Terrific Tuesday -- I'm back to blogging at Something Wicked This Way Comes!!

Hey gang -- stop on by Something Wicked This Way Comes to see what I've got to say about Dexter and The Walking Dead!

Movie Monday -- The Expendables (and RIP, Leslie Nielsen)

I promise gang, one day soon I'll be reviewing The Deathly Hallows -- just didn't get to see it this weekend yet -- urgh!!!!

So I popped on over to Vampire Wire to see an article about the re-make of the movie, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (yeah, not a fan of these remakes.  Enough already!!!  Plus, I really liked Luke Perry and Rutger Hauer in the original ;-), and I saw that Leslie Nielsen has passed away.  He was such a staple in parody movies -- everything from Lethal Weapon parodies even to Dracula.  And he had the most classic lines in Airplane. RIP, Mr. Nielsen.

Speaking of 80's hits, it seems as though everything 80's is coming back again -- Buffy (okay, that was early-mid 90's), Fright Night, and last week I reviewed Predators, a sequel to the 80's hit movie franchise.  This week it's The Expendables, featuring all those great 80's action heroes -- Sly Stallone, Bruce Willis, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Stone Cold Steve Austin, along with some newer stars like Jet Li and Jason Statham.

Okay, so, it's basically Stallone's vehicle, since he wrote, directed, and stars in it.  He does a pretty good job with Statham as his main co-star -- I was a bit disappointed that some of the stars, like Bruce and Arnie, are in "blink-and-you-missed-it-roles".

So what's the plot?  You know, I can't even really explain it -- I wasn't quite sure myself!  ;-)  Something about Bruce Willis hires Stallone and his crew (featuring Statham, Li, Lundgren and a few others) to take out a dictator on a remote Gulf island (hey, you know Angel Batista from Dexter??!!).  Turns out, the dictator is financed by baddie Eric Roberts, and even though Stallone and Statham escape the first time, they go back to save the dictator's daughter.

Hey look, these movies aren't known for their plots, I mean -- you tune in to basically watch a bunch of tough, muscly, guys with big guns beat up other guys, right?  Which indeed does happen.  I have to say though that this wasn't as good as I thought it might be -- there are slow scenes in the middle, and the plot goes this way and that, losing focus at times.  It's not as tight as Die Hard, First Blood, or True Lies, and therefore, wasn't as entertaining for me.

It was neat, however, to see the old guard of Stallone, et. al. hold their own against the newer guys like Statham and Li, and the scene between Arnie, Bruce, and Stallone was priceless.  All in all -- about a C+ -- if you need to go to the bathroom, do it during the talking segments, cause the action scenes are ones you want to watch ;-)

FreE-Book Friday (and Football Friday)!!!!

So, I'm extending my Writer's Wednesday contest featuring Marissa Farrar's new release, The Dark Road.  Look -- this is the Best Seller on Smashwords in the Fantasy category, so you really want to snap it up, and you can do so on this very blog, for FREE!!!

Just read Wednesday's post and leave a comment accordingly -- I'll be announcing the winners next Friday!












Aaaaannndd, here in the US, today is the day after Thanksgiving and so most people have the day off, are probably sleeping right now after having been up ungodly early to get shopping deals on Black Friday, or just chilling out after a ginormous food coma yesterday (or possibly both ;-)

I had the immense pleasure of being in Dallas Stadium yesterday for the Saints/Cowboys game, and honestly, even though I sported my Saints gear, I didn't really care who won (and I actually used the opportunity to purchase some really comfy Cowboys gear too!).  It was just being with my mom, a life-long Cowboys fan, and she finally got to go to her first NFL game, and see her team nearly win, live, in person, after only having been able to watch them for years and years on the talking pictures screen.

I've been to college football games, and but never an NFL game myself, and I have to say -- it's a huge party.  The Stadium itself is beautiful, with big-screen tv's galore, plenty of places to get food and drinks (and bring your entire bank account because a soft pretzel and two beers cost me $22!), seats, and sports-bar-type atmospheres inside the stadium.  We were in the nosebleed section, but it's a stadium in which there are no bad seats.

And, I get to tell people that I spent Thanksgiving with Nicole Kidman (whose hubby, Keith Urban, performed at halftime)!!

Writer's Wednesday featuring Marissa Farrar and Giveaway -- The Dark Road

Hey Gang!!

Sorry this is a bit late -- I had to travel this a.m. to Dallas because the family and I are spending Thanksgiving in Dallas Stadium watching the Saints beat the Cowboys (or, as my mother and brother say, the Cowboys beat the Saints, LOL!!!)!  (For those of you who are not American, watching the Cowboys play on Thanksgiving is a HUGE tradition).

So, today, the first Real Writer's Wednesday of my new blog, is actually very special -- Marissa Farrar is here to introduce her brand-new novel, The Dark Road, recently published by Vamplit Publishing. And something else -- a giveaway!!!!

When I asked Marissa to give me some information about her new novel (which sounds amazing, btw -- I don't have it yet as I'm waiting for it to be available on iBooks as I simply love reading books on my iPhone), here's what she had to say:

My new novel, The Dark Road, is set in Cambodia, which is a pretty unusual setting. Often I get asked if I’ve ever been to Cambodia myself, and the answer would be a resolute ‘absolutely’.  When I was twenty-three, I went off backpacking for a year with my best friend Sam (to whom, incidentally, the novel is dedicated). We spent the first three and a half-months backpacking around South-East Asia; travelling from Thailand, down through Cambodia, into Vietnam, right up through the country, into Laos, and then back into Thailand again. It was, without doubt, the best time of my life.

But it wasn’t all smooth sailing and the journey into Cambodia was certainly one of the more hair-raising experiences. We’d only been away for a week and getting the bus from Bangkok to Siem Reap (just as the characters in my book do) was an eye-opening experience. Just like in my book, we quickly discovered that when people say there are no roads in Cambodia—there really are no roads in Cambodia! Then night fell and the most incredible electrical storm I have ever seen in my life started up around us. The lightning was like a strobe, and we were literally in the middle of nowhere. We had to cross some of the most rickety bridges I have ever seen, and every half an hour or so the driver would stop the bus and peer underneath it with a torch (to this day I have absolutely no idea what he was looking for).

So while this was all happening, I was sitting in my seat, watching the light show going on around me, wondering what the hell I had gotten myself into, when I thought I saw something long and black, loping alongside the bus. 

Of course it was just my over-active imagination playing tricks on me, but it got the brain cells whirring, and I thought, what would happen if a group of backpackers got stuck in this situation? What if there was something out there chasing them, something that was unnatural and desperate for their blood?

And so The Dark Road was born.

Here’s the blurb:

When a group of backpackers are thrown together on a bus from Bangkok to Siem Reap, Cambodia, they have no idea of the journey ahead of them.  

Shortly after crossing the Cambodian border, one of the group disappears off the side of the road, and they quickly discover they have more than the threat of land mines to worry about. They are plunged into a terrifying world of ancient temples, curses and long-dead kings and, one by one, they start to lose both their minds and their lives, as what was supposed to be an adventure turns into a fight for survival. 

Now, doesn't that just sound SO GOOD???!!!!  And I love that Marissa based it on her own experiences (well, maybe not -- but maybe so??? ;-).  For those of you who'd like to read the Dark Road, it's available on Smashwords right here but hey -- I'm giving away copies to the first five poster who can tell me in the comments:  where was the most exotic or inspiring place they've ever been to?  (And if you have your own blog, we'd love to see a review of The Dark Road on it!).

Thanks and for those of you feasting tomorrow -- be sure to stuff yourselves!!  I'll be waving to you all from the Stadium!!

Movie Monday -- Predators (2010)

Hello and how was everyone's weekend?!?!  Mine was great -- nice weather, fun with the kiddo -- couldn't ask for anything more.  I did not make it to Harry Potter (although apparently everyone else did -- I have to say, the HP movies are not my favorite since they deviate and leave out my favorite things from the book, but the trailers for #7 have me positively drooling and I can't wait to see it!).












I did finally rent Predators, which was out earlier this summer.  Now, I'm a bit skeptical of keeping a 20+ year-franchise rolling, but Adrien Brody is awesome and I really liked Splice, so I trusted Adrien and gave this a go.

Adding to the cast are Laurence Fishburne, Topher Grace, Danny Trejo and Alice Braga (the niece of Sonja Braga, for those of you old enough to remember her from the 80's).

Basically, the premise is this:  Brody and others awake to find themselves in a freefall -- yeah, they've no idea how they've got where they are, but if they don't act fast and pull the parachute line, well -- SPLAT, right in the middle of the jungle.

What jungle you may ask?  Alice Braga says she's been to nearly all the jungles and doesn't recognize it.  Brody notices, after some time, that the sun hasn't moved -- gasp!!!  What kind of strange planet are they on??!?!?!?

One where they're being hunted, that's for certain.  Brody and the rest are a motley crue of very dangerous soldiers, gang and mafia members, and a .... doctor.  Wait, what's he doing there?  Maybe he's supposed to help the wounded?

Okay, so none of them know each other, but Brody et al figure out that there's safety in numbers so they band together to try to fight.... whatever it is that's hunting them.  Of course, WE know who's hunting them, so we need to wait for them to figure it out, which they do, all the while guns fire and body parts go flying.

I'll admit it right now -- I LOVE the first Predator movie.  A group of big, burly Alpha males in the middle of the jungle being hunted by some alien thing -- it's just plain awesome.  Arnie, Carl Weathers, Jesse the Body Ventura -- I remember one interview where Jesse said that the actors were all in the weight room trying to outlift each other, LOL.  Sure, it screams Testosterrrrrooooone, but I like it anyway.

I can tell that they tried to make Predators like the first one -- a group of people being hunted in the jungle, with some new life forms on the planet to jazz it up (apparently the Predators now use hunting dogs to flush out their prey).  Laurence Fishburne makes a quirky, funny performance as a guy whose survived for 10 hunting seasons, so you think it's going to make for a really good showdown when he gets on the scene.

However, this movie just didn't do it for me.  Look, I went to go brush my teeth at the end and actually missed .... well, I won't spoil it, but suffice it to say that in the last 5 minutes, you know whose going to live and whose going down, and I really didn't care how it happened.

It's just.... none of the characters are likeable.  They're not soldiers or cops (like in Predator 2) who are out to save people -- this cast has been taken from all over the globe, and many of them operate for whichever side pays the most.  I have to say I was actually rooting for a few of them to get killed because they were so annoying.  Laurence Fishburne's appearance could have been so much more, but looking back on it, while it was a nice diversion, it didn't really move the plot forward.  Too many slow moments mixed in with predictable action, wherein the Predators aren't nearly as resourceful as you remember them.

There's a neat twist with the doctor character, but by that point in time, it was as if the makers of the movie didn't really know what to do -- they wanted to make a movie like the first Predator, but with different twists, only there were too many twists and they ended up fizzling out when they could have been used to make the story and action better.

I'll give it a C -- worth a watch, but don't bother pausing it if you need to go to the bathroom!

Fright Night Friday!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen -- Welcome to Fright Night..... For Real.....!!!!

Yeah, I'll admit -- I'm amazed!!!  You know, I was totally opposed to the Fright Night remake, and I still may be, but I have to say that if I look at it as an entirely new movie, then David Tennant as a Criss Angel-Mindfreak magician looks pretty damn good!  I mean, I was crushin' on DT as The Doctor....

But that Fright Night image is downright HAWT (and no, not just 'cause of the flames!!).  Still dying to see pics of Colin Farrell as Dandridge, and wondering how they might change the storyline so that Dandridge is interested in Charlie's mom and not his gf (which actually would be okay with me, as Toni Collette -- Charlie's mom in the movie -- is my age, and that would mean that Jerry would prefer a Cougar like myself over a high school hottie....!!!).

Thanks for all the warm welcomes this week, gang, and stay tuned for Movie Monday.  Have a great weekend, y'all!!!

I just couldn't help but throw in something old but still so awesome!!

Writer's Wednesday featuring Raven Usher (and um yeah, I'm a cover model)

Hello everyone!  I've decided to go back to my old schedule wherein I feature a movie on Monday (stay tuned for Unstoppable!), a writer on Wednesday, and then who-knows-what on Friday (though I've a feeling this Friday will be about Fright Night!).

Today I'm doing a quickl little blurb about one of Vamplit's recent titles, Dear Diary.  This one is a bit close to my heart as I got to read a sneak peek of it before it was published because -- I'm on the cover!

I was so happy to do the cover modeling, and of course, I couldn't have done it without my friends Julie S. (who made an excellent hand model -- a round of applause, please!) and Julie C.'s awesome photography style.  Vamplit did change my hair via photoshop (do you like it, I'm not sure it doesn't make my face look looooong?), and the whole photoshoot was tons of fun.

But now the book -- it's basically about a woman who could be the daughter of Bridget Jones and Hannibal Lecter.  Ummm, yeah -- whoda thought to put those two together?  Basically, the protagonist is a model whose getting older, and in modeling, that can lead to a severe crisis.  Like resorting to killing people and bathing in their blood to stay young.

You do find yourself rooting for the model in the strangest way because of the humor in the book.  Please check it out yourself right here after reading the blurb:

A top model has become obsessed with retaining her youthful look to  prolong her career. After hearing a photographer commenting on air brushing  small lines around her eyes she goes off the deep end spending days researching anti-aging products and procedures. A story about Countess Elizabeth Báthory,  the Blood Countess, plants the seed of using blood to hold back age.

With the only way to get her new “elixir” being to kill and drain  blood, she lures men to her house with promises of sex and then slaughters  them.

Can police Detective Charles Gibson chase her down by following his  gut and ignoring an FBI profile? When they clash in front of the cameras  all bets are off.

Thanks and see you guys on Friday!!

What's in a Name???? Why did I choose "The Dandridge Estate"???

You may be wondering (or, maybe not -- maybe I'm the only one who thinks like this in the world, LOL!) why I chose "The Dandridge Estate" as the title of my new blog.

Well.... I'd been wanting to do more PR for my novels, which is the main reason for my blogging, and as Dandridge is the last name of my main character, Miranda, as well as her twin brother Cray (it's actually Cray who refers to their house as "The Dandridge Estate" -- he's a bit self-important), it just seemed to fit.

And who knew that Blogger would have a template with a cool-looking house design to match?!?!?!  Of course, the Dandridge Twins don't have a television in their house, because, well.... You'll have to read the story to find out!

Although, in my upcoming sequel, Return, scheduled for late Spring 2011, Miranda is getting married.  Will she change her name to Brandenbourgh?  Will I have to change this blog to the Dandridge and Brandenbourgh Estates???

Time will tell, as well as the book.  Return was very hard for me to write -- it took me forever to "get into it".  I started it back in August of 2009, and really didn't "feel" the groove of the novel until January 2010.  Once I did, I started liking the characters and the novel alot more.

The Dandridge Estate is featured for a bit in Release, but it's basically the entire setting of Return.  Except for the part that takes place in.... nevermind ;-)  You'll see!  The house is located at 3400 Fort Hamilton Parkway in the Brooklyn borough of NYC.  Jackson Dandridge, Mirrie and Cray's dad, purchased the land from a Dutch farmer in 1810.  He sold off portions of it, which eventually became the famous Green-Wood Cemetery (of course vampires would have no objection to living next to the dead!).  The house is set back sufficiently from the Parkway, and surrounded by trees and shrubs, to keep out prying eyes.  Magic, and sometimes a good feeding or two, takes care of any visitors who get too close for the comfort of the Dandridge family.

The house was originally simple and plain, nothing too ostentatious, a two-story deal with a front porch and white siding.  After her parents left the house in the late 1880's, Mirrie had it re-done in the gothic revival style, much more ornate, with brownstone, spires, another story, and gargoyles (of course!).

Of course, that attracted a bit more attention, but as people have become less superstitious as the 20th and now 21st centuries have rolled on, not believing in vampires anymore, neighbors and passers-by have just concluded that it's just part of the eclectic NYC culture.

Of course, YOU all know better now, right?! ;-)

Yay! I Can Blog Again!!!!

Oh, it's so good to be back!!!  I've sorely missed the blogosphere, and all my blogging buddies.  Can we all get together for a group hug???

While I was away, I had the pleasure to read Grave Echoes by Erin Cole.  It's awesome.  Please buy it and read it.  Her character development is very well-done -- it's definitely a character-driven novel, which I favor.  Erin has a way with words, of describing a scene, that puts you right in the middle of it.  I will warn you that it's a quieter read -- this isn't a fast-paced Dan Brown novel (but I prefer quiet and thinky!).  The mystery will keep you guessing, and the supernatural touches were very nice -- even scary in some parts.  Kudos, Erin -- looking forward to the sequel, Wicked Tempest!!