Busy March

I'm excited about March. I have so many different things scheduled for here and other places this month. And I have my April A to Z posts to get ready. So far all I have done are the outlines. My biggest advice to newbies is to do all your posts ahead of time. More on that later this month.

Don't forget to visit the IWSG blog today for a new post. If you haven't joined you should. And don't forget Wednesday is the monthly IWSG blog hop.

I'm also looking forward to getting Recon Marines III to my publisher this week. I'm feeling a little sad at ending the series but I usually feel like three or four books are enough. On the good news front, Recon Marines II, The Marine's Heiress, if finally available on Amazon Kindle and other ebook retailers.

One of the new shows I've enjoyed this season on TV is Almost Human. I watched it at first just because I like Karl Urban, but the science fiction aspects of the show kept me coming back each Monday. Two weeks ago, they introduced Chromes. Chromes are 'perfect' people as a result of genetic engineering. They have excellent health, intelligence and, of course, they're beautiful. How could I not love a show with that plot point when it so closely resembles some of the epigenetics ideas I use in my Recon Marine series?

Tomorrow, Brandon Sanderson's book, Words of Radiance, the second in The Stormlight Archive fantasy series. The first book was over a thousand pages long. Thanks to Amazon, I received my copy of the second book on Saturday and it's 1081 pages long. I can't wait to dive in. Sanderson is an incredibly prolific writer and everything I've read by him is good and has many unique ideas. His world creation is amazing. Sorry if I'm gushing a little but he is on the top of fantasy writers in my
opinion.

Are you familiar with Sanderson? Have you Almost Human? I've heard vicious rumors that it might be canceled. Did you visit IWSG yet? Do you have those posts for A to Z done yet?

SyFy & Fantasy Boom

One thing about being a full time writer is that I get my writing done during the day and have more time to catch some TV shows in the evening. I actually only have a few shows I try to catch every week but the new fall lineup has a lot of promising shows I'll have to check out. And the best part is that the small screen is taking a hint from the success of the large screen with a plethora of syfy and fantasy offerings.

I've always been a fan of this genre as evidenced by what I write so the past few years have been a bonanza of entertainment fun. On TV, we have some returning favorites of mine. Supernatural, Haven, Once Upon a Time and Game of Thrones will all be airing new episodes in the course of the next few months though we'll have to wait for GOT just like we do for the books. I'll be checking out some new shows over the next two months. Sleeping Hollow already started and I like it so far. I'm looking forward to Almost Human with Karl Urban, Dracula, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland and The

Tomorrow People. I might check out Marvel's Agents of Shield.

Not only do I enjoy watching these type of shows but they inspire me. I appreciate the creativity of the show writers and find their unique visions of fantasy creatures and worlds. And the more popular they are the more I hope that popularity spills over into the book market. I have so many friends who read syfy and fantasy that I start to think it's the most popular genre out there. Here's an interesting blog, Five Scribes, about those stats from a year ago.

I do also write romance which gets a big share of the market but I'm still hoping syfy and fantasy grabs a little more.

Are there any particular shows you're looking forward to return or new TV you're going to sample this fall? Do you think the recent popularity of syfy and fantasy on the big and small screens helps book sales? Do you think the trend will continue?