Your typical blogger isn't rich by any means. Trust me, I should know! Besides from the occasional sponsored post, I get zero income from blogging. However, there are other ways to make some money online. Many bloggers have a wide variety side business, such as designing blogs & websites, selling used books, running an eBay store, and even selling Funko POP!s. Since I've increased my social media presences on Instagram this year, I've noticed many Funko collectors have started their own businesses by selling POP!s and other collectable toys online. I think this is a great idea.

After doing a bit of research on starting an online store, I thought I would share with you three simple tips that will hopefully help someone who is dreaming of starting their own store.

My original plans for tonight was to watch The Flash on the CW, followed by The Curse of Oak Island on the History Channel, and then go to bed early. Well, I must have gotten a second wind, as I ended up doing a bit of cleaning in the bedroom, made a cup of coffee, and I'm now listening to an Ella Henderson album while I'm writing this post.

I'm finding it hard to believe that March is almost here. 2018 is already going by too fast, and I haven't even gotten the things I wanted to do done. While I have put a huge dent in my needs-to-be-read piles, there are a few books I still need to write reviews for. If everything goes as planned, I should start on those reviews sometime tomorrow. Also, I'll be posting my review for House of Secrets by V.C. Andrews sometime this week. It took me a bit longer to read this one, but I'm finished with it. Next, I'll be reading Goosebumps: Please Do Not Feed The Weirdo by R.L. Stine. Then I'll start reading Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, which I received through the Blogging For Books program.

Hopefully, I'll have time to read two books that I had recently purchased on Amazon.com. These books are Murder On The Orient Express by Agatha Christie and The Sinner by Petra Hammesfahr. I almost picked up Murder On The Orient Express at Walmart last year about the same time the feature film was in theaters, but when I decided to buy it, it was sold out. Then I almost bought it at Barnes & Nobles earlier this month, but it was a little pricey there, so I just got it off of Amazon, where it was cheaper. Yes, I've seen the movie. Fox Home Entertainment had sent me the Blu-ray to review a day before it was released. It's been a really long time since I had received anything from Twentieth Century Fox (which is now owned by Disney), so I was surprised (and thrilled) to receive it. As for The Sinner, I had watched several episodes of the USA adaptation on On Demand last year, but Mediacom (the cable company) never put up the rest of the episodes. I ended up buying the DVD when it was released a few weeks. Anyhow, I had looked for the book last year, but never could find it. I never thought it about the book again until I was on Amazon ordering the Agatha Christie novel, so I decided to order it, too.

Disney nicely sent me the Blu-ray of Coco (which was released today). It's a cute movie. I should have my review for it posted tomorrow. Over the past few months, Mill Creek Entertainment has sent me several great DVD and Blu-ray titles. I spent a couple of nights last week binge watching Secrets and Lies: Season One DVD, a series that aired a few years ago ABC that I never got around to watching. There are only ten episodes, but the show is really addicting. I'll probably be writing my review for it in the next few days. Also, I need to write a review for Shadow Stalkers: 10 Terrifying Features DVD. Then I need to finish watching the Horseland: The Complete Series and Street Shark: The Complete Series DVDs. These two are cartoons, and I would like to post a review for at least one of them on Saturday morning. Well, see what happens!

PG-13; 114 minutes; $34.99

Available today on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD is the suspenseful thriller Murder On The Orient Express. Produced by Kenneth Branagh along with Ridley Scott (Alien: Covenant), Simon Kinberg (Logan), Mark Gordon (Molly’s Game), Judy Hofflund (As You Like It) and Michael Schaefer (The Martian),   the film features the talented cast of Branagh (who also directs), Penelope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean franchise), Josh Gad (Frozen), Leslie Odom, JR., Michelle Pfeiffer, and Daisy Ridley (Star Wars franchise).

Based on the 1934 novel of the same name by late great mystery author Agatha Christie, the film centers on Hercule Poirot (played by Branagh), a Belgian detective who plans on taking a much needed vacation in Istanbul after solving a theft case in Jerusalem. However, Poirot's plans are interrupted when he receives a message to return immediately to London to work on another case. Luckily, he knows Bouc (played by Tom Bateman), the director of the Orient Express, who offers him a room aboard the train.

Shortly after the train departs, Poirot meets Edward Ratchett (played by Depp), a businessman who offers to hire Poirot as a bodyguard for the three-day train ride. Edward had received a threatening letter and now fears for his life. Poirot turns down the offer, as he wants to get a little bit of rest while aboard the train.

The next morning, Ratchett is found dead in his cabin. He had been stabbed multiple times. Coincidentally, an avalanche derails the train's engine, leaving Poirot no choice but to solve murder; which isn't an easy task to accomplish as there are no witnesses. After finding a burnt note, he learns that Ratchett was in fact John Cassetti, a child killer. 

Due to the avalanche, the murderer still has to be aboard, which means one of the passengers is the Ratchett's killer. One by one, Poirot interviews each suspect and uses his case-solving abilities to unravel the mystery.

4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD Special Features include:

• Agatha Christie: An Intimate Portrait
• Let’s Talk About Hercule Poirot
• Unusual Suspects (Part One, Two and Three)
• The Art of Murder
• All Aboard: Filming Murder on the Orient Express Music of Murder
• Deleted Scenes (with and without Commentary by Kenneth Branagh and Michael Green) 
• Alternate Opening 
• Newsreel (Extended) 
• Breakfast 
• Hotel Check-In 
• Arasta Bazaar (Extended) 
• Train Montage 
• Departure 
• Poirot Bedtime Rituals (with two alternates) 
• Pierre Michel Interview 
• Luggage 
• Dreamscape 
• Director commentary by Kenneth Branagh and Michael Green 
• Theatrical Trailers 
• Gallery

Not Rated; 10 hours 55 minutes; $14.98

I think I might have mentioned a time or two on here about my love for old horror movies, especially the ones made by Hammer Films. Well, with that being said, you can probably guess why I was excited when I learned that Mill Creek Entertainment would be releasing the 26-part documentary series "100 Years Of Horror" hosted by the late, great horror-icon Christopher Lee.

Originally released back 1996, "100 Years Of Horror" chronicles the history of horror movies from the early 1900s to the late 1970s. I'm not for sure why it was called "100 Years" when the producers skipped over the the films from the 1980s. Most of the movie clips featured are from the classic Universal monster flicks, Hammer Films, and other low-budget creature films. It features interviews with Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., Vincent Price, Peter Cushing, and Claude Rains. Additionally, there are interviews with Bela Lugosi, Jr.; Boris Karloff's daughter, Sarah Karloff; and Claude Rains' daughter, Jessica Rains.

The series was produced, written and directed by Ted Newsom, who created BBC's Flesh And Blood-The Hammer Heritage Of Horror.

The episodes on the 3-disc set are:

Now available in Hardcover and on Kindle from Arrowhead Publishing is Drinking the Knock Water: A New Age Pilgrimage by Emily Kemme.


The author has taken a few minutes out of her busy schedule to answer a few questions about her novel.


When did you become interested in storytelling?

I’d always wanted to write the story of my family history and many times pulled out a yellow legal pad to start writing it. That’s when I discovered I didn’t know how to write a book. I’ve been a member of a research group for 15 years, and was assigned a paper about Joseph Campbell, author of “The Hero’s Journey”. During that process, I learned what the steps are to writing a book. That was over 10 years ago.

What was your first book/story published?

“In Search of Sushi Tora”, (Arrowhead Publishing 2011)

What inspired you to write Drinking the Knock Water?

I personally experienced a situation similar to a large element in the story because there was friction in my family about religion. I was raised Jewish, my husband was raised Catholic. Although we felt that what was of greater importance was living a morally responsible life and raising our children to be respectful, responsible and good community-minded people, there were those in my extended family who couldn’t make those distinctions solely because of the religious differences. This led to a variety of unpleasant situations. I decided the book needed to be written to encourage people to not judge others, to promote the idea of tolerance of others’ ideas and beliefs, and to understand there is more to people than their religion or lifestyle. If you set aside religion and sexual preferences, there are so many commonalities. That’s also why there are gay characters in the book, as well as people whose lifestyles may not be the norm. It follows my overarching mantra, “People are just people.”

What character in Drinking the Knock Water is the most/least like you, and in what ways?

Holly Thomas, the protagonist, is most like me in that she has many self doubts and insecurities because she doesn’t know that her strongest point is being herself and standing up for what she believes in. Instead, she allows people to ride roughshod over her and is almost destroyed (mentally and emotionally) in the process.

Edward Thomas is least like me. He is religious, single-minded and believes that his faith is the only true way to approach life. He is intolerant of any other points of view.

What is your favorite part in Drinking the Knock Water?

The scenes with just Leah and Rachel as they struggle with becoming Moms — including their efforts to implant Leah and their emotional adjustment to what it means to be a mother/parent.

What was the hardest part to write?

The scenes in the jail cell. It was painful because I had to relive it.

What would your ideal career be, if you couldn't be an author?

A University history professor teaching American and English history. I would also interweave Constitutional law into it.

Do you read reviews of your books? If so, do you pay any attention to them, or let them influence your writing?

Since I've started participating in several Reddit subforms, many people have asked me questions about blogging and reviewing. Such as: How to start a blog? How do you get free books and movies to review? While my anxiety does kick in a bit every time someone asks me a question like this, part of me enjoys it for some odd reason. Maybe, I just like the idea of helping out a future blogger. All of us bloggers need to stick together!

Since I've been in a giving mood, I came up with of idea of this post, which is called "Keeping Track Of Your Blogs Stats."

When I first started out blogging, I had no idea what I was doing. I began this blog on Wordpress briefly, but I had problems with the formatting and I didn't like idea that I couldn't use specific widgets, which I'm referring to one from the now defunct Shelfari website. After a few months, I migrated my blog over to Blogger and I have never regretted it.

Now many new newbie bloggers probably don't care about your blog stats, but keeping track of who reads your posts is very important.

Almost every blogging platform has some has a "stats" section where you can keep track of your blog's demographics.

Why is this important?

Well, it's because you need to know what kinds of posts, reviews, and/or giveaways to publish on your blog. By tracking your readers'/viewers' sex and age, you can determine what's the best future content for your blog. The same things goes to tracking your readers' location. For example, if your biggest audience is from the UK, then you probably publish posts that will appeal to them.

While I'm located in the United States, I get most more visitors/readers from France and the UK. I don't know exactly why, but it probably has to do with the fact that I post many reviews on foreign moves and television series, such as Doctor Who.