News, Bloggers, Quiz, and Next Blogfest...?

Lots of great stuff today!

Jeremy at izombie just released an eBook called Chatterbox! It’s a series of short stories (almost like Drabbles) with images created by Jeremy himself. Check it out at Chatterbox
He’ll also be doing a guest spot here in a few weeks.




Last summer I took a class called Blog Book Tours and it really helped me prepare for my first virtual book tour. Dani is offering another class in September and you don’t want to miss it!

I received the Appreciated Follower Award, created by RJR Daydreamer
It’s too honor followers who visit and comment on a regular basis.
Wow, you all deserve it! Where do I begin? Without all of you commenting, I’d just be talking to myself.
I pass this on to…
Laila at Untroubled Kingdom of Laila Knight
Old Kitty at Ten Lives and Second Chances
Patrick Tillett

Alexia gave me the Liebster Blog Award. This award is to recognize bloggers with less than two hundred followers. (Yeah, I’m a bit over the limit!)
Here are three bloggers who deserve some recognition:
Huntress at Spirit Called
Monti at Notes Along the Way
Budd at SciFi Media

And since you guys enjoyed last Friday’s quiz, here’s two more pop culture questions:

The Lexx was a living spaceship on these four TV movies before it was a series – name the movie series title!


Name the song VH1 Classics declared as the number one rock song of the 1980’s. Bonus fuzzy feelings if you can name the second song as well!

Tune in Friday for some big news – the next awesome Blogfest!

Any guesses?

And has anyone located Boba Fett’s Carbonite Crunch?

Traveling with Monti

Give it up for fellow blogger, Mary Montague Sikes - also known as Monti!

Travels Make Writing More Fun

Years ago, while I was still in college, I crossed the English Channel from Dover, England to the Hook of Holland on an overnight ferry boat. The waters were dark and rough etching an unforgettable memory in my mind.

A few months ago, as I was working on my latest novel, Night Watch, I needed a dramatic and memorable scene to start the story. That’s when I recalled that strange black night on rugged seas that thundered as an old ferry boat churned its way across the channel. I began to think, what if? What if the NPR reporter, focal to my story, is traveling alone on the ferry? What if someone decides to silence her by throwing her off the ship? So my first scene was formed.

This is an example of how my travels always seem to tie into my writing. I use bits and pieces from trip memories to flesh out a story or to add extra intrigue.

A scene from an aquarium in Nassau begins a future book, Night in Paradise. That scene from my memory and from research adds color and interest to the book. The aquarium with its sea creatures becomes another character in the story just as the violent channel waters are a character in Night Watch.

Traveling is fun. Notes taken and photographs created during a trip may eventually provide needed background or focus for a new story. You never know from where your next lead will come.

Night Watch Blurb

Several years ago, my husband and I took an unforgettable trip to Trinidad. Before we left, I envisioned being part of a Bogart and Bacall movie where I might take on the glamorous façade of an old movie star by traveling in a white suit. So I tried it! That suit turned out to be inappropriate attire for the trip we made by small motorboat over a churning sea to reach Gasparee, the offshore island where our resort hotel was located. A network of dark caves with stalactites and stalagmites, located on that island, created lots of “what ifs” for me, especially when I learned of the island’s colonial history and found out the caves were once frequented by pirates who stashed their treasures there. Crossing the gulf and passing ocean-going vessels along the way made me wonder, what if Lily Henri, my heroine in Night Watch, journeyed by small boat over these waters late at night with her life in danger? What if she looked like a woman murdered in the waters of the English Channel and mistaken identity put her in danger? What if she were caught up in a gunrunning mystery and later kidnapped?

Buy Night Watch on Amazon
Visit Mary Montague Sikes at her WEBSITE and BLOG
Watch the trailer for Night Watch at PhotoShow

And Lee at Tossing it Out is reviewing CassaStar today. Yes, I’m nervous!!