JESTER - A to Z Challenge

It’s the third A to Z Challenge! Blog the letters of the alphabet in order every day except Sundays The participation list is HERE – start with the blog after yours and visit at least five blogs a day. Mostly, make new friends and have fun!

My theme – I have selected a word for each day and will present to you blogger buddies who fit that description, along with movies, music, etc. My theme is to give back, highlight some awesome bloggers, and have fun in the process.

JESTER

Gail at Familiar Spirit
Gail posts pictures of her farm critters every day, and a cute or funny line accompanies each photo. I started leaving my own snappy comeback in the comments, and thus our humorous sparring was born. Sometimes I get the touché and sometimes Gail earns the honor. But it’s all in fun, as Gail is just the sweetest woman. I think most days she is just humoring me!

TS at The Non-Review
TS is a man of comedy. His 7-Word Weekend feature highlights new movie releases and occasionally we get to hear what cats are thinking. (Poor Melvin!) Recently the Dinosaur Party Debates were going on as prehistoric presidential candidates vied for our votes. So for a little fun at the expense of dinosaurs, movies, and Melvin, visit jester TS!

In Flames symbol
While recording their amazing third disc, “The Jester Race,” two of the members of In Flames came up with a symbol that has appeared in some incarnation on all of their covers and merchandise. In Flames has been shredding since 1990 and their latest release “Sounds of a Playground Fading” is one of my favs.

NINJA NEWS!

My buddy Sean’s book is now available in print! For more information on A Fine Likeness, visit Civil War Horror He’s also offering to request your book at his library if you will do the same.

Another blogger buddy alerted me to this one: Jones Party of 5 is offering a contest for a customized blog layout including header graphic.

And I was thinking about doing a giveaway for the person with the most first comment here, but I’d really hate to see anyone hurt themselves…


Following Gail and TS? Familiar with In Flames? (Probably not!) Any news I missed? Still having fun with the Challenge? Who is the jester in your life? Come on, we all know at least one fool. I mean, jester!!!

The Big Idea, Cursing, and a Ton of News

I have the honor of a guest post at Sommer’s Tell Great Stories today! It’s all about the BIG IDEA. She is an awesome writer and motivator, so stop by after you’re done here…

The Movie 411 Awards are now open for voting!!! I’m up for two awards, but my buddies Cinemarvellous, Melissa, iZombie, and MsMariah are also up for awards and need your vote. Nebular’s Cinemarvellous is in the running for three awards including GOLD. I don’t care if you vote for me but please vote for my awesome buddies!!!

I was also asked to contribute an article to The Specusphere, an online magazine for Australian writers. It’s called The Long Road to a Surprise Best Seller, describing how CassaStar became an Amazon Best Seller a year after its release. Actually, it’s more of my best guess!! Anyway, I was really honored that they featured my article.

Fantasy Nibbles reviewed CassaStar this weekend and I couldn't be more pleased with the review! Thanks so much.

Some awesome new books:

Ground Rules by Cate Masters came out last week.

Marta Szemik’s Two Halves also came out last week. It’s available at Amazon



Congratulations, ladies!!

Other cool happenings:

Jamie’s Mithril Wisdom just celebrated two years of blogging.

MaineWords is holding a 200 followers giveaway.

My buddy TS at The Non Review just celebrated two years of blogging and is almost to 300 followers.

Jen at Unedited is competing in the My Heroine Tournament as Hermione and she needs our help to win the fight!

And Reid Kemper is hosting a Blog Swap Blogfest.

Jenna at Meandering in a Field of Words gave me the Great Comments Award.
I have so many awesome buddies who always comment! But I decided to limit it to five who stop by here every single time:
Nancy Thompson
Suze at Analog Breakfast
Laila Knight
Robyn at Life by Chocolate
Christopher at Socially Awkward

Recent posts by David Powers King and Michael Offutt tackled cussing in books. I thought that would make a good topic for a CassaFacts post.

I don’t mind cussing in books if it fits the story and the characters. I recently read The Lies of Locke Lamora and there was a fair amount of language – but the characters were low-life thieves, and as the story progressed and they became more wordly, the cussing decreased. So it fit.

Another example is Game of Thrones. There’s some cussing but it fits. Now Spartacus… that is SO over the top! I’m not sure why they even bother with proper sentences.

So, how much cussing is in CassaStar and CassaFire? Well, how much cussing do you see on my blog? In my books, it’s probably even less. And here’s why:

I write science fiction space opera. Like Star Wars. Now, how much cussing is there in Star Wars? It just doesn’t fit my genre.

While I don’t mind reading it, I could never write something that was curse-word heavy. It would just bother me, as I do feel my writing is a reflection of me.

I think back to the books I read when I was younger. Adult fantasy and science fiction rarely had anything inappropriate in the content, so I was allowed to read it when I was a child. My passion for reading came from books such as The Sword of Shannara. I wanted my books to be appropriate for young people as well. I wanted a kid who loves Star Wars to be able to read CassaStar as well.

And finally, while I’ve read plenty of books that used cussing excessively, I have never read a book and thought “You know, if the author had just dropped the F-bomb a few times, it might’ve been a good story.”

So I ask you guys – did I make the right decision with my books?

Now, go check out my guest post at Tell Great Stories and vote for the The Movie 411 Awards!

Just the Facts, Ma'am!

Lots of news today!

For those of you following or participating in the Rule of Three Blogfest this month, my book is one of the prizes. And today I have a short, Rule of Three interview at JC Martin’s site AND at Flash Fiction! They apologize the interview didn't go up sooner.I’d be honored if you popped over there after catching up on all the news…

Arlee Bird is preparing for next year’s A to Z Challenge and set up a blog for participants. If you intend to participate again next April, hop over to The A to Z Challenge and follow to receive all the latest updates.

Dave at Dave Wrote This is hosting The Noughties Blogfest on November 14. “List something from each year (2000-2009) that you loved.” Short and easy! yes, I’ve signed up for this one.

My extremely talented critique partner, Anne Gallagher, set up an author web page for her Regency romance books. The Lady’s Fate is her latest. I was given the honor of reading an excerpt from this book, and it was excellent. Yes, that’s right – this tough Ninja Captain read part of a Regency romance novel!


Susan Kaye Quinn’s new book, Open Minds (Book One of the Mindjack Trilogy), comes out on November 1, 2011.

Laura at the Daily Dodo is giving a away a signed copy of 21st Century Dodos – but you must answer a question first.

The Internet Book Fair is October 25 and Jessica Bell is on a mission to sell your books!



My buddy TS recently started a new job selling cabinets. He’s never been in sales before, so if you are in the market for cabinets, support a fellow blogger and visit The Non Review first.

I haven’t talked about movies in a while, so here’s a couple for you. Watched Green Lantern again this past week on DVD. As a fan of DC Comics, I still say it’s a lot of fun and a true comic book film. Also watched Insidious and it was very creepy and effective. However, (spoiler!) why do all horror films have to have a bad ending these days? It lost me at that point…

Wednesday I’ll have a special guest here to entertain you. He’s pure genius when it comes to writing and storytelling, so you don’t want to miss it!

And by popular request, I now present to you another creepy Chewbacca movie poster, courtesy of FreakingNews!
(Isis, just don’t look…)

Any great news I missed? Does that image creep you out? See a good movie recently?

Now you may visit JC Martin’s site or Flash Fiction for my short and fun interview!

Cool News and Insecure Writers Support Group

Big thanks to everyone who visited The Non Review on Monday for my guest post on B-movies.

My buddy George at CineMarvellous! just celebrated two years blogging and two hundred followers. Congratulations! If you’re into movies (and hopefully you are, as I talk about them all the time and you keep coming back), George offers the best movie reviews around.

Elizabeth Spann Craig at Mystery Writing is Murder also just released an eBook this week! Elizabeth is a big-time author and Progressive Dinner Deadly, a Myrtle Clover mystery, is available in eBook form for the first time Only $2.99!

Now, about that Insecure Writers Support Group…

I’ve noticed a lot of posts lately about doubts, concerns, and a lack of confidence. Insecure is a term most writers use to describe themselves. (Some would even say neurotic.)

The cool thing about this community is the amount of support available. Everyone is such an encourager. I thought it would be cool if one day a month, everyone involved in the Insecure Writers Support group posted either:

• A situation where they need some encouragement
• Words of encouragement for others about to face a situation

What do you think? Good idea or really stupid? Would the possibility of a large group of writers posting their doubts all on the same day send the blogging world into a neurotic tailspin? Or would this be better than expensive therapy sessions? (Better than coming to me for therapy, because I might just mess you up even worse!)

New Books and the Best B Movies

Today I have the honor of providing my top ten list of great B-movies at TS’s site - The Non Review Great way to warm up for the Worst Movies Ever Blogfest, right? Now remember, these are B-movies, so I give B-comments…

But before you go!

My awesome buddy and critique partner, Rusty Webb, just released a novelette eBook:

A Dead God’s Wrath

In 1895, deep in the Southeastern U.S., a sleepy little town is home to one of the most violent criminal families in the country. When Thomas O’Brien witnesses the brutal murder of his best friend and the kidnapping of his beloved Mary at the hands of the O’Malley brothers he thinks things can’t possibly get any worse.

But when a mysterious stranger shows up to help, Thomas begins to suspect this man is more than he seems. This stranger pledges to help bring Mary safely back from the O’Malley brothers, no matter the cost.

Tom’s real nightmare is about to begin.

I read it this weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it! It’s a little bit western, horror, science fiction… all with a surprising twist. Rusty has a great writing style and voice, even if he doesn’t believe it. (Dude, I read the book you have out on submission, and it was awesome – now hurry up and write the sequel.)

A Dead God’s Wrath - 99 cents on Amazon


Damyanti also put together an eBook!

A to Z Stories of Life and Death
by D. Biswas
Damyanti's Collection of Bite-sized Stories

This is her collection of short stories from the A to Z Challenge. I was honored to be listed this weekend as one of her encouraging influences and will soon get to read this collection. Thanks so much, Damyaunti!

A to Z Stories of Life and Death - $1.99 at Smashwords


And other eBook gems you’ve discovered lately?

See any good movies this weekend? (Like Rise of the Planet of the Apes?)

All right, you may now visit TS at The Non Review for my guest post!

This Awesome Blogging Family!

I’ve seen several posts this week expressing gratitude for online support. I have to agree – the blogging community is awesome! Let me show you…

First, I have a guest post today at The Movie 411. They graced me with the Best Sci-Fi Blog Award and all winners were invited to do a guest post. Dempsey maintains a cool site, so check out my take on Laugh It Up Fuzzball!

Jennie at Garden Full of Lily posted the sweetest review of CassaStar this week! She claims to suck at writing reviews, but her words made my day.

iZombie Lover gave me the You Make Me Scream Award. Thanks, Jeremy!
TS buddy, this one has your name all over it – enjoy!

Finally, a big thanks to those who’ve voted for my trailer at Spunk on a Stick’s Tips! CassaStar’s book trailer is one of seven finalists and prizes include the donation of books to the winner’s choice of library and an Amazon gift card. Voting ends Sunday though! (And special thanks to Jeffrey Beesler for breaking his one week hiatus to plug my trailer.)

For those who’ve not seen my awesome trailer, created by my publisher:



If you think it rocks, go place your vote at Spunk on a Stick’s Tips!

Yes, I am groveling for votes. CassaStar will probably be my only claim to fame, so it deserves some groveling…

Today’s Stop - HEL

Not THAT hell - Helen Ginger’s site, Straight From Hel! My guest post is about not underestimating your audience, something I learned from my blogging friends.

And big thanks to my hosts yesterday at Mystery Writing is Murder and The Non-Review

Here’s something else I learned this week. (Yeah, I’m still really new at this promotion stuff.) There are ways to help an author besides buying the book.

Ask your local library to stock it. I guess all it takes is one - three requests. Cool, huh? Then you get to read it for FREE! (And if anyone requests my book, be sure to mention the awesome review in last month’s Library Journal.)

You can post a review on Amazon or another site. (Guess you have to buy it then. Or, get it from the library! Back to free again.) Of course, if you didn’t like the book, a bad review doesn’t really help the author… (Now, that’s a scary thought!)

Any other ways to help an author?

Besides awesome blog posts?

Thanks again - you guys rock!!!

Thanks Beyond Words!

To all my online friends - thanks!! Yesterday was overwhelming.

Special thanks to my hosts yesterday, Hollywood Spy and Speculative Book Review!!

And today's stops are really special! I'm at Mystery Writing is Murder, talking about the importance of test readers, and at The Non-Review reviewing my own book. (Yeah, that was tough!)

Congratulations to Piedmont Writer who won a copy of CassaStar at Scribbler to Scribe. Don't forget my CONTEST runs until the end of the month! Comment on the contest page and one other stop in my virtual tour.

My deepest thanks and appreciation to all who posted my release yesterday and to those who commented on those and my tour host sites. I was overwhelmed!! You guys rock. When you have a book release or other big news, I want to do the same for you. (Talli, got you covered on December 1!)

Thanks everyone for making the day awesome!

One More Day!!!!!

TWO awesome stops today!!

Two unique interviews – one at SFF Hub and the other at Scribbler to Scribe. Both of these awesome bloggers reviewed my book, too.

Hope you didn’t miss the review yesterday at Edi’s Book Lighthouse. His site is really cool!

And don’t forget to enter my CONTEST for a chance to win a copy of CassaStar.

However, this is more urgent - prayers for Amity as she is now facing super typhoon Megi!

Vicki gave me the Strangely Irresistible Award. Somehow, with the word strange in the title, I just knew it would end up here eventually. Thanks, Vicki!

Passing along the strangeness to…

Copyboy at Not Worth Mentioning
Powdered Toast Man at Just the Cheese
TS Hendrik at The Non Review

I’m going to be up early tomorrow!! Wonder if I'll even sleep...