Mind Sieve 7/30/21
Table of Contents
News/Musings — StoryOrigin Swaps — Mini Movie Reviews — B&N Sale from Zumaya — Movie Previews — Free Reads for Review Opportunities — Just for Fun!
Greetings!
The old adage “when it rains, it pours” has been totally in effect this week! So I have a ton of stuff for you this time around.
News/Musings
Exercise for the win!
I may have finally found something I can use to get exercise into my life on a daily basis. With the raging temperatures, walks are no longer practical and weren’t doing enough.
Years and years ago I had used Wii Fit and some dance games to get some exercise in. So I thought there might be more stuff out there now than there used to be. I was hoping to find something that changed so the vista was not always the same. And I did! For almost two weeks, I’ve been exercising first thing in the morning using Ring Fit!
You can alter the workout difficulty and do as much or as little as you are comfortable with. It includes warmups and cooldowns. It will even take your pulse! Plus it works out all your different muscles. I am pumped!
(Think of it as an adventure game, but the theme and all the attacks are exercise-based!)
More random stuff!
Over at Goodreads, reviews for Black Jade are at 29 ratings and 28 written reviews. The average rating at the moment is 4.31 out of 5 stars. Every review means so much nowadays!
Over at Amazon, it has hit 11 reviews! Booyah!
I won’t mention it again unless I hit some kind of unbelievable threshold. So don’t worry. Heh heh.
I’ve been making my brain mush this week learning about AMS advertising at Amazon. I wish I had done this before the Black Jade release. I totally misunderstood some of the processes. I mean, who would ever think it’s a good thing to add in 200+ search terms to an ad?!?!?!
Wish me luck! I’m going to need it!
I tortured my peeps at Future Classics with several chapters of Breaking Dawn Cleaners. From the name, they’d thought it was a vampire parody book!
So I am now going with The Secret Humankind. That should give a better indication to anyone looking at it. This is one of the reasons it’s so important to have people look at your stories. The weirdest things will pass right on over until someone points it out.
Extra stuff I’ve shoved in here:
1) Two book info swaps from StoryOrigin.
2) Two opportunities for you to get free books
if you leave reviews of them in exchange.
3) A Zumaya Publications B&N ebook sale that includes some of my titles.
Just keep on scrolling to see each section and get the deets! (I told you I had a ton of stuff pop up!)
Story Origin Swap 1
The Spirit of Things by Ben McQueeney
There is peril beyond the Mist, and chaos within. But only one can save the world…
Tellusm is a land torn by a sky-high storm created by the gods long ago. But there are those among the deities who believe that the Mist should be disbanded, allowing the unknown exiled inside once more…
Yet the wars of gods are no concern to the likes of man.
And all Fulco has ever wanted is acceptance from the elves of the village where he has grown up. A lone human, raised by an elven family, he has been hated for simply existing for seventeen rotations.
Everything changes when he discovers a power of his own — the ability to converse with Beasts.
Consumed by this new magic, Fulco devises a plan to earn the respect of the elves — he will join the elven academy and earn his place through Portare; a dangerous game played upon horses and monsters where the riders wield their magical gifts to influence the outcome.
However, it seems that getting into the academy isn’t the largest of his concerns. There is more to his wizardry than meets the eye, threats he never imagined possible and an epic destiny that he must fulfil.
Now, with the guidance of a mysterious witch and a bow-tie wearing werewolf, Fulco must unravel its mystery and harness this strange magic in order to protect his adoptive family and the elven girl he loves… even if it costs him his life.
Story Origin Swap 2
Alien Embrace : A Limited Edition Collection of Sci Fi Alien Romances
Aliens move among us — warriors, soldiers, explorers, and more — testing fate and finding love with their true mates. And they’ll do whatever it takes to ensure their human mates remain forever caught in their Alien Embrace.
This hot new collection brings you all the best in science fiction alien romances from New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling authors.
Our heroes and heroines will satisfy your cravings for every kind of alien romance, whether you prefer slow-burn or fast, one hot hero or two…or more.
Get this steamy new collection of alien romances from the best, new, and up-and-coming voices in sci-fi romance.
Mini Movie Reviews!
★ — Why did I go see this? Why?!
★★ — Showed promise but on execution, crashed
★★★ — Enjoyable, just don’t look under the hood too closely
★★★★ — A great film, totally worth seeing!
★★★★★ –
Too fabulous for words!
The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard
I forgot to include this one last time.
(This is NOT for kids!) It also has a lot of cussing (like the first one), so be warned.
As a sequel, it wasn’t bad. But they never ever say what happened to Bryce’s sweetheart, which I felt was a glaring omission, since it was a central point in the first film. Tons of gags, some twists, lots of weirdness. It was definitely entertaining. Everyone looked to have had a blast.
Rating: ★★★.5 out of 5 (Hubby’s Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission)
Zumaya Publications B&N eBook Promotion
For the month of August 2021, Zumaya will be having a 30% off promotion on already discounted select ebooks over at Barnes & Noble.
Use Promo/Coupon code “BNPZUMAYA08” at checkout for your 30% off already discounted ebook pricing.
Below is a list of the ebooks in the promotion.
Movie Previews
Ghostbusters Afterlife — New longer preview. I am so there!!!!
DUNE — this just looks better and better! Loved the books, loved the first movie. This could give me more to love.
The Witcher — Season 2 Trailer! WOOT! I am loving how the look and feel are trying to match the PC Game. Nice!
First set of the two Books for Review campaigns from StoryOrigin. Click the banner or here to get to the fill list of books page. I have two titles in this promotion. All sorts of genres are represented — including fantasy, young adult, crime, and more.
Yep, this one is for historical fiction! Click the banner or here for a full list of books included.
Just For Fun!
The video in this article is in TikTok so I can’t add it to the newsletter, but I can give you the link to the article so you can see the video. It’s a 3D Cat Billboard in Japan. It is so cool looking!!!!!!
I ran across a video for Blade Runner: Black Lotus! Looks like it will be an animated series. Has the look and feel of the films, and the character designs of a lot of the Star Wars animated series.
Numbers have been skyrocketing so stay safe! See you in a couple of weeks!
Gloria
