Celebrating Tina Downey

Tina Downey passed away Saturday August 23. She had the blog Life is Good and on there she wrote about various things including her heritage. I only found out this morning visiting Mark Koopman's blog and I cried. But I want to remember her at her best and for my last post of August take a moment of silence and remember how precious life is.

On September 8, The A-Z Team are hosting a sunflower tribute Remembering Tina Downey (click link to take part). 

The Real Thing Book Blitz

So excited for my dear friend Cassie Mae. I am certain her next book will be even better than the last.

Time to party!

The Real Thing releases today (whoop whoop!) and I'm giving away a swag pack full of goodies.

The Real Thing postcards


A froggy loofah


Oh the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss


Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss


The Real Thing Samsung Galaxy S3 Phone Case


A Cassie Mae pen


A collection of select Cassie Mae/Becca Ann signed books

Rafflecopter right below the excerpt and book details :)

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“All right, all right,” he says, smiling and holding his palm up to stop me. Tomato juice is dripping from the top of his head down his cheeks, getting caught in the smile lines by his mouth. I can feel it running down my face, too, and I should be gagging, but I’m not.





I open my mouth to tell him how cute he looks even with juice all over him, but a light ploof! hits the center of the tub between our bodies, and I stare down at my froggy loofah, now covered in red.





“Oh no!” I frown, plucking the sponge up by the froggy’s arm, then looking up to the shower caddy over Eric’s head. Our splash war must’ve knocked my poor froggy right off his little perch. “My loofah.”





“That’s what it’s called!” Eric slaps the top of his knee, getting more juice on both of us. “I’ve been staring at that thing since you moved in, trying to remember what the hell people call it.”





A small bubble of laughter escapes through my slight frown. “Why?”





“That thing is creepy.”





I gasp. “It is not. It’s cute.” My lip pokes out as I look at the juice soaking into the blue frog’s face. “And now it’s ruined.”





He takes the loofah from my fingers, an adorable pinched look on his face.





“I don’t know how you can wash yourself with this,” he says, pulling at the leg poking from the big green sponge part.





“It’s soft on my sensitive lady parts.” I laugh as his face goes red again. I expect him to drop the loofah back in my hand—or throw it at me—but he doesn’t. He keeps pulling at it as if it’s the weirdest, yet most fascinating thing in the world.





“Is it really ruined?” he asks, tone suddenly nowhere near his usual playfulness. He actually looks worried about my sponge.





“It’s like a buck, Eric.” I adjust in the tub again as the juice creeps into nooks and crannies of my body I had no idea existed till now. “I can get another one tomorrow. Maybe an even creepier one just for you.”





I try to wink, but I’ve never been good at that. He sort of laughs, but his eyes go back to the froggy. He runs his thumb over the eyeballs, wiping the juice from it. I thought I knew Eric pretty well. But as I watch him stare at my loofah, head slightly cocked to the side, I realize I have no clue what he’s thinking. And that’s totally okay. The anticipation of finding out is better.





“Only a dollar?” His eyes lift to mine.





“Or two. Depending on where you go.”





His lips purse and he nods, then plunges the sponge into the juice. Before I can smack him for that, he pulls it from the bath and wrings it out over my head. My jaw drops to my knees.





“Oh, you are so dead.”

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Buy Me!

In this electrifying novel from Cassie Mae, two close friends surprise themselves by shifting from platonic love to sexual attraction.


Eric Matua has one friend—his best friend and childhood sweetheart, who needs a place to stay for the summer. Mia Johnson has thousands of friends—who live in her computer. Along with her email chats and Facebook notifications, Mia also devours romance novels, spending countless hours with fictional characters, dreaming of her own Romeo to sweep her off her feet. When she starts receiving supersweet messages from a stranger who thinks she’s someone else, Mia begins to believe that real love is possible outside her virtual world.





When the two friends become roommates, Mia finds herself falling harder than she ever thought she could. But Eric keeps his desires locked away, unsure of himself and his ability to give his best friend what she deserves in a boyfriend. As her advances are continually spurned, Mia splits her time between Eric and her computer. But she soon realizes she’s about to lose the only real thing she’s ever had.


Advance praise for The Real Thing


“Cassie Mae is awesome! The perfect balance between laugh-out-loud funny and achingly poignant, The Real Thing is the ultimate escapist read. I didn’t want it to end!”—Lauren Layne, author of Isn’t She Lovely


“Watching two best friends figure out how to fall in love makes The Real Thing a summer read of swoon-worthy perfection.”—Jolene Perry, author of The Summer I Found You


“Cassie Mae’s The Real Thing made me want to close out every social media app and electronic device I have, but I couldn’t manage to stop reading!”—Rebecca Yarros, author of Full Measures

About the Author

Cassie Mae (who dawns the name Becca Ann on occasion) is the author of a few hundred... okay, maybe not that many... books. Some of which became popular for their quirky titles, characters, and stories. She likes writing about nerds, geeks, the awkward, the fluffy, the short, the shy, the loud, the fun.


Since publishing her bestselling debut, Reasons I Fell for the Funny Fat Friend, she has published and sold books to Random House, Swoon Romance, and Spencer Hill Press. She has a favorite of all her book babies, but no, she won't tell you what it is. (Mainly because it changes depending on the day.)


Along with writing, Cassie likes to binge watch Teen Wolf and The Big Bang Theory. She can quote Harry Potter lines quick as a whip. And she likes kissing her hubby, but only if his facial hair is trimmed. She also likes cheesecake to a very obsessive degree.


You can stalk, talk, or send pictures of Dylan O'Brien to her on her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/cassiemaeauthor

****************Giveaway!******************

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Getting Personal: Love is Eternal

Love can never be destroyed. In the spirit of this truth I leave you with a clip from the ABC series Once Upon A Time. It's from the Season 3 Finale and for those who watch the series, a long awaited moment. I love each and every one of you and have a beautiful day filled with happiness and yes love.

On Tuesday I will reveal the cover for Cassie Mae's next novel. Remember to pop by and congratulate her.

Photo Credit: Prawny @ Morguefile

Cover Reveal: Flesh Eating Zombies and Evil Ex-Girlfriends

So excited to share the cover of my dear friend Rachel S. latest book. Rachel has decided to venture into horror and the cover doesn't disappoint. And now without further ado...

It's cover reveal day for FLESH EATING ZOMBIES AND EVIL EX-GIRLFRIENDS!

I'm so excited to share it with all of you! It's creepy and dark and just right for the book.

So without further ado, here it is!

Erwin is in hell--- Locked in his high school with his ex-girlfriend, her new pain-in-the-ass boyfriend, and a handful of others while zombies claw at the doors trying to fight their way in.

The bright light in the dark is Sylvia, whose strength helps hold Erwin together

when everything is falling apart.

When they realize the school is no longer safe,

Erwin is determined to keep the group together and get them all to safety.

But he can’t save everyone.

Release day is September 17th.

Don't forget to add it to your Goodreads list!

Life So Far and Express Yourself Meme

Last week was a poor internet week. Combined with ghostwriting work and not being able to log on my blog for IWSG, another issue was missing the movie Lucy because it got sold out. But this week is looking up. I saw Lucy last night and LOVED it. I recommend it to everyone. Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman both played their roles flawlessly and the Asian actors were scary awesome. Now those are top level henchmen for any bad guy.

Plus I have two ghostwriting orders for story plots that are a real challenge. But I enjoy helping others bring their ideas to life. Especially these two, both return customers. Also today I am finally going to see Guardians of the Galaxy. I try to go on half off days during the summer to save money and I'm going to see this 3D master piece of $650 instead of the usual $1300. Yay me! So what's up with you guys?

Express Yourself Meme

For August 4-8: One of my celebrity crushes from my teens was George Clooney. Remember ER? I Do!

August 11-15: I love everything about steampunk. It is such a creative and ever changing genre. I would like to do Jamaican Steampunk one day. So I guess what I love most is the creative way each writer of steampunk makes the world their own.

IWSG and Movie Love: How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Lessons Learned

I am excited to be apart of IWSG created by Alex Cavanaugh to bring insecure writers and co. together. Now I'm doing both IWSG and Movie Love today and hope you enjoy my post and maybe learn a little something. In a fun way of course.

Movie Love

On Saturday August 2, 2014 I went to see How To Train Your Dragon 2 at Palace Cineplex. It was a 2:40pm showing and I was pumped after missing seeing it in July because of various mishaps. But it returned to Jamaica for the early August weekend and no way was I missing it. Dreamworks comes right after Pixar (and Disney too after leaving the animated movie slump behind) in my book when it comes to amazing animated movies and I was determined to watch it this time. The first movie was amazing and I had great expectations for this one. Hiccup has grown into a smart and yes handsome young man. Strong in stature but still awkward at heart he and Astrid are closer than ever and the rest of the dragon riders from the first movie have matured as well. I truly believe the first fifty minutes of the movie was perfect. Both in story and visuals. 3D only helped enhance what was already there. But this movie like the first had a dark undertone. While on Berk dragons are now plentiful and allies, elsewhere there are still considered dangerous beasts. Various topics are covered in this movie including animal trapping and underlying slavery with main villain Drago Blood Fist willing to brand and terrify others to do his dirty work in creating a dragon army. Some of the best moments include the reuniting of Hiccup with his mother who now lives a new life but never forgot the boy she left behind. Touching and visually stunning this part you will be taken in. This movie has loads of heart and twists and turns that will keep you watching until the end. Sadly there is a falling point. After the first fifty minutes or so the rest of the movie is rushed to it's conclusion that could have been better brought about with an additional fifteen to twenty minutes more added to the movie time. This doesn't make this movie not great but I do believe the first one did a better job in pacing and character building. A must see for fans of the franchise and a perfect movie for newbies.

IWSG

While I still am in computer limbo I do my best to pop in. Nothing short of a heart attack could make me miss IWSG in August. Anyway I want to discuss lessons I have learned from watching How to Train Your Dragon 2.

1. Pacing is essential. I truly believe that if another twenty minutes were added or some edits were done to parts in the first fifty minutes to add time to later sections that this movie would be perfect. While nearly the first hour was practically flawless the last half hour/forty minutes or so was rushed including the big tragedy which went by so fast that if you blinked you would miss it. Yes it was sudden but damn there's sudden and sudden.

2. Drago was poorly characterized and that took away from his role. While I think a lot of times story is king sometimes character is a close second or trumps it. Drago had so much potential but he was one of the least developed villains I have seen in a while. Especially in a quality movie. I truly believe he should have gotten at least two flashbacks of his own. One showing how he got his cloak and another of his childhood. I truly believe that and a few other changes would have helped. In the end he was still a striking villain but more like a match going against the wind instead of the inferno he should have been.

3. Never be so seduced by the greatness of your story that you miss the faults. DreamWorks has a positive streak when it comes to movies but I think part of the reason Pixar often beats them in the animated movie business because Pixar will go to greater lengths to ensure their movies are top notch. Pixar isn't releasing a movie this year because they don't feel that they're ready. DreamWorks Animation however are determined to keep up a three movie a year momentum and I'm not sure if that is necessarily a good thing. More effort on this movie might have caught the few bugs and while this is still an amazing movie. It's one I wouldn't see twice because the bad points disappoint me a lot and I would still watch it's prequel a hundred times even now.

4. Do your best. No matter my criticism I still believe DreamWorks Animated went all out to create an amazing movie. I have no regrets seeing it and while I learned not to seduced into missing faults I saw a lot of beauty in this film in both the visual and story territory. This movie was amazing and I learned that doing your best is the greatest reward no matter how great or badly you end up.

So what have you guys learned? I'm off to go see Lucy and hope to get thoughts from you all when this post goes live Wednesday (Yup I wrote this Tuesday, told I'll be ready no matter what).

Sad Happy Face

Unfortunately due to all sorts of crazy annoyances I was unable to enter the Bella's Point Challenge before the deadline. Last week was a crap shoot with the best I was able to do was barely complete my writing gigd on time. But on a happy note I finally got to see How To Train A Dragon 2. Thank you all for your support and I will post Wednesday for IWSG and hopefully Friday as well. Love you guys forever.

Credit: Click @ MorgueFile