Mind Sieve 4/25/21

Jacques Cover	News/Musings
Mini Movie/TV Reviews	Book Mockup

Greetings, all!
Life happened so the rhythm I’d gotten into went out the window. Let’s see if I can get back on track! 😁

The newsletter peeps voted and below is the cover I’ll be using for the 10K novelette called “Jacques.” The novelette will be a free gift for anyone leaving a review for Black Jade once it’s released. (Want to vote or get things early? Subscribe!)

News/Musings

The Black Jade – A Daiyu Wu Mystery edit is complete. ✨ Huzzah!

Charles Bernard, my cover artist, finished his read-through (he actually reads the novel before he works on a cover! That’s dedication!) and should have some renderings for me to look at in a week or two. Squee!

Pre-orders are live for B&N and Kobo as those don’t hurt sales number algorithms and will count as release date sales. Amazon doesn’t work the same way, so I will be putting it there for pre-order around 5/20/21 once I have the cover. (Can only do the ebook for pre-order, so trade paperbacks will be live on 6/20/21.)
Publishing is a giant juggling act. 🤹‍♀‍ Lol. (Not for the faint of heart!) 😆

The back Matter for the novel is below. (Trying to shamelessly whet your appetite!) 😆

I plan to share some sample chapters as the live date approaches. Bwahahaha!

Black Jade – A Daiyu Wu Mystery

Could an old-fashioned ballgown be used to commit murder?

Daiyu Wu is aware that fear of the Yellow Terror has made her nationality a rare breed in the Lone Star State. Being Chinese and blind makes her doubly unique in 1930 Dallas. Despite these impediments, anyone who dismisses her for either fact does so at their peril.

One day, at her family-owned laundry business, Dai detects the scent of burned garlic. With the help of her companion, Jacques, the source is soon discovered. It is a green ballgown. The gown has money pinned inside it to pay for the cleaning, but oddly, it came with no address label to identify its owner. Her extensive knowledge leads Dai to believe someone has committed murder using arsenic. The perpetrator is trying to use White Laundry to hide the evidence. But no mention of foul play turns up in the newspapers, and there’s not enough proof to convince the police there’s been a crime.

Her curiosity and intellect stimulated like never before; Dai ignores the possible consequences and sets out to solve the mystery with the help of her canine companion, Prince Razor, and her confidant, Jacques Haskins. It’s either that or let the killer get away with it — assuming a spoiled popinjay, his jealous self-appointed girlfriend, and Dai’s overprotective parents don’t get in her way.

A Daiyu Wu Mystery – Book 1

Life likes to throw curves at people when they least expect it, and yours truly is no exception. My new life challenge is:

GOUT!

Yep, super excited about this one – NOT. 😜 Hubby has had gout for years, so I had a feeling that might be what my problem was. Originally, I thought I’d sprained my foot and tried to baby it for a few days. But then I ate some Beef Broccoli and the foot got super sensitive to the touch – this gave me the hint. An emergency room visit later, they confirmed it. 😭

Time for the old saying: “When life throws you lemons, make lemonade!” Now I just need to figure out how to do that. 😜

Movie/TV Mini Reviews 🎥

I’m pretty sure I’ve not always been consistent with the number of stars, so I figured if I add a key here, it will help me stay on track. 🤞
★ – 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 Courier

Benedict Cumberbatch is back! A film based on actual events, it follows businessman Greville Wynne as he gets recruited as a courier for a Russian defector and the friendship forged between the two men. The pacing may seem a little slow, but watching all the moving pieces is rather fascinating. Great performances by all involved.

Rating: ★★★★ out of 5 (Hubby’s Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission)

Nobody

Crazy action flick these guys obviously had a blast making. Loads of action scenes. Christopher Lloyd added an unexpected but way too much fun angle to the film. Previews give some of the secrets away, but that won’t stop the fun. Definitely not for kids due to the graphic nature of some of the violence.

Rating: ★★★.75 out of 5 (Hubby’s Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission)

Godzilla vs. Kong

I am a sucker for all things Godzilla. Unlike the original from 1962-63, he has no help, so the filmmakers give him a nifty ax. They also deepen the mysteries showing that prior civilizations supported the giant creatures as well as the concept of a hollow Earth. Lots of great special effects and cool visuals. Don’t look at the science too closely and just enjoy the ride!

Rating: ★★★.75 out of 5 (Hubby’s Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission) No additional scenes at the End. 😥

Voyagers

Decent effects and some chilling moments if you can ignore the flawed premise. (All the kids are giving drugs daily to suppress emotions – that will not help with three generations. It will affect too many things to count. And originally no adult was to go along at all?) They also took a couple of shortcuts for convenience (sorry, hull doors have manual overrides on BOTH sides), and if you’re using CGI and show super long hallways, why not do the same with the hydroponics area? The lab is so small, it wouldn’t feed anyone for long. Heh. Still, it was entertaining.

Rating: ★★★.5 out of 5 (Hubby’s Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission)

Wanda Vision

If you can get a hold of this limited series, I highly recommend it. For older folks, or those who grew up with Nickelodeon, prepare yourselves for a nostalgic trip into TV Land. The true plot of what is going on doesn’t show itself until episode 4, so stick with it. (Hubby bailed on it – his loss! 😝) Multiple plots all slowly coalescing. Several surprises and even hints of what we can expect in the Marvel Universe in the future. Best of all, it brings Wanda to her true persona as the Scarlet Witch. Booyah!

Rating: ★★★★.25 out of 5

The Nevers

Joss Whedon is BACK! Woot! I’ve only seen a couple of episodes so far, but I am loving it. In 1893 an alien spacecraft passed over London and came apart. Falling energy gave some of the populace powers. Yet almost everyone forgot about the ship as soon as it was gone. Six years later, women are the ones known for having strange powers. The government has ignored them up to now, but a lunatic calling herself Maladie has been killing gentlemen, so they can’t turn a blind eye any longer. A group of women has been using their powers to help those manifesting, but there are several other groups with their own agendas starting to come to the fore.

Rating: ★★★★ out of 5 So far! (Hubby’s Rating: Thumbs Up!)