Mind Sieve 10/21/22

Table of Contents

News/Musings	StoryOrigin Swap 1
Mini Movie/Show Reviews	Movie/TV Show Previews
DTN Swap 2	Just for Fun!
All Genre Review Copies	Dark YA Reads for Fall

 

Greetings!

The weather has cooled off for the last week and it has been marvelous!

Though I will say, the seesaw effect has not been good for my sinuses. 😋 We only got some light rain one day, but for some reason, flies have been springing up all over the place. Weird.

 

 

News/Musings

​

 

Romeo’s Revenge is now on pre-order! Woot!

Romeo’s Revenge – A Historical Cozy Mystery Short

Two tragedies one year apart. An unlucky family or something more sinister? She intends to sniff it out.

When Daiyu Wu learns of a pair of seemingly unrelated deaths within the same family, her inquisitive nature demands she find out more. So, with the help of her companion, Jacques, and her canine protector, Prince Razor, can this blind sleuth find the clues in time?

A Daiyu Wu Mystery – Novelette

 

There is also a new series banner! Everything matches now. YAY!

Back in the days before ebooks, the lengths of books and shorts usually fell into a smaller set of buckets than they do now. Sadly, not all the retailers take this into account, so it can be hard to figure out what you’re getting.

Here’s a quick list that also uses some info from an article at Jericho Writers.

Flash Fiction – 100 to 1,000 words

Short Story – 1,000 to 9,999 words

Novelette – 7,500 to 19,000 words

Novella – 10,000 to 40,000 words

Novel – these will vary by genre. Cozy Mysteries tend to fit in the 50,000 to 70,000-word range. Fantasy/SF – 80,000 to 100,000+

I like meat in my fiction, so I prefer works close to or above 70K for cozies and 80K+ for everything else.

Do you have a preferred length for your fiction reads?

 

Extra stuff I’ve shoved in here:

1) One StoryOrigin Swap (UBL)

2) Dream Team Network Swap (UBL)

3) All Genres Review Copies Group Promo

3) Dark YA Reads for Fall Group Promo

 

More deets on all of these in their sections. 😊

 

StoryOrigin Swap 1 (UBL)

In the Beginning, There Was a Murder

A secret liaison. A baffling murder. Can one woman solve the crime without joining the body count?

Northern England, 1953. Pauline Riddell has grand ambitions for her future at the armament factory. So, when her closest workmate reveals a salacious affair with a married man, Pauline refuses to risk her career by listening to the scandal. But she’s shaken to her core when the police arrive with news of her best friend’s homicide.

Desperate for justice, Pauline’s insistent poking into the investigation only makes her the prime suspect. And now to clear her name, she must unravel a web of deadly clues entangling her in a sinister plot. Can Pauline catch the killer before they strike again?

In The Beginning, There Was a Murder is a riveting mystery novel. If you like whip-smart heroines, intriguing twists and turns, and nail-biting danger, then you’ll love P.C. James’s sensational story.Also Available in Large Print.

Buy In The Beginning, There Was a Murder to crack the case today!

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 Rings of Power

Visually stunning, with some wonderful interactions, but lacking in logic checks and some of the scope. My favorite parts were the bits with Elrond (1/2 elf), Prince Durin, and Princess Disa. A ton of awesome bits whenever they were on. Numenor and the Elven cities were visually awesome. I loved Numenor’s sailing ships (I want one!).

*SPOILERS*

Where they failed miserably was some of the logic and even science. Middle Earth is huge! Yet 500 Numenorians and their horses just happen to go directly to the one tiny village in the middle of nowhere where they were needed most pretty much right after making landfall. Yeah…

Things got worse after the volcano explosion. The giant fire/gas/ash waves were super cool looking, but they also pretty much assured a 100% fatality rate. The heat and poisonous gases would have killed every living thing. (Hubby was already unhappy before this point, and I had a feeling and made sure to warn him before we started that episode that since it seemed Galadriel survived per the previews, she’d not be the only one.)

So if your disbelief threshold is high, give it a go. Otherwise, go in forewarned and love the best bits while ignoring the rest. 😛

Rating: ★★★ out of 5 (Hubby’s Rating: Better on Cable)

 

The House of the Dragon

Dragons, chaos, politics! The show covers three generations, so there are a few actors you should not get attached to as they will change! 😋 Fabulous acting by all. Matt Smith, the young Princess Rhaenyra, and young Queen Alicent were fabulous!

Great special effects and all the things you came to expect from the Game of Thrones series. My only quibble was that they took the super-strong young Princess Rhaenyra and turned her into a wimpy adult that only served to pump out babies. In a world where post-dalliance contraceptives existed, it seemed stupid not to use them after the first kid who glaringly did not match either expected parent.

I would steer away from the post-episode commentary by the showrunners. We watched them because to us it was hilarious that almost all the feelings and things they thought they were presenting the audience with were not what you saw in the episode! LOL.

Overall, it’s pretty solid and darn entertaining.

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

 

Movie Previews 🎥

All Quiet on the Western Front – based on the novel – World War I epic. 

Slumberland Movie Trailer – this looks super cute!

The School For Good and Evil Official Trailer – this looks super interesting! (Saw it last night! Loads of fun!)

Dream Team Network Swap 1 (UBL)

Bad Girls: Five Tales of Twisted Teens

“The best kind of revenge is the kind that no one would expect.”

Five girls have been tormented by people who thought it was okay to hurt them.

They never expected them to fight back.

The victim would never fight back.

The loser would never fight back.

The plain Jane would never fight back.

The freak would never fight back.

And the abandoned would never fight back.

But they do.

Not only do they fight back, but they delight in freeing their inner monsters on anyone who hurts them —

The abusers

The bullies

The fake friends

Five girls find the power within themselves to fight back and get their revenge on all of them.

And make sure their tormentors pay.

Just for Fun!

Simon’s Cat – Creepy Capers – their stuff is always so cute! 13 minutes, so be prepared. 😛

GHOST RIDERS IN THE SKY – Low Bass Singer Cover – Geoff Castellucci – I had not heard this in forever. Nicely done!

Monster Mash – Low Bass Singer Cover – Geoff Castellucci – I saw it and could not resist! Funky but fun rendition.

ALL GENRE REVIEW COPIES Group Promo – choose free books in exchange for reviews for a large selection of genres for Oct 2022.

There’s still time to grab some Dark YA Reads for Fall to make this Halloween season spooktastic! 👻

Take care, enjoy the cooler weather (if you got some), and steer clear of creepy crawlers! 🕷

Till next time!

Gloria