The Thrill of it All and Hot Newsflash

Tara Taylor and Heather M. Gardner are hosting The Thrill of it All Blogfest.

On June 24th, share a big thrill with us to be entered into The Thrill of it All blogfest contest! We will judge the biggest thrills and give out some thrilling prizes.
Entries may be real or fiction. All we ask is that you keep them to a paragraph or so. 
AND...we are giving out some REALLY great prizes!
1) A copy of MAGUIRE'S CORNER, ebook
2) An ARC copy of POP TRAVEL
3) A $20 Amazon GC
4) A banner or caricature by Tara (or substitute if the winner has another need)
So mark us on your calendar, sign up on the linky list below, and grab our button... THRILL US! (I'll try.)

Centuries ago, I made a Venom costume for a Halloween competition at the most popular bar of the city. I was very ill and could barely walk so I talked a friend into competing in my behalf. Few hours before the competition my friend backed out. I was heartbroken. If only I were healthy enough! Watching my disappointment, my brothers decided to step in for my sake. My eldest brother hates confined hot spaces. He offered to wear the costume in spite it was very hot but he needed a companion. Mother Dragon hates crowds and electronic music. She disguised herself as Maleficent (make up and all) in order to be his last minute-partner. She would enter a young adult-only bar with deafening electronic music and long rows of people crowding the door. My younger brother, who is the personification of composure and elegance, climbed a light pole like a monkey in order to signal his gate keeper friend to let "Venom" and "Malificent" enter first. And my youngest brother, who has absolutely no patience at all for waiting, sat in the car for the four hours the event lasted.

Years of brothers' quarrels becoming meaningless in the blink of an eye, and my family uniting and bearing what they hate most out of love for me will always be one of the greatest thrills of my life.

Samanta Geary at writerlysam  is collaborating with the motion picture music production house, Audiomachine, for their album release "The Tree of Life" beginning July 15th. She will be hosting a "Tree of Life: Branching Out" writing challenge/contest for guest writers. Each writer will contribute their own 150 word excerpt to a continuing story collectively written over the course of 25 days. Guest writers can spin the story in whatever direction they choose, as long as it relates to the previously posted excerpt and is inspired by the featured Audiomachine track. When the collective story is complete, fans will vote for their favorite excerpt -- the top three writers will be awarded prizes. Keep an eye on her, this promises to be fun.

Tyrean Martinson is having a giveaway of her new book Dragonfold and Other Adventures!

Azami has a gift with origami. Will she master it in time to save herself from bondage? Find out in "Dragonfold."
Joanne lost more than her honor in the war, she lost her will to live. When bandits attack her homestead, will she stand or fall in "Enough to Do?"
 And just who is Captain Wrath under that itchy, false wig Find out more in “The Identity of Captain Wrath.”

Click on the links and check it out!

Antonio del Drago from Mythic Scribes Fantasy Writing  was kind enough to send me a copy of his new book to review.

The Mythic Guide to Characters covers three basic layers for characters. Layer 1 covers the Unconscious Mind and The Enneagram. The way Dr. Del Dragon explains things made it easy to understand even if the reader has no previous knowledge of psychology, which was my case. The fact he includes specific examples of famous characters in his explanation was excellent to help me understand the types better. His observations were fascinating to read and it gave me better idea of how to work my own characters.

Layer 2, covers Bartle Types and the Five Great Relationships. Not being a fan of video games, I found the Bartle Types a bit harder and complex to grasp. However, I got to see their useful application through famous characters he used as examples.

Layer 3 covers the Archetypes and the Soul Triptych. I think it is the clearest information I have read about Archetypes so far. The Soul Triptych also gives good insight of things that may help the story.

Although Dr. del Drago clarifies at the beginning there are no writing rules set in stone, his three layers contribute for a better and deeper characterization. He includes a Character Worksheet at the end of the book as an excellent guideline for character building.

There is a section called Further Considerations where Dr. del Drago covers subjects like Dialogue and Speech Patterns (Writing Dialogue, Vocabulary, Jargon, Slang, Sentence Structure, etc). In my opinion this is the only part I find weak in the book. It covers too many subjects too briefly to get something really useful out of them. Personally, I would have preferred he would cover less subjects in exchange of more depth (and include examples) like he did it, and very well, in the Layers.

In general terms The Mythic Guide to Characters is a pleasant and interesting book, easy to understand and full of insights to avoid two dimensional characters.

Don't forget to check out and follow his site. You'll find a lot of interesting information there!