Monday, August 26, 2013

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones & The Legend of the Firewalker Update

Hello everyone! Before I get started with my review, I wanted to provide an update on The Legend of the Firewalker. The first book in the series is still with my editor and it looks like I will have an update on the release date in about a week. I am so excited to release the first book and can't wait to share the story with you guys!

So, on to the Mortal Instruments! I thought the beginning of the movie was really fast-paced and didn't give the viewer enough time to connect with the characters first before throwing them into life-threatening danger. Why should we care about the impending danger or threat when we don't even have a feel for the characters yet? This probably wasn't a problem for those who have read the book or series and probably would explain why I didn't actually care about the outcome of the love triangle until the very end of the movie.

Overall, I thought the movie's special effects were okay and that it was jammed packed with so much action that it left little room for character development. As I mentioned before, by the end of the movie, two hours and 10 minutes worth, I finally felt a sense of the characters and became invested in wanting to know their fate. I am now curious to how the sucker punch to the romance-angle between lead actors Lily Collins and Jamie Campbell Bower will play out.

I give Mortal Instruments: City of Bones 3 out 5 stars, and I hope the DVD has plenty of extras including commentary on how the book was adapted to film.


Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Percy Jackson: The Sea of Monsters

Sorry, no update on The Legend of the Firewalker yet, but hopefully there will be one by the end of the week! So, until then, on to the review!!

I've been wanting to see a new supernatural or super-hero type movie, so I finally gave in to see Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters. The movie received an IMDb rating of 6.5/10, which surprised me, and 38% Rotten Tomatoes. As soon as the movie started, I could tell that the film was geared toward a younger audience. I found most of the humor or jokes in the film to be cheesy, however, the young adults or children in the audience found them quite funny. I thought it was a stretch that Logan Lerman was supposed to be a teenager in this film and on-screen appeared to be in his early twenties.

Overall, I thought the special effects were great and that the movie would be a nice one to take the family or to treat that young person in your life to a movie. Based on the reactions from the young people in the audience and the special effects, I give Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters 2.5 out 5 stars.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

The Legend of the Firewalker...Finally Publishing Book One!!

Hello, hello, hello!! It's almost been two years since I've posted anything on my blog or said anything about the novel I was working on. However, the day has finally arrived and I reemerge from the ashes like a red hot phoenix!

After I finished writing The Legend of the Firewalker, I had no clue what was ahead of me as far as rewrites, and more rewrites. Not to mention proofreading and copy-editing, beta readers, book cover design, marketing, ISBN numbers, book layout, copyrights, print on demand, and the list goes on!

Let's just say I was overwhelmed and slowly, while working full-time of course, I gained a foot-hold about the self-publishing process and the day has finally arrived for me to publish my first novel...yay!!

And I do want to give a shout-out to Joanna Penn for her wonderful website for writers and authors at www.thecreativepenn.com. Joanna is the author of the Arkane series, and her website really helped me out a ton!! She even bothered to answer some of my questions directly through twitter which I am very grateful and have favorited, along with several other resources from her, on my twitter page if you want to check it out.

As for The Legend of the Firewalker, it will definitely be released this year and as you can see, the book cover for the first book in the series is gracing the banner above...woohoo!

I am so excited to start blogging again as well and I have relaunched my blog in preparation for all I have in-store for promoting the first book. In a few weeks, I will announce here the exact release date and where to find it, but until then, please check out the book cover and the new decor!!