#SupporttheGeeks, Chevelle and Secret Life of Pets Reviews, and Ninja News

Last Wednesday, I was at guest of Tyrean Martinson’s as part of her Five Reasons to Write series. Mine involved music!

Thanks to everyone who entered to win the CassaSeries playing cards giveaway! There were a lot of you, but there can be only one winner:

Mason Canyon at Thought in Progress!

Congratulations and enjoy!

#Support the Geeks

Geekdom House is running a campaign over the summer called Support the Geeks. There are some great articles, features, and giveaways being posted over July and August, and they are encouraging the use of the hashtag #SupporttheGeeks to support geek creatives—content producers, actors, artists, and writers. Some people are tweeting at their favourite artists to say thanks, some are making daily blog or Facebook posts about geek stories that have changed their lives. Check out Geekdom House (and their current art giveaway) and join the fun!

Here’s my geek story that changed my life:

Spurred by science fiction like Star Wars and fantasy like Terry Brooks, I began writing as a teen. Then, just before this series debuted, the image below image appeared in TV Guide:

Drawn by Frank Frazetta, that black and white image with the downed ship on the barren planet and other ships overhead sparked an idea. I began writing and soon had a mostly complete story. I stuck it in a drawer and worked on other things and eventually forgot it.

Around eight years ago, I found that crappy early story and decided to rewrite it. In 2010, it became my first published book, CassaStar.

And my life has never been the same since!

Chevelle – The North Corridor Review

After the success of the last album, I wasn’t sure this one would be as tight. Fears unfounded – this is a very solid album.
With the exception of the song Punchline, it’s a really heavy album from start to finish. The music is fierce and a couple songs have an almost punk edge to them.
There are several standout tracks, including Joyride, Rivers, and Warhol’s Showbiz.
If you dig Chevelle, you’ll love this album.
They are also on tour right now and put on a great show.

Movie Review

The Secret Life of Pets

Max has the perfect life until his owner brings home another dog and the two get lost in New York.
For whatever reason, I didn’t find this film all that funny. In fact, it had some mean-spiritedness to it. The best parts were the beginning and the ending where the pets were interacting with their owners. When the animals were on their own, it just wasn’t that engaging. It also wasn’t particularly memorable.
My wife didn’t think it was a great movie, but she laughed a lot and called the film cute.
There was a short before the film that involved the Minions on a quest to make money to buy a blender for juicing bananas. It was very funny.
Kids and pet owners will probably enjoy this film. Everyone else, you are on your own.

Ninja News

Mark Noce set up a Thunderclap campaign for the release of his first fantasy book, Between Two Fires. You can sign up HERE.

Karen Walker is putting together an anthology on aging. If you are fifty or older, visit her blog for details on how you can contribute.

Special thanks –

I want to thank Truedessa for her poem about Aden and Tamsin, the main characters in my Dragon of the Stars. I was honored to finally see some of the fanfiction she is writing!

And thanks to Pat Hatt and the Cat for a funny poem involving Mini-Alex. At least he is out of the litter box now…

Finally, don’t forget – Star Trek: Beyond comes out Friday, July 22! Already getting great reviews. And last week, Blastr featured some amazing artwork celebrating not just Beyond, but fifty years of Star Trek. Live long and prosper!

Any Chevelle fans? See Secret Life of Pets? Can you contribute to Karen’s anthology? (Sadly, I’m old enough I can.) Seeing Star Trek: Beyond this weekend? And do you have a geek story?

My wife and I are taking a short vacation and I’ll be mostly offline Thursday through Saturday. I will return comments though!

Spacedock 19, Ninja News, Adversarius, Movie Trivia Answers, and the Beginnings Blogfest!

Today I am visiting author M. Pax and Spacedock 19! Mary knows how to ask those hard hitting questions, and she grilled me on outlining. (Clones may have been mentioned as well.) Visit M. Pax for the full scoop!

And do you like the new header? Totally rocks! Created by the awesome Retro Zombie Jeremy - contact him if you'd like an interactive header as well. You the man, Jeremy!

Ninja News

Mark Koopmans is hosting his annual Got Green? Blog O’ Hop on March 15.

Nick at Scattergun Scribblings is hosting the Overcoming Adversity Blogfest February 4-5. Entries will be compiled into a book and the proceeds will go to funding college for his son, Andrew, who has cerebral palsy.

SA Larson created this writer’s creed. See her site to sign up and get your badge.


Hilde McQueen’s latest book is out, Where the Four Winds Collide. Congratulations, Hildie!

Now available - Reasons I Fell for the Funny Fat Friend by Becca Ann

“It's stupid to fall for your brother's ex. It's even worse to enlist another's help to win the ex over…”

Find Becca Ann on Facebook
Find her book on Goodreads and purchase the eBook or paperback at Amazon.




And don’t forget to save the date for my next blogfest, March 18 – to be announced next month!

Available Now!

Mel has worked so long and hard on this book, and it’s finally available!

Adversarius by ML Chesley

Two kingdoms, two goals.
The king of Relavia is determined to wipe out his warring neighbors in Paridzule, a worthy adversary for over five hundred years. News of an arranged marriage between his son and the daughter of his lifelong enemy has fueled the temper of Relavia's tyrannical king. What he doesn't realize is the true measure of his son's honor and how far he is willing to go to gain peace.

M. L. Chesley is an Alaska based author, online blogger and MMORPG junkie. She has been writing fantasy for several years. Between writing, work and family she barely has time for much gaming, but some days, raids take precedence over all. If you would like to learn more about her world, created in this book, go to her website. You can also follow her blog or on Facebook.
Purchase Adversarius Amazon or Smashwords.

Congratulations, Mel!!!

Movie Trivia Answers

1 – Check me if I’m wrong, Sandy, but if I kill all the golfers, they’re gonna lock me up and throw away the key. Caddyshack
2 – Who dumped a truckload of Fizzies into the swim meet, delivered school cadavers to the alumni dinner? Every Halloween the trees are filled with underwear, every spring the toilets explode. Animal House
3 – He is so dumb. He thought the Gettysburg Address was where Lincoln lived, and when he heard your daughter’s name was Portia, he said “Why did they name her after a car?” A Fish Called Wanda
4 – Are you telling me I put an abnormal brain into a seven-and-a-half-foot-long, 54-inch-wide gorilla? Young Frankenstein
5 – Can I raise a practical question? Are we gonna do Stonehenge tomorrow? This is Spinal Tap

Beginnings Blogfest

Hosted by the awesome LG Keltner, we are to post about our writing beginnings.

Want to know how CassaStar began?

There were many influences. I was always a Star Trek fan. Star Wars came along and redefined movies and space operas. I enjoyed the likes of Bradbury and Heinlein.

And then, a single image for an upcoming TV series caught my attention:

Frank Frazetta’s artwork for the series Battlestar Galactica.

What ignited my imagination was the setting – a rocky planet and a downed ship. The characters, stranded and ready to defend themselves, also caught my attention. (And in the central character, you can probably see the beginnings of Byron.) I imagined two people, a pilot and a navigator, their fighter shot down on a rocky planet and forced to make a sacrifice.

That scene, written when I was a teen, was the only part of the original story to survive. (And the scene changed some during the rewrite.) But that image ignited the story behind CassaStar, which eventually became my first published book. Now it’s an Amazon Best Seller and has spawned two sequels.

A picture really is worth a thousand words!

Excited about the new books and blogfests? Are you picking up Adversarius? Get any of the movie trivia right? And how did your writing begin?

Don’t forget to visit M. Pax’s Spacedock 19!

Starting the New Year off with a Smile!

Happy New Year! Today, it’s all about the smiles…

Today is the Eye Candy Blogfest, hosted by Vicki at Rambles and Randomness “Post a favorite picture - something that makes you smile every time you see it.” Be sure to check out the others entries as well! I thought long and hard (and almost hurt myself) over which picture to select. Yes, my first thought was Kate Beckinsale. I won’t deny it. But ultimately, I selected an image that holds a special meaning for me. This is Frank Frazetta’s “Battlestar Galactica,” created for the original TV show:  Battlestar Galactica and Star Wars were big influences on my original idea for CassaStar. This painting sparked my imagination more than any other medium. I could see the Cassans and their ships, and the adventures of Byron and Bassa came to life. The desolate, rocky planet in the painting even became a scene in my story, and the only one to survive the rewrite. (I’m sure those who’ve read the book know the scene, as it was also the most difficult to write.) So when I look at this picture, I smile – the raw beginnings of CassaStar!

I also received the Making Smiles on Faces Award from L’Aussie. Thanks so much! Most of my blogging friends are good at making me smile! (Which made narrowing it down REALLY tough.) But I couldn’t list everyone, so I just selected a few special charmers: Abby at Above Water Yvonne at Welcome to my World of Poetry Old Kitty at Ten Lives and Second Chances Jules at Trying to Get Over the Rainbow Thanks to everyone who voted for my trailer at Parajunkee. She’ll announce the winners soon! Meanwhile, the book trailer contest voting at Spunk On A Stick’s Tips starts today! Mine’s one of almost twenty trailers. If you think it’s the best, hop on over and vote! And a special thanks to Edi’s Book Lighthouse - he just posted the best books of 2010 and CassaStar was in the top three from small publishers. Thanks, Edi – that definitely makes me smile!