IWSG: June 2019

It's the time of month again when this awesome group of writers join in the IWSG blog hop. Alex J. Cavanaugh started this group where everyone gets to share issues with their writing careers, good, bad, and just fun. Fine all the participants on this list.

This month's optional question: Of all the genres you read and write, which is your favorite to write in and why?

I write in two genres, science fiction romance and epic fantasy. I love both. Science fiction gives me a chance to include my science background and the space to make up some science. Almost all my science fiction is space opera though I have one dystopian series. I love epic fantasy with the chance to build a word and invent a magic system. I also love the idea of heroes and heroines that go on a journey to grow into the people who will defeat evil so good can triumph. I really like the tales where the protagonist starts out as a nobody who becomes the most important person in the world.

When the chess game is over, the pawns, rooks, knights, bishops, kings, and queens all go back in the same box.  Italian proverb

Hope your summer, if you're in the Northern Hemisphere, offers you some time to relax. I also hope you're not getting wet every day like we have been in the northeast USA. We had nearly twice the average amount of rainfall for the month of May. I have one more week of watching my granddaughter before summer vacation is here for her parents who are both teachers. I love her, but I'll enjoy some time without my adorable little shadow on my heels.

The new season of Luther is here and next month we have Stranger Things season 3, so something to look forward to. In the meantime, I'm doing some re-watches of my favorite shows like Haven. Poldark's most recent season is on Amazon Prime, so I'll take that in also. Anything you're binge watching or catching up on during the summer months.

Do you write in more than one genre, and if you do, do you prefer one over the other? Have any vacations planned for the near future? Are you in a part of the country that has been inundated recently?

IWSG: December 2018 Edition

I can't believe it's the last IWSG blog hop of the year. Major thanks to Alex J. Cavanaugh and all the IWSG administrators who keep the group so progressive and brilliant. Find the entire list of blog participants here.


The optional question for this month:


What are five objects we'd find in your writing space?

I love this question. I'm not counting my laptop as one. 
1.Next to it is always my Old Farmer's Almanac Planner. I already purchased the 2019 version a few weeks ago.
2. A drink. Usually ice coffee, water, or tea. Occasionally, a glass of wine.
3. Reading glasses. Who am I kidding. There may be a many as six pairs. I have more than a dozen and they tend to all end up in the same place. The kitchen, my writing desk, or my reading chair.
4. A big, huge, cup, more like a flower pot, full of pens, pencils, a ruler, book marks, scissors, highlighters.
5. My remote to my smart TV that sits across the room. I watch Netflix while I'm blogging. (Not when I'm writing)

I'm really looking forward to the holidays. Almost done with shopping, but the joy of the season for our family is not in the gifts but in the time we spend together. 

"Where there is great love, there are always miracles." Willa Cather

I have been really busy with writing. Last Saturday, I wrote over 12,000 words to finish the first draft of my third novel in Starship Refugees space opera series. That's a record for me. The second book in the series, The Alien and the Amazon, is now available on Amazon.

Speaking of space opera, I'm going to try watching Nightflyers on SyFy. Has anyone seen it yet? I heard it's really dark. I've watched some Christmas movies, all sweet and predictable, but I can take it this time of year. If you haven't watched Christmas Chronicles on Netflix, you should check it out. Kurt Russell is my new favorite Santa.

"The most completely lost of all days is that on which one has not laughed" Sebastien-Roch Nicolas

Did you laugh today? Is your desk sacred space? What was your biggest writing day? Done shopping?

S: Stargate

My theme for the A to Z Blogging Challenge this year is a mishmash of books, movies, writers and TV shows that have in one way or another taught me something about writing and helped me be a better writer. Some inspired my own stories and a few taught me what not to do. Each post is a one minute lesson on writing. More inspiration is found at the IWSG blog's take on the Challenge.

Stargate, the movie, is another great one with Kurt Russell as the star. A WWII era dig in the middle east reveals a metallic circle made of other-worldly material and strange markings. Move to modern day and the military discovers it's an alien device that can create wormholes to travel to other planets. Once there, they discover a civilization very much like ancient Egypt where the people work as slaves to mine a mineral for their god. Long story short, the Earthlings figure out the language of the planet because it's related to some ancient Earth dialects. After some deep soul searching and some casualties, the Earthlings help free the natives and kill the god. It was much more interesting than my description. I understand the makers of the movie intended to make sequels but they never did. TV took up the mantle and Stargate SG1 was a long running, successful program on Showtime and then SyFy

channel. The show picked up the story a few years after the movie events. It was a lot of fun with a mixture of humor, some light science and the weaving of human mythology into alien discoveries. The SG team visited hundreds of planets through the stargate over the years and discovered all levels of technology though I think the majority of the alien worlds were less advanced than Earth. The show had a long run and even a spinoff, Stargate Atlantis when they ventured into another galaxy. I loved both those shows.

Lessons: Any exploration of space and aliens would likely be controlled by military and government entities. Science is likely to take a back seat if we're ever invaded by aliens. Viewers and readers like the science light but they still expect it to make a little sense. One of the big issues with alien encounters would be a language issue. Stargate the show mostly ignored that so viewers had to suspend believe and accept that all planets in the universe spoke not only English, but American English. So don't let your science fiction book get bogged down in the language issue.

Of course, Jack O'Neill, is the source of much of the humor on Stargate SG1

Daniel: The Pentagon said this was everything.
Jack: Oh, please! The Pentagon's lost entire countries!

Narim: No harm will come to you. The Tollan will guarantee it.
Jack: Is that a "money back if you're not completely alive" guarantee?

Do you ever think about the language thing when you're watching a science fiction show with aliens? Do you think there are other humans or humanoid beings out there somewhere? Do you think science would take a back seat to the government and military if we ever did have an alien encounter on Earth? If you were a Stargate fan, which did you like best? The Movie? SG1?  Atlantis?

Taking the World by Storm

It is storming here today.  Tomorrow is the official release day of CassaStorm, third and final book in Alex Cavanaugh's bestselling space opera. Prizes and fun abound. As part of the fun, I asked Alex one question and he promised an honest answer.

Me: if you were given the opportunity to leave Earth and travel to other worlds, would you go for it?

Alex:  Sadly, I’m just not that adventurous. And I hate to fly. It would have to be really safe before I’d just jump on a spaceship and head into space.

 

CassaStorm

By Alex J Cavanaugh

 

From the Amazon Best Selling Series!

 

A storm gathers across the galaxy…

 

Commanding the Cassan base on Tgren, Byron thought he’d put the days of battle behind him. As a galaxy-wide war encroaches upon the desert planet, Byron’s ideal life is threatened and he’s caught between the Tgrens and the Cassans.

 

After enemy ships attack the desert planet, Byron discovers another battle within his own family. The declaration of war between all ten races triggers nightmares in his son, threatening to destroy the boy’s mind.

 

Meanwhile the ancient alien ship is transmitting a code that might signal the end of all life in the galaxy. And the mysterious probe that almost destroyed Tgren twenty years ago could return. As his world begins to crumble, Byron suspects a connection. The storm is about to break, and Byron is caught in the middle…

 

“CassaStorM is a touching and mesmerizing space opera full of action and emotion with strong characters and a cosmic mystery.” – Edi’s Book Lighhouse

"Cavanaugh makes world building on the galactic scale look easy. The stakes affect the entire known universe and yet Cavanaugh makes it intensely personal for our hero. The final installment of this series will break your heart and put it back together."
- Charity Bradford, science fantasy author of The Magic Wakes

 

$16.95 USA, 6x9 Trade paperback, 268 pages, Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C.

Science fiction/adventure and science fiction/space opera

Print ISBN 9781939844002 eBook ISBN 9781939844019

$4.99 EBook available in all formats

 

Find CassaStorm:

Barnes and Noble

Amazon 

Goodreads

Amazon Kindle 

Comment on Alex’s blog this week for a chance to win a Cassa mug, mousepad, magnet, and swag!

So have you bought CassaStorm yet? Are you ready to win some swag? Is it storming where you are? How many times have you see CassaStorm in the blogosphere today?