answers, Battle of the Bands, and Ninja News

Film and TV Writing Influences with Chrys Fey

Hi, everyone! It’s Chrys Fey. My newest release, 30 Seconds, is now available! A big thank you to Alex for hosting me today so I can talk about my writing influences. My dreams spark the ideas for a lot of my stories, and music helps me through each scene, but movies and television shows aid me with many important details. Most of my characters tend to be cops and doctors, like with 30 Seconds. You wouldn’t be able to read my novella and notice similarities between it and my film/television influences though, because they helped me with small details. For example: The movie “Do You Know Me” impacted 30 Seconds because I imagined the actress, Rachelle Lefevre, as Dr. Dani Hart.

Top 10 Film and TV Influences for 30 Seconds:
1. SWAT
2. Third Watch (TV)
3. ER (TV)
4. Assault on Precinct 13
5. General Hospital (TV)
6. Grey’s Anatomy (TV)
7. Do you Know Me
8. The Mentalist (TV)
9. Death Sentence
10. Public Enemy

QUESTIONS: What are your favorite cop/doctor films/shows? Have you pictured an actor/actress as one of your characters?

When Officer Blake Herro agreed to go undercover in the Mob, he thought he understood the risks. But he's made mistakes and now an innocent woman has become their target. He's determined to protect her at all costs….
BUY LINKS: Amazon US / Amazon UK / Wild Rose Press

Chrys Fey is a lover of rock music just like Dani Hart in 30 Seconds. Whenever she's writing at her desk, headphones are always emitting the sounds of her musical muses -especially that of her favorite band, 30 Seconds to Mars, the inspiration behind the title. 30 Seconds is her second eBook with The Wild Rose Press. Her debut, Hurricane Crimes, is also available on Amazon.
Find Chrys Fey Here: Facebook / Blog / Goodreads

Ninja News

This Wednesday at the IWSG Site is none other than Jessica Bell!

The Tree of Life anthology will be out by the end of the month - they are delaying its release while an amazing book trailer is created for it.

Last week my publisher reduced the price of CassaStorm to $2.99.
If you have already purchased and read it, CassaStorm could use a few more reviews on Amazon.
Appreciate everyone who buys and reviews!

Just released - Carol Kilgore’s newest Crime Fiction with a Kiss novel, SECRETS OF HONOR.
Buy it on Amazon - Kindle or paperback.

Available now – INTO THE DARKEST FIRE by Juliana Haygert
Genre: YA/NA Fantasy
Price – free!




Special thanks to these ladies for including my books in their Shelfie Bloghop photos!

Tyrean Martinson

Heather Gardner

Western Movie Trivia Answers

1 – What was John Wayne’s last film? The Shootist
2 – Who directed Once Upon a Time in the West? Sergio Leone
3 – How does Doc Holiday die in Tombstone? Tuberculosis
4 – How many Oscars did Unforgiven win? Four
5 – Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Kevin Costner, and Danny Glover starred in what Western? Silverado

Movie Reviews

After Earth
Not as bad as I’d heard, but still not good.
Plenty of plot contrivances. Special effects were all right.
Jaden Smith was the worst part of the film – kid can’t act his way out of a wet paper bag.
Not recommended.

The Raid 2
Sequel to The Raid: Redemption, it was hyped as better, but fell very short for me.
The pacing is glacial at times. Nice cinematography, but the emphasis was on style over substance. And the movie is way too long – two and a half hours.
Also not recommended.

Battle of the Bands

I finally get to rejoin the Battle of the Bands, hosted by Stephen T. McCarthy and Farawayeyes.
Other participants today include Arlee Bird, Robin at Your Daily Dose, Chris Fries, and DiscConnected.

This song has special meaning for me, as the second version of Street Spirit was an inspiration for my first book, CassaStar.

The song was originally recorded by Radiohead and this is their version -


It was redone by Stream of Passion – the video Is concert footage mixed with the studio version -


Which would you pick and why?

What movie and TV shows have influenced your writing? Have you picked up CassaStorm or reviewed it? Get the movie trivia right? Had the misfortune to see either movie? And what version of Street Spirit do you like best…? (Results next Monday.)

I will be off the grid later this week for a three day weekend getaway, so no Wednesday post. Be back Monday with the Underrated Treasures Blogfest - hope you can join us!