Mind Sieve 11/19/21 🦃 Thanksgiving Edition!

 

Mind Sieve 11/19/21

Table of Contents

News/Musings	StoryOrigin Swaps 1
Mini Movie Reviews	Movie Previews
StoryOrigin Swaps 2	Books for Reviews
Just for Fun!	Strong Women – Strange Worlds

Greetings!

I’m baaaaackkkk! Bwahahahaha!

So I don’t forget, I want to wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving! It’s good to remember there are things we should be grateful for. 😁

 

News/Musings

I sent the Daiyu Wu Mysteries prequel short story “Jacques” and a Daiyu Wu Mysteries Halloween short story currently titled “Romeo” to get edited by Serenity Editing Services. I’d been giving “Jacques” away previously to people who posted a review of Black jade and I will continue to do so. This version will just be super sparkly! 🌟🌟🌟

I’d meant to do so sooner, but the chaos of life let my plans slip on by.

I will be using both short stories as experiments for Kindle Unlimited to try to get traction for my other words from that end. However, I will have versions of “Jacques” in the other formats for reviewers to get their free copy if so desired.

Work continues on Book 2, though it’s going way slower than I had hoped. I’ve also been putting myself through the Death of a Thousand Cuts as I torture my writer’s group with chapters from The Secret Humankind. It too is not yet finished. Must write more!

Hubby’s kidney stone is still hanging in there, though it has been behaving better on the torture front. Things to be thankful for!

Extra stuff I’ve shoved in here:

1) Two info swaps from StoryOrigin. One of the three is a reader magnet – so no cost to you.

2) One opportunity for you to get books 📚 if you leave reviews of them in exchange.

3) Link to the Strong Women – Strange Worlds Year End Party!

More deets on all of these in their sections. 😊

 

Story Origin Swap 1

Princess Melia’s Plight Issues 1-5 by Julia C Gilbert

The fate of the Seven Kingdoms rests upon the Shadow Princess …

Melia is content being a princess of an obscure kingdom.

But then, a madman raises an army of men and dragons, conquering much of the world.

Melia would die to save her family and her people, but what if the true cost is even higher?

***

This book contains Issues 1-5, so you get to witness Melia’s complete adventure all at once.

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!

Due to hubby’s kidney stone and the Evil Back Muscle – movies were not seen! 😭 Except for…

DUNE

HBOMax featured this one on release day or we would have seen no movies at all. This one is definitely a must-watch on the big screen!

First – this is PART 1! So keep that in mind. I read the books eons ago, and have watched the 1984 version through several incarnations. (When the original came out, you got a pamphlet at the theater to help viewers with a lot of the stuff not spoken. Later, they added a soundtrack by the princess to add context.) A lot of the pivotal scenes are eerily similar between the two. The brutality of the Harkonnen is muted and mostly implied. They also downplayed the importance of Spice, mostly by not showing how the different guilds used it, or how it changed them.

Not having read the book in so long, I can’t say if this rendition is more faithful or not. It was definitely enjoyable and the ornithopters were very cool. The sandworms rock! The look and feel kept reminding me of the 1984 version. And I do think a few bits in the old one were better regarding mood and setting. But Paul looked the correct age in this new version. Overall, it is definitely worth watching. No previews for Part 2. Bah!

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

 

Movie Previews 🎥

Spider-man: No Way Home Official Trailer – oh boy, they are bringing bad guys from other universes. Doc Oc is back! I hope this works… 😓

DOG Trailer – This looks adorable!

Don’t Look UP trailer – this one looks mighty weird. Lol.

Story Origin Swap 2

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

From Woodstock to communes, to Vietnam, and then on to Hawaii. Find out how it all began…

Go back to the beginning and follow the Thompson twin sisters as they graduate high school and wend their way across the United States before settling on the beautiful island of Kauai.

As owners of the C’Mon Inn Bed & Breakfast, their ohana encompasses those looking for missing loved ones, taking care of lost dogs, dealing with killers on the loose, and a lot more.

 

Books for Reviews Exchange!

Books with Dragons! Reads for reviews. 🐲

 

Just for Fun!

OwlKitty in Jurassic Park – awesome video editing on this! They replaced the T-Rex with a cat and more! LOL.

This one is hubby’s fault – The Art of Noise with Max Headroom – Paranoimia – talk about a blast from the past! Love their work! (I hear this one in my head every time I can’t sleep. LOL)

The Art of Noise – Dragnet – the movie was so-so but the soundtrack was AWESOME!

Strong Women – Strange Worlds

Strong Women – Strange Worlds is having a Year-End Party! Save the Date – December 12th! All the deets can be found here. There will be fun on Twitter and Facebook leading up to the big day! 

​Remember to eat responsibly during Thanksgiving. NOT! 😁

Gloria

Virtual Tourist 10/08/21

 

Table of Contents

1) News/Musings

2) I Made a Boo Boo!

3) StoryOrigin Swaps 1 & 2

4) Virtual Tourist - New World

5) Book Review - A Most Malicious Murder

6) Books for Reviews

7) Strong Women - Strange Worlds

Greetings!

Looks like fall is here! 

Temperatures dropped for a couple of days, but look to be back to 90 degrees plus! ☀ Ugh! 

My sinuses are raging! (Not that that's anything new.) 😋

News/Musings

TikTok has been around for years, but I never paid much attention. My father will sometimes send me links to posts there—mostly about cats. 🐱‍👤 A writer friend mentioned it recently, and ever since then, I'd been thinking about it. 

Now, I have taken the plunge! Yes, I have my own TikTok page. As of today, I have made and uploaded five videos. They are all one minute or less. We'll see what kind of a disaster this turns out to be. LOL. 😁

If you want to take a look, my TikTok is tiktok.com/@gloriaoliverauthor

You may have seen them pop up on Instagram or Facebook. It's weird how it converts them. For example, for Instagram, it makes it square. The captions on TikTok don't seem to come over. Should be fun seeing all the weirdness and playing with options. 

I made a Boo Boo!

In the last newsletter, I made a Boo Boo with regards to the info on one of the StoryOrigin swaps. For S. V. Fanrsworth's Woman of the Stone—I'd added it was only available in print. This is NOT true! DOH! 🤦‍♀️ 

There are ebook versions of the book at Kobo and B&N. The author just made the decision not to have the ebook at Amazon. When I saw it didn't have one there, I assumed it didn't have any anywhere else. Mea culpa! 😓

However, there is some good news. The ebook is currently on sale for 99 cents!

Summer also has a new release coming up for a space opera. She said she is happy to give people the first-in-series ebooks in exchange for honest reviews. If you wish to see all her works, check out her website. 

Extra content today:

1) Two book info swaps from StoryOrigin. (Including the Woman of the Stone.) 

2) One opportunity for books for reviews.

3) Review of Melanie Fletcher's A Most Malicious Murder - Melanie is part of the Future Classics Writers' Group I belong to. I'd been waiting for this puppy for over 10 years! 

4) Info on the next Strong Women - Strange Worlds virtual readings.

Scroll on down to get all the deets. 😉

StoryOrigin Swap 1

Woman of the Stone by S.V. Farnsworth

Emerald Stone broke her word only once.

As the consequences catch up with her, it may cost her life, has already taken her virtue, and for certain will exact a toll on her freedom.

Tasked by the Creator with a quest to reunite the ancient Modutan Empire, she escapes in search of a peace that can only be found on the other side of a war. If she survives the politics and peril of the journey, she will discover that oaths of the heart are not so easily broken.

Once Upon a Name

StoryOrigin Swap 2

Once Upon A Name - Tales of the Strange and Unusual

What’s in a name? Names have power, names have magic, names can set the course for a great destiny.

Once upon a time, twenty author friends accepted a challenge by a fairy tale name generator. Now, twenty new characters have adventurous tales to tell.

In this clean YA anthology, meet goddesses, empresses, countesses, wannabe sorceress apprentices, female leaders of wolf packs, and guardian frog sidekicks. Search for missing persons with a hunter turned detective. Swoon over the gypsy sultana who must prove she is fit to rule. Cavort with our demons, wraiths, and demigods and lose your soul to the Bone Marsh. Root for a genie’s freedom or bite your nails as you pray for the witch to get the spell right. And yes, feel your heart palpitate at unexpected romance.

Escape into our strange and unusual collection of short stories written by award-winning and up-and-coming authors. Join us in far-off lands and learn. . .what is in a name.

All proceeds will be donated to charity in support of reading and literacy.

New World

New World is an MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online Game). Hubby and I are both gamers, but finding a game we can play together is sometimes a bit of a challenge as we tend to look for different things.

We'd heard about this one six months or more ago and it's finally out! 

The premise is that you are one of many people shipwrecked on the supernatural island of Aeternum. You can forage, craft, and battle. Unlike most MMO's this one does not have classes, so players can mix and match armor, abilities, etc. It has both PVE (Player vs. Environment) and PVP (Player vs. Player). Hubby and I both dislike PVP, so it's great that only those who enjoy that style of play can opt to do it. 

We've been enjoying the game overall so far. The only frustrating thing has been the maps. Not very user-friendly. Slowly getting a clue on that. 😋

More pics here.

Part of the introduction story. A survivor has sold the ship's captain a map to Aeternum. 

My character on the doomed ship. The man to her left is the captain. The box contains a relic to guide the ship to the island. The perpetual storms around it have other plans. Bwahahahaha.

After nearly drowning, the character awakes at this shipwreck-strewn beach. You can see Vikings, Conquistadors, and people from other ages and countries have come here seeking power.

All is not well here. There are evil supernatural forces at work. If you are infected, you become an undead servant to the Blight. 

As you can see, the graphics are quite nice. Where the Blight and contagion are held back, the island can be quite beautiful.

A view of the island of Aeternum. Definitely no longer in the normal world.

The ship's captain, once he's consumed by the blight. 

View from the beach at Monarch's Bluff, my starting town. Trying my hand at fishing. 

A Most Malicious Murder by Melanie Fletcher

Book Review

A Most Malicious Murder

Alternate History and Cozy Murder for the win!

What if Edgar Allan Poe had not died in 1849 and turned his life around? Then finds himself on tour in England trying to drum up subscriptions for his brainchild, The Stylus magazine? His first stop is Oxford for a talk at Christ Church, one of the largest colleges at the University. Yet, a nasty encounter and a pushy publisher lead him to cave to his alcohol craving imp's wishes, despite his promise to his second wife not to imbibe. A lapse he comes to doubly regret when he awakens in the wrong room of the hotel but a foot or two from a murdered maid.

Melanie Fletcher does an outstanding job of weaving what has been to what could have been. The details are vivid, and she expertly shows the amalgamation that is Oxford and its varied challenges. Including Charles Dodgson before he became the famed Lewis Carroll adds a nice layer, as we see the author in his still formative years.

The two men, different in temperament, country, and age, must find ways to deal with one another and accept what each brings to the table in order to clear Poe's name and catch a murderer. With the viewpoints shifting from Poe to Dodgson and the killer, readers will get an immersive view of events.

A Most Malicious Murder is a sensory delicious and fast-moving read.

Books for Reviews Exchange!

Ghosts and Ghouls and Things That Go Bump in the Night! Books in exchange for reviews for the month of October! 👻 You can see all the participants here.

Strong Women - Strange Worlds

The next Strong Women - Strange Worlds virtual readings are set for Thursday 10/21/21 at 5 pm EST. Check out the graphic below for the participants. Here's the pre-registration link. 

They have a BIG surprise coming for December 12th. More details soon!

Can you believe 2021 is almost over?!?!?! 😱😱😱😱

Gloria