Movies Based on YA Books, TV Trivia, Space Opera, Ninja News, and More!

Today I’m making an appearance at the blog of Kim Van Sickler! find out why the Space Opera genre isn't just for science fiction fans.

To entertain you here with movies and books is Nutschell from The Writing Nut!

5 Movies Based on YA Books to Look Forward to This 2014

I’m looking forward to seeing tons of awesome new movies this year. Most of them are Sci-Fi/Fantasy movies and I’ll run out of space if I list all of them. So I thought I narrow down it down to movies based on YA (Young Adult) books, which I’m looking forward to watching.

Here they are in no particular order:

Divergent
Divergent is the first book in Veronica Roth’s best-selling trilogy. The books are all about a dystopian Chicago, where teenagers are forced to make a choice between five factions: Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless and Erudite. Each faction is meant to play a particular role in society based on their most distinguishing virtue. On her Choosing Day, 16 year-old Beatrice Prior chooses another faction over her family’s and discovers a dark truth behind their seemingly perfect society.

Mockingjay Part 1
Mockingjay is the final book in Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games Trilogy. As with all big hits, the final book was broken into two parts. In this first installment, we’ll see how Katniss and the rebels begin the war against President Snow and the rest of the Capitol.

The Giver
Bases on Lois Lowry’s classic novel, “The Giver” tells of a future society that appears perfect—until the twelve year old protagonist Jonas uncovers its dark side. Jeff Bridges is set to play the Giver in this film adaptation.

The Maze Runner
The Maze Runner is the first book in James Dashner’s dystopian series. In this story, 12 year-old Thomas wakes up with no knowledge of his past. He finds himself in the Glades, an encampment at the center of a strange and frightening maze. Surrounded by other boys with memories of their previous lives, Thomas learns to survive, and soon finds out what lies beyond the walls of the maze.

The Fault in Our Stars
Shailene Woodley, who plays the lead in the YA blockbuster movie Divergent, also stars in this film adaptation based on John Green’s best-selling novel, The Fault in Our Stars. In this story, Hazel, a sixteen year-old with terminal cancer, falls in love with Augustus, a former basketball player whose right leg had to be amputated due to bone cancer. The two meet in a support group and quickly begin a relationship that is both heart-warming and heart-wrenching.

If you’re a fan of Young Adult books (or good stories, in general), add these movies to your “must-watch list.” You’ll be sure to enjoy all of them!

Super thanks for having me on your blog, Alex!

STORY SPROUTS: CBW-LA WRITING DAY EXERCISES & ANTHOLOGY 2013
19 authors – 10 writing exercises – 38 combined anthology entries!

Find it on Amazon
Learn more about Story Sprouts HERE
Join the Children’s Book Writers of Los Angeles HERE
And find Nutschell at Blog, Twitter, Linked In, and Pinterest

Ninja News

Today at the Insecure Writer’s Support Group we are featuring are very first guest, the super-talented and awesome Elizabeth S. Craig! She’s sharing the best practices for self-publishers – you don’t want to miss it.

Catherina Constantine revealed the cover for her upcoming book, Tallas.

Isn’t it awesome?

Road to Somewhere by Kelley Lynn and Jenny Morris
New! From Bloomsbury Spark, a sunny heartwarming story of discovery and sisterhood.

A road trip. A singing competition. And super-hot cowboys.

What could be better?

Available now – visit their sites for a giveaway!

Don’t forget the Online Marketing Symposium is on January 20! Sign up and let us know what has worked (or didn’t) with your online promotions. Open to everyone, not just authors. Hosted by Arlee Bird, Yolanda Renee, Jeremy Hawkins, and Alex J. Cavanaugh.

Cat Trivia Answers

Although some of your answers were awesome!

1 – How fast can a housecat run? 31 mph
2 – True or false – cats can drink seawater. True – their livers filter out the salt
3 – What’s the technical term for a hairball? Bezoar
4 – How many different sounds do cats make? One hundred
5 – Which pet is more popular in North America – the dog or the cat? The cat – 73 million cats compared to 63 million dogs

TV Trivia!

Random questions!

1 -On The X-Files, what's Mulder's nickname?
2 -What show starred Michael Landon as an angel?
3 -On The Simpsons, who shot Mr. Burns?
4 -What was the name of the charter boat that shipwrecked in the 1960s show "Gilligan's Island"?
5 -What 80s show is Frasier a spinoff of?

What movie based off of a young adult novel are you looking forward to? Have you picked up Story Sprouts? Excited about the new books? Signed up for the Online Marketing Symposium? Get any of the cat trivia correct? And do you know any of the TV trivia…?

Don’t forget to visit Kim Van Sickler!

Pat and the Cat - Festivals for All! Plus Trivia, Ninja News, and National Wormhole Week - Wormfest!

Today I have for you a special treat
A funky rhyme that can’t be beat.
Because today Pat and his cat
Are here to amuse at my mat!

Please welcome Pat Hatt of It’s Rhyme Time, who will show you a proper rhyme.

Festival Time In Rhyme!

So since the cat is all done the A to Z he figured he'd fill some time with a guest post for the ninja wannabe. But what could he do? Why give festivals to visit for all of you.

Frozen Dead Guy Days.
Catch some sunny rays,
In dead guy land.
Wouldn't that be grand?

Tomato Fight Festival should be on your list.
Then just make sure you are good and pissed.
Take a tomato and whack one in the head.
They could join the above if they turn out good and dead.

Monkey Buffet Festival sounds yummy.
Don't you want monkeys in your tummy?
Could get a neat disease,
Or maybe just fleas.

This one I'd avoid,
Of them the cat is paranoid.
Although Crying Baby Festival may be for you,
Especially if you have one or two.

And if that isn't your cup of tea,
You can grab your baby and flee.
Going to the Baby Jumping Festival around the corner.
Just don't step on little Jack Horner.

I bet some could pass this test.
They have such zest.
They would prove they are the best,
By winning the National Hollerin Contest.

Don't come near my OCD, bud.
I do not want any mud.
But Boryeong Mud Festival could be fun,
If you like that type of thing under your sun.

This one will be all the craze.
You will get there and gaze,
Maybe even graze.
Soaking up Mike The Headless Chicken Days.

I'll skip the Festival of Near Death Experiences this year.
Although I have been there I fear,
The dress code is rather strict.
Bring your own coffin the rules depict.

Ewww ewww ewww.
But that is all the more for you, 
As you go to the Testicle Festival event,
Joining 10,000 people eating 4,000 pounds of bull testicles under a tent.

See, there are lots of other fun things to do, and surprisingly, none of these were made up at my zoo. So if you ever need a good festival at your sea, you can now find one thanks to me. On most though I would pass, especially the last one, as it scares my little rhyming ass.

Enjoy your winter, smash a printer.

Pat is the author of over twenty books and his latest is Fight for the Light, available on Amazon.

He also had a little fun with his IWSG post last week!

(Sorry, it’s not real!)

Trivia Time!

And in honor of Pat and his cat, today’s trivia is all about cats.

1 – How fast can a housecat run?

2 – True or false – cats can drink seawater.

3 – What’s the technical term for a hairball?

4 – How many different sounds do cats make?

5 – Which pet is more popular in North America – the dog or the cat?

Answers on Wednesday!

Ninja News

Thanks everyone for another amazing Insecure Writer’s Support Group post day. I wish I could visit every person on the list, but I do give it my best effort to reach as many as possible.

Bish Denham released her first book last week, Anansi and Company. Congratulations, Bish!!

Cate Masters’ latest is out now, A Wedding at the Blue Moon Café. Congratulations, Cate!

Angela Orlowski-Peart revealed the cover for her next book, Almost Broken Up. Looks great, Angela!

Chasing Anya by JL Campbell

Available today!

Been there. Done that.

Feisty and independent, Anya Davies lives by her own rules. The one thing she’s hell-bent on avoiding is a conventional relationship.

Enter Christophe Mondesir…

J.L. Campbell is a proud Jamaican, who is always on the hunt for story-making material. Find her: Website, Goodreads, Twitter, and Amazon.

Michael di Gesu is hosting the Coffee Hop this Friday!

Visit him for details and your chance to win Columbian coffee.

Wormfest! 

That’s right, it’s back – National Wormhole Week, March 10-16!

Hosted by Stephen Tremp, L. Diane Wolfe, and Alex J. Cavanaugh.

Kicking off Wormfest week will be the release of Stephen’s third book in the Chase Manhattan trilogy, Escalation.

2014 National Wormhole Week: Name one thing where science advances mankind, and one where technology will go too far and set us back. They can be the same thing or different.

Example:
De-extinction or bringing back extinction species through backbreeding, genetic engineering, and cloning.
With all the breakthrough discoveries mankind is on the cusp of, are we playing God?

Where do you see science moving us forward and where do you see it moving us back? Feel free to quote a movie. (Jurassic Park is a great example.)

Join us below for Wormfest!



Follower of Pat and his rhyming cat? Know any of the cat trivia? Excited about the new releases? And who’s up for Wormfest?

Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Plus January Movie Preview, American Hustle Movie Review, and Ninja News

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.

My awesome co-hosts today are Bob Milne, River Fairchild, Julie Dao, and Sarah Foster! Please be sure to thank them for their time and effort to make all IWSG members feel welcome.

I’m about seven thousand words into the new manuscript and it’s starting to come together. There will be rewrites of the first several pages, but I’ve hit a good spot now.

The most difficult thing is creating everything new from scratch. My last two books were easier because I knew the universe and I knew the main character. But for this story, it’s a brand new part of the galaxy, a more complex world and political scene, and a new character.

The last one is probably the most difficult. I’m still not a hundred percent sure of Aden’s voice. I found some character exercises online and the one that was the most helpful was writing what the characters thought of one another. At first it was odd, as I don’t write in first person, but it helped to see what the characters were like based on how they viewed everyone else.

Still hope I can pull it off. The whole story came from one song, and expanding it to fill a whole novel has proved to be a challenge!

Anyone else work on a story that wasn’t part of your previous work? What helped you get into that world?

Be sure to visit the Insecure Writer’s Support Group site and other members on the list!

Ninja News

Don’t forget our Online Marketing Symposium is on January 20! Sign up and let us know what has worked (or didn’t) with your online promotions. Open to everyone, not just authors.

Hart Johnson released episodes 6 and 7 of Shot in the Light today!

SA Larson posted the Writer’s Creed for 2014 – sign up at her site.

Charity Bradford is now in charge of blogfests at the Unicorn Bell, and she announced their first one this year - Love is in the Air Blogfest, which runs January 20-24.

Movie Reviews

American Hustle
A fictional retelling of the real life Abscam, which took place in the late 70s. A con man and his partner are forced to work for an FBI agent who wants to take down politicians and the mob.
It had a slow beginning, but once it got going, it was a game of who is hustling who. Similar in tone to Silver Linings Playbook, all of the characters are very odd but likeable. (Typical for a David O Russell film.) The leads were all amazing – Bale, Adams, Renner, Lawrence, and Cooper. Lawrence’s character in particular was just plain crazy but brilliant.
The theme was reinventing yourself if you don’t like who you are and doing whatever it takes to survive.
Definitely an Oscar contender – highly recommended!

Escape From Planet Earth
Had no idea what to expect from this small 2013 release, but it was actually entertaining.
Scorch is the daring hero brother and Gary the nerdy, smart brother who always gets him out of trouble. When Scorch is held captive at Area 51, Gary comes to free him. The animation was good and the characters funny. It’s a simple story that’s just a step below the top animated films out today.
If you liked films like Megamind, you’ll enjoy this one.

January Movie Preview

Here are the upcoming movies for January! Such a sad offering that I included some DVD releases as well. As always, descriptions courtesy of the IMDB. Snarky comments by me.

14 – DVD – Riddick

17 –

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
Jack Ryan, as a young covert CIA analyst, uncovers a Russian plot to crash the U.S. economy with a terrorist attack.
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Stars: Chris Pine, Kevin Costner, Keira Knightley, Kenneth Branagh
Excellent cast and director – this one has potential.



21 – DVD - Captain Phillips

24 –

I, Frankenstein
Frankenstein's creature finds himself caught in an all-out, centuries old war between two immortal clans.
Director: Stuart Beattie
Stars: Aaron Eckhart, Bill Nighy, Miranda Otto, Virginie Le Brun
It’s either going to be really cool or really bad, not sure which…


28 – DVD – Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs II

Some awesome things coming next week!

Monday, I have a special guest with a wit that can’t be beat!
Wednesday is huge – another awesome guest, I have a guest post about space opera, and the IWSG is hosting its very first guest!
And coming soon – one epic contest!

Signed up for the Online Marketing Symposium? Taken the Writer’s Creed? Seen American Hustle? Any movies look good to you this month? And what are your writer insecurities…?

The Best of 2013, New Books, Ninja News, and What Was Your Best Year?

The Best and Personal Favorites of 2013

It was another awesome year for movies, music, and everything in between. Here were some of the highlights for me, in no particular order.

Favorite Movies

Star Trek Into Darkness – non-stop and just a very good and solid movie
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – another great entry and roller coaster of a ride
Pacific Rim – giant robots versus giant monsters – need I say more?
Gravity – very intense and Oscar-worthy
Thor: The Dark World – even better than the first one
Man of Steel – liked it even more the second time

Favorite Music

Rush – Clockwork Angels Tour DVD/CD – great live show and the orchestra puts it over the top
Dream Theater CD – their best album since Awake
Ayreon – The Theory of Everything CD – another amazing concept album from Arjen

Favorite New Television Shows

The Blacklist – Spader makes it
Almost Human – great interaction between the leads
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – fun and expands the Marvel universe
Defiance – support your local good science fiction show!
House of Cards – you’ll need a shower afterwards but it’s fun

Favorite Game 

Rocksmith 2014 – a lot of fun and better designed



What were some of your favorites?

New Books!

Lydia Kang’s Control is now out – her first book!

Roland Yeomans’ Death in the House of Life is now available!


Another masterpiece from Roland...

EJ Wesley’s Vampire's Ball, Moonsongs Book 5 was unleashed.

Watcher of Worlds by Brinda Berry
Whispering Woods Book 3
ISBN: 978-1-941133-00-2

Senior year should bring fun, friends and happiness. Not portals, treachery, and murder.

Find it on Amazon

Anne R Allen’s The Lady of Lakewood Diner in now out!

Emilyann Girdner’s The Labyrinth Wall was released!

Kimberly Afe’s The Headhunter’s Race came out last week!

Ciara Knight’s Pendulum is out!





Congratulations to all!

Ninja News

Today at the A to Z Blog is an interview with the awesome Michael Di Gesu! He turned his theme into a lucrative endeavor – check it out.

Terri Rochenski announced an opportunity with her publisher, Roane Publishing. They have an open sub call for an upcoming fantasy anthology titled Portals. See her site for details.

Special thanks to Robyn Campbell and Edi’s Book LIghthouse who both placed CassaStorm at the top of their favorite books of 2013. You both rock!!

For those of you who write poetry, Bossy Betty had a really creative idea!

Pat Hatt created a special video for Christmas, and I’m proud to say I defeat Evil Santa with my guitar playing! (And not because I was playing badly either.)



The 2014 A to Z Challenge Team is coming together! We’ll announce them and open up the sign-up list on January 27. We’ll also be looking for Minions again. Any volunteers…?

2013 and Our Best Year

2013 was another good year for me, although 2012 seemed better. However, I did launch CassaStorm, the final book in my series. I made huge improvements in my guitar playing. And of course, the launch of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group website was a major highlight.

We remember years that boast major accomplishments and happy occasions. I can remember living in England, marrying my wife, accepting Jesus, and the launch of my very first book. Those were all good years.

So I ask you – what was your best year and why?

See you Wednesday for Insecure Writer’s Support Group post day!

What were your favorite movies, shows, books, etc. in 2013? Picked up any of the new releases? Ready for the A to Z Challenge? (Want to be a Minion?) And what year shines in your memory – and why?