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.

Overwhelming Appreciation, Films Etc. Etc.

I've been so sporadic in the blogosphere of late and I feel horrible.  My sincerest apologies to all of you out there. Depressed and just lacking any sort of creative vibes,  I'm pleased to say that I am finally starting to feel better and it is thanks to all of you. I am humbled and so blessed that you took the time to come over here and visit me, leaving such wonderful comments. It means the world. I am so happy that you have stuck with me and continue to stick with me. I love you!!

So much has been going on while I've been crying into my Diet Pepsi and I want to share the awesome news. Marta Szemik was featured on Writers 4 Writers. Yay!! Congrats Marta, I hope you garner huge successes.

My friend Maynard over at the brilliant and witty, Horror Movie Diary celebrated 4 years in the blogosphere. Happy Birthday, Maynard!! Here's to many more years of awesome reviews and other news.

Another incredible friend, Jeffrey Beesler has released the tense and absorbing book Optical Osmosis. He'll be doing a blog tour in July so be sure to check out his site for details. Congratulations, Jeffrey!!

I have also watched several films, catching up on ones I have missed in the theater. I saw Cloud Atlas and Oz: The Great and Powerful. Cloud Atlas was intriguing, long and somewhat muddled. It made me think and had me wanting to see it again just to figure out what I might have missed. Oz was a visual feast from start to finish and I loved James Franco's carnival huckster wizard. They stuck with the black and white to color just like the original film which I appreciated. Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams were terrific as the witches.

In the theaters, I saw Iron Man 3 and Fast and Furious 6. Both exceeded my expectations and you should definitely check them out.



Fast 6 is high octane thrills from start to finish with an awesome story that amps up events from Fast 5. best of all is the return of Michelle Rodriguez as Letty, one of the most badass bitches ever. Hot men, hot cars and awesome fight scenes make this one of my favorites so far. Best girl fight ever between Gina Carano and Michelle Rodriguez. These two make most men look like wimps. LOL

Iron Man 3 is the return of one of my very favorite Avengers and heroes, Tony Stark aka Iron Man. This film picks up after the events of avengers and sees Tony rethinking his life. Loved Guy Pierce, he's so smarmy delicious and the Mandarin twist was pure awesome sauce. Okay as an aside to this film, I am going out on a limb. I know that there are purists out there who believe the comics should stick faithfully to the origins, etc, but let's not forget these characters were created 50 years ago and more. They need to change with the times and Mandarin was a horrifically racist, stereotype character ala Kato that has no place in today's world. Like Stan Lee's "heroines" who are all basically sex dolls with submissive personalities and no real powers...Sue Storm, I'm looking at you.

Anyway, that is what I have been doing of late. I've also been dipping my toe back into the writing and creative pool with some art dates, a picnic and some jewelry making.

So what has everyone been up to? Have you seen any of these films? What did you think? Should we change superheroes to keep them current?  Think I am out of my ever loving mind? Talk to me. :)

Hump Day Goings On

I know I was supposed to post on Monday and left you all hanging, I am really sorry. I had a wild weekend that just was surreal and I am still recovering. I partied like I was 25 and can't remember some of the things that happened. I crawled home as the sun was creeping over the horizon, then had to go to a Mother's Day cookout. All this after I was only going to drop off a birthday cake. Yeah, trouble will find me. LOL

My Bulls are stinking up the playoffs. I hate losing, but to the Heat makes it worse. They are part of the sports Trifecta of Evil for me. They are the loathed enemy and it is humiliating to get destroyed by them. LeBron James is more evil than the Emperor in Star Wars to me. Needless to say, I am not a happy camper.

I've hit a wall with my writing and am trying to get back on track. I've been trying to do some creative things to help stir my imagination. Minds out of the gutter! LOL

I've been popping round the blogsphere and finding some really intriguing news and posts. Maynard from Horror Movie Diary and Emma from Little Gothic Horrors did a great dual post on Beetlejuice, a classic film and a definite fave of  mine.

Mind of Mine is celebrating five years. Congrats, my friend!!

This Friday is the Best and Worst Movie remake blogfest hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh,  Oh my list is so long. There have been some really horrible, unnecessary remakes out there. Footloose, I'm looking at you. Don't worry Alex, I've still got plenty of ammunition for Friday.

Star Trek is this weekend!! I cannot wait. I'm taking my mom as she is a proud Trekkie, too. I'm also going to try and hit the Great Gatsby as I LOVE Baz  Luhrman and feel that there has not been a really terrific film of this novel. Redford lacked the fierceness  of Jay and played him like a cool courtier. So not Gatsby.

What is up? Let me know the scoop.

A Spotlight, Great News And Football Rituals

Yours Truly has the honor of being spotlighted by my great blog buddy and friend Maynard over at the wicked cool site Maynard Morrisey's Horror Movie Diary. He chose me as one of his Halloween Buddies (look at the cool graphic) and we did a short interview. Yay!! Thank you! You all can check me out here.

In other awesome news, my good friend Craig over at the hellabrilliant  site Let's Get Out Of Here has reached the 500 posts milestone. High fives and fist bumps! He is a movie and pop culture god in my book and you all should stop by and visit him. He is celebrating his favorite holiday (and mine) Halloween over there with some terrific posts on horror films, horror icons and other fun stuff. He's also a vast storehouse of knowledge about our fave super spy 007.

Dig metal and sci fi? Then check out super cool Captain Ninja Alex J. Cavanaugh guest post over at my incredible blog buddy, Jamie Gibbs' fantastic site Mithril Wisdom. Check it out here.

My Bears D dominated last night and we won our fourth straight to cruise into first place in NFC North. Hell yeah! And my Fighting Irish are 7-0. Holla! My little rituals appear to be working this year. You know the two different colored socks, the no beer after half time, cans crushed by right foot only, lucky jersey, lucky tee shirt, blue candles burning at the altar of the football gods... Hey now. it's only weird if it doesn't work and I'm working off a lot of calories doing my touchdown dance this season. I have  elements in there from Ricky Horror's Time Warp and since I am not quite ready for you all to see me shaking my tailfeathers, I will leave you with the Rocky Horror crew... Have a great day!

A Field Trip With Some Werewolves

That's right, I took a field trip with my werewolves today. I piled Maxie and her fellas into a minivan-not easy-, drove to the airport, then flew to Austria to be with cool horror geek, Maynard, at his blog Maynard Morrissey's Horror Movie Diary. If you love horror and anything dark side, you should get to know Maynard's blog.

He has a wicked cool interview with yours truly and a kick-ass review of my wicked tale Maxie Briscoe: Werewolf.