Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Plus Reviews of Kingsman, Night at the Museum III, and Muppets; The Listing Hop; 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 TB Markinson, Tamara Narayan, Shannon Lawrence, Stephanie Faris, and Eva E. Solar!

Don’t forget the IWSG Anthology Contest is open until November 1! The theme is Alternate History/Parallel Universe and any member of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group is encouraged to enter – blogging (must post for the IWSG at least once in September or October) or Facebook member. Winners will be published in a royalty-paying anthology next year.
If you write speculative fiction, you need to enter!

We are still trying to get the IWSG site listed as one of Writers’ Digest’s Top 100 Best Websites for Writers! Please email them at writersdigest@fwmedia.com, subject line 101 Websites, and suggest the IWSG - http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/

Now, from the guy who thought he was done writing…

Last month, I wrote and edited not one, but two short stories for publication! And both are due at the end of this month.

One is for an anthology with the theme of ‘turning points.’ I decided going back to a point before CassaStar began would be a good place for a turning point. That one is over four thousand words and just came back from my critique partners this week.

The second one was an invite from Geekdom House. At their core, they aim to bring together Christians and geeks. This one was to be much shorter, under a thousand words, and involving Christmas. I decided on a contemporary theme with humor and it was a lot of fun to write. I’m polishing it now and will be bugging my critique partners soon.

After writing CassaFate and Dragon’s Destiny, I’m starting to wonder if I shouldn’t focus more on short stories. At least I can crank them out faster than my novels, which is about every eighteen months.

I’ve also been trying an experiment. Randi Lee posted about her success with images for her novel, and I decided to try something along those lines. Since I already had the thirteen graphics for my WhatAreTheKargrandes site, I used those to create images I could Tweet. I started almost two weeks ago and it has made a difference in sales.

Today is this one, if anyone cares to Tweet it for me!

http://www.whatarethekargrandes.com/ Find out in Dragon of the Stars! http://tinyurl.com/pel2mun #scifi #spaceopera

Reviews

Kingsman: The Secret Service
It plays like those old Matt Helm 60’s spy movies, except with gratuitous violence and language.
The whole movie is over the top, which makes it fun because you can’t take any of it seriously.
It is a bit dark and mean spirited, though. And it moved a little slow at times.
Worth a rental if you can stomach the extreme violence.

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb
The Tablet of Ahkmenrah is corroding, taking away the magic that brings the museum to life, and the group travels to London to stop it.
The third installment is probably the smallest of the stories, but it’s still a lot of fun.
In addition to the regulars (including Robin Williams in his last onscreen role), there are appearances from Ben Kingsley, Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, and Hugh Jackman.
If you enjoyed the first two, you’ll enjoy this one. Worth a rental.

The Muppets
I think Jim Henson is rolling over in his grave right now.
The whole shtick of the Muppets was their wholesome, light-hearted family fun. This show has lost that innocence though. Let me give you some examples. I don’t remember much from the first episode outside of the fact it was dark and depressing. So, let’s look at last week’s episode. This is what you got:
Pot smoking Muppets.
Fozzie bear is a kleptomaniac.
Josh Grobin is sleeping with Miss Piggy. (Yeah, just try to get that one out of your head.)
One Muppet drew a penis on a card and then claimed he could make it a saxophone instead.
Gonzo has a mother. (He has no mother here on earth – he’s an alien, remember?)
The show is trying to be edgy and relative and it lost everything the Muppets stood for in my eyes. Remember, those are some of the same Muppets your kids watch on Sesame Street. Imagine how they will view them now?
This show is a big fail in my book.

Ninja News

Toi Thomas had the most amazing review of CassaStar – she loved it! And she got it. That’s so satisfying for an author.

Despite the rain lately, Dragon and Ninja remain best friends:

If you’ve been thinking about buying Dragon of the Stars but you’re not sure, you can take a sneak peek at the first chapter at Jessica Therrien’s site!

And thanks to everyone for checking in on me. My area received a lot of rain, but unfortunately I was further south due to a band commitment on Sunday. And was there ever flooding! They say this was a thousand year flood for most of South Carolina and I believe it. Prayers for those affected by the flooding.

New Releases:

I’m a Little Green Witch by Kelly Polark
Find it at Amazon and Barnes and Noble

Childhood Fears
Featuring the story The Bear Who Wouldn’t Leave by J.H. Moncrieff

The Christmas Pets and Kisses Boxed Set
Featuring The Vet’s Christmas Pet by J.L. Campbell

The Listing Hop!

The brainchild of Bish Denham to celebrate eight years of blogging. I am helping co-host this blogfest – and it’s beyond simple!

The rules are:
Sign up, grab the banner and make a list.
Keep your list to between 5 and 25 items. You can list whatever you feel like (except for adult type content.)
Post on October 26 and visit fellow participants.
That’s it!

Sign up below:



What are your writer insecurities this month? Submitting to the Anthology Contest? Can you help us make the Best list? Seen either movie or the Muppets? And what list would you create for the Listing Hop?

Ubuntu Bloghop and Humanity, Mini-Alex and Snow, Movie Trivia Answers, and Ninja News

Today I am visiting the lovely Julie Musil talking about the small publisher debate. Please join us and weigh in your thoughts.

Cherie Colyer has a Features and Spotlights she does every Friday, and this week it is on my series! Thanks, Cherie!

I finally let Mini-Alex out for a snow day and the scarf was very much needed!

Special thanks again to Elise for the creation of Mini-Alex and to Deniz for making his scarf!

Ninja News

The IWSG Website has a great guest today – the amazing Anne R. Allen!

Our good friend Roland Yeomans is undergoing surgery today for cancer. Please keep him in your prayers this week. Since Roland is also struggling with the funds for this surgery, Sean McLachlan suggested a Buy-A-Thon for his books. I’ve read several of Roland’s books and highly recommend following the adventures of one Victor Standish. Visit Roland’s author page on Amazon to see a complete listing of his eBooks and audio books. If you’ve never read any of Roland’s work, now is a great time to do so!

Did you catch Father Dragon Al’s Lord of the Clones Challenge Part 2? 



Sir Baldernot at his finest!




Patricia Stoltey signed a contract with Five Star/Cengage for her first standalone suspense novel, Dead Wrong. The book is scheduled for a November 2014 release.

Terri Rochenski announced that Roane Publishing offered her a contract for Love's Sorrow, the first book in my Means of Mercy series.

Cindy at Dreamer’s Perch has a poll going on - if you had to choose, what is your favorite kind of science fiction? Visit her site to vote for the poll in her sidebar.

In a brand new series, Donna Hosie revisits Logres with THE CHILDREN OF CAMELOT.

Two worlds, one thousand years apart. And those worlds are about to collide.

THE RING OF MORGANA will be released in ebook and paperback on the 15th June 2014.

The Ubuntu Bloghop

Michelle Wallace at Writer-in-Transit is celebrating her third blog anniversary with a bloghop!

What is ubuntu? "In Africa, there is a concept known as UBUNTU – the profound sense that we are human only through the humanity of others; that if we are to accomplish anything in this world, it will in equal measure be due to the work and achievement of others." – Nelson Mandela.

When I signed up, I had no idea what I was going to post for this bloghop. I knew poetry was out of the question. (You should all be grateful for that.) I thought about posting a video or a Bible passage.

But the best example of humanity towards others came on Monday when so many rallied around Jeremy Hawkins and left comments of encouragement at his special tribute at the A to Z Blog. Over 160 people showed their support through the efforts of the A to Z Co-Hosts and DL Hammons’ Blog Blitz Team. You guys were awesome and really cheered up Jeremy!

Movie Trivia Answers

1 - Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Al Pacino – 1995 – Heat
2 - Morgan Freeman, Bruce Willis, Karl Urban – 2010 – Red
3 - Joe Pantoloano, Carrie-Anne Moss, Guy Pearce – 2000 - Memento
4 - Bonnie Bedelia, William Sadler, Bruce Willis = 1990 – Die Hard II
5 - James McAvoy, Liam Neeson, Tilda Swinton – 2005 – Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Have you read one of Roland’s books yet? Excited about the new book deals? How would you define Ubuntu? Get any of the trivia right? And who wants to play in the snow with Mini-Alex?

Don’t forget to visit Julie Musil today and Cherie Colyer on Friday!

Naked in the Apocalypse, February Movie Preview, Cassa Updates, Movie Trivia Answers, and Ninja News

A lot happening today! We kick it off with a visit from author and traveler, Sean McLachlan, whose book Radio Hope just came out.

People won’t be naked in the Apocalypse

I’ve noticed something strange about post-apocalyptic books and movies—everyone is dressed in rags. While that adds to the atmosphere, it’s not very realistic. The fall of civilization is actually going to make everyone better dressed!

There are two types of apocalypses—the fast and the slow. The fast apocalypse is what you see in books like The Road. It’s not clear what happened to destroy the world literally overnight. Judging from the effects I’m thinking it was a comet or an asteroid. Whatever it was, a large percentage of the population got wiped out and all industry and government ground to a halt.

What an opportunity for a wardrobe makeover! Think about it. In your closet you probably have enough clothes to last for at least a couple of years if you’re more concerned about avoiding the roving packs of cannibals than buying the latest designer duds. But even with the cannibals on the prowl you still can dress for success. If 95% of the population just keeled over, you can hunt through their closets for whatever you want. Don’t like what you see? Head over to the shopping mall. The security guards have all been eaten! Just don’t get trapped by zombies like in Dawn of the Dead.

The slow apocalypse is a bit tougher. In the century leading up to the story in my novel Radio Hope, there are wars, plagues, nuclear exchanges, and huge amounts of toxic emissions. At the very least that’s going to cause a bad hair day. But as civilization disintegrates, people will start making more things themselves. While the Biowars took out the horses and cows, it spared the sheep, so there’s plenty of wool. People also grow cotton and hemp. Well, this is a family blog so let’s not dwell on why the traumatized survivors of World Wars III-VI might want to grow hemp.

In any case, people will be well dressed in the apocalypse. The great thing about the fall of civilization is that we will no longer have mass media telling us to dress like Miley Cyrus! Long live the apocalypse!

Sean McLachlan is an archaeologist turned writer who is the author of several books of fiction and history. Check him out on his blogs Midlist Writer and Civil War Horror.
Purchase Radio Hope at Amazon.

Cassa and Ninja Captain Updates

From February 4 – 10, CassaFire will be 99 cents at Amazon and my publisher’s site. This is the first time they have ever run a promotional special like this and have ads running at several sites, including BookBub. If you can help me spread the news, starting Tuesday, I would greatly appreciate it. I will have some promotional Tweets and snippets posted on Wednesday. I’m the guinea pig, so hopefully the promotion rocks the house!

A wonderful and eloquent review of CassaStorm was posted on Amazon last week. I don’t usually post snippets of reviews, but I had to share:
This tale is basically a story of the struggle of a family pulled and wrenched in many ways by the frantic circumstances which are thrown in their path. They alone have the key to saving the universe from destruction. It is at once terrifying and uplifting.
It is a space story at its best. Through the fascinating plot, we are poised at a point which is critical to the safety of the galaxy. It is a great study of bravery and love.

Today, an epic battle ensues at Father Dragon’s between me and Lord Baldernot, Mark Koopmans. Who will come out on top?

I won the caption contest at The Geek Twins last week.

And here is the official A to Z Challenge Ninja Minion Army -
Joy Campbell, Michelle Wallace, Susan Gourley/Kelley, S. L. Hennessy, Rhonda Albom, Madeline Mora-Summonte, LG Keltner, Cathy Olliffe-Webster, Diane Riggins, and Melanie Schulz.

Ninja News

Today at the A to Z Blog is an interview with the awesome Challenge co-host, Tina from Life is Good. Tina is the glue that holds the A to Z Team together and if you missed her posts last year about a Swede’s first year in America, you missed something awesome.

Cathrina Constantine’s Tallas is now available! Visit her site to win some awesome stuff including gift cards.

And Cherie Reich revealed another stunning book cover last week!

Movie Trivia Answers

Name the town. (And sorry, I had the title of number four messed up at first.)

1 – Rango 2011 - Dirt
2 – Tremors 1990 – Perfection, Nevada
3 – Ocean’s Eleven 2001 – Las Vegas
4 – Doc Hollywood 1991 – Grady, South Carolina
5 – Ghostbusters 1984 – New York City
6 – Ferris Bueller’s Day Off 1986 - Chicago
7 – Ratatouille 2007 – Paris

February Movie Preview

Here are the upcoming theatrical releases for February! As always, descriptions courtesy of the IMDB. Snarky comments by me.

7 –

The Monuments Men
An unlikely World War II platoon are tasked to rescue art masterpieces from Nazi thieves and return them to their owners.
Director: George Clooney
Stars: George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Bill Murray
Huge cast but getting mixed reviews. Bummer.

The LEGO Movie
An ordinary LEGO minifigure, mistakenly thought to be the extraordinary MasterBuilder, is recruited to join a quest to stop an evil LEGO tyrant from gluing the universe together.
Directors: Phil Lord | Christopher Miller
Stars: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Morgan Freeman
This will do well, although sadly I’m not excited. Those are not the Lego figures I remember.

14 –

Winter’s Tale
A burglar falls for an heiress as she dies in his arms. When he learns that he has the gift of reincarnation, he sets out to save her.
Director: Akiva Goldsman
Stars: Colin Farrell, Jessica Brown Findlay, Russell Crowe, Will Smith
Based on the book and with a great cast. I actually want to see this one.

Robocop
In 2028 Detroit, when Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) - a loving husband, father and good cop - is critically injured in the line of duty, the multinational conglomerate OmniCorp sees their chance for a part-man, part-robot police officer.
Director: José Padilha
Stars: Joel Kinnaman, Douglas Urbanski, Abbie Cornish, Gary Oldman
Yes, the original was cheesy. Yes, this looks better. Yes, I am sick of remakes
.
21 –

Pompeii
A slave turned gladiator finds himself in a race against time to save his true love, who has been betrothed to a corrupt Roman Senator. As Mount Vesuvius erupts, he must fight to save his beloved as Pompeii crumbles around him.
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Stars: Kit Harington, Carrie-Anne Moss, Emily Browning, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
I think we all know how it ends…

28 –

Non-Stop
An air marshal springs into action during a transatlantic flight after receiving a series of text messages that put his fellow passengers at risk unless the airline transfers $150 million into an off-shore account.
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Stars: Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, Lupita Nyong'o, Anson Mount
Neeson is really cranking out the action roles these days.


Whoa! How will you dress for the apocalypse? Get any of the trivia right? Excited about any of February’s movies? Ready for Wednesday’s IWSG? And can you help with CassaFire’s promotion this week? I am willing to grovel…

Now, go see me take down the bald one at Father Dragon’s blog.