Toi Thomas's Blog, page 74
March 18, 2014
Character Files from the ToiBox 51: Tori-Preferences
Preferences: Subject EC:B 1-Tori
Favorite Color: pink
Favorite Food: cake
Favorite Book or Movie: Alice in Wonderland
Favorite Music: pop
Favorite Pastime: learning fighting techniques
Other: A bit of a girly tomboy, very sweet, and constantly trying to prove that she’s not just a sweet little girl.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords
Filed under: Character Files, EC: Battleground Tagged: #thetoiboxofwords, angels, blogging, character, demons, Eternal Curse, fiction, Giovanni's Angel, meme, preferences, profile, reading, Toi Thomas, Tori, wip, writing
March 17, 2014
Listography of Toi 09: Hopes
These are the lists that tell my life story. They are in no particular order and some of them are very personal. Please be nice, and if you want to share, I’d be glad to take a look at what you have.
Hopes
-The world figures out fusion and there is no more energy issue
-People learn how to accept and get along with people they don’t like without being so hateful
Listograhy are books and a website dedicated to helping you write or consider your autobiography through the process of making lists.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords
Filed under: Listography-Top5-MyLife Tagged: author, biography, future, hope, life, lists, Toi Thomas
March 16, 2014
Wormfest 2014 Finale! – The Island of Dr. Moreau Quote
2014 National Wormhole Week and Blog Hop! 3/10-16/2014
Click to learn more.
This blog hop and blog tour are brought to you by: Alex Cavanaugh, L. Diane Wolfe, and Stephen Tremp- the author of Escalation.
For 2014, the theme is to name one thing where science advances mankind, and one where technology with unforeseen consequences will go too far and set mankind back. Example: De-Extinction, or bringing back extinction species through back breeding, genetic engineering, and cloning. With all the breakthrough discoveries mankind is on the cusp of, are we playing God?
Feel free to reference movies and books too. These provide no shortage if inspiration. Speaking of de-extinction, the book and movie Jurassic Park comes to mind where science takes a huge leap forward, but also backfires. I’m looking forward to all the amazing responses everyone will have.
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Each day this week I’ll be sharing quotes from sci-fi movies or books along with my thoughts on how far technologies still needs to go and where I think it will go too far.
Goodreads
Check my side panel daily to see the quotes added each day. Today I’m focusing on what not to do in terms of scientific advancements.
The book I’ve picked for today is The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells (the movie(s) are not worth mentioning, but I guess I just did).
From the book, The Island of Dr. Moreau I give you…
“I must confess that I lost faith in the sanity of the world” ~not sure of the character ― H.G. Wells, The Island of Dr. Moreau (from Goodreads)
Ok so this story is good, but oh so wrong. Jurassic Park has nothing on this story of genetic foul play. I sincerely hope people haven’t lost their minds enough to start trying to create new species- oh wait, they have!
You can call it a designer breed all you want, but a yorky-coker-poo is still a mutt. And what’s with these crazy people breeding Ligers and Tigons?
I’m ending my self-imposed week of Wormfest posting with a note of caution. Let’s not make new species and leave that up to nature, because it’s going to be REALLY BAD! 
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If you haven’t already, be sure to check out all the other ideas and theories about where technology is heading and going wrong.
Powered by Linky Tools Click here to follow this hop or enter your link to join in.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords
Filed under: BlogHop-Promo Tagged: advancements, Alex J. Cavanaugh, author, blog hop, books, Escalation, genetic splicing, goodreads, L. Diane Wolfe, movies, National Wormhole Week, promotion, quotes, sci-fi, science, species, Stephen Tremp, technology, The Island of Dr. Moreau, Toi Thomas, warning, Wormfest
Sample Sunday 37
Here is approximately 100 – 150 words from a randomly selected original piece for your enjoyment. These samples can include excerpts from my all my WIPs and my Eternal Curse Series, but only as works in progress (not the final products). These samples of published and unpublished works are protected under the U.S. Copyright agreement.
It’s Like the Full Moon chapter 3.3 (wip)
The next morning at brunch, since breakfast was terribly out of the question, Lisa and Rebecca reminisced over the events of the previous evening. Very early on Lisa commenced her inquiry into the mysterious young man that seemed to have enchanted Rebecca. Coyly Lisa asked, “So how exactly do you know that Peter guy Rebecca?”
Slightly annoyed, Rebecca replied, “His name’s Paul, Lisa.”
“Ok fine, Paul,” said Lisa. “I don’t care what his name is I just want to know where he first met you to get so enamored by you so quickly.”
“He’s not in enamored Lisa, he’s just flirtatious. I meet him our first day here; he was late to lunch with his father whom I’d started up a nice chat with.”
“All that from a nice chat,” said Lisa. “Honey, what were you wearing?”
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords
Filed under: Full Moon, Samples Tagged: contemporary fiction, drama, fiction, friends, It's Like the Full Moon, reading, romance, sample excerpt, Toi Thomas, wip
March 15, 2014
Adventures In Blogging: The SheWrites.com Experience
I’ll be writing about my adventures, from my point of view, while offering my opinion on whatever the current matter happens to be. I hope you will enjoy it, if for no other reason, because you’ll get to see just how crazy my mind and reactions can be sometimes.
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The SheWrites.com Experience
Having an opportunity to share my thoughts and or ask questions to the SheWrites.com community was a wonderful experience. I thoroughly enjoy reading and commenting on such periodic columns as Reality Check. I’ve learned so much from other authors who’ve been willing to share and put themselves ‘out there’ in efforts to improve themselves and help others.
When my chance arrived to contribute, I decided to pose a question and open myself up a little. I asked the question: Does redundancy work in social media? click here to see the original post
A few people where kind enough to leave some help comments and insights regarding this matter, and this is what I’ve surmised.
1. If you try to have fun with social media, it’s not that bad. Sure you want to promote yourself, but sometimes just connecting with someone else and not focusing on yourself leaves a bigger and better impression. Have fun!
2. Be yourself and be real. If you’re writing about something you are truly interested in (which you should be), let people see that. Show and share about your interests and appeal to others who are interested in the same kinds of things.
3. Good quality over quantity. If your ideas are well-developed, interesting, and well-written, people of similar interest will be drawn to you, whether quickly or slowly. Write and share good stuff!
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords
Filed under: AdventuresNBlogging Tagged: #thetoiboxofwords, blogging, information, Reality Check, SheWrites, social media marketing, stories, Toi Thomas, writing
Wormfest 2014! – I’Robot Quote
2014 National Wormhole Week and Blog Hop! 3/10-16/2014
Click to learn more.
This blog hop and blog tour are brought to you by: Alex Cavanaugh, L. Diane Wolfe, and Stephen Tremp- the author of Escalation.
For 2014, the theme is to name one thing where science advances mankind, and one where technology with unforeseen consequences will go too far and set mankind back. Example: De-Extinction, or bringing back extinction species through back breeding, genetic engineering, and cloning. With all the breakthrough discoveries mankind is on the cusp of, are we playing God?
Feel free to reference movies and books too. These provide no shortage if inspiration. Speaking of de-extinction, the book and movie Jurassic Park comes to mind where science takes a huge leap forward, but also backfires. I’m looking forward to all the amazing responses everyone will have.
****
Each day this week I’ll be sharing quotes from sci-fi movies or books along with my thoughts on how far technologies still needs to go and where I think it will go too far.
Check my side panel daily to see the quotes added each day. Today I’m focusing on a more positive aspect of the advancement of robotics and how it could possibly help humanity.
Goodreads
The book (collection of short stories) I’ve picked for today is another true sci-fi classic, I, Robot by Isaac Asimov (similar to, but not the same as the movie).
From the book, I’Robot I give you…
“The Three Laws of Robotics:
1: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm;
2: A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law;
3: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law;
The Zeroth Law: A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm. ” ~ Dr. Susan Calvin (from Goodreads)
Let me start off by saying that I really liked the movie that was adapted from this book. The only reason I’m focusing more on the book than the movie is that I don’t think people many people got what the overall message of the movie was supposed to be.
It wasn’t that the machines had turned on people and were determined to save us even if it meant enslaving us. The message of the book, which the movie missed a bit, was that as with children the Robots learned what we taught them. The book focuses a lot of the technophobia that emerges from the wide spread use and distribution of robots.
In the movie, the big bad computer decides it’s her job to save humanity from itself for two basic reasons: 1.While it was taught or programmed the importance of human life, it was not taught or programmed the value of it or the value of individuality. If people were machines or programs, we’d all essentially be that same while each performing different tasks. 2. While it was taught to advance its knowledge base and make decisions based on probabilities and statistics, it was never taught to properly think, reason, or have compassion.
I think the movie does a good job with this last point by showing how Sonny is different because of how he is essentially raised, not programmed (even though there were some program alterations made).
As with the book, and a little with the movie, the moral of this tale is that when done properly robots don’t have to be a menace or threat to humanity. Even in the movie, in the scenes where older models of the robots sacrifice themselves to help Spooner escape, this message of the good of robots should be clear, but I think most people simply focused in on the warning of possible danger.
If science continues to advance the way I constantly see on YouTube, I seriously hope they look to literature and Hollywood, to see where to work out the kinks before moving us all too quickly into the next stage of technological evolution.
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If you haven’t already, be sure to check out all the other ideas and theories about where technology is heading and going wrong.
Powered by Linky Tools Click here to follow this hop or enter your link to join in.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords
Filed under: BlogHop-Promo Tagged: advancements, Alex J. Cavanaugh, author, blog hop, books, Escalation, goodreads, I'Robot, L. Diane Wolfe, laws, movies, National Wormhole Week, promotion, quotes, robots, sci-fi, science, Stephen Tremp, technology, Toi Thomas, Wormfest
ToiBox Blog Weekly Recap 03/15/14
Check out my Recent Posts links to see what I was up to this week.
Whoa! It’s been a crazy week!
Last Saturday I posted my Adventures in Blogging: Word Count vs. Page Numbers.
I started out this week with Sample Sunday 36- Eternal Curse: Battleground, chapter 5.
On Monday, I posted my Top5: Movies and then…
My first entry in my weeklong salute to National Wormhole Week 2014- The Prestige Quote, and then…
I received a visit from Brummet Media Group.
On Tuesday, I added to my Character files the preferences for Leo, and then…
I posted entry 2 of Wormfest- The Terminator Quote.
On Wednesday, I posted my monthly contribution to WWW Wednesday, and then…
I posted entry 3 of Wormfest- Frankenstein Quote, and then…
I was able to share some insights over at SheWrites.com (more on this later today).
On Thursday, I posted a Tea and Conversation about the “nook” (not the e-reading device), and then…
I posted entry 4 of Wormfest- Cloud Atlas Quote.
And yesterday, I posted a simple Friday Forecast and then shared my interview with author/publisher, Penelope Dyan.
-Today I’m conducting a video interview to learn more about Lillian Brummet, but that’s only after I post…
-The 5th entry of Wormfest- I’Robot Quote, and then…
-Post a brief commentary about my experience with SheWrites.com in my Adventures in Blogging.
-As always, I’ll try to squeeze in some writing and get caught up on my blog reading.
-I hope you’ve enjoyed yourself this week and enjoy a very pleasant weekend.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: author, biography, blessings, blogging, books, character, culture, discussion, entertainment, fashion, geek, interviews, journal, life, likes, lists, reading, reviews, sample, wip
March 14, 2014
Penelope Dyan Interview
The Eternal Curse Series Blog Presents an interview with author: Penelope Dyan.
So tell me, who is Penelope Dyan?
image provided by author
I am an author, vocalist, former teacher, attorney, and publisher with Bellissima Pubishing, LLC (19 writers and 370 tites.) Two of my books for kids are on display at the Saison Poetry Library in the UK, chosen by the UK Arts Council. My book ‘Surfer Girl,’ winner of the 2008 New York Book Festival and the 2008 Hollywood Book Festival (Best Teen Book), is in the Surfing collection at the SDSU Library (along with the entire Surfer Girl Book Series) and is listed on the Pukeke recommended reading list for girls in the AU. It is also in the Girls’ Voices In Literature Database, Miami University Florida. I have been granted other awards, but there are too many to mention now.
Well, I see I have quite a Renaissance Woman with me at the moment. This should be quite an entertaining and enlightening interview.
So whacha got for me today?
GoodReads
The Jan & Jenny Mystery Series is new, so we don’t have any reviews yet. The series begins with the first book, ‘The Mystery On Burgundy Street”, and the story line is about two very precocious girls who discover something mysterious going on across the street from Jan’s house. Wanting to do the right thing, Jan and Jenny visit Mr. and Mrs. Hufflefinger, who (they discover) are retired FBI agents recently called out from retirement. Coincidently, they were called out of retirement to investigate the very crimes that young Jan and Jenny stumbled upon across from Jan’s house. Filled with Mr. Hufflfinger’s delicious cookies, the girls leave the Hufflefinger’s house outfitted with everything they need to become true undercover agents. You can view the books at Bellissima.viewwork.com and, of course, they are Ingram listed and can be purchased anywhere.
I like the sound of this series. Young girls going undercover with the aid of retired FBI agents…what’s not to like.
So who’s starring is this 2 dimensional script read of ‘The Jan & Jenny Mystery Series’?
I think you would say Jan & Jenny are more multi-dimensional than 2 dimensional. Each book is different and the girls simply stumble onto new adventures. Jan is outgoing and adventurous while Jenny is a bookworm filled with facts about things, clumsy and awkward. In fact Jenny is the kind of girl who would have never left the house if Jan hadn’t prodded her to do so. The girls have a lot of family interaction as well. Jan’s dad is in the military, which has helped to shape her character. Jenny’s father is a musician, an artistic and studious type, which has helped to shape her character and outlook on life as well. Together Jan and Jenny make the perfect combination as young sleuths, because Jan is the organizer and Jenny comes prepared with the facts. My goal is to get this into script form and send it to our agent.
I like the descriptions of these girls and am glad there is family interaction in the story. Not that there are many instances of this, but I have found a few books for young readers that sometimes leave me wondering, “Where are these kids’ parents?”
Past, present, future, is there a rhyme or reason to your writing?
Okay I write all the time, mostly at night and sleep during the day. I write everywhere. I have been writing since I was six. The first thing I ever wrote and actually sent in was published, so I have been out there. But this is different. Ever since I was six I wanted to make books, and now this is what I am doing! The Jan and Jenny books are fun because I write a chapter and then Pam Hillan (my lifelong friend and co-author) writes a chapter so neither of us ever knows where the book is going. I was a teacher, so the idea behind these books is to get kids to pretend again. When I go to book signings I tell kids this was how the book was written and why, just like I am telling you here.
I never considered writing with a co-author, but you make it sound fun. I like that your goal of writing is to encourage children to pretend. Sad to say it, it does seem as though in this world of technological advancements and abundant visual stimulants, that the everyday use of imagination is dwindling. Kids just don’t know how to pretend anymore.
What author(s) has most influenced your writing? Why or how?
Amazon
Hemingway and Dorothy Aldis. Dorothy Aldis’s “Everything and Anything” was my first real book, given to me by my father. It was used. I still have it. He gave it to me when I was six and sick with rheumatic fever, which I had for a year. This is what began my interest in writing. Then came Hemingway. When I was in high school I wrote a story and my dad looked at it and started laughing and then red-lined half the words and told me to read Hemingway and to write like I talked. I have read everything Hemingway has written. I think about what I write now.
Another wonderful story from your life; I’m sorry to hear you had to suffer with Rheumatic fever for a year, but I’m glad to know that a love of reading developed from it.
Whose brain are you just itching to scratch?
GoodReads
William Shakespeare—I would like to know how he came up with all those wonderful phrases that we now use in everyday life. I would love to be profound. I have one writer who I think is profound, Robin Rendel. He is a lyricist and has written a children’s book for Bellissima Publishing, LLC. When you talk to him it’s like taking to Socrates. His book is ‘Jordan and the Magic Tiger.’
I’m not one to follow the crowd and whatever secrets history holds, I guess we’ll just have to learn to accept some things for what they are. Many question the creativity of Shakespeare claiming he didn’t write many of his most popular works, but I find it hard to believe that others just let him take credit for their efforts. This is a gray area for me and for the moment, I think it would be cool to hear what he has to say about writing.
Who is so you and why?
I am an original. But I am most like Temperance Brennan on ‘Bones,’ and my co-author in the Jan & Jenny Series is most like Angela.
What a cute comparison. I like that show and try to catch episodes of it online when I’m not buried in a book.
What’s your ideal reading spot for your next highly anticipated read?
I used to read a lot, but not anymore. I am too busy writing, editing and publishing books now. I am also a lawyer, so I read a lot of case law—but that doesn’t count. Right now my ideal read is the next chapter I get from my co-author, Pam Hillan.
I know life gets busy and then you still find time to publish. I can understand how reading for pleasure can get put aside from time to time.
What was your favorite book or story, pre-teen years?
My favorite book series pre-teen years was the Nancy Drew Series. I don’t have any reviews posted on Amazon. Because I am a publisher, Amazon won’t allow it—not on anything, not even cat litter. My co-author and I used to pretend we were Nancy Drew and friend. This is why we started the Jan and Jenny Mystery/Adventure Series, to which I now say, “Move over Nancy Drew! Jan and Jenny have arrived!”
Ha ha, I like it. You’re taking on Nancy Drew because you’re such a big fan. Cool…
There is more fun and insights to this interview, visit the Eternal Curse Series Blog for the full experience. For more information about this author, Penelope Dyan, please visit the links below.
Website: Jan and Jenny Mysteries
Blog: Jan and Jenny Books
Facebook: Penelope Dyan
Twitter: Penelope Dyan @1Bellissima2
Purchase links for ‘The Jan & Jenny Mystery Series’: Barnes & Noble, Bellissima Publishing
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords
Filed under: Interviews Tagged: author, books, character, detective, fiction, interviews, kids, life, links, movies, music, Penelope Dyan, process, publisher, reading, singing, Toi Thomas, try this, writing
Wormfest 2014! – The Matrix Quote
2014 National Wormhole Week and Blog Hop! 3/10-16/2014
Click to learn more.
This blog hop and blog tour are brought to you by: Alex Cavanaugh, L. Diane Wolfe, and Stephen Tremp- the author of Escalation.
For 2014, the theme is to name one thing where science advances mankind, and one where technology with unforeseen consequences will go too far and set mankind back. Example: De-Extinction, or bringing back extinction species through back breeding, genetic engineering, and cloning. With all the breakthrough discoveries mankind is on the cusp of, are we playing God?
Feel free to reference movies and books too. These provide no shortage if inspiration. Speaking of de-extinction, the book and movie Jurassic Park comes to mind where science takes a huge leap forward, but also backfires. I’m looking forward to all the amazing responses everyone will have.
****
Each day this week I’ll be sharing quotes from sci-fi movies or books along with my thoughts on how far technologies still needs to go and where I think it will go too far.
Google search-
en.wikipedia.org
Check my side panel daily to see the quotes added each day. Today I’m focusing on the things we do to ourselves. We as people often have good intentions, but then we end up hurting ourselves because we don’t take time to see the bigger picture.
The movie I’ve picked for today is The Matrix and this a definitely a new sci-fi classic (love it or hate it).
From the movie, The Matrix I give you…
“We don’t know who struck first, us or them. But we do know it was us that scorched the sky. At the time, they were dependent on solar power. It was believed they would be unable to survive without an energy source as abundant as the sun. ” ~Morpheus (from IMDB)
So have you heard the story about how the government (I’m guessing the US, but could it be any one) tried to genetically engineer a larger, better functioning, and more resilient honey bee and ended up creating the phenomena of killer bees, and that now all the honey bees in the world are on the verge of extinction…
Is it really hard to believe that even after millions of people have seen this blockbuster move that at some point in the future we might create machines so smart that they become intelligent and want to fight for their independence and then we scorch the sun to one-up them only to make thing worse for ourselves?
Whoa! I need to slow and think critically…Yes, history if full of examples of where “we did it to ourselves” but I don’t really think we’re ready to force ourselves into darkness. I guess today’s focus isn’t so much a reiteration of my A.I. concerns as it is a cautionary tale to the misuse of resources and technology we already have.
I love the fact that if I get lost I can receive step-be-step directions on m phone, but do we really need satellites taking pictures of our homes every couple of hours? At what point does something as simple as this come to bite us in the butt?
Being totally and completely transparent and honesty now- I see the good, but
The Information Age Terrifies Me!
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If you haven’t already, be sure to check out all the other ideas and theories about where technology is heading and going wrong.
Powered by Linky Tools Click here to follow this hop or enter your link to join in.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords
Filed under: BlogHop-Promo Tagged: advancements, Alex J. Cavanaugh, Artificial Intelligence, author, blog hop, books, Escalation, Experimentation, IMDB, L. Diane Wolfe, misuse, movies, National Wormhole Week, preservatives, promotion, quotes, sci-fi, science, Stephen Tremp, technology, The Matrix, Toi Thomas, Wormfest
Friday Forecast : 03/14/14
Highlighting interviewees, guest posters, my standard weekly posts, and whatever else I can think of, going into the next week.
So, here what’s happening next week:
Sample Sunday
Listography
Character Files
Posts of the Past
Count Your Blessings
Friday Forecast and possibly a visit from author Emeka Iwenofu
Weekly recap and possible another installment in my Adventures in Blogging
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Today I’ll be sharing my interview of author, Penelope Dyan and…
Another Wormfest Quote from, The Matrix.
I’ll be busy all weekend beta reading, reviewing, and conducting interviews. I think vacation time is coming up soon. I simply need to decide where I should go- or perhaps just stay home and do absolutely nothing.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: author, blogging, interviews, life, reviews, sneak peak, try this, writing
