Liesel Hill and Action Movie Villains, Major Ninja News, A to Z Sign-ups Coming, T-Shirt and CassaStar Winners, and the Re-Introduce Myself Blogfest

The awesome Liesel K. Hill is visiting today as part of her tour for Persistence of Vision. It has a fascinating premise and comes out Tuesday, January 29. Liesel blogs at Musings on Fantasia and she’s here to discuss action movie villains.

Top 5 Ways You Know You’re an Action Movie Villain

A few months ago I saw the amazing film Skyfall. May be the best Bond film I’ve ever seen (not that I’ve seen a lot of the older films). There’s a scene in the film where Bond chases Silva (Javier Bardem’s excellent villain), leaping over heavy machinery, sprinting across rooftops and lots of other Bond-y stuff. Eventually they run through the subway. At that point, Bond loses sight Silver. Until he glances to his left. Silver has left a door open, though which Bond follows. It made me smile. I mean, a guy as smart and determined as Silver just happens to leave a door open behind him? Maybe it’s just the innate idiocy of villains, but it got me thinking about attributes of action movie villains. They actually aren’t that hard to pick out of a crowd.

Top 5 Ways You Know You’re an Action Movie Villain:
1 - You think everything is funny! “I’m winning.” Huh-huh-huh. “People are dying.” Huh-huh-huh. “My arm hurts.” Huh-huh-huh.
2 - Just when it looks like you might win, you do something hair-brained like forgetting to shut the door behind you or not figuring out who the true owner of the Elder wand is. I mean, if you’re going to be villainous, shouldn’t you at least try to pull Cs in problem-solving class?
3 - You believe things that have happened to you in the best are awesome excuses for murder, rape, plunder, and all-around world domination. Let’s face it: everyone’s got a sob story, but most people don’t become douche bags. You, on the other hand…
4 - You’re creepy. No really! Stop for a minute to evaluate your own creep factor. Do you, for example, breathe really loudly (hol-puh, hol-puh), sport a detachable jaw (like Silver), practice a smile that’s insincere and just a bit too wide, or have a habit of licking your fingers and smoothing down your eyebrow hairs? If you are guilty of these or any similar quirks, I hate to break it to you my friend but YOU…are creepy.
5 - You have an overwhelming and inexplicable drive to pit yourself against awesome, heroic guys (or gals). I mean seriously! Anyone who honestly believes they can take on the likes of James Bond and win must have repeated third grade at least twice. Tell me I’m wrong!

So, if you encapsulate one or all of the above traits, you may be ideally suited to the (short and bitter) life of an action movie villain. Support groups held every other Thursday at the WTF Rec Center in New York. For more info, call 1-800-2BIFF-IT.

Happy Monday, Everyone!

Find Liesel and her series on Her Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Goodreads

Ninja News

Tuesday I’m appearing at Shelly’s The Life of a Novice Writer. Be sure to stop by as I discuss nosh with two hungry pups.

Rick at The Writer and the White Cat just announced a new magazine that focuses on young adult science fiction, Beyond Centauri. You can get a copy at White Cat Publications.
Rick also blames me for sending him down the science fiction path. Guilty and proud of it!

One of Milo James Fowler’s Captain Quasar stories is featured in the upcoming anthology, Raygun Chronicles: Space Opera for a New Age. It features authors such as Mike Resnick and Dean Wesley Smith, and pre-orders and donations will help fund the book.
Milo also posted the perfect definition of space opera and why he enjoys it, and I couldn’t agree more.
Congratulations, Milo!

David Powers King just signed a publishing deal with Cedar Fort Publishing! He and co-author Michael R. Jensen will see the release of Woven, a young adult fantasy, in November of this year.
Congratulations, David! Your life will never be the same…

And as for Friday’s question, yes, it really was like comparing apples to oranges and it’s almost impossible to say which is ‘better.’ Not surprising, the voting was pretty much split anyway.

A to Z Sign up opens Wednesday!

The sign up list will be posted here Wednesday morning, along with a brief description of how the Challenge works. It’s the biggest blogging event of the year and you don’t want to miss it. We also have tips posted at the A to Z Blog.

Ninja Army T-shirt and CassaStar Winners!

Winner of a copy of CassaStar - Yvonne Lewis!

Winner of the Ninja Army t-shirt - Julie Dao!

Congratulations, ladies!!

Thanks again to Jeremy Hawkins for designing the t-shirt. You can purchase Ninja Army and others at NEATORAMA.

Re-Introduce Myself Blogfest

Hosted by Stephen, Mark, Elise, and CM.


So, allow me to re-introduce myself…

I’m Ninja Captain Alex.
Author of Amazon Best Sellers CassaStar and CassaFire (CassaStorm comes out this September)
Founder of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group (which posts every first Wednesday)
Co-host of the A to Z Challenge
Musician and guitar player (I play in a band)
Movie geek and NetFlix junkie
Devoted husband and Christian
Basically I’m just a dude trying to support his friends any way possible

And I may or may not have clones…

Also for my new followers, let me introduce you to Byron - this is the book trailer for CassaFire. Yes, I still think it rocks!



Do you think you’re an action movie villain? Picking up Rick’s new magazine or Milo’s anthology? Ready for Wednesday’s sign A to Z sign-up? (Don’t forget it’s also movie quote day – light fantasy.) Visiting the Netorama shop? And how would you introduce yourself?

And if you’re reading this on Tuesday, stop by The Life of a Novice Writer.

Retro Zombie and a Ninja Army Giveaway, Ninja News, Celebrating the Small Things, and Which is Better…?

Today I have the honor of welcoming one of my very best blogger buddies, Jeremy Hawkins from Retro-Zombie!

Jeremy is a returning A to Z Co-Host, an author, and an amazing artist – he’s responsible for my awesome new header. He’s involved in a lot more things than that though! And not only is he here to tell you about it, Jeremy comes with a cool surprise and a giveaway.

Howlin’ Wolf… Ninja Contest and Me!

Welcome to my nightmare and to the voices I have in my head… thank you to Alex for letting play in his blogger pool.

You all might know me, but do you know what I do with my time… well I am hoping to share the light. You might have been to my Retro-Zombie and or my Horror Directory, but have you been to Howlin’ Wolf Record’s site? Well I will give you the short version it started five years ago, it didn’t really have a purpose until the start of last year. This is where good friend Wall Crumpler [Owner of Howlin’ Wolf] contacted asked if I had plans for this site… so I become the voice for this independent record label. We review films, bands, book/authors, scores/soundtracks and have had some great interviews… really stuff or people I think you should know about.

Last year in December 2012 we had just a hair under 10,000 visitors compared to 2011 which sadly was 300-500, lame…I know. I just get to do what I love to do and that is films and score/soundtrack (do I need to tell you the difference)? So many great people out in the world, I just hope to share a percent… so please visit “The Howlin’ Wolf” and say hello!

So I mentioned a contest you may have noticed a new badge to Alex’s site… well you would see a “NINJA ARMY” [thank you, Elise Fallson] t-shirt. Want one? Be the 10th caller… kidding Alex will choose one of you lucky commenter’s here [if in the US, no problem… not most likely a gift card] to the NEATORAMA’s site. Also look around it’s my store see the great and powerful art/designs I have made.

Any Questions, come on just one?
-Jeremy Hawkins

Jeremy, you the man!

And while we’re giving away a Ninja Army t-shirt here, over at the Howlin’ Wolf Records Blog, we are giving away a copy of CassaStar. Double your chance to win something! (Winners will be announced on Monday.)

Ninja News

Laura at the Daily Dodo scared of heights – but she is jumping out of a plane for charity! She is raising money for Life Works, an organization that works with young people with disabilities. Click HERE to donate. We want to see her jump!

The Bookshelf Muse is celebrating five years, a million hits, and 20,000 copies sold of the Emotional Thesaurus! They are giving away a Kindle Paperwhite loaded with 10 ebooks. (And much to my surprise, CassaStar is one of the choices.) To enter, see their SITE.

Robin at Your Daily Dose just brought back her HERE'S TO YOU THURSDAY video dedications – and she was kind enough to dedicate one to me. Thank you, Robin – you rock!

Thanks to everyone who jumped in with a movie quote on Wednesday! This is the official badge if you want to post a quote on your own blog. Every week, I will post the topic for the next week. January 30, it’s “light” fantasy. (Just so you know, LOTR is NOT light fantasy.)

The A to Z Challenge sign ups open next Wednesday! I’ll have a full description of what the Challenge is all about posted as well. Hope you can join us as we rock the blogging world for a fourth time.

Jamie Ayres’ book, 18 Things, is available now! Congratulations, Jamie. And I’ve had fun reading the entries for your 18 Things Blogfest.

Special thanks to Christine Rains for her review of CassaFire this week. Glad you enjoyed it, Christine!

Celebrate the Small Things

“Celebrate the Small Things” is hosted every Friday by VikLit.

Today I am celebrating the fact I learned not one but two new songs this week on my guitar. Actually I had three days to learn and perfect them. Including a solo. No pressure!

I was also informed by my publisher that the cover art for my next book, CassaStorm, would be ready by mid-February. Stoked to see it! I wonder if I should do a cover reveal? What do you guys think – would you sign up to reveal my next book’s cover?

Which is Better…?

And we’ll end with a round of which is better, just for the fun of it.

Which is better?

Star Trek or Star Wars?

And why?

Keep it civil, people! We all want to live long and prosper here. And yes, that should give you a clue as to who I would select, so no flaming.

Any questions for Jeremy? Ready to pick up a Ninja Army or other T-shirt? Excited about the news? Prepared for next Wednesday with your quote and to sign up for the A to Z Challenge? What small thing are you celebrating? And which is better - Star Trek or Star Wars?

Be sure to visit The Howlin’ Wolf - check it out and maybe you'll win a copy of CassaStar!