Ninja News, Amazing Spiderman Review, and Best Directors

Ninja News!

Today I have a guest post with Gabi at The Write Connexion.. She wanted to know more about organizing a blog tour. Not an expert, but I gave it my best shot!

Thanks again to everyone who posted for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. Welcome new members and appreciate all the support you guys give one another. I even received an email from a member who stated that not only has the group helped him to be a better writer, it had helped him to be a better person. Now that is just awesome! Special thanks also to Laura Eno for her post on Writer Etiquette. I also spent some time cleaning up the list of non-participants, so it should be much better next month.

Milo James Fowler at In Medias Res has a new book available - maikro - haiku and microfiction. Congratulations, Milo! (He’s also the most successful short story writer I know.)

DL Hammons at Cruising Altitude just had a short story accepting for Open Heart Publishing’s An Honest Lie anthology. Congratulations, DL!!

Cathy at Life on the Muskoka River is raising money for the YMCA Literacy Services in her area. This involves a marathon with writers locked in a room. Intrigued? Visit Cathy’s SITE for more details!

Beginning Thursday, July 26, 9 PM EST, EJ at The Open Vein will be hosting an all new regular Twitter chat focusing on New Adult literature. (Hashtag #NALitChat) Check out his site for details.

Jade Hart at Dream, Write, Publish just signed a book deal with Curiosity Quills. Congratulations, Jade!

And special thanks to Allison at Geek Banter and Rek at A Chronicle of Dreams for their wonderful reviews of CassaStar this week. You ladies rock!

Movie Review!

The Amazing Spiderman
We didn’t need a reboot of this franchise so soon, but with so many great reviews I had to check it out – and I wasn’t disappointed. Handing over this reboot to an unknown director was a risk but it paid off. Marc Webb handled the action scenes and character development well, adding a humorous edge that was missing before. I really liked the new Spiderman – the kid was the master of snark. As much as I like Sam Raimi and Spiderman 2, this movie was better. It’s not The Avengers, but it’s really good. (And you should’ve seen all the little kids dressed as Spiderman at the show!)

Best Directors

Matthew at FilmMattic recently posted a list of top one hundred directors, so I decided to do my own list of top ten. My list is what I consider the best (and my most favorite) directors.

1 - Steven Spielberg – Jurassic Park, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Close Encounters (Because of his huge body of work.)

2 - James Cameron – Aliens, The Terminator, Avatar (The man’s never made a bad film.)

3 - Christopher Nolan – Memento, Inception, The Dark Knight (He hasn’t made a bad film either.)
4 - Peter Jackson – LOTR trilogy, Dead Alive, The Frighteners

5 - Guillermo del Toro – Blade II, Hellboy, The Devil’s Backbone

6 - Michael Mann – Last of the Mohicans, Heat, Manhunter

7 - Joss Whedon – Serenity, The Avengers

8 - Quentin Tarantino – Reservoir Dogs, Inglorious Basterds, Pulp Fiction

9 - Rob Reiner – The Princess Bride, This is Spinal Tap, A Few Good Men

10 - JJ Abrams – Super 8, Star Trek

Enjoy this week’s IWSG posts? Excited about the news? Did you see The Amazing Spiderman? (It made 35 million on Tuesday alone!) And who are your favorite directors?

Don’t forget to check out Gabi's site!

FRIENDLY - A to Z Challenge - and Next Blogfest!!!

It’s the third A to Z Challenge! Blog the letters of the alphabet in order every day except Sundays The participation list is HERE - start with the blog after yours and visit at least five blogs a day. Mostly, make new friends and have fun!

My theme – I have selected a word for each day and will present to you blogger buddies who fit that description, along with movies, music, etc. My theme is to give back, highlight some awesome bloggers, and have fun in the process.

FRIENDLY

Talli Roland You’ve probably heard me rave about the cutest Canadian English girl on the Internet. But the ‘cute’ extends far past Talli’s appearance. She is a genuine friend to all. You will feel welcome the moment you visit her blog. (And she often serves wine!) This woman cannot possibly have any enemies, and I envy that. Talli is the real deal – an awesome author and pure joy to know!

Kathy at Life on the Muskoka River
This Canadian lass is about as friendly as they come. I don’t think she knows a stranger. If she thinks she doesn’t know you well enough, she’ll dig until she does! Her blog is warm and welcome place, and she regularly features “Letters from a Friend.” Positive and upbeat, Kathy brings a lot of sunshine to the blogging world.

Psych
I’m taking a few liberties and changing friendly to friendship. This hilarious show centers on the friendship of Shawn and Gus as they run their Psychic Detective agency. It’s one of the few shows I enjoy watching over and over. Check it out if you want to brighten up your day.

Ninja News

We’ve been waiting for the cover reveal and release date – and surprise, Michael Offutt’s Slipstream is available now! Go check it out and be watching in May when he kicks off his blog tour here.

My awesome Challenge co-host Jeremy will have a new book out as well soon - Retro-Zombie: Art & Words. Will keep you posted…

And the big news!

It’s been a long time coming… You remember the Movie Dirty Dozen, the Top Ten TV Shows, the Top Ten Countdown, the It’s All Fun and Games, and the Worst Movies Ever blogfests – well now it’s time for a new blogfest.

First Loves Blogfest - on May 14, post your first loves – first movie, first song/band, first book, and first person. Four loves, one blogfest!

Sign up below


Following Talli and Cathy? Watch Psych? Who would you say is friendly? And are you ready for another blogfest? Did I surprise you? Bet you’re thinking of firsts already…