The Planet Of Perpetual Twilight- Flash Fiction

photo credit: We are Fires in the Night! via photopin (license)

Nellie walked along the rocky terrain, peering through the darkness, watching the horizon carefully. It had been almost three months since she came to Nostra with the main research team. Not once had they seen so much as a sunrise.

As far as her eye could see, all she saw were rocks and short mountains. Members of her team had gone out on many treks this past year and that's all they ever found, more rocks and more mountains. A cool breeze tickled softly past her neck, blowing her short hair back ever so slightly.

She shivered. This whole planet gives me the creeps!

Sure, they found water here, but you had to dig a well to get to it. As for light, the one essential thing for plant growth, the cloud cover was dense enough to block out most of the light here. The team resorted to using artificial light sources to help break up the perpetual twilight. That is, when the daily solar flares weren’t interrupting their power sources.

Just a few more months! I’ll be happy to get off this rock!

"Have you seen them yet?" A colleague asked, striding up behind her.

"No, Alexi, I haven't. Any word on the radio?" Nellie asked.

"No, the radio is down again." Alexi answered.

"Ugh, go figure." Nellie rubbed her hands over her sleeves vigorously to fight off the chill.

All of their clothes were made with built in thermal materials designed to keep Earth's arctic winds out. Yet here, where the temperature was barely below 65, a slight breeze could chill you to the bone in no time.

What I wouldn't do for a hot summer beach and a margarita right now!

"Go on in and warm up, I'll keep watch." Alexi suggested.

Nellie turned to walk toward their base camp. She’d only made it half way when the breeze came through again. This time, she thought she felt icy cold fingers brush past the side of her neck. She whirled back toward Alexi in shock.

She saw him, at the bottom of their little hill, right where she left him.

“Um Alexi,” She called out.

“Yeah, what is it?” He called back without turning towards her.

“Nothing, I just...”

The breeze came again.

This time Nellie could have sworn it felt like she had been shoved. She landed on her backside, rocks skittering away from her.

“Nellie quit fooling around!” Alexi groaned.

“I’m not. I...” She stuttered.

Nellie stood and brushed herself off.

This time it was Alexi’s turn to be knocked off his feet.

But how could Alexi be knocked down by the wind and she didn’t feel even a breeze this time?

Wispy streams of light appeared between them, seemingly floating on the wind. As Alexi stood up the streams of light bowled him back to the ground. He sat up wide eyed and waved at Nellie to run.

“Either this planet doesn’t want us here or something is here with us!”

This post is part of the 52 week flash fiction challenge on facebook
Week 50 word prompt: Haunted
Word Limit: 20- 500

Yep I started the challenge late but it looked too fun not to jump right on in.

This one tops out right at 497 words.

An Alien Birthday- Flash Fiction

I've decided to take a crack at this month's 15 to 50 Flash fiction challenge. I'm still not sure if I am doing these right but, I'm writing, so it's a good thing either way!

 I wanted to throw a science fiction spin on it and write something with some brand new characters. but this month's combo just had me stuck for now. So instead I talked with some old characters. Happy reading ;)

Photo Copyright: Shailaja V

February's Word prompt: Eternal

Phrase Prompt: Circle of life

Picture Prompt: Cake->

 “Whats the point of a birthday?” Rivi levitated a lit candle above her hand, staring at the flickering flame.

“Its a circle of life thing, you made it through another year.” Dan reasoned.

“I don’t know when I was born.”

“What about the day you started life with the Aunantet?”

 Linking this to the Fiction Challenge ‘From 15 to 50′

Would you like to try your hand at writing a story or poem in 15-50 words? You can either click on The Moving Quill above and submit your link OR post your short right into the comments here. I don't mind. I'd love to read them!



***

Find The Alien Mind on Amazon!

Did you like this post? If so you might enjoy my book!

For adults and teens alike, it is truly a science fiction adventure for the whole family!

If you'd prefer an autographed copy straight from the author you can buy one here as well!
Autographed Copy:$13.00 + Shipping

 

The Portal

photo credit: darkday. via photopin cc

Today I thought I would try something different on my blog. I'm going to post a picture and the first sentence and we are going to write a story together! All you need to do is watch the comments thread down below and add the next sentence in the story in a comment of your own. With each person replying with the next sentence in the story I am sure this will get really interesting fast!

So... lets start with:




Enriel had lived in the town of Lanta all of her life, this was the first time she knew of that anything like this had ever happened here.


What's the next sentence?

What Advancement Do You Want To See In The Future?

photo credit: Mr Wabu via photopin cc

Time to give you a chance to speculate among the stars!

So... you've been given a time machine to use- just to peek into the future once and then come home.

New things are being invented every day! New ideas are coming to life which will change the future we are headed for.

What advancement would you most like the future to have?

A cure for something?

Warp Drives?

Colonies on other planets?


While you are at it... check out this article about the worlds first truly heartless man who has no pulse yet lives! The Wonders of Technology!

When You Cant Find Anything To Wear In Your Dresser

What is a girl to do? There's not a thing in my dresser that I feel like wearing today, so instead, I decided to look into my husbands dresser!

Mini geek rant alert: Why is it that the GUY section always has the coolest geek shirts and the women's section gets stuck with M&M's and cartoon characters?

Seriously! I wanna wear an Iron Man or Dr. Who T-shirt from time to time! Yeah sure... my hubby's T's are a tad baggy on me... but hey! Its a sci fi shirt! Who's complaining!

So friends and family... I've deliberately left the bottom of this picture out of the shot because the show title is on the bottom.

Who can tell me what franchise this T-Shirt is from? Extra points if you can tell me what specific movie in the franchise! ;)


And no- I don't typically go running around taking selfies of myself. I moved over to a new phone yesterday, the Motorola Maxx and I'm having fun trying out all the new things and trying to get comfortable with a new phone again. The screen is much bigger than my old LG and it feels thin in my hand without the rubber bumper slip on protector that I had on my LG. The only problem that I am having with this phone so far is finding a protective case for it that FITS and that I like. I still don't see how those snap on hard cases protect the phones much...

Altering Spaghetti To Accommodate A Toddler

V.L. Jennings' Spaghetti

Growing up in my later years I discovered that I wasn't very fond of spaghetti. It took more work to eat it than most foods- I mean really... who wants to eat half a plate of spaghetti with sauce and the other half with a bland sorta 'no more sauce' taste? A lot of work goes into getting the proper sauce to noodle ratio on each spoon! Then you add in the fact that apparently tomato sauce just tasted really acidic to me, the same reason I dislike ketchup (and yet I LOVE hot sauce... how does that work?).

However, when you are trying to cook family meals on a budget, spaghetti is still awesome in a pinch.

When my husband and I married he came with two kids- ready made family. One was 2 almost 3 when we married and the other was 6. The oldest came with a bunch of medical issues, one of which being fine motor skills. What this boiled down to was having two kids in the house with the dexterity of a toddler.

At first I tried chopping the spaghetti up... yeah that went over well *sarcasm*. Not that they pitched a fit or anything, they just really didn't enjoy eating it. So I took a bite... and discovered that chopping up the spaghetti so fine may have made it easier to pick up but was BLAH as far as chewing texture goes.

Add that into the fact that noodles sliding all over the mouth leaves sauce all over the face... cute to some parents sure- I could see the appeal. Until I discovered that eldest's face would sport a red rash the next morning from the sauce. I thought about nixing spaghetti and pizza all together until I realized that she would only have a reaction if she made a mess of it on her face. If it all made it into her mouth... no problems at all.

Next time I decided to try using elbow noodles instead- SUCCESS!!!

From there, I was even more determined to tweak the sauce recipe to get just the right amount of flavor and enjoyment out of it. Heck, if I'm going to be working over a stove to make this than it better be enjoyable to eat even for the cook!

I was raised on the walmart brand of jar'd spaghetti sauce, it was the cheapest, and I am on a budget so I stuck with that as a base. I also wanted something to cut down on the tang of the tomato taste in the spaghetti sauce. Walking through the spaghetti isle I noticed the jars of alfredo... Why not! Lets try that and see how that tastes!

TONS better!

Fast forward to the end of 2014... hamburger meat is sky high... and strangely enough sausage is CHEAPER than hamburger meat (where before hamburger was cheaper). So to save money on my spaghetti dinner I opted for two lbs of sausage instead of my usual hamburger.

Ok... now I have total yumness!

I may eventually go back to using spaghetti noodles but for now my third child is 3 soon to be four, (*cries* is it really that time already!) and he loves the elbows!

V.L. Jennings' Spaghetti

1- 16oz box of elbow noodles
1- small jar of alfredo sauce
1 extra large jar (66oz) and one medium jar (45 oz) of your choice spaghetti sauce
2lbs of sausage (I like to do one spicy, one regular or one regular, one sage)

Brown spaghetti sauce and boil noodles/drain. Mix sauce, sausage, and alfredo in one big pot. Makes two dinner nights for 5 people!

PS If you are here wondering how my Crock Pot Ham turned out... 

Well I am happy to report that it was, fall of the bone, absolutely AWESOME! I ended up cooking it for 5 hours on high- I had an appointment so I didn't get back till then. However, I believe it may have been done around 4 hours.

It was SO juicy that I could shred it easily with just ONE fork!

Each bite was full of flavor and SO super succulent! It was a big success with my kids and my husband. Plus I even have some left over that I think I will shred into some mac n cheese for tonight's meal!


Anyhow- I hope you enjoyed these recipe's! Stay tuned... there's no telling what sorts of things I will go exploring or altering next!

Do you have a recipe you've altered that you would like to share? Tell us about it in the comments! I love to try new dishes!

Mad Scientist Mac N Cheese and Crock Pot Ham

Crock Pot Ham!

One of the key things about 'exploring human potential' is the desire to learn something new. To create something, to try to figure things out. Here I am, diving into the unknown again with some real world speculating!

Lately I have been experimenting with different recipes, combining the elements I like and subtracting the ones I don't like as I mix different recipes together. It can be tricky mixing recipes together, I always try to take a moment to mentally predict how each ingredient will interact with the others before I jump into the recipe. Now, I did this all on Christmas day... but if you are not that gutsy you may want to make this for a regular meal before you make it for company.

My original OVEN recipe called for just one cup of milk but the noodles were also supposed to be cooked before being added.

The first new crock pot recipe I had called for the elbow noodles to be cooked before they went into the crock pot and I wanted to avoid that. That recipe called for 3/4c of milk and 2 eggs. (The eggs didn't sound appetizing here so I ditched those)

Another crock pot recipe that DID call for uncooked noodles asked for 2.5 c milk and 12 oz of evaporated milk. This recipe also called for cream cheese- which would have made the mixture softer but we preferred the thick cheese texture anyhow. I was also afraid the cream cheese would have made the mixture a bit more sweet then we were used to.

Ultimately I mainly used my original baked mac recipe but added the evap milk and regular milk, as per the other recipes, in order to modify it so that I could avoid pre-cooking the noodles and do the whole thing in the crock pot.

My whole family loved this recipe! It was a big success!

My Crock Pot Mac used:

16 oz of uncooked elbow noodles
two cans of condensed cheddar cheese soup
a lb of shredded cheese
2 and a half cup of milk
and one 12oz can of evaporated milk.

Cook on low for 2.5 - 3 hours in crockpot. May stir at the 2 hr mark to check.

CROCK POT BAG recommended! Makes clean up way easier.



Today I am attempting to cook a Ham in the crock pot.... its an uncooked ham which I've never attempted to cook before.

I put a layer of brown sugar and mustard in the bottom of the crock pot. Set the ham flat side down in the crock pot. Put brown sugar, mustard and on a whim I added some vinegar over the top. Lid on and because I intend to eat it tonight I am cooking it on High and hoping it is done in about 6.5 hours.

*fingers crossed* I'll let you know how it turns out!

Tomorrow... if I remember, I will share with you my alterations for spaghetti!

Just Finished The Final Season Of Star Trek Voyager

Loved this crew!

My husband, my kids, and I have all been watching Star Trek Voyager over dinner on most nights, thank you Netflix for having them all send to our house by disk! So far we have watched the Original Series (Capt. Kirk), Next Generation (Picard), and now Voyager (Janeway). When I was a teen I watched all of the 'Enterprise' (Capt. Archer) episodes as well. I can't say yet with honesty that I enjoy any of the editions over the others yet but I do have one confession to make...

I think the final episode of Voyager season 7 truly takes the prize for best finale ever!

One of my favorite things about watching the Star Trek series' is watching the crews grow, and learn, and discover their own potential. Seven went from being a Borg drone to being completely free of the collective and learned what it means to be human again. The Doctor explored what it means to be a sentient life form in holographic form, and even asked himself whether he would ever want to become human given the chance. Tom grew out of his rebellious ways, and even Tuvok learned to make friends even with the illogical Neelix.

Season 7 wrapped up all the stories from all the main crew members and in the end every story ended in a satisfactory way.  Seven of Nine found someone to have a relationship with. Tuvok got his cure. B'lana and Tom got to have the doctor birth their baby. We find out that Harry Kim may eventually become a captain of his own ship, and the Doctor may eventually pick a name for himself and perhaps even get married; all of this being up in the air of course since they rewrote time again but... check it out and you'll see!

Yeah its all a bit Timey Wimey but we've also been keeping up with all the Doctor Who episodes so we are totally used to all that.

I'd have to say the only thing I was disappointed by is the fact that 7of 9 didn't finish her codiscot game (or however you spell that) with Neelix, AND the fact that they left him behind. I am glad that he found the rest of his people and a family, and I guess if Star Fleet can communicate with voyager on the rare occasion than they can still keep in touch with Neelix too.

So overall, unlike the series finale of 'Enterprise', I was very satisfied with the way Voyager ended.

And I'm not the only one who loves Voyager! Author Travis Simmons has even gone against the typical geek grain and professed his love for Capt. Janeway on his blog along with a pretty well thought out list as to why he enjoys Captain Janeway over the other Star Trek captains!

We've been dipping back into re-watching the episodes of Smallville from the beginning, and Breaking Bad (though the kids don't watch Breaking Bad with us of course). We are also anxiously awaiting the new season of Doctor Who, Green Arrow, and Walking Dead.

Its a great time to be a geek! :P

Review of Star Trek TNG and Doctor Who story Assimilation 2

Assimilation 2 Vol 1 Image from Amazon.com

Assimilation 2 Vol 2 Image from Amazon.com

My hubby gave me books for Christmas! Not just any books, graphic novels! (- funny story, I once had someone ask me if 'graphic novels' were too 'adult' for children.... umm- unless otherwise stated, graphic novels are just comics made into book form.)

 These particular graphic novels are part one and two of Assimilation 2 (not quite sure what assimilation 1 entailed, but that is neither here nor there). Assimilation 2 is a mashup of the characters from Star Trek Next Generation (for those non Trekkies out there.... that's Captain Picard's timeline) and the characters from Doctor Who during 12's (bowtie doctor) regeneration. Also found in this story line are the 4th Doctor (long scarf doctor) along with Captain Kirk and crew. In this story line the Cybermen team up with the Borg to attack and attempt to assimilate Captain Picard's universe.

For the Trekkie and Whovian that I am I absolutely LOVED this story! It felt just like every other Doctor Who episode. Complete with a few jumps back and forward in time and the Enterprise crew getting a peek into the Tardis- "Yep, its bigger on the inside!" It was also hilarious to find that both The Doctor and the Cybermen were impressed by Data who even manages to save the Tardis from the Borg!

I won't go into further detail here as it would spoil the story but it really was an entertaining read!

 If you'd like to check it out for yourself you can find it on amazon.com in both e-book and paperback- I'd personally recommend the paperback copy! http://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Next-Generation-Doctor-ebook/dp/B009H8LUZ0

Hubby also gave me a book of Sherlock Holmes puzzles- when I finish that one I'll be sure to let you know how it was! It's intriguing so far!

Turbo Roaster Review

Turbo Roaster Box image from Walmart.com

My husband gifted me a Turbo Roaster for Christmas about two years ago. I like to try something out thoroughly before I write up a review for it. Honestly, I love this thing! I've used it about 5 times so far. The Turbo Roaster has made my holidays so much more enjoyable and cooking so much more efficient!

I cook a turkey for both Thanksgiving and Christmas most years. Typically this entails getting up at the crack of dawn to put the turkey in the oven while everyone is asleep. Finding a way to get it in the oven without waking up my kids on Christmas morning has always been a major hurdle.

No longer! I haven't gotten around to timing the cooking EXACTLY due to various holiday distractions... but I do know that the cooking time is cut in HALF! I no longer wake up at the crack of dawn to prepare my turkey. This year I was up by 8 and the 17lb turkey was done in about two hours! Normally I am finished with all my other cooking and waiting on my turkey to finish so we can eat dinner. This year- my turkey sat cooling while I rushed around to finish the rest of my cooking!

Tony Chachere's Injectable Turkey Marinade
 image from Walmart.com

Most of the time the turkey seasonings you add to the outside only help flavor the top little bit of the turkey meat. I've tried and tried and tried again and no matter how I prepped it my turkey always ended up dry on the inside. Using the Turbo Roaster, along with Tony Chachere's Injectable Turkey Marinade made my turkey come out very juicy and flavorful. Even the cold leftovers were finger licking good!

What is the Turbo Roaster?

Its a glass jar attached to a curvy metal tube with a canning lid and a plastic gasket. You fill the jar with water, attach the lid/tube set up and stick the end of it in the turkey before cooking. The oven heats up the water and causes steam to rise through the tube and cook the turkey from the inside while the oven cooks the turkey from the outside. Thereby cutting cooking time in half.

It does work with a stuffed turkey... just not as well.

Tips on using the Turbo Roaster

-I use a turkey pan rack to elevate my bird so that the jar can sit mostly flat in the oven- this helps.
-Leave the turkey unstuffed for best results (though I have done it both ways)
-Put glass jar directly on stove rack- it does not need a pan under it.

-*DO NOT FILL (even with HOT WATER) until the jar has cooled!

Ok... so for the bad news...

The jar on my turbo roaster smashed this Christmas... my own stupid fault- I forgot to let the jar cool before refilling it with hot water -.-

See... I did know better... the instructions are really rather clear on this point. However, I was battling a sinus infection and apparently my brain was all mush from it. (It even took me three separate tries to figure out how many chairs and plates we needed at the table- that's how bad my head felt.)

And now the jar for my turbo roaster sits on my counter in two pieces. *facepalm!*

So... now for some Real World Speculating

The jar mouth for the turbo roaster is the same size as a regular canning jar. So, I'm wondering if I could just switch out the broken jar with a regular wide mouthed canning jar instead. To know that I needed to look up online as to whether the canning jars could even be put in the oven or not.

That's when I stumbled on this Pie in a Jar recipe:

Single serving pie in a jar recipe

Seriously... even if you don't plan on cooking your pies in a jar, you just HAVE to check out these pictures! Tiny pies! The cuteness!

My favorite is when the blogger slides the baked pie right out of the jar and onto the plate- UBER CUTENESS!

Anyhow... Apparently you CAN put mason jars in the oven.

So next year (or the next time I cook a whole bird) I will swap out the broken jar for an ordinary canning jar and be sure to come back and report the results to you!

If it doesn't work, oh well... I will certainly buy another Turbo Roaster! 

Expanding Your Pool Potential

photo credit: photosbyflick via photopin cc

Ever wanted to learn how to play pool? This handy piece of technology actually helps show and thereby teach you all the numerous angles and trajectories needed in order to make the perfect shot at the pool table! Not only do you get to play the game but you can show others how you made the shot too!

There was a scene on Star Trek once (I believe) where Spock had managed to send every ball to their pockets all in one shot- because he knew the geometry and the angles needed. I've always wondered if this was actually possible!

Post by Willy Foo - Photographer, Marketer, Technopreneur.

Wrapping Oddly Shaped Presents And Expanding Your Mind

photo credit: Randy Auschrat via photopin cc

You are on your own if you try to wrap a guinea pig!

What better way to exercise your brain and increase your own human potential than to learn some new origami this holiday season! I know how to make an origami frog, which comes in handy when trying to entertain your little kiddos, but this is really useful! Want to wrap that really odd shaped present?

Like, maybe you are that super cool parent that got their kid a model Millennium Falcon for Christmas! (yeah, we know you really bought it so you could play with it too!)

 Look what I found on! The Meredith Vieira Show  This is an awesome way to solve this problem!

Post by The Meredith Vieira Show.

Book Drive! Books Needed!

Hey everyone! I've got some exciting news to share with you today! PDMI Publishing LLC has just opened their very own bookstore in Albertville Alabama. They are the only bookstore in town and the only bookstore in a 30 mile radius! Now... for the news YOU will like! They are looking for donations of NEW and Gently used books... Do you have a bookshelf full of books you'd like to unload? You'll need more space to put all of your brand new books from Christmas after all!

Are you an author wanting to expand your reach and wouldn't mind donating a book to help start up this independent bookstore?

Please send your donated books to:

 PDMI Publishing, LLC
7032 Hwy 431
Albertville Alabama 35950

Reviewing Jasmines Got Talent

Book Description:

Jasmine the miniature-schnauzer returns in another dreamy adventure! In this one, she's going to show off her talent and maybe win a prize! Join her as she takes the stage in third Jasmine Dreams book.

***** 5 Stars! Perfectly Delightful! *****

I give Jasmine's Got Talent 5 stars for quality, entertainment, and adorable illustrations!
Jasmine's Got Talent is a charming and delightful story written for young children by author Maria Rochelle. This book features awesome 'squeal worthy' illustrations by illustrator Jo Linsdell. My favorite of the characters was the cat, Diamond! Jasmine will surely inspire your little ones to want to be the star of the show too!



Find out more here!

Kindle http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PO3Y3JM

Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23593299-jasmine-s-got-talent

Author website: http://writermariarochelle.blogspot.com

Illustrator website: http://www.JoLinsdell.com

Rounding Up 150 Children With Math

Children chart

Who's up for another fan extra?
I'm working on a sequel to The Alien Mind, but in order to do so I needed to back track some math to try to figure out how many kids are on the scene, how many are needing to be found, and which ones are available to be rounded up from other scenes. This got so complicated I needed two sheets of notes and three tally mark charts; talk about some writer problems! It was so confusing pulling this all together that I thought you all might enjoy a bit of a peek!


In The Alien Mind an alien group called the Aruk kidnap 150 children originally. During the original captivity and before the Aunantet rescue the children a girl is killed during when her and Rivi are trying to escape, leaving 149 children (including Rivi). At the beginning of the book we find that these 149 children are now being raised by the Aunantet. (You can find out more about the book as well as some fan extras here!)

When Aun is attacked the Children are sent off to safety in 10 ships each with a 20 person capacity. 50 Aunantet join them.

 Because Rivi and Ankh stay behind on Aun to make sure the children's ships get off the planet safely  that leaves 148 children to be divided among the 10 ships with two seats empty.

8 of the ships  are filled with 15 Kids and 5 Aunantet

2 of the ships are filled with 14 kids and 5 Aunantet

One of the ships of 14 kids and 5 Aunantet ends up destroyed (any more information here would be a *spoiler*) 

                           

 Which leaves 127 kids and 45 Aunantet

Later the book says the children and Aunantet decide to split up into 45 smaller groups to better evade the Aruk.

20 of those groups are found and Rivi  is put in charge of relocating 15 of those groups- 30 children of which decide to join some of Earth's new planetary colonies. Rivi then takes 15 of the youngest to the mars colony. However the book never really states how many kids (exactly) are found and how many decide to stay on Aun . (Which is important to me if they are going to be in the second book.)

It does say 75 of the kids are left to be found.

So in order to get a better picture... I ended up breaking out the old pen and paper and drew out the above chart. Separated evenly into 45 groups you get:

12 of the groups have 3 kids to 1 Aunantet
8 of the groups have 2 kids to 1 Aunantet

So working backwards... if you take the 75 kids out of the picture first and leave the 20 groups that end up found you get 52 kids. Rivi is put in charge of relocating 15 of those groups (so 42 kids out of the 52) and we are also told that 30 of her children decide to go to the other colonies. I'm assuming here that the Aunantet took charge of relocating most of the youngest ones thereby deciding to send them to Mars. So with 30 of Rivi's group gone to the other colonies that leaves 5 that were Rivi's (out of those youngest 15) that go to mars and 7 of Rivi's end up staying on Aun!

So... what trouble can I get these children into now?
If you'd like to see me finish this second book so you can find out what happens next, comment in the blog comments with #finishthatstory !

Have any questions? You can ask those in the comments too ;)

Rivi Sets Up Her First Christmas Tree- Short Story.

V.L. Jennings' Christmas Tree Angel

Well, it took some doing but I finally got Rivi all untangled from the Christmas light disaster. I rolled the lights up neatly around a piece of cardboard, thanks to the idea sent to us by Honi Drown, and went to fetch a chair from the kitchen so I could hang them.

"V.L. do you want me to put your tree together while you are climbing over that mountain of junk?" Rivi called from the living room.

I groaned inwardly, my dining room is stuffed with the contents from our old house's shed and it is begging to be emptied. I'd already missed Thanksgiving dinner with my in-laws because we didn't have room for everyone, and I felt terrible! I resolved then to get the new shed cleaned out and to make room for all this stuff before Christmas.

"Sure Rivi, don't bother with connecting the lights though, I'll do that when I put the angel on top."

I made my way over the mountain of shed stuff with my folding chairs and entered the living room to find Rivi levitating the middle section of the tree very carefully over the lower section. She also managed to hold all the branches into their folded position so she could set the section pole down into the pole from the first section without the branches blocking her view. The third and final part of the tree went up just as easily.

Rivi made a few motions with her hands then held them wide and I watched in amazement as the whole tree unfolded itself and the branches reached out gracefully! She'd managed to fluff the whole tree in mere seconds!

"Ok, that was awesome! Fluffing the tree alone would have taken me a bit over an hour or so!" I exclaimed.

"That's what its called! Fluffing!" Rivi laughed. "Now what do we do?"

"I'll climb up there and connect the angel and all the light strands together. Now where's that angel box?" I said.

"Here you go," Rivi answered passing the angel box over to me.

For those of you who haven't heard about my angel, she was passed down to me from my parents. For years she sat neglected on the mantel (I say neglected, but only because I really wanted to see her on the tree). When they sent her to me she was in need of a good washing and my grandmother recommended vinegar which did the trick in no time! She looks white and new once more! Now, every year I wrap her inside a plastic trash bag and then place her carefully in her own box to keep the moths from infesting her and the dust from yellowing her again. Pulling her out of her plastic bag is always a bitter sweet moment for me. I sat there for a moment remembering Christmases gone past before I reached up to put the angel on the tree.

Rivi noticed the reminiscing vibe and quietly set to work finding space on the shelf across my living room for the various snowmen I seem to have accumulated somehow. I had just found the last light connection in the tree and caused the whole tree to light up when my three year old squealed in delight over the sight. I laughed.

"Just wait till you see what it looks like decorated!" I said to my son before looking over to see what Rivi was doing over at my bookshelf.

"Wow, there's more? I thought the tree looks nice as it is." Rivi said moving to block my view of what she was working on.

"Just wait! You'll see!" I answered.

Just then we heard a knock at the door. My cats hurried over to entangle themselves around my feet as I tried to let our new visitor in. 

"Daddy's home?" My youngest called out.

"No, shouldn't be." I answered.

Feeling suddenly shy he hid behind Rivi's skirt. Rivi picked him up and tickled him instead.

I laughed at their antics but gasped as I opened the door to find none other than Laurie Kingston on my doorstep!

***

Question for you all... should Laurie be afraid of cats or would she like cats? (The thought goes through my mind every time I have a new visitor at the door simply because I have had some visitors freak out pretty badly.) Answer in blog comments section please :)

Also... if you would be interested in reading a sequel to The Alien Mind , please comment write #finishthatstory in the blog comments... I'm trying to decide whether I should give this up and try something new or continue writing the second book ;) 

***

Find The Alien Mind on Amazon!

Did you like this post? If so you might enjoy my book!

For adults and teens alike, it is truly a science fiction adventure for the whole family!

If you'd prefer an autographed copy straight from the author you can buy one here as well!
Autographed Copy:$13.00 + Shipping

 

Getting to Know Jo Linsdell and Maria Rochelle

Jasmine's Got Talent book tour!

Jasmine's Got Talent and the rest of the Jasmine's Dreams books are all available on Amazon!

~http://www.amazon.com/Maria-Rochelle/e/B00H951JEK

About Jasmine's Got Talent: A miniature schnauzer has a dreamy adventure and dreams she's in a talent contest. 

Maria Rochelle, do you mind if I ask you and Jo a few random just for fun questions? :)

~What was your first job?

My first job was at Chick-fil-A as a cashier, and I also worked in food prep. I had a great time working there my senior year in high school. 

~My first job was a waitress and cashier too- be kind to the food industry workers, you never know what they might accomplish in a few years!

~What is your favorite movie?

Just one....I like so many. Braveheart and Pretty In Pink are two of my favorites.

~Hmm I've never seen 'Pretty In Pink' but 'Braveheart' was awesome!

~Who designed the cover and illustrated the book?

Jo Linsdell designed the cover and illustrated all my books. She has been wonderful to work with. 

~ Jo is awesome! I've been friends with her for quite a few years- its been awesome watching her illustrating talent grow!

Illustrator Jo Linsdell,

~What was the hardest part of working on this series?

Some of the animals were easy to do but with others it wasn't as simple and straight forward. A lot depends on the photo I have to work with. Then there's the simple fact that not all animals are easy to transform into the style used in the series. Certain breeds are easy to identify from the strong characteristics they have. When the animal is mixed breed and has lots of markings it gets more complicated. Those with lots of markings for example are hard to simplify whilst still putting in the details that make them who they are. I then need to add accessories to them to put them "in character". The end product needs to be clutter-free in keeping with the style used. Like I said, not always an easy task ;)

~I always love hearing about everyone's different processes. I absolutely adore your illustrations- even at the pencil sketch phase! Have you ever thought about doing a more realistic story book, sorta like your first round photo like sketches?

~What is your favorite color?

Blue

~NO WAY! Mine too! I like dark blue... well that and fuchsia... I think I have a tie...

~Who is your favorite artist?

Tough question. I love so many of them. Salvador Dali is definitely one of my favorites. I remember when they did an exhibition of his art here in Rome. I went twice and spent hours in there each time. I love how creative and imaginative he was. Eccentric and attention grabbing both in his art and in life. As well as the surrealist work he is most famous for, he was also a very good sculpture, and photographer.

~Oh cool! My personal favorite is Vincent Van Gogh- I ADORE his 'Starry Night'. On the rest of his paintings I love how he uses streaks of color and blends them all together to create the picture! Of course after seeing him 'come to life' in Doctor Who... that was the best!

~Where can people find out more about working with you?

At my website http://www.jolinsdell.com/. On site they can find information on my "work with me" page, read testimonials from people I've worked with, see examples of my work, and find out more about the projects I'm involved with.

~Awesome ladies! You two are major inspirations! Maria I am so honored to get a chance to meet you; and Jo- you are always welcome on my blog! I really enjoyed the inside look into how your illustration projects come together in last week's blog. Keep on inspiring the next generation to reach for the stars ladies!

If anyone has any questions for Jo or Maria, I've been told they may just stop by ;) So ask away!

V.L. Jennings Movie Rating System

Your Ending Killed Your Story

 I  rate movies (and books) on an A- C scale. Sure Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes and Noble all may try to force me to use a five star system... but really- if you are unfortunate enough to need a one or two star well then I typically don't bother because numerous other people have probably already told you how awful it is and it wouldn't be kind of me to heap on extra helpings of shin kicking.

The same rating system that helps me review movies and books also helps me decide whether they are interesting enough to buy.


My husband and I share our ratings with each other after watching movie trailers, "That will be a B movie". Then after we see the movie we often compare how we would change our keep our rating.

I treat my potential reads the same way- though in this case I'll typically read the back of the book blurb and the first and last pages (I know... I'm odd).

So... Here's My Review Rating System

photo credit: ierdnall via photopin cc

We can just tell a C movie by watching the previews, if it doesn't look like it will interest us then we typically won't buy them until they are in the super cheap bin. If I somehow watch a C movie in the theater- yeah I really regret wasting the money.

If the book back copy, first and last page don't interest me then I don't typically pick up these sorts of books to read.

If the book gave me a hard time following the story line, it barely interested me, or was really formulaic then you will earn yourself a C.

photo credit: ierdnall via photopin cc

B movies I'd be much happier getting when they hit the stores- we might go see it in theaters if we have nothing else better to do.

These movies atleast strike our interest in previews.

If you manage to hold my interest, I can finish it, and it takes me on a fun journey without too many readability issues- then you earn yourself a B. I Typically don't read B books again, unless I am bored.

photo credit: ierdnall via photopin cc

'A' movies I WANT to watch in the movie theater and then also buy as soon as they hit the stores!


These are the movies that ROCK our socks off in previews!

These are the books that I can't put down, the ones that I want to read over and over again!

The most important thing about a book or movie?

The ending must be perfect for the story like- it is a make or break it, all or nothing experience! The ending should blow me away and leave me feeling satisfied.

See the thing is... when a book or movie starts out at as an A and then the ending totally doesn't 'do it for me' well, yeah, it sorta cuts the whole experience down a rating notch for me.

Am I the only one?

 Case in point.... the movie Pompeii.

I loved the movie! (Right up until the end.) 
It had everything I love about these types of movies, action, love interest, a bit of historical politics thrown in there, and a heart pounding destruction scene! One by one the characters get killed off- heck this is Pompeii, we all know what happens by now.

Right until the end- our main hero couple finally looks like they are going to get away! YAY! Then the horse bolts and they stand there to die. *groan*

I disliked that ending. However, the epicness of the movie was high enough that I didn't regret watching the movie. I probably won't buy it on DVD though. (Which is saying something because I happen to love collecting disaster/end of the world type movies. Because yes, I'm weird like that.)

As an author, bearing all this in mind, I see it as a major risk to go killing off your major characters at the end of the book when you have asked your readers (or in Pompeii's case- your viewers) to fall in love with them. If you are going to do so you better make sure the rest of the story is super, or that you left your readers with other favorite characters to keep loving in their dreams.

Walking Dead, for example, can get away with killing off the lovable Beth character simply because there are plenty of other characters that we will all show up next season for. Why? Because we love them too and want to watch their story play out.

The last book that disappointed me? Off the top of my head I'd have to say Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince- killing off Dumbledore almost made me not want to go back. I did, and I am glad I took that chance, but still- that was disturbing to sit with for an entire year. Risky J.K., risky!



Anyhow... what was the last movie or book you finished that started off as an A and then the ending just really left a sour taste in your mouth? Please share!

Rivi- Tangled in Christmas Lights- Short Story

photo credit: bloomgal via photopin cc

A Christmas Mini Story
Featuring the characters from The Alien Mind

Every year I set up our family Christmas decorations the weekend after Thanksgiving. I had just climbed into my attic to drag down the Christmas boxes when I heard the familiar chime of our door alarm. My heart stopped. The door was supposed to be locked, I'd checked it just moments ago!

Thoughts raced through my mind of my three yr old playing Tron on the Wii in his room. I looked around for something in the attic I could snatch up to use as a weapon.

Plastic driveway candy cane? Eh, seems decently hard enough.

"V.L.? Why are you in your ceiling?"
Ugh, I'm still not quite used to the name change! But wait! What's SHE doing here?! She's not even supposed to exist!
"Um- Rivi, is that you? How did you get in here?" I ask, hanging my head through the open attic door.
"I can manipulate matter remember? I just flipped the inside of the lock. I did try ringing your doorbell first." Rivi answered quickly.
By this point I had recovered sufficiently enough from the shock that I was ready to play along with whatever delusion was playing out in my head.
"Oh yeah, I forgot- we still don't have that fixed yet." I grabbed one of the smaller boxes from the top of the decoration boxes stack and dropped it through the attic door, "Catch!"
Rivi caught the box by levitating it mid air and lowered it carefully to the ground.
"Weren't you afraid of breaking the ornaments in there?" Rivi asked. "I mean, I caught them, but what if I hadn't?"
I shrugged before I realized she couldn't see me from down there.
"That one is just a bunch of tangled Christmas lights." I answered.
"Christmas lights?"
"You've never seen Christmas lights? Hold on! You'll love this!" I answered while crawling back over to the attic ladder.
Once I made it down I pulled out the wad of Christmas lights and stuck the outlet end into the wall.

"Oh WOW neat!" Rivi exclaimed as the wad of wire and tiny bulbs lit up in multiple colors. "Want me to untangle them for you?"
"You can try if you'd like. I'll go get the rest of the boxes."
Rivi held her hands over the tangled ball of lights and levitated them off the floor. Back and forth she waved her hands around the ball loosening it little by little. I climbed down the ladder with the second box and looked around for Rivi... she wasn't in the hallway any longer.

Now, my house isn't very big so I didn't have to look far to see her standing in the middle of the living room with a ginormous moving web of lights over her head. She'd loosened the ball, that's for sure but now it was just an even larger unmanageable mess!

"Rivi- Wait!"
"I've got this," She said, "Um, wait, no, Oh NO!"
Rivi lost control of just a few pieces of the unwieldy web and suddenly it came crashing down all around her entangling her in the middle. Lights were everywhere, both of my cats freaked out. One cat darted off down the hallway and the other arched its back and hissed like Rivi was something that now needed to be pounced on.

I couldn't help it, I laughed and laughed and laughed.

"Not funny," Rivi said glumly blowing her hair out of her face from under the tangled web of lights.

"Next time it might help to unplug the strand before trying to unravel them!" I said still laughing.

"I'm sure your system of storing lights could use some improvement too!" Rivi said with a motion toward the box the lights had been unceremoniously shoved into the year before.

She has a point...

***

Hope you enjoyed this little holiday scene- I plan on inviting more of my other characters over for my holiday party this year so don't be afraid to come on over and join the fun!

While we are at it- what is your favorite way of storing those strands of Christmas lights... does your method keep them from getting tangled?

***

Find The Alien Mind on Amazon!

Did you like this post? If so you might enjoy my book!

For adults and teens alike, it is truly a science fiction adventure for the whole family!

If you'd prefer an autographed copy straight from the author you can buy one here as well!
Autographed Copy:$13.00 + Shipping

 

Illustrating Jasmines Got Talent

Tell us about your latest release?

Jasmine's Got Talent! has just been released in both kindle and print formats. It's a children's picture story book written by Maria Rochelle and illustrated by me. This is the book blurb:

"Jasmine the miniature-schnauzer returns in another dreamy adventure! In this one, she's going to show off her talent and maybe win a prize! Join her as she takes the stage in the third Jasmine Dreams book."

How was this collaboration born?

Another client of mine, Kathy Mashburn, told Maria about me at a writers group they both attended and showed her a copy of A Birthday Clown for Archer. Maria then got in touch and we started work on the first book in the Jasmine Dreams series.

What's the hardest part of illustrating this series?

The fact that the characters, both animals and people, are based on real life animals and people. Maria sends me photo's of them and then I turn them into the characters in the book. It's not just some random dog. It's a specific dog with a personality and owners that are excited about their pet being in the book. I have to capture the real dog whilst also keeping to the style of illustration used in the series. Sometimes it's easy. Sometimes it's a real challenge.

How do you go from photo to finished character?

I usually start by doing a sketch based on the photo I'm sent. This helps me get a feel for the animal and gives me a clearer idea of the basic form. These sketches are done pencil on paper. I then scan the sketches so I have a copy on my computer to use as a guideline when creating the digital version of the character. Using Adobe Illustrator, and the sketch, I then create the final character. I simplify the sketch and add colouring to adapt it to the style used in the series. Afterwards I add the accessories and develop the personality of the character. I then send the character cards to Maria for approval.

Where can people get a copy of the book?

It can be found on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PO3Y3JM

Where can people find out more about working with you?

At my website http://www.jolinsdell.com/. On site they can find information on my "work with me" page, read testimonials from people I've worked with, see examples of my work, and find out more about the projects I'm involved with.