CassaStorm Book Release

One of the greatest parts about having a blog is having the opportunity to support friends and talented writers. Today I get to celebrate both. Alex J. Cavanaugh's CassaStorm, the final book in his best selling series, will be released on Tuesday, September 17. Congrats Alex! I am thrilled for you.

CassaStorm

By Alex J Cavanaugh

From the Amazon Best Selling Series!

A storm gathers across the galaxy…

Commanding the Cassan base on Tgren, Byron thought he’d put the days of battle behind him. As a galaxy-wide war encroaches upon the desert planet, Byron’s ideal life is threatened and he’s caught between the Tgrens and the Cassans.

After enemy ships attack the desert planet, Byron discovers another battle within his own family. The declaration of war between all ten races triggers nightmares in his son, threatening to destroy the boy’s mind.

Meanwhile the ancient alien ship is transmitting a code that might signal the end of all life in the galaxy. And the mysterious probe that almost destroyed Tgren twenty years ago could return. As his world begins to crumble, Byron suspects a connection. The storm is about to break, and Byron is caught in the middle…

“With a talent for worldbuilding and a compelling cast of characters, Alex J. Cavanaugh combines high powered space battles and the challenges of family dynamics to provide readers a space opera with heart.” 
- Elizabeth S. Craig, author of the Southern Quilting and Myrtle Clover mysteries

“I thought the revelation was going to be one thing and I was completely wrong … CassaStorm pushes the limits…”
- Tyson Mauermann, Speculative Reviews

“…mesmerizing story of survival, personal sacrifice, tolerance, and compassion. It’s a rare jewel that successfully utilizes both character and plot to tell a story of such immense scope and intimate passion…” - Nancy S. Thompson, author of The Mistaken

$16.95 USA, 6x9 Trade paperback, 268 pages, Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C.

Science fiction/adventure and science fiction/space opera

Print ISBN 9781939844002 eBook ISBN 9781939844019

$4.99 EBook available in all formats

Find CassaStorm:

Barnes and Noble - http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1116848619?ean=9781939844002

Amazon -

http://www.amazon.com/CassaStorm-Alex-J-Cavanaugh/dp/1939844002/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1378484337&sr=1-1&keywords=cassastorm

Amazon Kindle - http://www.amazon.com/CassaStorm-ebook/dp/B00F2O9QMC/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1378811366&sr=1-1&keywords=cassastorm

Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17670532-cassastorm

Book trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Umm2l0XdHc&feature=youtu.be

Alex J. Cavanaugh has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and works in web design and graphics. He is experienced in technical editing and worked with an adult literacy program for several years. A fan of all things science fiction, his interests range from books and movies to music and games. Online he is the Ninja Captain and founder of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. The author of the Amazon bestsellers, CassaStar and CassaFire, he lives in the Carolinas with his wife.

Website – http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/

Twitter – http://twitter.com/AlexJCavanaugh  

Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4287922.Alex_J_Cavanaugh

Top Ten Movie Countdown Blogfest

Today Alex J Cavanaugh is hosting the Top Ten Movie Countdown - something I thought would be easy when I signed up for this. Even though I've toiled over this list all weekend, I couldn't come up with a strong top ten. It's so much pressure and responsibility coming up with the best ten movies of all time that I blanked. In fact, I could only come up with two (1) The Princess Bride and (2) Life is Beautiful. So I cheated. I googled "top ten movies of all time" and found more to add to the list that I shall call my "close enough list." In no particular order:

1. Princess Bride
2. Life Is Beautiful
3. The Shawshank Redemption
4. Inception
5. It's a Wonderful Life - Here's where my cheating really pays off - I never would have thought of this one
6. Slumdog Millionaire
7. Forrest Gump
*And here's where it gets dicey*
8. Something from Disney - either Monster's Inc or The Little Mermaid because of the whole red-headed princess thing.
9. Some kind of action movie with a romantic interest (even better if it has humor and/or Matt Damon in it) The Bourne Identity perhaps?
10. I'm leaving this one blank with the hopes that Silver Lining Playbook (which is exactly my kind of movie) fills it. I've heard it isn't as great as I want it to be, but I love the idea of the plot and the characters so much, I have to keep a spot reserved for it - just in case.

Alright, which obvious ones did I miss? Anyone?

Winter Doldrums

The end of February and the beginning of March is, without a doubt, the absolute worst time of the year. If you have a birthday or anniversary or some other type of fabulous, wonderful celebration during this time of the year, go away  consider yourselves lucky that you have something to look forward to. I don't. So I hate it. And even though I prepare myself for it every year, I can't seem to do anything to get myself out of the pissy-pisserton funk I fall into. During my funk, I'm awful to be around. I'm stressed, anxious, gossipy and above all horribly, horribly, horribly insecure. While I've given up negativity for Lent, I'm cheating right now because we're allowed to be negative and insecure in our group (right?) with the promise to end on something positive. 

Things I'm horribly insecure about:

1. I have not read a book in its entirety since August. August 12 to be exact. Yes, Baby Boy #2 was born on August 14, but that's not an excuse. Not one book since then? That's pathetic.

2. I have not read a manuscript in its entirety since August. AND I'm sitting on two FABULOUS manuscripts by two very talented writers. EVERY SINGLE TIME I pick one up and read 5 more pages or 10 more pages, I love it!! And then I get called away and I don't pick them up for another two weeks and I HATE THAT. (And I'm so, so sorry about it too!)

3. I have not sent a query or written a new manuscript in...a long, long time. Even my current editing is going SLOW. 

4. I have three new shiny ideas that I'm dying to write about and even though I've outlined them and taken pages of notes about my ideas, I haven't started them.

Rant over. Lent back on (because that's the kind of Catholic I am). 

Okay. My two positives. 

1. Earlier this week, we bought a house. We are leaving our fabulous city life behind for the burbs and (I never thought I'd say this about leaving the city) it's exciting. ;)

2. I read a wonderful post last week at Operation Awesome by R.R. Russell that makes me feel okay and even good about having other things going on in life - even if that means writing life is slower than I'd like it to be right now. Need something positive? Check out: Writing Is Not My Life. I hope you all love it as much as I did.

Anyone have any more positives? I'd love to hear them. 

Unexpected Benefits of Blogging

Two more contests to add to last week's list of contests and blog hops: 

Writer's Digest Dear Lucky Agent Contest with Victoria Marini. Ends Jan 31.

The Unexpected Benefits of Blogging: Reason #42

The seventh grade kids I teach love to read. I'm always blown away by their enthusiasm every time we spend a day talking books. On Friday, I shared with them a list of 22 books I either read last year or was dying to read this year. When I did, one of the coolest things happened...

Out of all the books I shared including Delirium by Lauren Oliver, Unravelling by Liz Norris, Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, Son by Lois Lowry, three of the books that generated the most enthusiasm were books I discovered through blogging. My kids wanted to know everything they could about Possession by Elana Johnson, CassaStar by Alex J Cavanaugh, and 18 Things by Jamie Ayers.

They were literally angry with me when they found out our school library didn't carry these books (despite my rationale claims that 18 Things just came out last week). They had me look up where they could buy these books and how much they were so that they could get them this weekend. Let me also make very clear...I would naturally be more excited talking about books written by bloggers I know, but I didn't even give these books the hard sell. The kids gravitated towards these all on their own.

Typically, I keep my teaching life separate from my *secret* writing, blogging life (I have my reasons - another post for another time perhaps). This ended up being a very cool way that they overlapped (without me outing myself as a writer/blogger) and I couldn't be more thrilled. I get to give

my kids something shiny and new while supporting talented writers that I admire. Chalk this one up as reason #42 on my hypothetical list: "The Unexpected Benefits of Blogging."

Contest Circuit: January 7

Happy New Year! With the new year, I'm going to be switching things around a bit to accommodate for some big life transitions that 2013 is sure to bring. I'll only be posting on Mondays - except for the occasional blog hop and of course IWSG, which happens on the first Wednesday of every month. I'm planning on posting about contests, blog hops and giveaways every other Monday instead of every Monday like I did in 2012. That makes room for two Mondays a month for me to post about anything random. *insert evil laugh and twittling fingers* And of course, I'm hoping it frees up some much needed writing time as well.

Over break, I read a two part post from Dee of I Write for Apples about why contests are so fabulous. I couldn't have said it better myself...so I won't even try. Check out her blog instead. She's fabulous! Part One here! Part Two here!

I've been away from the blogosphere for so long, I'm sure I missed something. Feel free to add to this list in the comments section!

Contests:
Miss Snark will be hosting a Secret Agent Contest on Jan 14. Details go up on the 7th.

The ladies who brought you Pitch Wars will also be hosting a Twitter Pitch Party on Jan 25. Prepare your 140 character pitch AND include the hashtag #PitMad.

Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest: Submit your MS in any one of their five categories. Send your MS of 50,000-150,000 words, an excerpt of 3,000-5,000 words, a pitch, and author bio info. Entries will be accepted between Jan 14-Jan 27.

Cupid at Cupid's Literary Connection is hosting Blind Speed Dating again this year in February. She's upped the competition this year by adding to the contest involving interns, authors and agents, an auction and a private writer's conference on "Mt. Olympus." AND a kissing scene competition AND "even more goodness iced with gooey epic frosting." It all sounds seriously awesome and fun. Check out her site for details. Entry is $10.

Women on Writing is hosting a flash fiction contest due Feb 28. Open prompt should be 750 words or less. The contest will be judged by agent Jennifer DeChiara.

Blog Hops, Flash Fiction and Giveaways:

The Geek Twins, LK Hill, and Just a Dash of Geek are hosting My Favorite Martian Bloghop on Jan 14. Post about your all time favorite aliens and why you love them.

The Peasants Revolt is hosting a Flashback Blog Hop. Sign up and share one of your posts from 2012 - something you're proud of or something that makes you ask "what was I thinking?" Participants are eligible for a $20 amazon gift card.

Alex J Cavanaugh will also be hosting his first blog hop on March 18 with details TBA.

The A-Z Challenge will be in April. The sign-up list will begin on Jan 30. Last year, over 1700 participants joined.

Lindsay Cummings is celebrating her upcoming book release with a huge giveaway of some ARCs and fabulous new releases. AND if her book gets 3K "to-reads" on Goodreads, her agent Louise Fury will give aways a critique of your first 3 chapters and query letter.  Giveaway ends Jan 8.

Romantic Friday Writers is hosting a flash fiction contest New Year! New Love! Post your flash fiction piece before Jan 21 and hop around to read other entries as well.

Cheers, Cavanaugh Blogfest

If the blogosphere was one gianormous high school, Alex J. Cavanaugh would be the cool senior that everyone knows - the one who never needs an introduction or a last name for that matter. It doesn't matter what circle you run in, the second someone mentions "Alex" or the "Ninja Captain," everyone in the conversation has something to say about him.

A month into starting my blog when I was still pretty clueless and naive about this whole blogging thing, Matt MacNish referenced him in an interview I posted (making me the clueless freshman transfer student and MacNish one of his cool senior friends). After checking his website, noticing he ran with ALL the cool kids, and seeing how many comments he gets every time he posts, his rock star status was undeniably confirmed.

The first time Alex commented on one of my posts, I'm pretty sure I blushed and ran and told my husband who did not appreciate what a big deal that was. Cool senior boy waving to insecure new transfer student/freshman in a crowded hallway = BIG DEAL. After all, my existence as a blogger had just been confirmed. I was pretty damn sure that once Alex J. Cavanaugh visited my site, my dream agent was wouldn't be far behind him contract in hand.....still waiting for that one.....

But then Alex kept stopping by. And he turned out to be this really nice, supportive person who is genuine and funny. I'm pretty sure the cool senior kid usually turns out to be a douchbag. Alex - I'm happy to discover you're not a douchbag. Instead, you're a truly wonderful person I've enjoyed getting to know this past year. While you've remained a mystery in many ways by never posting a picture of yourself, I'm pretty sure I've got you pegged.

What does Alex look like? 

Easy. He's a dead ringer for my uncle Greg. Since none of you have the pleasure of knowing him, I'll paint a very clear picture and segue into the next question....My uncle Greg is a perfect mix of Jeff Goldblum and Tom Skerrit.

Who would play Alex in a documentary?

Tom Skerrit. He's just a bit more suave than Goldblum. HOWEVER, for the scenes where Alex is playing the guitar, we might have to have Golblum stand in - like a body double, if you will. I don't think Tom Skerrit can pull off playing the guitar as well.

Who does Alex remind you of?

Gotta stick with my intro for this one.....the cool kid in high school who ironically doesn't turn out to be a douchbag once you get to know him.

To Mrs. Cavanaugh:

I think you're absolutely lovely. I love when Alex writes about you. I love that he enjoys spending time with you. I love how in love with you Alex obviously is. If possible, I think you, Mrs. Cavanaugh, might be on a taller pedestal than Alex because of your willingness to share him with us all.

Dammit! I've run out of time for the BEST part of this blogfest....the flash fiction paragraph. Good thing I feel very confident that I have nailed what Alex looks like. I did, didn't I? I look forward to reading everyone else's flash fiction pieces.

Cheers.