Book Review: 11/22/63

Would you go back in time to right a wrong, to change the course of history? Would the world really be a better place?

This is the basis for Stephen King's novel, 11/22/63.  High school English teacher, Jake Epping, has the chance to go back in time and save President Kennedy.  But he finds the past does not want to be changed and many obstacles stand in his way.  Even if he can save the President, will it totally destroy the world as we know it?  Jake has no way of knowing.

This was my first Stephen King novel, (I've never been into scary or horror stuff), and it totally blew me away.  His writing is captivating and vivid. I had a hard time putting it down.

I would recommend it to anyone looking for an intense thrill ride.


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Are you ready for the A-Z?  I'm not! It's less than a week away.  Well, I'm excited for it, but as usual, I can't seem to get my mind to pre-write my posts! Ahhhhh! So I've decided to take the rest of the week off from blogging so I can focus on it.  I'll still be hopping around a bit, but no more posts for the week.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Kathy :)

Top 10 Movie Countdown

Today is Alex's Top 10 Movie Countdown.   Check out the linky list here to see everyone's top movies.

This is my list (my pictures weren't working so I took them off) :

10. Christmas Vacation- 
I know it's really corny and probably doesn't fit in a top ten list, but I just love this movie.  It makes me laugh every time.

9. Shakespeare in Love- 
This is a great romantic movie and you can't go wrong with Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes.  I love how Shakespeare's work is used as the basis for this story.

8. Schindler's List-
This one makes me cry every time, but it is such an important story.

7. Hotel Rwanda-
I guess I'm drawn to movies like this that show what humanity can fall to, if we let the differences between us matter more than our similarities.

6. Gandhi-
Though it is extremely long, I loved every minute of this movie. It inspired me to read much more about Gandhi and the struggles for Indian Independence.

5. Seven Years in Tibet- 
Another great film about a great man.  I'm fascinated by the Dalai Lama and his life.


4. Avengers- The combination of great actors, action and humor made this one of my favorites!

3. Raiders of the Lost Ark- I still love this movie even after seeing it countless times. The combination of action and humor is irresistible for me... and of course so is Harrison Ford.    


2. Jurassic Park- I had always loved dinosaurs as a kid and this movie blew me away.   

1. Star Wars- This movie came out when I was 5 and I don't think any other movie has affected me the way it did.  It opened up whole new worlds and possibilities for me.

What are your favorites?

**Healthy Writer's Update**

After tonight I will have completed my third week of P90X, and I do feel great!  I still can't do more than 1 pull up at a time, but I'm really improving on a lot of the other exercises!

 How is your fitness going? Are any of these movies on your favorites list?

Oh and thanks so much to all my new followers!  I've finally hit 300! YAY!
Have a great week!

Kathy :)

Spring is Coming

Knights of MicroFiction are back for March.  If you want to join us, just sign up on the linky list below and post your piece by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, March 15th. this month's prompt, in honor of the coming of Spring is:  In around 100 words use the words "blossom" and "green" and describe a Spring scene from either the real world or a made up world.    
If you want an additional challenge, include the title of Jess's newly released novel, From the Ashes.
Here is mine:

Spring is Coming

Footprints in the snow
Traces of days past,
All gone now
Melted by the inner fires of Earth.  

New trails forged
Life is reborn
Green stalks rise
Forgetting what once was.

Darkened skies open
Ashes of the past
Float away and
Reveal the light that always was.

The glowing embers
Of Spring
Rise from the ashes of winter

Have a great weekend, hopefully you will have some nice weather to enjoy!

Kathy :)

National Worm Hole Day

To celebrate Einstein's birthday, he'd be 134 tomorrow, Stephen Tremp, Laura Eno, and Luanne Smith have come up with National Worm Hole Day.

In about 100 words what would you do or where would you go if you could traverse a wormhole through space or time just once? One safe round trip passage.

Boy it was hard for me to choose where I would go.  But I decided that seeing the future is not for me.  While I would love to finally see flying cars, the future is unstable.  I wouldn't want my knowledge to change decisions that must be made.  I'm sure I would accidentally throw the whole universe into chaos.

Instead, I would go back to London in 1590.  Here, I would infiltrate Queen Elizabeth's court and learn her most intimate secrets. I would also attempt to befriend Shakespeare and learn the ways of the written word from the Master himself.  


Where would you go and what would you do?


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Knights of MicroFiction are back for March.  If you want to join us, just sign up on the linky list below and post your piece by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, March 15th. this month's prompt, in honor of the coming of Spring is:  In around 100 words use the words "blossom" and "green" and describe a Spring scene from either the real world or a made up world.   
If you want an additional challenge, include the title of Jess's newly released novel, From the Ashes.




Kathy :)

BoomTown Craze and More

Happy Monday everyone!

I'm excited because I've survived almost 2 weeks of P90X! It is the hardest workout I have ever done and there are a lot of the exercises that I can't do all the way.  But I'm doing my best and I really do feel great (extrmemly sore), afterwards.    

And thanks so much to everyone who helped Jess get the word out for From the Ashes on Friday.  So many great new books are coming out!  I don't know if I'll ever have time to read them all.  

Today, I'm helping out with the launch of two new books from blogger buddies, MPax and Ellie Garratt  

A Grand New Age of Boom or Dust?

Boomtown Craze, Book 3 in the Backworlds series is here!

In the far future, humanity settles the stars, bioengineering its descendents to survive in a harsh universe.

To secure his future, Craze must propel his world into a more prosperous era. Only days away from the grand opening of his new and improved tavern, he is confronted by a loony Backworlder intent on mucking up his plans. Gaunt and trembling, she claims her spaceship is possessed. She also has a connection to the underworld that shakes loose the dark past of one of Craze’s closest friends. It all threatens to end Craze’s prosperity before it begins.

Meanwhile off world, Captain Talos works desperately to outwit the mercenary Jixes and lure them away from his and Craze’s budding prospects. The mind-control weapon Talos uses against them is wearing thin, and his next move may be his last.

Will Craze and Talos’s efforts bring about a grand new age of boom or damn them to forever struggle in the dust?

Author:

M. Pax is a Browncoat and SG fan, she’s also slightly obsessed with Jane Austen. In the summers she docents as a star guide at Pine Mountain Observatory where the other astronomers now believe she has the most extensive collection of moon photos in existence. No fear, there will be more next summer. She lives in stunning Central Oregon with the Husband Unit and two lovely, spoiled cats.

Website / Blog ~ Twitter ~ FB ~ Goodreads

You can also find M. Pax on LinkedIN, Pinterest, YouTube, and Wattpad

From March 4 to March 22, folks can enter to win the following:

1 set of signed Backworlds paperbacks, including The Backworlds, Stopover at the Backworlds’ Edge, and Boomtown Craze. Will only ship to US residents.

Available in ebook at:

AmazonUS / AmazonUK / B&N / Smashwords

Other Outlets can be found at http://mpaxauthor.com

It will also be available in paperback from Amazon shortly.

From March 4 to March 22, folks can enter to win the following:

1 set of signed Backworlds paperbacks, including The Backworlds, Stopover at the Backworlds’ Edge, and Boomtown Craze. Will only ship to US residents.

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And if you want to go a little more to the dark side check out:

Nine dark fiction stories that may just give you nightmares.

A man lives to regret Passing Time. A father will do anything to save his son in Expiration Date. An author finds out her worst nightmare is back in The Devil’s Song. A woman gets more than the claim fee when she takes out vampire insurance in Luna Black.

In Dining in Hell, the Death Valley Diner becomes the wrong place to stop.

A serial killer wants to add another file to his collection in The Vegas Screamer. In Eating Mr. Bone, an undertaker could meet an unfortunate end. A con man meets his first ghost in Land of the Free. And will truth finally be set free in The Letter?

Passing Time contains nine stories originally published between 2010 and 2011. Stories range from very short to novelette.

Check out Ellie's site today to enter in the giveaway and to read a teaser.  

Available on Amazon

Don't these books look great? I heard Oz got some bad ratings, did you see it yet?  What's going on in your part of the world this week?

Kathy :)

From the Ashes Blogfest!

I'm so happy to participate in the From the Ashes Blogfest for the launch of Jess's debut novel. 

The prompt is: tell about a time when you or your character was thrown into a trial by fire situation. What biggest fears did you or your character have to face? What sort of situation would test you to the fullest?

I've been pretty lucky in my life and have never been tested to the breaking point.  My biggest fear is rather silly, it is being face to face with a shark, or in a room/cave full of tarantulas.  I think I can probably avoid both of those situations relatively easily.

My character, Nakyte, in The Hidden Truth, has it much more difficult.  Aside from having to fight off ferocious wild ponjits and other beasts from the forests of Bishare, she has to decide whether or not to trust her father, the King, or to disobey him and search for the truth.  She could lose everything she has ever loved, but she might just find the love of her life.  

Now on to the main event!!!! 

I'm so proud of Jess for all the hard work she has put into From the Ashes.  She is such an inspiration to me and I'm very lucky to be her mom!  :)

Summary:

Jaina Indera has been preparing her entire life for the chance to prove herself a superior and loyal citizen of the Imperial Alliance. In order to do so, she believes she must win the galaxy-wide competition known as the Trials. With training at her Gifted School progressing swiftly, everything looks like it is on pace for her to achieve her dream…until a boy named Dragon enrolls in her class.

Suddenly doubting herself and everything she’s been taught to believe, Jaina and Dragon are teamed with six of their classmates for the chance to compete and achieve their dream: winning the Trials. Consisting of four different tests, the Trials are about to challenge these eight young adults to the limits of their abilities. But learning to work as a team is more difficult than they ever imagined and dark secrets from Dragon’s past emerge that put them in mortal danger. Now Jaina must discover what she’s really fighting for if she and her team have any hope of finishing the Trials…alive.

Exploring the nature of self-reliance and self-confidence, McKendry delivers a perceptive, nuanced portrait of the importance of teamwork and the strain it puts on individual desires and motivations. Playing with the concepts of dark and light, her novel is a complex coming of age story that encapsulates the complicated hero’s journey from student to leader. A dark tale of love and revenge, From the Ashes is a powerful reminder to think for yourself instead of blindly following what you’ve been taught to believe.

The Kindle version will be available sometime today.  

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/From-Ashes-Volume-Jessica-Mckendry/dp/1480287075/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362661455&sr=8-1&keywords=jessica+mckendry

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17374554-from-the-ashes

Jessica McKendry was born in Michigan, yet grew up all over the Northeastern United States. She has lived in 7 different states, moved 15 times, and loves to travel. Jessica has been writing since she could read, but didn't write much more than poetry until she was 14 when she accidentally began writing what would become her debut novel two years later. Check out her website (www.jessicamckendry.com) or follow her on Twitter (@JessicaMcKendry) for more information.





Check out all the other participants here:



Have a great weekend everyone!

Kathy :)

IWSG

It's time again for the IWSG, Alex's creation to help all of us get over our insecurities and help support one another in this wonderful community.

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!
Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time.

I still have plenty of insecurities this month like, "Am I really going to be able to come up with good posts for the A-Z?  Is that proposal really good enough to send to that magazine?" but instead of all of that I really want to focus on what happened Monday.  

There was an outpouring of warmth, friendship, support, and love for a young man, whom many of us will never meet. I'm so honored to be a part of this group of writers and bloggers who supported Nick Wilford and his stepson Andrew yesterday.  Over 50 people signed up to participate and we flooded the blogosphere with support.  (I still haven't gotten around to everyone yet but I'm still making my way down the list.)    

Good luck to Nick and Andrew and way to go fellow blogger friends! You guys are awesome!  Thanks for making this a community to be proud of. :)

Kathy :)

And don't forget the From the Ashes Blogfest is this Friday, March 8th.  Check out Jess's blog for more info.

Overcoming Adversity Launch!

Today I'm helping out a blogger buddy of mine, Nick Wilford, in the launch of his anthology, Overcoming Adversity.   

A collection of seventy moving and uplifting original pieces - real life, flash fiction, and poetry - about battling against the odds and the ultimate triumph of the human spirit. The contributors include Amazon bestselling authors Alex J. Cavanaugh and Kyra Lennon, and the cream of upcoming talent.

The anthology is part of a fundraising effort to send the editor's stepson, Andrew McNaughton, to a specialist college in England. Andrew has cerebral palsy, and is a remarkable young man with a promising future. However, the free further education options offered in his own country of Scotland will not challenge him and allow him to progress. In order to access the education he deserves, Andrew will have to pay exorbitant fees, thus creating a situation of discrimination.

Help us get Andrew to college by buying a book that runs the full gamut of human emotions, ultimately leaving you inspired and glad to be alive. Whatever struggles you are going through, our sincere hope is that this book will help.

Purchase Links:

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Overcoming-Adversity-Anthology-Andrew-ebook/dp/B00BM62EZA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362210101&sr=8-1

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Overcoming-Adversity-Anthology-Andrew-ebook/dp/B00BM62EZA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362210134&sr=8-1&keywords=nick+wilford

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/290822

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17452314-overcoming-adversity

Editor Bio: Nick Wilford is a writer and stay-at-home dad. Once a journalist, he now makes use of those rare times when the house is quiet to explore the realms of fiction. When not writing he can usually be found spending time with his family or cleaning something. He has four short stories published in Writer’s Muse magazine. Nick is also co-running a campaign to get a dedicated specialist college built in Scotland. Visit him at http://nickwilford.blogspot.co.uk/.

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Also don't forget Friday March 8th is the From the Ashes Blogfest to help celebrate the launch of Jess's debut novel. Click here for more info.



Have a great week!

Kathy :)

Back From the Future and From the Ashes Announcement!

Back From the Future Blogfest hosted by M. Pax, Suze and Nicki Elson

You’re up before dawn on a Saturday when the doorbell rings. You haven’t brewed your coffee so you wonder if you imagined the sound. Plonking the half-filled carafe in the sink, you go to the front door and cautiously swing it open. No one there. As you cast your eyes to the ground, you see a parcel addressed to you … from you.

You scoop it up and haul it inside, sensing something legitimate despite the extreme oddness of the situation. Carefully, you pry it open. Inside is a shoebox — sent from ten years in the future — and it’s filled with items you have sent yourself.

What’s in it?

My future box would hold:

A letter to myself telling me not to worry about my kids' future, because they all turn out to be great adults enjoying their lives, so relax and just enjoy every minute spent with them. There are even pictures of their beautiful families.

News clippings of a disaster that occurs in 2020, with a list of names of people I should attempt to save and instructions on how to save them.  A pink Post-It-Note is stuck to that pile, in big black Sharpie marker it says, "Don't trust Robert Terrance, may be involved." 

Another letter telling me that my future self wanted to put in various other pictures and items like a completed copy of my bestselling novel, but "future me" thought I needed the whole long and agonizing journey of 10 drafts and decided instead to simply tell me, "KEEP WRITING, remember it's the journey that counts!"   

"Argghh", I curse "future me", but get back to my computer and take up editing with a renewed energy.   

What would be in your box?

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FROM THE ASHES BLOGFEST

Jess, over at Write Skate Dream, is announcing the blogfest to celebrate the launch of her debut novel, From the Ashes.  Here are all the details:  

1. Sign up on the linky list below
2. Grab the blogfest button above
3. On Friday, March 8th, tell us about a time when you or your character was thrown into a trial by fire situation. What biggest fears did you or your character have to face? What sort of situation would test you to the fullest?
4. Post the pre-written info I will send you by email with the cover and a few more details about From the Ashes

(If you only feel like doing #4 that's fine, too :)

If you can't make the blogfest, that's okay. If you'd be willing to help me spread the word with an interview on your blog, that would be perfect! (You can email me at jessicamckendry@icloud.com) Or you could just help me announce that I'm actually published now.