Childhood Monster Blogfest, Extreme Ninja News, My Next Blogfest, and Movie Trivia Answers

Today at the the A to Z Blog is an interview with the awesome Lynda R. Young! Her blog is an excellent resource for writing tips, but for the Challenge, she featured her photography skills. Lynda is one of my first followers and just such a special person. Go check out her answers to my geeky questions!

Who Was Your Childhood Monster?

This blogfest is hosted by Christine Rains, author of the awesome Fearless. Tawa wants YOU!

I didn’t really have a childhood monster, but one scary creature did haunt me.

Remember the crappy 70’s movie Trilogy of Terror? The one with Karen Black and the fanged, knife-wielding tiki doll?

I was about eleven when I saw that film. We’d just moved into a new house and the furniture hadn’t arrived yet, so I had to sleep on the floor for a few nights. After watching said evil tiki doll terrorize Ms. Black, let’s just say the experience of sleeping on the floor was not fun! I won’t ruin the memory by watching the movie again (it was cheesy when I was eleven – bet it looks really bad now) but I can still hear freaky sounds that doll made…

Extreme Ninja News!

Jennifer Hillier’s new book, Freak, came out on Tuesday! Congratulations, Jennifer.

Michael Abayomi’s new book is out! Guardians and the Lost Paradise, Book I – The Journey is the first of six books. Congratulations, Michael!

Emily King is co-hosting the What I Did Last Summer – Fact or Fiction? Blogfest.

Mark Koopmans, Cassie Mae, Morgan Shamy, and Leigh Covington are hosting the What If Blogfest, which runs August 13-17.

Laura Eno, M. Pax, Ciara Knight, and Brinda Berry are hosting the Chocolate Blogfest on September 10.

VikLit at Scribblings of an Aspiring Author is holding a really awesome hundred follower giveaway. The prizes just rock!

Voting continues for Diane’s Supportive Blogger Extraordinaire Contest, Thanks DL and all the others who nominated me – you guys rock!

My Next Blogfest!

Still saving the date? September 17, 2012.

Want to know the awesome theme?

Come back Monday, August 13 to find out!

Director’s Cut Movie Trivia Answers

1 – Broderick – Military – Chimps Project X
2 – Holden – Newman – Ratings Network
3 – Costner – Protection – Singer The Bodyguard
4 – Lobotomy – Fletcher – McMurphy One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
5 – Spielberg – Genetic – Dinosaurs Jurasic Park
Big Bonus!! - Lucas – Automatons – Pleasence THX 1138

What was your childhood monster? (Anyone else remember that creepy tiki doll?) Excited for the new releases? Ready for more blogfests? Dying to know the theme of mine??? And did you answer any movie questions correctly?

Don’t forget to visit Lynda Young at the A to Z Blog!

Ninja News and the April Movie Preview

Ninja News!

Thanks to everyone for your comments Monday regarding Jeffrey Beesler’s book, Spell of Entrapment. And for reading my interview at Emily King’s blog.

Thank you to author Jessica Therrien for featuring my book on Monday. That was a nice surprise!

And over at Mark’s Aloha and hi! from HI he interviewed Cassie and I was an interview question! Yes, I do sleep. No, I do not have clones. I’m a super Ninja. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

The A to Z Challenge begins this Sunday April 1! I’ll be posting the basic guidelines and tips on Friday. Hope you’ve been preparing your posts. And I'm over at the A to Z Blog today talking about SHORT posts.

May 15 - Diablo 3. I am so there! And Baldur's Gate the enhanced edition is coming out soon for PC and the iPad. Yes, I will be getting both!

A movie is in development from the book, The Lies of Locke Lamora. That was my favorite book last year, so hopefully it doesn't fall into development hell.

And sometimes, we have epic Ninja fail. I completely forgot to mention Annalisa Crawford’s new book, Cat & the Dreamer, when it came out a few weeks ago. She is just the sweetest person and I feel like a shmuck for forgetting…

And now, here are your April movies!

As always, descriptions courtesy of the IMDB. Snarky comments by me.

6 -

Titanic (1997) - [Opens April 4th in 3D]

Adventure | Drama | History | Romance

Director: James Cameron

Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates

Why re-release in 3D? Because they can.

13 -

The Cabin in the Woods

Horror | Thriller

Director: Drew Goddard

Stars: Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford, Chris Hemsworth, Jesse Williams

Five friends go for a break at a remote cabin in the woods, where they get more than they bargained for. Together, they must discover the truth behind the cabin in the woods.

This Joss Whedon project looks amazing! It is not the horror story you think…

Lockout
Action | Thriller | Sci-Fi
Directors: James Mather | Stephen St. Leger
Stars: Guy Pearce, Maggie Grace, Peter Stormare, Joseph Gilgun
A man wrongly convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage against the U.S. is offered his freedom if he can rescue the president's daughter from an outer space prison taken over by violent inmates.

Ever since I saw the first trailer where Guy Pearce is smart mouthing the interrogator and getting punched for each response, this has been a must-see for me.

27 -

The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Animation | Adventure | Family
Directors: Peter Lord | Jeff Newitt
Stars: Hugh Grant, Salma Hayek, Jeremy Piven, Brendan Gleeson
Pirate Captain sets out on a mission to defeat his rivals Black Bellamy and Cutlass Liz for the Pirate of the year Award. The quest takes Captain and his crew from the shores of Blood Island to the foggy streets of Victorian London.

It’s from the creators of Wallace and Gromit – how could you not want to see it?

The Raven
Thriller
Director: James McTeigue
Stars: John Cusack, Alice Eve, Luke Evans, Brendan Gleeson
When a madman begins committing horrific murders inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's works, a young Baltimore detective joins forces with Poe to stop him from making his stories a reality.

To quote the critics – “Nevermore!”

Anyone else get a good laugh out of Mark’s post? Did I miss any news? Ready for the A to Z? (I’m revealing my theme this Friday and I think some of you will really dig it.) Any movies catch your eye? Or are you holding out for May…?

Double Feature Day!

And who doesn’t like a double feature? Ah, the days of going to the drive in – a dozen people crammed in one car because it’s only five bucks; a speaker hanging on by a thread that barely worked; watching the vehicle in front of you bounce as if to hip hop… Hmm, doesn’t sound nearly as fun as I remember.

But today’s double feature is far better!

I am visiting Emily R. King’s site today for her Blogger Mentor Monday feature. Emily is one sharp lady, so be sure to stop by.

Meanwhile, I am handing my blog over to my blogger buddy and critique partner, Jeffrey Beesler. A fellow science fiction writer, I’ve had the honor of reading a couple of his manuscripts, including his new fantasy novel, Spell of Entrapment. Take it away, Jeffrey!

Like every other idea underneath the sun, the concept of entrapment isn’t new to fiction telling. How often do we have stories with the damsel in distress, or the little boy who falls down the well and has to rely on a border collie to come to his rescue? These tales can be a reflection of how we might feel trapped in our present situations. No matter how good we have it, we’re always looking for that quick fix, that perfect means of repairing whatever’s wrong with our lives.

When I wrote Spell of Entrapment, I had my own source of inspiration for the tale. Being trapped in a house has happened before in literature, and even pop culture. In fact, there was an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer several years back which had the characters trapped in a house. I wanted to explore a similar story, but in a different genre.

Fantasy seemed the perfect solution. I cast my characters in a world of epic fantasy, with swords and sorcery, the standard fare. I of course gave them their own unique twist, and made the circumstances that bound them to their own house much different than what I’d seen before. In doing so, I helped to cultivate my own unique bend on an idea that, like most other ideas, had already been done.

I’m glad to say I’m happy with the results I’ve achieved. Even with the book taking place mostly in one location, I’ve created quite a vivid world. I’ve even come to find that the name of the country I’d come up with, Trava, is Serbian for grass. You learn so many interesting things when putting together a project of this caliber, don’t you?

Buy Spell of Entrapment here:
Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords

Here’s hoping for huge sales, Jeffrey! You deserve it, dude.

Now you are no longer entrapped and can visit Emily R. King!

Conducted any interesting research of your own? Been trapped anywhere? Remember the old drive in theaters of the 70’s before they started using radio stations instead of those awful speakers? Got your posts all ready for the A to Z Challenge? (I do!) And who went to see The Hunger Games this weekend? Was it as good as the book? Should I go see it even though I probably won’t ever read the books?