Reviews - Captain America: Civil War, Rifftrax:Live Time Chaser, and Jungle Book! Plus A to Z Challenge Reflections and Writing Humor with Misha Gericke

Captain America: Civil War Review

The team is split by the Sokovia Accords, which grants the UN control of the Avengers. When the Captain’s pal Bucky is accused of bombing a UN building, the team is split further as Captain moves to protect Bucky and find the real villain.
The idea of accountability and control over powers is a fascinating conflict. (Also explored in Batman v Superman.) It raises a lot of moral and ethical questions on both sides. A lot of it comes down to standing for what you believe is right.
It’s tough to watch them fight, but you know they won’t really kill each other. (Except for Black Panther – he’s out for blood. And he is badass.)
The villain isn’t remarkable, but his cause is just there to drive the conflict between the characters.
The special effects are stunning. You do not want to miss this in 3D! Some of the best effects are the smaller stunts, like Bucky grabbing a moving motorcycle, spinning it in the air, and landing on it while still moving.
Like Winter Soldier, it does have a darker tone. This is offset by some great humor, especially from newcomer Spiderman (as chatty and dorky as the comic books) and of course Ant-Man, who steals almost every scene he’s in.
Visually stunning, this more character-driven story is a must see in the theaters. Highly recommended!

RiffTrax: Live – Time Chasers Review

Thursday, May 5 was RiffTrax night – and no way I’d miss it.

Time Chasers is not a memorable movie. It’s stupid and very bland. The guys did a good job with this sup-par offering of a film.

The film had an early 80’s vibe to it. Sadly, it was made in 1994.

And the time machine was a Cesna airplane. Yes, really! Made from a Commodore-64. No, I’m not making this up! Did I mention the film was done in 1994?

If you missed it, there’s a encore show on May 17 – get your tickets here.

Then prepare for June 28 and the RiffTrax:Live MST3K Reunion Show!

The Jungle Book Review

The animation in this film is beyond stunning. All of the animals and some of the jungle is CGI, but it all blends seamlessly with the real-life Mowgli. Oscar contender for sure. It remains faithful to the source and even manages to insert two songs into the retelling. Overall, I liked the story, but I didn’t love it. I just didn’t connect on that deeper level. However, for the special effects alone, especially in 3D, I highly recommend it.

Bringing the Humor by Misha Gericke

Thanks for having me over, Alex!

I love visiting Alex’s blog on my blog tours, but dang, I invariably find it hard to write a post for him. Why? Because of this little requirement that there has to be some kind of humor in the post.

Humor is a pain in the butt to write. Really. So I’m going to take this request for humor literally and just write about humor. (See what I did there? Huh? Huh? *shifty grin*)

My books usually have something dark in them, mostly because I don’t shy away from characters’ dark sides. Endless deals with two types of immortals, one of which is addicted to killing the other in order to be… well… uhm… more immortal. (Explaining will take up too many words and I only have 300, so read the book. Why yes, that is a shameless plug.)

At the same time, I didn’t want the book to be all doom and gloom. Humor is the perfect solution, except… I suck at writing humorous scenes.

So what’s a girl to do?

My recipe differs from book to book, but in Endless, my recipe went something like this.

Take one smart Alec main character. Add one snarky side-kick. Mix in scenes. Et voila.

The banter is endless. (Pun intentional? Totally. *Big wink.*) You know what else it is? Funny. There’s just something really amusing about having someone who always wants the last word in every conversation, combined with someone who has no limits to what he’s willing to say and when.

But enough about me. How do you bring humor into your writing? If you don’t write, what’s your favorite sort of humor? (Dark and bitter? Slapstick? Farcical?)

(Oh look! I came in at almost exactly three hundred words. These are the last five.)

Endless
“First, do no harm.” Blake Ryan swore that oath to become a doctor. Ironic, given that he spent most of his thousand year life sucking souls out of other immortals.
Find it at Amazon, iTunes, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and Goodreads
Find Misha at blog, Twitter, Google+, and Tumblr

Six Strings

The latest issues of Six Strings is available! You can download it for free.
The world of soundtracks, scores, films, books, and more.
Put together by our very own Jermey Hawkins.

A to Z Challenge Reflections

This was my seventh Challenge and sixth time as co-host.

I want to start by thanking the Challenge Team who are responsible for making it all happen.

I won’t thank everyone, but I do want to say a big thanks to my Ninja Minions. Because without these awesome people, I never wouldn’t kept up: Rhonda Albom, Nicola Burggraf, Nilanjana Bose, Susan Gourley, Mason Canyon, Stephanie Faris, Yolanda Renee, Ann Bennett, Patricia Lynne, Melanie Schultz, Donna McDine, and JA Scott.

I’m going to keep this short. Most want to know how it went with A to Z Lite. While it helped I wasn’t returning a ton of comments every day, there were other issues:

The point of the Challenge is daily posting. Lite is not daily.

I still had to come up with posts for all of the letters. I made them shorter this year, but putting six together for the week made the posts rather long.

Everyone else was still posting daily and I still felt compelled to visit as many as possible…

So, if you were hoping for A to Z Lite next year, it’s just not a feasible option.

Who else saw Civil War this past weekend? Did you see Jungle Book’s amazing animation last month? Catch RiffTrax: Live? Picking up Six Strings? How do you put humor in your writing? And what were your thoughts on the Challenge this year, whether you participated or not…?

And now you can follow the IWSG on Twitter! 

Follow us at TheIWSG

Retro A to Z Challenge: P – Porcupine Tree 2007 (and Special Thanks)

Porcupine Tree – Fear of a Blank Planet – 2007

This band has undergone many changes over the years. Their earlier work is surreal and trippy, but they continued to progress and are now an outstanding prog rock band. The title is a play on another album, and there are six amazing tracks. The longest - Anesthetize at almost eighteen minutes – is by far the best, and like a blend of three songs. They are a mellow prog band, with great melody, and an easy introduction to someone venturing into the world of progressive rock.

2007 fun facts –
*Cost of gas - $3.38
*The Tesla Roadster, the world’s most efficient electric car, debuted at car shows
*On June 29, the iPhone was released
*The last book in the series was released, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Movies released –
Transformers
The 300
Ocean’s Thirteen
Ratatouille
No Country For Old Men
3:10 to Yuma
The Bourne Ultimatum

Music released –
Rush – Snakes and Arrows
Chevelle – Vena Sera
Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience, & Grace

Games released –
Mass Effect
Bioshock

And why is 2007 special?
It’s the year Misha Gericke was a freshman at University, and the first time she truly got to spread her wings in a world was filled with possibility!

Misha is an author with goals to make it a career. She crafted a detailed plan and schedule to make it happen in five years and is well on her way. She shares all nitty-gritty, from the good to the bad. Misha is genuine, honest, and an inspiration. She blogs at The Five Year Project.

Ninja News!

CD Coffelt has a prequel for The Wilder Mage available now, Out of Magic. And Saturday and Sunday, it is free! Get it on Amazon HERE

River Fairchild revealed the awesome cover for her next book, A Dragon's Lament, Jewels of Chandra, Book 2. It’s due out next month.

And the Ninja’s lair has been spotted! Father Dragon’s dwarves snapped this shot while out scouting the neighborhood. However, they are no match for my security system and will be teleported off the premises immediately!

Special Thanks!

I would like to take this moment to thank two very special groups of ladies.

First, I would like to thank the awesome admins over at the Insecure Writer’s Support Group : Joy, Michelle, Joylene, Susan, Diane, and Lynda.
All of you have done an amazing job with Challenge posts at the site. Before April even began, you had the schedule filled and ready to rock. Thank you for your dedication to the IWSG!

Second, I would like to thank my A to Z Challenge Minions: Joy. Michelle, SL. Susan, Rhonda, Madeline, LG, Cathy. Diane, and Melanie
You have done an awesome job keeping up with our section of the list. As the keeper of the Linky List (I’m the one who spends at least an hour a day fixing and deleting links) I could NOT do this without your help. Thanks for all of your efforts to stay on top of things!

You’ll notice several of these ladies are on both lists. Many are pulling double and even triple duty, as some are also posting for the Challenge. They are uber-awesome! If you are looking for dedicated friends, you’d do well to follow them.

And notice that all of my helpers and admins are women? I am one lucky dude!

Familiar with Porcupine Tree? Following the awesome Misha? Excited about the new releases? Think you know where the Ninja lair resides? Do you have an support team that just rocks? And what do you remember best about 2007…?

Being Humorous with The Vanished Knight! Plus Monster Movie Trivia, Haunted Castles, Man with the Iron Fist Movie Review, Cover Challenge, and Ninja News

Today I welcome the awesome Misha Gericke! And I may have stressed her a little with my request for snark. Let’s see how she did!

Be Humorous!

“Be humorous”, Alex said. “Humor always goes over well with the ninja crowd.” Do you have any idea how nervous this is making me. For one thing, I’m going to bust my chops and the ninjas won’t laugh.

Ninjas don’t laugh. Didn’t you know?

And even if they have a super secret sort of giggle, it’ll be too soft for human ears to hear. So… I guess the question is… If a ninja laughs in the blogosphere and I don’t hear it, am I ever funny?

Really though, writing humor gives me the heevie jeevies. It’s… sort of like… going into a room half naked. Anyone else know what I mean? I guess it’s because I know my sense of humor. It’s like 90% pure chocolate: dark, dry, a little bitter and absolutely wicked. Problem is, no matter how hard one tries, chocolate never really translates into writing. Same thing with what I think is funny. Not to say that my books are humorless. I believe there has to be bits of humor in all stories. Even fantasies with a possessed girl, a jackass (or fourteen), a nutty old man, a quiet kid, a heroic sociopath (or so people think, although I’m never sure if they’re right on the heroic or the sociopath side) and a half elf.

It’s easier then. My characters have senses of humor, and they make silly mistakes. And more often than not, I don’t plan any of it. The magic just happens, seemingly out of the ether. That, I’m comfortable with. Making the magic, not so much.

So… In the interest of humor, I thought I’d share a Nordian joke from Gawain in The Vanished Knight. *Clears throat*
What do you get if you tie two Merithians together? An irritation.
What do you get if you tie two Larisian Elves together? A headache. Unless you drown them.
What do you get if you tie two Ladrians together? Wait? You mean they’d notice?
What do you get if you tie two Nordian Saints together? Your hand back. Severed from your arm, of course.

Doo dum tsss!

Yeah… You’d need to read the book to get it. And in case you’re curious…

Purchase The Vanished Knight: Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, All Romance Reads, Amazon France, and Amazon Germany

M. Gerrick (AKA Misha Gericke) has basically created stories since before she could write. Many of those stories grew up with her and can be seen in her current projects. She lives close to Cape Town, with a view over False Bay and Table Mountain. If you’d like to contact her, feel free to mail her at warofsixcrowns(AT)gmail(DOT)com, Circle her on Google Plus or follow her on Twitter. If you'd like to see her writer-side (beware, it's pretty insane), please feel free to check out her blog. You can also add The Vanished Knight on Goodreads.

Lexa’s Cover Reveal Challenge

Can you find the error on this cover?

To win a prize, find the cover error in each of these 10 blogs: Alex J. Cavanaugh, PK Hrezo, Father Dragon Writes, Bards and Prophets, The Write Game, Ellie Garratt, Klahanie, Julie Flanders, In High Spirits, and Mainewords.

For the correct cover, rules, and prize list, go to Lexa Cain’s BLOG.
Soul Cutter releases from MuseItUp Publishing on December 6, 2013.

Ninja News

Many of you are gearing up for NaNo and might be in need of a buddy at the NaNo site. Beverly Fox is looking to connect with other participants. Visit her or leave your NaNo name in the comments so others can find you. It helps to have friends in the hunt with you!

Lee at Tossing It Out has a special guest today – Liza Long from Anarchist Soccer Mom. She received national attention with her post Thinking the Unthinkable (I am Adam Lanza’s Mom) and talks about the impact of going viral had on her. This is a continuation of his respect series, touching upon blogging and pageviews.

Somerset Memories asked Ella to write an article about her grandparents – and here it is published! Congratulations, Ella.





Want to visit a haunted castle? Gadling lists the ten most haunted castles in the world, including Castle Bran – Dracula’s castle.

Movie Review

The Man with the Iron Fists
Directed by and starring RZA, with Eli Roth as one of the producers.
First off, this movie is not good. But, it is ridiculously entertaining! If you like way over the top wire-fu mixed with a bit of gore, then this might be the film for you. Won’t win any Oscars, but it was entertaining as hell.
Also starring Rick Yune, Lucy Liu, and a fat Russell Crowe.

Monster Movie Trivia!

Name the monster(s) or creature(s) in the following movies:

1 – Ginger Snaps 2000

2 – Them! 1954

3 – Tremors 1990

4 – Dead Alive 1992

5 – Near Dark 1987

6 – Mimic 1997

Misha does know humorous, doesn’t she? Have you picked up The Vanished Knight? Participating in NaNo? Ready to visit a haunted castle? Seen The Man with the Iron Fists? And do you know any of the monsters…?

New Ayeron Coming! Plus Options for Blog Comments, Halloween T-shirts, Want to be Interviewed?, and the Ninja News

Today I am visiting Misha Gericke with an account of my journey to publication. (It should really give you guys hope!)

Upcoming Epic Music Release!

Ayreon - The Theory of Everything
Release date – October 29

The trailer says they return to earth to explore the most complex creation ever – the human mind. After their AMAZING album, The Human Equation, one of the greatest concept albums ever, I am stoked for another that delves into the complexities of humans.


And Arjen Lucassen, the genius behind Ayreon, has a huge lineup of guest performers, including:
Tommy Karevik from Seventh Wonder and Kamelot
Cristina Scabbia from Lacuna Coil
Keith Emerson from Emerson, Lake, and Palmer
Rick Wakeman from Yes
Jordan Rudessfrom– Dream Theater
Steve Hackett from Genesis

And here’s the amazing trailer:

Ninja News

I am looking for two more people to interview for the A to Z Blog. If you participated in this year’s Challenge, posted around a theme, and are interested in a Challenge Participant Feature, let me know! I have November 4 and December 2 open.

Roland Yeomans just released his latest, Her Bones are in the Badlands. You can find it on Amazon. Roland is an incredibly talented writer, so check it out!


This weekend Captain Phillips comes out, and rumors of an Oscar nomination for Tom Hanks are already circulating.

Jen Naumann is revealing the cover for next book today. The Time Zombies Became the Least of my Worries comes out next month.Congratulations, Jen!



Jeremy, you’ll appreciate this! From Blastr - 18 T-shirts you can wear for Halloween if a costume seems like too much work. Here’s a couple – see the site for more!

Cover Reveals Results

The comments from Wednesday’s post revealed a wide variety of opinions, from those who really liked cover reveals to those who were burnt out on them. The overriding consensus was that they needed to be unique though, with something different on every participating site. I’ll still do cover releases, but I will limit them to my closest blogger buddies.

Comments

Next topic – comments! Because there is a wide variety of options for comments now.

Blogger recently changed their imbedded comment box. (And every time I use one, I worry that I’ll hit the ‘sign out’ button by accident!)

Blogger also has the pop-up comment box, which is what I use. (So far that one remains the same.)

There is also an option that takes you to a blank page and you can click to view the post.

Some people use the Disqus comment system. You can register to use it several different ways or post as a guest. Of course, comments continue to appear in your email afterwards...

Some have switched to the Google+ comment system. (And if you don’t check the little box, your comment also posts on Google+)

Wordpress and other blogs have a variety of different options. I know some people have problems commenting.

They all have their good points and bad points. Which one is best? Which one do you use? I like the popup box, because then I can still see all of the comments and the post with minimal scrolling. And since I reply to people in batches, I don’t have to keep scrolling back down to the comment box – I can have it off to the side.

Are you a fan of Ayreon? (Or any of the other bands Lucassen has started – Guilt Machine, Star One, Stream of Passion…?) Want to be interviewed for the A to Z Blog? Picked up Roland’s book? Seeing Captain Phillips? And what is your favorite comment gizmo?

Don’t forget to visit Misha Gericke!

Survivor: ParanormYA Island, New Thor: The Dark World Posters, IWSG Site, Ninja News and New Releases

The Storm continues! Today I have an interview with the awesome Belle Wong who runs My Bookish Ways. We cover everything from writing to my books to clones – check it out!

Today I welcome Gwen Gardner and Angela Brown, Partners in ParanormYA!

You are now tuning in to a special edition of Survivor: ParanormYA Island – Battle of the Sexes. The boys from They All Fall Down and A Guilty Ghost Surprised, against the girls…

*cue Survivor theme music*

Badger, Simon and Basil are gathered on the beach. Lips are moving and arms are waving about but nothing much appears to be happening.

On another part of the island, the girls are settling in. Riley has mysteriously located a cool cave to steal away in with a machete (where in the world did she get a huge blade like that?), several coconuts and bedding made of woven palm leaves and stems. Abby is just outside the cave with a warm fire stoked while performing an odd trick of warming a large blob of spinning water with a steady flame of holy fire. Indigo has a load of sticks stacked in her arms.

Franny pops onto the scene, inches from Indigo--.

--Indigo gasps, scattering the sticks in the air in her fright.

--Abby breaks concentration, spilling the water.

--Riley stumbles out of the cave.

Riley: What the – what happened?

Indigo: Franny? Can you please not scare me popping in like that? I think my heart just ran off the island.

Abby: Oh, hi Franny… *glances around* wherever you’re hovering.

Franny: Girls, the boys are getting nowhere.

Indigo: Franny…spying on them isn’t fair. But thanks. Wait, can we go to hell for cheating?

Franny: That’s not why I’m here. I spotted a few unseemly characters.

Simon slows his pace as he approaches: Like who?

Riley tucks her hands on her hips: What are you three doing here?

Badger: Franny told us to come here, er, rather, told Simon. He can’t see her but she scared the bloody dickens out of all of us when he heard her voice and screamed like a girl. Uh, no offense.

Abby: None taken. So can someone clue me in? I could see lost souls in the Withers, not on this earthly plane.

Basil: Same here. What’s going on?

Franny: They’re here, Q and SC.

Simon tosses his hands in the air, flustered: Just brilliant!

Indigo squares her shoulders, sighing: Now I see why Franny brought you guys here. The Devourer and Soul Collector are on the island. The only way we can defeat them is together.

Abby: You mean the way our authors Angela and Gwen are working together to tell the world about their, well, our new releases?

Riley: Good point. Abby, you and Basil have your elemental and shadow powers. Simon is pretty tough with those fists. Badger can scare with his scowl.

Badger scowls with emphasis.

Riley: See? *she turns to Indigo* Indigo, we can use your speed. We’ll try to keep your psychometry out of things this time.

Badger: Thanks.

Indigo gives a scowl of her own.

*cue fade-out music*

Angela and Gwen have all the confidence in the world that their characters can defeat their arch nemeses. Especially since they joined forces through book cross-over and combined some serious kick-arse talents.

But how do they fare in the novels?

Free of their duties as Cleanser and Harvestor, Abby and Basil try to move on with their lives. But some secrets remain. And what is done in the dark won’t be good when it comes to light.

Purchase They All Fall Down at Amazon and Barnes and Noble

Indigo Eady and gang are back with a feather and a Chance setting off another twisting-turning investigation to bring a cold case, and loved ones, closure at last.

Purchase A Guilty Ghost Surprised at Amazon and Barnes and Noble

About Partners in ParanormYA:
Gwen Gardner and Angela Brown - YA paranormal authors embarking on the adventure of a lifetime. Share with us as we take the Indie journey to bring our works to the world. Buckle up! There'll be mystery, mayhem, action and emotional roller coasters...oh, and a few things that go bump in the night.
Hauntings are scary but we love interaction:
Angela - Blog Facebook Twitter
Gwen - Blog Facebook Twitter

Available today!

Memories of Murder by Yolanda Renee

Decades ago, the seeds were planted …
Today, dark, fathomless eyes rake the image before him. One final task and the transformation is complete. Steady fingers screw intricately carved horns on each side of a stiff brow, and a gargoyle suitable for Notre Dame scowls from the smokey mirror in satisfaction.
A jagged smile rips through his smooth, hairless face, and inked, reptilian scales caress his naked body.
A laugh of hideous resonance emanates from his gut as the demons of hell welcome Lucifer into their fold.
In a dungeon-like chamber, his Lilith awaits. The kidnapped daughter of a nun, groomed to fit the final piece in the complex puzzle for world domination. Will Lucifer marry his bride, on the summer solstice?
Only two things stand in his way ...
His greed ...
And ...
Detective Steven Quaid.

Find Renee here - Blog Twitter Pinterest

The Vanished Knight by Misha Gericke

The Black Knight, Nordaine’s crown prince, has no legitimate blood heirs, meaning someone must be appointed to succeed him. With two of the candidates’ families willing to kill for the appointment and the third candidate being seen as a threat to all, peace is balanced on a sword’s edge.
But then the Black Knight vanishes.
Darrion and Gawain, two of his possible heirs, set out to find him, but after they rescue an earth-girl from Merithian soldiers, they discover she has possible ties to Nordaine. Not only that, but Callan Blair could be an Elvish princess. And war looms on the horizon…

Ninja News

Jai Joshi’s Day of Youth is now available. Congratulations, Jai!

Laura Pauling’s Vanishing Point, A Circle of Spies novella, is also available. Congratulations, Laura!

Coming November 13 – Moonless, Maiden of Time #1 by Crystal Collier

Alexia’s nightmares become reality: a dead baron, red-eyed wraiths, and forbidden love with a man hunted by these creatures…

Insecure Writer’s Support Group

What can I say but… wow! Thank you everyone. The Insecure Writer’s Support Group website was overwhelmed with followers and the Facebook Group doubled that following.

A schedule is already in place for the Facebook group – we’ll have Motivational Mondays, Wow! It’s Wednesday, and Fun Fridays.

I appreciate all of the words of thanks, but all I can claim is the idea and the basic site setup – the other admins took the idea and ran with it, filling the database and establishing the Facebook group. Those ladies did amazing things these past few weeks.

There is a lot I’d like to say about the group and what has happened in the past four years that I’ve been blogging. In the interest of time, I will save that for another day. For now, just thank you for the support of this group, and continue to spread the news. We want to build this database up big!

New Thor: The Dark World Posters

From Jo Blo’s site, we get a look at Volstagg and Fandral:

Would you want to be on Survivor: ParanormYA Island? Excited about the awesome new releases? Following the IWSG website and Facebook group? What did you like about the new site? Excited about Thor? And who’s seeing Gravity this weekend…?

Don’t forget to visit Belle at My Bookish Ways!

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…

The July Movie Preview! Plus CassaStorm Updates, Wednesday Movie Quote, and Ninja News

Ninja News

Misha Gericke’s Paying it Forward nominations are open again! One category - Blogger Most Deserving of Having Their Day Made. See her site for details.

Nominate a self-published author for their weekly series spotlight at The Guardian.

Sarah Ahiers has a story, Smothered, in Dark Moon Digest’s YA quarterly edition. Congratulations, Sarah!

Available now!

Ruby’s Fire by Catherine Stine

If everything about you changes, what remains?

Find Ruby’s Fire at Amazon, Amazon Kindle, and Goodreads.


Author Samantha Redstreake Geary is collaborating with the motion picture music production house, Audiomachine, for their album release "The Tree of Life" beginning July 15th. She’s hosting a "Tree of Life: Branching Out" writing challenge/contest for guest writers, each contributing their own 150 word excerpt to a continuing story collectively written over the course of 25 days. Guest writers can spin the story in whatever direction they choose, as long as it relates to the previously posted excerpt and is inspired by the featured Audiomachine track. When the collective story is complete, fans will vote for their favorite excerpt -- the top three writers will be awarded prizes. See her site for details.

Updates!

After making one widget featuring my blogger buddies’ books (see left side bar – bottom) I realized I’d missed some, so I made a second one. A few books I couldn’t find (the widget is through Amazon) and I apologize. Hopefully I’ve featured one book from everyone!

I will be taking Fridays off through July so I can complete all the revisions for CassaStorm. I’ll still be visiting, but I won’t be posting.

And… the book trailer for CassaStorm should be ready soon! My publisher asked for three key taglines, and other than shorter than the first two trailers, I don’t know anything else about it. I’m really eager to see it, though!

Wednesday Movie Quote

Today’s genre – superhero films!


I have to go with The Avengers:

“Puny god.”

Next week – water movies! (You may interpret that any way you like.)

July Movie Preview

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

3 – 

The Lone Ranger
Native American warrior Tonto recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid, a man of the law, into a legend of justice.
Director: Gore Verbinski
Stars: Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, William Fichtner, Tom Wilkinson
Verbinski and Depp have done it before – can they do it again?

Despicable Me 2
Gru is recruited by the Anti-Villain League to help deal with a powerful new super criminal.
Directors: Pierre Coffin | Chris Renaud
Stars: Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Miranda Cosgrove, Ken Jeong
The Minions are back! Who doesn’t dig the Minions?



12 –

Pacific Rim
When an alien attack threatens the Earth's existence, giant robots piloted by humans are deployed to fight off the menace.
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Stars: Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Charlie Day, Rinko Kikuchi
Giant robots versus giant monsters and directed by del Toro – need I say more?


19 –

Red 2
Retired black-ops CIA agent Frank Moses reunites his unlikely team of elite operatives for a global quest to track down a missing portable nuclear device.
Director: Dean Parisot
Stars: Bruce Willis, Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich
Great cast and the first one was hilarious.

R.I.P.D.
A recently slain cop joins a team of undead police officers working for the Rest in Peace Department and tries to find the man who murdered him.
Director: Robert Schwentke
Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Mary-Louise Parker, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Bacon
Undead police… um, sure.

Turbo
A freak accident might just help an everyday garden snail achieve his biggest dream: winning the Indy 500.
Director: David Soren
Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Paul Giamatti, Maya Rudolph, Samuel L. Jackson
It’s Ryan Reynolds day! Maybe we’ll get singing slugs like the ones in Flushed Away.



26 – 

The Wolverine
Wolverine makes a voyage to modern-day Japan, where he encounters an enemy from his past that will impact on his future.
Director: James Mangold
Stars: Hugh Jackman, Famke Janssen, Will Yun Lee, Tao Okamoto
It’s got to be better than his origins film!



See some interesting news today? Anyone as excited as me to see the trailer for CassaStorm? (Well, probably not.) What’s your favorite superhero film quote? And what movies will you be seeing in July?