Saturday, December 18, 2021

Mind Sieve 12/17/21

 Table of Contents

News/MusingsStoryOrigin Swaps 1
Mini Movie ReviewsMovie/Show Previews
StoryOrigin Swaps 2Just for Fun!

Greetings!

Glad to see you! I hope you’re staying warm and comfy. 😁 Winter is officially just around the corner!

 

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

News/Musings

In Texas, the weather seems to change every five minutes. Going from freezing temps to hot and back is normal around here. It does do funky things to my sinuses though! Ugh!

Hubby’s kidney stone is still hanging on, so he will be going through a procedure next week. Thankfully, the stone’s moved enough so they can see it on the x-rays and so will be throwing sonic waves at it to break it up. Woot!

We’ve been enjoying new episodes of The Expanse, the Wheel of Time series, and especially Hawkeye! Season 2 of Witcher starts 12/17! Woot! (We also loved the live-action Cowboy Beebop (they were so much more faithful to the original than you usually see when something animated is done as live action) but I also heard it’s not getting renewed. 😭)

I am close to a 50K word count on Book2 – White Gold – of the Daiyu Wu Mysteries. I am hoping to keep the writing pace steady so I can finish the first draft of the manuscript soon and get it sent to the editor in April. Then, I am hoping to jump on The Secret Humankind and get that sucker done too! (My hope is to be able to bounce back and forth between the two series so I can feed everyone’s cozy mystery and urban fantasy hunger.) Wish me luck!

Sad news 😭 – now two of my favorite all-time authors have passed in a year. Rachel Caine (AKA Roxanne Longstreet Conrad) passed in November 2020, and now Carole Nelson Douglas has left us in 2021. I’ve read just about EVERYTHING the two ever published. I had the honor of being friends with both and always looked forward to seeing them at the local SF/F conventions.

If you’ve never checked out their books, I highly recommend them. Like me, they wrote outstanding stuff under several genres. (Like me in the ‘different genres’ sense, whether my stuff is anywhere near to outstanding is up for debate. 😋)

Extra stuff I’ve shoved in here:

1) Two info swaps from StoryOrigin. 

Next month there will be some opportunities for free books by signing up for other authors’ newsletters. Easier than committing to do a review, right?

More deets on all of these in their sections. 😊

 

Story Origin Swap 1

Story Origin Swap 1

Jack Gilmor – Wish Lawyer by Ed Ryder

Bad deals, demonic femme-fatales, and a city on the brink of chaos. Jack Gilmour is having a really bad day.

Welcome to Las Vegas. More sin in a day than most places see in a year. No wonder demons love to call it home. Whatever your vice, they have it covered on a contract splashed with the ink of regret.

That’s where Jack comes in. As Vegas’ first and only demonic law attorney, it’s his job to protect his clients from deals that seem too good to be true.

When a case of misplaced lust sets Jack against a powerful demon from his past, he’s soon embroiled with both the human and demonic underworlds in a battle for dominion over the city. With only his wits and a gambling wizard for help, can Jack save his client’s soul and prevent a war before it consumes both realms?

Full of action and danger, Jack Gilmour, Wish Lawyer is an urban fantasy thriller with a twist of noir.

Mini Movie Reviews 🎥

★ – Why did I go see this? Why?!

★★ – Showed promise but on execution, crashed

★★★ – Enjoyable, just don’t look under the hood too closely

★★★★ – A great film, totally worth seeing!

★★★★★ – 🤯 Too fabulous for words!

Ron's Gone Wring

Ron's Gone Wring

This movie was super cute! (And a little scary.) Explores the meaning of what true friendship is about. As Barney tries to teach his defective “Friend out of the box” about what it means, he comes to learn its true meaning. Great animation and voice acting. Ron is hilarious. Nice vehicle to show kids what can be bad about trying too hard to be popular on social media.

Rating: ★★★★ out of 5 (Hubby’s Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission to See Again!)

 

Encanto

Encanto

Bring tissues! If the short before the film doesn’t get you, the movie will! Bwahahaha! Both the short and Encato cover the topics of family, and how good intentions can turn wrong. Everything seems perfect in the isolated town of Encanto, especially with the magical family Madrigal. But ever since Mirabel’s failed coming of age ceremony where she was supposed to get a power like all the rest of the people in her family, a dark cloud has been building. Things are about to take a turn. Fun songs, great animation, and some lovely twists and turns. Tons of fun! (But bring those hankies!)

Rating: ★★★★ out of 5 (Hubby’s Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission to See Again!)

 

Movie Previews 🎥

The Book of Boba Fett – this is starting soon. I’m feeling weird about this one, but will definitely check it out to see what they’re going to do with it.

The Bad Guys – this should be a ton of fun. 😛

Around the World in 80 Days – David Tennant is BACK! This will be shown on PBS. Looks like a ton of fun! Woot!

Story Origin Swap 2

Story Origin Swap 2

Paradise Dawn: C’Mon Inn Mystery Prequel by D.N. McNicol

My life has always been weird.

I find an odd amount of dead or dying people, and if something freakish happens, I’m usually in the middle or nearby. And I’m tired of not being able to help the dying. Though finding another dead body almost counts as annoyance, because it is going to make me late to work, and I need all the hours I can get. College for non-mages is expensive.

In a world where a significant portion of the population are mages, I’m not. And I never will be. As such I need to do everything I can to succeed. After my brother died in my arms, my parents left. Not physically, I mean they still live here, but to them I became an obligation to a stranger. But getting my degree is just step one, someday I’ll solve the mystery of my brothers death.

Juggling work, school, lack of money, internships, and waiting for my best friend Josefa to emerge as a mage is stressing me out. I’m starting to wonder if I’m going to lose everything important in the process of reaching for my dream of being an EMT. And worst of all, what if I can’t handle it?

No, nothing is going to stop me. I will have a good life, I will be a great EMT, and I will keep researching. Life is a series of steps; this is step one. But with my luck, anything might happen.

Just for Fun!

 

Alien Redemption Speed Date Practice! – Last Sunday was the Strong Women – Strange Worlds Year-End Party. The whole thing was done on Zoom. I was one of the guests to the 2nd Speed Date panel. In case you weren’t able to come, I figured I’d share one of my test runs. The authors were to come up with fun ways to introduce their books. Here’s mine. Heh heh. Enjoy!

I Built an Elevator For My Cat – this video is hilarious! What he did is awesome but his telling of the process will crack you up! Lol.

The Muppets – Popcorn – I’ve always loved the instrumental composition called “Popcorn” – add in Muppets and what could go wrong?

 

​2021 is almost over! 😲 It went by crazy fast! I’m not ready for 2022. Are you?

Gloria

Saturday, December 04, 2021

Virtual Tourist 12/03/21

 


Table of Contents

News/MusingsVirtual Tourist – Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
Strong Women – Strange Worlds Year-End Party!

Greetings!

If you celebrate it, I hope you and your family had a great Thanksgiving!

Temperatures have been dipping the last week or two and hubby is playing Christmas music like mad.

How weird is it that 2021 is almost over? 😱

News/Musings

Hubby’s kidney stone journey continues. The sucker has yet to come out. He’s been feeling good, but he wants it OUT! If it has not moved much by the time of his next appointment, he may have to have outpatient surgery. With a scope and laser, they will follow the route the kidney stone is following and shoot it to pieces. Eek!

As I mentioned in the email last week, Jacques – A Daiyu Wu Mystery Prequel Short Story is now available at Amazon. Since I put it in the KDP Select, anyone with a Kindle Unlimited subscription can read it through there.

In 90 days, it will be available at all the other ebook retailers. Huzzah!

There will be no StoryOrigin or Books for Reviews this time around. The peeps I submitted to do trades with using the StoryOrigin setup did not Accept/Deny the requests, so no extra stuff from them this time around.

Jacques - A Daiyu Wu Mystery Prequel Short Story

Jacques - A Daiyu Wu Mystery Prequel Short Story

New Release!

How many times can a boy lose his home?

When Jacques is transferred to the Buckners Orphans’ Home in 1916 at the age of six, he hopes this will be a place to belong. But a crafty bully named Gary has other plans. Plans that drive Jacques away from the orphanage and to try his luck on the Dallas’ streets.

He’s befriended there by Emmett—a young pickpocket who’s escaped from his wire mob to make his way in the world alone. Things appear bright until Emmett’s past catches up with him. Jacques loses yet another home.

Creating a hidey-hole under a maintenance shed in Dallas City Park, Jacques has few options. But when he gets curious about the odd family that only visits the park during the weekdays, he’s about to reach a new crossroads. He will experience a final strange encounter that will change the rest of his life and perhaps give him what he’d been searching for all along. If he is brave enough to take the first step.

Origin/Prequel short story for Black Jade – A Daiyu Wu MysteryStand-alone fiction.

Extra stuff I’ve shoved in here:

1) Strong Women – Strange Worlds Year End Party!

Scroll on down to get all the deets. 😉

 

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

Shaking things up a bit with some pics from Assassin’s Creed – Odyssey.

All currently uploaded pics can be found here. Pics 21 to 45.

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​The game really does have fabulous graphics. A giant statue of Zeus is in the background.

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A large variety of plants are shown in gorgeous detail. Love the open-walled building ahead.

 

 

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The interior of a small temple to Poseidon.

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A moonlit view of the Mediterranean Sea.

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​The game map—it is awesome that they did it with sea creatures and such, like you would see on a real map of the period.

 

 

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View of the coast from the air. Some sunken ruins can be seen on the left!

 

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​A moonlit coast. Love the rock arch in the water.

 

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Waves, froth, even algae. It’s almost like being there. 🥰 That’s our ship – has a mainsail, rowers, archers, greek fire, and more. Like in Black Flag, there’s ship-to-ship combat and different skins for the ship itself.

 

 

 

Strong Women – Strange Worlds

​SWSW will be having a Year-End Event 🥳 on 12/12/21 from 12 to 6 PM EST. Get more info here. There will also be fun stuff on the days leading up to it! Should be fun! 🎉 Reserve your spot today!

I will be on one of the Speed Dating sessions (I think it will be the 2 PM EST one) and I am also sponsoring one of the Microfiction Contest days on Twitter12/06/21

Registration for the 12/12/21 event is Free! Pre-show fun Dec 3rd to the 11th with Microfiction contests on Twitter, party games on Facebook, and a prize bundle on a multi-day scavenger hunt! Woot!

Come join the fun!

Strong Women Strange Worlds Year End Party!

Have a great weekend! See you next time!

 

Gloria

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