Deadpool Review, Geekdom House, Six Strings, Ninja News, and the Great A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal!

I am visiting Christine Rains today and discussing newsletters.
Don’t forget the first issue of the Insecure Writer's Support Group Newsletter goes out on February 24! Sign up HERE.

Movie Review

Deadpool
I can understand why some might not like this movie.
It’s irreverent. It gleefully crosses the boundary of good taste, much like the show Family Guy does. It’s gory and quite dirty at times.
Having said all that, I thought it was a hoot!
The story itself is a fairly pedestrian origins story but told in a way you’ve never seen before. The film is self-aware that it’s just a movie, even to the point that Deadpool makes snarky comments about actor Ryan Reynolds and the other X-Men films. It completely breaks the fourth wall, resulting in some of the funniest lines. (Example – Deadpool tells two X-Men ‘This giant house and there’s only two of you? It’s like the studio couldn’t afford any more X-Men.’)
Bottom line, if you found something appealing in the trailer, you’ll dig this film.
Rated R for a reason, this movie is for the grown up twelve-year-old in all of us.
Highly recommended!

While I Was Away…

Yes, my wife and I had a great time! Everyone should take a first class vacation at least once a year. Maybe more.

And of course, at my wife’s insistence, Mini-Alex tagged along.

I submitted an article to Geekdom House and it appeared on their site last Monday. Read Finding Child-Like Wonder and why Star Wars: The Force Awakens had it and Jurassic World didn’t.

The latest Six Strings magazine is out and it features an interview with yours truly. You can download it for free on the site or at Amazon.

Ninja News

The authors in the IWSG anthology, Parallels: Felix Was Here, have set up a website - Parallels Anthology. Articles, news, and meet the authors.

Plus, you can pre-order the eBook of Parallels: Felix Was Here at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iTunes

Many of you know that Sia McKye is undergoing treatment for cancer. A lot of that is coming out of her pocket, so a good friend of her set up a Go Fund Me account for her to help offset the cost. Any amount will help!

Loni Townsend discovered a cool site - Inkarnate. You can make your own maps!

New Release:
To Get A Guy To Kiss You! by Jessica McKendry
Find it on Amazon

The Great A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal!

Sign-ups for the 2016 A to Z Blogging Challenge are already under way. If you have done it before, you know how much fun it is (good for you!) and if you have not, this is your chance to give it a try. You can sign up to participate HERE.

One of the most burning questions participants ask themselves every year is: "Should I have a theme?" Themes are not mandatory, but definitely fun. They let your visitors know what to expect, and help you create posts that line neatly up from A to Z. They also have an added bonus – they let you participate in a whole separate blogfest!

Three years ago, A to Z participant Mina Lobo started the Theme Reveal, and we thought it was such a great idea that we made it tradition.

Here is how the Theme Reveal Blogfest works:

Sign up on the Linky List below. On Monday, March 21, reveal your theme on your blog and give us a hint of what to expect from it. Then, once your post is up, use the Linky List to visit all the other blogs announcing their themes.

This is a great opportunity for all of you to get a jump start on your A to Z experience. You can link up with fellow bloggers, scout out and bookmark themes that you look forward to, and lure in wandering participants with your awesome theme. This way, by the time the frenzied posting begins on April 1, you will already have an audience eagerly awaiting your posts.

Sign up below, ready your theme, and put March 21 on your calendar!

Miss me? Anyone else see Deadpool? Excited about the IWSG anthology? Can you help Sia? Ready to make a map? And are you signing up for the Great A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal?

Don’t forget to visit Christine Rains.

And if you have time, read my article at Geekdom House and my interview in Six Strings!

IWSG Thanks, Mini-Alex, Ninja News, From the Ashes Reveal, NFL Super Bowl Predictions, and the January Movie Preview

What a way to kick off 2013 than with an awesome round of Insecure Writer’s Support Group posts. So many positive, goal setting posts and so many new members. Special thanks to Tyrean Martinson and Jamie Gibbs for co-hosting this month. (My co-hosts for February 6 will be Stephen Tremp and Julie Flanders.)

And thank you for the encouraging comments (and emails) regarding my writing or music dilemma. I won’t rush into anything and I don’t plan to stop blogging either. God will show me the path where I can be the most effective.

Mini-Alex!

Yes, he arrived on Thursday and in one piece. Elise, thank you SO MUCH for sending him. Now that he’s here, I am really impressed by how much effort you put into making him look awesome. And he’s bigger than I thought!

Here is Mini-Alex between two of my guitars. Safe to say, he will not be playing those anytime soon. Doubt I will be able to top Paris, but I might have to take Mini-Alex on a road trip.See what kind of trouble we can get into...

Ninja News

Candilynn Fite has an agent! She is now represented by Ms. Kathleen Rushall from Marsal Lyon Literary Agency. Congratulations, Candilynn!

Melissa Maygrove had an awesome post on Wednesday listing ways we can motivate ourselves to write. Some good stuff, so check it out!

Cover Reveal!

From the Ashes by Jessica K. McKendry

“I'm not sure how it all went wrong…”

An insightful look at the good and bad that exist within us, McKendry's debut is a high-octane adventure that pushes the imagination to the limit as it lays bare the nature of self-reliance, self-confidence, and teamwork. Playing with the concepts of dark and light and how they affect our lives in multiple forms, her novel is a complex coming of age story that encapsulates the heroine's journey from student to leader. A dark tale of love and revenge, From the Ashes is a powerful reminder to think for yourself instead of blindly following what you've been taught to believe.

Available next month – congratulations, Jessica!

NFL Super Bowl Predictions

With the final week of the regular season mathematically eliminating a dozen teams including my own (no I’m not naming them – they didn’t deserve to go anyway) and ending on a good note (anytime the Cowboys lose, it’s a good note) we slide into the playoffs this weekend. A couple teams are suspect and a couple could surprise us.

My predictions for who will go to the Super Bowl:

From the AFC – Either Broncos or the Patriots. Denver has played good all season but you can’t count out the Patriots.

From the NFC – Either the 49ers or Seahawks. The 49ers just might be for real, but of all the teams, the Seahawks are the most dangerous right now and on a roll.

And if my predictions were any bit accurate, you could take me to Vegas!

I wouldn’t pack my bags if I were you…

January 2013 Movies

Here are the upcoming movies for January! A quiet month, as it tends to be the dumping grounds for movies. As always, descriptions courtesy of the IMDB. Snarky comments by me.

11 -

Gangster Squad
A chronicle of the LAPD's fight to keep East Coast Mafia types out of Los Angeles in the 1940s and 50s.
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Stars: Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Giovanni Ribisi
Sean Penn plays a jerk – big surprise! Could be good.


18 -

The Last Stand
The leader of a drug cartel busts out of a courthouse and speeds to the Mexican border, where the only thing in his path is a sheriff and his inexperienced staff.
Director: Jee-woon Kim
Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Eduardo Noriega, Forest Whitaker, John Patrick Amedori
Ridiculous and over the top. Schwarzenegger is way too old to do this anymore.

Broken City
An ex-cop trailing the wife of New York City's mayor finds himself immersed in a larger scandal.
Director: Allen Hughes
Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Kyle Chandler
Crowe plays a jerk – another big surprise! And this one could be good as well.


25 -

Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters
In this dark spin on the fairy tale, siblings Hansel and Gretel are a formidable team of bounty hunters who track and kill witches all over the world.
Director: Tommy Wirkola
Stars: Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton, Peter Stormare, Famke Janssen
This movie will be either cheesy great or embarrassingly awful. Don’t think there will be an in-between.

John Dies at the End
A new street drug that sends its users across time and dimensions has one drawback: some people return as no longer human. Can two college dropouts save humankind from this silent, otherworldly invasion?
Director: Don Coscarelli
Stars: Chase Williamson, Rob Mayes, Paul Giamatti, Clancy Brown
From the director of Bubba Ho-Tep and probably just as weird.

Were you encouraged by the IWSG posts this week? See some interesting announcements? Who do you predict will go to the Super Bowl? Any movies look enticing? And where on the east coast could Mini-Alex go?