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Knowledge of our past is our inheritance. What we do with that knowledge will shape our destinies...

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween! RMQ and Cover Reveal!

amyandjpgougler.blogspot.com
Happy Halloween, Everyone! If you aren't reading my blog until the day or a few days after, I don't blame you one bit! I wrote my blogs beforehand and probably won't be on the blogosphere much today either. I hope everyone's out having a great All Hallows' Eve!

For today's post, I'm guest-posting over at Booklover's Hideaway for the Halloween Spooktacular event. If you could just hop over there and leave your comments, I'd really appreciate it! (Just check out the RMQ and Cover reveal below first! :D) The Halloween Spooktacular has been a fun, month-long series of fun Halloween posts, so if you haven't seen any of them, check more than just mine out!

Be safe and have an unforgettable Halloween! 2012, Baby! :D

Random Movie Quotes (RMQ) -- Halloween Edition

Don't know what this is? Click here.

imdb.com




Yesterday's RMQ was: "I would burn in hell to keep you safe." This was said by Al Pacino playing Michael Corleone in The Godfather, Part 3. No one guessed this one.






Today's RMQ is:

"Hey, I'm not from around here, but I'm looking for my sister. She's gone missing."


Hint: This is a Halloween/horror movie. One point for film, one for character, on for actor. Good luck! If you know what it is, offer a guess in the comments and then maybe go watch it! ;D

Cover Reveal!



To Love or Die in a Steamy-Reamy World 

by Emily White


10 Tales of Steampunk Silliness and Spookery.

In the cozy seaside village of Steamville, New Hampshire, an unfaithful zombie, out of control werebots, succubi in corsets, and more wreak havoc in this short story collection. 

Publication Date: December 22, 2012 on all major online retailers ($.99 for ebook/$2.99 for print)


Looks awesome, right? What do you think?

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Top Ten Tuesday--Awesome Heroines!

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday + RMQ (below)


brokeandbookish.com
Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list  that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

This week's question: Top Ten Kick-Ass Heroines!


Musings on Fantasia has all my fantasy picks, so none of these are in the fantasy genre. I tried to think of some I hadn't used for answers in a hop lately. I wasn't entirely successful, but there's a few.

Classics:


atlasshruggedmovie.com
10. Dagny of Atlas Shrugged

Even in a government-controlled, man's world, she just doesn't take any crap from anybody.




pastandpresentcreations.com
9. Mina of Dracula

Survived an encounter with the most notorious, non-sparkly vampire of all time. Cool? I think so!






rantery.awardspace.com

8. Scout of To Kill a Mockingbird

Who doesn't want to have lunch with Scout? She witnessed a racially charged trial, was Atticus Finch's daughter, and befriended Boo Radley. Yeah, I'd like to pick her brain.


Youth:


en.wikipedia.org
7. Nancy Drew

Who solves literally hundreds of mysteries better than the police can and before turning nineteen? Oh that's right: Nancy does!






Historical Fiction:


tower.com
6. Nefertiti of Nefertiti by Michelle Moran

Michelle Moran's heroines are based on true women of history. They're both very flawed and very relatable. I highly recommend anything she's written!







thelostbookreports.com
5. Nefertari of The Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran


Ditto number 6.







Contemporary:


escapepod.org
4. Lisbeth Salander, The Millenium Trilogy

I was NOT a huge fan of this trilogy, especially the ending, but even I have to admit that Lisbeth Salander and her sense of justice was one heroine in a million.



Mine:

(I couldn't think of any more, so my sister encouraged me to use the heroines from my own forthcoming novels. Cheating? Maybe. Shameless plug? Totally! No one's read these yet because they haven't been released, but I saw it as a good opportunity to plug my heroines.)

3. Inga of Kremlins (historical fiction)
This heroine starts out very weak. She's independent and capable, but feels like she gets what she deserves and is unworthy. That will change over the course of the story and let's just say she might to get a chance to stand up to some of history's darkest villains.
Citadels of Fire, book 1 of the Kremlins trilogy, forthcoming from Jolly Fish Press, September 2013.

2. Alex Thompson of The Botanist (crime drama)
Alex takes a pro-active approach to helping the police track down a serial killer she may have once come into contact with, but when the killer zeroes in on her as the one who got away, she'll have to rely on her cunning and strength of character to stay alive.
The Botanist, forthcoming from Jolly Fish Press, spring 2014.

1. Maggie Harper of Interchron
Maggie is part of a team that must save a dystopian world from the slavery of a collective conscience and preserve individuality for the future. She's the key to the prophecy that will bring the collectives down and the chief target of the collective's tattooed assassins.
Persistence of Vision, Book 1 of Interchron, forthcoming from Tate Publishing, February 2013.



Random Movie Quotes (RMQ)

Don't know what this is? Click here.

Last week's RMQ was:

imdb.com
Guy 1: "You grow fond of him. That is good."
Guy 2: "Do not play God with me...You are not my priest. You wouldn't be if I had one."
Guy 1: "That was bitter."


There were five possible points on this one and no one even had a guess! This was a conversation between Porthos (played by John Malkavich) and Aramis (played by Jeremy Irons) in 1998's The Man in the Iron Mask.




This week's RMQ is:

"I would burn in hell to keep you safe."

One point for character, one for actor, one for film. Good luck! ;D


If you haven't yet, don't forget to enter my giveaway! Happy Tuesday!

Monday, October 29, 2012

My First Giveaway! Hooray!

Photo Caption: ubuntuforums.org
Okay, technically this is my second giveaway. I gave away a $10 Amazon gift card during Banned Books Week. But this is the first giveaway I'm hosting all by my lonesome, from my blog, for my own purposes. *Squee* I've been blogging for roughly six months, now, and I've never done one. Why? I'll tell you...I don't know...Just never had. Well, I'm going to remedy that now.

Last week I was plugging along, just minding my own business and posting my blogs, and then I saw it! My post number read: 100! Oh my gosh I've just hit one hundred posts! This also coincides with my blog's six month anniversary! (It was on 10/19, but close enough. :D)

Photo Credit: doink.com
Unlike my other blog, I don't quite have 300 followers on this one. But, between GFC, Linky, Networked Blogs, and email, I'm really close--about 275, I think. So, we'll call this my Just Under 300 Followers Giveaway. Yea! :D

My first historical fiction novel is still ten months from release, but my first fantasy novel will be out much sooner. For details, see my other blog, Musings on Fantasia. I'm doing an ARC giveaway there.



In celebration, I'm hosting giveaways on both my blogs! Click here to see my other giveaway. Since I focus a lot of attention for this blog on historical fiction, I'm going to be giving away two books by one of my favorite historical fiction authors: Michelle Moran. I'll be giving away a copy of Nefertiti and The Heretic Queen. Both are awesome books and amazing examples of compelling historical fiction.

Enter the Rafflecopter below and don't forget to check out the giveaway on my other blog! Good luck! :D

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Follow Friday--Annoyed Reading

Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs! 

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!


Q: What writing device or trick most irritates you when reading a book? For example, if an author employs an omnipotent narrator that is sometimes considered bad form.


Okay, I repeat: this is not a good question for an author, but I'll attempt to be brief. I have other things on my other blog.

1) I am bugged when an author sets something up, and then doesn't deliver on it. (I recently wrote a blog post about this.)

2) I am bugged by insta-love.

3) I am bugged by an over-abundance of adverbs (i.e. -ly words).

How about you? What are you bugged by when you read? Happy Friday! :D

Thoughts for Thursday (10)


Image credit: 
devor / 123RF Stock Photo
Thoughts for Thursday is a new meme hosted by Musings on Fantasia and LKHill.  In this meme, we share thoughts or quotes that we know or have recently come across. Each week there is a specific subject or theme. These can be quotes from books, quotes by famous people, (quotes by YOU, perhaps ;D). Anything from anywhere is game, though we do ask that you keep your quote to a few sentences at most. Don't quote, for example, entire passages of a book or essay. These can be funny quips, cool sayings, hair-raising antidotes, movie lines, any kind of quote you can think of!

Readers may respond by either commenting on the quotes I put forward or contributing a quote of their own. I'll include a linky list, or you can just respond in the comments.

Just have fun, collect awesome sayings by awesome people, and try to be inspired!


This week's theme is fate and/or destiny!


“There are winds of destiny that blow when we least expect them. Sometimes they gust with the fury of a hurricane, sometimes they barely fan one’s cheek. But the winds cannot be denied, bringing as they often do a future that is impossible to ignore.” --Nicholas Sparks, Message in a Bottle

“A man seeks his own destiny and no other, said the judge. Wil or nill. Any man who could discover his own fate and elect therefore some opposite course could only come at last to that selfsame reckoning at the same appointed time, for each man's destiny is as large as the world he inhabits and contains within it all opposites as well. The desert upon which so many have been broken is vast and calls for largeness of heart but it is also ultimately empty. It is hard, it is barren. Its very nature is stone.”--Cormac McCarthy

"How a person masters his fate is more important than what his fate is." --Karl Wilhelm von Humbolt
"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." --Carl Jung
"As we move through life, the force of fate creates events that we only appreciate when we reflect on our existence." --Ronald Harmon

See more quotes here.

What do YOU think? Which quote do you like most? Do you agree/disagree? Do YOU have a favorite quote about destiny?

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

5 Ways to Show Character Growth

*Special Announcement!!!* Jolly Fish Press just picked it my crime drama novel! Entitled The Botanist, it's slated for release Spring 2014. Here's the Press Release! :D Yea!

Also, my blog post, Medieval Tidbit 4, was featured on From The Inside Looking Out. (*Squee!*) :D

Okay, moving on...

When writing fiction, characters are important. Just a little bit. (Duh!) So how do we create memorable characters? There are many ways: give them flaws. Make them relatable. Make them passionate. But I'd like to focus on one that is particularly important and doesn't get a lot of attention: MAKE THEM GROW!

If the audience can see how a character has grown and changed over the course of a story, they will love the character more and be more likely to remember them!

So how do we show character growth? The character must always go from a position of weakness to a position of strength. There are many areas in which you can do this.

Photo Credit: liveagl.com
1) Physical -- If they start out weak, they should end strong. (Rocky!) If they start out wimpy, they should end up with awesome fighting skills. (The Karate Kid!

2) Emotional--If they start out unbalanced, they should end up healthy (Kiera Knightly in A Dangerous Method) If they are lonely at the beginning, they should find love by the end (every chick flick EVER) If they are introverted at first, they should open up to someone before the end. Etc.

3) Political Power--Pretty obvious here. Position of no power to position of power. (Julius Caesar, J. Edgar, etc.)

4) Social Skills or Standing--this can be standing in the community or church (Thornbirds), social relationships, or social mobility in bygone eras (Vanity Fair)

Photo Credit: trailers.apple.com
5) Other Types of Power--this could mean any miscellaneous kind of power indigenous to your story's world. (i.e. Batman Begins' Batman powers and tech, Wheel of Time's wielding of the one power, Harry Potter's wizardry)

Keep in mind that if you're writing horror or tragedy, these things can be used in reverse. Start your character in a state of happiness or sanity and move them to tragedy or madness. Start them out happy and then end with them in horror. 

Of course, not every character has to go through everyone one of these types of changes in every story. That would be overkill. But, make sure your MC goes through at least one of these. With your MC, you can often put them through several. Your secondary characters should go through at least one as well.

This will make your characters more memorable and help readers connect with them on a deeper level.

What do you think? What changes does the MC you're reading or writing about go through?


Random Movie Quotes (RMQ)

Don't know what this is? Click here.


Yesterday's RMQ was, "Sometimes I wonder, will God ever forgive us for what we've done to each other. Then I look around and realize, God left this place a long time ago." This was said by Leonardo DiCaprio in the film Blood Diamond. His character's name was Danny Archer. No one guessed this one.

Today's RMQ:

Guy 1: "You grow fond of him. That is good."

Guy 2: "Do not play God with me...You are not my priest. You wouldn't be if I had one."

Guy 1: "That was bitter."

So this is obviously is a conversation between two people. Five points possible: one each for characters and actors that played them, and one for the film. Good luck!


Monday, October 22, 2012

Bloodlust Book Review and RMQ!

Book review: (RMQ Below)

Blood Lust: Portrait of a Serial Sex Killer

By Gary C. King

goodreads.com

The gripping and gruesome true story of The Molalla Forest Killer, the worst serial killer in Oregon's history. Dayton Leroy Rogers lived a normal life during the day, but at night he revealed his true violent personality as he abducted women from the streets of Portland and tortured and murdered them in sadistic rituals. 8 pages of photos. (from goodreads.com)

I'm someone who has a bit of a morbid fascination with serial killers. I've always been interested in abnormal psychology, and how the science meshes with the emotional and spiritual ramifications of such heinous acts. Besides, as a fiction writer, I have to come up with awesome villains and what better way than to research serial killers. So, it's research. (That's my story and I'm sticking with it.)

I've been trying to read books that will put me in a Halloween mood and I figured true crime would be a good choice. To be honest, it didn't work as well as planned. While it was definitely dark and twisted, there was so much emphasis on the sexual element, so it came off as less creepy/Halloweenish and more just twisted and sexual.

This was an interesting story, though. It wasn't one of these long, drawn out things where they can't figure out who did it, or even when they think they know, they can't prove it. Kudos to law enforcement in this case because as soon as the killings got on their radar, they simply followed the evidence, arrested the killer, and that was pretty much it. It took a bit of time, of course--legal proceedings always do--and it actually took two trials to get him put away for good, but considering this happened in the late eighties and there wasn't nearly as much technology or forensic evidence as we have today, this was an amazing feat.

Still, it's creepier when you have lots of crimes and you don't know who it is for awhile or something along those lines. Not that this was the author's fault--it was just the way it happened. This guy wasn't the smartest in the world. Like I said, as soon as he got on the cops' radar, it wasn't hard to pin him down. This was less a scare you/creep you out story and more a gross you out story.

The book was very well-written and laid-out. Despite multiple victim names and experiences, I was never confused about what was happening. 

Content warning: There was a little bit of language, but not much to speak of. The major thing here was that several of the crimes were described in exquisite detail, along with the sadistic sexual acts. This was very explicit about what he did to his female victims and how. Not a book for kids or for anyone with a weak stomach. 

Overall I liked the book for what it was. I'd never heard of this killer before or his story. As I said, I very much admired the law enforcement officers for how they handled the situation and their efficiency in catching him. And, if I ever wanted to write a villain that was a sexual sadist, this would be an excellent reference guide! 

If you're looking for a great Halloween read, and are creeped out by nice, handsome men who troll the wrong side of town looking for hookers to pick up because they're really sexual sadists with foot-fetishes and an uncontrollable bloodlust...look no farther! This is the book for you! :D 

Happy Halloween, Everyone! :D





Random Movie Quotes (RMQ)


Don't know what this is? Click here.
en.wikipedia.org

Last Wednesday's RMQ was, "These mashed potatoes are so creamy..."

This is one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite holiday movies. It's said by Midge, played by Micole Mecurio in the film While You Were Sleeping.  This one was guessed by Kerry of A Novel Journey. Great job, Kerry! :D




Today's RMQ:


"Sometimes I wonder, will God ever forgive us for what we've done to each other. Then I look around and realize...God left this place a long time ago."

Way sad one! One point for film, one for character, one for actor. Good luck! :D

Medieval Tidbit #4--Children's Crusade

Did you know...

Photo Credit: http://www.sbceo.k12.ca.us
That there was a Children's Crusade in the Middle Ages?

It's true. While early Crusades were largely successful, in that they achieved their major goals, later crusades were most notable for their epic fail status.

At one point, "Thousands of boys and girls flocked into the ports of southern Europe, gripped by religious fervor and convinced (wrongly) that the Mediterranean would dry up so that they could walk to the Holy Land." (Medival Europe: A Short History, 234)

Some died before they got to port. Others were offered free passage from captains of the boats in port, only to be sold into slavery. Others gained passage but were lost at sea long before reaching the Holy Lands.

In recent years, the validity of this story has been questioned. Not whether it happened, but whether it truly involved little children. Something about small kids flocking to the Holy Lands to do battle for Christianity is so mesmerizing that it became legendary. Today, most historians believed the majority of these crusaders were the roaming poor, easily duped into following any banner that came along. They were probably still very young--uneducated, poor young men and women--but not as "little" as the legend would have us believe.

Still other sources--some of them primary sources--insist that "none [of the children] were more than twelve years of age." (source)

I've always wanted to write something about a character who went on this crusade but survived it and made it back to his home village. How would it have colored his or her ideas about the world at large, war, the monarchy, the Church, and God?

What would he or she have done with the rest of his/her life? How do tragedies of this magnitude fit into the cultural beliefs that defined the Middle Ages and the Crusades as a whole? And how does this fit into the legend of The Pied Piper of Hamelin?

These are questions I would love to explore. I'm hoping when I have a little more time--after the end of this calender year and assuming the planet doesn't implode on 12/21--that I'll be able to return to historical fiction, my first love in writing.

What do you think about the Children's Crusade? How much truth do you think is in the legends?

Remember, knowledge of our past is our inheritance. What we do with that knowledge will shape our destinies...

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Follow Friday--Uncomfortable Genres

Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs! 

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!




Q: When you step out of your USUAL genre what do you like to read? Best books in that genre?


My genres tend to be historical, fantasy/scifi, dystopian, and crime drama. Anything else is stepping out of my comfort genre. I don't care much for urban fantasy or paranormal. However, I've recently read Anna Dressed in Blood and The Masque of the Red Death, which might fall under those two categories respectively. They were both pretty awesome! 

How about you? What genre is out of your comfort zone?


Thoughts for Thursday (9)

WELCOME TO THOUGHTS FOR THURSDAY!


Image credit: 
devor / 123RF Stock Photo
Thoughts for Thursday is a new meme hosted by Musings on Fantasia and LKHill.  In this meme, we share thoughts or quotes that we know or have recently come across. Each week there is a specific subject or theme. These can be quotes from books, quotes by famous people, (quotes by YOU, perhaps ;D). Anything from anywhere is game, though we do ask that you keep your quote to a few sentences at most. Don't quote, for example, entire passages of a book or essay. These can be funny quips, cool sayings, hair-raising antidotes, movie lines, any kind of quote you can think of!

Readers may respond by either commenting on the quotes I put forward or contributing a quote of their own. I'll include a linky list, or you can just respond in the comments. (Didn't do this this week but I'll start linkys up again next week. Just comment and if you want to participate, put a link to your blog in your comment! Thanks! :D)

Just have fun, collect awesome sayings by awesome people, and try to be inspired!


This week's theme is something we all love and have in common: READING!



"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go." --Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!


"A young man who wishes to remain a sound atheist cannot be too careful of his reading." --C.S. Lewis

"Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man." --Francis Bacon

"You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them." --Ray Bradbury

"Reading made Don Quixote a gentleman, but believing what he read made him mad." --George Bernard Shaw


What do YOU think? Which quote do you like most? Do you agree/disagree? Do YOU have a favorite quote about reading?

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

4 Ways to Make Your Action More Gripping

Have you ever read an action scene and been bored? Hopefully not. If so, chances are it wasn't written particularly well.

Want to grip readers with your actions scenes? Here are some tips for doing just that.

Photo Credit: narniaweb.com
1) Make sure your characters fight differently. A ninja will fight differently than a marine. A knight with a long-sword will fight differently than Reepicheep in Voyage of the Dawntreader. And a seasoned killer will fight differently than an untrained teenager. Make sure you give your characters (all who are participating in the action sequence) different styles of fight and stick to them.

2) Use the Environment. If you were being attacked, you'd fight hard (where do you think the expression "tooth-and-nail" comes from?) and you'd grab for anything in your range to use as a weapon. This should hold true in your stories as well. Let your characters use things around them to try and gain the upper hand. Make sure the landscape or building (if they're indoors) they're in figures in the scene. In reality, if there were things around they could stumble on, chances are they would!

Photo Credit: rankopedia.com
A great example of this was The Princess Bride. Why was the sword fight between Inigo Montoya and Westley so thrilling? Because the landscape made the entire fight! (That and the dispute over ambidexterity. :D) Another good example is Die Hard. Not saying these fights were particularly realistic or anything, but in the first movie, the building the story took place in was under construction. Go watch it again. The action sequences make good use of all the materials lying around. (Hear that? I gave you a reason to go watch an action movie; research for writing your fight scenes! :D Your welcome!)

CW's Supernatural
Photo Credit: myspace.com
3) Use some degree of physical danger or violence. I'm sure it appalls some people to read this, but I'm not advocating blood and gore--or at lease not necessarily. Violence is always guaranteed to pull your reader in. Why? Because we're all human. Because we've all experienced pain. Because violence will always evoke a visceral reaction in your reader, whether it's your twelve-year-old MC being pushed down by a bully and skinning his hands, a female character being abused by a man in her life, or a the victim of a serial killer being tortured. So put in a little physical drama. (Trying to come up with a euphemism for violence here. Not sure I'm succeeding.) Make sure it's appropriate to your age group and genre, of course, but the moment your MC is physically threatened or knocked down, your audience will sit up and take notice. Besides, this is an obvious problem that must be solved for your character. The reader will be interested to see how you will solve it. :D

4) Don't forget the aftermath. Any kind of violence takes both a physical and emotional toll. If it's shocking enough, it may even be a psychological toll. Make sure you deal with all aspects. Especially when it comes to action movies, we like our heroes to be Jack Bauer-esque and just brush off everything that's happened and keep going. In reality, this is not how human beings function. When anything shocking happens, we tend to go through a period of shock. (Aptly named, no?) The shock period is directly proportional to how great the shock was. For bad news, we may just need to stare at the wall for a bit to process it all. If our best friend is killed right in front of us and we are spattered with their blood, well, let's just say we aren't going to be turning cartwheels ten minutes later. If you show how a character reacts after the action or violence, the action will seem much more real, based on how your character handles it.

Photo Credit: imdb.com
Let me give a quick example of this. In the film End of Watch, which I recently reviewed, there is a scene where two cops enter a house because a woman called them saying that when she woke up, her children were missing. A man she'd obviously been doing drugs with was passed out on the couch. When he awoke and realized what was happening, he immediately told the woman to shut up and not tell the cops anything. One of the cops walked back through the house, and the way the film presented the oddness of the situation, I was sure they'd find the kids dead in the house somewhere. *mild spoilers ahead* Luckily, they weren't dead, but mom's boyfriend had tied and gagged them (a three-year-old and a one-year-old from the looks of it) with duct tape and left them in a closet so he and their mother could do drugs in peace. It was shocking and tragic. Yes, the children were okay, but both cops nearly vomited and had to hold themselves back to not beat the crap out of the guy who'd done it. So you see, their reactions not only heightened the tension but also drove home the depth of emotion in the situation.

Use these things to make your action pop and become an integral part of your story. If you do, your readers won't be able to walk away. ;D

Random Movie Quotes (RMQ)

Don't know what this is? Click here.

Photo Credit: classicmoviestills.com
Yesterday's RMQ was "What the gods can digest will not sour in the belly of a slave." This was said by Charlton Heston as Moses in The Ten Commandments. No one guessed this one. I SO miss him! :D



Today's RMQ is:

"These mashed potatoes are so creamy..."

One point for film, one for character, one for actor! Good luck! :D 

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Top Ten Tuesday--Favorite Authors


Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list  that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

This week's question: Top Ten Favorite Authors in X Genre. I'm going to list my top ten historical fiction authors! Yea!

10. Kathryn Stockett




9. W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear
















8. Orson Scott Card
















7. Blaine M Yorgason



6. Ron Carter















5. Robert Jordan
















4. Paul Grossman
















3. Chris Heimerdinger














2. Michelle Moran














1. Gerald N. Lund

















What are YOUR Top Ten favorite authors?

Random Movie Quotes (RMQ)

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Photo Credit: 317am.net
Last Wednesday's RMQ was "I hate rude behavior in a man. Won't tolerate it." This was a hysterical line (and scene) said by Tommy Lee Jones playing Woodrow Call in Lonesome Dove.

Sydney of Starry Storm guessed it. Great job, Sydney!




Today's RMQ is,

"What the gods can digest will not sour in the belly of a slave."

One point possible for the film, one for the character, one for the actor. Hint: this is an older film. Like more than 50 years old. Hope that helps. :D Good luck!


REMINDER: 

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