Read my new release, A Heaven For Toasters, for FREE

Nicholas C. Rossis

My latest book now has an official release date–August 13!

Called A Heaven For Toasters, it kicks off what will hopefully turn into a fun new series:

A science fiction crime adventure with plenty of humor and romance, set in the near future

A souvlaki and some sun. That is all Detective Mika Pensive wanted from her fun weekend away on the Greek island of Hydra. Instead, she finds herself caught up in a sinister plot, hatched by a reclusive billionaire with a penchant for illegal genetic engineering. As if that wasn’t bad enough, she has to put up with her new partner, Leo. Leo is an android—or toaster, as people scornfully call his kind. The only thing that could make things even worse would be for the headstrong Mika to fall for Leo. But people don’t fall for toasters—do they?

Set in the near future, A Heaven…

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Free Story: You Can’t Fight a Prophecy

Nicholas C. Rossis

In April, I posted my thousandth post on this blog. To celebrate, I will share here all my short stories. Every couple of weeks, I’ll be posting one story from my celebrated Exciting Destinies series for you to enjoy. With over 30 stories so far, I hope you’ll have lots of fun in the coming months!

This week, it’s You Can’t Fight a Prophecy from You’re In For A Ride.

Click here to read some more free stories.

You Can’t Fight a Prophecy

Image: Pixabay

“You can’t fight a prophecy,” the wrinkly shaman says and gives me a toothless grin. The shrug accompanying his words shakes the feathers around his neck, making him look like a frail old bird trying to give flight.

Fight it? I don’t even understand it.

“What’s he say, Doc?” the large boulder of a man standing behind me asks. His camouflaged face and broad…

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10 Reasons Why You *Shouldn’t* Support Once Upon a Time in the Wyrd West!

Diane Morrison

1. You’re a hobbit and you don’t like adventure.
2. You think originality is dangerous! You should NEVER bring a unique setting to fantasy or science fiction! And God help you if you MIX the two!
3. You believe that stories about people and their very human motivations are boring, even if you punctuate them with lots of action and dramatic tension.
4. You like selfish protagonists who become helpless victims of their own flaws, not flawed protagonists who fight constant ethical struggles to be better people.
5. You don’t like badass women and you never want a book to pass the Bechdel test.
6. You think it’s a bad idea for authors to reweave old tropes in new and exciting ways that you’ve never seen before.
7. You don’t like cowboys. Or knights in shining armour, either. And definitely you don’t think anyone should ever put the two together.
8. You think realism in magic is stupid…

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4 Simple Marketing Strategies for Promoting Your Book

Nicholas C. Rossis

This blog tends to offer rather advanced book marketing tips. Sometimes, though, I forget that there are a lot of authors who may be overwhelmed by posts about ROI, essential ad metrics, KENP counts, and AcOS. 

So, here is a guest post by Elaine Bennett, a marketing specialist-turned blogger, currently writing for Bizzmark Blog. It is aimed at anyone wishing to take a step back from the grittier details of book marketing and look at the big picture. 

Source: Unsplash

What is the point of writing your book if nobody reads it? Chances are you’ve heard this line before.

But it’s true. Especially today when everyone seems to be writing and trying to get published or self-published.

In order to get your book in front of readers, you will need to use the power of book marketing. Think of it as a…

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Overcoming Common Obstacles To Become An Author

Nicholas C. Rossis

This is another freelance contribution by Sally Keys. You may remember her from her recent freelance contribution, How Creative Writing Can Boost Your Intelligence. Sally is a professional freelance writer with many years of experience in diverse areas. She made the move to freelancing from a stressful corporate job and loves the work-life balance it offers her. When not at work, she enjoys reading, hiking, spending time with her family, and traveling as much as possible. 

Common Obstacles To Becoming An Author And How To Overcome Them

Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash

Fully 80 percent of Americans say they have the ambition to write a book, yet only a fraction of those will go ahead and even fewer will actually succeed. Writing for a living can be a dream job for those with a true passion for a perfectly arranged sentence, but the reality of being an…

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Focusing Your Novel With a Journalist’s Trick

A Writer's Path

by Andrea Lundgren

Okay, perhaps it’s more of a tool than a trick, but journalists have been using the “Who-What-Where-When-Why-and-How” format on hard news pieces for well over a century (to judge by the sort of articles they write, where each of these items are addressed), and I’ve found the six questions are equally useful when writing a novel.

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Dog Days of Summer and The Week in Review

Joan Hall

A sunflower stands tall during the Dog Days of Summer, 2011. Texas experienced a severe drought that year.

It’s hot here in Texas. Triple digit hot. We were blessed to be able to enjoy a few days of afternoon rain showers earlier in the month, but they have parted. And with the heat, the Sarahan dust has returned. It’s the dog days of summer.

I’ve heard about the dog days since I was a child, but I never knew how the term came about until recently. Historically, the dog days began with the rising of the star, Sirius. Greek and Roman Mythology associated the star with heat, drought, sudden thunderstorms, lethargy, fever, bad luck, and mad dogs. By the way, Sirius is known as the Dog Star. In modern times, dog days are the hotest and most unconfortable part of summer in the northern hemisphere.

And now that you’ve had…

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Summer Reads, Summer Deals

Nicholas C. Rossis

Celebrate With Gifts

To celebrate the imminent release of my next book, A Heaven For Toasters, my entire Pearseus series will be FREE/99c between the 16th and 20th! This is the perfect opportunity to buy any of the books in the series you may have missed.

Check out Pearseus on Amazon.

An Amazing Giveaway

Next, Paula Wynne is running a book giveaway with Book Luver with over 300 books to give away. Some are paperbacks and others are eBooks. There are bestsellers to win too: one of them has sold over 1 million copies already! There are 100s of books to win so please invite your friends and family to enter. By entering you will not be automatically subscribed to the author or publisher’s email. You select which books you want to win. Only if you want to hear from that author again, you tick a…

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Women in charge – Movie list

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

Trailer at: Youtube

Warrior Queen (2003)…

“Moreover, all this ruin was brought upon the Romans by a woman, a fact which in itself caused them the greatest shame… The person who was chiefly instrumental in rousing the natives and persuading them to fight the Romans, the person who was thought worthy to be their leader and who directed the conduct of the entire war, was Boudica, a Briton woman of the royal family and possessed of greater intelligence than often belongs to women..”
Historical info at Masterpiece theatre
Movie info at: WikipediaTrailer at: Youtube

War Goddess (1973)

A tribe of Amazons needs a new leader. The IMDB article is at: Le Guerriere Dal Seno Nudo. Also known as War Goddesses.

Volver

Trailer at: Youtube

Tin Man (2007-2007)…

Two sisters battling for the land of OZ. The Wikipedia article is at: Tin ManTrailer at: Youtube

Thelma & Louise

The Wizard of Oz

The Viking Queen (1967)…

The Scarlet Empress (1934)

This historical drama is a loose version of the true story of Catherine the Great of Russia.Intro video at: Youtube

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1003 6.2 6.4

The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999)

Another Joan of Arc biopic.Fan Trailer at: Youtube

The Maverick Queen (1956)…

Intro at: Youtube

The Last Rites of Ransom Pride (2010)…

The Wikipedia article is at: The Last Rites of Ransom Pride.

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The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe… (2005)

Apparently people don’t like the White Witch’s leadership.

Smilla’s Sense of Snow (1997)

Smilla: “I’m sorry I’ve given you the impression it’s my mouth that’s rough. I try to be rough all over.”

Silkwood (1983)…

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68 6 5.8

She (1965)

Run Lola Run

Resident Evil

Pray the Devil Back to Hell (2008)…

This documentary is about women in Liberia working to end a civil war.

Pitch Black

When the space ship crashes, the pilot played by Radha Mitchell is in charge. Although passengers keep ignoring her, wondering off and getting killed.Trailer at: Youtube

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366 8.1 8

Onibaba

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141 7.5 7.4

Norma Rae (1979)…

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3591 7.3 7.6

Mulan

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260 6.8 6.7

Mommie Dearest (1981)

Looks are deceiving. “Don’t f**k with me fellas. This ain’t my first time at the rodeo.”
Movie info at: Wikipedia

 

Mary Poppins (1964)

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Made in Dagenham (2010)

The women strike for fairness. The Wikipedia article is at: Made in Dagenham.

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Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

trailer at: Youtube

2326 6.6 7.2

Kingdom of Heaven (2005)

Article about historical person Wikipedia

Queen Sibylla scenes Youtube

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50 6.5 6.5

Joan of Arc (1948)

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59 6.9 7.6

Iron Jawed Angels (2004)…

This movie, based on a true story, tells about the struggle in the U.S. for women’s voting rights in the early 1900s. The Wikipedia article is at: Iron Jawed Angels

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308 7.1 7

Gorillas In The Mist: The Story Of Dian Fossey…

The Wikipedia article is at: Gorillas in the Mist

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2545 6.7 7.3

Erin Brockovich

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1068 6.6 6.9

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

She is in charge. But the Spanish armada is coming to kick her out. History tells us who won that contest.
Historical facts at: WikipediaMusic at: Youtube

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Doubt (2008)…

She is technically second in command. But you see who wears the pants in this situation.

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122 6.7 6.6

Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame… (2010)

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16 6.5 6.5

Daughters of the Dust (1991)

Movie tags: Black Heritage, Independent, Family Interaction, Recommended, Dramas, Spiritual Cinema, Relationships, Myth/religion, Innocence, Growth/healing, Drama, Biographical, MMG

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725 6.1 6.4

Dangerous Minds (1995)…

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370 5 5.6

Cutthroat Island (1995)

Movie tags: Action, Adventure, Pirate, Romance, Family, Treasure, Explosion, Slave, Ship Wreck, Swashbuckler, Tattooed Map, Alcohol, Pirate Ship, Chase

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416 6.2 6.6

Courage Under Fire (1996)…

Army Captain Karen Emma Walden is dead after leading a helicopter rescue of a surrounded US combat team. In a Rashomon type revel of what happened, we determine whether she died a hero.Trailer at: Youtube

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21 6.3 7.1

Chaos (2001)

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15 4.7 3.7

Cat-Women of the Moon (1953)

It is a world run by cat-women. They are a race of women without men.

 

Beyond Rangoon (1995)…

The Wikipedia article is at: Beyond RangoonTrailer at Youtube

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1897 5.2 5.6

AVP: Alien vs. Predator

She is officially the guide. Of course, they don’t listen to her and all die.
Trailer at: Youtube

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Aliens (1986)…

Ripley takes charge when marines are attacked. The alien queen is big and bad.Trailer at: Youtube

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Aelita: The Queen of Mars (1924)

Aelita is the queen of Mars. But probably she won’t be after the socialist revolution on Mars.
Movie info at: Wikipedia

New Release: Quest of the Brokenhearted By Charles E. Yallowitz

Nicholas C. Rossis

I often say that my author friend, Charles E. Yallowitz, is one of the most prolific writers I know. The proof, I guess, lies in how often I host his new releases! Charles has now published his latest release, Quest of the Brokenhearted; a spinoff series taking place in his celebrated Legends of Windemere universe. 

A battered soul faces a city of monsters in
Quest of the Brokenhearted!

Cover Art by Sean Harrington

As Windemere moves forward, a broken spirit falls into the shadows.

Two years have passed since Luke Callindor was lost during the champions’ battle against Baron Kernaghan. Many mourn the loss, but none have been hurt more than the fiancée he left behind, Kira Grasdon. Plagued by grief and determined to prove he is alive, she has sacrificed her business, her reputation, and her hope. Surviving on the streets of Gaia, she has become an…

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