The National Wormhole Day Blog Hop

The National Wormhole Day Blog Hop is hosted by Stephen Tremp, Laura Eno, and L.G. Smith. Like the recent Back to the Future blogfest, it's based on time travel--though this time it's a person traveling through time, not a shoe box! It sounded like fun, so I signed up.

About the blogfest (from Stephen's blog):

What would you do or where would you go if you could traverse a wormhole through space or time just once? One safe round trip passage. Would you go back in time and talk some sense into a younger you? Go five years into the future and bring back the Wall Street Journal? See just how the heck the Great Pyramids of Giza were really built? View what the other side of the universe looks like? Kill Hitler?

I love speculating about the future; I am a huge fan of stories that cast human society forward hundreds or thousands of years. Therefore, I'd choose traveling through time to year 3001, just to see what it looks like--because while 2001 didn't turn out to be the milestone predicted I'm sure 3001 will be entirely different from today, either for better or for worse. Hopefully the better.

And (since this is for fun and I don't want to think about all the possible breakdowns of spacetime if time travel occurred) I'm pretty sure I'd try sticking around in the future for a while before cashing in on the second part of the "safe round trip". You know, move into a space colony, experience all the cool technology, eat amazing food, be amused by the historians who think Windows was the pinnacle of engineering a millennium before. The usual things one would do a thousand years after they were born.

What would you do if you ended up in the future? Where would you go if you could travel through time?

-----The Golden Eagle

Book Release: Overcoming Adversity: An Anthology For Andrew Edited By Nick Wilford

Today's the release date of Overcoming Adversity, the book compilation of all the blogfest entries from the Overcoming Adversity Blogfest Nick Wilford hosted a month ago.

I should probably mention my short story's in the anthology; not only am I excited to contribute to a book created for such a good cause (see the blurb below) this is actually the first time a piece of fiction I wrote has appeared in anything other than my blog.


Here's the info for Overcoming Adversity:


Blurb:

Cover design by D.R. Cartwright; concept by Ella Wilson.

A collection of seventy moving and uplifting original pieces - real life, flash fiction, and poetry - about battling against the odds and the ultimate triumph of the human spirit. The contributors include Amazon bestselling authors Alex J. Cavanaugh and Kyra Lennon, and the cream of upcoming talent.
     The anthology is part of a fundraising effort to send the editor's stepson, Andrew McNaughton, to a specialist college in England. Andrew has cerebral palsy, and is a remarkable young man with a promising future. However, the free further education options offered in his own country of Scotland will not challenge him and allow him to progress. In order to access the education he deserves, Andrew will have to pay exorbitant fees, thus creating a situation of discrimination.
     Help us get Andrew to college by buying a book that runs the full gamut of human emotions, ultimately leaving you inspired and glad to be alive. Whatever struggles you are going through, our sincere hope is that this book will help.

Purchase links:

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Overcoming-Adversity-Anthology-Andrew-ebook/dp/B00BM62EZA
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Overcoming-Adversity-Anthology-Andrew-ebook/dp/B00BM62EZA
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/290822
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17452314-overcoming-adversity

Editor Bio: Nick Wilford is a writer and stay-at-home dad. Once a journalist, he now makes use of those rare times when the house is quiet to explore the realms of fiction. When not writing he can usually be found spending time with his family or cleaning something. He has four short stories published in Writer’s Muse magazine. Nick is also co-running a campaign to get a dedicated specialist college built in Scotland. Visit him at http://nickwilford.blogspot.co.uk.









-----The Golden Eagle

Back from the Future Blogfest

The Back from the Future Blogfest is hosted by M. Pax, Suze, and Nicki Elson. The concept is really cool: Post about what you'd find in a time capsule you've sent yourself from the future. I love thinking about the future, so of course I signed up! (Sorry about posting so late, though. It's past 16:30 in my time zone . . . oops.)

From the hosts:

You're up before dawn on a Saturday when the doorbell rings. You haven't brewed your coffee so you wonder if you imagined the sound. Plonking the half-filled carafe in the sink, you go to the front door and cautiously swing it open. No one there. As you cast your eyes to the ground, you see a parcel addressed to you ... from you.

You scoop it up and haul it inside, sensing something legitimate despite the extreme oddness of the situation. Carefully, you pry it open. Inside is a shoebox--sent from ten years in the future--and it's filled with items you have sent yourself.

What's in it?

First, there would be a note that says, "Time travel has been invented. Here's the formula so you can go win the Nobel Prize for Physics and do ourselves proud."

Second, there would be a note that says, "You're not insane. Here's a textbook that proves the mathematics of time travel."

Third, there would be yet another note that says, "You really aren't crazy. Remain calm. You're going to make some fabulous memories in the next 10 years and you're going to get a degree and you're going to do well for yourself. You just have to work hard enough. (No, I'm not giving you a copy of your dissertation.)"

Fourth, there would be a final and concluding note that says, "I don't know what else to say. I don't want to ruin anything for you--me?--but I want to yammer away because you understand more than anyone about how this brain works.

"Oh, well. As long as you don't make the stupid decision--er, never mind, something good comes out of that. Anyway. You'll find all this out on your own. I apologize for the questions I must have raised, now that you've analyzed the box and checked the return address (fictional, I assure you), tested the handwriting against your own, and studied the voice of these notes.

"And one last thing: You can stop worrying about Sherlock: Season Three now, because it was just as great as the first two."

**********

What would be in your time capsule? Mostly words? Mostly pictures? Do you think you'd have a lot of information to convey to a younger version of you? Would you try to be humorous or serious, or a mix of both?


-----The Golden Eagle

Level Up! Blogfest

The Level Up! Blogfest is hosted by Jamie Gibbs at Mithril Wisdom and Allison at Geek Banter.

About:

Games are an important part of living; otherwise life would be boring as hell. You might be a fan of video games, card or dice games, board games or even games you used to play on the playground as a kid. There's always a game that holds a special place with us.

On February 20th, talk about a game you play or used to play; tell us how it works and share your love of the game with the rest of us. It can be any kind of game you like, from World of Warcraft to Hopscotch, from Monopoly to Blackjack and everything else in between. Tell us what you love about that game.

**********

It didn't take me long to think of a game I play often and love--Tetris.

Tetris is a game based on a set of seven tetrominoes (also called tetriminoes) built out of four blocks that "fall" down a ten-wide grid of squares. The objective is to get those pieces (called I, J, L, O, S, T, and Z) perfectly lined up by turning them 90 degrees either clockwise or counterclockwise. When they line up, ten altogether in a row, the blocks disappear.

All the player has to do is make sure those blocks keep falling onto each other in the right way and prevent the stack of tetrominoes from hitting the top of the grid, which is when the game ends (usually). There are special moves (tetrises, where you clear four lines at the same time using the I tetromino, are among the highest-scoring line clears; t-spins are when you turn a T tetromino so it acts like a key in a lock and clears lines otherwise un-clearable) but the concept is simple: Just line up the tetrominoes as they fall.

One of the things I really love about this game is that it gets as hard as you want it to. There's always a level above you or more points to score by using the aforementioned special moves. Some of the game types (Sprint, Ultra) end after a timed period, but others allow you to continue playing as long as you can keep your stack of tetrominoes from the top of the grid.

Tetris Survival is my all-time favorite (my high score is 652k), since after Level 20 there's a bonus Level 21, which is infinite and a really fun challenge because the grid blacks out for longer and longer sets of time, requiring you to memorize the positions of every block. Marathon (high score 707k), also one of my faves, is similar, but its 15 levels are much longer by about 50 or so lines toward the end of the game and there's no infinite level.

Have you ever played Tetris? If so, do you have a favorite version (e.g., Survival, Battle, Ultra, Arena)? If not, do you think you'll ever try it out? Are you a fan of puzzle games or do you avoid them like the plague?


-----The Golden Eagle

The Overcoming Adversity Bloghop: In Which I Write A Short Story

Nick Wilford of Scattergun Scribblings is hosting a blogfest today! From his blog:

I asked you to contribute a short story on the theme of overcoming adversity, to be compiled into an anthology to help raise funds to send my stepson to a specialist college.

More information here.

And so, here's my story, which is called "Endurance" because I can't think of anything better, regardless of how obvious it may be. Anyway. I hope you enjoy it!

**********

Endurance

Four thousand years and the monolith still stood. Four thousand years had seen kingdoms, empires, civilizations rise and tumble off the edge of history like water over a fall, to crash against the rocks below and the memories of them to scatter into mist. Trees had shrouded it and merged their roots with its surface; the mountain had changed, the rocks shifting and half-burying the thing like a body whose consciousness had long vanished.

   It didn’t have a name. It had always had a title, an honorific by which it was acknowledged by those same civilizations that had tried to pry it apart, to chip away at its skin until all that was left was the hole in which it had been placed.

   It wanted a name.

   It wanted to get away from the cloying aura of the past and the memories of the rituals it had endured because it could not move, to avoid the horrible worship from others that persisted, tireless, only because they could not understand it. To escape from the refusal to acknowledge all it wanted was to get out, out, out.

   Another thousand years couldn’t do too much damage. Processing time behind the wall of its shell, it decided another two thousand years would be bearable. But to feel the organisms crowding around it, even the inert, brainless ones of the trees and the grass and the fungi, that was too much. It wanted company.

   Four thousand and three hundred and twenty seven years after its memory began, it sensed a more complicated presence. It was immediately recognizable as something more advanced, one of the things in this world bigger than plants but hardly more complex.

   It waited. Those things always passed by.

   The thing touched the hard surface as though it was an egg, capable of bearing the weight of a galaxy on its end—but if one knocked it wrong, liable to spill the trauma of history onto the mountainside, an outpouring of the past assumed forgotten.

   It continued to wait. It could sense that the birds had quieted, and the wind hung close to the ground like a scared child, and the mountain had stilled.

   But . . . there was a new thing, besides the air and the trees and the mountain. The thing had somehow exposed its surface, brushing away the organic detritus that had gathered over those millennia, for once being gentle instead of trying to crack it open.

   It did not recognize sunlight. It did not recognize that new thing in the sky, hovering like its own counterpart a million miles away. It felt an unburdening, a release of four thousand years of pain.

   Perhaps the sun was supposed to be its company. It tried to communicate.

   The sun replied.

**********

Any thoughts on the story?


-----The Golden Eagle

My Favorite Martian Bloghop

Co-hosted by The Geek Twins, Just a Dash of Geek, L.K. Hill, and Comic Book and Movie Reviews, this blogfest is all about Science Fiction.

From The Geek Twins:

On January 21st, 2013, share your all-time favorite alien individual (Martian or not) and why you love them. Find like minded blogs, get new visitors and make new friends!

I wasn't sure what alien to choose for this blogfest at first, but then I realized it wasn't a very hard choice. I'm absolutely going with whatever caused the circumstances of 2001: A Space Odyssey, because it's my favorite portrayal of "aliens": Strange, incomprehensible, confusing, and non-human, as I would be willing to bet real aliens would be. Sure, it's fun when aliens are humanoid and speak our languages and resemble human society (I'm lookin' at you, Star Trek) but it's very unlikely to happen if we did encounter anything from a place other than Earth. At least, that's the way it seems to me.

What's your favorite alien?


-----The Golden Eagle

The Hobbit Blogfest

M. Pax and Tyrean Martinson are hosting the Hobbit Blogfest (or Hobbit Fest) today, in celebration of the book and new movie. Being a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien, I had to participate. It's a simple event--participants just post their answers to four questions about the story.


What is your favorite hobbit characteristic or the one that you think closely resembles you?
I don't think I have a whole lot in common with hobbits, other than being relatively short. My favorite characteristic of hobbits would be their determination in the face of difficulty, even if they don't appear very fierce in their peaceful lives at Hobbiton.

If you could choose between a scrumptious second breakfast and a perilous unexpected journey – which would you prefer?
Oh, probably the unexpected journey. I'd feel too lazy sitting around munching food (even if it was delicious) if other people were doing something.

Have you ever left behind something on a journey (expected or unexpected) and wished you could have it over and over again? (A pocket handkerchief?)
A camera. It drives me crazy to see something interesting and be unable to photograph it.

What is your favorite part or quote from the book that you hope will be in the movie?
You may have already guessed my answer to this one: The eagles! I'm also highly looking forward to the Lonely Mountain. And the elves. And Beorn. And Bilbo Baggins played by Martin Freeman. And--heck, I'm looking forward to  the entire thing.


Who else is excited for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey? Have any of you seen the movie, and if so, what did you think? 


-----The Golden Eagle

The Cheers, Cavanaugh Blogfest

Most everyone in the blogosphere has heard of one person: Alex J. Cavanaugh.

As a way of acknowledging him, Mark Koopmans, Morgan Shamy, David Powers King, and Stephen Tremp have come up with the brilliant idea of hosting an event in his honor, called the Cheers, Cavanaugh Blogfest. I jumped on as soon as I heard about it!

Blogfest questions:

In +/- 20 words, what does Alex look like?
In +/- 20 words, who could play Alex in a documentary (living or dead)?
In +/- 20 words, who does Alex remind you of?
In +/- 100 words, (excluding the title), write flash fiction using all these prompts: Cavanaugh, Ninja, IWSG, Cosbolt, Guitar.

Rules:
- Be a Follower
- Join the Linky List
- Post your 200 word contribution (on Monday, December 10, if you would)
- Have fun!

More information available at any of the hosts' blogs.

My answers:

What does Alex look like? Satellite dishes, obviously. My theory is, his avatar is an accurate representation of alien technology used to emulate humans/infiltrate society. It's the only explanation of how he manages to write so many comments in a day, aside from clones!

Who could play Alex in a documentary (living or dead)?
Casting aside the satellite dish idea for a moment, I'd have to say Orlando Bloom.

Who does Alex remind you of?
No one. I think he's a pretty unique person; or at least, he's the only super-amazing, highly-supportive power-blogger that I've met so far!

Flash fiction piece (untitled):

"Captain Cavanaugh!"
   "No interruptions now, trainee. Be ready to launch on my mark. The Cosbolt must reach our enemy's star system in less than one hour."
   "It's the IWSG. They've left their sign on our ship, sir."
   "The shuriken?"
   "Yes, Captain. And . . . some of the crew are saying there's an IWSG Ninja on board the ship. Strange reports are coming in from all decks."
   "There's nothing we can do about it now. We have to launch; I don't care if guitar music starts blasting through the intercom, the Cosbolt is on a mission. Engineering, get us into space! And you, trainee. Before you leave, I have only one thing to say: There's only one true ninja on board this ship, and he's sitting right in front of you."

(Word count: 131)


There's also a bonus part of the blogfest, which I thought I'd include:

In +/- 40 words, leave a comment for Mrs. Cavanaugh - thanking her for sharing
Dear Mrs. Cavanaugh,
Your husband is amazing, and a great thank you is owed for the personal sacrifices you must make due to Mr. Cavanaugh's blogging. So, thank you! And may you both live long and prosper.



-----The Golden Eagle

Oh, How I Miss You Blogfest + NaNoWriMo Update

First, The Oh, How I Miss You Blogfest!

This event is hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh, Matthew MacNish, and Andrew Leon.

The general idea (from a host's blog):

The bloggers we really miss...
and the ones we would really miss!

Do you have a couple blogger buddies who aren't posting as often? Those who've pulled back and seem absent from the blogging world? Do you have blogger buddies you are grateful they are still around and would miss if they vanished? Now is your chance to show your appreciation and spotlight them! List one to three bloggers you really miss and one to three bloggers you would miss if they stopped blogging. Then go leave a comment on those blogs.

The bloggers I miss:

There are a lot of bloggers who have come and gone. Maybe it's the whole electronic format and people migrating from blogs to Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites--in addition to living their lives outside the internet, of course--but a lot of the people who I originally met in the blogosphere have since stopped posting.

This blogfest stirred me to look at my sidebar's blogroll, and I found many people who haven't posted in ages . . . it's been so long for some that the domain names have expired, Blogger's removed their sites, and so forth. Sadness. These are just a few of the people I miss:

Josh Hoyt from The Blog That Helps You Diagnose Your Characters.
Elena Solodow from You're Write. Except when you're Rong.
Sarah Pearson from Empty White Pages.

(There are so many other cool bloggers I want to mention, too.)

The bloggers I would miss:

This is a bit more cheerful, as these bloggers are still around! I want to just give you my main Google Reader folder or something, but as I cannot, here are three bloggers I'd really miss if they disappeared (all have been long-time followers of The Eagle's Aerial Perspective, sticking around for at least a year):

Old Kitty from Ten lives and second chances.
The Dandy Lioness from Chai Tea and Quills.
Laughingwolf from ...paws and reflect.

**********

And for those here for just the blogfest: 

If you don't want to bother with the personal, fiction writing element of this post, feel free to scroll down to the comments (assuming you want to comment) and ignore this bit! (Hope no one minds I'm combining two unrelated things in the same post.)


As for my National Novel Writing Month update:

I won NaNoWriMo on Sunday! Well . . . not officially, since they don't verifying winners until the 25th of November. But I'm beyond the NaNo goal according to Word.

I almost finished on Saturday, the 10th, but after writing 11k last Friday I didn't really feel like typing out 8k the next day to hit 50k. So, I finished on the 11th. Today I've written 4,233 words, for a grand total of 61,045.

**********

Which bloggers do you miss, or would you miss? Know any of the people I mentioned? Ever visited a blog you knew before only to find it's disappeared off the internet?

If you're participating in NaNoWriMo, how are you doing with the challenge?


-----The Golden Eagle

Blogfest: Did I Notice Your Book?

The Did I Notice Your Book Blogfest is hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh and Ciara Knight, and is all about spreading the word about books.

Post about a book you've noticed. You can choose a book that you've read, something you saw on a blog or social media site, Goodreads, or a sales website. Anything that caught your eye because of a great cover, blurb or reviews, but DON'T tell the author that their book has been noticed. Instead, shout out on social media sites, and encourage others to do the same, until the author finds his/her book.

Leave a blog comment at Ninja Captain Alex's BLOG or Ciara Knight's BLOG when the author finds their book.

Only two rules:

1. You can't post about your own book.
2. The book shouldn't be on the New York Times or USA Today bestseller list. 

This is your chance to shout out about a book that might not have been noticed by others.

I had a hard time deciding which book to post about for this. I follow hundreds of authors, many of whom have published their work, and they're all impressive. However, as I had to narrow it down to something, here's what I went with:

Year Zero by Rob Reid.

An alien advance party was suddenly nosing around my planet.
Worse, they were lawyering up. . . .

In the hilarious tradition of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Rob Reid takes you on a headlong journey through the outer reaches of the universe—and the inner workings of our absurdly dysfunctional music industry.

Low-level entertainment lawyer Nick Carter thinks it’s a prank, not an alien encounter, when a redheaded mullah and a curvaceous nun show up at his office. But Frampton and Carly are highly advanced (if bumbling) extraterrestrials. And boy, do they have news.

The entire cosmos, they tell him, has been hopelessly hooked on humanity’s music ever since "Year Zero" (1977 to us), when American pop songs first reached alien ears. This addiction has driven a vast intergalactic society to commit the biggest copyright violation since the Big Bang. The resulting fines and penalties have bankrupted the whole universe. We humans suddenly own everything—and the aliens are not amused.

Nick Carter has just been tapped to clean up this mess before things get ugly, and he’s an unlikely galaxy-hopping hero: He’s scared of heights. He’s also about to be fired. And he happens to have the same name as a Backstreet Boy. But he does know a thing or two about copyright law. And he’s packing a couple of other pencil-pushing superpowers that could come in handy.

Soon he’s on the run from a sinister parrot and a highly combustible vacuum cleaner. With Carly and Frampton as his guides, Nick now has forty-eight hours to save humanity, while hopefully wowing the hot girl who lives down the hall from him.

**********

What book(s) have you noticed recently and/or are on your TBR? If you're participating in the Did I Notice Your Book Blogfest, which book did you choose? Heard of Year Zero before?


-----The Golden Eagle

Genre Favorites Blogfest

The Genre Favorites Blogfest is hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh, and the rules are simple:

One blogfest, four favorites!
List your favorite genre of:

Movie
Music
Books

And a guilty pleasure genre from any of the three categories!

My favorites:


Movies: Fantasy
I was going to say Science Fiction for this category . . . but then I realized that a lot of my favorite movies (The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter) are Fantasy. I've seen more Fantasy than SF.

Music: Classical
I do like some contemporary music. But classical is the type I can listen to non-stop, and there are so many amazing composers/works that have emerged over hundreds of years.

Books: Science Fiction
Would you believe I used to somewhat avoid SF? I'm not really sure why . . . but most of my reading was Fantasy/Contemporary before I began writing my first novel, which was inspired by a Science Fiction book. And now I'm a bit obsessed with the genre.

Guilty Pleasure: Books: Young Adult Dystopian
I suppose you could put this under Science Fiction, but Dystopian (particularly YA Dystopian) has its own distinct traits. The genre can be very formulaic, predictable, and after reading too much of it I begin to feel like the future is a mire of hopeless politics and oppression (not to say that current events are full of sunshine and optimism, of course), but I do enjoy the character development that usually comes with the protagonist's refutation of their world's rules.


What's one of your favorite genres from the above categories?


-----The Golden Eagle

First Loves Blogfest + Random Acts of Kindness Blitz

Two big events happening in the blogosphere today, everyone. It seems things are picking up again and everyone's recovered from the A-Z Challenge.

The First Loves Blogfest is hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh, and from his blog:

Your first movie, first music (song/band) first book, and first person. Four loves, one blogfest!

So, here I go:


First Movie: The Secret Garden (1987).
First Music: Windy, by The Association.
First Book: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's (Philosopher's) Stone. I first read this book when I was 9 or 10 (or at least around that age) and blazed through the sequels. Then it was an agonizing wait until the rest of the series was released.
First Person: I'll have to go with non-romantic love here (because I have no social life--ahem) and say my mom.

**********

And now, for the Random Acts of Kindness (RAOK) Blitz!

A smile. An encouraging word. A thoughtful gesture. Each day people interact with us, help, and make our day a bit brighter and full. This is especially true in the Writing Community. 

Take a second to think about writers you know, like the critique partner who works with you to improve your manuscript. The writing friend who listens, supports and keeps you strong when times are tough. The author who generously offers council, advice and inspiration when asked.

So many people take the time to make us feel special, don't they? They comment on our blogs, re-tweet our posts, chat with us on forums, and wish us Happy Birthday on Facebook.

Kindness ROCKS!

To commemorate the release of their book The Emotion Thesaurus, Becca and Angela at The Bookshelf Muse are hosting a TITANIC Random Act Of Kindness BLITZ. And because I think KINDNESS is contagious, I'm participating too!

***

I thought about this post for a while, trying to think of who to acknowledge. I don't have critique partners (haven't even shown an entire novel I've written to someone else, in fact), or gone to a conference and met other writers, or done any other of those sorts of things that so many of you seem to have formed writing relationships through.

However, that's not to say there haven't been people who've given me great feedback on snippets or offered their thoughts on a writing subject I rambled about on my blog or shared their knowledge in a thoughtful post. So I'd like to thank all of you writers who read my blog for supporting me--if any of you need feedback on a story, the space to promote your book, or anything else I can do, know that I am happy to help out in any possible way.

***

Do you know someone special that you'd like to randomly acknowledge? Don't be shy--come join us and celebrate! Send them an email, give them a shout out, or show your appreciation in another way. Kindness makes the world go round. :)

Becca and Angela have a special RAOK gift waiting for you as well, so hop on over to The Bookshelf Muse to pick it up.

**********

What were your First Loves? Are you participating in the RAOK Blitz, or have you been Blitzed by someone else?


-----The Golden Eagle

The Evil Genius Blogfest: The Winners

On February 27th, I hosted The Evil Genius Blogfest.

As you may know, I also hosted a little giveaway along with it (i.e. an offer to do whatever the winners requested, so long as it wasn't monetary), with one winner chosen by popular vote and two random others. Today's the day I announce all three!

Before I say who won, however, thank you ALL for participating. I had great fun visiting your blogs and reading your entries! You made this awesome.
 

But since I hear you saying "Get to the winners already!":

The winner by popular vote is:



EMILY ROSE, of Mist of the Blossom Rain



The winners as chosen by Random.org are*:

Number 5: SARAH PEARSON, of Empty White Pages

Number 16: PAUL TOBIN, of Magpie Bridge



Congratulations, winners! Please email me at eaglesblogspotmail @ gmail . com (without spaces) to discuss your prizes. :)



*The max number (22) is smaller than the number of those who signed up (24), due to the fact a few did not post their entries.



-----The Golden Eagle

Upcoming Blog Events

First, the hosts of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge are trying to get to 1000 participants by March 1st--so far they have over 700.

I participated in this blogfest last year and I highly recommend it. While it is a month long and involves posting 26 out of 30 days--not to mention the time it takes to visit other participants--there's also no comparable event. When else are you going to find the blogosphere turned into a series of alphabet letters, with no two bloggers taking the same approach, and get to know dozens of new people?


Second, Alex J. Cavanaugh's Catch Fire! Blog Party.

His new book CassaFire is coming out on February 28, and he's asked for the blogosphere to help spread the word. If half as many people have signed up as those who did for the CassaStar blog event, then a ton of blogs will be showcasing his book. And I get the feeling there are many more this time!


. . . and I hope none of you will mind if I mention my own blogfest. Tomorrow is The Eagle's Aerial Perspective's blogoversary (two years, everyone. Hard to get my head around) and the celebration begins with The Evil Genius Blogfest. The general idea? Post in any form about an evil genius (real or fictional) of your choice. You can even win stuff!

For those of you who have already signed up, I can't wait to see what you come up with. :)

**********

Will you be participating in any of these?


-----The Golden Eagle

The Origins Blogfest

This blogfest is hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh, DL Hammons, Katie Mills, and Matthew MacNish.

About the blogfest:

On Monday, February 13th, post your own origin story. Tell us all where your writing dreams began. It could be anything from how you started making up stories as a child, or writing for the school newspaper, or even what prompted you to start a blog. How about stories about the first time somebody took an interest in your writing, or maybe the singular moment when you first started calling yourself a writer. It all started somewhere and we want you to tell us your own unique beginnings.

My writing dreams didn't so much begin in a sudden "I'm going to be a writer!" moment as evolve over time. The beginning of that evolution started one summer's day (nope, not even a dark and stormy night) when I decided to write a short story involving a 12-year-old boy, a Lord of Mortals (who wanted to become the Lord of Immortals, of course, and was willing to kill to do it), glaciers, and the underworld. Max planned page count? 10-20, longhand.

A couple months later, it had expanded into a trilogy. I wanted to pack everything possible into that trilogy; time travel, shape-shifting, telekinesis, cryokinesis, gryphons, exotic islands, and a showdown between good and evil.

Did I ever finish the trilogy--or even the first book? No. (I might try my hand at MG again and work on it; however, that's another post.) But I managed to write out over 120 pages and the writing bug occupied my brain for a while.

Then I didn't write much; the bug seemed to have abandoned me. A few short stories, a poem or two, several stalled attempts at more novels I never followed up on. But in 2009 I came across the Space Opera novel The Dragon Never Sleeps by Glen Cook at the library. At this point I hadn't read much Science Fiction (so this involves my SF origins as well), nor did I have a great desire to. But I fell in love with the cover of the book and decided to take it out based on that and the blurb.

(I'm partial to covers with ships; and yes, I know the cover is the shallowest reason for choosing a story.)

I loved the world-building in The Dragon Never Sleeps. I've forgotten most of it now (the only thing I remember for sure is that there were War Avocats who were as strange as they sound) and it felt like there was a lot of technical jargon I had to read twice to fully understand, but the story still hooked me--regardless of the fact that I wanted to chuck many of the characters into a black hole.

And so I decided to write something I really wanted to read myself, despite the fact I knew I couldn't create something as good as a published novel. I built off of (read: copied, though I went back and changed the glaring similarities) the world and happily typed away a random scene, which eventually morphed into the 1000+ page story I now call The Trilogy. During those 1 1/2 years spent writing The Trilogy is when I began to identify myself: I was not just someone who scribbled away on the back porch on a whim, but a writer who spent time on the craft. Mostly in the form of wrangling plot, arguing with stubborn and silent characters, and looking in despair at the mess of a setting I'd created, but still.

A writer.

And there you have my origins story.

What's yours?


-----The Golden Eagle

Announcing: The Evil Genius Blogfest

The Who:
You, of course. With the evil genius of your choice.

The What:
Create a story, in any format whether that's flash fiction or poetry, where the aforementioned character does something qualifying them as an evil genius. You can also choose an already-existing person, perhaps from one of your favorite books or movies--just tell us why you think they're the best.

Interpret the phrase "evil genius" any way you like: For the evil, it can be a truly sinister murder or a humorous prank; a teen hacking into high-level security or a plot to foil someone's trip to the mall. And the genius? Also up to you. Just make sure there's something that makes your entry sparkle. Or skulk through the dark, as it may be.

Non-fiction what you'd like to do instead? No problem. Feel free to write a post about an evil genius from history or the present.

Word limit for entries: 400. You may go over that number--but be aware, people are less likely to read your entire post if it is long.

The Where:
Your blog/website.

The When:
February 27.

The Why:
Because The Eagle's Aerial Perspective is turning 2 years old on February 27, and that calls for celebration. Furthermore, the blog's mastermind has had this idea simmering in the back of her mind for months (part of her plot for complete web domination, you know) and she thought it was about time she took the leap and hosted her own blogfest.

And why should you sign up? Well . . . three winners will be announced on March 9th; two shall be chosen by Random.org and one by popular vote, and those entrants will win something of their choice. Nothing monetary (since this evil genius is among the rest of them: experiencing recession) but the other options are many: guest post or interview on The Eagle's Aerial Perspective (written a book? Free advertising), some graphic design (examples can be procured), an edit/critique, and even some HTML/CSS coding (for websites and so forth). Other things within her (er, limited) domain of knowledge may be negotiated. Nothing so terribly exciting as, say, free books, unfortunately.

So. Think you're up for some Evil Genii? Sign up below. The host looks forward to your presence on February 27.

(You may also go HERE to view the list and add your link, in case there are technical problems and the script above does not show up.)


And don't forget to take the button to display on your site (not mandatory, but it would be awesome if you did):





Code:
<a href="http://thegoldeneaglesblog.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/3pzo6.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />


-----The Golden Eagle

Deja Vu Blogfest: Signs You May Have The Writing Syndrome

About this blogfest:

On December 16th all of those taking part will re-post their favorite blog offering, or one that never received the exposure it should have. Then as the day unfolds and everyone hops from one blog to another, what they will be reading is the best of the best (as determined by you). That day the blogosphere will be chock full of past writing brilliance!

Hosted by Nicole Ducleroir at One Significant Moment at a Time, DL Hammons at Cruising Altitude, Katie Mills at Creepy Query Girl, and Lydia Kang at The Word is My Oyster.

It took me a while to decide on a good post to give you here. But I finally decided, so here it is--enjoy!

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Signs You May Have the Writing Syndrome:


1. You enjoy reading books beyond what is considered normal or socially acceptable.

2. You have conversations with imaginary people in imaginary situations and who, you imagine, talk back to you and among each other.

3. You scrutinize human behavior and wonder why people do the things they do.

4. You get the urge to write things down on anything in sight when a new idea pops into your head.

5. You often fluctuate between ecstatic--as the new idea arrives in your head--and as frustrated as heck as you try to figure out what to do with the new idea.

6. You can occasionally be found talking aloud when the nearest living being is a plant.

7. You sometimes drift out of conversations to ponder the reasons behind one of the imaginary people or that new idea.

8. You go online and look up the sites of authors because you want to read their FAQs about the writing process and getting published.

9. You start analyzing the books you read and wonder how you would have done it better.

10. In the most severe cases, you actually start pouring forth words in quantities greater than that of a shopping list and create something with what's known as a plot.

If you can say you do more than three of the above, you have the Writing Syndrome.

There is no known cure. Unfortunately, the only words available are:

Welcome to the club.


-----The Golden Eagle

The Cool As Cucumber Blogfest

Madeleine at Scribble and Edit is hosting a blogfest today, based on the idea of using something writers are often told to avoid: cliches. I thought it was an intriguing idea, so I signed up.

About:

Liberally sprinkle your entries with well placed clichés or make them the twist to your tale.

Make it the twist on the punch line to your story. Or make it a witty observation: e.g. Rachel's Holiday by Marion Keyes (1997) He kept touching his hair, which, as well as being dyed to within an inch of its life, was blow dried flicked and rigid with spray.

You may choose whichever idiom you like, such as 'The cat that got the cream'; 'As cool as a cucumber'; 'As good as gold', 'Kick the bucket'. Max 400 words for Flash Fiction.

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I decided to go with "sprinkling" my entry with cliches instead of making mine the punch line.

Here it is:

“This ain’t worth the paper it’s written on.”

   The Lieutenant tossed the sheets at my feet. I just looked at him, fury and embarrassment turning my face red and hot.

   “Why’re you staring at me, girl? Get out. You’re useless,” he said.

   I bit down the snarl in my throat and snatched up the papers, clenching my hand and crumpling the smooth cream-colored sheets. The heading CLASSIFIED seemed to taunt me, a bold and black statement that embodied the stupid move I’d made.

   “Anyone ever told you not to look a gift horse in the mouth?” the man called, as my boots tapped on the floor of his office, carrying me away as fast as they could go without running. I didn’t reply as the steel doors to his office slammed shut behind me.

   “Well?” my buddy Roger asked, catching up as I charged away.

   “I was an idiot. The Lieutenant threw it in my face, and he’s right,” I said.

   I’d been wrong attempting to scare up evidence that the Captain of the ship—the only man the Empress trusted—was a traitor, a defector to the invaders at our borders.

   He’d been the one to take me on as crew aboard the starship, and I had him to thank for my position in the ranks. That’s what the Lieutenant had meant by “gift horse”.

   Did that mean the Captain was innocent? I hadn’t thought so. But the evidence—I couldn’t believe I’d been so naïve to judge a man like the Captain—was a desperate stringing together of events that would have been random. Unless you were someone like me, of course, searching for a conspiracy.

   I tossed away the paper.

   Roger shrugged. “Seemed pretty solid evidence to me.”

   “I was wrong.”

   “How do you know?”

   “I just do. Look, Roger, right now I don’t give a damn. I’ll be lucky if the Captain—”

   “What was that about me?”

   Roger and I froze.

   The Captain himself stood in the hallway, smiling strangely. He held up the paper I’d discarded and my stomach plummeted through the floor.

   “My my, Georgie,” he said, flipping through the sheets, “this is critical.”

   He met my gaze, his expression hard. I imagined it must be the look he gave his enemies in battle.

   “But let’s not beat around the bush, shall we? You are correct. I am a traitor to the Empire.”

(400 words)

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What do you think?

The winner of this blogfest will be determined by vote, so don't forget to head over to Madeleine's blog and vote for your favorite entry!

-----The Golden Eagle

NaNoWriMo Video Songfest!

This blog event is hosted by Jon Paul at Where Sky Meets Ground.

The Goal of the NaNoWriMo Video Songfest (from his blog):

• Have a total blast!
• Share some awesome NaNo writing music, and get a chance to hear the tunes everyone else finds groovy.
• Give everyone one stop shopping for a right rockin' video playlist throughout the month.  With any luck, the combined energy of all that awesome music will help us get across that 50k word finish line just a little bit faster!  Who knows, maybe that really moving snippet of music posted by a fellow writer helps you nail a difficult scene or understand a character better.
• Even if you're not doing NaNo this year, why not throw one of your favorite videos into the mix to support your fellow writers and let everyone else benefit from your good taste!

I had meant to post this earlier in the month, but then I forgot about it somewhere in the midst of things--I really must start paying more attention to my own Current Participation page. :P

But anyway, here's the video:

Not exactly a song, I know, but Beethoven rarely fails to get me feeling at least a little bit more energized. Particularly toward writing Science Fiction, though I'm not sure why.

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Do you have any favorite music to listen to before/when you're writing?

-----The Golden Eagle

What's Your Favorite Thing To Do On A Saturday?

Me, I'm headed off to the library. And then I'll attempt to tackle as many links as I can for the Pay It Forward Blogfest . . .

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But before I go, I wanted to let you know I will be posting tomorrow for Blog Action Day, and have signed up for yet another blogfest (because it sounded awesome. And after all, I am so not busy with, um, two others):

Hosted by Carrie Butler at So, You're a Writer....


So, what is your favorite thing to do on Saturday? Or over the weekend? Are you participating in Blog Action Day or the Casting Call Bloghop?


-----The Golden Eagle