Pray for Sally's Healing

Lots of you who are in the ACFW/CSFFBT or just fans of Christian SF who've hung with us others in that subcategory of fandom, y'all probably know Sally Apokedak. She's a lovely lady and loves the Lord and fantasy. :)

Please pray for her healing. She had post-surgical complications and needs your prayers. Thanks...

First HIGASHI NO EDEN film--KING OF THE EAST--Due This Month!

I hope the English subbed version hits the internet pretty soon after the November 28 Japanese release date. Man, that was a cool anime, and ending all cliffhangery as it did with our hero asking Juiz to be set up as King of Japan, well, gotta see where that goes. Wish it had been more than 11 episodes, but if the films rock, I'll forgive em. ;)

The second film releases January 9.

Ah, can't wait.

Trailer (Japanese only) here. Not that great a trailer, but, eh.

Some Spectrum 16 Featured Artists

Ths artist stood out for me in the new SPECTRUM 16, which I just got in the mail today. Andrew Jones.

Another you might want to visit. I'd never heard of him before, but I liked the pieces of his in S16. Jeremy Enecio.

Every year I have artists I look forward to, and this year, Donato Giancola did what he usually does. Wow me. Visit his online gallery and prepare to go "Whoa!" Here's one featured in S16.

Woo Hoo! Finally, V Debuts Tonight!

The commercials with the ridiculously gorgeous Morena Baccarin have been whetting my appetite for the remake of the (I didn't like it much) 80's original of "V". I read that Alan Tudyk is also in the cast, so two of the FIREFLY crew are back in a show with spaceships. Cool.

Remember. 8pm. Tonight.

I look forward to seeing how the aliens will act in the New Millenium--will they "tweet" their propaganda?--and if they will thrill or disappoint. I have my fingers crossed for " thrilled." I want so badly to have a cool new sci-fi show to get hooked on.

Now, to make coffee. I've been up since 2 am, so I'm pretty sleepy. Staying awake until 8pm will be no mean feat, given I only slept 4 hours, anyway. (And dang, I fell asleep on Castle, with that other Firefly fellow, Nathan Fillion. The Firefly alums ain't doing too shabbily.)

Houdini Seance...Live Online on Halloween

Skeptics and magicians attempt to contact Houdini's ghost. Snarf.

Tonight at 9pm EST, if you're interested.

SUPERNATURAL Last Night: Cool He-Witch and a Hunk from the Past...and fear of aging...

I haven't been watching SUPERNATURAL faithfully. Sometimes Sam and Dean annoy the heck outta me, sometimes I like them. So, spotty viewing is the result.

Plus, the angels acting so dorkily really annoyed me, even though I loved Castiel's first rumply appearance.

Still, I watched last night and I enjoyed the episode with the "gambling for years" Irish he-witch, Patrick. And no, it's not just that the Patrick was a hottie, though he was, in that sort of "I'm not pretty, but I'm cool and, hey, listen to this sexy accent of mine" way. What I liked best, though, was that he had his shades of dark and light. He seemed as if he might be a ruthless gambler at first meeting, but then you saw that he was fair (which we could have gleaned from the opening minutes, as he did let a guy regain his youth, after all, fair and square). He was able to really love, and really feel loss. He wasn't homicidal, though he'd sanguinely take 50 years of one's life if one were stupid enough to gamble them away.

So a villain with his honor code, and really, rather sympathetic by the end.

And with Dean getting a solid dose of what it feels to be old and achey, ie Bobby, well, there's a good lesson there for the younger hunter. As a gal bullseyeing toward fifty, boy, did I sympathize with the pangs and pains of aging. The running cheeseburger gag holds all sorts of horrors for a gal like me that does have to get cholesterol tested regularly. Aging sucks. (On the plus side, this episode made it easy for me to stick to grilled chicken and salad and green tea for supper last night.)

How nice to see Chad Everett, btw. I was just into puberty when I had a mad, mad crush on him as the clogs-wearing, too-too-good looking doc on MEDICAL CENTER. The years have been creasingly, crinkly rough on Chad's once-gorgeous exterior, but you can still see he was a hunk once, under all those age lines. (Okay, I really need to stop thinking about aging.) :::mad dash for the moisturizer:::

It's a flawed show, SUPERNATURAL is, but occasionally, it's fun to tune in and see what they're up to. And I can always appreciate an attractive man with a Celtic accent or a bit of nostalgia.

DARKER THAN BLACK 2: Ryuusei no Gemini--For Those Who Liked Darker than Black the first go round

While my hubby didn't get into DARKER THAN BLACK with me in the last few months, I was definitely hooked by the futuristic anime of contractors, dolls, mysterious gates, conspiracies, shadow powers, and such. Plus really cool opening theme (for the first few episodes, anyway) by the Abingdon Boys School, "Howling." Had the mister download it to the iTouch for me. :)

While the first season had some pacing issues--particularly that really rushed ending-- it still asked enough questions and had enough action and emotional stuff going on to keep me hooked. I wondered what new powers would be displayed by contractors and what remunerations (ie, the price they paid to use them, such as eating eggs, napping, breaking fingers, drinking liquor, smoking, earmarking novel pages, etc.) I really wondered sometimes, why the lead character had such lame fight scenes on occasion (and why wear a mask that predictably shattered in an alarming majority of altercations). And how would those episodic sorts of stories cohere? Still, there I was, every week, waiting for Comcast to set up the next chapters for me. And by the time the end came around, yes, there were hints of what was to come set up from episode one. Some episodes were scarily moving and beautiful.


Well, after the last episode of the first season, I didn't know for sure if there was going to be a continuation, though the finale just begged for one. Too many loose ends.

So, here we go. Hei is back (with cool long hair and that "won't stay put" mask again). But whether he'll be the major player, I dunno. Prolly.

Episode 1 of DARKER THAN BLACK: Ryuusei no Gemini brings us into the world of twins Shion (a boy) and Suou (a girl), both of whom were at ground zero during a meteor strike. Shion has since become a contractor, though his power hasn't been evidence. We just see his damage post meteor-strike (as he's chair-bound and seems to have lost an eye.) The scene where we see him ridicule the emotion of love to his own sister is quite chilling. Even so, we can see that he cares about her, to some degree, anyway, enough to try to protect her when the poopoo hits the fan and our girl goes on the run.

Prior to the fleeing and fighting, we have a set-up of Suou as a vivacious schoolgirl into photography (like her mama), and it's easy to like her and her pals. Then her world goes upsy-daisy, and we see one of her friends become a contractor in a heartbreaking scene, horrible to watch because of the youthful sweetness that preceded the change. Great set-up, great complications.

Oh, and a familiar face bites the dust, er, snow in episode one. That tells me that the "all bets are off about who lives" concliusion of the first season carries its tone right into episode one of the second season. Perhaps no character is utterly safe from doom. It's more interesting that way, actually, if sad. We'll see.

The animation is very pleasing to the eye ,and the first fight scene has cool contractey stuff.

Like the first series, the relationship/issues between siblings is key. Hei and Pai's tribulations and powers were a big thing in the first DTB. Suou and Shion will be our siblings in crisis in the second. I'll be rooting for the twins, for sure.

If you've seen the first season, but haven't gone for the second yet. Here. Watch the first few episodes (Japanese with English subs).

There weeks...stupid flu still not gone

I'm past most of it, I'm sure. The goop is 80% reduced. But the fatigue seems to want to linger. I could hardly read the paper yesterday, as it was hard to hold it up to my face. My arms would just wimp out. And it's not like I have weak arms. I've got a year plus of 2 to 3 times a week of strength training with a personal trainer under my belt (and above it). But there you go. Mean germie.

Today, I had enough energy to shave in the shower and blow-dry my hair, before I had to sit down and take a rest. Progress!

My face shows I'm getting better. I no longer look like a gray-faced ghoul with crazy hair that needs a nap. My torn up lips (from coughing, wiping lips, etc) are healing up, thanks to lots of vaseline and lip gloss.

I can afford to rest and get over this as no one depends on me for their daily care anymore (with both parents gone, with hubby self-sufficient and attentive). How do single moms or dads who have to look after others no matter what manage to get through a bout of swine flu? Dang.

The "Simple" Art of Query Letter Writing According to Agent Jennifer Jackson

I thought this was a pretty helpful blog entry. The "personalization" tip is one I don't recall seeing before, btw. (Or maybe I did and forgot, since it's been a couple years since I've kept up with any of this stuff.)

So, for those of you in the querying stage, or close to it, drop by and check it out.

Christian SF and Fantasy Blog Tour: HAUNT OF JACKALS by Eric Wilson

Eric Wilson’s Haunt of Jackals is the follow-up to FIELD OF BLOOD, which was the first in THE UNDEAD TRILOGY.

As I'm still battling swine flu (let's see, two weeks now, but I'm not coughing up blood anymore, hooray!)

Drop by Speculative Faith and discuss whether the novel is too dark to showcase the light.

Visit my (I hope) much healthier tourmates:

Brandon Barr
Wayne Thomas Batson
Jennifer Bogart
Justin Boyer
Keanan Brand
Amy Browning
Karri Compton
Amy Cruson
CSFF Blog Tour
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Karina Fabian
Beth Goddard
Todd Michael Greene
Timothy Hicks
Becky Jesse
Cris Jesse
Julie
Carol Keen
Dawn King
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Mirtika
Nissa
John W. Otte
James Somers
Speculative Faith
Rachel Starr Thomson
Robert Treskillard
Steve Trower
Fred Warren
Phyllis Wheeler
Jill Williamson
KM Wilsher