N.C. Reed's Blog, page 9

I am all but finished I think with Parno’s Destiny. What an exhausting ride it’s been, too, lol. I don’t have a release date yet, of course, since it will have to face the edit and proofing by CT Publishers, but as soon as I have one I’ll post it here.

This book is running about 150k words, so it’s a mouthful for sure. I never imagined when I started his story that it would evolve into something so complicated and intricate. Characters have become more complex as I worked, and situations have changed literally as I wrote them when an idea would hit me.

Despite how exhausting it has been, I’ve loved doing it. However, any writer will tell you there’s nothing more intimidating than a blank page staring back at you. A week from now, when I’m staring at that blank page, I’ll probably wish I was back working on Destiny, lol. But for now, I’m glad to be able to tell you that it will be available soon.

NCR

My latest novel, Stormcrow, is now available on Amazon! If you followed my Shade series as a fanfic writer, Stormcrow is the character idea that I based Shade on. This is the first installment on finally giving the Stormcrow his own world to live in at long last!

Get Stormcrow here!

I hope you enjoy!

I recently finished my new novel, STORMCROW, and sent it away, after which I promptly got sick. That’s life though, ain’t it. Anyway, the resulting period of forced inactivity has left me with time to watch a few movies I’d been wanting to see, especially since every television show I watch (all three of them, lol) is/was on hiatus. Such a hateful word, hiatus.

Anyway, on to some movie news.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. – Superman and the Lone Ranger (Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer) team up to recreate the team of Solo and Kuryakin in this big screen adaptation of the old television classic. Set in the 60’s instead of being modernized, this movie was awesome from start to finish. Cavill and Hammer own their roles and play off one another beautifully through the entire movie. There’s not a single minute of movie that’s filler, folks. Have you popcorn popped when the movie starts.

Interstellar – LONGEST MOVIE EVER ALERT – That being said, this movie is well done. The tale is heart wrenching and heart warming at the same time. It is long, to be sure, but again, there’s no wasted filler. Every bit of this movie is important, so pay attention to details. It’s well acted and the roles seem to have been cast very well.

ANT MAN – This is quite possibly the second best Marvel movie so far, behind only Guardians of the Galaxy for pure entertainment value. There’s some playing with the story line but that’s become the norm these days. I’m not a comic guru so I’m not really bothered by that, though I know that some are. Still, the movie is awesome, and the lead and supporting actors are superb. Worth seeing again and again.

Extinction – This movie is dark and dreary but tells a great story. Matthew Fox and Jeffrey Donovan play off one another very well in this movie. Not the typical Z movie, it’s more geared toward the aspect of survival and how people treat each other and deal with the aftermath. At first I didn’t think I was going to like it, but I ended up watching it twice. The ending is a bit of a surprise, but it’s not bad. This kind of movie doesn’t really have an actual ending, and it leaves a lot of questions unanswered, but as far as entertainment value it’s not bad.

Star Wars, The Force Awakens – Makes up for the Prequels. All of them. Very obviously follows the pattern for A New Hope. There are some surprises. You’ve probably heard of them by now, but just in case, I’ll not repeat them here. If you’re a fan and still haven’t seen it, you owe it to yourself to do so, and in 3D if possible. The effects alone are worth the price of admission.

I’m hoping to see Deadpool when it opens and look forward to it. Then there is the Captain America:Civil War movie, which looks good. And of course Superman v. Batman. That one has potential, but we’ll see. I don’t want to get my hopes up, and yet I do so want it to rock.

I’ll have more about Stormcrow as it get’s closer to hitting the web.

Now go watch a movie!

NCR

Wishing all of you a safe and happy Christmas. I hope that you are able to spend time with family and friends, eat too much, laugh too loud, and have entirely too much fun.

My you all be blessed.

NCR

As I reported earlier, Creative Texts is re-issuing my independent titles in a professionally done edition of their own. Roland is now available from CT at Amazon;

http://www.amazon.com/Roland-Reluctant-Paladin-N-C-Reed-ebook/dp/B019LP43KW/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1450787201&sr=1-1-fkmr1&keywords=Roland%3A+Reluctant+Paladin

One of my earliest books, Roland: Reluctant Paladin, will soon be released by Creative Texts, given the same treatment as Parno’s Company and Odd Billy Todd, with professional cover art and editing. Here’s a sneak peak at the new cover. I’ll post here and on my social media when I know the release date.

If you are a fan of my fanfiction writing, specifically my “Shade” verse in Firefly fanfiction on fanfiction.net, then you may be happy to see this.

See, Shade was based on an original character idea that I had. I adapted it to Firefly fanfiction because I never thought I’d be a published author and heck it would be fun, right? Writing fanfiction started, for me, as an escape from hours of sitting in hospitals or at home while caring for a terminally ill parent many years ago.

After I started actually writing books for real, I decided that the original ‘Shade’ deserved at least a chance to be read, so the first of what I hope will be several novels is almost ready for publication.

STORMCROW is the original character that Shade is based on. The only real similarity between the two universes is the fact that both are ‘set’ for the most part on cargo ships. Otherwise Stormcrow shares very few points of any kind with Firefly. Each character in the story has their own baggage and their own issues, to be sure.

The story is a bit dark, and be warned it’s not a ‘space opera’ with fleets and battles in space, but rather more of a sci-fi action adventure. Stormcrow will be much more. . .’shade’ like, than Shade, if you catch my meaning.

Anyway, Stormcrow is almost ready to go to the publishers, so this is a friendly heads up to all of you who enjoyed Shade over the years.

Release information will be posted here and on my FB and Twitter page when I receive it.

NCR

I hope all of you have had a wonderful holiday weekend. Mine has had ups and downs, as I’m sure yours did, but today as I think back not only over this weekend but the last year, I have much to be thankful for, and I am.

The thing is that sometimes we just. . .forget. We take things for granted. We take the good things in our lives for granted but more importantly we take the presence of other people, especially loved ones, for granted.

Don’t do that. Love your family, your friends, as if you’ll never see them again. Always part with a kind word. When you’re treating with family, assume you won’t get to talk to them again. That you’ll have to remember this as the last time you’ll get to speak to them.

This will make you want to ‘get it right’. That’s not to say you won’t have disagreements, because you will. Just learn to put them in perspective. An old joke from when I was a kid was ‘no one will remember it in a hundred years’.

Treat insults like that if you can. No one will remember it one day, and that includes you.

Be thankful for family, for friends, for food on your table and a roof over your head. Things seem hard sometimes, that is true. But they’re not nearly so hard as we would believe sometimes, either.

Thank you all for reading, and may you have a wonderful and blessed holiday season to come!

NCR

Morning sports fans! Something I’ve not done in a while is post movie and book reviews. Truth is I’ve been pretty busy and haven’t had the chance to watch or read much, but recently I have had the opportunity to catch a few. Here’s what they were, and how I liked them. Or not.

THE ADMIRAL; Roaring Currents

This is a Korean movie, so subtitles will be the order of the day. A historical drama (for lack of a better word) that follows Admiral Yi Sun-sin in the Battle of Myeongnyang, which took place in October of 1597.

Admiral Yi, with a total of 13 ships, faced off against a Japanese fleet of over 300 in a last ditch, last stand defense of Korea from occupation and defeat. Now this is a long movie folks, so have your popcorn popped and ready to go :) but it’s more than worth the effort and time. Don’t allow the slow build up to throw you off as the stage is excellently set for the battle and the aftermath.

The visuals are stunning and the details are immaculate. My knowledge of the old culture of either nation is slim but what I do know was reproduced fairly accurately. This would be similar to say an America movie such as In Harms Way, an old WW2 John Wayne film that was also about a desperate naval battle in the early days of the Pacific war (though to my knowledge In Harms Way is completely fictitious while The Admiral; Roaring Currents is based on actual events). By this comparison I mean to say that the movie would be a patriotic and celebratory movie for the Korean people.

This was an excellent movie folks. If you enjoy historical drama, this movie is definitely worth your time.

DEADLANDS

This movie is set in ancient New Zealand and centers on a conflict between two Maori tribes and a single warrior of a dead tribe who protects the land of his people with ferocious attacks that had led others to believe he is a demon.

Without giving too much away, the younger protagonist manages to secure the assistance of the ‘demon’ tribal warrior as his enemies cross the solitary warrior’s lands. In the process he learns to be a warrior himself at the hands of the older man. Beneath the action of this movie is another tale that slowly comes to the fore and is almost worthy of a prequel movie in its own right, though whether it will get one or not I have no idea.

Again in subtitles, this movie, while not equal to The Admiral, is well worth the time to watch it. It’s fairly fast paced, and exciting to watch, especially the Maori-centric actions of the tribal warriors.

CRIMSON PEAK

This movie I actually saw in the theater last week. I warn you now that the movie borders on tedious in places, but in the end all that you are shown is relevant so I suppose it was necessary. Gothic in appearances, the movie has some great roles played by actors and actresses who know their business. It isn’t an action movie by any means, but a ghost story of sorts, or rather it centers on a young woman who can see ghosts. The effects of the ghosts are pretty awesome in their own right to be honest.

Again, need to have your popcorn ready when you sit down since it does seem to drag on, but like I said as the movie draws to a close, most everything you’ve sat through makes sense. Worth the matinee price we paid to see it.

LUTHER

This is a British television series starring Idris Elba. The title character, John Luther, is a brilliant if troubled detective who simply cannot play by the rules and thus is constantly in trouble. I’ve seen only the first season so far, but it was a great first season. Idris Elba is of course awesome, and Saskia Reeves of DUNE fame (the remake) plays his boss. Gritty, suspenseful, and full of twists and turns, Luther is another show that’s worth the investment if these kind of shows are your forte. I look forward to the second season as I get time.

Any of these shows are a great watch if they are in your favored genres. I would recommend The Admiral to you even if you aren’t a ‘war film’ fan because it is soooo much more than just a war movie. The acting is wonderful and makes me wish I knew the Korean language just so I could follow along without subtitles.

If you decide to check them out, I hope you enjoy them. Feel free to come back and leave a comment here if you do see them and we can compare notes!

NCR

AND the photo cover for “Friggin’ Zombies” is finished. Look for this one to upload today or tomorrow depending on Amazon. I hope you enjoy! This is the first in a planned three book series featuring this setting. This installment is written in first person, sort of a diary format, as one man recounts his frantic, often hilarious and occasionally dangerous odyssey of preparing for the oncoming Zombie Apocalypse.

Find “Friggin’ Zombies” HERE!!!