Pirates Review & Some Guest Post Tips

Saw the new Pirates movie this weekend (of course!) so thought I’d offer my views on the latest installment.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Our fourth journey with Captain Jack Sparrow is a stand alone adventure, although it references events before the first movie ever occurred. Everyone is after the Fountain of Youth – the Spanish, the English (led by Barbossa), and Blackbeard – with Jack along as his guide.

The movie is not without issues. It has some slow moments, especially in the first half of the film. The second half really picks up the pace and tension, throwing jungles and killer mermaids into the mix. Add a thick layer of lies and Jack’s squirrelly antics, and you have a fun romp of an adventure.

Depp is Depp. Geoffrey Rush is captivating and likeable. Ian McShane is evil in a subtle way and as cold as hell.

On Stranger Tides is ‘loosely’ based on a Tim Powers book of the same name. It’s been years since I read the novel, which did feature Blackbeard, the Fountain of Youth, and zombies, so I don’t remember how accurately they followed the book. But I feel confident saying that it's loosely (oh so loosely) based on the book.

This Pirates movie isn’t perfect, but it’s fun and worth a trip to the movie theater as long as your expectations are not sky high. It’s in 2D and 3D – I saw the 2D version and don’t feel I missed anything. Go – enjoy!

Guest Post Tips

I have some awesome guests appearing here over the next few weeks, which is really cool. This community has been so supportive of me, and I’m honored to feature my blogger friends.

Everyone has a different view on this, so I’ll just offer my own personal tips for acquiring guest spots.

* Contact me at least a month in advance. And please send me your book information (or whatever) or your guest post idea. Give me time to fit it into my calendar and know what I’m saying yes to!

* My focus is science fiction and fantasy, but I'm open to other ideas. Humor is a must, movie-related a bonus! And my blogger buddies get preference.

* I set my posts two – three days in advance, so I need your post a couple days before it’s supposed to go live. And I prefer short guest posts to interviews.

* I’ll Tweet your post and entice my Ninja Army to comment – but I need you to do the same. And while my Army is huge, I can tell when they are the only ones leaving comments...

* I don’t require a free book or anything. Really! I would rather support you by purchasing my own copy.

* Please have the courtesy to thank me when it’s over.  And you really need to thank my Ninja Army. Cases of Hot Tamales always welcome.

Do those rules sound fair? What are your guest post rules?

Special Guest!

Special guest here today! And when you see Angela from Jaded Love Junkie’s photos, you’ll realize she is one cool chick. Angela was also the winner of my 200 Followers Giveaway. So please take the time to learn a little about my fascinating blogging buddy, Angela. (Otherwise, I'll send Simon the Snarktopus over to snark at you!)

Thank you, Alex, for inviting me to post on your blog. A year ago, I never thought I’d be writing again much less blogging about it and meeting so many amazing writers who share similar struggles and triumphs along the path to publication.

Like most of you, I’ve always loved reading and writing, from the day I could hold a pencil. A college friend said she hated writing. She’d never written in a journal or written poetry or short stories. It blew my mind people could be perfectly happy writing nothing more than an occasional check endorsement.

In college, I was a writing fool. I took creative writing courses, and I worked on the newspaper, as Copy Editor and Editor in Chief. I freelanced editorial work, won poetry, essay and journalism contests and even wrote for Oregon Magazine. It was sooooo much work! And nothing like the kind of writing I’d enjoyed my entire life. It burned me out so hardcore I stopped reading and writing, and then I left college.

Advance the clock fourteen years later—yes, fourteen! I’m a US Navy service member. I work on radar, communications and navigation electronics, absolutely nothing to do with writing. Two years ago, I found myself stationed away from my husband and five children with too much time to think about the gloom of being away from them. Then I got the bug back, slowly at first. It began with books, books, books, and when I finally ran out of those, I learned it’s never too late to get back on the horse. I began writing again.

I wrote my first book in four weeks. In the past, I wrote literary fiction and horror. I know. I’m weird. My current books are sci-fi romance. My tastes are eclectic for sure. I read everything from military and literary non-fiction, mystery, romance of all kinds, sci-fi, YA, and even westerns. This might explain why I’ve written a wide range.

I am incredibly overjoyed to be back in the writing realm. I love my blogger buddies. I love learning from and sharing with all the writerly types who are so generous with their experience and knowledge. I love talking about writing, and most of all I love writing.

You can find me at Jaded Love Junkie or on Facebook. Thanks for your time, and good luck to all on your path to publication!