Toi Thomas's Blog, page 123

Saturday's R 4 Sharing 02

This is a weekly meme hosted by Eternal Curse Series. Throughout the week, guests and followers will have the opportunity to vote on the week’s topic. Each Saturday, I will post my thoughts on the subject matter and will include my top 5 whenever applicable. I greatly encourage guests and followers to comment and contribute to the subject of the day.

The students are back to school, movie going will slow down until the holiday releases, and football is everywhere I look. Next is the time of year when adults act like children and children get to experience or, at least, play at the notion of being innocent and care-free; the Halloween season.
Some people love Halloween and some people hate it. I don’t have any strong feelings about it. Growing up, I didn’t really celebrate Halloween in the traditional sense. I was involved in the social activities of the time, but I never took any of it too seriously. I was never one to jump with excitement at the idea of being scared, on purpose, but I can understand why some people enjoy the thrill of it.
Then there’s the age old debate, for the small portion of the community who actually look beyond the surface of things, that argue whether Halloween is an evil holiday or not. Religious groups have argued this for years. Some groups praise Halloween as a pagan holiday meant for carnality while others have condemned it for the same reason; and all while the debates go on, little children are dressing up like their favorite super heroes, princesses, ghosts, and vampires in an attempt to live out a temporary childhood fantasy and eat a little candy.
Ghosts and goblins aside, there is so much more to Fall. There are the changes in the weather and temperatures and the visual changes of the landscape. Where I live, the world becomes a canvas of colors. Little creatures that have gone unnoticed for so long can be spotted scurrying about to prepare for winter. This is actually my favorite season for spending time outside. It’s getting cooler and people are too busy watching football to crowd too many spaces.
Fall is a season of setting in. After the frenzy of starting back to school and getting into the grove of things, there is a time when nothing major is happening and changing. For just a little while, you get to coast. This is true even for people not dealing with the back to school issue. When I worked in Corporate America, this was the end of the fiscal year. After all the reports and files were brought up to date, old accounts were closed, and new ones opened, everything coasted along until tax season in the spring.
The fact that my birthday occurs during the Fall season, may or may not explain why I prefer this season over the others. As I get older, my birthdays aren’t as monumental to me. It’s great to have been around for another year, but trying to up with new and exciting ways to celebrate that is overrated. This year I think I’d just like to stay home and read a good book or maybe catch a movie.
Comments are welcomed. Be sure stop by this week and vote for next week’s topic.

Frictionday 01-repost

Friends writing fiction on a Friday
This is a weekly meme hosted by Eternal Curse Series, where friends help each other write a work of fictionon a Friday. This is open to any all who want to participate. Add your 100 word or less continuation to the story intro posted below and let’s see where the story goes. No more comment entries after the 10th one please, but feel free to comment with corrections and suggestions.
***
The moon was full and high in the sky shining down on the creatures of the night like a beacon calling out to those worthy of its call. The pale of its yellow tone and the ring of red encircling the orb was a sure sign that tonight was not a night for folly. To anyone who’d heard the tales and valued their life, the comfort of home became a haven. No one dared to step out into the entrapping rays of the moon’s light. For when you are within the light, you cannot see what is coming at you in the dark.  ***
Details-I will start the day out with a 100 word or less introduction to a story. -You will comment by adding in your 100 word or less continuation to what has previously been written. Please include a contact link after your submission, if you would like comments or interested parties. -We are essentially making a story chain.  After ten comments, I will post a conclusion to the story in the comments. -The whole story will then be complied, given a title, and posted on the blog as a complete story with the names and links of the contributors listed at the bottom. Comments will then be open to any and all who want to discuss the story.

Review 02

If I Should Die Before I Wake- An Anthology- My Home Away From Home Group
Somoza, Melissa; Boskey, Jana; Hiester, Brittany ; Wirries, Jennivie; Richards, Nadege ; Parry, Rhian ; O'Donnell, Ashley; Jonathan Godown, Cody; Worrell, Christina .
I give this collection a 4.
Writing a description  for an anthology is difficult and since I’m not going to describe each individual story, I’ll be brief and precise. This is a collection of eerie stories. “Things that go bump in the night” maybe a title associated with this collection, but I’m not sure. I do know that it looks scarier than it actually is, but it’s still pretty creepy.
 My overall experience of the stories was good. They were very creative. A few formatting issues made one story hard to read, but if you really want to read something, you will. The stories that stood out the most to me were the title feature “If I Should Die Before I Wake,” “Brush With Something Otherworldly,” “The Winter Storms Have Come and Gone,” and “The Tornadoes are Beautiful.” I think the best thing about this and other collections is the variety. I think there really is something here for everyone. I purchased this collection originally because it was for a good cause, which is why I took my time reading it. I wasn’t in a hurry, but now I wish I had been. There is some really good stuff here.
http://www.amazon.com/review/R35VIIWU65M25W | http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/392895501

Author Insight 04

Womp, womp, no Blurb 4 the People today. I have lots of networking to do and friends to make before it seems, I’ll be able to get that up and running well. No worries though, I’m prepared to share an insight that I didn’t share yesterday. ..And no I wasn’t being lazy, just busy.
I think by now every knows there is a cost for pretty much anything you want in life, but what some fail to understand is that it doesn’t always cost you  money. Some things cost you your time, your space, your creativity, and even your influence and reputation. This is something I’ve really had to think about in my attempts to network and meet new people. Connecting with diverse people on a personal level is great. I like variety and being open to new things, but there are drawbacks to this.
As with any type of entertainment, except for maybe the popular music industry, crossing genres and categories can be tricky. In the literary world I’ve found that once people have found their niche or their favorites, they are not stepping away from it and don’t want to hear about anything else. This is not a bad thing, but it can be an issue when you’re trying to promote a book of one genre and people learn that you’re currently reading a book from a completely different genre. Also, some genres just don’t mix and people can’t seem to reconcile the fact that if you don’t like a genre that they love, you could possibly have anything to offer them.
Well, I have come to know conclusions at this point, but I’m still trucking along and moving forward. I’ll continue my efforts to network and meet new people, but will be cautious about my connections. No need to put myself or anyone else in an awkward situation, especially when it comes to reading. Reading should always be fun and enjoyable.

WWW WEDNESDAYS 02

WWW WEDNESDAYS… is a weekly meme hosted by ShouldBe Reading, where you share (1)What you’re currently reading, (2)What you recently finished reading, and (3)What you think you’ll read next.
Comments and shares are welcomed here, but please try to share with Should be Reading as this is their meme.
1. What are you currently reading? Sacre Bleu: A Comedy d'Art by Christopher Moore
2. What did you recently finish reading? Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
3. What do you think you’ll read next? The Conduit (Gryphon Series) by Stacey Rourke
What are your WWW Wednesday?

Stacking The Shelves 02

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical stores or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, and of course ebooks!*Create your own Stacking The Shelves post. You can use Tynga’s official graphic or your own, but please link back to Tynga’s Reviews so more people can join the fun!*You can set your post any way you want, simple book lists, covers, pictures, vlog, sky is the limit!*Tynga’s posting Stacking The Shelves on Saturdays, but feel free to post yours any day that fits you.* Visit Tynga’s Reviews on Saturday to add your link so others can visit you.*Visit other participant’s links to find out what they added to their shelves. The information list above was taken directly from Tynga’s Reviews blog.Here’s what I got. Can you believe I got nothing this past week? Usually, I have books I’ve down loaded as ebooks or audiobook and then things pick-up at the library or recommendations from friends. This past week was a little crazy. We’ll see what happens this week. Just for fun, ECS will also be Entertaining My Brain.I will be sharing the comics, movies, live shows, and vinyl records I’ve added and or will be seeing at venues or theatres.  Please feel free to share and comment.*My husband picked up a Robert Palmer record that was pretty cool and I plan to see Judge Dredd sometime this week. Can’t what to see what I have next week.

Author Insight 03

Very little is happening in the aftermath of my virtual launch party. I think it was a great success. I know I had a good time, but I think I over did it this week and weekend. I’m exhausted. After an afternoon breakdown and long nap, I woke up and actually did some writing, so I guess things aren’t too bad. It’s a new week, a new day, and an new opportunity to make an impact.

6 Sentence Sunday 02

This is a weekly meme hosted and originated by 6 Sentence Sunday. Eternal Curse: Giovanni’s Angel -6 sentences from chapter 1; a letter.
I was so glad to see that you decided to accept my invitation to meet me in person, especially given that you have to travel so far to come to me. There is so much that we have to share with one another. I can hardly wait for your arrival. I have wondered what you look like, how you speak, and whether you’ll be able to help solve the mystery that is me. I know that you are extremely skeptical about all that I have told you so far, but I am eternally grateful that you haven’t allowed your skepticism to keep you from giving us a chance to get to know each other better. I have hope for wonderful things to come that I have never experienced before.
To participate, pick six (6) sentences from anything you like (it can be from a Work in Progress (WiP), something you recently sold, something you hope to sell or even something already under contract and available for purchase – and don’t worry, Six Sentence Sunday is for published AND unpublished writers ). Then post them on your blog on Sunday. That’s all there is to it!
Posts are for bloggers only, but comments are open to all. Please post a link back to Six Sunday, the “anchor” site, to let people know where you heard about the idea. You are not required to list the week’s posters on your post…And don’t be afraid to share the love by adding the hashtag #sixsunday to your tweets about Six Sentence Sunday. You can follow the official Six Sentence Sunday twitter at: https://twitter.com/6_Sunday.
*The informative content listed above was taken directly from the 6 Sentence Sunday website with a few paraphrases for ease of viewing and reading. Please review their FAQs for more details.

Saturday’s R 4 Sharing 01

This is a weekly meme hosted by Eternal Curse Series. Throughout the week, guests and followers will have the opportunity to vote on the week’s topic. Each Saturday, I will post my thoughts on the subject matter and will include my top 5 whenever applicable. I greatly encourage guests and followers to comment and contribute to the subject of the day.
Since this is just a brand new baby blog, I’m not surprised that no one voted on the topic this week. Maybe next time. Maybe once my following increases and people start to learn that this blog really is all about me getting to know them, the conversations will start to flow like water.
I’ll repost these options again next week, but after that, I’ll come up with new options. In the future, I hope followers will begin to make suggestions to vote on as well.
Back to SchoolThe Coming of FallThe Slow Movie SeasonFootball Season

Author Insight 02

My Insight today is minimal. I’m hosting a virtual launch party for my book today at my facebook page and that’s taking up most my focus. Stop by and check things out, if you’d like. It’s going on all day. Feel free to come and go as you please.