Saturday, April 23, 2022

Virtual Tourist 04/22/22

 

Table of Contents

News/MusingsStoryOrigin Swap 1  (freebie)
Virtual Tourist – Lost ArkStoryOrigin Swap 2 
A Galaxy of Books Promo

Greetings!

I hope 2022 has been treating you well. Temps are seesawing like crazy!

 

News/Musings

I decided to tackle a couple of things these last few weeks.

First, prepping the files and cover for a BONUS Daiyu Wu Mystery short story called Romeo’s Revenge. More details on how you can get your hands on it and not have to wait until Oct 2022 to get it—coming soon!

Second, since I still had not received a resolution about the Black Jade paperback over at Barnes & Noble and the KDP fiasco, I set out to get it published through the B&N Press. While the setup wasn’t bad, I ran into an issue with the ISBN. 😭 B&N wants a whole new one. After a few emails, searches, etc. I had to cave in. So in the next few days, a paperback version should be available for those of you who shop through Barnes and Noble. Yay!

Third, KDP/CreateSpace had announced they would offer a Hardback option to authors/publishers. I finally decided to try it out. As of this morning, Black Jade – A Daiyu Wu Mystery is now also available as a Hardback book! It’s already LIVE on Amazon. I’ve ordered a proof copy to get a better feel of the production value, but it won’t be here until mid-May. Boo! I will take pics once it gets here and share those so you too can take a look. 😁

Fourth, I could not resist a special offer on Photoshop styles, so I used them to spruce up the Daiyu Wu Mysteries FB banner. I also used it to give a little more of a jolt to the cover for Romeo’s Revenge. See below for the results. 😎

 




















Extra content today:

1) StoryOrigin Swap 1 (freebie)

2) StoryOrigin Swap 2

3) A Galaxy of Books – Science Fiction That Takes You to Other Worlds – Giveaway

4) Survey for future giveaway

 

Scroll on down to get all the deets. 😉

Stinger

Stinger

StoryOrigin Swap 1 (Freebie)

Quick-paced, primal, and full of suspense… A thrilling sci-fi short with an “Aliens” feel.

As his warship comes under attack by a devastating alien horror, a drug-addicted recruit stumbles upon a secret super soldier compound. In his hand is the one hope to save the ship. But to do it, he’ll have to face his crippling fear of the alien on the other side of the hatch.



Lost Ark

I’ve made some progress on the game. There is so MUCH extra content in here! Aside from the main storyline and side quests, there’s rapport (building trust with NPCs (Non-player characters) as you complete quests. You give them gifts, songs, or do small quests for them to get them to like you more and more.

As you reach certain levels, they throw more stuff to do, like give you your own island! Later, your own ship to go to other continents as you continue trying to gather the seven Arks.

Pics currently uploaded can all be seen here. (There’s a selfie mode, but I haven’t found where they hide those. DOH!)

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Inside one of the dungeons. There are main dungeons that are part of the storyline and also hidden dungeons you can only find if you get a map from defeated enemies.

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In this first major dungeon, the city/temple was entirely covered in water. As you clear a section and open the flood gates, more and more of the structures is revealed.

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The boss for the flooded dungeon. The only thing I’ve been unhappy about is how you can’t get a closeup of the bad guys unless they put it in the videos. Which they don’t always do.

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Closeup of the demon pulling strings—Kharmine. He’s using the characters to weaken those above him, then taking their power for himself. Climbing the ladder the backstabbing way. 😝

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The half-demon priest, Armen, after giving in to his demon side to bring forth enough power to fight against Kharmine. (Though Kharmine wants him to do this. He has plans! Bwahahahaha!)

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Character loading screen – I LOVE the picture in the background!

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One of the boss demons Kharmine is planning to use as stepping stones in his quest for power.

 

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​The throne of the kingdom of Luttera. While searching for the Arks, you befriend Prince Thirain who is battling to retake the throne stolen from him.

 

 

Evolutionary Magic

Evolutionary Magic

StoryOrigin Swap 2

When a mysterious asteroid awakens monsters of myth on Earth, mutant Evolutionaries like Andromeda Bochs are forced to protect what’s left of humanity.

Elite monster hunter with the E-gene might sound prestigious, but Andromeda just put on her last pair of jeans not slimed, burned, or eaten on the job. She expects to die by monster in spectacular fashion until she meets a scientist who believes in magic. And he claims she has it.

Monster hunter becomes the hunted when Andromeda’s new-found power draws the attention of an Ancient Magic. Can she still die by monster? Absolutely. But if she escapes the Ancient and embraces her magic, she might prevent ALL Evolutionaries from dying on the job.

Science and magic collide in this dystopian urban fantasy!

“If you want to read a fantastic book of magic, monsters, heroes, and villains, buy Evolutionary Magic.” • N.N. Light, Amazon Vine Voice

“When I need a ride or die after the apocalypse, I’m calling her.” • Amazon Reviewer

A Galaxy of Books SF Book Fair

Have a fabulous weekend!

 

Gloria

Saturday, April 09, 2022

Mind Sieve 04/08/22


Table of Contents

News/MusingsNDT Swap 1
Mini Movie ReviewsMovie/Show Previews
StoryOrigin Swaps 1Just for Fun!
Coming of Age – Across the AgesA Galaxy of Books
A.L. Lorensen – Kindle Fire Giveaway

Greetings!

April is here, which means spring is about to begin! 🌺

 

News/Musings

With spring around the corner, a new horror for pet owners begins—presents from our pets of things they find outdoors! Eek!

While our dog doesn’t do this, two of the cats are notorious for this! Starsong’s motherly instincts make her do it for the two younger cats to teach them how to hunt, but the Boy does it just to have toys that move! 🐭🦎🐇🐍 They use the doggie door to get in and out and will bring small snakes, lizards, mice, and baby rabbits home!

If we see suspicious behavior from the cats or hear noises we shouldn’t, the game is ON to find the latest critter to try to save it and get it back into the wild. Phew! (We’ve also started closing the doggy door in the late afternoon while the cats nap and leave it closed until morning. (Luckily, our dog has a good bladder.)

As the release date for The JOY of Murder gets ever closer, I am trying to line up things for the pre-order period, for sharing the ARC for reviews, and a Bonus Gift for you guys for the first week of release. Lots of juggling going on. I just hope I don’t forget something. LOL.

Once the manuscript is cleaned after the edit and I send it to the cover artist, I will once again share the concept sketches and have you guys pick your favorite. Make sure to vote when the time comes! 😁

The new Reviewers Section I started last time I will keep on a monthly rotation. Want to see your name there? Post a review of any of my books! (No pressure. Honest. Bwahahahaha!) 😈

 

Extra stuff I’ve shoved in here:

1) One swaps from DTN.

2) One StoryOrigin Swap.

3) Three April Giveaways – one includes a Kindle Free HD Tablet!

 

More deets on all of these in their sections. 😊

 

DTN Swap 1

DTN Swap 1

California Dreaming – Bollywood PI

Only the unexpected can save them!

Jita Patel punches numbers and coddles patients at a health clinic in California. Her only excitement is a daily dose of Bollywood P.I. (starring a senior citizen), and dodging her mother’s matchmaking attempts (“no” and “wtf” don’t seem to work.)

Hoping to hone her P.I. skills and find out more about her cousin’s disappearance, Jita rushes into a missing person’s case, armed with a wonky firearm and a dodgy P.I. certification.

But what she uncovers is unimaginable – with far-reaching consequences.

Time is running out and there’s no turning back.

 

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!

The Lost City

The Lost City

Romancing the Stone meets Indiana Jones! (I thought it was funnier than Romancing the Stone to boot! Lol.) Like a lot of good comedies, the serious and funny go together hand in hand, so several subjects and subtexts abound. The film pokes fun at several other films right from the start. All the characters were a hoot. Great special effects, great action, and craziness. It was a lot of fun. (As an author, I enjoyed certain bits a heck of a lot.) 😁

Rating: ★★★.75 out of 5 (Hubby’s Rating: Worth Full Price to See Again!)

 

Turning Red

Turning Red

Until this film, I don’t think I’d ever heard of Red Pandas before. They are super cute and usually only found in the Himalayans.

Several topics run at the core of the film—family, familial obligations, being your own person. This movie was super cute! (Keep hankies handy though.) Meilin is a very outgoing girl finding her place in the world and trying to balance who she is with what her mother and grandmother expect from her. There are a ton of super cute moments. The animation, as usual, was fantastic.

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

 

Morbius

Morbius

Morbius is the latest Marvel film to hit the screens. Jared Leto did a great job as Morbius, and Matt Smith was quite impressive as Milo. The special effects were marvelous—body changes were super smooth. We get served several red herrings, and some fun dynamic combat scenes, but in the end no real plot surprises (except in the added scenes!). It’s left totally open for a sequel. Morbius calling himself Venom during one scene was a hoot.

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

 

Movie Previews 🎥

Minions: The Rise of Gru – looks like a ton of fun!

The Sea Beast Trailer – this is going to be a fun adventure! What fun!

The Favourite – lots of awesome people in this one. Should be insane!

Story Origin Swap 1 (Freebie)

Story Origin Swap 1 (Freebie)

Xu Lamon’s Children: Damon’s Madness

Five scientists entered into the unknown realms of the Netherverse. But they didn’t return alone…

When Damon Nalar was assigned to the government project to uncover the Netherverse, he thought his life dreams were finally coming true. Unfortunately, he soon discovers the horrors behind his mission, and our world will never be the same…

A Lovecraftian novella

Just for Fun!

Peacemaker Opening Sequence – One of the weirdest and fun opening sequences for a show I have ever seen. (Not a show for kids! Just FYI.) Eagly is hubby’s favorite character. Also, the lyrics to this song are a riot!

Peacemaker Opening Sequence with LEGOs! – I had to share this too because they did such a great job of recreating it! Now you can compare! Lol.

Pianist Shocks Audience with Moonlight Sonata Dubstep Remix – Moonlight Sonata is one of my all-time favorite pieces of music. Loved what he did with it. 😁 Though I wish the person doing the video would have left off the comments popup.

 

 

 

 

A Galaxy of Books SF Book Fair

A Galaxy of Books – Science Fiction That Takes You to Other Worlds – freebies for mailing list signups for April 2022. 21 offerings to calm your inner SF needs. 😎

 

 

Coming of Age Across the Ages Group Promo

Coming of Age – Across the Ages – YA books in all sorts of settings. Ends on April 20th.

April 2022 Fantasy Giveaway

Win a Kindle Fire HD Plus – the giveaway is open 4/8 to 4/23/22!

Have a fabulous weekend and see you in two weeks!

Gloria

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