R.A. Odum's Blog: Fantasy that Inspires
January 6, 2014
Tech Tuesday: Security Codes Need to END
Hi all!
So I hope everyone had a great Holiday! I know I did! Celebrated a Birthday on December 31st. No I won’t tell you how old I am. But now it is 2014 and I have big plans in store! I want to aim for releasing two books but not sure if that will happen! We’ll see! So, Tech Tuesday is back up and running! Even though its Monday! Today’s post is about the internet and there is something that has been bothering me for a while. You can probably guess what it is!
Ready…
SECURITY CODES!!!
Yes those terrible unreadable codes that almost all websites make you enter. Now, for some of you that don’t know, I am visually impaired. I have to have things large and clear to be able to read it. Let me tell you, this code shown above is NOT clear and this is how it is for many security codes like this one. I spent over an hour one time trying to type in a code for a website I needed to get to and finally gave up. I also got a massive headache too! The reason I’m posting this is because THIS IS NOT FAIR!
it is especially not fair to those who have poor vision. Oh and before you say “But there’s the audio” Stop right there! The audio is a BIG FAT JOKE! So, as you see on the title of this blog–
SECURITY CODES NEED TO END!!!
I don’t even know what the point of them is but they have kept me from posting on and viewing many websites. I have even been locked out of my email for several weeks because of them.
So in conclusion, they NEED TO END!!!!!
Until next time,
RA Odum
December 17, 2013
Portals Virtual Tour by Maer Wilson
Hello everyone!
Today I am happy to introduce an author and friend of mine Maer Wilson! Please join me in celebrating her new release, Portals! First, an interview with Maer!
1. Why don’t we start this interview with the standard question: tell us a little about yourself.
First off, I’m grateful to you for having me on your blog, Rebecca. I’m a relatively new writer and only began writing books about three and a half years ago. I teach Theatre part time for a local college. I adore dragons and have a decent little collection. I also adore dogs and have two – a 13 year old chihuahua and a 6 year old poodle. The dogs eat more than the dragons…being alive and all.
2. When you’re not writing what do you like to do for fun?
For fun, I play online video games (like Star Wars and Guild Wars 2). I also read, watch movies and actually go outside to hike now and then.
3. What or who inspired you to be an author?
My characters. It all came from them. The names came first and I just knew who they were and what they did. They’ve been taking me on an awesome ride the last few years.
4. Who is your favorite character in any book/short story you have ever written?
That would have to be La Fi, who is one of my main characters. I think that she and Thulu are equally mains, but since it’s told first-person through La Fi’s eyes, she really is my special one.
5. Are your characters inspired by anyone you know?
Not usually. I think bits and pieces of people I know find their way into my characters, though. There is one exception. The closest character who is sort of based on a real person was done subconsciously. It’s kind of funny because I actually only realized that recently when I was talking to him about something from a few years ago. We both got a good laugh out of it.
6. Where do you find inspiration for your stories/novels?
Anywhere? Everywhere? The characters are the main inspiration and their stories come from their reactions to the situations I put them in.
7. Can you tell us a little about your current project?
I’m working on Magics, Book 3 of The Thulukan Chronicles. It takes place shortly after Portals ends and things are very unsettled with the return of magic to Earth. It’s tough to say much more about it than that without creating spoilers for both Portals and Magics.
Thanks again for letting me stop by. It was a fun interview!
Here is the blurb from Portals:
For supernatural detectives Thulu and La Fi, “normal” is a relative term. La Fi is a medium, Thulu is a finder, and their usual clients are already dead.
But when their friend Reo is shot, and a group of stranded angels show up at their house for help to find a missing child, things are striking too close to home.
And now the portals that let the magical races return to Earth have started opening on their own.
With trips off-world, a kidnapped psychic and changes to their own abilities, Thulu and La Fi are hit with a lot more than they usually handle. Of course, their magical friends are there to help, but even they may not be enough to save an increasingly unstable Earth.
Portals is the sequel to Relics and is Book 2 in The Thulukan Chronicles.
Here is an excerpt to Portals:
That night Parker had popped in to wake us at two in the morning to tell us our best friend, Reo, had been shot. The young ghost was distraught and panicked.
“They’re on the back porch! You have to go help.”
“Where is he?” I asked groggily, as I jumped out of bed.
Thulu was instantly awake beside me, although he didn’t seem any more alert than I did.
“Back porch.” Parker enunciated each word in slight exasperation. “Go, please!”
Thulu looked at me, and I told him what Parker had said. Thulu can read lips, but even with a night light the room was too dark.
Thulu threw off the sheet and we both ran from the room. I was briefly glad we’d been wearing PJs.
Heart pounding, I took a few precious seconds to check on our three year old son, Carter. His night light showed him blissfully unaware of anything. Whatever happy dreams he was having made him smile slightly in his sleep. I sighed in relief that he wasn’t having another of his nightmares.
Downstairs, Thulu had turned on the kitchen and porch lights. In spite of the panic moments before, none of the three people on the porch seemed frantic when I joined them.
Thulu looked relieved, Reo was on the floor, but seemed stoic, and Sloane knelt beside him, brow furrowed only slightly in concentration as he dealt with the wound.
My heart rate slowed down and my own fear started to slowly dissipate. My heart gradually dropped from my throat back to its accustomed place in my chest. Still my hands were shaking, and I felt the slight chill from outside. The porch was screened in, and the late August day had been hot, but the night brought a cool breeze that made its way along my arms.
The scent of flowers from the backyard didn’t quite mask the smell of the blood that pooled on the porch floor around Reo. Sloane, his partner and an elf, had already removed Reo’s jacket and shirt. A bullet lay on the floor, and I could see the shoulder wound was already healing and closing up. In a few moments, only the blood would remain as evidence that he’d been shot.
Reo’s face was white. The strain showed around his brown eyes and his handsome face had the sheen of sweat on it. His short brown hair that was usually spiked, lay damp and flat against his head, but he gave me a shaky smile.
“Bastard ruined my favorite jacket.”
Now for the awesome part! The Giveaway!
Maer's bio:
After a successful career being other people, and later teaching others the many tricks of that trade, Maer Wilson has decided to be herself for a while. Turns out she's a writer. She's always loved stories, especially fantasy, mystery and sci fi. Maer was born in the Year of the Dragon and has a dragon-themed room in her home, but sadly no dragons in the back yard. When she's not writing, Maer plays online video games, teaches college and reads. She also co-hosts the literary podcast, MythBehaving and writes for two gaming fansites. Maer lives in the high desert of Southern Nevada with her two dogs, a chihuahua and a poodle. Portals is Book 2 in The Thulukan Chronicles. You can find all books and novelettes in The Thulukan Chronicles at Amazon. You can visit Maer’s website at http://maerwilson.com/.
Links:
Website: http://maerwilson.com/
Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/Maer-Wilson/e/B00CDX29YW/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Maer-Wilson-Author/149085628472833
Twitter: https://twitter.com/i/discover
Portals on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Portals-Book-Thulukan-Chronicles-Volume/dp/1494209039/
December 16, 2013
Captured Minds Blog Tour: Sign Up and Win!
Hi everyone!
This is the post to sign up for my blog tour and give away starting January 11th! It will run for a week and I’ll have lots of cool prizes and you will even be able to download Captured Minds free on January 11th! I’m really excited as this is my first tour and I am so excited for people to read Captured Minds! So if you would like to participate please fill out the form below. If you would like to do an interview (I am totally up for interviews, though not too many) please email me at raodumbooks@gmail.com and put in the subject interview request for blog tour! Please email questions as soon as possible so I can answer them in time for the tour! Also, for those of you who have read the book and would like to post a review you may do so!
Sign up and enter a chance to win a signed print copy of Captured Minds and a signed postcard of the cover!
December 10, 2013
Captured Minds Blog Tour Sign-Up
Hi everyone!
This is the post to sign up for my blog tour and give away starting January 11th! It will run for a week and I’ll have lots of cool prizes and you will even be able to download Captured Minds free on January 11th! I’m really excited as this is my first tour and I am so excited for people to read Captured Minds! So if you would like to participate please fill out the form below. If you would like to do an interview (I am totally up for interviews, though not too many) please email me at raodumbooks@gmail.com and put in the subject interview request for blog tour! Please email questions as soon as possible so I can answer them in time for the tour! Also, for those of you who have read the book and would like to post a review you may do so! Thanks so much and don’t forget to sign up below!
December 6, 2013
Captured Minds No Longer Frozen
HELLO EVERYONE!!!
I think this will be my favorite blog post of the year! Why? Because I have two very awesome things to talk about! The first is…wait for it….
The release of Captured Minds!
After a year of teasing and talking about it, it is finally available on Amazon! It’s been out a week and the support has been incredible! I will be having an official blog tour the week of January 11th! A sign up post will go up Tuesday! This will be my first blog tour and I know it will be a lot of fun!
So here it is! Available on Amazon in both Print and Kindle!
Look! Amazon is having a sale! Only 11.50 for the paperback! Get it while the offer lasts!
Put it on your Goodreads bookshelf: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19105776-captured-minds?from_search=true
So there you have it! I apologize for the look of the links! I am trying to figure out how to get amazon and goodreads widgets!
Now for the second part of my title: FROZEN!!
If you have not seen Frozen yet, RUN to see this movie! It’s incredible! Beautifully done and the music is incredible! I am not normally a cartoon fan but I LOVED this movie! I love the storyline, the look of the movie and of course the music. And okay, I will admit, I loved it because my favorite actress Idina Menzel was in it! She sings the amazing song Let It Go! It actually reminds me of Defying Gravity from Wicked! So here you go, ladies and gentleman, Let It Go From frozen sung by Idina Menzel!
And that’s it for today’s blog! Have a wonderful day!
November 26, 2013
Catching Fire Capitol Couture Collection
Reblogged from A Thousand Lives:
Everyone and their dog is obsessed with Catching Fire, me included. To be honest, I wasn’t a huge fan of the second and third books, but the movie? Oh the movie. It’s AMAZING. They did such an awesome job. Personally, I love the times when they’re in the capitol. People there are totally crazy! Their hair, makeup, and clothes are pretty much an awesome haute couture runway show for me.
This is SO COOL!!!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE this movie!!!
November 19, 2013
Tech Tuesday: Kindle Vs. Print
A man looks at the rows of books and thinks, “My book is going to be here one day!”
He spends years writing his book and making it perfect. He starts Querying to agents and every single one reject him. He doesn’t understand! He wants to publish his book so bad but no one seems to like it!
Then he stumbles across Kindle. He hires an editor, he hires a cover artist! He learns he has total control over everything! And people can read his work!
He cries the first time he sees his book on the Kindle Previewer! People will be able to read his book at last and he did this without the aid of an agent or publisher!
This story is partly true! Last Wednesday night I saw what my book will look like on Kindle–pictured above! I cried! I was so happy! Deciding to self publish was the best decision I ever made! I thank Kindle and Amazon for this! I wouldn’t be releasing a book in a month if it weren’t for Kindle Direct Publishing! I’d still be querying agents and probably getting rejection letters! With Kindle I can publish as many books as I want when I want! Now I’m not saying its easy because its not! It takes a lot of hard work and persistence! Rounds of edits, hiring a cover artist and an editor. If you’re not tech savy like me, hiring someone to format your document correctly! But the end result is worth it!
Until next time!
October 29, 2013
Tech Tuesday: Danger Danger!
A sixteen year old girl slumps onto the bed, staring at her screen. Tears run down her cheeks. All that work and now this person–no name to identify him with–was calling her ugly names and saying she was an awful person and an awful writer. “Mom, this person just said I’m an awful person,” she said walking into the kitchen and sitting down at the table.
The girl’s mother turns from where she is washing dishes. “What?” She comes over to the table. The shock is evident in her voice.
The girl points to the screen, tears still on her cheeks. “Look!”
Her mother grabs the tablet. “There’s no name! Darling, this isn’t a review, this is abuse. It’s called sockpuppeting.”
The girl looks up, confused. “Sockpuppeting? What’s that?”
the mother sighs. “Sockpuppet is an online identity used for purposes of deception. But I’m afraid there’s no way to report it.”
The girl slumps against the chair. “I hate the internet!”
“I know, honey. it’s one of the negative things about the internet. Just be careful, okay? The internet can be fun but it can be dangerous too.”
“I know,” the girl mumbles and looks up at her mother. “My friend Kerri was talking to this guy online from another state and the guy turned out to be a creep.”
Her mother’s eyes widen. “What happened? Did she meet him?”
“Yeah. He lied about his age and picture and everything! She screamed and ran away!” The girl shakes her head. “It could’ve been a lot worse…”
That, ladies and gentleman, is the second post on the negative impact of the internet! Stay tuned for Entertainment Friday!
RA Odum
October 22, 2013
Tech Tuesday: What’s That Song Again?
Positive:
Then:
The child turns to his mother. “Mom, I can’t remember the lyrics for the song I learned in school!”
The mother stops drying dishes. “Go ask your brother!”
The boy slumps in his chair. “He won’t help.” He slaps his forehead. “I wish I could remember! Can I go to the library?”
HIs mother smiles ruefully. “The library is closed, sweetie! Maybe tomorrow!”
The boy stands and folds his arms. “But we gotta know it tomorrow for music!” He stomps off, defeated.
Now:
The child turns to his mother. “Mom, I can’t remember the lyrics for the song I learned in school!”
His mother doesn’t turn from where she stands at the sink washing dishes. “Look it up, honey.”
The boy grabs the ipad and pulls up google. He typs in the few words he can remembers of the song and hits enter. The page loads and he grins. “I got it! I found the words!”
This is just a representation of how far we have come! The internet has opened a variety of doors an opportunities, not to mention communication. Before the internet everything was done by looking at books in the library. If you didn’t know the lyrics to a song there wasn’t google to look it up in two seconds. Info wasn’t at your fingertips. This is the positive side of the internet. Next week we’ll explore the negative side of the internet.
Until next time!
October 15, 2013
Tech Tuesday: Saving Lives Then and Now
Hi everyone!
So I have decided to have a segment every Tuesday called Tech Tuesday! Each Tuesday I will be discussing different aspects of technology! Today is about saving lives!
Now you might be wondering what this is a picture of! This is an incubator! It’s used for babies to keep them warm. Here is the definition *taken from google* an enclosed apparatus providing a controlled environment for the care and protection of premature or unusually small babies. It’s especially critical for preemie babies! As it says in my bio, I was born sixteen weeks early. I weighed one pound and I spent seven months in an incubator. Now there were other factors aside from the incubator. I had amazing doctors and nurses and with the advancement in technology I am now in my late twenties and aside from the loss of vision in one eye am perfectly healthy.
Had it not been for the advancements in technology such as the incubator–well–let’s just say I’m glad technology exists. Advancements in technology and medicine are still being discovered.
So I hope this post was informative! Have a great week!
Fantasy that Inspires
- R.A. Odum's profile
- 48 followers
