Mind Sieve 3/21/21

Table of Contents

1) News/Musings
2) Mini Movie Reviews
3) Movie/TV Trailers
4) Just For Fun

Greetings!

Got all sorts of stuff going on for you this week. 😄

Enjoy!

News/Musings

My editor has started work on Black Jade. I am super pumped that things are finally moving forward. Huzzah!

I found out about a Cozy Mystery anthology the 20K50 folks are going to put out in late 2021. I’m currently trying to work on a short story to submit to them that includes the characters from the upcoming book. I’ll let you know how that goes.

One neat thing about the anthology is that the mystery needs to involve some aspect of Halloween. I was aware of how the holiday is based on Samhain, an old pagan holiday. What I didn’t know was that in the 1930s Halloween was a totally different day than what we see today.

Back then, it was all about pranks and even riots! Multiple cities almost banned the day as people got more and more carried away and started destroying property. Luckily, people came up with the idea of sharing treats to dissuade the tricks.

You can find a cool article on Halloween and Dallas at the FlashbackDallas site. Fascinating stuff!

Remembering Rachel Caine

Rachel Caine

Rachel Caine (AKA Roxanne Longstreet, Roxanne Longstreet Conrad, Julie Fortune, and more!) passed away late last year. She was a fellow author and a friend. I’m also a major fan of her work. (Once I find an author that pushes my buttons, I go find everything I can get my hands on. )

You can see how prolific she was just by looking at her author page at Amazon. She was the bomb! (Aside from a few short stories, I think I’ve read every single one of her works! )

Anyway, she’s been on my mind a lot this week as her final book hit the market this week – Heartbreak Bay. Book 5 of her Stillhouse Lake thriller series. (She wrote urban fantasy, fantasy, thrillers, many fun things.)

Book publishing is a slow process – which is why only now, five months after her death, is her final book out in print. I’m hoping to start it today, but it will be a bittersweet experience. She kept on writing, even while in the grips of cancer and experimental treatments and more. Her stories always came first.

Movie/TV Reviews

New movies are coming out again! Woot!

Raya and the Las Dragon

Fantasy - Animated

Gorgeous CGI animation. The plot was decent though contrived in a couple of places. Lots of memorable characters. 3.75 out of 5 (Hubby’s Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission) **The opening cartoon called “Us Again” will make you tear up! 😭**

Chaos Walking

Science Fiction

The film had a super neat premise, and they carried it out well. Based on a book series. (Not one I have read.) They show a few things they never follow up on (the aliens, what happened to the people in the second town.) Plenty of plot twists. 3.75 out of 5. (Hubby’s Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission.)

Daughter of Lupin

Action/Comedy (subtitled)

This is a short series we found on Amazon Prime. We checked it out because of the premise and “Lupin.” This was a hoot! Lupin meets Cat’s Eye meets Romeo and Juliet. Awesome fight scenes, which was a fun surprise. 4 out of 5. (Hubby’s Rating: A ton of fun.)