Thursday, May 10, 2012

DVD Review - Dark Shadows: The Best of Barnabas



I stumbled upon Dark Shadows: The Best of Barnabas part of The Greatest Episodes Collection at my local Wal-Mart for under ten dollars. Dark Shadows aired from 1966 to 1971 normally in the late afternoons. At the time of it’s peek Dark Shadows had around twenty million viewers, which is an incredible number compared to the low ratings of today’s soap operas (Sadly, there are only four on the air.). And it was known for having errors, such as actors forgetting their lines; stagehands walking in the background; microphones where in the frame shot; etc, because of the tight filming schedule demanded by ABC.

There have been dozens of Dark Shadows sets released over the years. The complete series is coming out this summer but at a whopping $599.98 retail price tag. The show has become more popular due to Tim Burton’s remake starring Johnny Depp being released on Friday, resulting in MPI Home Video releasing The Best of Barnabas to DVD.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Review - My Stubborn Heart by Becky Wade



My Stubborn Heart
BY: Becky Wade
PUBLISHED BY: Bethany House
PUBLISHED IN: 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7642-0974-1
PAGES: 350


Kate Donovan, a thirty-one-year-old redhead, needed a break from her job and all of her bad relationships, so she volunteered to take her seventy-six-year-old grandma, who she calls Gran, to Redbud, Pennsylvania, where she is going to help Gran restore their family home - Chapel Bluff. The old grand house is outdated and needs tons of work. Now, Kate has her hands full, and I’m not referring to the renovation, as Gran has plans to play matchmaker with the handyman Matt Jarreau. Normally, you would think a grandchild would be upset for their grandmother to play matchmaker for them, but after one look at Matt, Kate plans on doing anything to get his attention.

Review - Dark Shadows: Angelique's Descent



Dark Shadows: Angelique’s Descent
BY: Lara Parker
PUBLISHED BY: Tor
PUBLISHED IN: First Mass Market Edition 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7653-7002-0
PAGES: 336


    Now cured of the vampire curse, Barnabas is ready to start a new live as a mortal, starting by furthering his relationship with his savior Dr. Julia Hoffman. He is now living in the Collinwood estate and plans on becoming a productive member of the family. The night before the demolition crew is scheduled to tear down the Old House, he returns there just before a mysterious fire occurs, burning down almost the entire house. The only item that survived the burning was a journal. The journal of the witch Angelique Bouchard.

    Despite of Julia’s demands for him to toss the book into the fireplace, Barnabas begins reading the haunted tale that takes place on island of Martinique. At a young age Angelique is ripped from her mother’s arms and forced to live with her father, a plantation owner. Voodoo witchcraft had been in her family line and at an early age her father recognized it in her. Angelique is treated more like a slave than a daughter as she is used in her father’s scheme to control his slaves, leading her into pledging her soul to darkness and becoming immortal.

DVD Review - The Best of Where On Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?

    I received The Best of Where On Earth Is Carmen Sandiego? in a DVD giveaway package I won from a blog several weeks ago. The show aired in 1994 and ended in 1998. I vaguely recall the series ever airing as I was a thirteen-year-old and I was more into horror movies at the time. The series is based on the popular pc/video game and the PBS kid’s game show; both titled Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?. Thanks to Cookie Jar (Mill Creek Entertainment) this cartoon and others are now available on DVD.

    The show takes place in a virtual reality where a 'live' kid known as “The Player” is playing the game as two sibling characters Zack and Ivy, who are both ACME detectives. Carmen Sandiego is the main thief along with her V.I.L.E gang, who in each episode steals an artifact and travels the world to through off the authorities. This is where Zack and Ivy come in as they must find the clues Carmen leaves behind and figure out her next move. Of course at the end of every episode, the kids recover the artifact and Carmen gets away.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Guest Post & Giveaway with author Julie Prestsater



It’s Prom Season

by  Julie Prestsater



It’s the end of the school year, and for some, prom has already come and gone, and for others, it’s right around the corner. Either way, I’ve been cracking up at the things some guys, and even girls, go through to ask their dates to prom.

When I was in high school, it was simple. If you had a boyfriend, it went something like this: boyfriend grunts out, “So, we gonna go to prom or what?” Or the girl would take control and say, “We’re going to prom, right?”

But what if you didn’t have a boyfriend or a girlfriend? Well, then you were screwed. No, just kidding. For my friends who weren’t coupled up, we worked it for them. “Hey, you two go together, and you go with him, he can take you,” and we were all set. One big happy prom full of tight dresses, the strong scent of hairspray, and itchy corsages.

Those were the good ole days. Now, things have gotten way more complicated. Gone are the days when you could just walk up to a girl and say, “Will you go to prom with me?” In the last month, leading up to prom, I’ve seen a lot of different proposals.

Movie Review - Night of Dark Shadows

After the success of House of Dark Shadows, MGM greenlit a sequel Curse of Dark Shadows. By the time production near, the soap series was canceled by ABC and actor Jonathan Frid didn’t want to return as fear of being typecast. Therefore, the co-writer and director Dan Curtis (creator of Dark Shadows) changed the title to Night of Dark Shadows and focused the main character onto Quentin Collins (played by David Selby), whom was absent from the previous film. This time the plot didn’t involve vampires, but returned to Dark Shadows original theme of ghosts.

    Quentin Collins along with his wife Tracy (played by Kate Jackson) arrives at their newly-inherited estate, Collinwood, as most of the Collins were killed in the previous film. Actress Grayson Hall returns, but she’s playing a new role as the housekeeper Carlotta Drake. The couple is introduced to her and the caretaker Gerard Stiles. There is no mentioned of the events that happened in House of Dark Shadows.

    The couple’s novelists’ friends Alex and Claire Jenkins (Played by returning actors John Karlen and Nancy Barrett, but in different roles.) move into the small cottage that is located on the estate. Quentin soon has weird and realistic dreams about his ancestor Charles Collins, who had an affair with Angelique (Once again played by actress Lara Parker.). Upon hearing about his dreams, Carlotta tells him that she is the reincarnation of Sarah Castle, a girl who once lived at Collinwood, and that he is the reincarnation of Charles Collins. Charles had a passionate affair with his brother’s wife, Angelique. Because of their actions, Angelique was hanged and Charles was buried alive in her crypt.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Guest Post with author Genie Gabriel


How do I come up with plots? Well, my plots kind of develop themselves…

The LEGACY characters first appeared as secondary characters in my book, THE BODYGUARD. Marly O'Shea was such an intriguing secondary character, I had to tell her story, so I wrote PICTURE PERFECT LEGACY.

Wherever Marly is, her seven overly protective brothers are nearby. To get them out of her love life, they needed challenges and lovers of their own, so their stories started percolating in my head.

One of those brothers is a priest. Yes, the kind who takes vows of celibacy. Right away this presents a major conflict in a romance as well as gives our hero some major internal struggles. :)

I learned early in my writing career that conflict is good if you don't want a story that's only a few pages long. So in spite of wanting my characters to have their happily-ever-afters right away, I learned to write conflict.

One of the ways I do this is pick two main character who are opposites in many ways. For instance, a cop who sees life in black and white falling in love with a social worker who sees all the rainbow shades of motivation. Or a fireman who is attracted to a woman who is afraid of fire.

Or, in LEGACY OF ANGELS, a priest and a prostitute.

Then the plot must unfold in a way readers will find believable--but not predictable.

I had already set up a baby-selling ring in the first book of my LEGACY series. A caseworker had removed a child from his adoptive parents because this child had been stolen from his birth mother and sold under the guise of a legal adoption.

With the baby-selling scenario and two main characters in mind, I started asking questions to build the plot. For example, where is the birth mother? Did she search for her child? If not, why not? Was she afraid to get the child back? Or was she in such a dire situation she thought the child would be better off with someone else?