Infusing Character into Places and Objects! Plus Horror Movie Trivia, Movie Review, Sharcano, and the Ninja News.

Today I am a guest at Untethered Realms where I explain how to bring a character full circle. (Without going in circles, because that just makes me dizzy.)

MY guest here is the awesome and talented author, Christine Rains!

PERSONALITIES OF THEIR OWN

If you're welcome on the 13th floor, the door will open for you. You'll find comfort and protection from whatever is troubling you. The lights will dim or brighten to match your mood. Doors will lock to keep you safe or open to allow you freedom. If there's a stubborn reporter messing up your immaculate apartment, well, you best get out the rubber gloves and cleaning supplies.

The 13th floor is as much a character in the series as the tenants who live there. It isn't the first of its kind either. There are famous fictional haunted places like Stephen King's Rose Red or the Stanley Hotel in The Shining. I'm sure many of you know the tale of the Amityville horror house, and let's not forget Hogwarts. These places have personalities of their own, and sometimes become more memorable than the human cast of characters.

Buildings aren't the only things that are sometimes brought to life. I can list a few sentient spaceships that I adore: The TARDIS (Doctor Who), Nostromo (Alien), and Moya (Farscape).

Yet it isn't only the spirit in the buildings or ships that make them memorable. There are many more that gain life as a character through the love of the rest of the cast in the stories and the readers. Here are some famous ones: Tara from Gone With the Wind, the U.S.S. Enterprise (Star Trek), the Millennium Falcon (Star Wars), and Serenity (Firefly).

Places and vehicles are just as important to a story as the characters with a beating heart. I find a lot of writers do this unconsciously. Just like people name their cars or get teary-eyed when they move because they'll miss their old house. Since these things are so much a part of our lives, we imagine them with personalities of their own.

What's your favorite fictional place or thing that you consider a character?

The 13th Floor Complete Collection – out now! Find it at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, and on Goodreads

Christine Rains is a writer, blogger, and geek mom. She has four degrees which help nothing with motherhood, but make her a great Jeopardy player. When she's not writing or reading, she having adventures with her son or watching cheesy movies on Syfy Channel. She's a member of Untethered Realms and S.C.I.F.I. The 13th Floor series is her first self-published series. She has eight novellas and twenty-one short stories published.
Find Christine: Blog, Website, Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

Ninja News

Nick Wilford is celebrating two years of blogging with a huge giveaway that includes a full manuscript edit. Check it out!

WITCH TIME, volume 3 in The Cindy Chronicles is now available from RaShelle Workman. 

RaShelle’s books have sold around half a million copies – she rocks!


Pacific Rim comes out on DVD Tuesday! 3D Blu-ray, here I come…

If you’re looking for some cool Halloween t-shirts (or any occasion) check out Jeremy Hawkins’ store at the Netoshop.

Lots of new designs! And of course, my favorite…

And this news from Curiosity Quills Press - they signed screen-writer/director Jose Prendes and revealed the cover for his new novel, Sharcano.
Yes, it’s for real!

Movie Review

My wife and I ended up spending Friday night with friends, so we didn’t get to the theater to see Captain Phillips. However, we did watch a horror flick from NetFlix.

Mama
Executive produced by Guillermo del Toro – a man and his girlfriend find themselves caring for his nieces who were left alone in the wilderness for five years… or were they? Starring Jessica Chastain from Zero Dark Thirty and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau from Game of Thrones.
An effective movie, it follows the Spanish horror film style of a sad and tragic storyline. There were some plot holes, including the fact the girlfriend was completely unqualified to take care of the girls. (Not to mention one of the girls should’ve stayed in therapy for a very long time.)
Fortunately, the director is skilled enough that these don’t completely ruin the film. It’s very creepy with some unusual effects and scares, especially the portrayal of ‘Mama.’
If you’ve ever considered adoption, this film will make you think twice!
Available on NetFlix and worth the rental.

Horror Movie Trivia!

Guess the horror film from the quote:

1 - “When there’s no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the Earth.” (1978)

2 - “Be afraid… Be very afraid.” (1986)

3 - “Smile, you son of a b____!” (1975)

4 - “I will not be threatened by a walking meat loaf!” (1981)

5 - “Who’s laughing now?” (1987)

6 - “Mrs. MacNeil, the problem with your daughter is not her bed, it’s her brain.” (1973)

Answers on Wednesday!

Do objects and places in your stories possess personalities? Have a favorite? Picked up one of Jeremy’s shirts yet? Getting Pacific Rim this week? Have you seen Mama? And do you know any of the trivia answers?

Don’t forget to visit Untethered Realms!

Norse God Blogfest! Bring on Thor and Secrets of the Ash Tree. Plus Ninja News and are Cover Reveals Still Effective?

I was interviewed by Nutschell for her Wednesday Writers Workspace feature. You can check out my writing spot and learn a little more about my writing process.

Norse Gods Blogfest!

To Celebrate the release of her book, Secrets of the Ash Tree, Siv Maria Ottem is taking the Norse Gods with her on a blog tour from October 7th- 14th. Make sure to stop by her blog and see what kind of Birthday Giveaways she is raffling off!

And today I am hosting Siv on her birthday for the Norse Gods Blogfest!

After much reflection, my choice can be none other than Thor.

He’s uber strong, has an awesome hammer for a weapon, he can fly, and he’s pretty much indestructible. The dude also knows how to party. Plus he likes to travel via the Rainbow Bridge, which is basically teleporting. I’m sold!

Secrets of the Ash Tree by Siv Maria Ottem

In the realm of the gods and fairy tales the mystery of life is an endless path with many secrets to be discovered. Some secrets are like dreams, just waiting in darkness hoping to get into the light.

‘Secrets of the Ash Tree’ is the story about Liv, a young woman who discovers her true nature through the unraveling of hidden secrets. Her adventures begin when she digs up a chest that was buried by her father under the old ash tree in her garden. What she finds inside the chest changes her life forever. Liv discovers one secret after another and is thrown into a world full of dangerous and strange creatures, mighty Norse warriors and perils beyond her belief. What started out as a fairy tale in her father’s journal was to become her legacy, a guide line to survival, and a map to the world she was about to enter. Each day, each mystery, each encounter will ultimately reveal her true destiny and behind the edge of a sword awaits a young god who is willing to share that destiny with her.

Available in Hardcover, softcover, Kindle, find it here: Amazon, Kindle, Barnes and Noble, and Goodreads.

Who is your favorite Norse God?

Ninja News

Today is also Roland Yeomans’ birthday! Happy birthday, my friend.

Nicki Elson’s Hans & Greta: a Zombie/Fairy Tale is now available! Available on Amazon Kindle, her novella will be only ninety-nine cents through Halloween. Congratulations, Nicki!

The next installment of Hart Johnson’s series is available Thursday - So This is War, Part III. Congratulations, Hart!






Curiosity Quills Press’ charity anthologies Primetime and After Dark are available now! 10% of all proceeds will be donated to no kill animal-shelters.

Purchase Primetime – Amazon US, Amazon UK, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo

Purchase After Dark – Amazon US, Amazon UK, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo

And Sydney Aaliyah posted the most wonderful review of CassaStorm at The Peasants Revolt. She gave me one of the highest compliments I could ever receive – “This book reads like a movie.” One thing I’ve always admired about the authors Preston and Child was the way their books read like movies, so it was a great honor to have Sydney say that about CassaStorm.

Cover Reveals – Are They Effective Anymore?

In a recent post by Jessica Bell, she talked about book promo overload and it sparked quite the conversation. (I admitted I was guilty and she was kind enough to say the way I do it is different, since I personalize it, which strikes a balance.)

One of the items she mentioned was cover reveals. There are a lot of them these days. Is it too much? Is a cover reveal with similar information posted on many blogs effective, especially when it’s followed a month or two later by the same information for the release? Is it overkill?

My cover reveal for CassaStorm was six months before its release, which gave it some space. It was something I wanted to try, since I hadn’t done it with the other two books. I didn’t want the release announcements to be all the same, which is why I tossed in the unique interview questions and sent out different information and images to different people. (And they were spread out over a week – I learned my lesson after three hundred people announced CassaFire for me last year!)

But are all of these announcements, especially the cover reveals, effective anymore?

(And those of you that I’ve signed up to do a cover reveal, don’t worry – still happy to do that!)

Who is your favorite Norse God? (Be sure to wish Siv and Roland a happy birthday!) Picking up some new books and anthologies? And have we hit cover reveal overload?

Don’t forget to visit Nutschell!

The Ninja Gets Personal! Plus Now You See Me Movie Review, Dream Theater Review, Blog Tour Tips, Curiosity Quills Anthologies, Giveaways - and Winners, and Ninja News.

Today I am visiting Carol at Under the Tiki Hut. She posed three questions/topics, one of which included revealing something personal about myself. Yes, that was the most difficult! Visit Carol to find out what I revealed…

Giveaways

In addition to the two giveaways I was running here, these bloggers and hosts are also still running giveaways:

Literary Rambles - CassaStorm and CassaFire print books – comment to enter, open until September 28.

Mithril Wisdom - Cassa Universe poster – comment to enter, open until October 1.

Edi’s Book Lighthouse - CassaStorm eBook – comment to enter, open until October 1.

Samantha Geary -CassaStorm signed print book – comment to enter, open until October 14.

Ninja News

Literary Rambles is also participating in the Stuck in a Good Book Giveaway Hop. Lots of books to win – comment by September 25 to enter.

SK Anthony’s Kinetics came out last Friday – congratulations, SK! And it was Blitz Day for her as well. We got her good!

PK Hrezo is hosting her very first blogfest to celebrate her cover reveal on October 16. “Welcome to Butterman Travel, Incorporated; a full service agency designed to meet all your exclusive time travel needs.” Visit her site for details!

Anthologies from Curiosity Quills Press!

Curiosity Quills Press brings some of their bestselling authors together to create a spine-tingling, mind-blowing, quirky collection of short stories in their first ever, annual PRIMETIME Anthology, scheduled for release 7th October, 2013.

Also on that day, Curiosity Quills Press brings some of their bestselling authors together in PRIME TIME’s steamier, sexier counterpart, AFTER DARK.

These anthologies are not limited to one specific genre, but all of our novels are guaranteed to be quirky and paranormal, in some way or another. We also guarantee 10% of every purchase will go straight to animals in need. The CQ team has selected humane societies on both the East and West coast that spend well and do not stray from the “no-kill” policies of their strays.

Primetime on Goodreads
After Dark on Goodreads
CQP Website

Movie Review

Now You See Me
Watched on NetFlix and it was a lot of fun! Clever twists as to how some of the tricks were performed and lots of rabbit chasing. The Four Horsemen were always one step ahead though, leading the police where they wanted. Excellent cast - Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine. Definitely recommended!

Music Review

Dream Theater
Spectacular!
They’ve pulled away from the heavy metal sound that dominated the last few albums with former drummer Portnoy and gone back to a more progressive sound. Featuring amazing musicianship, their latest, self-titled album looks to reestablish the band. It’s very progressive but with insanely catchy melodies.
I got to listen to a full stream of the album last Monday. Joy!
The album comes out Tuesday, September 24
.

Blog Tour and Announcements – Thoughts and Tips

Launch week is now behind me and I can finally breathe easy! Of course, the tour continues with one – two guest spots and interviews a week into November, but that’s a little less intense.

First, a big thanks to everyone who commented here and visited my tour stops last week! And to all of you who posted about my release during the week and sent out Tweets. (And even though I’m not on Facebook, I heard I was making the rounds there as well.) You guys just rock.

Several of you commented that the unique interview questions were a great idea. I really wanted to do something different, as the same thing posted on every blog grows tiring. In addition to the questions, I tried to send out different information and images. (And those posts are now directly linked in the Linky List HERE if you want to see more questions and answers.)

Putting that together did take time though. I spent weeks working on the interview questions and then everyone who signed up got an individual email. (That alone took an entire day.) But it was worth it!

Thanks again for your support and helping CassaStorm launch into the top 100 for space opera at Amazon!!

And there’s an excerpt from CassaStorm up at Catherine Stine’s Blog!

Giveaway Winners

And now, the winners by random selection…

From the list of those announcing the release of CassaStorm, number 46 – Robyn at Life By Chocolate.
Congratulations, Robyn! You win a Cassa mug, Cassa mousepad, Cassa swag, and a $25 iTunes gift card.

From those who commented here last week, one winner per day -
Huntress/CD at Spirit Called
Marcy at Maine Words
Trisha at Words and Stuff
Siv at Been There Done That
Nutschell at The Writing Nut
One prize per person, either a Cassa mug, Cassa mousepad, Cass poster, Cassa magnet, or a signed copy of CassaStorm. Congratulations, ladies!

Be sure to catch all of the giveaways! Anyone else see Now You See Me? (Or, now you don’t?) Picking up the new Dream Theater? Think the tour went well? Got any ideas for your next blog tour?

Don’t forget to visit Under the Tiki Hut for the inside scoop on the Ninja!

I will be taking Wednesday off, so no post until Friday…