Insecure Writer’s Support Group, Upcoming Movie Releases, New Book Releases, 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 PJ Colando, J Lenni Dorner, Deniz Bevan, Kim Lajevardi, Natalie Aguirre, and Louise - Fundy Blue!

September 2 question - If you could choose one author, living or dead, to be your beta partner, who would it be and why?

I’d want to go with someone who writes what I enjoy and who aspire to write like, so it would be either Timothy Zahn or Terry Brooks. Zahn’s Star Wars books are excellent and Sword of Shannara is the book that formed my love of fantasy.


Author Jacqui Murray read and loved CassaStar the feature is up now!. Please be sure to visit her!

Katherine’s Corner is hosting a Tell Me a Story series through September.

Every Tuesday is a new author and excerpt.

On September 8, she will be featuring me and Dragon of the Stars. And it's live now!

Please visit her site for my Tell Me a Story feature.

Don’t forget today, September 2, is the last day to enter the IWSG Anthology Contest!

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How to enter: Send your polished, formatted (double-spaced, no footers or headers), previously unpublished story to admin @ insecurewriterssupportgroup.com before the deadline passes.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. (MUST be a member to enter.)
Judging: The IWSG admins will create a shortlist of the best stories. The shortlist will then be sent to our official judges.
Our judges: Dan Koboldt, Lynda R. Young, Colleen Oefelein, Damien Larkin, Ion Newcombe, Julie Gwinn, and David Powers King

The next #IWSGPit Twitter pitch event is January 20!
Will you be ready?

When’s the last time we had a blog hop outside of the IWSG? We need one!
Sherry Ellis is hosting the Latin Flavors blog hop September 14-18 in celebration of the release of her next book, Bubba and Squirt’s Mayan Adventure.
Join us!

New Releases

Love and Other Lies by MJ Fifield

For years, Lavinia Kelly has gone through the motions, content to let life pass her by…

Find it on Amazon

Wielder’s Storm trilogy by Lynda R. Young

The Wielder's Storm Trilogy is an action-packed epic fantasy that will sweep you across the high seas on a thrilling adventure full of exciting twists.
This complete box set contains Wielder’s Prize, Wielder’s Curse and Wielder’s Fire.

I’ve read the first book and it’s awesome!

Find it on Amazon

I Am a Quarantine Survivor by PJ Colando

All proceeds will be donated to a food bank that helps people survive despite the COVID-culture that surrounds us…

Find it on Amazon

Upcoming Movie Releases

Here are the upcoming theatrical releases! As always, descriptions courtesy of the IMDB. Snark provided by me.

September 3 -

Tenet
Director: Christopher Nolan
Stars: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki
Armed with only one word, Tenet, and fighting for the survival of the entire world, a Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real time.
Yes, this comes out tomorrow. No, I will not be able to see it because our theaters are still closed!!! I hate my state.

September 25 –

Ava
Ava is a deadly assassin who works for a black ops organization, traveling the globe specializing in high profile hits. When a job goes dangerously wrong she is forced to fight for her own survival.
Director: Tate Taylor
Stars: Jessica Chastain, John Malkovich, Common
If more theaters are open, this one might have a chance.

October 2 –

Wonder Woman 1984
Fast forward to the 1980s as Wonder Woman's next big screen adventure finds her facing two all-new foes: Max Lord and The Cheetah.
Director: Patty Jenkins
Stars: Gal Gadot, Connie Nielsen, Pedro Pascal, Chris Pine
Our theaters damn well better be open for this one! Or it’s road trip time.

What author would be your beta partner? Entering the IWSG Anthology Contest last minute? Joining the Latin Flavors Blog Hop? Picking up some new books? What movies will you miss in the theater over the next month?
Monday is Labor Day, so I will be offline. I will be back on September 14 with movie reviews (including Bill and Ted Face the Music) and more!

Masquerade: Oddly Suited Cover, February Movie Preview, IWSG Admins, Game Trivia Answers, and New Releases

There is a Facebook party this Saturday, February 2, for Charity Bradford’s new release, The Hand of Atua. She is giving away copies of her favorite science fiction books, including one of mine!

Be sure to log into her Facebook event page and check it out.


Congratulations, Charity!

IWSG Anthology Cover Reveal!

And now, the cover of our next anthology, Masquerade: Oddly Suited…

Masquerade: Oddly Suited
An Insecure Writer’s Support Group Anthology
Release date – April 30, 2019
Young Adult Fiction: Romance - General/Paranormal/Contemporary
Print ISBN 9781939844644
EBook ISBN 9781939844651

Find love at the ball…

Can a fake dating game show lead to love? Will a missing key free a clock-bound prince? Can a softball pitcher and a baseball catcher work together? Is there a vampire living in Paradise, Newfoundland? What’s more important—a virtual Traveler or a virtual date to the ball?

Ten authors explore young love in all its facets, from heartbreak to budding passion. Featuring the talents of L.G. Keltner, Jennifer Lane, C.D. Gallant-King, Elizabeth Mueller, Angela Brown, Myles Christensen, Deborah Solice, Carrie-Anne Brownian, Anstice Brown, and Chelsea Marie Ballard.

Hand-picked by a panel of agents and authors, these ten tales will mystify and surprise even as they touch your heart. Don your mask and join the party…


Who's ready for a party now?


Sadly, the IWSG is losing two of its admins - Lynda Young, who was second-in-command, and Joy Campbell are both stepping down. They have been with the IWSG Admin Team since the site began and will be missed. Thank you ladies for all of your help getting the IWSG to where it is today!

However, we’re not ending on a sad note - Elizabeth Seckman has joined the IWSG Admin Team! She will be in charge of the Publishers/Agents/Queries page and active on Facebook, as well as contributing to the site, the newsletter, and other areas.
Welcome to the team, Elizabeth!

New Releases

Anything Once by Meka James
Quinn has been happily married for ten years. Her relationship with Ian is built on love, trust, and honesty. At least that's what she thought...until a four-letter word changed everything.
Find it on Amazon

The Winner’s Circle by PJ Colando
FAITH... FAMILY... FRENZY!
Life in rural small town can dull the senses. A trio of gal pals--mired in middle age, Middle America, and other people's problems--long to escape.
Buy it in hardback, paperback, and eBook

Blood of My Sisters by Mel Chesley
Meet Isla Black. A young "Book Witch", one not born to a pure bloodline, but who learns through reading books and practicing spells. When she opens a portal on her own, the Seven Sisters are alerted of her power in the magical arts and whisk her away to the Sacred Heart Academy.
Find it on Amazon

Game Trivia Answers

Here are the answers to the board game trivia questions:

1 – If you don’t win, you’ll be… - Sorry
2 – Specialty dice for this popular game - D&D
3 – You will learn about this as you play - Life
4 – Second game in a series – first one was about islands – Forbidden Desert
5 – A thinking game - Chess
6 – Variation on an old classic – Tri-Ominoes
7 – Another variation – onward and… - Upwords
8 – Where it pays to be a slumlord - Monopoly

February Movie Preview

Here are the upcoming theatrical releases for February! As always, descriptions courtesy of the IMDB. Snark provided by me.

1 –

Artic
A man stranded in the Arctic after an airplane crash must decide whether to remain in the relative safety of his makeshift camp or to embark on a deadly trek through the unknown in hopes of making it out alive.
Director: Joe Penna
Stars: Mads Mikkelsen, Maria Thelma Smáradóttir
Hopefully they aren’t attacked by wolves or a feral Liam Neeson



8 –

The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot
A legendary American war veteran is recruited to hunt a mythical creature.
Director: Robert D. Krzykowski
Stars: Sam Elliott, Aidan Turner, Ron Livingston
And the Oscar for strangest movie title ever goes to…




15 –

Alita: Battle Angel
An action-packed story of one young woman's journey to discover the truth of who she is and her fight to change the world.
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Stars: Rosa Salazar, Mahershala Ali, Jennifer Connelly, Eiza González
Saw the first anime and read the manga, loved both – please don’t screw it up, Robert Rodriguez.

22 –

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
When Hiccup discovers Toothless isn't the only Night Fury, he must seek "The Hidden World", a secret Dragon Utopia before a hired tyrant named Grimmel finds it first. Director: Dean DeBlois
Stars: Gerard Butler, Cate Blanchett, Jonah Hill, Kit Harington
Or as I like to call it, How to Depress Your Children…

Looking forward to Masquerade: Oddly Suited? Picking up some new books? Get the board pieces right? And what movies catch your eye for February?

Don’t forget the Insecure Writer’s Support Group post day is February 6 – see you then!