Still New To The Dance…

Hey everyone!!!

My last two posts were movie reviews, and I know you’re probably like “Wait, WTH is she doing???” and I’ll tell you… I get bored very easily. It shames me to say, but with everything on my plate, there are still times when I have to just sit there and scream “I’M BORED!!!” and I have to do something different. I figure that if you guys and girls really want to get to know me, that’s something you should be on the look out for.

As for the title… for me, it’s a real confessions moment. I have written 2 novels, the first of which was so badly edited, I had to take it down… then there’s another that is on sale, but I’m doing the tortoise vs the snail thing here. A few friends of mine are all excited for me, they think that because I wrote a book I’m awesome (or maybe that’s just my delusion LOL). But what they don’t know is that I’m still new to this. Like… ALL of this. I’m no good at promotion. I get annoyed when I see people posting on twitter about their books like every other tweet… or I go onto message boards and they have people answering honest questions with “In my book…” I don’t think I could do that.

Then there are some people that are just like “Buy an add” well, here’s the problem… at this current day and time, that’s not possible. That’s also why I don’t have a professional editor… they’re expensive!! Then there is the whole figuring out the different formats for different devices… Really, it’s hard for a girl to figure out!

Anyway. I don’t want anyone to think that I’m just sounding off just to complain. No. I’m happy to say that I’m in the market for a beta reader. I’m trying to hit a few old fanfiction places and seeing if I can lure one of them to help me out. Then I’m trying to be more active on Twitter. I have about 65 followers and I ❤ each one dearly. Then there’s my facebook family! I’m gonna start getting in touch with them a lot more. OH! And there’s a few review blogs that I’m going to start lurking on, and seeing if I can get my stuff reviewed.

So I guess what I’m really trying to say is that I don’t want anyone to give up on me. I’m still trying to get the hang of this. Oh, and if anyone DOES have a hang on this (especially the formatting thing… Smashwords is killing me LOL) drop a line!!!

See ya in the funnies!!!!
Dawn

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Movie Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

I’ll start this by saying that I’ve have been a fan of this series from the beginning. I was there when the Black Pearl was a ship full of cutthroats looking for the blood kin of “Bootstrap” Bill Turner. I nearly cried (no comments from the peanut gallery please) when Captain Jack faced his fate against the Kraken… okay, I’ll confess, I did have a drink in his honor. I smiled and swooned as the romance between Will and Elizabeth blossomed… even if I didn’t like how it ended.

That being said, when I first heard about On Stranger Tides, I was skeptical. Everyone was pretty happy with the way the movies ended. Trilogies are better than a series that just needs to be put out to pasture. But then I started to see the trailers. I’ll admit, they worked. I was ready for this new direction Captain Jack was taking and I was ready to go search for the Fountain of Youth with him!!

Unfortunately, that was not what I got. What I watched was a long pirate movie. The energy Captain Jack had… the banter we had all come to know and love was nowhere to be found. There was no one there for Jack to play off of except for Angelica for most of the movie. While entertaining at first, I have to say… it got old… quick.

Along with the plot with Blackbeard, there are two more sub-plots. One with a priest falling in love with a mermaid and the other with the Spanish also in search of the Fountain of Youth. Neither one was brought out to its full potential, which is another disappointment.

I hate to sound like I’m slamming the movie. The effects were all on point, and the acting itself was really good. The chemistry between Penelope Cruz and Johnny Depp was there. In fact, if I’m being completely honest with you all, the fact that it’s Captain Jack Sparrow and this is supposed to be a Pirates of the Caribbean movie, this would have been a decent movie. But with the bar set so high by The Curse of the Black Pearl, this installment doesn’t fall short, it completely misses the mark. I promised myself that I would be fair when rating this movie… I wanted to love it, but really, I can’t.

Now I’m off to find the rum… (which there was NO mention of in the movie either)

Rating- 2.5 out of 5

Movie Review: Priest

Okay, now I normally blog about what I’m currently doing, and I’m thinking that I should include more than just my writing. So here it goes 😀

Today marked the release of the movie Priest. Now, if you know me (or listen to me rant for any real amount of time) I’m pretty much a fan girl for anything in the Anime/Manga world. For those of you that don’t know, Priest is supposed to be based off of a manga (Japanese… or in this case Korean comic). I had heard about it, but couldn’t find a good place to read it online or in the bookstores. So I’m flying blind when I walk into the movie theater.

I received a treat. It was dark and gritty (which I really like), a post-apocalyptic world where the Church has taken over and everyone needs a good shaking up (In case you’re wondering, I ADORE V for Vendetta). The characters were well acted and thought out. I personally enjoyed the fact that Stephen Moyer (Bill Compton in True Blood) was the brother of our hero only known to us as Priest.

Now I don’t want to give any spoilers. I don’t mind them, but I know too many people who hate them. So I’ll try to do this without giving too much away.

The opening prologue states that since the beginning of time Humans and Vampires have been at war with one another. They were well on their way to destroying each other when the Church came up with the concept of Priests. These were specially bred men and women that were charged with hunting and taking out the demonic Vampires. Once the dust settled, Vampires were herded into concentration camps, and the Priests were disbanded and rehabilitated back into normal society. Naturally, because all Priests and Priestess were tattooed on their faces, even the general population were terrified of them.

From there, a plot begins to unravel. A family is attacked by Vampires and a girl is taken… she just happens to be the niece of one of the best Priests that survived the Great War (Paul Bettany). From there it is a race to rescue her from being infected by their bite. Little does Priest, the sheriff Hicks (Cam Gigandet) and Priestess (Maggie Q) know, there is another, larger plot being put together by a villain known as Black Hat (Karl Urban).

I won’t go into the plots that are/aren’t there. As a fan of movies, I enjoyed the action and the way the story flowed. Some things were a little simple to me, but I tend to think that it’s because with my warped mind, I expect twisted twists and turns. The movie also left us with closure for this line. But there are enough openings that another movie could be made if this one is received well. I hope it is. Paul Bettany was excellent as Priest… and I’ll admit, I’m a woman folks… Karl Urban was HOT as a villain…

Overall, I enjoyed this movie. When it comes out on DVD I’ll be there buying it. I’m also pretty sure that there will be a few Manga purists that will be yelling at me saying “WTH?!?!? That movie was nothing like the manga” I’ll say again, I never read the Manga… I’m judging only the movie.

Rating: 4 out of 5

That’s all from me today!!! Thanks for reading!!!
Dawn!!!

Down, But Not Out…

Hey everyone, Dawn here.

I know I try to keep my blog up beat, but this is something that’s been pretty hard for the past few weeks. I know I’m not a well-known author, and I probably never will be, but pouring my heart out into these pages, and I’m getting NOTHING to show for it. No sales, no reviews, no recognition… it’s kinda depressing.

I’m trying to keep on the bright side. I’m up to 60 Followers on Twitter… I think I may start taking part in the #FF thing… if I can figure it out. Then there’s the pages on Facebook… that’s 39-40 fans strong (depending on the day) Which is really cool and I adore each of my fans. I don’t know, I think I was hoping that I’d have more than 3 reviews by now. I was also kinda hoping that I wouldn’t be #290,439 in the kindle store.

Now, I know the writer’s road is a hard one. I’m not turning my back on it. I tried a couple of times before and nearly had a couple of breakdowns. But just when I was thinking I could make a list of authors that don’t suck, these wonderful thoughts creep into my head. I’m trying to ignore them… they’ll go away in a little while.

Anyway!!! I am currently working on my Angels and Devils line. I had to go back to square one with this one, and I’m up to chapter 2. I think I’m going to keep thanking the beautifully talented Christina Perri for writing the song “Jar of Hearts” it is the true inspiration behind Lucien and Ashley’s relationship.

And now that I have either depressed you or bored you, I get to say I had an AWESOME Mother’s Day weekend. Saw Thor, have the house to myself and my daughter is waiting on me hand and foot. I think I’ll be back to trying to get on that list tomorrow LOL.

Goodnight Folks!!!! I’ll catch you all next time!!!
Dawn 8)