The Best of the Bad Science Fiction Movies #scifi

A good bad movie is an incredible treat. Some are bad enough to become cult classics, and I know I'm not the only one who enjoys them.

I give them a beer rating... how many beers does it take to have fun watching the movie. You'd probably like to know before switching the movie on, right?

Here's my list of NO BEER NECESSARY movies, counting down to the best of the bad.

Beer is optional

MEGA PIRANHA

2010, SyFy Channel. Starring Paul Logan, Tiffany, and Barry Williams. A mutant strain of giant ferocious piranha escape from the Amazon and eat their way toward Florida.

Lots of people get munched. It's uber fun. Those giant piranha do some very unexpected and surprising things, like explode. I love to be surprised. And in a cheesy movie, the creators might as well go all the way.

SHARKNADO

2013, SyFy Channel. Starring Ian Ziering and Tara Reid. A whole lot of awesome sauce. This movie understood what it was and delivered campy on steroids. Lots of wonderful and fun surprises. Chainsaws. Things flooded then not flooded. People getting munched at every turn and a tornado of sharks. Fun, fun, fun.

Can't wait for #2.

GAMERA VS ZIGRA

196? The giant turtle with flames coming out of his butt battles a giant fish that can't move. This was my all-time favorite fun bad movie until I stumbled across the next...

This movie still makes me giggle. Gamera has a catchy theme song too. I'll definitely be watching more Gamera in the future.

STAR CRASH

Made in the 1970's after Star Wars... well, you won't believe it was. A baby David Hasselhoff is in it and Christopher Plummer. One reviewer said: Star Crash is in a category by itself.

With praise like that, I couldn't resist, and I have to say I was not disappointed. It definitely is in a class by itself. Just when you think you're done laughing and being surprised, this movie keeps delivering until the end.

I can't imagine any good-bad movie topping this one, but film makers I dare you to try. Because I want more.

Do you have a favorite bad movie?

Happenings in the Realm, Huzzizzle June 2014 #specfic #fantasy #scifi #horror

From River Fairchild

Darkest Days, Blackest Nights

Tales of lust. Greed. Vengeance. Death.

Midnight lasts a bit longer tonight, its shadow cold and bruised. The bell tower strikes a thirteenth time, extending an invitation to the Danse Macabre—the dance of death. Don’t tarry. The others are waiting, anxious to share their tales before the music ends.

Stories of lust, greed, vengeance, and death. Journeys of power. Woes of the fallen. Retaliation. Atonement. Loss.

Even now, Death works on his special tribute.

Will you be one of the honored guests? Think carefully. It may be the last decision you’ll ever make.

Find your copy here:

/ AmazonUS / AmazonUK / Smashwords / iTunes (Apple) /

From M. Pax

Live and in person book signing and sale! Thursday, June 26, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Deschutes County Services Building, DeArmond Conference Room, 1300 Wall Street, Bend, OR 97701.

New short story, A Flight of Fancy by M. Pax in...

Audiomachine makes a donation to the LA Youth Orchestra for every download.

 FREE eBOOK Available from: Amazon / Smashwords /Kobo / 

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Winners of the Summer Road Trip Audiobook Giveaway are: Loni, LL, and SuzReads. There'll be more chances to win audiobooks in the future. Stay tuned!

Huzzizzle

That 'Oh Crap' Moment

By now, most of us have heard of that 'Aha!' moment popularized by Oprah. It's the term used when you receive a life-changing epiphany--a new thought or understanding that you didn't have before. It's very cool when it happens. Sort of makes you feel smart and special when you understand something on a deeper level.

In my Indigo Eady Paranormal Mystery series, I use something similar, only it's more like, 'Oh Crap!'.

That 'Oh Crap' moment is when my main character, Indigo Eady, realizes trouble is afoot. That both she and her gang of teenage paranormal investigators are in deep doo doo and the task ahead is not going to be easy. In fact, it's going to be hard.

I like to make it clear to my readers that doo doo is happening, so at the end of the first chapter in each book, when Indigo understands what the problem is, she actually exclaims,

 "Oh crap!"

In Givin' Up The Ghost, it's that moment when Indigo realizes that her missing friend's father is a ghost, and therefore, not only dead, but murdered.

In A Guilty Ghost Surprised, it's when Indigo realizes that her little cousin has returned--from heaven.

While I use the term Oh crap! literally, it works like the thesis statement of an essay that directs the focus or point of the paper through to its final conclusion. It's a writing device that says, here's the problem, how are you going to solve it? When you write mysteries, that's what the book is about: how to solve the problem.

And of course, when you're writing for tweens and teens, words involving excrement of any kind is always good for a giggle.

I didn't consciously set out to employ the oh crap! writing device, but now I really enjoy using it.

What about you?

 

Do you use writing devices, either consciously or unconsciously?

 

What are they?

Music - A Universal Language

Observations of things around us, a quirky saying by a friend or a stranger in passing, a movie or television show: just some of the things that can invigorate and inspire ideas that turn into stories and novels.

Music is also something to consider.

I was inspired by Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain" for my 2012 April blogging challenge. It was a blog opera that turned into Neverlove, the first novel in my Shadow Jumpers trilogy.

Musical numbers are a staple part of most, if not all, Disney princess movies (I swooned to "Ma Belle Evangeline" in The Princess and the Frog and will always adore "Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast). And Star Wars is certainly known for some epic compositions.

Some of the music that can be heard in the background during Qui Gon Jinn and Obi Wan Kenobi vs. Darth Maul battle scene *chills*

So what music, soundtrack, singers or groups do you find as musical inspiration, whether it's for writing or the perfect background for a relaxing - or exciting - read?

Fantastic Speculative Fiction - This is Worth Reading: Old Man of Tessara by J. Edward Neill #specfic

Can't decide what to read next? Untethered Realms is sharing what we loved reading the first Friday of every month.

Old man of Tessera

by J Edward Neill

Blurb:

A young man from the drowned village of Veni wanders along the sea until he comes to the city of Tessera. The Old Man takes him in and urges him to explore Tessera, where nothing and no one are as they seem…

This is a beautifully written short horror story. Quiet. Deadly. Like a spider’s web you don’t know is there until you’re well and truly caught in it, with no way out. Neill writes with a unique style, reminding me of fabled storytellers honored with a place beside the fire, holding their audience captive until the final word is spoken.

Slip into his world and discover a gifted writer. He has a much longer series of dark fantasy as well, which I’m itching to snatch up and drown myself in.

Find it here on Amazon

Twitter line:

Check out #unrealms Books Worth Reading feature! Old Man of Tessera by @JEdwardNeill http://untetheredrealms.blogspot.com #fantasy, #horror

Worlds Apart

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What makes a book a great read? Being sucked into the story, of course. Awesome characters, wonderful dialogue, terrific plot… What more do you need?

A rich setting. Without it, a reader might as well be studying a cookbook.

I once read about thinking of setting as being on a Star Trek holodeck. That’s an apt description. Let the reader touch the beautiful flower, instead of just admiring its beauty. Discover the velvety appearance is really like scraping fingers over bricks, its smell akin to wet dog or rotting fish.

And remember the rules. Any world has a set of rules—whether it’s the real world we live in or a fantasy world. Break the rules of how things work and the reader becomes confused, thrown out of the story while pondering what the author said back in chapter two when the rule had the opposite effect. Just as a character reacts in certain ways, so should the setting. The world is its own character in the story.

Long narratives aren't needed or welcome. The best descriptions unfold naturally as the characters interact with their surroundings. How many of us have skimmed the pages-long explanations of the inner workings of an engine? *raises hand*

The more common problem though—at least for me—is too little description. As the world-builder, I know my setting. I have to remind myself to see it through unaccustomed eyes. The reader doesn't have access to the many details locked up inside my imagination.

Right now I’m working on two completely different worlds, bouncing back and forth between them. The Jewels of Chandra series has five separate Kingdoms, each different from the other four and each with their own set of rules and problems. The magic, the terrain, the creatures—all are unique and yet each realm is filtered through the eyes of my MC, a man originally from Earth.

Death and Chronos are getting a novella of their own as well. The setting is mostly the Earth as we know it but with the added urban fantasy dimension of my hapless Greek gods creating havoc for us mere mortals. Not content to leave well enough alone, I’m destroying the timeline too!

If you’d like to experience my worlds, I have two FREE books to give you a taste of things to come. The links for both The Fall of Shaylar, prequel to the Jewels of Chandra series, and Living the Afterlife, a Death and Chronos flash fiction collection, can be found by clicking here.

As readers, what elements of world-building do you appreciate most in a story? Which of the five senses do you identify with the most? Do you hold your breath when a character gets sprayed by a skunk? Do you imagine hearing the crash of thunder when a character jumps from the sudden bolt of lightning? What about the burn when someone touches a hot stove? I think for me, I’d have to go with smell. What say you?