Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Author Support Post...


Well, it has been awhile since I have done a post like this. I'm trying to keep up with these and promoting as I discover people. I've just begun reading a new author by the name of Joseph Lallo. Click on his name to get over to his website.

While I am only at the beginning of this book, The Book of Deacon, I'm finding that I like his writing style and his idea for this book. I'll more than likely be getting the rest of his books as soon as I have some spare cash. (Ha! What is this thing I speak of??)

You can find a list of his books over at Smashwords.

Once I am done with the book, I will put up a full review. But he's a new favorite and seems to be self published. I love finding these little gems when looking for books.

I'm also looking for some suggestions as far as books go. No romance unless it has a really good plot, please.

Another author I've stumbled across and not exactly sure how long she's been at it, is Cricket McRae. I read her book, "Lye In Wait" and adored it. The MC is a home crafter and she even supplies some recipes for things at the end of the book like lotion bars. I used to love doing stuff like that and the recipe sounds amazing. I can't wait to try it!

So there are two authors I'm supporting. Who's on your list?

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Top Ten Movie Quotes...

I'm a huge fan of movies. If you couldn't already tell. I'm a horror movie buff, with the occasional chick flick thrown in the mix. I do love a good action flick and adore epic movies. Over the years, I find myself quoting from movies more than I do from books.

Thank goodness for Goodreads! I find quotes I like all the time!

But to pass some time and to get back into the swing of blogging again, I thought I would post up my top ten favorite movie quotes.

And in advance, pardon the language.

10. "Well I'll be g** damned! Shit-kicker heaven!" ~ Zephyr from Near Dark.

9. "Normal denotes a lack of courage." ~ One of the aunts from Practical Magic.

8. "I'm feeling a little woozy over here!" ~ One of the killers from Scream, after being stabbed.

7. "Where do these stairs go?"
"They go up!" ~ Venkman and Co. from Ghostbusters.

6. "And there was much rejoicing." ~ Monty Python's Holy Grail.

5. "Why cut his heart out with a spoon?"
"Because it will hurt more!" ~ Sheriff of Nottingham from Robin Hood.

4. "Two bits, four bits, six bits, a peso. All for Zorro, stand up and say so!" ~ Zorro from Zorro the Gay Blade.

3. "If you can see me, what am I doing?" ~ Sydney from Scream on the front porch, picking her nose.

2. "Feel better?"
"Yeah. Hey, wanna get pancakes?" ~ Marvin from Red after shooting the bad guy in the head to make sure he was dead.

1. "Did you really call my parents? My mom and dad are gonna be so mad!" ~ One of the killers from Scream.

Yeah, more than one reference to Scream in there. Sorry. And for the life of me I can't remember the characters name!!!! Oh well.

Hope they at least made you giggle. Have a great day!

Monday, November 28, 2011

Monday Again...

Usually the Monday after Thanksgiving is pretty slow for me. On Black Friday, I typically would hide out in my house. Being in a small town, though, I had to work and that was all right. The stories kept pouring in about how crazy people got.

Cyber Monday, well normally I don't hang out on the internet on that day either. Things tend to slow way down. But I haven't posted in awhile.

I was watching Vampire Diaries on Netflix. It's not bad. But it got me to thinking...

Who started the whole Vampires walking in daylight stuff? I know Blade could. Then again, he's one bad ass vampire slayer.

Edward, well, we won't go there. Sorry to any Twilight fans....

Now we have Stefan with a special ring. I think. Hey, I only watched a couple of episodes. Don't even know if Damon can walk in daylight.

My gripe with vampire and zombie novels has always been this: Do something different for pity's sake!!!

Well, these days, most authors are doing something different with vampires. Not sure about zombies simply because I am not a big zombie fan. I don't know why, please don't hurt me for that statement.

One thing is for sure, though. Vampires have been brought out of the darkness over the years. They can walk in daylight, so they are no longer the Creatures of the Night we once knew. Oh, and I will give kudos to Ms. Meyers for making her vampires vegetarians, so to speak.

Hope everyone had a good holiday weekend. Where applicable of course. Hehe!

Friday, November 25, 2011

Friday Favorites, Fantasy Art & A Funny...

I've missed doing these. I enjoy adding my Friday posts to all the others out there, even if it isn't part of a blog hop or meme.

Well, getting right to it, I have a new author to add to my favorites, so here we go!

Favorite books/authors:

Jessica Bell. Yep, that's right. Her book, String Bridge, really touched my heart. I'm sure you all got to see my review of her book. If not, you can go here. But I really connected with Jessica's MC, Melody. As I said in my review, this is a super rare thing for me. Most characters I read about are dear to me, they become beloved, but I don't always get that super strong connection. I have been in similar situations as Melody, that is what pulled at me most. So now Jessica and her wonderful writing talent have become one of my favorites!

Favorite movies:

I'm a sucker for a chick flick once in awhile. And I have to lump these three movies together because I will absolutely watch all three of them over and over and over again. Usually when I'm on my own because otherwise I'll be picked on horrendously. So what are they? Becoming Jane, Pride and Predjudice with Kiera Knightly (even though I don't like her much) and Matthew McFadyen (who I do like lots!) and Sense and Sensibility with Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant and the delicious Alan Rickman.

Favorite Music:

Have I mentioned Jimmy Eat World? I'm sure I have in other posts, such as the April A-Z blog challenge. I love this group and the other day at work, I swear the radio station was having a marathon of their music. I got to hear lots of my favorite songs. This is one of my favorite groups and probably always will be.

Okay, now for the Fantasy Art:



And because I am not a Dallas Cowboys fan AT ALL, I particularly like this funny:




Haha! Have a great weekend, everyone!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving...

The holidays are upon us! I'm tempted to just run away screaming. But this year is going to be extra special because my son is here with us. I feel complete as a family once again.

Around my house, we alternate years in the way of Traditional Thanksgiving or Traditional Christmas meals.

One year we'll have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner of turkey with all the fixings and then a non-traditional dinner for Christmas. Such as Chinese food, Mexican or Italian. Then the next year we switch that around to have the non-traditional Thanksgiving and then the traditional Christmas feasts.

This year, we're striving for Greek. Anyone know what a traditional Greek Christmas dinner consists of? I might just have to make it up as I go along. I just want Gyros. Hehe!

I've also been working all week. I asked for the extra hours and got them. I'm not complaining, we need the money to make up for our hasty move. It just means I have to make sure I get the major things for the meal prepared in advance. Most likely I will be doing lots of baking tonight. I have a couple of pies in the freezer all ready to go. I can mix up the green bean casserole (yuck!) and have it ready to just throw in the oven. My family likes it, I don't. I don't like sweet potatoes or yams either.

I hope you all have a wonderful, safe Thanksgiving! I will see you all after the madness.

Monday, November 21, 2011

It Is Official...

Yep, I signed my contract with Hellfire Publishing and mailed it off. Apparently, they got it, lol! I was told on FaceBook that they had received my signed contract.

Now comes the hard part, right? All the work in getting it ready to make available for sale. The marketing, the blog hops. All of it.

As soon as I have a release date, I will be making plans to do a virtual blog tour. Have the virtual release party and all of that. I would love for any of you willing to have me over for a book blog tour to either leave me a comment here or get a hold of me via email. I have it listed over there in the "About Me" section.

I will provide all the information you will need to make it as easy and painless as possible. If anyone would be up for reviewing my book, again, let me know!

It is Fantasy. Just giving you a heads up. Not everyone likes the fantasy genre. However, I have had people who don't like fantasy tell me that they like what I write. Just sayin', not braggin'. Lol!

So let me know. I absolutely will return the favor. I know a few of you have some release dates coming up and even though I was in the middle of moving and trying to sort my internet issues, I did manage to help Jessica during her release of "String Bridge". Which I adored by the way!!! (Nice extra plug, huh?)

Have a great week, everyone!

Saturday, November 19, 2011

I Feel Good...

It is nice to be back online and catching up with you all. I had far too many posts to filter through, so it might take me awhile to get to most of them and at this point, don't expect much response from me. I will keep up with the newer posts of course.

My husband will be making me a desk soon. We have a nice little niche with recessed lighting that I can cover up with a folding screen to hide the mess when need be and to open up while I am working. Our new place has an awesome view of the bay. I'll take some pics and show you maybe tomorrow if I can find my SD adapter for my computer.

One thing about the new place, we can view the small airport from here, so at night we see a flashing light and figured out it was coming from there. Funny, the strange things you notice about the new places you move into.

I also have one wall with three huge windows. My husband and my son both put their computer desks in front of those and covered one with a blanket to keep out sunlight until I get some bamboo blinds.

I just can't wait to get my desk so I can finally put my map back up and get back to work on my writing stuff.

Speaking of, keep an eye out for a post from me. I am hoping to have a short story completed and ready to go for sale. It is called "The Wicked One" and should be around 10,000 words. I'm trying to give myself a deadline, now that I actually have internet back up and can possibly make that deadline rather than sitting out in public somewhere trying to make it available.

All right! I hope you all have an awesome weekend. I'll see you around. Finally!

Friday, November 18, 2011

Interview Re-Post...

Hey everyone! Hope all is going well for you this week. Things have finally worked themselves out on my end of it all.

My good friend, Carol Marrs Phipps, co-author of Elf Killers, reposted the interview she did for me on the Hellfire Herald over on her blog. She has very few followers, but she's new to the blogging and all that and I thought perhaps I would link you all over there. If you didn't get to see the interview, well, here's your chance!

Go here to read it. Tweet it, FaceBook it, send some people on over and show some bloggy love.

It is good to be back! And I will be posting again soon. I have lots of catching up to do. Whee!

I'm Back!...

Well, up until yesterday our internet was still down. I had a post all planned lamenting this fact while I sat at McDonald's yesterday.

So we were scheduled to have internet on the 16th. My husband got home from work, busted out the modem and our new router and got all set. Then I got a text message while I was at work about how he couldn't get online. He had tried to call tech support, but the phone company said he wasn't listed as a person who could discuss the account... whatevs. I had him on there.

As luck would have it, there was a phone outage in our area and they put in a repair ticket. So I went home and checked the phone out after preparing a blog post for you all about how I was still offline. Just as I got in and kicked off my shoes, the repair guy showed up!

Woohoo!

So yes, after that whole long diatribe, I am back online and now have to get back to work. My second job, you know, the writing and entertaining you all. Woohooo!!!!

Can I just say how much I have MISSED YOU ALL!!!!!! <3

Thursday, November 17, 2011

String Bridge by Jessica Bell Review...

This was supposed to go up today and it is listed in my blog as October 31st, for whatever reason. I need to post this so you can all see it. I was a draft at one point and apparently saved it for the day I created it.

The original post is here.

This is the re-post:

While I am still doing book reviews over here at My Chaotic Ramblings, this one is a personal favor and honor for me to do here on my own blog.

This one is for Jessica Bell, also known as The Alliterative Allomorph.


Jessica has written a book, String Bridge, and has done an album to go along with it.


I've already posted lots of this info on Nov. 11th for the Chart Rush on Amazon.com, this post is for the review. So, here it is.

About the book:

Greek cuisine, smog and domestic drudgery was not the life Australian musician, Melody, was expecting when she married a Greek music promoter and settled in Athens, Greece. Keen to play in her new shoes, though, Melody trades her guitar for a 'proper' career and her music for motherhood. That is, until she can bear it no longer and plots a return to the stage--and the person she used to be. However, the obstacles she faces along the way are nothing compared to the tragedy that awaits ... "Jessica Bell's STRING BRIDGE strummed the fret of my veins, thrummed my blood into a mad rush, played me taut until the final page, yet with echoes still reverberating. A rhythmic debut with metrical tones of heavied dark, fleeting prisms of light, and finally, a burst of joy--just as with any good song, my hopeful heartbeat kept tempo with Bell's narrative." ~Kathryn Magendie, author of Sweetie, Tender Graces and Secret Graces, Publishing Editor of Rose & Thorn Journal

"Poet and musician Jessica Bell's debut novel String Bridge is a rich exploration of desire, guilt, and the difficult balancing act of the modern woman. The writing is lyrical throughout, seamlessly integrating setting, character and plot in a musical structure that allows the reader to identify with Melody's growing insecurity as her world begins to unravel ... String Bridge is a powerful debut from a promising writer, full of music, metaphor, and just a hint of magic." ~Magdalena Ball, author of Repulsion Thrust and Sleep Before Evening

My thoughts:

I have to say when Jessica first asked me to read the book for a review, I was slightly hesitant because ... well, I'm not much of a women's fiction sort of gal. But upon reading the very first sentence, I was hooked. Which is yet another thing that doesn't usually happen to me.

By the end of the first chapter, I had bonded with Melody in a way I have rarely bonded with a character before. At least not one that wasn't of my own creation. Jessica packed a pretty solid punch. Melody, or Mel, is a wife, a mother and is working to make ends meet in a career she really didn't want. When she met her husband, Alex, she hoped that his being a promoter would help her get some gigs. Stage fright be damned.

Mel gets pregnant and has a beautiful daughter, smart as a whip, too! But what really connected me to Mel (aside from her name of course) was the fact that she was worried about ending up like her mother. Mel's mother has some serious issues, not your typical mother picking on daughter kind of issues either. The sort of things that make you want to call up your own mother and say, "OMG thanks for not being like THIS!".

I can't say much more without spoiling the book. But I will say I cried when Mel cried, I celebrated when Mel celebrated, I became frustrated when Mel became frustrated and angry when Mel became angry. There were lots of different things that happened to Melody that I have had happen to me, so I connected on lots of different levels there. But Jessica's outstanding talent brought it all home to me, pulled me in and allowed me to share in this woman's life. I got to peek inside the windows and watch events unfold.

Thanks, Jessica, for asking me to read this book. Thank you for writing it and for having the courage to submit it to be published. Excellent book! I am certainly going to recommend this book as much as possible.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Not Quite All There...

So I am sitting at my local McDonald's (yuck) to use their internet today. I still have not heard from the phone company on when to expect my broadband to be up and running. I had been on top of this just before we moved and was getting it all set up and now they dropped the ball.

SO.

I'm still not sure when I will be back online. I'm completely missing out on NaNo. Good thing no one has sponsored me, I'd feel highly embarrassed and ashamed. I am working on my revisions of Book Two: Veritas as well as a short story that I'm looking into putting up for sale on Smashwords or something, myself.

I want to thank everyone who has left me comments on the past couple of posts! I normally am very good about responding, so thanks so much! I look forward to getting to know my new followers when I return.

I hope all is well with everyone. I'm enjoying my cute, quiet, little place very much. Good thing we moved when we did, as it has begun to snow here and I put off getting my snow tires on. Gah! So now I have two on, by Monday I will have all four. But I don't exactly enjoy sliding all over in the snow.

Take care and see you all (hopefully) soon!

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Hellfire Herald...

Hey everyone! Unless things were changed, there should be an interview with yours truly over here at the Hellfire Herald!

Drop on by and check it out! I'd love to hear from you over there as well. Thanks!!

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Another Author Support Post...

So, I posted last week about promoting new and self pubbed authors. I've got one more for you today and then I will post again next week.

And if you are reading this, I'm in the process of moving and have decided to schedule several posts so as not to get too far off track of the blogging.

Okay so here we go:


Lacey Weatherford, author of "Of Witches and Warlocks: The Trouble With Spells". From what I understand, Lacey is a self pubbed author. She has a whole series out with the above mentioned book as well as several other books. I have a blog link here where you can rummage around and find the books.

I did a review for this first book here. Now, I have to tell you and I'm being completely honest. I rated the book 3 stars. Why? Well, read the review to find out. But I will add this: While I did rate her book low and was sort of snarky in my review, I would have liked the book better had certain elements been dropped. Again, see the review. Her writing, however, was very good. She did manage to create images in my head of characters, but didn't develop them as much as I would have liked.

She's gotten tons of reviews on her work, though and the majority rules. She's gotten four and five star reviews from lots of different people. Mine is just a drop in the bucket and only my opinion. I'm also not a young adult who might find this book really good. Matter of fact, I would recommend it to my niece in about a year when she's a little older. I think she would enjoy it if she stays in her paranormal phase. We'll see.

So there you have it. Another indie author I want to promote, although she and K.C. May probably don't need the help. Lol! Simply because they seem to have a good, solid following. I'm just adding to it.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Moving Update...

Well, looks like I will get internet next week. At the moment, I can use dial up for free.

...

Meh.

Anyway, things are going well. I have a couple scheduled posts and should be back up and running in time for a few upcoming things.

Thanks everyone for your comments on yesterdays post! I will have to take some time to catch up with all of you once I am back online. In the meantime, keep on keeping on! Or ... whatever.

Have a great week, weekend and all that jazz!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

IWSG...

That stands for Insecure Writer's Support Group. It is the first Wednesday of every month, of course, and hosted by the Ninja himself, Alex Cavanaugh. ::Cheers::

This is where we, as writers, stand up and either whimper about our insecurities or try to give helpful advice.

Well, I have whimpered a lot in the past couple of weeks and so last time I went with being supportive. Sorry for scaring the pants off of some of you. Not my intention, was trying to be helpful. Hehe!

I'm going to try and give it another shot here.

Writing is hard as hell. I know, yet again not a great way to be supportive or give good advice, right? But bear with me.

We write, we edit, we polish and wipe the sweat from our brows. We repeat the processes over and over til we just know we have it right. We start shopping around for an agent or publisher and submit our work. Rejection seems to come in droves.

How many of us follow the rules of the person or place we're submitting to? Do you read the guidelines and sort of gloss over what they are asking for? Do you look at your manuscript and shrug and say, "Eh. It'll do."?

I hope not. But, there are those out there who don't do the research necessary to the agent or publisher. And this is the supportive part.

Do yourself the favor of doing the research of what each individual wants. Modify things to form what each agent is asking for or how the publisher would like you to submit your work.

A few examples: Tor Books ~ These were the FAQs for submitting to Tor Books. They want things done a particular way, just like Penguin/Daw Books do. While Tor wants the first three chapters, nothing more than 40-60 pages or less than 10,000 words, Penguin wants the entire manuscript with a cover letter. Tor wants a dated cover letter AND synopsis of the entire book. Penguin doesn't mention a synopsis and wants you to mail the entire MS, unbound, no electronic submissions allowed. Tor wants a physical copy as well. 7 Realms Publishing only accepts submissions by invitation.

Of course, these are all fantasy places and all places I researched for submission purposes. But you get my point. You can't just create a generic package and expect everyone to want the same thing. I suppose it is different for agents, but even the few agents I scouted out all wanted different things as well. Different word count synopsis, cover letter, no cover letter... You have to tweak your submission package as much as you have to tweak your writing in the editing stages.

If you do your homework/research and send EXACTLY what people are asking for, you may get farther than just a simple form rejection. I've been rejected by Tor, (But that was before editing...) didn't even get my foot in the door with 7 Realms, chickened out on sending to Penguin until I got things polished up... rejected, rejected... and this was all before I started blogging or even knew what the hell I was doing. So I went about things a little backwards... meh. Story of my life. Now, however, I know and understand the importance of each and every hoop we jump through to get published and just how much RESEARCH affects our chances of moving forward.

Now, go get 'em!