Get Healthy Blog Hop

Our health is the most important thing and for a voluptuous chica such as myself, who LOVES food period, getting healthy and overcoming the bulge is a constant struggle. Today the awesome and truly caring quartet of Michael Di Gesu, Alex J. Cavanaugh, L. Diane Wolfe and Stephen Tremp are hosting a Get Healthy Blog Hop encouraging all of us to post health tips, recipes, etc. to encourage all of us to get healthy. It's a wonderful way to inspire and I thank them profusely for putting this together.

Yours truly has been fighting weight since birth, really, and when I was at the lowest point in my life, I tipped the scales at 360 pounds. Wow, did I just write that out loud? I've admitted it to friends, but never completely in public before. 360 pounds is 3 people. Three. I used food as a crutch, a comfort. I had been bullied in school and ate alot. Those Twinkies sure made the insults feel better. So did the extra slices of pizza. And  when you spend your 20's and part of your 30's taking care of catastrophically ill family members until they pass, you also need a lot of comfort.

Anyway, over the last 2 and a half years or so, I've managed to lose 110 of that. I did that by forcing myself to move, to change eating habits. At 360 you can't exactly jog, so I would walk. Around my neighborhood, park the car in the back of the Walmart lot and walk, take stairs instead of the escalator or elevator. Anything that made me move. I would eat carrot sticks, blueberries, grape tomatoes instead of chips, pretzels, etc. Small changes that netted some great results. If I can do this by making small diet changes, so can you. Going cold turkey only encourages failure, I think. Big pictures start off small.

Now I need to find something else, dig deeper, as I have hit a plateau. Getting healthy means keeping going and always staying alert. Michael Di Gesu pointed out that I need to push myself no matter how tired, bored, depressed, etc. I may be. And he is right.

Best and Worst Remakes Blogfest

Happy Friday!! It's time for the awesome Best and Worst Remakes Blogfest. Hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh, Livia Peterson, Dragon Father Al Diaz and Stephen Tremp, we are here to skewer the worst and praise the best.

I like to start off with bad stuff first. So here are my Worst Remakes Ever:

The Women

What were they thinking? The subject matter really isn't that timely anymore unless you're talking the Ladies Who Lunch Tennis Set. And really no chemistry with Annette Benning, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett Smith, Meg Ryan and Eva Mendes. YAWWWNNN... Norma Shearer and crew were so much better and wittier.

All The Kings Men

Why take a brilliant actor like Sean Penn and stick him in a play by play remake? Completely unnecessary to remake an already amazing film.

King Kong

Peter Jackson, you dumbass! We did not need a lame silly remake of a perfectly good giant ape film. I don't care how great your fx were ,the story stunk to high heaven and so did the acting. Your cast was more boring than Hayden Christiansen's performance in the Star Wars prequels. Like James Cameron with Avatar, you sought to dazzle us with frosting and hoped we would ignore the lack of substance underneath.

The Karate Kid

Will Smith, I love you, but you really did an injustice by bringing us this cross cultural nightmare. Hello! You can't call the him the Karate Kid if he is learning kung fu.

The Ring

Holy hell! This American remake of a brilliant Japanese horror flick was just pure comedy. I spent the entire time laughing at the ridiculousness of it.  Naomi Watts completely sucked and that creepy kid of hers was the only horror-esque part of this movie.

And now for my Best Remakes

The Thing

Best. Remake. Ever. Now I loved the original The Thing From Another World, but Carpenter's flick was off the chain incredible. it is one of my all time favorite performances by Kurt Russell as well as one of my fave movies of all time.

The Wolfman

Go ahead roll your eyes, call me crazy, but I thought this was creepy, atmospheric, stylish, sexy and had some great wolf attack scenes. It did awesome justice to the old Lon Chaney film and the cast was just brilliant. I love the unrated version and watch it whenever I need a pick me up. :)

Dracula

Second best remake ever. Gary Oldman and Francis Ford Coppola did an outstanding job bringing Stoker's novel to life. Far superior to the old Bela Lugosi film, which really could not delve into the sexuality of the Count. The cast was amazing and the script very well written.

3:10 To Yuma

James Mangold really delivered on this remake of the old Delmer Daves directed Glenn Ford vehicle. Intense from start to finish, this one was a worthy heir to the original. I loved all of the performances, especially Bale as Dan Evans.

Ocean's Eleven

George and Brad were just incredible. I loved this movie from start to finish. It was smart, sexy and oh so witty. I love me a great caper flick and this one delivered in spades.

Dawn of the Dead

Are you sensing a theme here? LOL Yes, I love my monster movies. I really dug George Romero's original, but this one made me love zombie movies forever. I watch it whenever I get a chance, even the spliced up versions on Syfy and AMC.

Go ahead and debate, call me insane, call me brilliant. (LOL well that last one is just a wee hope).

Have a super weekend my friends, my family!!

Writers 4 Writers

Today is the Big Day, Imaginarians. Writers 4 Writers is here and the awesome people of this group are helping me and the incredible YA author, Gwen Gardner, promote our work on Amazon and around the Twitter/Facebook realms.

How this works is that I have some tweets below, which I would HUGELY appreciate if you could copy and paste onto Twitter and then send out to your followers. They contain links to my work on Amazon. The goal is to increase mine and Gwen's exposure on Amazon and hopefully boost some sales by reaching more people than we could with just ourselves.

Tweets for Maxie Briscoe: Werewolf

It's hard being a Beast among Prey MAXIE BRISCOE WEREWOLF http://www.amazon.com/Maxie-Briscoe-Werewolf-ebook/dp/B003HO5UYC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1361126074&sr=8-2&keywords=maxie+briscoe%3A+Werewolf #Amazon #Kindle #Download #W4WS Please RT

Sex, murder and werewolves MAXIE BRISCOE WEREWOLF  http://www.amazon.com/Maxie-Briscoe-Werewolf-ebook/dp/B003HO5UYC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1361126074&sr=8-2&keywords=maxie+briscoe%3A+Werewolf #Amazon #Download #Kindle #W4WS Please RT



Tweets for Nathan's Angel

What could be sexier than a werewolf and an angel? NATHAN'S ANGEL http://www.amazon.com/Nathans-Angel-ebook/dp/B005W8J0HO/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1361164676&sr=8-8&keywords=nathan%27s+Angel #Amazon #Download #Kindle #W4WS Please RT

Sometimes, the laws of Heaven were meant to be broken NATHAN'S ANGEL http://www.amazon.com/Nathans-Angel-ebook/dp/B005W8J0HO/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1361164676&sr=8-8&keywords=nathan%27s+Angel #Amazon #Download #Kindle #W4WS Please RT

Thanks everyone for doing this. I really love you all for your support. You mean the world to me and I would not be the writer/blogger I am without you.

Cheers, Cavanaugh Blogfest

According to the dictionary a ninja is a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan who specialized in unorthodox warfare. His aresenal included assassination, espionage, infiltration and sabotage. My definition of a ninja is a man who fought for his dream and now selflessly encourages others to do the same. Who always has time for the legions he has gathered to him, a writing warrior with boundless energy and spirit, a man whose heart knows no limits. Today we are celebrating that ninja, the Captain Ninja himself, Alex J. Cavanaugh.

Organized by the super cool Morgan Shamy, the awesome David Powers King, the incredible Stephen Tremp and the magnificent Mark Koopmans, this is a way for our blogging community to celebrate the friend who has been there for us all. To check out all the festivities and the amazing participants, click here. Alex himself is going to read these posts and there will be two exceedlingly stupendous prizes.

So, what does Alex look like? To me Alex is unassuming, a jeans and tee shirt man who blends well with his surroundings and you'll only know he's there when he's ready to reveal himself. Like a true ninja.

Who would play Alex in a documentary? Johnny Depp. As handsome as he is, Johnny is a master at blending into a part. Again like a true ninja.

Who does Alex remind you of? I know I said he's unassuming, but with his personality and wit, Alex reminds me of Captain Mal Reynolds. He always figures out a way, even if it means trouble first. Always keeps his humor about him and never fails to help those in need.

Flash Fiction 100 words or less, using Cavanaugh, Cosbolt, Guitar, IWSG and Ninja

"Get to the Cosbolt NOW," Cavanaugh roared as laser fire erupted inside the old IWSG club. Damn those Ninja Terrans and their blood feud. He waited a heartbeat, then ran, dodging crossfire as he rushed to the stage. There was no way he was leaving without his prized guitar. He'd die first and take a few of those bastards with him.

And now a word for my superhero, Wonder Woman aka Alex's wife.

Thank you, thank you. You are a wondrous, generous woman and I can't begin to express my gratitude to you as you share the Captain Ninja with his Army each week. Peace, joy and many blessings to you both.

Thanks for dropping by to celebrate Alex today. This was a great way to start my week as my Bears got humiliated and there is no Walking Dead until February. Ugh!

Writers 4 Writers, Good Things And Something To Remember

Today kicks off the big Writers 4 Writers campaign. Started by M Pax, Christine Rains, Stephen Tremp, and C.M. Brown, four of the most incredible authors out there, this project aims to help we writers get the word out about our stories via Facebook and Twitter, increase traffic to our blogs/sites, help an author make the Amazon Top 100 in at least one category and create a buzz that will hopefully increase sales beyond the initial promo period.

The first author for this tremendously brilliant undertaking is Nancy S. Thompson and her debut novel, The Mistaken. Please visit her site and see what you can do to help Nancy and Writers 4 Writers get the word out. You can also visit the Writers 4 Writers Facebook page and Like it to support the cause.

Here's a bit about The Mistaken...

Tyler Karras is an honest man, a transplanted Brit living the American dream, but his charmed life takes an unexpected turn when his brother, Nick, is coerced into joining ranks with San Francisco’s Russian mafia. Ty intervenes to secure Nick’s freedom, yet only succeeds in incurring their wrath. With no choice but to accept Nick’s new life, Ty returns to his own, but his dreams are dashed when his wife—pregnant with their first child—is killed, the victim of a reckless crime.

Despondent and bitter, Ty macerates his grief in alcohol. From the depths of the bottle screams a voice, howling for vengeance. His target is a stranger, the woman who drew his wife toward her death. He doesn’t know her, but he’ll find her, and when he does, he will make her pay, for a deal has been struck with Nick’s Russian associates, enslaving her into a life of bondage. But as Ty moves forward in a cloud of alcohol, he mistakes the wrong woman for his intended victim and now all his plans have gone straight to hell.

More Good Things...

If you're looking for books and ebooks for those awesome people in your life, my publisher, Amber Quill Press and its affiliate sites, the ones I write for, Amber Heat and Amber Allure, are having some great deals. You can even pick up some of my stories to spice up your holidays. ;)

Thanks to everyone for stopping by my IWSG post yesterday and supporting me with wonderful comments about my title tribulations. I got some great advice that I will be trying next time around. 

Sarah Allen at From Sarah, With Joy is celebrating 600 posts. Stop by and give her some props. It's hard creating posts and to reach 600 is awesome.

And now for that Something to Remember. I want to encourage all of you out there to donate to your local food banks. I found myself in the position of needing to get my groceries from mine this last week and it brought back memories of childhood when the steel mill closed. There are so many of us struggling to keep our heads above the rising tide and those food banks are a life line. Whether it's just a few cans of soup to last the week til that meager pay day or whole box of food because you got sick or hurt and had to go the Emergency Room which wiped out your food money, those food banks are an amazing resource. So please when you read this, donate some food or even your time. Thank you from the bottom of my heart in advance, you guys are the best.

Friday Fun

Thank to all of you out there who stopped by during my double book post on Wednesday with the IWSG and the Resurrection Blogfest. Your comments and thoughts meant the world to me and I was so happy that my fave horror author post finally got some love. Thank you from the very bottom, sub-atomic level of my heart, I love you all so much. I am definitely feeling a lot more optimistic today.

In book news, the awesomely cool Michael Offutt has released the second book of his series A Crisis of Two Worlds, Oculus. It is available now, so please check it out here.

There's also some hugely exciting news for writers out there. Pillars of our community Stephen Tremp, MPax, C.M. Brown and Christine Rains are launching Writers4Writers aka W4WS. It is an uber cool way to help our community get the word out about our books and stories. Click here for more details and how to participate. Thank you guys, you four rock so much!

Now while battling this depression I have been in dire need of a good laugh. This show never fails to to make me laugh, so here's two of my favorite clips from The Big Bang Theory. The first is Amy's tiara, the second, Penny gets Sheldon a Christmas gift. Enjoy!

Sex In Outer Space...And My Valentine Winner

Catchy title, isn't it? Well, actually, that's the theme for my post over at the awesomely brilliant Stephen Tremp's Breakthrough Blog. We're doing a switcheroo, he took over the Imaginarium yesterday and I'm invading Breakthrough today. And yes, my topic really is Sex In Outer Space. Top that!

And now for my Valentine winner. This was a hard one to do as I just loved the comments, so I entered everyone in my famous Atomic Randomizer 10,000. My super-cool,ultra high-tech gadget of the century has chosen... Craig Edwards!

Yay!! Cue Kermit the Frog cheers.

Thank you all for playing. Craig, email me melbwriters@gmail.com with Valentine in the subject line and let me know your choice of story.

Author Stephen Tremp

Thank you Melissa for hosting me today as part of my Grand OPENING Tour! I'm looking forward to yours and your followers comments as this is an exciting topic that so many people are talking about:

"This porridge is too hot," Goldilocks exclaimed.

So she tasted the porridge from the second bowl.

"This porridge is too cold."

So she tasted the last bowl of porridge.

"Ahhh, this porridge is just right!" she said happily.

And she ate it all up.

"Goldilocks and the 3 Bears" children's story

The Goldilocks Zone: A region of space where stellar and other conditions favor life. It’s the habitable zone that’s “not too much” or “not too little” that would otherwise make conditions impossible for life. Rather, it is the zone that is “just right,” where liquid oceans and a thick atmosphere exist. Our good ol’ planet earth lies in just a Goldilocks zone, where life can not only exist, but flourish. Just take a look at our nearest neighbors who orbit outside our Goldilocks Zone. Venus (too much) is a scorched wasteland and Mars (too little) is a frozen desert. No life there at the moment.

Note: The Goldilocks Zone is being defined and fine-tuned as we discover life in extreme conditions, such as near boiling hot springs, temperatures below -60C, caves without light, water with high sulfuric acid content, and deep sea volcanic vents hot enough to melt lead. And we do not know if and how life can exist under other conditions somewhere else in the universe. Translation: Scientists are discovering life can thrive in unexpected places.

Also: The Goldilocks Zone can be misconstrued to limit our understanding for the requirements for life as the only ones for life. There may very well be other life forms that are based on silicon. And other chemical reactions may thrive in entirely different Goldilocks Zones.

BTW: The Kepler telescope (more on this amazing NASA mission in a future post) has identified 2,326 candidate planets and 139 are potentially habitable ones.

Example: On February 2, 2012, a large, rocky planet orbiting a distant star in a "Goldilocks" zone -- not too hot and not too cold for liquid water -- is also classified as a "super Earth."

The planet orbits closely to its parent, a dwarf star that is part of a triple star system, and receives 90 percent of the sunlight Earth receives. But since most of that light is in the infrared part of the spectrum, the planet absorbs more of its energy, in the end equaling the amount of energy Earth soaks up.

According to the article in the Orange County Register, “it's close enough that a futuristic, nuclear-powered space probe could reach it in perhaps 200 years. Then the equivalent of a "smart, Droid cell phone" could start beaming back pictures. In two or three human lifetimes, the information could come back from your hardy little cell phone," he said.

Question: Do you believe there is something or someone else out there in the universe? Or are we Earthlings as goo as it gets?

“A scientific breakthrough of such magnitude it could radically alter the future of humanity—for better or worse—is in the wrong hands”

Stephen Tremp, author of the BREAKTHROUGH series, has a B.A. in information systems and an MBA degree in global management. Stephen has a background in information systems, management, and finance and draws from this varied and complex experiential knowledge to write one-of-a-kind thrillers.

His novels are enhanced by current events at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and other scientific research facilities around the world. These potential advances have the ability to change the way we perceive our universe and our place in it!

Stephen Tremp is author of the recently released suspense thriller OPENING, the second book in the BREAKTHROUGH series. You can visit Stephen at Breakthrough Blogs for $1.99. Opening is available for download at:

Amazon for $1.99
Smashwords for $1.99

Image Credits: Goldilocks Zone and Goldilocks


Wow! What kickass killer post! Thank you so much Stephen. You can come back here any time you want. And Opening has just moved to the top of my Must Have list.