CassaStorm Launch Week! Awesome Tour Stops and Prizes! Plus Cassa Facts, Cassa Trivia, and Ninja News

I was incredibly honored when Natalie asked to be part of my tour. Literary Rambles is a HUGE site, focusing on children’s and young adult books. Today’s stop is an interview at Literary Rambles, focusing on my books and blogging tips. Natalie, really appreciate it!


For those who don’t blog on the weekend, I was also honored with a guest post at a Writer’s Digest Best Site - Anne R Allen’s Blog - where I outlined how to create an online community. Anne often features New York Times best-selling authors, so it was an incredible privilege to contribute to her site. Thanks, Anne!!


And CassaStorm’s release week kicks off with prizes every day! Comment between September 16 and 20 to enter. (Ends 6:00 pm EST Sunday, September 22.)
Prizes include:
Cassa mousepad
Cassa Universe poster
Cassa magnet
Cassa mug
Autographed copy of CassaStorm
One person will be randomly selected each day and the five names will be drawn from a hat – first person gets first choice and so on.

This week I will be featuring my tour, unique Cassa facts, trivia, and prizes every day. Plus others are announcing CassaStorm’s release, and almost every post features a unique interview question. List of participants on the CassaStorm Page. So join the fun!

And tomorrow night is the RUSHED Twitter party! Between 8:00 and 9:00 pm EST, follow the hashtag #RUSHED for an hour of fun, questions, answers, treasure hunts, and giveaways. Hosted by the awesome Lynn Rush and featuring giveaways from both of us. It’s my first ever Twitter party, so I hope someone shows up!

Ninja News

Writers4Writers is today! Visit Cherie Reich and Helen Ginger for their suggested Tweets and Facebook posts.

Roland Yeomans is hosting the HAPPY HALLOWEEN BLOGFEST. “From now until Halloween describe the book that scared you the most and what you think of my LUCIFER'S ORPHAN serial monthly trilogy.” Winner receives an autographed Brad Pitt photo. See Roland’s site for details.

Great opportunity! Lynn Kelley posted this: “Attention teachers and librarians! The Emblazoner’s New Catalog – filled with great middle grade and tween titles your students and patrons will love – is coming soon! To celebrate, we’re holding a giveaway of stuff you can use: gift cards to add books to your collection and swag to hand out to your students and patrons. The giveaway is from September 16th – 23rd!”

Jackie at Bouquet of Books and Dani at Entertaining Interests are hosting Spooktoberfest the last week of October. See their sites for details.

RaShelle Workman’s latest is out - Volume 2 in the Cindy Chronicles - Witch Land. Congratulations, RaShelle – you rock!

Cassa Facts

One of the influences on my first book was the original Battlestar Galactica series. (As Bob so aptly nailed in his review.)

When I rewrote the story several years ago, I still envisioned the Galactica’s fighters when describing the Cassan’s Cosbolts. In the first round of edits with my publisher, they suggested I alter the ships and make them more unique. While I didn’t picture them exactly as the cover artist depicted, they still came out rather cool.

And I still got to use that basic design for the smaller Dartens!

Battlestar Galactica’s fighters weren’t the only idea I used. In the series, Apollo had a sister, Athena. I shortened the name and came up with Athee. (So, for those of you still wondering how to pronounce Athee, it’s Athena without the ‘na.’)

Cassa Trivia!

Since it was an early influence, here is some original Battlestar Galactica trivia for you!


1 – What was the name of the Galactica’s fighters?

2 – Boxey had a mechanical daggit for a pet – what was its name?

3 – Who played Starbuck?

4 – Four pilots were in almost every episode – Captain Apollo, Lt. Starbuck, Lt. Boomer, and Flight Sgt. ____

5 – Who played Serina, Boxey’s mother, in the first three episodes?

6 – At the time, it was the most expensive television show ever. How much did each episode cost to make?

7 – Who was the head writer and executive producer of the series?

One more day! Don’t forget to leave a comment to be entered in the drawing. Big thanks to all who are announcing this week.

See any good blogfests or opportunities? Anyone else watch the original Battlestar Galactica? Know any of the trivia? Placing bets on whether I sleep tonight or not…?

Please be sure to visit Literary Rambles! And Anne R Allen’s Blog if you missed it yesterday.

August Movie Preview! Plus Solomon Kane Review, Bambi Meets Godzilla, Ninja News, and Special Announcement

Here are the upcoming movies for August! As always, descriptions courtesy of the IMDB. Snarky comments by me.

2 – 

Europa Report
An international crew of astronauts undertakes a privately funded mission to search for life on Jupiter's fourth largest moon.
Director: Sebastián Cordero
Stars: Christian Camargo, Embeth Davidtz, Michael Nyqvist, Sharlto Copley
Unique found footage film that’s generating some good buzz. I just might be found footage overdone though…

2 Guns
A DEA agent and a naval intelligence officer find themselves on the run after a botched attempt to infiltrate a drug cartel. While fleeing, they learn the secret of their shaky alliance: Neither knew that the other was an undercover agent.
Director: Baltasar Kormákur
Stars: Denzel Washington, Mark Wahlberg, Paula Patton, Bill Paxton
Washington and Wahlberg – could be action-packed fun.

9 –

Elysium
A factory worker takes on a mission to hijack his way onto a man-made space habitat.
Director: Neill Blomkamp
Stars: Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley, Alice Braga
From the director of District 9. Not an original idea (Battle Angel Alita anyone?) but I’m hoping it’s as good as the previews.

Planes
Dusty is a cropdusting plane who dreams of competing in a famous aerial race. The problem? He is hopelessly afraid of heights. With the support of his mentor Skipper and a host of new friends, Dusty sets off to make his dreams come true.
Director: Klay Hall
Stars: Val Kilmer, Teri Hatcher, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Carlos Alazraqui
From Disney not Pixar – can you say Cars with wings?

We’re the Millers
A veteran pot dealer creates a fake family as part of his plan to move a huge shipment of weed into the U.S. from Mexico.
Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Stars: Jennifer Aniston, Emma Roberts, Jason Sudeikis, Ed Helms
From the creator of Dodgeball, which was actually kind of funny...

Also releasing - Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters

16 –

Kick Ass 2
The costumed high-school hero Kick-Ass joins with a group of normal citizens who have been inspired to fight crime in costume. Meanwhile, the Red Mist plots an act of revenge that will affect everyone Kick-Ass knows.
Director: Jeff Wadlow
Stars: Chloë Grace Moretz, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jim Carrey, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
I’ll admit it – guilty pleasure! And the first one really did kick ass

Also releasing – Paranoia, The Butler, and Jobs

23 –

The World’s End
Five friends who reunite in an attempt to top their epic pub crawl from 20 years earlier unwittingly become humankind's only hope for survival.
Director: Edgar Wright
Stars: Rosamund Pike, Simon Pegg, Martin Freeman, Nick Frost
From the creator of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz – need I say more?


Also releasing – The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

Ninja News

Big thanks to my friends who visited C. Lee McKenzie on Monday! Bassan was a challenging character and I hope he shines in the third book.

Need a really good laugh? What if Facebook had existed during WWII? Visit Fran at The Angry Lurker for the hilariaty!

Michael Di Gesu is now offering copyrighting and other services. Congratulations on the business venture, Michael! See his site for details.

Rachel Schieffelbein’s young adult novella, Run For the Roses, was picked up by Swoon Romance for a November release. Congratulations, Rachel!

JW Alden’s science fiction story, Battle Lines, is featured in issue 7 of Plasma Frequency Magazine. Also featured in the issue – Milo James Fowler. Congratulations, guys!

Lynn Kelley announced that on Thursday, August 1, a few of the Emblazon authors (who write for tweens) have scheduled a promo day together and priced some of their eBooks for FREE.

Misha Gericke has put up a list for insane dreamers – sign up, stating what you want to accomplish, and then post your progress the last Friday of the month. See her blog for details.

Bambi Meets Godzilla

This is for my buddy Gary at Klahanie. (Don’t forget the Anti-Blogfest Gary Fest! Short and simple – name three blogfests you’d never participate in. Sign up HERE.)

Enjoy Bambi Meets Godzilla!

Movie Review

Solomon Kane
After waiting years, I finally got to see this film!
A mercenary’s soul is bound for hell as punishment for his deeds, but he seeks redemption by helping an innocent family. Watching it gave me some serious D&D flashbacks. It has that vibe to it and the action was really good.
The acting was also good. James Purefoy was perfect as the lead. It was also nice to see Pete Postlethwaite in one of his last roles.
It’s not an epic film, but they did a lot with a very small budget.
As a Christian, I really dug the message of the film – every soul is redeemable.
Recommended – and after viewing this film, I told my wife that it was much, much better than The Wolverine!

Need a good laugh? (Did you watch Bambi Meets Godzilla?) Ready for some free books or a commitment to a goal? Anyone else see Solomon Kane? And what movies catch your eye for August?

Monday I have a special announcement regarding CassaStorm! Stay tuned…