Insecure Writer’s Support Group #IWSG, March Movie Preview, Music Boxes, Golden Schmoes Winners, and The Grinch Review

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 6 posting of the IWSG are Fundy Blue, Beverly Stowe McClure, Erika Beebe, and Lisa Buie-Collard!


March 6 question - Whose perspective do you like to write from best, the hero (protagonist) or the villain (antagonist)? And why?

Obviously my answer has to be the hero.

Because I’ve never written a real antagonist.

What….????

I write stories where the hero is his own worst enemy. There are forces pushing against him, but it’s not from any one person – and ultimately he cripples his own progress from within.

In books and movies…I do like a good hero and villain. But I don’t like a story told from the villain’s view. I don’t like anti-heroes. I need to know that good triumphs over evil.

What about you?

Here are the IWSG Instagram prompts for the month:

Available now from a fellow Dancing Lemur Press author!

Music Boxes by Tonja Drecker
I only desire your talent. . .
Twelve-year-old Lindsey McKay's biggest dream is to be a famous ballerina. But after moving to New York, she ends up at the Community Center with a teacher who’s a burly bear in tights.
When she meets Madame Destinée, the teacher of a top dance school who offers her classes for free, Lindsey can't believe her luck. In exchange, she must perform in the school’s exclusive midnight shows, ones sure to make her a star. But something’s not right...
One by one, the other dancers disappear. Each time they do, a music box with a figurine just like the missing ballerina joins Madame Destinée’s growing collection. If Lindsey doesn’t discover the truth about the dance school, she might end up a tiny figurine herself.
Find on iTunes, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and Goodreads

Movie Review – The Grinch

I did not see this in the theater last year. I’ll admit I’m a purist and nothing can top the 60’s animated film How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
And I was right, this does not top it.
But it was good!
It manages to hold on to the spirit of the story even as it expands it to show more and explain more. There’s a whole side story involving Cindy-Lou (who is definitely older than two!) and they show the Grinch’s past to explain why he hates Christmas.
The animation is brilliant and captures the style of the original film and the book itself.
There were a couple things that didn’t jive with me. The hip-hop soundtrack seemed out of place. (But then I’m not the target age for this movie.) It was also weird to hear someone other than Boris Karloff do the narration. The voice just didn’t carry the weight. (Was James Earl Jones not available? He would’ve been perfect.)
One thing I did really like - the Grinch is certainly nicer to Max in this version! In the cartoon, I always thought Max should run away and find a nice Who family.
There were some modern upgrades (Who cell phones, Cindy-Lou’s mom is single, etc.) but I did enjoy this version of the story. It tugged at the heartstrings and provided some good laughs.
And made me forget the travesty of the Jim Carrey version.
Recommended.

Golden Schmoes Winners

Here are some highlights:

Favorite Movie: Avengers: Infinity War (It also won ten other awards.)
Most Overrated: Black Panther
Trippiest: Annihilation
Best Animated: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Most Memorable Scene: The Snap, Avengers: Infinity War

Check out the rest of the winners at Jo Blo’s site.

March Movie Preview

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

8 –

Captain Marvel
Carol Danvers becomes one of the universe's most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races.
Directors: Anna Boden | Ryan Fleck
Stars: Brie Larson, Gemma Chan, Samuel L. Jackson, Lee Pace
You’ll believe a woman can fly… Take that, Superman!

15 – 

Wonder Park
Wonder Park tells the story of a magnificent amusement park where the imagination of a wildly creative girl named June comes alive.
Stars: Brianna Denski, Jennifer Garner, Ken Hudson Campbell, Kenan Thompson
Neat idea – a little girl imagines a theme park and it becomes real. Right now I'm imagining a Bugatti Veyron becoming real in my garage.

22 –

The Dirt
The story of how Mötley Crüe came to be one of the most notorious rock 'n roll groups in history.
Director: Jeff Tremaine
Stars: Machine Gun Kelly, Iwan Rheon, Douglas Booth
Why The Dirt? Because Sex-Crazed, Drug-Fueled Idiots was too long of a title…

29 –

Dumbo
A young elephant, whose oversized ears enable him to fly, helps save a struggling circus, but when the circus plans a new venture, Dumbo and his friends discover dark secrets beneath its shiny veneer.
Director: Tim Burton
Stars: Eva Green, Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito
You’ll believe an elephant can fly... Take that, Captain Marvel!

Which perspective do you write from? Picking up Music Boxes? Have you seen the latest version of The Grinch? Thoughts on the Golden Schmoes? And what movies interest you this month…?

RiffTrax: Live Summer Shorts Beach Party! IWSG Best Writer Site! Plus New Releases and Ninja News

RiffTrax Summer Shorts Beach Party

Another fun show!

Mike, Kevin, and Bill kicked off the party with a short involving street safety with a raccoon that everyone kept calling a bear. This short was actually funded by the Department of Transportation. Scary!

Bridget and Mary Jo tackled one about a griper while Trace and Frank got one about office etiquette.

Special guest Paul F. Tompkins joined the guys for one about magic. No wait, it was about 1961 cars. No, it was about futuristic appliances. I still have no idea what it was about.

The street safety raccoon was outdone by a short on rhythmic ball skills featuring a group of kids. Drop-catch. Drop-catch. Drop-catch. Those poor kids were craving a history test after that ordeal.

The grand finale was with everyone and possibly the oddest short/story/thing they’ve ever done. It was about bags. A guy steals two burlap bags and throws them in his pickup only to have them come to life and run off. Or rather hop. Picture a bag race with the person completely inside the bag. He chases them all over town. Really! You’ll have to catch the hilarity when it’s available for purchase.

Not the funniest one I’ve seen, and Paul seemed a bit out of his element, but still a thousand times better than suffering through a Transformers movie.

Now for some pre-show screen shots: 

Don't miss RiffTrax Live: Doctor Who – The Five Doctors on August 17!

IWSG Best Website for Writers!

The big news today – the Insecure Writers Support Group site made the Writer’s Digest 19th Annual 101 Best Websites for Writers!


This is huge – and it’s been my goal with the site ever since we launched it almost four years ago.


Big thanks to all of you who have supported the group and its site over the years. We couldn’t have done it without you!

New Book Releases

Purr Empire by Pat Hatt
Cassie, Orlin and their crazy human Pat are once again up to their eyeballs in scat. In the fifth go around, walking, talking animals are found. Duke Drazin does not think much of any of it. He's also back to throw a fit. Who's fault is it this time? Why are humans no longer in their prime? All that and answers you never want to know surely will show.
Find it at Amazon

A Glowworm by Tonja Drecker
This is a UBook. It plays out, sentence by sentence, on a video, while music, which has been composed specifically for the book, plays in the background to help create the right atmosphere.
Pick it up at Black and White Publishing Company.

Forbidden by Feather Stone
Suspense/thriller, mystery, terrorism
Gunfire echoes within the walls of a Middle East police compound...
Find it on Amazon

Ninja News

Brandon and Bryan, those guys from A Beer for the Shower, have their own comic channel. Each week, something new to make you laugh.
Check it out on Tapas.

The latest issue of Six Strings is out.
Featuring interviews with composer Paul E. Francis, actress Dawn Cody, Actress Biana Allaine, director Amarish Olson, and much, much more.
Download your free copy here.

Stephen Tremp is putting together a special project that will launch very soon.
It’s a three eight-lesson courses to help writers and entrepreneurs to launch or relaunch their product service or cause.
Find out more at The Launching Pad

LG Keltner is part of an upcoming anthology.
The 2018 Young Explorer's Adventure Guide is composed of 24 stories written for middle grade readers.
The publisher, Dreaming Robot Press, just launched a Kickstarter campaign to help with publication costs. One thing they aim to do is donate copies of the book to libraries, and the Kickstarter helps make that possible.
Learn more about the Kickstarter here.

Submissions are open for The IWSG Guide to Writing for Profit. What are we looking for? Anything writing related – books, journalism, articles, whatever. What have you tried that was successful? What have you tried that didn’t result in sales or making money? We need to know what doesn’t work as well! Submissions are open to all IWSG members – monthly blog post members, Facebook, and Goodreads. Details here.

Finally, CassaStorm will be my publisher’s free audio giveaway book on Twitter from June 29 through July 5. Visit their Twitter and click the pinned Tweet to enter.

Anyone catch the RiffTrax shorts special? Do riffing Doctor Who sound more enticing? Picking up some new books? Following Brandon and Bryan on Tapas? Pick up Six Strings – it’s free. And are you working on your submission for the IWSG free guide? Do it!

See you next Wednesday, July 5, for IWSG post day!