5 Fandom Friday

Blogtoberfest – Five Scary Movies – Mya Lairis

My top five scary movies are:

1. Trilogy of Terror– is my all time scary movie. There is just something about that damn doll, like maybe it gnawed my ankles off in a past life or something but I have only watched this film once. Trying to get up the nerve to do it again, but…that doll!

2. Squirm– I have no issue with snakes, at all…they are tasty in fact but earthworms, shrieking, no-eyes having, able to be cut into pieces and still live, burrowing under the skin…Hell naw.

3. Event Horizon– When I first saw this film it scared the crap out of me. Dimensional terrors usually hit home with the terror mark in me and that the space ship had breached the dimension to Hell and was inescapable…yeah. I have been able to watch this a few times however and still, its a shitty deal for those on board.

4. Evil Dead Remake– This was an excellent remake and one that I winced a couple of times at but enjoyed all the same. That razor blade though….

5. Beloved– Yup, actually now that I think about it, this could be one of the scariest films I’ve ever seen. The notion of slavery is frightening enough but this film did emotional damage to me as it made me question the notions of anger, vengeance, and self. Creatures are scary and all but the human psyche can be far worse.

Bio: Mya Lairis is a monster and kaiju fanatic who writes paranormal romance and erotica but who reads mostly extreme horror and heart racing cyber punk sci fi.

Website: www.myalairis.com

5 Gifts for Writers

It’s that time of year again. Shoppers are hitting the stores and the Internet to look for the perfect gift for that special someone. Some of you lucky dogs out there have some stellar writers in your lives. I’m going to tell you what writers REALLY want for Christmas. Well, at least me.

Pens and Journals: Most writers love pens. Though we tend to dither between our beloved writing software, a writer almost always comes back to the pen and the paper, especially if experiencing a bout of writer’s block. Pens make us feel like REAL writers, with a cigarette clenched between our teeth and a glass of bourbon at hand. Debauchery aside, the physical aspect of forming letters and words often is a trigger for ideas. Often, we get more words flowing on paper than we do sitting in front of the screen. In addition, pen/paper keeps us from the distractions of the Internet, and is portable. Sure, we can compose on the phone in our car, but it’s so much more lovely to write in a beautiful journal with a great pen.

Some of my favorites:

InkJoy Pens – The name says it all. I simply love these pens.
Leatherette Journal with Magnet – Doesn’t have to be fancy to be useful.
Cherish You Journal – Pretty and practical
Moleskine Journals – Can’t go wrong with these.

Beverage Containers: Not all writers drink coffee, true, some of us have Coca-Cola as their breakfast beverage (not me, of course, I have both!) However a beverage container is the writer’s true friend. We don’t have to get up to get our hydration/fuel/liquid courage to keep pushing forward in our work. Plus, the little sayings make us feel important.

Heat Activated Banned Books Mug – You can’t get any more writerly than this.

Inspiration Assistance: Sometimes our best ideas come to us when we’re in the shower, seriously! Well, yes, we DO get ideas OTHER places, but let’s keep it PG and simply suggest Aqua Notes, a little doodad that sticks to the wall in the shower. Handy note taking at it’s finest, for sure! The pencil is also included. When I saw this little cool thing, I couldn’t resist putting it on my list. Writers will love this! Aqua Notes

Totes, T-shirts, and Hoodies: Working from home doesn’t afford us much chance to flex our fashion muscles. We do, however, enjoy cool accessories related to writing. And those accessories include T-shirts and hoodies, so we don’t get too cold as we hunch over our keyboards in the basement. Visit Out of Print for more goodies.

Where the Wild Things are Tote

Organizational Software: Next to writing, the biggest task is research. How far can an eagle see? How much blood is in the human body? How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? We search every day for answers to these types of questions in order to make our writing as realistic as possible. Well, some writers do. (Yes, I’m throwing shade.) How do we keep all those links and cool websites in one place? Why Evernote, of course! Evernote has two levels – free and premium. Be a doll and gift your writer person a year of premium. They’ll have a year to figure out if they like using it, and if they do ,then they can pay for it themselves!

Evernote Premium

With a list like this, there’s no way you can go wrong with your writer gift giving this year. Order early!

1Love

5 Fandom Friday – 5 Films I'm Excited for in 2017

If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time and followed it through all its iterations, then you know how much I love movies. Not just horror movies, but movies in general. Usually these movies are a couple years old, if not older, but today you have a special treat. Since I’m doing Five Fandom Friday, come with me to the future as I discuss the films I’m looking forward to this year.

Get Out

From Wikipedia: A young African American man visits his white girlfriend’s family estate where he learns that many of its residents, who are black, have gone missing, and he soon learns the horrible truth when another frantic African-American warns him to “get out”. He soon learns this is easier said than done.

Written and directed by the Jordan Peele, the shorter half of the comedy duo Key and Peele, this film truly presents an interesting premise. What is happening to the Black residents of this town? And will our protagonist be able to fight against it? What is IT anyway? I can’t wait to find out!

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Alien: Covenant

From Wikipedia: Bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, the crew of the colony ship Covenant find what they believe to be an uncharted paradise. What the crew discover is a dark, dangerous world, inhabited by the “synthetic” David (Michael Fassbender), the sole survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition, and monstrous creatures that are hunting them.^[3]

Okay, so Prometheus was a mess. Even when I watch it again, I am amazed at the actions of the characters, especially the scientists in the cave. I mean, I don’t bend over to put my face in a strange dog’s face, and I like dogs, so for those who saw it…yeah. Don’t do that, stupid. However, the movie had great special effects and Idris Elba, so there you go. Ridley Scott is directing, so it can’t be all bad. Can it? We shall see.

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John Wick 2

From Wikipedia: Legendary hitman John Wick is forced back out of retirement by a former associate plotting to seize control of a shadowy international assassins’ guild. Bound by a blood oath to help him, John travels to Rome, where he squares off against some of the world’s deadliest killers.

Oh, my goodness. Keanu Reeves, guns and a gray pit bull? How does it get better than that? I loved the crazy shoot ’em up of the first John Wick and am looking forward to this one. And Laurence Fishburne too!

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Kong: Skull Island

From Wikipedia: In the 1970s, a team of explorers and soldiers are brought together to venture deep into an uncharted island in the Pacific Ocean – as beautiful as it is treacherous – unaware that they are crossing into the domain of monsters, as well as the mythic Kong, the “king” of the island.

I just realized that I dig monster movies, Godzilla, King Kong, Gamera, Rodan…I’m looking forward to this one. It takes place in the 70s too, which is reminiscent of the times I’d watch all these films on the 4:30 movie. John Goodman! Sam Jackson! Tom Hiddleston! Also, King Kong himself!!

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The Dark Tower

From Wikipedia: Jake Chambers (Tom Taylor) is a young 11-year-old adventure seeker who discovers clues about another dimension called Mid-World. Upon following the mystery, he is spirited away to the land Mid-World where he encounters the lone frontiersman knight Roland Deschain (Idris Elba) who is on a quest to reach the “Dark Tower” that resides in End-World and reach the nexus point between time and space that he hopes will save Mid-World from extinction. But with various monsters and a vicious sorcerer named Walter Padick (Matthew McConaughey) hot on their trail, the unlikely duo find that their quest may be difficult to complete

I never read The Dark Tower series by Stephen King, but just the fact of Idris Elba in a long, black trenchcoat sporting a pair of revolvers is enough to see this film. I’m also intrgued by the fact that it’s a sci-fi, western, fantasy. You really can’t get any better than that.

Roland Deschain (Idris Elba) in Columbia Pictures’ THE DARK TOWER.

So there you have it! The films I’m excited about for 2017!

What are the movies you’re most anticipatign for this year?

Peace, Love, Unity.

Dahlia

5 Fandom Friday – Goals for 2017

It’s been a while since I posted a 5 Fandom Friday, but this is as good time as any to get back into the swing of things. Plus, if I type up these goals, I have something to refer back to as the year goes on. While I love some sticky notes, nothing is more permanent than the Internet.

Here goes

My first goal for the year is to buckle down in the writing game. Due to some bad health news in 2016, I’ve been very spotty with writing and submitting/publishing. In 2017, I plan to:

Complete and submit at least three short stories
Complete and publish two novels that have been hanging around on my hard drive for at least three years
Complete the third book/story in the Tea and Tomahawks series/universe
Complete a novella that I started last year.

The second goal for the year is to keep my writing desk more organized, which means to set aside time once per week to clean and arrange the desk. Although my dream desk would look like this:

Dream Desk

that’s never going to happen. First of all, my desk is dark brown and I have a ton of stuff.

At this point, I will settle for a bucket of pre-sharpened pencils and working pens.

The third goal is to be more creative. I used to really be heavy into trying different crafts. I have a Silhouette Portrait machine that is sitting in the corner getting dusty. This year, I plan to create at least five different projects using the Silhoutte and to knit or crochet five scarves or hats by the end of the year.

This is what I have, only sad and dusty.

I used to be really crafty. Now’s the time to get back to that. So many projects to do!

The fourth goal is more health oriented. No, it’s not to lose weight or run a thirty minute mile. This is something simple that anyone can do any time.

Drink more water.

Drinking water not only keeps you hydrated – imagine that – but it also keeps those brain cells alert and working. Also, improves the complexion. During these dry winter months here in Northeast USA, keeping up water intake is sorely needed.

Last but not least, the fifth and final goal of the year is to drink more alcohol. No, I’m not kidding. There are so many wines out there that I haven’t tried as well as that dusty bottle of apple-tini mix sitting at the top of the pantry, just begging for vodka and ice. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t plan on being “that mom” that’s slushed out of her mind in the car pool line. No and nope. I just don’t want weeks to go by without a sip of the spirits. Sangria, Zinfandel, and once in a while some of the stronger stuff…I plan on imbibing them all.

Go ahead, say it. “Dahlia’s a lush”. At least “lush” sounds so much better than “drunk”.

There you go, my goals for the New Year. Surprised?

1Love
Peace, Love, and Unity.