Cindy A. Matthews's Blog, page 3

Costuming--It's Not Just for Halloween Anymore

Costuming--It's Not Just For Halloween Anymore
It's October, and I know a lot of folks are getting their Halloween costumes together either for themselves (to attend a masquerade) or for their little ones to go trick-or-treating, but did you know there are many folks who consider costuming their hobby, even their calling?

 Some call it "cosplay." (I think of that as acting out a particular anime or fictional character.)  But many others think of themselves as simply "costumers" who enjoy creating their own unique characters and bringing them to life.

One of the best places to witness the wonders of costuming is at a science fiction convention such as Archon, but not all the characters you'll see there come to life are necessarily sci-fi or fantasy related. The one thread that holds all costumers together is their sense of wonder and sense of fun. I mean, what could be more fun than pretending to be a fantastical creature or zany character you've imagined and realized with your own talents at the sewing machine or table saw? 

Enjoy the photos and feel inspired. Have a safe and Happy Halloween, too.


From Star Trek to Doctor Who... It's always great to see the classics of science fiction at Archon!

Book Review: The Last Woman Standing

Getting close to our Y.A. debut release of Olivia's Escape... But here's the scoop on the last "romantic fiction" I've read/reviewed.

The Last Woman Standing by Thelma Adams
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Young Josephine Marcus runs away from her stifling home life in 1880’s San Francisco to marry Johnny Behan, a charming older man who’s aiming to become the sheriff of Tombstone, Arizona. But once Josephine finds herself in the booming silver mining and cattle baron town she realizes Johnny wants her to act as a governess to his young son and keep his bed warm without benefit of matrimony. After she catches Johnny in bed with another woman, she admits to herself that she can no longer keep up the charade of caring for him and lying to her conservative Jewish family back home that he’s going to make an honest woman out of her one day. She walks out. But how can a disgraced woman make a living in a boom town which doesn’t involve selling her body?

Luckily for Josephine, the handsome sharpshooter Wyatt Earp has taken a shine to her since the day she stepped off the stage coach. A competitor for the same position as Johnny, Wyatt and his brothers have all been discriminated against by the ex-Confederates in the territory. They don’t care for the Earp brothers’ Lincoln Republican leanings and want to exploit Tombstone any way they see fit. As Wyatt’s kept woman, Josephine experiences the aftermath of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and the false testimony of the traitorous Johnny Behan, which places the Earp brothers in jail and endangers their lives by vigilante action.

The Last Woman Standing is primarily a historical novel with a little added romance. The in-depth details of life in 1880s Arizona and the larger-than-life characters who dwelled in the infamous town will appeal to readers of Westerns and women’s historical fiction alike, if they can handle the slow pacing and large information dumps given at the expense of the actual story.

View all my reviews



Coming soon from Desert Breeze Publishing... Olivia's Escape, Book one of the BloodDark series. Read more about the series at http://blooddarkbooks.blogspot.com
 

Book Review -- The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder

The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder by William Anderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A book of letters? Why would I want to read someone's mail? Hey, it's much more fascinating and revealing that you'd first believe. As a big Laura Ingalls Wilder fan (since childhood), I was enthralled to learn details of her life "behind the fiction" and how her daughter, journalist Rose Wilder Lane, was perhaps the undisclosed ghostwriter of her classic children's literature. Recommended for all Laura fans and others who are interested in seeing the process behind a writer's goal of creating a book series to preserve American history.

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Book Review: Boy Erased (A Memoir)

Boy Erased: A Memoir by Garrard Conley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A life spent questioning one’s self-worth, one’s faith, one’s sanity is not a life worth living. In the coming out memoir, Boy Erased, Garrard Conley boldly shares his inner and outer struggles of dealing with his homosexuality, his fundamentalist upbringing in Arkansas, and his parents’ expectations of him becoming the perfect son.

Young Garrard realizes that he’s different from other boys-- he likes to look at men in a different way than others--but his family’s strict Missionary Baptist religion prohibits such sinful thoughts, let alone actions. To make matters worse, his father begins a second career as a preacher, and to openly confess his gay nature would destroy his family’s good name in the church. Going off to college to study English literature, Garrard is haunted by his feelings and finds himself in a difficult situation when he is raped by another student who then turns around and tells on him to his family. The rapist claims it is all Garrard’s fault, and so as a victim he is further persecuted and questioned.

Garrard’s parents fear for his immortal soul and enroll him into an “ex-gay” program, Love In Action, a place that is anything but loving. There he is subjected to amateur brainwashing techniques in the guise of a twelve step addiction program. If he will only take the first step and admit he is wrong and admit he is “addicted to being gay”, then he will be “cured” according to LIA. But Garrard eventually sees through the doublespeak and self-loathing his ex-gay instructors try to instill in their clients. He realizes somewhere deep down that God would not have made him gay to lead him into self-destruction and despair. He knows his parents love him and will come to accept him, and so he walks out.

Boy Erased is a poignant story that will touch many who struggle with being “different” and who question their existence in the face of prejudice and ignorance.

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What I've been up to lately...

I apologize for not keeping up with my personal blog postings lately, but I've been busy editing The Bernie Blog, canvassing for the campaign, working on our Y.A. sci-fi series (the  first book, BloodDark -- Olivia's Escape releases in August), and  writing for another web site, Political Storm. Here's a sample of my writing lately which appeared recently at that web site.

 Our Champion


It’s not the style--it’s the substance. It’s the sincerity of his message. It’s that warm, empowering feeling of hope you feel whenever you hear Bernie Sanders speak. You sense his compassion for others whenever you listen to him. It makes no difference if you hear him in person at a “yuge” rally or streaming online from an alternative media source (since mainstream media has ignored him). All that matters is the message is directed at you, an ordinary American voter, and not at some billionaire corporate lobbyist or super PAC contributor. 
Bernie Sanders doesn’t have a super PAC or even want a super PAC. He has been funded since day one of his run for office by us, ordinary Americans. His average campaign donation? Bernie brags at his rallies it’s “twenty-seven bucks!” We all laugh and applaud. The fact that he’s raised so much from so many through small donations demonstrates the affection millions of ordinary people have for Bernie. (We gave him $43 million in March alone.)We like him so much that we call him by his first name, and Bernie is cool with it. 
The Millennials definitely think he’s cool. They design t-shirts with his face and slogans and tattoo their bodies with his icon. This will never cease to amaze me since their generation has been put through the grinder by the Baby Boomers’ selfishness and carelessness. Our kids inherit a polluted, climate-changed planet, and they’re desperate for the hope Bernie’s “A Future to Believe In” platform provides. But it’s not just about the excitement of the rally and the thousands upon thousands cheering on Bernie in large university arenas that provides hope; it’s the man himself.  Young and old alike connect with Bernie because he gives us the truth, straight up and unvarnished, and then he tells us how togetherwe’ll make changes for the better and revive democracy in our great nation. 

“Not Me Us” is one of Bernie’s trending hashtags online, and it sums up his philosophy well. Together we are strong and caring. Together we can save our world. Together we can work to build a brighter future for all Americans and not just the handful who’ve been dipping their hands in the cookie jar and hoarding all the cookies for too long. Together we have hope.
Our champion doesn’t come riding in on a white stallion--or even in a white luxury sedan--but he comes to talk to us in person and humbly asks for our support. We welcome him to our backyard barbecues with smiles and a cold beer. Folks who donate an average of $27 to a candidate can’t afford $353,400 tickets to fancy soirees with champagne and caviar and movie stars. We know we can’t afford to elect candidates who only want fame, power and more money for themselves, either. Fortunately, we have Bernie Sanders, a public servant who has served working Americans well through his long and distinguished career. 
Bernie Sanders: A champion to believe in and a future to believe in. Somewhere up there you know FDR would be proud.
***
For more information about Bernie , please check out his campaign website at www.berniesanders.com or go to the all volunteer-created website bursting with useful information: www.feelthebern.org

See You at Cleveland Concoction

We'll be a Cleveland Concoction this coming week... Will you be there?


 

My talented hubby AJ Matthews and I will be talking about writing, publishing, editing and, of course, science fiction at Cleveland Concoction at the lovely Airport Sheraton. We hope to see all our friends and make a lot of new friends over the weekend, so please, if you're in the area, come on down.

I know I haven't updated my blogs much lately, but The Bernie Blog editing and helping out with the campaign has taken a lot of my energy. I'm hoping by summer things will settle down a bit. One thing I've been amiss about is talking about our upcoming fiction release, the first in my husband's and my young adult science fiction BloodDark series coming in August from Desert Breeze Publishing. The first title is Olivia's Escape.

Book Review: The Case of the Fickle Mermaid

The Case of the Fickle Mermaid: A Brothers Grimm Mystery by P.J. Brackston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Gretel (yes, that Gretel) of Gesternstadt is off on another case. This time she travels far from her home in Bavaria to help Captain Tobias Ziegler of the “cruise ship” Arabella and solve the mystery of his missing sailors. A mermaid’s song has either scared off these superstitious nautical types for good or the siren has lured them to their deaths. Whatever the cause of the Arabella’s missing mates, Gretel grabs the chance for a luxurious cruise and a bit of much needed cash to boot. She packs her numerous clothing trunks, personally carries her most divine and expensive wig, and forces her brother Hans to act as her porter and bodyguard.

Alas, the Arabella isn’t the glamorous cruise ship Gretel thought it would be. She and Hans are forced to share a cabin no bigger than a closet with a smelly “mer-hund”. Hans is tormented by his “old love” Birgit who still has it in for him. Captain Ziegler looks vaguely familiar to Gretel in a nefarious way. And what’s up with the proper and grim quartermaster Herr Hoffman? Gretel wonders if the rival cruise line owner, Thorsten Sommer, isn’t behind the mysterious mermaid’s song. Why oh why does her own fancy, the dashing Uber General Ferdinand Von Ferdinand, have to be aboard the Fair Fortune with the stuffy Baroness Schleswig-Holstein cruising nearby? When the Arabella’s chef is found murdered in a lifeboat aboard the Fair Fortune, Gretel senses perhaps it isn’t a business rivalry or a mythical creature behind these crew disappearances.

The Case of the Fickle Mermaid is the third book in P.J. Brackston’s “Brothers Grimm Mysteries” and is part cozy mystery, part comedic-masterpiece and part fairy tale. Gretel uses her sharp wits and her voracious appetite for both food and life to sift through a cast of suspects who will make you split your sides with laughter. There’s the fickle mermaid, of course, along with the bird-obsessed Dr. Becker, the inept henchmen Cat’s Tongue and Pustule, the drunken culinary genius Frenchie (who takes Hans under his wing and teaches him even more about food), and a naughty sea sprite that no one but Gretel can see or talk to. This is the perfect book for the mystery lover who enjoys a happily ever after tale along with a little murder and mayhem along the way.


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Valentine's Day Could Be Saved By Good Grammar

https://www.grammarly.com/spell-check

Book Review -- Outsider in the White House

Outsider in the White House by Bernie Sanders
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

They say the mark of integrity in a man is consistency. Bernie Sanders is the world's most consistent man.

It's 1996 and Bernie Sanders is running for Congress for a fifth time, but this time it's different. The Republicans are out for blood. Bernie has been making waves in Washington standing up for ordinary citizens, and the Republicans feel they must end this precedent of an Independent Congressman with progressive ideals. They throw millions of dollars at his Republican opponent Susan Sweetser. Sweetser hires a professional firm to create negative TV ads and mass mailings telling Vermonters essentially that Bernie is an evil socialist who isn't good for their state.

All seems bleak, doesn't it? But Bernie Sanders isn't a quitter. He continues to campaign like he always has, attending parades and town hall meetings, shaking hands and listening to what the voters have to say. He'll admit that he's had some extremely close races in the past. In fact, he won his first bid to be mayor of Burlington by a whole ten votes! His first run for Congress wasn't easy, either, but these hard-won victories have taught him a lesson: Stay the course, and keep your constituents and their concerns foremost in your mind.

Of course, Bernie regained his seat in 1996. Outspent and out-advertised, he won it handedly over Sweetser and her wealthy backers. How? Simply put, the mud Sweetser slung at Bernie didn't stick. Vermonters didn't believe a word of it and felt insulted anyone would try such a low-handed tactic. After all, they knew who the real Bernie Sanders is, a man who keeps his word and fights for what he believes in without resorting to negativity and mudslinging, always doing his best to help his fellow man. The voters were too smart to fall for the lies of an expensive, slick ad campaign based on the empty promises of the Republicans.

Outsider in the White House is a second edition of Bernie Sanders' 1997 book Outsider in the House, but its contents are more relevant than ever. The first part of this edition shows how much of a scrapper the senator from Vermont is, how tough a campaigner, no matter how great the odds or the dirty tactics his opponents use. As the only Independent in the House--and now the Senate--he's fought hard to be taken seriously by his fellow legislators and has made friends in both of the major parties. Neither Republican nor Democrat, Bernie has been able to use his outsider status to form alliances for the benefit of the American people, one recent noteworthy cross-aisle alliance being his work with Sen. John McCain to improve veterans' access to health care.

The second part of the book Bernie tells us how he sees America's challenges. Remember, this book was written in 1997. You'd assume he's changed his positions somewhat, right? Wrong! Bernie Sanders is still talking about our growing income inequality between the workers and the CEOs, America's loss of jobs due to NAFTA (and now the threat of TPP), the need for universal health care, the crisis in our educational system and the necessity of protecting our environment. He even warned us in '97 about the corporate media and how a handful of billionaires can dictate information we receive as they deem fit, preventing the American electorate from becoming knowledgeable and informed voters.

On page 279 he warns us that we're in danger of becoming an oligarchy, where only the rich are represented and their wants and desires catered to at the expense of working Americans. Eighteen years later, this very nightmare has come true in the 2008 mortgage crisis and in the form of the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling. Why oh why didn't we listen to Bernie earlier?

A foreword by Bernie and an afterword by John Nichols bring the narrative up to the present day, detailing the excitement and enthusiasm generated by Bernie's run for the White House. Bernie's desire to help all Americans live healthy, peaceful and productive lives explodes from the page and is contagious. You can't help but cheer "Yes! Go Bernie!" after every point he makes.

Integrity, consistency, positivity and honesty attract voters. Lucky for us, Bernie Sanders possesses these characteristics in abundance. To become a part of his "future to believe in", read Outsider in the White House and get out and vote in your state's Democratic primary in the coming weeks. You--and all of America--will be glad you did.


View all my reviews

Visit The Bernie Blog to see what Bernie supporters are doing to help Senator Sanders' run for the White House.

My Sexy Saturday: Brandi Strikes Back excerpt

This is it... The tenth and final chapter in the saga of Brandi Whyne and Her Incredibly Erotic Adventures. It doesn't get any sexier than this!

And it fits in perfectly with this week's My Sexy Saturday blog hop theme--A Sexy Galaxy. After all, Brandi is a young woman who's slept with half the galaxy--and is working on hooking up with the other half--so she really is an expert in the field of science fiction erotic-romance. (With a touch of humor,  no less.)  :-)


  Brandi Whyne and Her Incredibly Erotic Adventures: Chapter 10 -- 
Brandi Strikes Back

 http://www.extasybooks.com/Brandi-Strikes-Back/

As Chapter 10 opens, Brandi must find a way to disable her android replicas on Old Terra to prevent the interdimensional bandits from invading the universe. But the Pulsating Purple Parsnip is temporarily grounded. What can they do? Hijacking a spaceship and commanding her own crew of androids, Brandi strikes back the only way she knows how, using her wits and sexuality. Will Brandi and Robin survive the battle to discover their own happily ever after?



An excerpt from Chapter 10 – Brandi Strikes Back (Adults only!)


“Harder—I can take it in this form.” A Robin slipped his erection between my android’s lips and I—my replica, that is—began to suck greedily. “Hmm, chocolate-mint flavored cum?”


“It’s what a large majority of females indicated in a survey was their favorite flavor, so why not?” Juanito seemed to have withdrawn his consciousness from his ass-fucking friend and moved over to the Robin receiving my tongue’s attention to his dick. “Now that’s what I call a blow job. Oo, oo! I don’t want to come too soon. Let me switch again.”


Before I knew it, I felt my duplicate lifted and shifted into a new position to accommodate a Robin replica’s member in my cunt. I eagerly impaled my replica’s pussy upon the waiting cock and wasn’t disappointed. With all my duplicate’s holes fully lubricated and occupied, I was enjoying myself immensely.

“Keep up the good work, boys,” I mumbled between licks of the luscious dick dangling in front of my android’s face. The ass and cunt fuckers kept up a steady and powerful rhythm, spiraling their strokes hard against my clit. I teetered on the edge of a monstrous orgasm. Then I felt my real-world partner moving his hands from cupping my buttocks to finagling with his headset, and it distracted me.

I frowned. “Whatever are you doing?”

“Something I haven’t tried before—I’m going to take in the feed from three replicas simultaneously. Get ready for a wild ride, Brandi Whyne!”

I knew what was going to happen next. After all, Juanito only wanted a quickie, but I was determined to enjoy my full share of pleasure. I rocked my hips hard against the cocks thrusting into me and tightened my pelvic muscles. I pulled the dick between my lips deeper still into my—her—throat and activated a sub-routine called the vacuum that popped up in front of my android’s viewing area. Juanito squealed and pressed my ass harder against the spaceship landing gear.

“Here we come all at once!” Juanito cried.

The taste of chocolate-mint filled my mouth—gallons of it, or so it seemed. I felt the prince’s puny pecker stiffen and shake within me as my android enjoyed the no-so-tender ministrations of the three Robins’ cocks’ intense vibrations. Their pussy and ass pounding triggered a series of mind-expanding climaxes that built and waned and built and waned, going on for what felt like forever. With one last hard thrust to my cunt and a tonsil-tickling kiss of thanks from one of my satisfied customers, I collapsed to the ground and the world went dark.
Brandi Strikes Back is now available at eXtasy Books: http://www.extasybooks.com/Brandi-Strikes-Back/
Chapters 1 - 9 are available at eXtasy Books, AR ebooks, and wherever fine ebooks are sold:http://www.extasybooks.com/brandi-whyne/

Enjoy your Sexy Saturday!http://mysexysaturday.blogspot.com