Insecure Writer’s Support Group, Irascible Immortals Jams, and March Movie Preview

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 for the March 5 posting of the IWSG are Ronel Janse Van Vuuren, Pat Garcia, and Liza @ Middle Passages!

March 5 question - If for one day you could be anyone or *thing* in the world, what would it be? Describe, tell why, and any themes, goals, or values they/it inspire in you.

Honestly, I just want to be me. That’s enough. Sure, I could be John Petrucci for a day – I’m the greatest guitarist in the world. And then it would be – Hey, I’m back to sucking again. Too disappointing!

We are saying goodbye to Michelle Wallace who has been an IWSG admin since the beginning. We will really miss her and appreciate all the years of dedication she has given us.
Diane has stepped up to take over the IWSG Facebook group and introduced several new weekly prompts, so be sure to check them out this month.
We do need another admin who is also on Facebook to help with the group. If you are interested in becoming a part of the awesome IWSG team, working behind the scenes, send me an email or leave a comment!

And finally, special mention to the awesome Truedessa who wrote a poem that ties in with my book, Dragon of the Stars - Somewhere Beyond the Stars

Irascible Immortals Jams!

I enjoy listening to music while writing. Because the Irascible Immortals series needed a bit of crazy, I added some songs that aren’t my usual style (think Vengaboys and Wham!), but I had a lot of rock songs to keep me company, too. I listen to my playlist on repeat – something which I’ve heard can drive others crazy – to keep me in the right headspace while writing. This playlist helps to keep the tone, themes and characters consistent throughout the series.

My favourite rock songs for this series:

• Breaking the Habit by Linkin Park
• Supremacy by Muse
• How You Remind Me by Nickelback
• Blaze of Glory by Bon Jovi
• Symphony of Destruction by Nightwish
• Zombie by The Cranberries
• Tom Sawyer by Rush
• In the End by Linkin Park

Rock is the music of the universe… It certainly created the rich world my characters inhabit.



Award-winning Dark Fantasy author Ronel Janse van Vuuren writes about kick-ass heroines, the duality of being human and loves to use folklore to underscore her point. She’s a Rottweiler pack leader, chicken wrangler and horse servant.
All of her books are available for purchase from major online retailers.

Find Smoke on the Water:
Links: Universal, series page, and website
The playlist for this series is here.
And the first book is free until March 8 here.

March Movie Preview

Here are the theatrical releases for March. Descriptions courtesy of the IMDB. Snark provided by me.

7 –

Mickey 17
Director - Bong Joon Ho
Stars - Robert Pattinson, Steven Yeun, Michael Monroe
Mickey 17, known as an "expendable," goes on a dangerous journey to colonize an ice planet.
Watching the sparkly vampire die over and over might be entertaining.

21 –

Snow White
Director - Marc Webb
Stars - Rachel Zegler, Gal Gadot, Tituss Burgess
Live-action adaptation of the 1937 Disney animated film 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'.
With so many production issues, this movie has disaster written all over it. Besides, Gal Gadot (playing the evil queen) is the fairest of them all!

28 –
 

Death of a Unicorn
Director - Alex Scharfman
Stars - Jenna Ortega, Paul Rudd, Téa Leoni
Father-Daughter duo Elliott and Ridley hit a unicorn with their car and bring it to the wilderness retreat of a mega-wealthy pharmaceutical CEO.
Be prepared because this is not a sweet unicorn. Think Cabin in the Woods. Those who love unicorns – this is going to give you nightmares!

Who would you be for a day? Interested in joining the IWSG Admin team? What’s on your book’s playlist? And what movies are you watching this month?

CassaSeries Tour, It: Chapter Two Review, And Superhero Love

CassaSeries Tour

Silver Dagger Tours is hosting a month-long tour for me that includes a giveaway for an Amazon gift card and swag.
A full list of the tour is posted at the Silver Dagger Tours site. Here are the stops this week:

Guest post last Saturday at Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor - Where Did the Character’s Names Come From?

Monday – Guest post about music at Writer's Gambit and stops at Just Jemi and The Story of a Writer

Tuesday – Guest posts at Mars Occupation Force - Press Office and Sandra Cox plus a stop at Blog of Author Jacey Holbrand

Wednesday - Guest posts at Elizabeth Seckman and Angela Brown plus stops at Keep on Booking and Authors and Readers Book Corner

Thursday – Guest post at Readeropolis and stops at Antrim Cycle and Java John Z’s

Friday – Stops at Book Review Virginia Lee, Literary Gold, and 2 Chicks and a Book

For the Love of Superheroes

Aquaman. I just love that movie! Have you watched it yet? If not, go watch it first and then come back and read this post. It will blow your mind.

I grew up with DC. The animated version of Superman, Batman and weird cross-overs where Green Arrow looked like Robin Hood and Wonder Woman didn’t look like she could do much. Honestly, I can only remember Superman and Batman as being the heroes whose stories I followed, even though I watched it all.

Which is why this new Aquaman movie is so awesome. He isn’t the last guy you call when you are in trouble…

Back to what I grew up with:

Superman was this goody-goody with only two weaknesses: kryptonite and Lois Lane. He had a best friend named Lex Luthor who wanted to thwart him at every opportunity. Batman was this weirdo obsessed with bats, Alfred and bad guys. He made friends with scary women like Poison Ivy and Cat Woman. Both of these heroes knew every hero that came along – like Green Arrow, the Flash, Hawk Man and every other DC hero. (Don’t get on your high horse: it’s how I saw it as a six-year-old.)

And if you break it down like that, you know exactly what the stories should be about, and what is important to the hero. They even call for help – from everyone except Aquaman.

Then Smallville came to TV and things became even weirder, though Aquaman did get a bit more credit for being a hero. Until they decided that he was only an environmentalist blowing things up… (I haven’t watched it in a while, so forgive me for remembering it like that.)

And until recently, I didn’t think that Green Arrow could do much more than be a glorified Robin Hood. (Blame the animation.) But then Arrow came to our screens along with Flash, Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow. While things were good, I thought that they should make a series about Aquaman, too. And when everything except Legends fell apart, I was relieved they hadn’t.

As for the movies… The recent series is rather good. I’m not a fan of Man of Steel, I just didn’t relate to their Lois and Clark, and Batman versus Superman has too much politics – though the action scenes are really good. Wonder Woman is an amazing movie that will leave you in tears. Justice League is something you can watch over-and-over again just for fun (or when you are ill and have to stay in bed).

And Aquaman… The worldbuilding, the drama, the humour, the villains and antagonists, the blind spots of the main characters – it is absolutely amazing. Each time I watch it, I see something new to admire about how they have taken Aquaman from being the last guy the Justice League would call for help, to the first guy you’ll run to for safety.

These are characters and worlds we all know and love. Each time a new writer (or group of writers) takes on the challenge of recreating it for a modern audience, they have to keep the essence and add what the audience needs. Which is why, when the Flash asks Batman what his superpower is, he answers: “I’m rich”, and why the Flash and Cyborg believe that they are the accidents. Because a modern audience needs heroes – the accidental ones and those who take the resources they have and use it for good.

I did something similar with my latest book “Magic at Midnight”. I took a girl and put her in an impossible situation to save everyone she loves – and she finds her “superpowers” in the process. Some call it Cinderella meets Miss Congeniality. (DragonSpireUK) Some call it a Cinderella reboot with a twist on the reality show, The Bachelor. (Lee Lowery) Others call it a delightful mix of Pretty Woman and Cinderella. (Word Dreams) While others are in awe of the pegasi and her dedication to them. (Sandra Cox)

But truth be told, it was my love of DC that inspired a lot of what happens in this princess fantasy adventure.

Any stories that have been retold so many times that you know exactly what will happen, but you’re still surprised when the writers come up with something awesome? Do you love DC? Have you watched the new Justice League, Aquaman, Wonder Woman and other movies?

Award-winning author Ronel Janse van Vuuren mainly writes for teens and tweens, though she is known to write mythology-filled short stories for anthologies aimed at older readers. Her dark fantasy works, usually full of folklore, can be viewed on her website and on Goodreads. All of her books are available for purchase from major online retailers.
Sign up to be notified of new releases, giveaways and pre-release specials – plus get a free eBook – when you join Ronel’s newsletter.
Connect with Ronel online - Website, Twitter, Pinterest, Goodreads, Instagram, and Amazon

It: Chapter Two Review

Twenty-seven years after their first encounter with the terrifying Pennywise, the Losers Club have grown up and moved away, until a devastating phone call brings them back.
You do need to see the first chapter before seeing this one and I wish we’d rewatched it to refresh our memories. They reference a lot from the first movie that I didn’t remember.
The cast is excellent – they found great actors not only for the roles but who had good chemistry together. They also interspersed the adult versions with the kid versions. (Which helped to figure out who was who.)
I’ve not read the book, so not sure how closely the movie follow it, but overall the storyline was very familiar horror trope. When the film worked, it was effective – when it didn’t, it was derivative of other horror films.
It’s also close to three hours long. While I never felt bored or looked at the time, it could have been trimmed a bit more.
There’s a direct line from John Carpenter’s The Thing in relation to a similar creature. (Not sure if it’s a nod or if King stole it.) Speaking of whom, Stephen King also has a cameo role in the film.
I will say Pennywise’s origins was a bit disappointing.
Overall I liked it but not as much as the first one.


We also watched Godzilla: King of the Monsters again this past weekend. Even better the second time!

Anyone else catch It: Chapter Two? Who’s your favorite DC superhero?

Hope you get to visit some of the tour sites this week and sign up to win the giveaway!

RiffTrax: Live – Star Raiders Review! Ronel Talks Music, Smallfoot and Wandering Earth Reviews, and Ninja News

RiffTrax: Live – Star Raiders!

June 6 was the latest RiffTrax: Live event, showcasing Star Raiders: The Adventures of Saber Raine, starring Caper Van Dien of Starship Troopers fame. (Which they also riffed a couple years ago – Casper doesn’t have a good track record with movies.)

The show started with an educational short about lying. Kids discussing lying with a teacher. Kids obsessing over a man laying cement. Kids throwing rocks and breaking a window. I’d be lying if any of it made sense, but the guys had fun with it.

Then came the feature film and the opening credits showed Casper scanning the horizon with binoculars, to which the guys said he was searching the cast for another name actor. (None were to be found.)

At another point, someone commented that the effects weren’t too bad for 1992 but he was corrected – the film came out eighteen months ago! That’s right – the craptastic film came out in 2017.

The acting was bad. The plot was thin and in most spots made no sense. The dialogue was beyond cheesy. And the special effects ranged from ‘okay’ to worse than an Asylum film.

This was inside Saber Raine’s ship. Yes, that is a submarine periscope in his spaceship!

One of the aliens didn’t speak English and the guys dubbed him Gary. “Gary, you are the voice of reason.”
Ironically, we watched Gary die four times in the film. I guess they missed that in editing.

However, it was a blast and very funny! Do not attempt to watch this film without RiffTrax. (DVD comes out later this year.)

Next up The Giant Spider Invasion on August 15!

Music and Dark Desires by Ronel

When Alex said that this post should focus on progressive rock/metal, at first I had no idea what that meant. And then I Googled it. Mm, yeah, I definitely listen to progressive rock!

For those who don’t know, progressive rock is a style of rock music popular especially in the 1970s and characterized by classical influences, the use of keyboard instruments, and lengthy compositions (according to the online dictionary).

I love using music to inspire me while I’m writing. During the planning phase of “Dark Desires”, I listened to a lot of Rush and a bit of Deep Purple (yeah, “Smoke On the Water” was on replay).

Linkin Park probably doesn’t fit in with the genre (though I think they might despite not being listed as such along with other favourite bands like Muse, Led Zeppelin and others in this post), but that is what I listened to while drafting the story. There’s just something about the music itself – forget the lyrics for a moment – that makes creativity flow.

Rush and Queen helped me to polish the story and get it ready for publication. In the TV series “Chuck”, Morimoto who created the arcade game “Missile Command” called Rush the music of the universe. I think he might be right. Chuck later figured out that there is a correlation between the music (specifically “Tom Sawyer”) and how to play the game, some mathematical pattern others couldn’t see. Maybe it’s the same with writing?

There are other great prog rock bands, of course, but these guys helped me with this specific story. (If you click on the links on each band, you’ll be led to a post on my blog about them.)

Find Dark Desires on all platforms: UBL

Award-winning author Ronel Janse van Vuuren mainly writes for teens and tweens, though she is known to write mythology-filled short stories for anthologies aimed at older readers. Her dark fantasy works, usually full of folklore, can be viewed on her website and on Goodreads.
Ronel can be found tweeting about writing and other things that interest her, arguing with her characters, researching folklore for her newest story or playing with her Rottweilers when she’s not actually writing.
Sign up to be notified of new releases, giveaways and pre-release specials – plus get a free eBook – when you join Ronel’s newsletter.
Connect with Author Ronel Janse van Vuuren: Website, Twitter, Pinterest, Goodreads, Instagram, and Amazon author page

Movie Reviews

Smallfoot

A Yeti named Migo goes in search of the elusive smallfoot – humans.
It’s a simple message – people hurt by others, create rules and build walls to prevent it happening again. But walling ourselves off from others isn’t the answer. And we always need to seek the truth. (And in the deluge of media crap these days, that is so true!)
The animation is good. The scenery is very realistic while the characters are cartoony, which works.
It was mildly entertaining and better than I expected.
Recommended for a rainy day rental.

The Wandering Earth

The sun is dying and thrusters are built to move Earth to a new location.
This film made 800 million world-wide. I have no idea why…
It was ambitious to take on the book. Hopefully it’s not as bad as this film.
This film is just stupid and on so many levels. So many plot holes, inexplicable character actions, etc. There is no rhyme or reason why the two main characters leave the underground sanctuary. The mystery sister’s origins aren’t revealed until over halfway into the film. (Like the director forgot to explain it and stuck something in to cover his butt.) Actual science is out the window. (Move the Earth to another galaxy? Really?)
Plus there’s a HAL computer who wants to kill everyone.
And it’s good video game animation, but it’s not realistic and looks bad on the big screen.
This film makes Michael Bay movies look intelligent.
Not recommended!

Ninja News!

IWSG Anthology Contest

Don’t forget the Insecure Writer’s Support Group Annual Anthology Contest is open and taking submissions!
Genre is middle grade historical – adventure/ fantasy and the theme is voyagers.
See the site for full details.

New release!
Hoosier Dad by Elizabeth Seckman

Find it on all platforms HERE

Did you catch RiffTrax’s Star Raiders? You don’t want to miss the August show! Does music inspire your writing? Seen Smallfoot or The Wandering Earth? And are you entering the IWSG Anthology Contest?

I’m not posting next Monday but I will poke in and check on people during the week.