Lucky 7 Blog Hop

So there's another Blog Hop going around, and this one seems fun, so I decided to take Amanda Staley's advice and steal it. ;)

The Rules: 

Go to page 7 or 77 in your current WIP (work in progress).
Go to line 7 on the page.
Post on your blog the next 7 sentences or 7 lines.

You can choose between page 7 or 77. 

K so here's an excerpt from my first Scifi novel, beginning on page 7, line 7. I have the perfect illustration to go with it, but illustrations are still top secret. Enjoy!

Chapter One, Page 7, lines 7-14: 

"Don't let them take you!" The frazzled woman pleaded as she smacked the bars of her cell with a trembling hand. Something in her bloodshot eyes told Amaya to run. The urgency in them was almost unbearable. That urgency quickly disappeared as her body jolted and fell to the floor. 

"I told you that one belonged in the asylum ward." The sign language using man put his taser back in the pocket of his unzipped coat, which barely fit his chubby body. Amaya wished she had hands so she could grab the taser from him and escape. But she didn't, and wishing wouldn't make it so. It was up to her eccentric mind and scrawny legs. 

There you have it! The longest excerpt I have shared to date. I hope you'll read the whole book when it gets published (hopefully soon).

Be the lightning, 

Kylie Jude. 

}i{ 

Author Interview: Eric Jude

That's right, for this post I'm interviewing my wonderful husband (who also happens to be an author) Eric Jude (also known as D.R. Acula). Eric has been so supportive and helpful over the years, and he is always the first person I run to with my crazy novel ideas, and he always gives me his honest opinion. He is the brain power behind a lot of the technical stuff in my coming Science Fiction novels, and I'm so grateful for his help. But I'll bet most of you didn't know that he is an author himself! He wrote his first Ebook "How To Successfully Cope With Life" a couple years back, and has recently started a series of short stories in the Horror genre, called #AlderdiceTales (which I had the pleasure of editing for him). And yes, I do use the hashtag every chance I get. And you should too. ;) 

Anyway, obviously I know most of these answers, but for the sake of readers who don't, I decided to ask Eric some questions. Enjoy! 

When did you start writing? 

 I've written for years. Started writing in elementary school, but I've never finished a writing project until now. 

What inspired the Alderdice Tales? 

I just wanted to write... I was sitting around and decided I wanted to write a story. And I played with a few ideas... Then the opening lyrics of a My Dying Bride Song called "My Hope, the Destroyer" gave me a burst of creativity and I went with it for the opening of 'Bennet'. The name 'Nettie' wasn't inspired by the Type O Negative song of the same name, but once I came up with the name, elements of the song started finding their way in the stories. After that, the story inspired itself...

How many more stories do you plan to release under Alderdice Tales? 

I have two written so far, 'Bennet' and 'Nettie' and I plan on finishing at least two more. I say at least, because these stories seem to have a life of their own now, so who knows what could happen. I sure don't...

Planning on writing anything else after this? 

Sure, I plan on writing and releasing another short story series. Don't want to give too much away yet though.

What advice do you have for writers or those who want to write? 

Just write... You may come up with tons of stuff you don't like, or stuff that isn't very good, but it's all in the name of practice and refining your skills... Eventually you will know yourself and your style... That's when you can really sit down and let the creativity pour out of you. 

What non-writing projects are you working on? 

Music, photography, gardening... Various little projects that I work on in my spare time. I spend a great deal of my time photographing wildlife and nature in general. Flora and Fauna, mostly... I also compose a little music here and there for the purpose of passing the time... I enjoy the rewarding bliss of the rural countryside over the hectic city. Been doing lots of farming and yard work, camping, fishing, pretty much all of the outdoor activities. I even sometimes write outside.

Well, there you have it. He gets straight to the point. 

And, like me, music inspires his stories.

If you want to check out his #AlderdiceTales, here are all of the links: 

Book One - Bennet:

Smashwords

Barnes & Noble

ibooks/itunes

Amazon

Kobo

Bilo

 Book Two - Nettie:

Smashwords

Barnes & Noble

ibooks/itunes

Amazon

Bilo

Be the lightning,

Kylie Jude

(Previously Kylie Kerosene)

}i{

Book Review: Revolution Z

Who better to lead a modern army than George Washington? Right? The thing is, in this day and age, that would take a bit of resurrecting. And in this book, that is exactly what happens. And the army is no normal army. It's an army of zombies. Pretty cool, right? Sure, authors are putting zombies in everything from "Pride and Prejudice" to "Romeo and Juliet" these days, but I'm pretty sure no one has tried presidents yet. So that's pretty unique. 

I haven't had time to finish this book yet, since my own novel has kept me busier than a bee lately, but I'm about half way through, and it's pretty good so far. I love how pronounced the characters are. You almost don't need to know the name of the person speaking, because the character is identifiable by his/her words and actions alone. This is especially true in the case of the resurrected characters, Patton and Washington. They are from different eras, but, through the events of this book, they are brought into the same era, both way ahead of their time. Patton is more in-your-face and outgoing, and Washington is more reserved and refined. This difference is really defined in the first scene of the two leaders talking together, and again in another scene where they react very differently to an event. The way both characters present themselves is how I feel the actual men would have presented themselves, so it's clear the authors did their research. It's also clear the authors know a lot about the military, which is sort of necessary for a book like this. Some of the explanations and terminology were way over my head, LOL. The action takes a bit to pick up, but once it does, it's everything a zombie lover could ask for. Plenty of blood and guts. 

The only problem I personally had with the book was the fact that in the midst of a heated fight scene, we are suddenly pulled out of the action to hear about the color of the walls, or some other lengthy description. Although, I would have loved more description and explanation on how these characters got to be where they are, and on how the zombies and resurrected became the way they are, but maybe I just overlooked something, or maybe I haven't reached that part yet. But, aside from all that, it's a great read if you love zombies and history. I can't wait to find out what happens next.

Find out more, buy the book, and join the revolution HERE.

 More on author Gregory Bernard Banks HERE.

More on author Blaine Hislop HERE.

Stay Frosty ;) 

-Kylie Kerosene (Jude)

Film Review: Edge Of Tomorrow

Edge Of Tomorrow is the newest Science Fiction hit that I think is destined to be a classic, as well as one of my favorites. It's based on a book called All You need Is Kill by  Hiroshi Sakurazaka and stars Tom Cruise as a futuristic soldier who dies in battle and is then forced into a Groundhog Day like scenario, which I was worried might be a little boring and repetitive, but they made it wonderfully entertaining, and even comedic at times. The editing was damn near perfect in those sequences, and when I found out later that it was edited by my favorite editor James Herbert, that was no surprise. Love all of his work, and this movie is no exception.

Yes, this film stars Tom Cruise, who is an outspoken Scientologist, but that is no reason not to see it. Sure there are some glimpses of Scientology in it, such as evil aliens and some messages about destiny and memory, all of which were also in my favorite Tom Cruise film Oblivion, but it's not too over the top. You won't be brainwashed if you see it, I promise. And Cruise gives a solid and believable performance in the leading role. While there are a few small similarities to Oblivion, as I said, Edge Of Tomorrow is still it's own movie, and the Cage character is completely different from Cruise's character in Oblivion.

When I found out Emily Blunt would be playing the "full metal bitch" in this movie, I was instantly excited to see her in a new light. Sure, she's done some action/scifi films before (such as Looper), but never anything this badass. I was almost worried she wouldn't be right for the role, but I think she did a wonderful job and we got to see a whole new version of her, which I think (and hope) will take her stardom even further.

I did my chair dance every time we saw the trailer for this movie, and when the time came to finally see it, I was beyond excited. But I was also nervous. Turns out I had good reason to be nervous. Here's why:

But, even though we were sort of tricked into seeing a tiny, blurry, 1950's version of Edge Of Tomorrow, we still loved the film. It had everything a Science Fiction nerd like me could ask for (time travel, aliens, cool gadgets/armor/weapons); everything the filmmaker in me appreciates (creative script, gorgeous effects, well knit editing); and everything any movie should have, really (action, drama, comedy, romance, ETC). I would love to see it again in a "real" theater to get the full effect. I'm sure I would have loved it even more that way. Trust me when I say this film is worth seeing in theaters. Seriously. See it.

I leave you with a short video I made of the hubby and myself playing a little game inspired by the movie. It's a little glitchy, but hopefully you get the idea. It can be hard, especially while performing tasks (like "grass-fishing" as seen here), but it can also be lots of fun. And you know what they say, couples that play together stay together. So, whether you're married or just bored, try it sometime. ;)

;)

Be the lightning,

Kylie Kerosene (Jude)

}i{

Film Review - X-Men: Days Of Future Past

 Having been a fan of X-Men since I was 10 years old, I really wanted to see the new one in theaters. I kept saying to my husband, "But, but, it has Sentinels! We have to see it on the big screen!" But our schedule kept getting in the way, until I finally accepted that we would have to wait until it came to TV. But then, this past Saturday (5/31/2014) my sweet hubby surprised me with a visit to our old haunt, the movie theater in a nearby town, which is apparently going out of business because it looks and feels so abandoned now, but hey, as long as it plays movies, we don't mind. 

The Dying Theater.

We got there early, so we waited around for a while, taking pictures to kill time, and the closer the time came for the movie to start, the more people started filling in to see it (again), and the more we got excited. 

A happy Kylie with her sweet & thoughtful hubby.

 Okay, so, let's get to it shall we? Below is my review of the film. I've split it into 2 parts. The first part is spoiler free for those who haven't seen it yet, and the second part contains spoilers so don't read that part unless you've seen it. Enjoy!

Part One - Spoiler Free:

We finally saw X-Men: Days Of Future Past, and loved it. It was great to see the original cast again, and with the time travel aspect of this film, we got to see the original cast of characters teaming up with the younger generation that we saw in X-Men: First Class. This was a real treat, especially for long-time fans of the movies and comic books like myself. 

I loved how the beginning of the film (and throughout) showed how the future X-Men worked together when fighting the Sentinels. The strategy they used, with a couple characters in the background as support and a couple characters fighting on the front lines was brilliant, reminding us that everyone has a special role to play in a team. It can almost be compared to filmmaking in that the actors and director are on the front lines and are recognized, but you also have the writers, editors, composers, etc - those who work behind the scenes, and are just as important. 

One thing that bothered both my husband and me was that they didn't refresh our memories about how Xavier was still alive in the future X-Men. So, that ended up being a little confusing for those of us that hadn't done an X-Men marathon before seeing this one, but after reading up on the previous films and refreshing our memories later, it makes more sense. It would have been nice to have a reminder though. Still, loved the effects, acting, and storyline. A great one to see on the big screen if you can.

Part Two - Contains Spoilers:

While it was nice to see some old faces, I kept wondering why we hadn't seen Rogue (Anna Paquin) or Cyclops (James Marsden). Obviously I knew Jean (Famke Janssen) wouldn't be in it, as Wolverine killed her in X-Men: The Last Stand, but as the movie went on, I just started assuming we wouldn't see Rogue or Cyclops at all. Until the end, after they went back in time and changed things. We then got to see all three of them for a moment, and although it was brief, I was glad that they were included a little bit. One character that didn't resurface was Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming), as well as a couple others, but it was still nice to see some favorites, and the present cast did an awesome job.

I only teared up one time in the entire movie, and that was when young Xavier (James McAvoy) met with old Xavier (Patrick Stewart) in his mind. The acting in that scene was particularly believable, and you really felt the struggle of young Xavier. And when old Xavier gave him words of advice about dealing with pain, and embracing it, I immediately related. I live with chronic pain every day, and I am also empathic (which means I pick up on the pain and emotions of other people), so when old Xavier said that bit about embracing the pain and how it will make you stronger, it hit home for me. It was a lesson I had already learned, but it was a good reminder. I tried hard to remember those words throughout the rest of the movie, as the pain of sitting for so long grew sharper and sharper in my back and legs, but by the end of the movie, I was so entranced that I'd almost forgotten about the pain.

We sat all the way through the credits (as everyone should, especially with Marvel movies), and when the post-credit sequence played, showing that epic scene of Apocalypse rising to power as a child, and building the great pyramids with his mind, I was blown away. It made me excited to see the next X-Men movie, which is currently titled (appropriately) X-Men: Apocalypse. I hope we get to see more of the Egypt story, at least in flashbacks.

There were a few small details in this movie that were similar to some things in my upcoming novels, and there were a couple inconsistencies here and there, but overall I enjoyed the movie. Great effects, tons of emotion, and as usual, some really good messages about the character of people, the importance of acceptance,  and the persistence of hope.

My fancy new Photoshopped 5 star rating system.

Hope you enjoyed my allovertheplace review!

Until next time...

Be the lightning, 

Kylie Kerosene (Jude).

}i{