Special Thanks and News! Plus New Thor Poster, Comedy Movie Trivia, Ninja News, and Bizarre Photo

Today I am a guest of Mathew Bridle’s at The One Saga! Stop by to read my short interview.

Special Thanks and Fun News!

A big thanks to everyone who made the two-year anniversary of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group special! It was truly amazing and I’m glad everyone is excited about the upcoming website.
A big round of thanks to my co-hosts - Chemist Ken, SL Hennessy, Michelle Wallace, and Joylene Nowell Butler. You guys rocked it!
And special thanks to Elizabeth Seckman - her post was touching and funny. Elizabeth, honored to be your friend.

Sometime this week I slipped over 1900 followers through GFC. Whoa, thanks guys! I appreciate every single one of you. (There’s a slew of followers through Linky Followers, Google+, RSS Feed, and other readers like Feedly, so no idea just how many follow me now…)

I’m also now a Suvudu Preferred Poster, which is really cool

All in all, an awesome week!

Ninja News

Karen Lange’s book is now available – Homeschool Co-opts 101. If you homeschool your kids, check it out. Congratulations, Karen!

The first installment of A Shot in the Light, an Apocalypse Conspiracy Tale by Hart Johnson is available now! And there were some great entries in her blogfest yesterday. Congratulations, Hart!

Jai Joshi just released Bhishma, Son of Ganga. Congratulations, Jai!

Liesel Hill’s new book is out, Dark Remnants, and it’s 99 cents on Amazon for a limited time. Congratulations, Liesel!

Isis Rushdan revealed the cover for her next book – Protector of the Flame. Looks cool, Isis!



And Lynn Rush is running a marathon to raise money to fight cancer! Check her site for details on how you can help.

Movie Trivia

Comedy today! Name the movie from the quote:

1 – “When someone asks if you are a god, you say YES!”

2 – “You made a woman meow?”

3 – “What is the matter with you? I thought Mothers were sweet and nice a-a-and patient. I know loan sharks who are more forgiving than you. Your husband ain't dead, lady. He's hiding.”

4 – “He’s an angry elf.”

5 – “Eddie, Eddie, I swear to God, don't start with me or so help me, I will shoot him and dump him in a ___ swamp!”

6 – “I was in the Virgin Islands once. I met a girl. We ate lobster, drank piña coladas. At sunset, we made love like sea otters. *That* was a pretty good day. Why couldn't I get *that* day over, and over, and over... “

Answers on Monday!

Cool New Movie Poster and Bizarre Image

Caught this over at JoBlo’s site - a new Thor: The Dark World poster featuring the villain, Malekith.

And from Blastr - this bizarre image of a Planet of the Apes float in the 1975 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

That’s right folks – you can’t make this stuff up!

Everyone enjoy the IWSG posts this week and the news of the website? Excited about the new books? Know any of the movie trivia? Excited about Thor: The Dark World? Anyone else seeing Riddick this weekend? Don’t forget to visit The One Saga!

Monday kicks off my official CassaStorm tour and it involves some snarky cats. Bet you’re intrigued now…

Murder and Madness but no Flirting! Plus Starship Troopers via Rifftrax, Spaceship Trivia Answers, and Ninja News

Today we have a little Murder, Madness, & Love from Yolanda Renee!

NO FLIRTING ALLOWED!

Thank you, Alex, for allowing me to guest post on your awesome blog. As some of you know my first novel Murder, Madness & Love was self-published in 2008, and this year picked up by Curiosity Quills Press and today is the re-release date, which makes it super exciting to be here on Alex's Blog to celebrate!

What the re-release means, is that I've already held a book launch and have attended a number of books signings. I thought some of you might like to hear a few of my experiences – sort of a do's and don'ts when selling your books, and since Alex likes humorous posts, I hope you see the humor in what happened to me.

First, the do's – talk to the people, even those that don't walk directly over to your table. Make eye contact, and smile. Many readers are shy, just as shy if not more so than the writer is, so catch their eye and start a conversation. It helps if you have a flyer to hand out, if you have something to greet them with, something to get their attention. Many of them will take it and walk away, but if it peaks their interest, they will come back – and if there is ordering information – you may hear from them later!

Many of my sales happened at flea markets and craft fairs and always with another author. Together we brought the folks to the table and 8 times out of 10, both of us sold a book. We always had a decorative table, giveaways, and free candy—free candy always helps!

The don'ts – Don't express political opinions. I made the mistake of agreeing with one customer's expressed opinion on a candidate and another customer walked away, but not before letting me know my opinion was vastly different from hers. So be careful, and be neutral – you never want to lose a customer because of politics.

But watch the flirting – I had a man stop by and yes, he flirted, and I was amused. My partner (the other author) had stepped away from the table and this guy sat down in the chair beside me to look at my book. During the conversation, it was clear he was more interested in me, than the book, despite the fact that he talked about buying it for his wife. However, he was all talk and didn't buy the book. His wife soon found him, and she was not happy. She did a cursory flip of the pages, gave me the evil eye, and quickly walked away with him in tow. I lost another customer.

My partner got a real kick out of it, which isn't fair because he flirted constantly, and never lost a sale. He was amazing.

Never, ever, just sit behind a table and ignore the folks around you – they want to know that you want to talk to them, so have fun, just remember no politics and no flirting, well, unless it really works for you!

So writers what do you think – is flirting fair? Or is it all fair when it comes to selling books?

After a gritty detective becomes involved with a beautiful widow suspected of murder, rumor and obsession obstruct his quest for justice.

Visite Yolanda Renée at her BLOG and find her book at Curiosity Quills Press.

Ninja News

Michelle Wallace just experienced her first e-Zine publication! Her flash fiction piece, Blast From The Past, is in Pure Slush. Read it HERE.
Congratulations, Michelle! You are the flash fiction master.

Summer Ross signed a contract with Breathless Press for her series The Trouble with Elves, Book 1, Ribbon of Darkness. Because it’s erotica, she’s chosen to go with a pen name, and you can find her on Facebook under Decadent Kane. Congratulaions, Summer!

Donna Weaver and her publisher are offering a chance to win A Change of Plans in audiobook. See her site for details.

Cheers to the ladies with new book releases:

Laura Pauling’s latest is now available – Heist!

Cate Masters’ latest was just released, a historical romance novella from Decadent Publishing – Betting it All!

Juliana Haygert’s new NA contemporary romance was released last week – Breaking the Reins!



For laughs:

John Wiswell posted 7 Ways Writing a Book is Not Like Raising a Child.

Fran at The Angry Lurker posted another classic – If Facebook Existed During the American Revoluion.

And my POST last week that kicked off with the Star Trek movies made top story over at Suvudu!

Spaceship Trivia Answers!

Several of you named the movie, but what we were after was the spaceship – here are the answers:
Movies:
1 - Alex Durant, Harry Booth, V.I.N.C.E.N.T. - Palomino
2 - Captain Dallas, Warrant Officer Ripley, Science Officer Ash - Nostromo
3 - Pres. Skroob, Dark Helmet, Col. Sandurz - Spaceball One
Television:
4 - Fry, Bender, Leela, Amy - Planet Express Ship
5 - Mal Reynolds, Zoe Washburne, Simon Tam - Serenity
6 - Don West, John Robinson, Dr. Zachary Smith - Jupiter 2
Literature:
7 - Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, Zaphod Beeblebrox - Heart of Gold
8 - Charlie Bucket, Grandma Josephine, Willy Wonka - Great Glass Elevator
Real:
9 - Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, Jack Swigert - Apollo 13

Riffed Movie Review

Any of you familiar with Mystery Science Theater 3000 know that not long after the show was cancelled (damn you SyFy!) Mike, Kevin, and Bill formed Rifftrax. You can purchase and download a riff track for just about any movie. And on occasion, they do a live riff track in front of a movie theater audience and it’s broadcast across the nation to other theaters. Thus last week, I got to enjoy a Rifftrax screening of Starship Troopers.

Funded by a Kickstarter project and with the blessings of the cast, it was one of the first times they’d riffed a recent R rated film. Starship Troopers is cheesy, dated, and poorly acted, so it was an easy target. (Denise Richards in particular.) Yes, 80% of the film was epic ship scenes, mass bug shootings, and the word ‘Move!’ (In its defense, the bug effects hold up well. Everything else – not so much.) All in all, it was hilarious.

Before the film begins, they warm up the audience with a humorous slide show. I thought I’d share some my wife caught on her cell phone:

Is flirting fair when selling books? (Do you remember how to flirt? Because it’s been so long, I don’t!) See some new books you want? Find something amusing? Get any of the spaceships right? And has anyone else ever downloaded Rifftraxs or gone to a live event?

My next post will be on Thursday instead of Wednesday, and I’ll have another awesome guest, plus some cool CassaStorm news.

Teleportation with Tara Tyler and the Big CassaStorm Announcement! Plus The Conjuring Movie Review and Ninja News.

Please welcome the awesome Tara Tyler as she POPS in for a visit!

From Star Trek to Star Wars to CassaStar! Science Fiction has inspired some of the greatest inventions that technology gurus want to make reality (articles one & two). Teleportation is still yearned for, but not quite so far from use as you think! (Nova video)

Alex had a guest a month or two ago who talked about teleportation and cloning. Currently, most physicists believe teleportation will involve destroying particles in one location and duplicating them in another location. That is freaky!

Since I am nowhere close to being a physicist, I approached teleportation from another perspective. My theory is more like Wonka-vision. Collect all the particles and send them via a transmission to be received and put back together in another location. (In the book, I get much more technical) Sounds easy, right?

In my research, I found articles telling why teleportation is impossible, while others give it a slim chance. In science fiction, we just need that slim chance and plausibility. We don't have to prove anything, we just need to make it sound good, giving enough real information to make it believable. I have no idea how television or air travel work, they just do - doesn't science seem like magic anyway?

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. --Arthur C. Clarke (from Brainy Quotes)


So let's inspire the technology and scientific communities. They can make our dreams come true!

Cooper thought he could get through
life without having to pop...

Pop Travel - a tale of deception and teleportation

When a crazy client enters J.L. Cooper's small town detective agency, babbling about a pop travel cover up, he takes the case. Cooper never liked pop travel and blames it indirectly for his wife's death. He'd love to expose a glitch in it.

But the glitch turns out to be disintegrating travelers. And now, his client is dead, his secretary is missing, and a hitman is stalking him. Plus there's all the webcams watching his every move. So, Cooper has to find a way to expose the deadly flaw, while using pop travel to escape the maniacs covering it up, not to mention save a couple of tag-alongs he's not sure he can trust. No problem.

Pop Travel, techno-thriller

by Tara Tyler

Available now on Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Goodreads   Trailer   FB Author Page

Ninja News

Mark Means at Left and Write is this month’s Challenge participant feature! His theme was obscure comic book superheroes – check it out at the A to Z Blog.

Denise Covey has begun a new permanent monthly bloghop at Write...Edit...Publish to replace RomanticFridayWriters. Post to a monthly theme in any genre - flash fiction, poetry, non-fiction, drama, art or photography - Adult Fiction, YA or MG. Sign up is now open for August - theme - VACATION. Post on Wednesday 21 - Friday 23 August. So here for more info and to sign up.

V. Moody at Moody Writing had her very first short story published in Silverthoughs. Congratulations, Moody!

Michelle Gregory is still accepting inspirational writing quotes for her IWSG post.

My last post was accepted by the science fiction site Suvudu! They’d asked me to join the community, expressing interest in one of my posts, and now they have published three of my posts on their front page. If you’d like to pop over and ‘like’ my post, I’d be happy!

The administrators behind the Authors For Oklahoma initiative are extending the deadline to Friday, August 9th, 2013. Make a ten dollar donation to the Red Cross and you get to choose from the books being offered. Check it out.

Ella just had an article and photo published in GreenCraft magazine. Congratulations, Ella! Most creative person I know.


Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Issue 17, has just published a story by Charles Gramlich called A Whisper in Ashes. Congratulations, Charles!

The next posting for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group is Wednesday! My awesome co-hosts will be M. Pax, Karen Walker, and Melissa Maygrove.

Movie Review

The Conjuring
Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren investigate a terrifying presence haunting the Perron family. Based on a true story.
I normally only see movies opening weekend, but after two weeks of great reviews and word of mouth, I decided to check out this film.
It’s effectively creepy and doesn’t rely on special effects. It’s a mixture of haunting and demon possession, and neither are done over the top.
The acting is good and you can feel the fear of the family, along with the genuine concern of the Warrens.
If you enjoy a classic ‘ghost’ story full of jump moments but no gore, then this is your film. (My wife missed at least ten minutes of the movie because her eyes were closed.)
The only downside is this type of film has been done a lot.
Best part – SPOILER ALERT – it has a happy ending!
I also liked the quote from Ed Warren at the end – “The devil exists. God exists. And for us, as a people, our very destiny hinges on which one we decide to follow.”
Recommended!

Special Announcement!

With the final book set to launch next month, my series needs a big sendoff! And I’m calling on my blogger friends to help me. Because really, without you guys, I wouldn’t have a third book. (I wouldn’t have had a second one, either.) Now it’s time for the storm to break…

Rather than a single day announcement with the same information, this event will be spread out over a week, involve different images and details, and each post will feature a unique interview question.

That’s right – unique! Because everyone who signs up can ask a question in the Linky List below. (Or if you’d rather not or can’t think of one right now, just put your name down.)

And of course, there is a prize! One person who posts that week will receive:
• Cassa Mouse Pad (image pictured)
• Cassa Coffee Mug
• $25 iTunes or Amazon Gift Card
• Cool Cassa Bookmarks and Postcards

To recap:
Sign up and ask your question. (Or just enter your name.)
I’ll answer the question and send you information a week prior to release.
Post about CassaStorm’s release between September 15 and 21.(On your blog, Facebook, Pinterest - whatever!)
On September 23, I announce the winner!

Sign up below!



Have you purchased Pop Travel? Did you follow Mark’s Superhero series last April? Ready to do some reading? Ready for the IWSG? Anyone else see The Conjuring? And can you help me with the release announcement for my last book…?