#IWSG Anthology Contest Opens! Voyagers: The Third Ghost Release, Katatonia – City Burials Review, and More

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.


The awesome co-hosts today are Feather Stone, Beverly Stowe McClure, Mary Aalgaard, Kim Lajevardi, and Chemist Ken!

Today’s question - Do you have any rituals that you use when you need help getting into the ZONE? Care to share?

Music! Progressive rock and metal. Loud. Always sets the tone.

2019 IWSG Anthology is out now!

Voyagers: The Third Ghost

Release date – May 5, 2020
Print 9781939844729 $13.95
EBook 9781939844736 $4.99
Juvenile Fiction - Historical / Action & Adventure / Fantasy & Magic
Dancing Lemur Press/Freedom Fox Press

Journey into the past…

Will the third ghost be found before fires take more lives? Can everyone be warned before Pompeii is buried again? What happens if a blizzard traps a family in East Germany? Will the Firebird help Soviet sisters outwit evil during WWII? And sneaking off to see the first aeroplane – what could go wrong?

Ten authors explore the past, sending their young protagonists on harrowing adventures. Featuring the talents of Yvonne Ventresca, Katharina Gerlach, Roland Clarke, Sherry Ellis, Rebecca M. Douglass, Bish Denham, Charles Kowalski, Louise MacBeath Barbour, Beth Anderson Schuck, and L.T. Ward.

Hand-picked by a panel of agents, authors, and editors, these ten tales will take readers on a voyage of wonder into history. Get ready for an exciting ride!

Winners:
The Third Ghost – Yvonne Ventresca
Winter Days - Katharina Gerlach
Feathered Fire – Roland Clarke
The Ghosts of Pompeii – Sherry Ellis
Dare Double Dare – Louise MacBeath Barbour
The Blind Ship – Bish Denham
A World of Trouble – Rebecca M. Douglass
The Orchard - Beth Anderson Schuck
Return to Cahokia – L.T. Ward
Simon Grey and the Yamamba - Charles Kowalski

Special thanks to our amazing judges:

Elizabeth S. Craig, author and honorary judge

Dianne K. Salerni, author

Lynda Dietz, editor

S.A. Larsen, author

Rachna Chhabria, author

Lindsay Davis Auld, agent - Writers House

Tonja Drecker, author

David Powers King, author


Our previous IWSG anthologies -
Masquerade: Oddly Suited
Tick Tock: A Stitch in Crime
Hero Lost: The Mysteries of Death and Life
Parallels: Felix Was Here

Doesn’t Louise look happy to get her author copies?

The 2020 IWSG Anthology Contest is now open!

Guidelines and rules:

Word count: 4500-6000

Genre: Science Fiction

Theme: Dark Matter

Submissions accepted: May 6 - September 2, 2020

How to enter: Send your polished, formatted (double-spaced, no footers or headers), previously unpublished story to admin @ insecurewriterssupportgroup.com before the deadline passes. Please include your full contact details, your social links, and if you are part of the Blogging, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter IWSG group.

Judging: The IWSG admins will create a shortlist of the best stories. The shortlist will then be sent to our official judges.

Our official judges:

Dan Koboldt, author and #SFFpit founder
Dan Koboldt is the author of the Gateways to Alissia trilogy (Harper Voyager), the editor of Putting the Science in Fiction (Writers Digest, 2018), and the creator of the sci-fi adventure serial The Triangle (Serial Box, 2019). As a genetics researcher, he has co-authored more than 80 publications in Nature, Science, The New England Journal of Medicine, and other scientific journals. He is represented by Paul Stevens of Donald Maass Literary Agency.

Lynda R. Young, author
Lynda R. Young is an Aussie writing fantasy novels as Elle Cardy. Wielder’s Prize is her debut YA epic fantasy. She is also an editor, game developer, 3D artist, graphic designer, photographer, gamer and more.

Colleen Oefelein, agent, The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency
Colleen Oefelein is an author of YA, picture books, and author promotion guides, a devourer of books, and the owner of the book review site North of Normal. Formerly an associate agent and PR manager with Inklings Literary Agency, Colleen has hosted numerous “Pitch Perfect” and “Rejection Correction” workshops on Facebook and at conferences nationwide, and she’s mentored several authors one-on-one through online pitch contests such as Pitch Wars.

Damien Larkin, author
Damien Larkin is an Irish science fiction author and co-founder of the British and Irish Writing Community. His debut novel Big Red was published by Dancing Lemur Press and went on to be longlisted for the BSFA award for Best Novel. He currently lives in Dublin, Ireland and is working on his next novel Blood Red Sand.

Ion Newcombe, eidtor and publisher
is the editor and publisher of AntipodeanSF, Australia's longest running online speculative fiction magazine, regularly issued since January 1998. His qualifications and employment range from horticulture through electronics into literature and communications.

Julie Gwinn, agent, The Seymour Agency
Julie Gwinn most recently served as Marketing Manager for the Christian Living line at Abingdon Press and before that served as Trade Book Marketing Manager and then Fiction Publisher for the Pure Enjoyment line at B&H Publishing Group, a Division of LifeWay Christian Resources. Recently, she was awarded Editor of the Year from the American Christian Fiction Writers and won B&H’s first Christy award for Ginny Yttrup’s debut novel Words.

David Powers King, author
David's works include Woven, The Undead Road,, and Full Dark: An Anthology. He currently resides in the Mountain West with his wife and 4 children.





Prizes: The winning stories will be edited and published by Dancing Lemur Press' imprint Freedom Fox Press next year in the IWSG anthology. (Please see their site for general submission guidelines.) Authors will receive royalties on books sold, both print and eBook. The top story will have the honor of giving the anthology its title.

We’re excited to see the creativity and enthusiasm that’s such a part of this group put into action. So don your creative caps and start writing. And spread the word!

Music Review

Katatonia - City Burials

I was late to the party when I discovered Katatonia. Their last album, “Fall of Hearts” made so many year-end top ten lists in 2016 that I had to check it out.

I have to admit, I wasn’t sure what to think after my first run through. But that’s the beauty of the band. They’re not about instant gratification. The more I listened, the more I loved it.

The album is meant to be listened as a whole experience. It flows and crests like a wave, and the journey is amazing.

City Burials is another great entry in the Katatonia catalog. It’s nuanced and subtle yet full of stellar moments that you yearn to hear over and over. The musicianship and songwriting are amazing. This one will be on my top ten list come years end, and I hope you check it out.

Highly recommended!

And to go with Monday’s Music Moves Me, hosted by Xmas Dolly, here is the video for Lacquer, a melodic and haunting song:

Movie Review

The Willoughbys
This animated film dropped on NetFlix last month and after a couple good reviews, we decided to check it out.
Let me just cut to the chase – I hated this film.
Who thought a whimsical children’s film on severe child neglect and abuse would be fun?
The parents are absorbed with each other and don’t like their kids. They ignore them, don’t feed them, etc. The kids decide to orphan themselves and send their parents on a trip just hoping they will get lost forever. (Spoiler – And when they go to rescue their parents, mom and dad leave the kids on the side of a mountain and end up dying a fiery death in a derigible.)
The message is supposed to be about family, but the twisted messages about families overshadow any good message buried there.
Extremely not recommended!

Picking up Voyagers? Entering the next contest? Familiar with Katatonia - what did you think of Lacquer? Had the misfortune to sit through The Willoughbys? And what gets you into that writing groove?

Top Ten Murder Movies, IWSG and the Pandemic, Monday’s Music Moves Me, and Movie and Book News

My Top Ten List of Murder Movies By Yolanda Renee

1. A Perfect Murder (1998) Director Andrew Davis - Michael Douglas, Gwyneth Paltrow
A wealthy man, Michael Douglas, discovers that his wife, Gwyneth Paltrow, has a lover. He blackmails the lover, Viggo Mortensen, into murdering his wife.
Turns out not to be so perfect after all. Great high tension-ending.

2. Seven (1995) Director David Fincher - Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman.
A rookie detective, Brad Pitt, and a veteran detective, Morgan Freeman, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his motive.
Shocking end!

3 The Silence of the Lambs (1991) Director Jonathan Demme - Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins
A young FBI cadet, Jodie Foster, is sent to meet with a serial killer, a real madman, Anthony Hopkins, to help solve another case.
The quid pro quo is excellent!

4. Psycho (1960) Director Alfred Hitchcock - Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh
A remote motel. A young man, under the influence of his domineering mother. A woman just looking for a night's rest.
Talk about the wrong place at the wrong time. Excellent scare factor.

5. Body Heat (1981) Director Lawrence Kasdan - William Hurt, Kathleen Turner
The wife of a wealthy man, Kathleen Turner, manipulates William Hurt into killing her husband. The heat in this one is extreme.
But a magnificent twist means another great ending!

6. Rear Window (1954) Director Alfred Hitchcock - James Stewart, Grace Kelly
Wheelchair-bound and bored, Jimmy Stewart begins to spy on his neighbors. After a while, he's sure that one man has killed his wife. High tension as he sends his girlfriend to investigate because he can't! Hitchcock at his best.

7. Vertigo (1958) Director Alfred Hitchcock - James Stewart, Kim Novak
Jimmy Stewart, a former police detective, suffers from a fear of heights. When a woman kills herself by jumping from a bell tower, her death, due to his inaction, haunts him. When he meets her look-a-like, his sleuthing skills re-emerge.
The ending is supreme.

8. Dark Passage (1947) Director Delmer Daves-- Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall
A man escapes prison, changes his looks, and goes after the man who killed his wife and framed him.
I enjoyed the way this was done, and those two together, nothing better!

9. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) Director David Fincher - Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara
A journalist, Daniel Craig, is hired to find a woman who disappeared forty years ago. He enlists the aid of a young computer hacker, Rooney Mara, to help him.
This is one tangled web of awesomeness!

10. Laura (1944) Director Otto Preminger - Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews
This movie is my all-time favorite. The police detective, Dana Andrews, falls in love with a woman, Gene Tierney, via her portrait while he's investigating her murder.
The way the romance was weaved through the story got to me!

Thank you, Alex, for hosting me and my latest book and allowing me to discuss my favorite murder movies.

It’s a pleasure to be participating in author Yolanda Renee’s MURDER, JUST BECAUSE Blog Tour through MC Book Tours today.

The author is offering an awesome tour-wide international giveaway. More information on the giveaway is listed below.

MURDER, JUST BECAUSE by Yolanda Renée
◊ Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense
◊ Publisher: Yolanda Renee
◊ Series: Detective Quaid Mysteries
◊ Paperback: 291 pages
◊ Print & eBooks
◊ ISBN-10: 0985820632
◊ ISBN-13: 978-0985820633
◊ Contains explicit sex & graphic violence

It was a matter of beginner’s luck, but rookie detective Steven Quaid’s career and reputation as an elite investigator skyrocketed when he captured one of the most sadistic serial killers in Alaskan history: Stowy Jenkins, AKA the Snowman. But that was ten years ago.
And now…Jenkins is back.

At one time Alaska called to me, and I answered. I learned to sleep under the midnight sun, survive in below zero temperatures, and hike the Mountain Ranges. I’ve traveled from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez, and the memories are some of my most valued. The wonders, mysteries and incredible beauty that is Alaska has never left me and thus now influences my writing. Despite my adventurous spirit, I achieved my educational goals, married, and I have two handsome sons. Writing is now my focus, my newest adventure!
Find Yolanda at blog, Facebook Twitter Pinterest, and Email

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:
This tour-wide giveaway is for a complete set of the Detective Quaid Mystery series books for one winner, paperback copies of MURDER, JUST BECAUSE for five winners, and a Kindle copy of MURDER, JUST BECAUSE for 10 winners.
To enter the giveaway, just click on the Rafflecopter and follow the instructions.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to follow Yolanda on her week-long tour HERE. You never know what you might find out.
Do you enjoy watching a character grow from one story to the next?

IWSG

IWSG post day was very moving as most of the participants answered the monthly question with how they were doing during our world crisis.

Some have already gone through the virus - Sherry Ellis’ family all had it and recovered.

Some are in a bad situation - Lynn and her husband are trapped on their boat in Mexico and while they are both high risk, they can’t get tested.

Some have found something uplifting – Louise posted a short video by Chris Hadfield, a retired Canadian astronaut, and his view on how to handle isolation.

I think my favorite was by Em-Musing. She said she was doing what was necessary, but what wasn’t necessary was thinking the worst and getting scared. She’s lived through the polio outbreak, the Cuban Missile Crisis (and missiles set to fire at Cuba were just a couple miles from her home), having her first child during the Hong Kong Flu and no one could visit her at the hospital, and all the other viruses and scares. So while she is concerned, she refuses to be scared!

What was the most moving post you read that day?

Monday’s Music Moves Me

Hosted by Xmas Dolly.

Today it’s songs with the word fool in them.

I’m going with the first thing that popped into my head – Fool for Your Loving by Whitesnake!

Ninja News

Tales From the Loop
This is a new show on Amazon Prime.
Every episode revolves around an underground facility called The Loop and those who work there and live above it. It also covers several different time periods, as The Loop has been around for quite a while.
The first episode moved glacierly slow, but fortunately it was really interesting.
The cinematography was amazing. Really well done.
Based on the paintings of Simon Stålenhag.
I’ll keep watching!

The next season of What We Do in the Shadows starts this month!

From the IMDB -
A look into the daily (or rather, nightly) lives of three vampires, who've lived together for over 100 years, on Staten Island.

This series is hilarious!! If you haven’t checked it out, you need to.
This FX show also streams on Hulu



New Releases

Heroika Skirmishers, Created by Janet Morris and edited by Alexandra Butcher

Including the story In the Season of Rust by Charles Gramlich

Find it on Amazon

The Pain of Things by JL Campbell

Find it on Amazon

What are your favorite murder movies? What music moves you? Been watching Tales from the Loop? Ready for some more vampire comedy? Picking up some new books? And what IWSG posts moved you this month?

The Meg and The Signal Reviews, Animal Movie Trivia, Monday’s Music, and News

Movie Reviews

The Meg

Jonas Taylor encountered something on a rescue mission where lives were lost. Years later, he is called back into action to rescue a submersible – and discovers something even bigger.
Based on a book – which I recently downloaded and began reading – The Meg goes for realistic (but a bit silly) rather than cheesy. And it works for the most part. They create a plausible scenario where a megalodon might still exist and why it might make an appearance.
They create believable characters and focus on the human drama as well as the shark and balance it accordingly. You do feel the deaths of those who don’t make it.
The shark – yes, he is massive. And so is… well, I can’t give away anything else.
If you’re hoping for Sharknado, you’ll be disappointed. It’s like an upscale version of Leviathan or Deep Star Six.
Recommended.

The Signal

From the IMDB: On a road trip, Nic and two friends are drawn to an isolated area by a computer genius. When everything suddenly goes dark, Nic regains consciousness - only to find himself in a waking nightmare.
This film came out in 2014 and I finally caught it on NetFlix. It stars Brenton Thwaites (Will’s son in latest Pirates movie and will star as Robin in the Titans television series), Olivia Cooke, Beau Knapp, and Laurence Fishburn. All them are excellent in their roles.
It starts off as a road trip film, but once Nic and the others wake up in a containment site, suspense, mystery, and a little science fiction commence. The movie has a slower pace, which grows faster toward the end. Where are they? What happened? And why aren’t they allowed to leave? It’s a large scale Twilight Zone with just enough weirdness to tell you something is amiss.
If you like quieter films with a lot of tension, you’ll enjoy The Signal.
Recommended.

Monday’s Music Moves Me

Hosted by Xmas Dolly

Today’s theme - songs/artists with animals in the title/name. So appropriate!
I’m going with a band I’m hooked on right now – Amorphis. This is The Golden Elk

News

The IWSG Anthology Contest opens for submissions on September 5.
The genre is Young Adult Romance and the theme is Masquerade.
See the site for full details.

The IWSG has partnered with WEP – Write-Edit-Publish and the August WEP Challenge is A Change of Heart.
Post your entry this week!

Movie Trivia

When animals attack!

Name the movie and the animal from the year and stars:

1 - 1999 - Thomas Jane, Saffron Burrows, Samuel L. Jackson, Jacqueline McKenzie
2 - 1977 - Richard Harris, Charlotte Rampling, Will Sampson, Bo Derek
3 - 1998 - Treat Williams, Famke Janssen, Anthony Heald, Kevin J. O'Connor
4 - 1990 - Jeff Daniels, Julian Sands, John Goodman
5 - 1999 - Bridget Fonda, Bill Pullman, Oliver Platt
6 - 1984 - Gregory Harrison, Arkie Whiteley, Bill Kerr, Chris Haywood
7 - 1997 - Jon Voight, Jennifer Lopez, Eric Stoltz, Ice Cube

Answers August 27!

Anyone else see The Meg or The Signal? What music moves you today? Participating in WEP or the IWSG Anthology Contest? And do you know any of the trivia?

I’m taking off next week – see you Monday, August 27. And don't forget RiffTrax Live - Krull is on August 23!