November is right around the corner, and that means...NaNoWriMo

Each year from November 1st through 30th thousands of people set pen to paper, or fingers to keys, and attempt to write 50,000 words in 30 days.  That's right, I said 50,000 words in 30 days.  We like to call November NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month.

Why do we do this?  Is it the challenge?  Is it just a good way to keep our writing muscles exercised?  Is to be able to say "I did it!"?  I think there are a lot of reason why, for myself it's the challenge, and it's also a great way to spread the practice of reading and writing and to further literacy.  In fact, NaNoWriMo is organized by a non-profit organization dedicated to literacy for everyone by sponsoring events like NaNoWriMo and other various writing based events.  'National Novel Writing Month', which use to be known as the 'Office of Letters and Light', also conducts a fundraising drive as part of NaNoWriMo during November to support creative writing programs for more than half a million children and adults in approximately 200 countries, including 2,000 classrooms, 650 libraries and more.

For more information about NaNoWriMo go to http://www.nanowrimo.org

And if you write for fun, or have ever considered writing story or a novel, go ahead and sign up for NaNoWriMo this year and join myself and thousands of others as we dash out ideas, scribble down words, and fight our way through tangled plots, oh and have lots of fun doing it!  :)  If you do NaNoWriMo already, or are thinking of doing it this year, let me know.

Awesome on tap, or is that tape? :D

At last I can say that there was a reason for keeping my old cassette player.  It has been announced that the Guardians of the Galaxy 'Awesome Mix Vol. 1' will be released on cassette tape on November 17th.  Now, there may be a few of you out there saying "What's a cassette tape?".  For you kids out there, yes there was portable music before CD players, in the form of a cassette with tape in it on which you could record music, for more info ask you parents.

For the rest of us, or at least those like myself that might still have a cassette player, you can, if you wish, obtain a cassette tape of the 'Awesome Mix Vol. 1', but apparently it's only available through retailers partnered with Record Store Day.  http://www.recordstoreday.com/

I know, it's a little thing, but I just love seeing a little retro action.  :)

Science Fiction to Science...

If you are a Trekkie like myself, or even if you are a casual fan of, or have even just seen a couple of episodes of any of the Star Trek series, you will easily recognize terms like Transporter, Warp Drive, Phaser, and many more of the various futuristic pieces of technology that the crew of the Star Ship Enterprise(and DS9 and Voyager) depended upon on a daily basis.  I myself love to see a new type of technology that comes which bares a striking resemblance in function to something that started long before as a sci-fi only bit of tech.  Cell phones vrs. Star Trek Communicators for instance, and over the last few years I've seen several other things that have become real life technology.  Remember the PADDs that Captain Picard was always using for reports and reading information and who knows what else?  Enter the IPad / Tablet.  Further to this list MIT has announced a programmable needle-less medication injector (Hypospray anyone?), Handheld Ultrasound scanners are now commonly used in ER's, and I've heard rumors that a version of a Holideck is starting to take shape.

I always find these sorts of stories amazing, and they always make me wonder "what's next?", hence the reason I was so excited when I saw the below noted story on the website of Krypton Radio (www.kryptonradio.com) earlier today.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

http://kryptonradio.com/2014/10/16/open-source-tricorder-nears-completion/

Review and thoughts on 'The Hallowed Hunt' by Lois McMaster Bujold

It has actually been several years since I read 'The Hallowed Hunt' by Lois McMaster Bujold, but it is a tale that has stayed with. So when I thought to state an opinion on this book, I decided it would be best to give it a fresh perusal.  At times we find when we go back to a book, that it is not always as we remember, it losses something, or it seems stale due to comparisons with other books.  With 'The Hallowed Hunt' though I found this not to be the case.  Lois McMaster Bujold brings the characters to life and allows you to empathize with them, even when you are not sure you like one or two of them.

The story itself is set amid a quiet political struggle, as the old King lays dying, and his younger son, who was rather crazed, has been slain.  It is Ingrey kin Wolfclif, a Lord who has no land or title due to an act of sorcery in which his Father involved him in as a child, who is sent to investigate the death.  Yet it seems the young Prince was involved in the same type of illicit sorcery, and the person who killed him is a young woman who claims self defense.  Now she has a secret like to that of Ingrey's, for this sorcery has bound the spirit of a Leopard inside of her, as Ingrey has bound to himself the spirit of a Wolf.  Yet what other secret is there about Ingrey, that even he does not realize himself?  And what is the secret carried by the Earl Wencel Horseriver who joins them on the road to the capital city, and how does it tie him together with Ingrey, long dead spirit warriors, and the Hallowed Kingship?

I highly recommend this novel for any fantasy fan who loves to delve into complex and unique magic, religious, and political systems.  If anyone out there has, or does in the near future, read this novel, please feel free to share your thoughts on it via the comments below.  

Free download of the award winning short story 'Brighid'

  If you have not had the chance to read my short story 'Brighid', it is currently available as a free download via Lulu Publishing.  Just go to this link http://bit.ly/1pxb80z and you can download it for free in ebook format, readable on nearly any type of ereader device, as well as PC and Mac computers.

'Brighid', by RD Williams, was originally published in 2007 as part of Donard Anthology, don't miss the chance to download a copy of this award winning short story for free.  Now available from lulu.com Free Download of 'Brighid'

Book review: 'The First King of Shannara' by Terry Brooks

This week I thought I would share my thoughts on 'The First King of Shannara' by Terry Brooks.

**Warning, possible light spoilers below.

Jerle Shannara, the Kingship of the Elves thrust upon him after the tragic destruction of the heart of the Royal family, finds his land and people in the deadliest peril. The Druid Bremen also stands against this peril, which threatens the lands of Dwarves and Men as well as the Elves.

Bremen, together with a small group of comrades, must somehow find the black elfstone and hide it from the deadly enemy that threatens them all, yet at the same time they struggle to rally the people of the free lands to stand against the armies of Trolls, Gnomes, and other dire creatures, led by the evil creatures known as Skullbearers. Their greatest hope against the leader of these deadly creatures is a mystical sword that Bremen aids in forging, combining the strength of magic and of science within its blade. Yet what is the mystical power that is held by this sword?

The First King of Shannara being the prequel to Terry Brooks' Shanarra series, has many foreshadows of the other books in the series within its pages. It is well written, if not as superb as some of the greatest, such as Tolkien, from whom Brooks seems to have found some of his greatest inspirations. An enjoyable read for any fantasy fan, and should be on the list of any fan of the Shanarra series, and I highly recommend it for any fan of fantasy adventure.

The book can be found on Amazon.com among other book sellers.

Zombies, zombies, zombies, a grumpy cat at Christmas and a live musical on...NBC???

Greetings everyone.  At least a couple times a week I take the virtual walk among the blogs, news sites, message boards, etc. that have the latest news in the world of movies, TV shows, books, comics, and other related items.  This week as I scrolled through various stories about the announcements of new TV series, such as the planned Supergirl coming to CBS, I found a couple other neat little gems that caught my eye.

Now, as anyone that has not been under a rock for the last few years can tell you, zombies and the undead are big BIG in movies and TV, for instance the popular Walking Dead, which I believe is about to begin it's 5th season.  Thus I was not surprised when I heard about the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies movie that is slated for 2015.  As for myself, I am not as firmly on the Zombie bandwagon, BUT, it seems that Matt Smith(formally of Doctor Who) has signed on for a role in the film.  Ok, NOW I am interested, so I think I'll be digging a little further as time goes on.  For those that are interested, there is a little more info here:  http://screenrant.com/pride-prejudice-zombies-doctor-who-matt-smith/

Next I stumble across a brief snippet that mentioned an upcoming musical production of Peter Pan that will be Live on NBC.  "Wait, did I read that right?  A LIVE musical on...NBC?"  Now, some of you may have heard of this already, but for me it was news that this is not NBC's first foray into the world of Live musicals  Credit points in my book for NBC for doing something a little different and spreading a little culture!  But, only vaguely interesting to me at the moment, on to the next...wait...did I see that right??  Christopher Walken as Captain Hook?!  That's right boys and girls, Christopher Walken as Captain Hook.  NOW they have my attention.  I have got to see what he does with this role, which by the way I myself think he will do wonderful in.  Here's the website for the venture for those that would like a little more info:  http://www.nbc.com/peter-pan-live

Then I move along through another couple of sites and hit the point at which I knew that I have now seen everything.  Now, we all know that there are tons of Christmas specials that have been(and continue to be) turned out over time.  Everything from classics to movies you have to see to believe that it's real.  This one falls somewhere close to the "have to see to believe" category I think.  This Christmas Grumpy Cat breaks away from the world of internet memes and jumps into the world of made for TV movies with "Grumpy Cat's Worst Christmas Ever".  That's right, that sour faced cat that has been all over the internet will have a Christmas special.

This makes me wonder, what's next?  Maybe the next step is Zombie Christmas movies.  Oh wait, I just remembered, we had that back in 1996, "The Munster's Scary Little Christmas"(not nearly as good as it could have been with the original Munsters cast but *shrug*).

So how about it guys and gals?  Any predictions on what's next to hit the world of TV movies?  Leave any ideas in the comments below.