Movie Review: Central Intelligence (2016)

Central Intelligence (2016)
June 17, 2016 (USA)
Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Screenplay: Rawson Marshall Thurber, Ike Barinholtz, David Stassen,Peter Steinfeld

Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart

Bullied as a teen for being overweight, Bob Stone (Dwayne Johnson) shows up to his high school reunion looking fit and muscular. While the0e, he finds Calvin Joyner (Kevin Hart), a fast-talking accountant who misses his glory days as a popular athlete. Stone is now a lethal CIA agent who needs Calvin's number skills to help him save the compromised U.S. spy satellite system. Together, the former classmates encounter shootouts, espionage and double-crosses while trying to prevent worldwide chaos.

Went to see this with the husband and 15 year-old daughter. We are big Hart and Johnson fans. The movie is exactly what the trailer promises. It was full of laugh out loud moments, as in the whole theater was laughing. There was a decent story line with a few twists and turns, nothing you probably won't figure out.

This is a silly and entertaining movie. They show a few bloopers at the end. I will be wanting to see the full gag reel. 

If you are looking for a few juvenile laughs then this is worth a matinee price. 

Holly gives it 4 "chocolate google" sheep

Sharon give it 3.75 "all in" Sheep

Authors After Dark Attending Author Spotlight: Armand Rosamilia

INTRODUCING ARMAND ROSAMILIA

My name is Armand Rosamilia. I’m a full-time writer. I’ve been Living The Dream for the past six years of being able to live off of my writing.

But more importantly I enjoy M&M’s and coffee.

I’m (mostly) a horror author. My Dying Days extreme zombie series sells quite well. Enough for me to bathe in M&M’s and coffee at times.

Living The Dream.

I also write in other genres: contemporary fiction, crime thriller, supernatural thriller, and have dabbled in fantasy in the past. I enjoy writing a character-driven story and the more normal the character the better. I rarely have superhero types or military or action Ninja fighting characters. I find them boring as a reader and a writer. I want to know what the average mid-twenties kinda chubby kinda plain-looking girl who works at the makeup counter at the mall would do if the zombie apocalypse became reality. That’s the main character in Dying Days. Her name is Darlene Bobich. She cries a lot. She has panic attacks. But she survives.

I went to the TNEE event in Atlanta for the first time. It was a completely different experience for me because I’m used to horror-heavy cons. It was a great time. Shared a table with author Jay Wilburn. Shared quite a few laughs and stories with dozens of authors in the romance genre I’ve never met before.

AAD will be another great event for me. I can feel it. In my bones, which is pretty deep.

I’ll have quite a few of my books at AAD for sale as well as some cool swag to give away like bookmarks, fridge magnets, wristbands, bottle openers, etc. I’m not bringing all of my titles this convention because it is a pain in my giant behind to carry so many boxes and because I sell more of the newer stuff anyway. No more carting 50+ different titles with me. I’m thinking more like 12 this time around. We’ll see. I always freak out when I think by not bringing a certain title I’ll miss out on thousands and thousands of sales, even though I usually only stock 3-5 of each title.

Math is not my strong point.

I hope everyone can come out and spend some time with me and a bunch of very cool authors at AAD. If not… it is truly your loss. Frankly, I’m not sure how you’ll be able to sleep at night from this point out, either.

If you can’t hang out with me and everyone feel free to buy all of my books so my children can eat. I’d say so I can eat but it’s obvious from the pictures I don’t miss many meals.

Hope to see ya soon!
Armand Rosamilia
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Amazon Author Page

http://authorsafterdark.org/

Winning the Internet this Week...vintage comic fun and vine fun

Gail Z. Martin Guest Post: Extending Book Series with Extra Episodes

Extending Book Series with Extra Episodes

by Gail Z. Martin

TV shows go on hiatus between seasons, but what do you call the time between when novels come out in an ongoing series? (OK, most of the time, what we readers call that break doesn't use polite words, but work with me on this.)

I write four different fiction series--two epic fantasy series (Chronicles of the Necromancer/Fallen Kings Cycle and the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga), an urban fantasy series (Deadly Curiosities), and the Iron & Blood Steampunk series co-authored with Larry N. Martin. Lately, I've been bringing out a book a year in at least three of the series. But what about the other 11 months between books?

How about tie-in ebook short stories and novellas with additional adventures featuring the characters from the novels for a more detailed, in-depth look at the world and the people?

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I started writing tie-in short stories with my Jonmarc Vahanian Adventures, which will eventually be the equivalent of three serialized novels that are prequels to The Summoner, the first book in my Chronicles series. Jonmarc is a favorite character from the Chronicles series, someone who plays a major role, but whose back story is not fully explored in the books. Solaris Books, the publisher of the first four Chronicles books, has now published The Shadowed Path, a collection of the first 10 Jonmarc stories plus an exclusive eleventh story, in print and ebook. There are 18 Jonmarc stories (the equivalent of the first two serialized novels), and I plan to have the last three novellas finished this year.

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My Deadly Curiosities novels are dark urban fantasy, set in modern-day Charleston, SC with an alliance of mortals and immortals that battle supernatural threats, fight monsters, and get cursed objects off the market and out of the wrong hands. There are two novels so far in the series, and 18 short stories in my Deadly Curiosities Adventures tie-ins on ebook. The short stories function like extra 'episodes' for a TV series, with lots of action and adventure. Modern Magic: Twelve Tales of Urban Fantasy, the new 12-full book, 13 author ebook boxed set, is currently the only place you can get Trifles and Folly, the collection of 10 Deadly Curiosities short stories.

For my Ascendant Kingdoms post-apocalyptic medieval epic fantasy series, the extra novellas fill a six year 'gap' at the beginning of Ice Forged, the first book in the series. Something major happens, there is a six year fast-forward, and the main action of the book begins. Readers wanted to know more about the gap, so three novellas--Arctic Prison, Cold Fury and Ice Bound--tell the story of Blaine McFadden's imprisonment in Velant (collected as King's Convicts on ebook), with three more novellas to come about Blaine's years as a colonist on Edgeland. And along the way, readers get to know main and secondary characters better and find out how the key relationships formed that affect the rest of the series.

Iron & Blood, the Steampunk series I co-write with my husband, Larry N. Martin, also have a tie-in series, The Storm and Fury Adventures, which feature Mitch Storm and Jacob Drangosavich, agents with the Department of Supernatural Investigation. Mitch and Jacob are secondary characters in the books, but are the protagonists (so far) in the short stories and novellas, which also add more 'episodes' and further explore the alternate history 1898 Pittsburgh and environs of the novels.

Expanding a series with short stories and novellas works for authors and readers. Readers don't have to wait a year or more before the next book comes out to get more of favorite characters and adventures. Authors create a chance to attract new readers and keep current fans happy with extra, shorter adventures, and create indie-published content that can be used in collections, anthologies and used in promotion. Publishers benefit from increased sales of the original series as new readers find their way to the novels. It's a win for everyone.

Check out The Shadowed Path, my newest epic fantasy collection of Jonmarc Vahanian short stories in paperback and ebook from Solaris Books. And be sure to also look for Modern Magic: Twelve Tales of Urban Fantasy, a 12 book, 13 author ebook boxed set including Trifles and Folly, the first-ever collection of 10 Deadly Curiosities Adventures short stories!

From June 21-June 30 I'll be doing my annual Hawthorn Moon Sneak Peek Event which includes book giveaways, free excerpts, all-new guest blog posts and author Q&A on 22 awesome partner sites around the globe.

I'll also be hosting many of my Modern Magic co-authors guest posting on my DisquietingVisions.com blog during the tour. For a full list of where to go to get the goodies, visit www.AscendantKingdoms.com.

The Shadowed Path: A Jonmarc Vanhanian Collection (Chronicles of the Necromancer)

by Gail Z. Martin

Paperback, 384 pages

Published June 14th 2016 by Solaris

These are the untold tales of Jonmarc Vahanian, hero of Gail Z. Martin’s best-selling Chronicles of the Necromancer series.

Jonmarc Vahanian was just a blacksmith’s son in a small fishing village before raiders killed his family. Wounded and left for dead in the attack, Jonmarc tries to rebuild his life. But when a dangerous bargain with a shadowy stranger goes wrong, Jonmarc finds himself on the run, with nothing ahead but vengeance, and nothing behind him but blood.

Soldier. Fight slave. Smuggler. Warrior. Brigand lord.  If you’ve met Jonmarc Vahanian in the Chronicles of the Necromancer and Fallen Kings Cycle books, you don’t really know him until you walk in his footsteps. This is the first segment of his journey.

About the Author:

website-@GailZMartin-@LNMartinauthor

Facebook-DisquietingVisions blog

GhostInTheMachinePodcast-Goodreads

Wattpad 
Gail Z. Martin is the author of The Shadowed Path (Solaris Books), Vendetta: A Deadly Curiosities Novel in her urban fantasy series set in Charleston, SC (Solaris Books); Shadow and Flame the fourth and final book in the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga (Orbit Books); and Iron and Blood a new Steampunk series (Solaris Books) co-authored with Larry N. Martin.

She is also author of Ice Forged, Reign of Ash and War of Shadows in The Ascendant Kingdoms Saga, The Chronicles of The Necromancer series (The Summoner, The Blood King, Dark Haven, Dark Lady’s Chosen); The Fallen Kings Cycle (The Sworn, The Dread) and the urban fantasy novel Deadly Curiosities. Gail writes three ebook series: The Jonmarc Vahanian Adventures, The Deadly Curiosities Adventures and The Blaine McFadden Adventures. The Storm and Fury Adventures, steampunk stories set in the Iron & Blood world, are co-authored with Larry N. Martin.

Her work has appeared in over 30 US/UK anthologies. Newest anthologies include: Robots, The Big Bad 2, Athena’s Daughters, Heroes, Space, Contact Light, With Great Power, The Weird Wild West, The Side of Good/The Side of Evil, Alien Artifacts, Cinched: Imagination Unbound, Realms of Imagination, Gaslight and Grimm, Baker Street Irregulars, Clockwork Universe: Steampunk vs. Aliens.

Book Review and Excerpt: Vampire Creed by Rain Grey + giveaway

Vampire Creed
by Rain Grey
Genre: Vampire Romance
May 29, 2016
Word Count: 41200
Barnaby Blaine Rice was a Vampire born in the depression with a very special power to see who people truly were. After a long, empty existence of witnessing the darkest points of humanity, Blaine happens to encounter a beautiful married woman named Mary Slate. Unable to handle his love for the beautiful human, Blaine accidentally kills another Vampire over her and is put under a serious debt with the Vampire Council.

Blaine reluctantly forces himself to forget the woman and allows her to live her life without his intervention. It wasn’t until 50-years-later that the distant memories of the captivating Mary are brought back to the surface. Blaine has the pleasure to encounter the young Wendy Slate, granddaughter of Mary Slate after a criminal vampire keeps her hostage. Blaine got there in time to stop the criminal, but not to stop the beginning of Wendy’s transition into Vampirism.

As he was forced to sire her into this new world, he discovers that Wendy is the most amazing person he’d ever met. Wendy has to make a life-altering decision as Blaine has to deal with his blooming feelings for a woman who was identical to his first love. This modern love story introduces the most influential turning point of these lover’s lives.

amazon-Goodreads

Something about this story didn't sit quiet well with me. Maybe it's due to the fact that the main dude used to have a thing for his current love flames grandma. Maybe it's the fact that he keeps doing what HE thinks is best for everyone. Maybe it's just a lack of chemical romance that all PNR needs. Or maybe I just have indigestion. Whatever the case, this one had some interesting potential that fizzled out.

I'm all for a good romp in the vamp coffin, sign me the hell up. I love vampires and all their fangy bangy ways, however this tale was a tad off reservation for my blood thirsty tastes. It's too bad because I can see where the author was going, I'm just not sure how she expected the reader to get there with her. Some editing issues just kinda added to the overall disappointment.

I'm willing to give this series another try though, maybe that's the best light at the end of the tunnel here. I'd say see what other reviewers are saying, it wasn't my cup of tea.....but it could be theirs/yours!

Getting 2 and 1/2 Sheep

KD

CHAPTER 1

There was nothing quite like walking along the salt withered boardwalk of Oceanside Wharf. The unsteady sea roared to my left. The waves were nothing but a dark blur on the horizon that eventually licked the corners of the sandy beach. The lack of seagulls, the cloudy sky, and the stillness in the air told me one thing; there was a storm coming. Usually, these walks by myself were the only way that I could relax after a long day, but tonight was different. Despite the buzzing, yellow streetlamps that hovered over my head, everything about the atmosphere just seemed so much darker than normal.

Everything was ordinary that night, but it seemed too ordinary. Something about the way that my feet padded against the wood seemed to sound too familiar. Something about the way the salty air smelled seemed too perfect as if it were manufactured in a perfume bottle. I ached to see the stars through the cloud cover, but something told me that those wouldn’t look right either. The cold air whipped my long hair around my face, causing me to wrap my arms even tighter around my torso. This made me feel a tiny bit more secure, but I couldn’t deny the way my heart pounded in my chest.

I walked this route every day after my night classes; it was my daily routine. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something didn’t seem right. My skin broke out in a layer goosebumps that I couldn’t get rid of, no matter how hard I rubbed my arms. The hair on the back of my neck stood up on end. My eyes were peeled for some type of disturbance in the normality of my walk, but I couldn’t find anything. I found myself peeking over my shoulder every so often, but I found nothing but an empty, dimly lit street and a growing distance from the brightly lit university.

These walks had grown more and more intimidating since I first met him. He came to the roller skating rink one night while I was working at the concession stand. We were pretty slow considering that the rink was rented out for a few child’s birthday parties. Every so often, a kid would ask for some candy, but I mostly spent the night leaning against the counter, blankly staring into the rink. That was when I first saw him, standing on the other side of the rink. He was wearing sunglasses inside, which I thought was extremely weird considering that the sun went down at least an hour before he arrived. He didn’t skate and he didn’t talk to anyone. I assumed he was there to watch the kids, but his sunglasses made it hard to gauge what exactly he was staring at. He was so still as if he were able to lock his muscles in position. It made me uncomfortable, but then again, a lot of things made me uncomfortable.

It didn’t become an issue until two women approached me at the stand.

“Excuse me?” The smaller one pulled me away from my thoughts.

“Hello ladies,” I put on my best customer service smile.

They both smiled politely before the plump one spoke, “We have a problem.”

“Yes?”

About the Author:
Website
Rain Grey is a psychologist by profession. However, she has been writing books since she was fifteen years old. She loves anything supernatural and her favourite genres are vampire Romance and ghost fiction. Her home in England is close to the town of Stratford Upon Avon, where William Shakespeare was born.

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