Mind Sieve 7/16/21

Table of Contents

News/Musings
StoryOrigin Swap
Mini Movie Reviews
Movie Previews

Greetings!

I hope you’re having a great summer! It’s getting scorching out there. 🔥 Now if I could only get my back muscles to behave. 😝 I want to write!

News/Musings

Black Jade Book Tour and Giveaway July 12-July 18, 2021

There’s still time to join the fun and get a free copy of Black Jade! This has been put together by the great folks at Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours! There are a few days left, so why not visit these fine folks. 😁

 

Black Jade Blog Book Tour

The Url with all the details is here.

BLACK JADE TOUR PARTICIPANTS

July 12 – Novels Alive – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

July 12 – Ruff Drafts – SPOTLIGHT

July 13 – Baroness’ Book Trove – CHARACTER INTERVIEW

July 13 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

July 14 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT

July 14 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

July 15 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW

July 15 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT

July 16 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT

July 16 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT

July 17 – Here’s How It Happened – REVIEW

July 17 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – SPOTLIGHT

July 18 – I Read What You Write – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

July 18 – #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog – SPOTLIGHT

Over at Goodreads, reviews are at 25 ratings and 24 written reviews. The average rating at the moment is 4.28 out of 5 stars. 😁 YES!

Over at Amazon, it has hit 10 reviews! Booyah! All those weeks of contacting reviewers are paying off. 😁

Work continues on Book 2. It is tentatively titled White Gold! I’ve got most of the main items figured out and a possible theme. I have not been able to write as much as I’ve wanted to though. 😭

I am trying to see if I can swap every week between WIPs so Breaking Dawn Cleaners will also get some love. My back muscle is not helping with writing though. I’m pushing to try to start some exercises to strengthen the thing. Wish me luck!!!!!

This month I am trying some other new things, too. I caved and joined StoryOrigin. It’s a multi-purpose site where authors can swap newsletter mentions, do group promotions, create universal purchase links, and more.

I’m trying to check anyone I am swapping with, so I don’t share anything that doesn’t look like good quality on you, plus it gives you a chance at freebies! The groups I am joining at the moment will be free books for reviews. But this time around, I am doing a newsletter swap. I decided to include it in the blog post as well. See below!

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StoryOrigin Swap!

Darkest Depths by Yolanda Allard

Do you want to know why you’ve never heard of real live mermaids? Because I killed them all. Just kidding, that’s just what I’m trying to do. Mermaids, unfortunately, are real, and they’re smart. Smart enough to stay out of reality TV. But they’re not red-headed nor wonder-struck.

They’re evil.

In every sense of the word. From their razor-sharp teeth to their gelatinous tail. Their main source of nourishment is you, your delicious human flesh. And they can look just like you.

Unless you happen to notice the reflective sheen in their eyes or the fangs that come out right before they eat you alive. It’s my mission to kill every last one, and then hopefully, maybe, save your butt… if I have time. So, do us both a favor, stay out of my way. Stay in the sunshine where they can’t travel. I and the other hunters have got the nights covered and soaked in the black blood of mermaids.

Regards,
Harper Hatchet, Mermaid Hunter

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!

Fast and Furious 9

Fast and Furious 9

F9 was a bit of a disappointment. The over the top stunts and the needed suspension of disbelief are a given, so that wasn’t their issue. The problem was with the plot and character motivations. While they tried to explain Dom’s brother and their competitive natures, the explanations didn’t jive with what was going on. His brother becoming a rogue agent didn’t fit the motivations shown and no explanations were ever given. The money guy went from one partner to another, but nothing in the film supported this move. Also, during one of the sequences in an enemy vehicle, all the people we’d seen inside it, weren’t there when Dom goes from room to room. They’ve definitely done better. 😭

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

Boss Baby: Family Business

Boss Baby: Family Business

This sequel to Boss Baby explores several family-related themes. The babies are adorable! The ninja kids are super awesome! (I have a soft spot for ninjas.) There are several teary moments and “ahhh” moments, as well as one of the creepiest girls EVER! The pony was a hoot. But where it fell short was the bad guy. The acting and secret were great, but they showed no foundations on how he could do what he did. He did not belong to Baby Corp, so they never cover how he was able to talk or act like an adult. If you can ignore that, the film is rather fun.

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

 

Black Widow

Black Widow

Despite being shelved for several years, the film was worth the wait. A couple of points will seem off at the beginning but make sense later as more information is revealed. All the fights and stunts are awesome. The interplay between the characters was great. Several teary-eyed moments. One extra scene at the very end of the credits. It soured the experience a little for me, as I could not believe Yelena would be doing the work they imply after all the family went through. Guess I will have to wait for the next film to see what they do with this. 😝 But, overall, it was a lot of fun!

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

Movie Previews 🎥

 

Turning Red – Teaser trailer – looks awesome! Lol. Love the tagline – “Growing up is a beast.” 😋

Hotel Transylvania 4 – I LOVE the premise! LOL. Some of the monsters get turned into humans. Bwahahahahahaha!

The Suicide Squad – appears like the original is being rebooted. Looks great so far. I will be seeing it purely for Harley and King Shark! (Voiced by Sylvester Stallone) (Yes, a character that is literally a walking shark!) He looks awesome! Oh! Nathan Fillion is in this! Sweet!

Venom: Let there be Carnage – Yes! A Venom 2 movie! Sweet! Loved all the snark in the first one. Hee!

Have a great weekend!!!

See you in a couple of weeks!

 

Gloria