Even 5 Years Later, You Still CAN'T STOP THE SERENITY!!!

This is the 5th anniversary of a global event to raise money for Equality Now.  It is very near and dear to my heart, and I will be heading downtown in a little while to attend Toronto's contribution in the form of a screening of the movie, Serenity, directed by Joss Whedon.

It's going to be a great time, despite the heavy potential for rain in the air!

AND I will be selling and signing copies of Carving The Light, as well.  ;)

More after the fact!

SAM

PODCAST!

Please go listen to, and comment on, the recent podcast I did with my very good friend, The Mad Hatter, over on his movie-obsessed blog, The Dark Of The Matinee.  You'll hear us talk about all things movies, including our reviews of The A-Team.

Additionally, I get to plug Carving The Light a little at the end!

Have a listen, and enjoy!  :)

Thanks,

SAM

Book Review: "Invasion of the Blue Lights" by Ruth Glick

 The Invasion of the Blue Lights by Ruth Glick



My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I still remember standing in my elementary school library looking at this book over and over...picking it up, putting it back down, then going back for it, again and again. When I finally borrowed it out and read it, the book ended up being WAY better than I'd imagined. After that first time, I borrowed it several more and finally, as an adult years later, was able to locate it online and buy a copy for myself. I read it again just a few years ago, and it has certainly managed to hold up over the years, I must say!



The story starts off simply enough...a young boy witnesses what appears to be a battle between two blue lights in the night sky noe evening. The lights appear to crash to the Earth, in different directions, and the boy ends up investigating to see what happened to the one closest to him.



What he finds leads him on a personal journey of discovery - an adventure where not all is as it seems - as he tries to decipher which side of the battle he is really on, now that the blue lights have come upon us.



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Book Review: "V" by A.C. Crispin

V by A.C. Crispin



My rating: 5 of 5 stars

V by A.C. Crispin is a wonderful tie-in to one of my favourite television shows of all time. Like the miniseries upon which it is based, V follows the lives of several different characters, all of whom are brought together when alien ships suddenly appear in the skies overhead, hovering above major cities all around the world. As the press and governments scramble to maintain peace and order with the alien Visitors, some individuals begin to question the Visitors' real purpose and intentions for coming to Earth, and soon find that they have the need to band together and strike back against their potential invaders.



The miniseries was filled with awesome effects, wonderful characters, and gruesome storylines. The novelization takes all of those things and adds deeper dimensions and layers of understanding to the whole thing. V was never just a story about alien invasion...it was a study of the best and worst in humankind...taking cues from our very real and recent history...and casing it all in a sort of science fiction-y 'what-if" scenario.



Fans of the series - new and old - will find much to love about this adaptation, and if the reader is left with a somewhat uncomfortable and familiar all-this-has-happened-before kind of feeling, then creator Kenneth Johnson and author A.C. Crispin have done their jobs perfectly.



View all my reviews >>

It Has Begun

Carving The Light is now available at Barnes & Noble!  It's on sale, even!  ;)

A Couple Of Quick Things

Sorry for my recent silence...this work week is killing me, and to top it off, I am trying to land a very specific apartment in a very specific building, and that scrambling process has taken up a lot of my time.  Along with seeing movies (still hoping to write up a quick A-Team review, to go along with my spontaneous podcasting session with The Mad Hatter, and possibly seeing Toy Story tonight)...things have just been keeping me very busy lately, it seems!

Carving The Light on Goodreads.com

Starting to build the community love there, too, if I can!

Carving The Light

ALSO, I am up to #518 284 on Amazon.com's sales rank!  lol

And there are more buying options to come, which will be available shortly.  Today I went Pro on CreateSpace.  :)

Enjoy the day!

SAM

(Short) Book Review: Cherubs by Timothy D. Rideout

Cherubs by Timothy D. Rideout



My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Cherubs is absolutely chilling, from its spine-tingling start to its hair-raising finish! Rideout's use of phrase and imagery deftly paints a terrifying portrait of one child's innocence caught in a battle between ancient Judgement and a mother's love.



The author keeps his readers on the edge of their seats, hands and feet inside the vehicle, for the entire thrilling ride. An excellent debut in horror fiction from a promising new author!



View all my reviews >>

A Few Quick Thoughts On Promotion

I had completely forgotten, for awhile, that I'd created this previews page for Carving The Light over at CreateSpace when the book was first printed.

Though it would be difficult to stumble upon, I had given out the link at lot at first, so that people could get a taste for what they were hopefully buying.

Since then, I've set up an Author Page at Amazon.com (to which this blog is actually linked), and a Facebook fan page, of course, to help keep people updated.  I am trying to get people to interact with the Amazon.com book and author pages...in terms of ratings, discussions, questions, reviews, photos, etc.  I think that increased activity will also increase the traffic.  And, let's face it, I am a bit of a comments whore when it comes to stuff like that.

I've added a tiny note-like review of sorts to Timothy D. Rideout's book page for Cherubs, and I am hoping that some people who have read Carving The Light will do the same.  I also have a preview (Search Inside) feature attached to the book on the Amazon page, so I think that's why I forgot about the CreateSpace one for awhile.

Just over 100 views.  About 70 book copies sold thus far.

It's coming along.  :)

More soon,

SAM

So Very Tired :(

More later...have to run to work now!  Day Three of Six.  Not even halfway yet.  Sigh.

Until soon,

SAM

When Life Gets In The Way

Usually, I think I can be fairly disciplined, when I put my mind to it.  I wrote the first draft of Carving The Light within the 30 day time frame of NaNoWriMo, and got it ready to go to print within a few months - in time for my mom's birthday, even.

But lately, it seems that it's getting harder and harder to find the time to get it done at all during the day, let alone along with all of the other life-like stuff that has to be done.  And I am wondering why. 

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

Safe to say that, as far as writing goes, today will be a total write-OFF.

Time Flies

What.  A.  Week.

Serenity One Shot, Float Out, by Patton Oswalt

I just wanted to mention that I love Patton Oswalt.  His unique brand of comedy helped in getting me through a very tough year, and still does.

Now, two of my favourite things in the world have been united, as yesterday, Patton's Serenity One Shot comic, Float Out, hit comic book stores everywhere!  I made sure to pick up one copy of each cover, because, really, how could I choose?  :)

Does Size Matter?

So, without going into a ton of detail, my newest book is a fairytale.  Well, a complete rewrite of an already well-known fairytale.

Compared with Carving The Light, this one is a lot lighter and more fun to write.

But are there fairytale-writing rules that I should know about?  For example, does the length of it really matter?

Today...

I received my very first royalty cheque.  :)

Holy hell!  XD