Insecure Writer’s Support Group, Big News, March Movie Preview, and Movie/Music Trivia Answers

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 3 posting of the IWSG are Sarah - The Faux Fountain Pen, Jacqui Murray, Chemist Ken, Victoria Marie Lees, Natalie Aguirre, and JQ Rose!

March 3 question - Everyone has a favorite genre or genres to write. But what about your reading preferences? Do you read widely or only within the genre(s) you create stories for? What motivates your reading choice?

My preferred genres are science fiction and fantasy. I do read outside of that though. Some thrillers, horrors, non fiction… And I’ve found some gems in those genres.

Now, my big news…

I submitted my latest manuscript to my publisher mid-January – and they said yes and sent a contract!

CassaDark (title at the moment) will be my next published book.

Yes, it’s been a few years since my last published story. I didn’t think it would happen again. So, I am really excited. And I get to expand the Cassa universe. Big thanks to my critique partners for helping make the story better – Ken, Tyrene, Teresa, and Joylene (who really kicked my butt!)

March Movie Preview

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

5 –

Raya and the Last Dragon
In a realm known as Kumandra, a re-imagined Earth inhabited by an ancient civilization, a warrior named Raya is determined to find the last dragon.
Directors: Don Hall | Carlos López Estrada | Paul Briggs | John Ripa
Stars: Alan Tudyk, Ross Butler, Awkwafina, Gemma Chan
At what point does Raya fight Sho’nuff?

12 –

Cosmic Sin
Seven rogue soldiers launch a preemptive strike against a newly discovered alien civilization in the hopes of ending an interstellar war before it starts.
Director: Edward Drake
Stars: Frank Grillo, Bruce Willis, Brandon Thomas Lee, C.J. Perry
Vegas odds have Bruce in this movie plus or minus five minutes.

19 –

The Courier
Cold War spy Greville Wynne and his Russian source try to put an end to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Director: Dominic Cooke
Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Merab Ninidze, Rachel Brosnahan, Vladimir Chuprikov
What would Khan do?

31 –

Godzilla as. Kong
Director: Adam Wingard
Stars: Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall
The epic next chapter in the cinematic Monsterverse pits two of the greatest icons in motion picture history against one another - the fearsome Godzilla and the mighty Kong - with humanity caught in the balance.
Atomic breath should equal roasted ape…

Movie Trivia Answers

Taglines!

The ultimate in alien terror – 1982 – The Thing
At last, the night has a hero – 1990 - Nightbreed
You'll never know what bit you – 1999 – Lake Placid
Cute. Clever. Mischievous. Intelligent. Dangerous. – 1984 - Gremlins
2 Terrifying. 2 Frightening. 2 Much! – 1987 – Evil Dead 2
Some Thing Has Found Us – 2008 - Cloverfield
In darkness, there can be light. In misery, there can be beauty. In death, there can be life... – 2006 – Pan’s Labyrinth
They say there’s nothing new under the sun. But under the ground… - 1990 - Tremors

Music Trivia Answers

Monster songs! Here are the answers:

Feed My Frankenstein – 1992 – Alice Cooper
Bark at the Moon – 1982 – Ozzy Osbourne
Godzilla – 1977 – Blue Oyster Cult
Dream Warriors – 1989 - Dokken
The Thing That Should Not Be – 1986 Metallica
Circle of the Cysquatch – 2006 – Mastodon
Nightcrawler – 1990 – Judas Priest
Living Dead Girl – 1998 – Rob Zombie

What genres do you read? Seeing any new movies? Get any of the trivia right? Think it’s about time I had another book?

2021 Movies, Monster Movie Trivia, and Monster Music Trivia

2021 Movies

Here are some of the big movies coming out this year, most of which were delayed from last year. (Information from the IMDB.) We kick it off with a monster film I’m very excited to see after the recent trailers:

March 31
Godzilla vs. Kong
The epic next chapter in the cinematic Monsterverse pits two of the greatest icons in motion picture history against one another - the fearsome Godzilla and the mighty Kong - with humanity caught in the balance.
Director: Adam Wingard
Stars: Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry
Coming out on HBO Max same day.

May 7
Black Widow
A film about Natasha Romanoff in her quests between the films Civil War and Infinity War.
Director: Cate Shortland
Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Rachel Weisz

May 28
F9
Cypher enlists the help of Jakob, Dom's younger brother to take revenge on Dom and his team.
Director: Justin Lin
Stars: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Martyn Ford, Charlize Theron

July 2
Maverick
After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy's top aviators, Pete Mitchell is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him.
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Stars: Tom Cruise, Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller, Jean Louisa Kelly

Minions: The Rise of Gru
The untold story of one twelve-year-old's dream to become the world's greatest supervillain.
Directors: Kyle Balda | Brad Ableson | Jonathan del Val
Stars: Julie Andrews, Steve Carell, Lucy Lawless, Michelle Yeoh

July 30
Jungle Cruise
Based on Disneyland's theme park ride where a small riverboat takes a group of travelers through a jungle filled with dangerous animals and reptiles but with a supernatural element.
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Jesse Plemons, Edgar Ramírez

September 17
A Quiet Place Part Two
Following the events at home, the Abbott family now face the terrors of the outside world. Forced to venture into the unknown, they realize the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats lurking beyond the sand path.
Director: John Krasinski
Stars: Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Cillian Murphy, Noah Jupe

October 1
Dune
Feature adaptation of Frank Herbert's science fiction novel, about the son of a noble family entrusted with the protection of the most valuable asset and most vital element in the galaxy.
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Stars: Zendaya, Timothée Chalamet, Josh Brolin, Rebecca Ferguson

October 7
No Time to Die
James Bond has left active service. His peace is short-lived when Felix Leiter, an old friend from the CIA, turns up asking for help, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.
Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga
Stars: Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas, Rami Malek, Ralph Fiennes

Movie Trivia

Monster movies! Continuing with the theme. Guess the title from the tagline and year.


The ultimate in alien terror - 1982
At last, the night has a hero – 1990
You'll never know what bit you – 1999
Cute. Clever. Mischievous. Intelligent. Dangerous. – 1984
2 Terrifying. 2 Frightening. 2 Much! – 1987
Some Thing Has Found Us – 2008
In darkness, there can be light. In misery, there can be beauty. In death, there can be life... – 2006
They say there’s nothing new under the sun. But under the ground… - 1990

Music Trivia

More monsters! Name the musical artist from the song title and year.

Feed My Frankenstein – 1992
Bark at the Moon – 1982
Godzilla – 1977
Dream Warriors – 1989
The Thing That Should Not Be – 1986
Circle of the Cysquatch - 2006
Nightcrawler – 1990
Living Dead Girl – 1998

What delayed movies are you excited to see? (Yes, I will see Godzilla vs. Kong both in the theater and at home.) Know any of the movie trivia? How about the music trivia?
Next post will be March 3 for IWSG day – and I have some great news I’ve been sitting on!

MST3K and RiffTrax, iPad Pro review, Cassa Animation, Monster Movie Trivia, School of Rock/Monday’s Music Moves Me, and Ninja News

I have a guest post at Write-Edit-Publish - Writing Science Fiction – It’s Not Really That Alien!

MST3K and RiffTrax

Don’t forget that every Monday, RiffTrax releases a new MST3K episode!

And since Thanksgiving used to be MST3K Turkey Day, you can now run your own marathon of bad movies.

The next RiffTrax Live show is December 3 – Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny! Doesn’t that just sound awful?

IPad Pro Review

Sometimes it’s challenging to be an early adopter. The iPad Pro is incomplete without the pen, which won’t ship until next month.

The good news:
The work area is large and the screen gorgeous.
Working with two apps at the same time in split screen is a big plus.
It’s very, very fast.

The bad news:
This is where being an early adopter sucks. I haven’t found an app yet that measures up to what this device is capable of doing. They just aren’t taking advantage of the bigger screen yet.

I really like it, but until I get a pen and more apps become available for the iPad Pro, it’s just a really big iPad.

But yeah, it’s still really cool! And I have been doodling with a regular iPad pen. The creative applications will be incredible once I get the official iPad Pro pen.

Cassa Animation!

One of my very best blogger buddies, Jeremy Hawkins, made this awesome animation for my trilogy. Jeremy, you rock!!!

Ninja News

Don’t forget, Wednesday, December 1 is the last post day for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group this year!

New Releases:

The Vig by Amy Brook
Available at Amazon in paperback and eBook

Pat Hatt has three more books out!
Find them at Amazon:
Profanity Granny's Crime Fighting
Ready Eddie’s Confessions
Happy Humper’s Confessions

Under the Willow by John Boswell (Jack Lewis Baillot)
Find it at Createspace

It's An Adventure by Kenneth Lynch (Al Penwasser)
Find it on Amazon

Ella is a cover girl!
Her article made the front cover of Green Craft magazine.





The very first volume of the Charleston Anvil is out!
Featuring Making Her by John Wiswell

School of Rock and Monday’s Music Moves Me

School of Rock hosted by Shady Del Knight.
Monday’s Music Moves Me hosted by Xmas Dolly.

I’m going to introduce you to two prog rock bands you’ve probably never heard of. I picked one from each end of the spectrum, just to show you the diversity.

First, we have the band Evergrey, formed in 1995 in Gothenburg, Sweden. This prog song is very melodic. Title – Black Undertow.

Next, we have the band Scar Symmetry, another Swedish band formed in 2004. This one is very heavy. Title – Limits to Infinity.

You’ve now been schooled on Swedish prog rock!

In honor of MST3K, today’s trivia revolves around movies they have riffed. Name the classically bad monster film from the clues!

1 – 1975, eight legged creatures, Alan Hale Jr. in the cast
2 – 1955, sequel to fish man hit, Clint Eastwood’s first role
3 – 1959, starring James Best of Dukes of Hazzard fame, featuring giant rodents that were actually just dogs with carpets draped over their backs
4 – 1957, directed by Bert I. Gordon, and featuring a really big bald guy
5 – 1965, first in a series of many, this Japanese monster gave Godzilla a run for his money
6 – 1957, another Bert I. Gordon classic, starred Peter Graves, featured really large insects

Answers on Wednesday, December 2!

Ready for some MST3K? Anyone else pick up the iPad Pro? What did you think of the Cassa animation? Picking up some new books? Familiar with either prog rock band? And do you know any of the trivia questions?

Be sure to visit Write-Edit-Publish.

Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends! I’ll be gone the end of this week and won’t be back to posting until next Wednesday.

CassaSeries, Jurassic World Review, RiffTrax on At Midnight, Movie Trivia, and Ninja News

I’m back from vacation! Did you miss me?

Today I am visiting Karen Lange with outlining tips and how to avoid a messy first draft.

CassaSeries

My publisher has put my Cassa books into an eBook boxed set and it is slated for release June 22, 2015! You can pre-order it now.

CassaSeries
By Alex J. Cavanaugh
ISBN 9781939844118
Price - $5.99
Science fiction/adventure (FIC028010) and science fiction/space opera (FIC028030)
Find it here – Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Goodreads

Movie Review -Jurassic World

The fourth installment starts with a theme park built on the same island as Jurassic Park, complete with a main street, petting zoo, rides, and thousands of visitors. All havoc breaks loose when a deadly hybrid dinosaur escapes.

Let’s face it – no matter what they do, they will never capture the magic that was Jurassic Park. Yes, the park is now a functioning theme park, the special effects are great, and the new dinosaurs are fearsome. But the genie is already out of the bottle…

Chris Pratt is the best part of the film as a kick-butt raptor trainer. He proves he can lead films and do a diversity of roles.

While it’s always fun to return to the Jurassic world, and who doesn’t dig seeing dinosaurs running around, this film did have issues and some plot holes. It shouldn’t be a leave your brain at the door kind of film, but if you’re going to enjoy it, you’ll have to.

My biggest issue was a lack of contingencies should one of the dinosaurs escape. They said the hybrid had an implant that would zap her if she got to close to the main park, and yet other escaping dinosaurs seemed to lack this. Plus with this kind of park, there should be more backup than a few guys with tranquilizers.

My other issues was with the sphere ride and how riders could just take the ball anywhere. Now, I’ve been to enough theme parks to know that almost all rides are on tracks and the rider does not control anything. Letting patrons roam around the valley as long as they wanted with really big dinosaurs around seemed like a bad idea. (And it was.)

There were numerous other issues I won’t go into, like flat characters and plot details that went nowhere.

I really wanted to love this film, especially after seeing the good reviews, but I’d have to place it as my third favorite behind Jurassic Park and The Lost World. It was better than the third, but not by a lot.

Leave brain at door and watch just for the big dinosaurs and Chris Pratt.

RiffTrax on At Midnight with Chris Hardwick

The RiffTrax guys – Mike, Kevin, and Bill – appeared on the show on June 9. It’s a ‘game show’ that has contestants coming up with funny lines to go with situations, images, and hashtags.

It was the first time those three had been on Comedy Central since Mystery Science Theater 3000 was cancelled.

And it was hilarious!

Mike had some of the best one-liners:

#worstrealityshow – Are You Taller Than a Fifth Grader?

Scene with teen boys running into villain in an S&M mask – Oh no, we wandered into Andy Dick’s backyard!

The host mentioned he couldn’t hear Kevin’s voice without picturing Tom Servo. When Kevin offered a very raunchy one-liner, Chris said that had erased the image forever.

Bill won the game with a line that I can't really repeat here...

Watch it streaming at Hulu

Ninja News

There is a huge giveaway of adult and young adult books happening this week! It starts Tuesday, and a couple of my books are included. See Jessica Therrien’s site for a full list and to enter. Open until June 30.

Available Now -
Roses Are Red by JB Kantt
Buy it at Amazon US and Amazon UK

Movie Trivia

Answers from last week:
1 - This 1975 movie with Doug McClure took place during WWI and involved a German sub finding a place called Caprona. The Land That Time Forgot 
2 – This 1969 film was half Western and involved a T-Rex. The Valley of Gwangi
3 – This 1988 animated film spawned many, many sequels. The Land Before Time
4 – This 1997 movie involved two groups of people with different agendas on an island with dinosaurs. The Lost World
5 – This 1993 film was produced by Roger Corman, spawned two sequels, and starred Diane Ladd. Carnosaur

This week, an easy one – name the monster or creature in these films:

1 – Hellraiser 1997
2 – Reign of Fire 2002
3 – Near Dark 1987
4 – Lake Placid 1999
5 – Battleship 2012
6 – Deep Blue Sea 1999

Answers next Monday!

Did you see Jurassic World this past weekend? Anyone catch the RiffTrax guys on At Midnight? Get any of the trivia right? Know the monsters this week? And anyone want to help me announce the release of the CassaSeries trilogy next week?

Don’t forget to visit Karen Lange!

M Pax’s Favorite Astronomizing Moments, WALL-E and ET Pumpkins, Ninja News, Monster Trivia Answers, and Mini-Alex!

I’m visiting fellow science fiction author, Sandra Ulbrich Almazan, and answering a few questions about myself, my creative process, and words of wisdom. (Don’t laugh at that last one…)

M. Pax is here today to discuss her best moments as a star guide!

Best Moments of Astronomizing

September 27th was the end of my 6th summer as a star guide at Pine Mountain Observatory. Despite the growing light pollution from an expanding population in Central Oregon, we still have relatively dark skies – skies that let us view the Milky Way in all its starry glory. Glorious it is. It never fails to awe me and make my heart race. Here are some of my favorite moments:

1. Discovery. Every time I find an object, it’s as thrilling as the first time. I don’t use a computer. I use star charts and an electronics-free telescope. When I started, my astronomy friends taught me how to point at Jupiter. It and the Moon were my entire repertoire. Now I can find a hundred objects.

2. My favorite summer object: M24. It’s a densely packed star field – a star cloud – above Sagittarius. It fills my eyepiece with stars. It’s stunning. Overall, the Orion nebula is my favorite [winter object].

3. Giving Robert his life’s dream. Robert visited a few summers ago. He told me it was his life’s dream to see a nebula. I gave showed him five then told him he needed a new life’s dream, because 9 was way too young to be done with that sort of thing.

4. Showing kids how to use my telescope and letting them. “Come see my star,” they like to say. Awesome.

5. Being able to give a person in a wheelchair a tour of the night sky. It was possible with my Dobsonian.

Yeah, most of my triumphs have to do with giving someone a special night, one made of stars and dreams. It’s the most awesome job, and that joy is what I’m paid. I can’t wait until next summer.

M. Pax-- Inspiring the words she writes, she spends her summers as a star guide at Pine Mountain Observatory in stunning Central Oregon where she lives with the Husband Unit and two demanding cats. She writes science fiction and fantasy mostly. You can find out more by visiting her at: Website, Twitter, Goodreads, Pinterest, and Wattpad

Find Beyond the Edge: Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, and Kobo

Ninja News

Doralynn Kennedy’s Spiders comes out today. Congratulations, Doralynn!

Karen Lange’s Homeschool Co-ops 101 is now available! Buy it at Amazon or Barnes and Noble. Congratulations, Karen!

Nigel Mitchell’s latest is now available – Six Guns of Madness. Purchase it at Amazon. Congratulations, Nigel!

Cover Reveal

THE BOY WHO LOVED FIRE, by Julie Musil
Release date – January 2014
Add to Goodreads

Manny O’Donnell revels in his status at the top of his high school food chain…

Julie Musil is the author of YA fiction. As the mother of three teen boys, she’s immersed in teen speak, drama, and gym socks. She loves to chat--just ask her Super Supportive Hubby, the guy with the glazed eyes. Connect with Julie on Facebook, Twitter, or her blog.

Monster Movie Trivia Answers 

1 – Ginger Snaps 2000 - Werewolf
2 – Them! 1954 - Giant Ants
3 – Tremors 1990 - Graboids
4 – Dead Alive 1992 - Zombies
5 – Near Dark 1987 - Vampires
6 – Mimic 1997 - Insects

Mini-Alex and the Cassa Poster

I’m always envious of the prizes you guys win. This time however, my publisher sent me one of them – the Cassa Universe poster!

And Mini-Alex was very happy…

More Cool Halloween Pumpkins

From EgoTV Online - visit the site for even more!

Every viewed the stars from an observatory? Excited about the new books? Get any of the trivia right? And did you carve a pumpkin this year…?

Be sure to visit Sandra Ulbrich Almazan!

Being Humorous with The Vanished Knight! Plus Monster Movie Trivia, Haunted Castles, Man with the Iron Fist Movie Review, Cover Challenge, and Ninja News

Today I welcome the awesome Misha Gericke! And I may have stressed her a little with my request for snark. Let’s see how she did!

Be Humorous!

“Be humorous”, Alex said. “Humor always goes over well with the ninja crowd.” Do you have any idea how nervous this is making me. For one thing, I’m going to bust my chops and the ninjas won’t laugh.

Ninjas don’t laugh. Didn’t you know?

And even if they have a super secret sort of giggle, it’ll be too soft for human ears to hear. So… I guess the question is… If a ninja laughs in the blogosphere and I don’t hear it, am I ever funny?

Really though, writing humor gives me the heevie jeevies. It’s… sort of like… going into a room half naked. Anyone else know what I mean? I guess it’s because I know my sense of humor. It’s like 90% pure chocolate: dark, dry, a little bitter and absolutely wicked. Problem is, no matter how hard one tries, chocolate never really translates into writing. Same thing with what I think is funny. Not to say that my books are humorless. I believe there has to be bits of humor in all stories. Even fantasies with a possessed girl, a jackass (or fourteen), a nutty old man, a quiet kid, a heroic sociopath (or so people think, although I’m never sure if they’re right on the heroic or the sociopath side) and a half elf.

It’s easier then. My characters have senses of humor, and they make silly mistakes. And more often than not, I don’t plan any of it. The magic just happens, seemingly out of the ether. That, I’m comfortable with. Making the magic, not so much.

So… In the interest of humor, I thought I’d share a Nordian joke from Gawain in The Vanished Knight. *Clears throat*
What do you get if you tie two Merithians together? An irritation.
What do you get if you tie two Larisian Elves together? A headache. Unless you drown them.
What do you get if you tie two Ladrians together? Wait? You mean they’d notice?
What do you get if you tie two Nordian Saints together? Your hand back. Severed from your arm, of course.

Doo dum tsss!

Yeah… You’d need to read the book to get it. And in case you’re curious…

Purchase The Vanished Knight: Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, All Romance Reads, Amazon France, and Amazon Germany

M. Gerrick (AKA Misha Gericke) has basically created stories since before she could write. Many of those stories grew up with her and can be seen in her current projects. She lives close to Cape Town, with a view over False Bay and Table Mountain. If you’d like to contact her, feel free to mail her at warofsixcrowns(AT)gmail(DOT)com, Circle her on Google Plus or follow her on Twitter. If you'd like to see her writer-side (beware, it's pretty insane), please feel free to check out her blog. You can also add The Vanished Knight on Goodreads.

Lexa’s Cover Reveal Challenge

Can you find the error on this cover?

To win a prize, find the cover error in each of these 10 blogs: Alex J. Cavanaugh, PK Hrezo, Father Dragon Writes, Bards and Prophets, The Write Game, Ellie Garratt, Klahanie, Julie Flanders, In High Spirits, and Mainewords.

For the correct cover, rules, and prize list, go to Lexa Cain’s BLOG.
Soul Cutter releases from MuseItUp Publishing on December 6, 2013.

Ninja News

Many of you are gearing up for NaNo and might be in need of a buddy at the NaNo site. Beverly Fox is looking to connect with other participants. Visit her or leave your NaNo name in the comments so others can find you. It helps to have friends in the hunt with you!

Lee at Tossing It Out has a special guest today – Liza Long from Anarchist Soccer Mom. She received national attention with her post Thinking the Unthinkable (I am Adam Lanza’s Mom) and talks about the impact of going viral had on her. This is a continuation of his respect series, touching upon blogging and pageviews.

Somerset Memories asked Ella to write an article about her grandparents – and here it is published! Congratulations, Ella.





Want to visit a haunted castle? Gadling lists the ten most haunted castles in the world, including Castle Bran – Dracula’s castle.

Movie Review

The Man with the Iron Fists
Directed by and starring RZA, with Eli Roth as one of the producers.
First off, this movie is not good. But, it is ridiculously entertaining! If you like way over the top wire-fu mixed with a bit of gore, then this might be the film for you. Won’t win any Oscars, but it was entertaining as hell.
Also starring Rick Yune, Lucy Liu, and a fat Russell Crowe.

Monster Movie Trivia!

Name the monster(s) or creature(s) in the following movies:

1 – Ginger Snaps 2000

2 – Them! 1954

3 – Tremors 1990

4 – Dead Alive 1992

5 – Near Dark 1987

6 – Mimic 1997

Misha does know humorous, doesn’t she? Have you picked up The Vanished Knight? Participating in NaNo? Ready to visit a haunted castle? Seen The Man with the Iron Fists? And do you know any of the monsters…?

Announcing the Anti-Blogfest Gary Fest! Plus Ninja and Cassa News, The Bay Movie Review, and Monster Movie Trivia Answers

Ninja News

Milo James Fowler has stories in TWO publications this week – Big Bad Anthology and Bards and Sages Quarterly. Congratulations, Milo!

My blogger buddy Jeremy Hawkins just released four art books in the “It’s Time” series! Congratulations, Jeremy. He will be touring next month, so expect a visit from the Retro Art Master in August.

Rachel Morgan has several short stories in the textbooks Grade 7, 8 and 9 Core Readers for English First Additional Language. Congratulations, Rachel!

At lot of cool news came out of Comic Con this past weekend, including the fact that Zack Snyder will direct the next Superman-Batman movie. Yes, both superheroes in one film! Fans were also treated to a Godzilla experience similar to a ride at Universal Studios. And the metal band Metallica was even there for a panel!

Cassa Updates

Charity Bradford posted her early review of CassaStorm on her blog last week, with high praises for the world building and science elements. That blows my mind, because those areas are not my strong suit. (Although I am currently reading a book that glosses over those elements more than I do.) I guess Byron isn’t the only one who has grown and changed over the years.

CassaStorm is also on the Goodreads list for Can’t Wait Sci Fi Fantasy of 2013. It won’t take many more votes to get it into the top ten, so if you’d like to add your vote, I would appreciate it!

Monster Movie Trivia Answers!

1 – What was the monster in Brotherhood of the Wolf? A lion
2 – How many times have Godzilla and Gamera fought? None
3 – DeForest Kelley fought giant rabbits in what film? Night of the Lepus
4 – Which X-Men cast member starred in Deep Rising? Famke Janssen
5 – What year was the original King Kong released? 1933
6 – What was the giant creature in Lake Placid? A crocodile
7 – In Godzilla vs. the Thing, what was the Thing? Mothra

Movie Review

The Bay
Written and directed by Barry Levinson, this movie chronicles an ecological disaster in a small Maryland town which was covered up by the government.
An entry in the ‘found footage’ genre, this one is unique in how it handles the footage, piecing together views from dozens of cameras to reveal what happened one fateful Fourth of July. Something has infected the water – a combination of pollution, poultry farm runoff, and an unknown entity – and people are dying. The movie follows numerous characters, most notably a college student as a junior reporter for the local news.
What makes this film effectively creepy is the realism. What is killing the people is a real threat that kills fish. The possibility that in the right toxic soup it could kill people is disturbing.
It’s rated R and there is gore, but it’s not sensationalized.
Not for everyone, this movie will stay with you for a while.

The Anti-Blogfest to end all Blogfests!

Announcing the "Anti-Blogfest Gary Fest" on August 12, a blog hop in honor of Mr. anti-blog hop himself, Gary at Klahanie.

Hosted by Mark “Madman” Koopmans, Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh, “Life is Good” Tina, Rockin’ Robyn Engel and Morgan “The Morg” Shamy.

The rules are *very* simple.

Create the titles of three PG-13 rated blogfests you would never join - and then add a descriptive sentence or two. That's it!

For example, I would never sign up for the:

Cheesecake & Cauliflower Bloghop - "where dinner and dessert is mixed in one dish."

OR the

Blocked up Toilet Blogfest - "where crap happens."

OR even the

Alphapet Zoo-mbie Bloghop - "where cuddly undead toys learn how to spell."

Sign up below!




Can you see growth in your writing? Have you seen The Bay? Get the movie trivia correct? (Joshua nailed it!) Can you vote for CassaStorm? And who’s in for some anti-blogfests?