Insecure Writer's Support Group, Help for a Friend, Ninja News, Cover Reveals, Movie Trivia Answers, and the Exploding Blog Post

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.


Special note – one year ago was the first IWSG post. Look how far it’s come! Thanks to all of the participants – you are the reason for this group!

How difficult is it for you to push the limits or raise the stakes?

I’m still working on revisions from CassaStorm and incorporating some of the suggestions from one of my test readers. He’s my go-to guy for dialogue (Rusty and Jeffrey will really appreciate that I’m letting him read it before passing it on to them!) and he’s good with tension.

He sent back a whole page of suggestions for one small scene alone. Basically, he said it wasn’t threatening enough. There was no real sense of dread. He told me to up the ante and make the results devastating. I have since adjusted that scene and now there’s no doubt the characters are in serious trouble.

I guess I’m better at mentally messing with my characters than using physical means to mess with them. But I’m willing to improve!

Anyone else find you are being too easy on your characters or storyline?

Be sure to visit others participating today in the IWSG!

Help for a Friend

He managed to survive Hurricane Isaac as it roared through New Orleans. But last week, blogging buddy and author Roland Yeomans was struck by a car that lost its brakes in the floodwater. He wasn’t seriously injured, but the resulting hospital stay hit him hard in the finances. (The driver had no insurance.)

I am asking the Ninja Army to help. If you’ve never read one of Roland’s books, I invite you do download and enjoy one from Amazon now. He has several that follow the adventures of Victor Standish, the first of which is HERE. He also has many novelette length books, such as Call Me Tombs. He even has a book for writers called Ghost Writers in the Sky. (All of which are awesome.) In all, he has twenty-three from which to choose.

Visit Roland’s page on Amazon, find a book you’d enjoy, and support someone who really needs help right now.

Ninja News

I interviewd Michael Di Gesu at the A to Z Blog today – his theme for the Challenge was flash fiction, perfect for today’s IWSG post!

Jeffrey Beesler’s latest book, Speed Demons is now available, and he’s hosting giveways all week long. Check out his blog for details. Congratulations, Jeffrey!

Angela at Jaded Love Junkie has an agent now – congratulations, Angela!

JW Alden’s story, "The Dragon Weeps," was just published in Kazka Press. You can read it for free, so visit his site for details. Congratulations, Alden!


Don’t forget my
Genre Favorites Blogfest 
on September 17.


Cover Reveals!

Givin’ up the Ghost by Gwen Gardner

Friend or Foe?
Murder victim Bart Bagley is not content to merely roll over in his grave. He wants his murderer caught and he wants teenage ghost whisperer, Indigo Eady, to help him.
It becomes obvious that Bart’s temper lead to more than one disagreement, but is it enough to want him dead? With nothing but a cold trail and a hot list of “friendly” suspects, Indigo and her friends race to find the killer before they become the next victims.
Indigo Eady is not clumsy. At least, that’s what she keeps telling everyone. Can she help that the overactive spirit community of Sabrina Shores causes her psychic abilities to short-circuit? It’s unfortunate that her cute new friend Badger is often on the receiving end of her mishaps. At times, she is positively hazardous to his health. Even so, sparks start to fly in more than one direction...

GIVIN' UP THE GHOST is a YA paranormal cozy mystery, the first in the Indigo Eady series, due out October 8, 2012.

Haunt Gwen at: FB, Blog, Goodreads

Neverlove by Angela Brown

For seventeen-year-old Abigail, one rash decision leads to an unexpected chance for redemption. At V'Salicus Academy, a unique institute where she trains to become an agent of heaven, she struggles with the pain of her past, the changes of the present and accepts a loveless future until her path – and heart – crosses with Basil’s.
Basil's off-chance slip of the tongue binds him to a life of servitude to the Devourer, the master of hell. His existence has no upside until a chance meeting with Abigail brings new perspective.
Keeping the truth of their present lives from each other brings disaster when secrets are brought to light and the life of Abigail’s mentor is put on the line.
Can Abigail and Basil save her mentor and salvage their love amid the chaos? Or will they lose it all, destined forever to NEVERLOVE?

NEVERLOVE is a special project spawned from a blog-challenge-turned-blog-opera, the Abby and Basil affair. It is the first in the Shadow Jumpers series and due out October 8, 2012.

Haunt Angela at: FB, Blog, Goodreads

Movie Trivia Answers!

1 – Sylvester Stallone – John Lithgow - Cliffhanger
2 – Kevin Costner – Gene Hackman – No Way Out or Wyatt Earp
3 – John Cleese – Jamie Lee Curtis – A Fish Called Wanda (or Fierce Creatures)
4 – Emma Thompson – Andy Garcia – Dead Again
5 – Andrew Dice Clay – Wayne Newton – The Adventures of Ford Fairlane
6 – Alec Baldwin – James Earl Jones – The Hunt for Red October

Wow!!! A whole year of posting for the IWSG. Can you believe it? Did you share your insecurities or word of encouragement today? Can you help my friend Roland? Excited about the news? Or the upcoming books from Gwen and Angela? Be sure to visit Michael at the A to Z Blog. Get the trivia questions right? Think this post just might explode from too much stuff????

Seven Things....

Zoe at No Letters on my Keyboard gave me the Versatile Blogger award and wanted me to list seven things about myself. I’m rather boring, so instead I give you seven fascinating science fiction news flashes!

First is a big shout-out to Angela at Jaded Love Junkie! She was my 200 followers giveaway winner and received a review copy from my publisher. She got the book on Friday and posted her review yesterday – and she liked CassaStar! (Much to my relief!) Visit her BLOG to read the review, which really highlights what’s important about my book. Thanks, Angela! I don’t have to hide my head in shame… Stargate Universe, the third series in the Stargate family, has a few surprise guests for its second season – David Hewlett as Dr. Rodney McKay and Robert Picardo as Commander Richard Woosley, both from Stargate: Atlantis, will make guest appearances. And here I thought the series was doomed… Don’t forget Sharktopus! This train-wreck of a movie debuts on the SyFy channel September 25. This can be science fiction, depending on your selections – the TOP 10 TV SHOWS Blogfest! It’s MONDAY! There were 60 signed up for The Movie Dirty Dozen – I’d like to hit 70 for this one. Tell all your friends!!! Sign up and blog about YOUR favorite TV shows!

Movie review – The Book of Eli The reviews were so mixed on this film that I waited to see it on NetFlix. It’s atmospheric, almost like a graphic novel come to life. Denzel Washington is the hero, heading west with a book – the last remaining Bible – in a post-apocalyptic world. He comes upon a town run by Gary Oldman (ever the chameleon character) who is searching for a Bible so that he can control the residents with the power of the Word. The critics had issues with things that didn’t bother me. However, this is an awkwardly paced film. It’s very slow and dark – as in, sometimes you can’t see the character’s faces it’s so dark. It sets a unique tone, one that will not set well with everyone. If not for the big revelation at the end – and the purpose of Washington’s character heading west – I would’ve written it off as an average film. That made it all worthwhile for me. Have you seen the trailer for Monsters?

Special Guest!

Special guest here today! And when you see Angela from Jaded Love Junkie’s photos, you’ll realize she is one cool chick. Angela was also the winner of my 200 Followers Giveaway. So please take the time to learn a little about my fascinating blogging buddy, Angela. (Otherwise, I'll send Simon the Snarktopus over to snark at you!)

Thank you, Alex, for inviting me to post on your blog. A year ago, I never thought I’d be writing again much less blogging about it and meeting so many amazing writers who share similar struggles and triumphs along the path to publication.

Like most of you, I’ve always loved reading and writing, from the day I could hold a pencil. A college friend said she hated writing. She’d never written in a journal or written poetry or short stories. It blew my mind people could be perfectly happy writing nothing more than an occasional check endorsement.

In college, I was a writing fool. I took creative writing courses, and I worked on the newspaper, as Copy Editor and Editor in Chief. I freelanced editorial work, won poetry, essay and journalism contests and even wrote for Oregon Magazine. It was sooooo much work! And nothing like the kind of writing I’d enjoyed my entire life. It burned me out so hardcore I stopped reading and writing, and then I left college.

Advance the clock fourteen years later—yes, fourteen! I’m a US Navy service member. I work on radar, communications and navigation electronics, absolutely nothing to do with writing. Two years ago, I found myself stationed away from my husband and five children with too much time to think about the gloom of being away from them. Then I got the bug back, slowly at first. It began with books, books, books, and when I finally ran out of those, I learned it’s never too late to get back on the horse. I began writing again.

I wrote my first book in four weeks. In the past, I wrote literary fiction and horror. I know. I’m weird. My current books are sci-fi romance. My tastes are eclectic for sure. I read everything from military and literary non-fiction, mystery, romance of all kinds, sci-fi, YA, and even westerns. This might explain why I’ve written a wide range.

I am incredibly overjoyed to be back in the writing realm. I love my blogger buddies. I love learning from and sharing with all the writerly types who are so generous with their experience and knowledge. I love talking about writing, and most of all I love writing.

You can find me at Jaded Love Junkie or on Facebook. Thanks for your time, and good luck to all on your path to publication!