The Last Exorcism

Went and saw The Last Exorcism last night.  I really enjoyed it.  It was fairly intelligent, paced well, and had an AWESOME ending.  Absolutely loved the ending.

Though, you couldn't tell by the reactions of the older teens that were there.  That wouldn't shut up.  That were too busy being stupid and loud to properly enjoy it.

It reminded me a lot of Rec and Rec 2.  The pacing, the horror, the creepiness.  The way the camera was used like people documenting weird things would happen.  Like running through a wood, and the camera's hanging at their side.




Only drawback, and I'd allowed myself to forget this; those style movies invoke motion sickness in me unless I'm far enough back to see the edges of the screen.  It's been so long since I saw Blair Witch, and I've seen several movies in that style at home, I didn't even think about it when we naturally migrated to the third row.

And I almost threw up in the last twenty minutes of the movie.  Made it pretty hard to sit still for the conclusion.  But I did.  Somehow I even managed to get home without losing it.


Rewatched The Expendables.  I still really like that movie.  It's like an 80s action flick grew up, and realized things had been rough in that decade.  So it's trying to do one redeemable thing.  Much like the plot of the movie.  And the action was spot-on fantastic.  Love it.

Muse Online Writing Conference

So, the actual conference is really for writers.  Sorry, my reader friends, probably not much for you.

Sketch: Jasper

Here's Jasper, Bhaale's brother.

Still haven't done Jackson yet.  *shudders*  Still gone be bad.

When I showed this to my friend, I called it a half-assed sketch.  I didn't put a whole bunch of effort into it.  Just a teeny bit of effort.  It still looks pretty good, though I think it could be a whole hell of a lot better.  More details, better perspective on the books.  Especially the one in his hand.

but it still made my friend smile.

Guest blog: New Kids on the Writer Block

There's a wonderful new blog stop for new writers.  Check it out.

And I'm not just saying that because I did a guest blog yesterday.

I seriously feel there's a good thing starting for the up and coming.  And maybe it's just my own shyness, but I don't find a lot of bonding in the author ranks.  The ladies over at New Kids are really trying, and I support that.

stories with bite o,.,o

And then it goes live!!!!

My short story collection

A few weeks ago, I started formatting a collection of my short stories to self publish.  It was really fun working to make it ready for CreateSpace and Kindle.  Hunting widows was one of my favorite things, followed by picking fonts and making my cover.

Twenty-some stories later, and hours of editing, I've got the manuscript uploaded, and am waiting for the final processing.  The Kindle should be available first, followed by the print in a couple weeks.

I'll try to time it better with my next book.  Which is coming along.  I'm trying to have the first draft finished by the end of the month, but I might be a tad ambitious.

So, I should have a book of stories available very shortly.  Kindle is in the last steps of the process.  As soon as it's available (at 2.99), I shall let everyone know.  Lots of wonderful stories in there, that are finally going to see the light of day.

Did I mention I'm excited?  I'll need to update my sites with it once its out.

The (mis)adventures of Peepers the great-tailed grackle

I've had a little project over the last month.  We fostered a baby grackle, raising her until she was strong enough to be out on her own.  It was a lot of fun, and we just released her yesterday.

Sketch: Varick

When I was writing All Hallows Blood, I had an image of Varick in my head, but he wasn't based on anyone.  Unlike Maksim in my current work (who looks like Orlando Bloom), Varick was just himself.  Tall, gorgeous, Aryan, I love my Varick.

Movie updates

A handful of movies to talk about here.

First is Martyrs.  I'd heard people at work kinda ranting and raving about it, and "omg, have you seen it yet?"  I ignored it for a while, and finally watched it last week.  I was thoroughly not impressed.

It starts off as a revenge slaughter, and was fairly unimaginative as that.  But it was gory, and the girls were crazy and kind of in love, and that was fine.  Then the secret agents arrive, and the movie takes a bit of a twist.  But when it takes that twist, it slows down, and drags, and just starts sucking.  it wasn't horrific, or shocking, or demented.  It just ran on and on and on, and reminded me how bad zealots are.

And the ending didn't even redeem it.


Then there was The Human Centipede.  I knew it was bad, but everything about it was kind of surprising.  The production value was fairly high, and the acting was decent, once the bimbos shut their mouths.  Because the production value was higher, when the movie took itself serious, it wasn't hokey.

And it was horrific and repulsive.  It did its job.  I mean, days later, my fiance quoted a scene, and I shook and shuddered again out of revulsion.  So, in that fact, it was a good movie.  Because it did what Martyrs couldn't.


Watched something called In The Loop.  When it was recommended by coworkers as "really funny", they didn't say anything else about it, other than that it was British.

It was quite funny.  It was a bit satirical, and a bit biting, with a long look at politics, and how things are swung to get what you want.  In that, it was scary.  But very enjoyable to watch.


The House of the Devil (or something along those lines) was crappy and good at the same time.  It was long, and boring, and not very surprising, and rather dull.  But it was good, because it was trying to be some early 80s horror/suspense movie, and it came across as it.  If you didn't know it had a 2009 release date, you'd have guessed 1985.

I just don't know why anyone would want to do that.  Or maybe it's just marked 2009, and it really isn't.  Who knows?  It doesn't make it suck any less.

Sketch: angels

More sketches from the distant past.

All right, maybe only about twelve years.  Back in time when I was going to be a fancy artist, and do art that had that art touch to it.  *dons beret*

But then I grew out of that.  Still have the sketches from back then.

I was going to do a whole line of angels.  Angels doing various things.  And juxtaposing fallen angels doing good things with high angels doing bad things.

Never got around to doing them.

More on reviewing

So I set up my messages around the web this weekend, looking for reviewers for my book.

Got chided about the RWO PRO boards for self-promoting.  Was hoping to get some answers from fellow authors, but apparently that's self-promotion.  *shrug*

Heard from a fellow writer on the AW boards that she had a review take eight and some months.  Phew!  Not for the impatient is this career.

Did get a link to Night Owl Reviews from Maggie Jaimeson.  She also looked for reviews about All Hallows Blood, so that made my day.  Put a smile on my face, thinking that this isn't just a crazy lonely world.

(One of the Amazon reviews on my book says the cover is stupid.  I applauded.)

Also decided that I'm going to do my first self-publishing foray as an anthology.  So I'm going to dust off some old stories, polish them up, and put them out.  Look for that!

And for great advice about promoting self-publishing, there was this article about marketing your novel.  I went and joined Ellen's group and everything.  Which also means I got back into Facebook, a bit.  Even created my own group.  Seems a little egotistical.

Though, a friend did tell me that as artists, we should enjoy our ego.  Maybe I could learn something from him.

Want a review copy?

Months and months have passed since All Hallows Blood came out.  And I sent out a bunch of review copies, and haven't gotten a darn one back.

This makes me a grumpy Raven.

So I'm taking things in a different direction.  I'm going to go past the reviewers, and go straight to the readers.  And fellow authors.

To do so, I'm giving out review copies of my book.  I'll send you an electronic copy, and all I ask is that you review and post about the book.  Amazon review, blog, links, word of mouth.  Recommend it to your coworkers.  Let it be known, so that this storyteller can feel she's reaching people.

In return, I can review your book, or promote your site, or just be your friend.  Whatever appeals to you most.

Contact me, and let's get this word of mouth started!

Forgot about an interview

I was interviewed for Sapphire Phelan's Yahoo newsletter, and I forgot about it.  that's how hectic and annoying work has been.  *shakes fist*

So, take the time to go check out the July newsletter, and see my interview.