Ta Ta For Now

It's that time Imaginarians.  I have to stop posting for now as I have deadlines to meet and other obligations. I know, I'm sad, too. I miss you guys when I'm gone. But, I know you all want the sequel to Nathan's Angel as well as Maxie Briscoe: Werewolf so I've got to get writing.

Before I go, please check out the cover reveal for the amazing  Siv Ottem's book The Secret of the Ash Tree illustrated by the brilliant Michael Di Gesu.

Now, lest you think I'm completely disappearing, I'll still be lurking about and commenting, I can't quit you all cold turkey. And I'll still send up a post for special occasions like the Insecure Writers Support Group, blogfests and author spotlights like Writers 4 Writers, etc. I don't know how long I will be, but I'll try to hurry back, my friends. So, to quote my favorite resident of the Hundred Acre Woods, Tigger, "TTFN Ta Ta For Now."

Good News Friday

It's Friday and Pay Day...Whoo Hoo!! Anyway, today I wanted to share some Big News. My wonderful friends Siv over at Been There, Done That and Michael Di Gesu at In Time are going to be revealing the cover for Siv's book, Secrets of the Ash Tree this coming Monday. Michael did the illustration for the cover and it's going to be gorgeous. Stop by and visit them.

I also will be having an upcoming visit from the brilliant Jeremy Hawkins from Being Retro. He'll be sharing his newest art books with us. I can't wait!

It's also Blog Blitz time. So if you get a chance, please head over to Courtney Barr at The Southern Princess. She's got brilliant wit and we want to encourage her to keep blogging.

So, this is the weekend and I am planning on doing a bunch of writing and hopefully watching some horror films, The Conjuring in particular. It looks terrific. Speaking of horror, I have a new rule to help you survive. "Don't call 911. You'll always be put on hold."

So what is going on this weekend? Any news to share? Talk to me.

Hump Day and Getting On Track

Happy Hump Day!! I know I'm posting very late, but...hey it's still Hump Day all day, right? So what's been going on with me? well, I've been sick, trying to work, trying meet deadlines and just generally been bogged down with Life. I did manage to watch a few flicks, but the only one worth mentioning is Perks of Being A Wallflower. What a terrific, poignant film with an outstanding cast. I loved it as well as the book. Ezra Miller is completely moving as Patrick, a gay student who engages in a forbidden first love affair with the high school quarterback who won't leave the closet. The best part of this for me was the fact that the author wrote his own screenplay as well as directed. Talk about a triple threat! Needless to say I am very impressed with Stephen Chbosky.

I've also been working on some scenes for a sequel to my first M/M story, Nathan's Angel. In this one Nathan must find a way to redeem himself for a bargain he made in the first story with a very bad angel.

So are you all excited about the royal birth? Convinced that Kate is a robot? Seriously, who looks that good after giving birth? Then again, when one has a team of people at the ready... Anyway, I think it's pretty cool, but not to the point where I think Kate is the first mom ever. Like when Kim and Beyonce gave birth and everyone started clamoring for mommy advice from those two. I don't even think so. LOL I wouldn't trust Kim to take care of a robot dog let alone anything alive.

Football training camp has opened for Bears and I could not be happier. I love, LOVE football and can't wait to park my rear in front of the couch this Fall. Here's hoping with our new coach we smash the Packers. They are the worst team to lose to for me. I go into apoplectic fits during the game and have been know to weep inconsolably after a loss to the hated Green and Gold. Notre Dame will also be starting back up, my Fighting Irish are looking pretty good so far, I must say. Ahh.. the preseason dreams of glory. ;)

So how was everyone's weekend? And how is your week so far? Oh and before I forget, I will be having a special announcement here on Friday so stay tuned.

Pacific Rim: An Adrenalized Tale of Giant Robots vs. Giant Monsters

Happy Hump Day Imaginarians!! I've been remiss this week so far, but today I'm bringing you a review of my favorite summer movie of them all so far, Pacific Rim.

I was strapped in for this one from the first frame. Guillermo Del Toro delivers a powerful, high octane anime come to life with terrific characters, a wonderful, yet cheesy script and fx that some of the best I've seen on film.

A dimensional rift has opened in the Pacific Ocean allowing giant monsters known as Kaiju to come through to earth. They attack Pacific Rim cities like San Francisco, Tokyo and Manila. To combat these beings, Earth has banded together and created the Jaegers, giant robots that require two pilots who are completely in sync with one another mentally. As the war drags on, the Jaegers become obsolete as Earth pins its hopes on continental walls to hold back the Kaiju. When the wall fails (and you knew it would) there are only 4 Jaegers left. Raleigh Becket, a former pilot, is called back into service when the remaining Jaegers are sent to Hong Kong.

Charlie Hunnam steals the show as Raleigh. He's vulnerable, smart, strong and has enormous chemistry with his badass co-star Rinko Kikuchi who is Mako Mori. Mako is the assistant to and adopted daughter of, the director of the Jaeger program, Stacker Pentecost. Idris Elba plays Stacker and he does a good job being leader, hardass and father figure. Charlie Day and Born Gorman are terrific as the dork scientists, Geiszler and Gottlieb, who are trying to figure out how to understand the Kaiju. Day is funny, silly, providing a certain comic relief that was great, but got on my nerves after a while. I was hoping he'd get eaten or squashed. Ron Perlman shows his villainous side as Hannibal Chau, a black market dealer in Kaiju parts and other things who helps Geiszler get his geeky hands on a Kaiju brain. There is great chemistry between Perlman and Day.

The fx are huge. Beyond huge. They are definitely what a summer blockbuster is all about. I found myself gasping for breath as the monsters attacked, just like I did as kid and first saw Godzilla. The Jaegers were ultra impressive and I so wanted to try my hand at driving one.

Guillermo Del Toro has created an adrenalized tale of giant robots vs. giant monsters that is an epic summer film you'll want to see again and again.

Author Jeffrey Beesler Talks Optical Osmosis

Hey Imaginarians I'm very excited because the fantastically stellar Jeffrey Beesler is here on his whirlwind blog tour. Yay!! He's here to talk about the Secrets of the Universe... okay, I'm kidding, he's really here to share all the good stuff about his newest creation, Optical Osmosis.  Take it away, my friend...

Hi, Melissa! Thanks for hosting me today as part of the Optical Osmosis blog tour. I know outside of the occasional shout-outs on Facebook and Twitter, I haven’t been around as much. Spending most of my free time releasing a new book doesn’t leave me a lot of wriggle room when it comes to visiting good friends. But that’s hardly a good excuse for me not to say hi.

Saying hello is essentially where Optical Osmosis begins, right where the main character’s sister calls him. It is Christmas morning, and Greg Gnops is trying to sleep away the lingering effects of a December 24^th party. His sister, Ashley, calls him under the guise of wanting to say hello and chat with him a bit. This is all well and good, except that it’s barely 7 A.M. when she calls. Greg immediately chalks this up to his sister being her usual self, like she’s the center of the world and all should bow before her. For a long time, he doesn’t suspect that maybe her early call might’ve been a cry for help.

Later in the story, Greg starts to think that Ashley’s partying lifestyle may have collapsed into a debilitating bout with alcoholism. Of course, he has a heck of a time trying to convince her to get the help she so clearly needs. It doesn’t help that Ashley’s new boyfriend, Flint Kyles, disagrees with Greg’s assertion that Ashley drinks too much. It’s only because of Ashley’s best friend, Dani Staras, that Greg doesn’t lose all hope in getting through to his sister. In fact, Dani’s the one who convinces him that Ashley has a problem to begin with.

Of course, the Greg/Ashley dynamic is just a piece of the puzzle that is Optical Osmosis. I think the reason why this dynamic came to be is because of my own relationship with family members. I’ve seen some of them choose the lifestyle Ashley chooses. It’s not one I would choose for myself, but rather than pass judgment I’ve focused more on the consequences of the choices we make. Hopefully, the consequences come across genuinely as you read my story.

Here's where you can find Jeff 

Blog: http://flettleglag.blogspot.com/

Twitter handle: @JeffBeesler

Twitter page: https://twitter.com/JeffBeesler

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyBeesler

Bio: Born in May of 1978, Jeff Beesler has been writing since the 7^th grade, although he likes to point out that his elementary teachers in 2^nd to 6^th grades kept sending him to Young Author’s Conferences throughout his school district. When not writing, he can be found chatting it up on social media, reading books, or playing computer games.

Book purchase links

Amazon:

            Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Optical-Osmosis-ebook/dp/B00D8D5L5A/

            Paperback:

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/optical-osmosis-jeff-beesler/1115655268?ean=2940044573680

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/323221

Other:

Back From The Dead And So Much Missed News

I am so sorry I was gone the entire week. So much personal craziness and sickness, I can't even begin to discuss it all. Needless to say, I missed ALOT and I am going to make up for it today. I hope that my fellow American followers had an amazing Independence Day. I had a blast. Yours truly got to cruise the highway in 2013 white Dodge Challenger. A real beauty and I let the ponies run on those straightaways let me tell you. Check it out!

During my absenteeism here in the blogosphere, my awesome friend Tina over at Life Is Good tapped me for the Sisterhood of the World Blogger Award. How cool is that? Thank you so much, Tina. It has been a great joy to reconnect with you this year. You are incredible and inspirational.

Let me pass this great gift onto some wonderful sister bloggers:

Gwen Gardner, brilliant YA author
Robyn Engel at Life By Chocolate, my sister friend and amazing poet
Deniz Bevan at The Girdle of Melian, gifted fantasy and romance writer
PK Hrezo, wonderful writer and friend
Ella at Ella's Edge, friend and incredible positive energy force
KC Kendricks at Between the Keys magnificent writer, friend and fellow car lover
MJ Fifield at My Pet Blog epic writer, sports fan and fellow Whedonite
Susan Gourley Kelly at Susan Says super writer, friend and teacher
Mencara Mitchell, new friend and fierce writer

As if that were not incredible news enough, my amazing friend and cheerleader, Mina over at Some Dark Romantic also tapped me for an award, the Inspirational Liebster. Thank you so much Mina, sorry I am so late getting to this. Stop by her blog and say hello, she's a helluva woman and I adore her.  I'll have to do a proper post later as I want to do a proper acceptance.

Hanging my head in shame, I also missed the Insecure Writers Support Group. Sorry, Captain Ninja Alex and my fellow IWSG'ers. Here's an abbreviated post for that. Please check out my fellow members here.

As a writer, while it is important to kill our darlings, cut unnecessary words, scenes, dialogue, etc., it is also important to remain true to our stories and ourselves as authors. Never let anyone alter your voice or that of your characters. Edits should enhance a story, make it better, not change the course of your story, alter your characters to any great degree or change your voice as an author. It's important for first time published authors to know that a good editor makes your story better, he or she does not review your work or try to make huge changes. And never be afraid to ask for an explanation. It is your story.

Speaking of missing. I also missed the Blog Blitz for Brandon Ax at Writer's Storm. Go say hi.

If you love a horror, you should also check out the incredible super post by Craig Edwards of Let's Get Out of Here and Maynard Morrissey of Horror Movie Diary on  the horror classics I Know What You Did Last Summer and I Still Know Know What You Did Last Summer. These guys are terrific.

On the subject of terrific, the supercool Jeffrey Beesler drops by on Thursday to tell us all about Optical Osmosis, his incredible new story.

So what has been going on with everyone? I feel like I've been out a million years.