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Celebrate the Freedom to Read: Smashwords' July Sale!

Be a rebel, support indie authors! Credit: Wikimedia Commons This is going to be a short post because it's Fourth of July weekend here in the US. So, for those of you who celebrate, I don't want to keep you from family outings and celebrations, including your communities' firework shows. Also, yesterday was a long one and I need a little bit of a break myself. But I wanted to make sure that you have another outlet to celebrate freedom and independence. That is, the freedom to read the works of independent authors, also known as self-published authors. So, be a revolutionary and shop for books by indie authors at Smashwords' July Summer/Winter Sale ! The sale includes both seasons because at this time of the year it's winter in the southern hemisphere and, being an online distribution centre for books, Smashwords caters to customers from all over the world. Books from from 75% to 100% Off the Original Price Credit: Pixabay.com That said, I’ve discounted my books

'In the Mouth of Madness': A Movie Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft

Credit: Pixabay As I said last week , there won't be a Book-To-Movie this month. Again, I apologise. I should have something read by next month and its movie adaptation viewed. But I also said that I would have a movie review this week and so kept my word on that. The movie isn’t an adaptation of a book, but it is a movie about books. In fact, it’s about horror books and itself is a horror film. It's one of many movies inspired by H.P. Lovecraft. It's 1994's "In the Mouth of Madness", directed by John Carpenter ("Halloween", "The Thing"). This film isn't based on a Lovecraft story but it's clearly Lovecraftian horror. Movie’s Synopsis, Original Theatrical Release and Reception "In the Mouth of Madness" uses many ideas from H.P. Lovecraft’s works while telling its own story. The story is an insurance investigator, John Trent (played by Sam Neill) looks into the disappearance of a bestselling horror author, Sutter Cane, w

Summer Sci Fi and Fantasy Reading List; Movie Mini Review

Credit: Pixabay.com I apologise for missing last week. I was really behind on things due to some insomnia I was having and so didn't get to post anything until now. Tuesday will be the Summer Solstice and so the first official day of summer! So, in case you’re up in the air on what to read during those upcoming scorching days when you don’t want to go out, I have my summer sci fi and fantasy reading list for you. I also have a movie mini review of “Jurassic World: Dominion” which I saw last weekend! (Fortunately, with that insomnia from that previous night, I didn’t fall asleep on it.) So, read on! Summer Sci Fi and Fantasy Reading List The Club Dumas , by Arturo Perez-Reverte: An international bestseller from Spain, this novel is about book collector Lucas Corso who examines a fragment of the original manuscript of Alexandre Dumas's "The Three Musketeers". This leads him to a scheme involving devil worship, the occult, several people who suspiciously resemble chara

IWSG: How I Keep Writing Even Through the Rough Stages

It's the first Wednesday of the month and so it’s time for another Insecure Writer’s Support Group (IWSG) post! In an IWSG post, we writers bring our writing challenges and problems out into the open to share with each other and try to offer solutions. We’re getting into summer and that means hot weather for many of us but it also means hot books to read and hot movies to watch in a nice AC’d movie theatre. So, I’m planning to come up with my own reading list for the summer here at the Fantastic Site soon, but I already have a summer movie list up. So feel free to take a look at it. But let me forewarn you, since my blog emphasises science fiction and fantasy reading, writing and viewing, this list mostly covers movies in those genres. But even if you’re not a speculative fiction fan, you might find on the list that rare film that works for all audiences regardless of a person’s genre preference. Now let’s move on to the IWSG question of the month! IWSG Question of the Month The

Book-To-Movie: E.R. Burroughs' 'The People That Time Forgot'

Credit: Wikimedia Commons It's the fourth weekend of the month and so time for another Book-To-Movie review! In a Book-To-Movie, we review a work of prose fiction and its movie adaptation. In an earlier Book-To-Movie we reviewed Edgar Rice Burroughs' novella "The Land That Time Forgot" and its 1974 movie adaptation from American International Pictures (AIP). The novella is the first in the Caspak Trilogy of books. The second is "The People That Time Forgot" which AIP also released a movie of. That one was not as good as the first film, not even as good as other 1970s sci fi movies, and definitely not as good as the book. Although not a bad movie, the producers made several changes to the original story particularly in the worldbuilding, the plot and characterisation. The Novella Published in 1918, "The People That Time Forgot" involves Tom Billings going on a rescue mission to search for his friend, Bowen Tyler, the protagonist of the first boo

New Sci-Fi and Fantasy Movies Coming Summer 2022

Credit: Pixabay Summer is almost here! And in my region June is typically the beginning of the season. Many people look forward to the pool or beach. Most of us don’t look forward to the excessive heat. And so many of us look forward to lounging in air-conditioned movie theatres watching the next flick that's intended to be a blockbuster. I'm definitely in this last category but the movie doesn't have to be a blockbuster for me to enjoy, although I'll take one if it seems to be good beyond action and special effects. Summer 2022 looks like it has some promising, new sci-fi and fantasy movies as well as ones that aren't so promising although that can be simply a matter of opinion or taste. So, I conjured up two movie lists for you. One list consists of films that are definitely science fiction, fantasy or horror. The other list consists of movies that some people may consider as falling into any of these genres but that others, myself included, can just as easily co