Embrace update time.  I have spoken with my editor and I should have my first round of edits late next week.  Cover work has begun as well.  I am really excited to see what they design for it.  Based on the latest information I have received, the pub date for Embrace will be March 4, 2014.  I don't have any info on Crucible.

Now, I am steadily working on Echoes.  Even my best attempt at a descriptive outline hasn't survived this one.  I continue to go back to Stephen King's lessons in his book, On Writing.  I just put a group of characters into a situation and write what happens around them as you start the clock and time moves forward.  Its really fun to watch how fluid interactions with other characters can get, and how awkward. 

Wanted to post this in thanks to Parajukee and Alison Can Read for the Feature Follow Blog Hop.  Thanks for organizing this.

This week's question for this blog hop:

If you could only have ONE - one book - for the rest of your life.  Don't cheat...What would it be?

Answer:

Truly a tough one for me.  The Bible would be my first choice.  That's just me.  But if I had a fictional book to take as a second, I would have to pick Mary Shelly's Frankenstein.  I have some really favorite authors I love to read.  Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, Jim Butcher, R.A. Salvatore, Kevin J. Anderson, Robert Jordan, and the list goes on, but in college we took time to not only read, but study Mary Shelly's work.  The whole plot concept and interweaving of tragedy from both the doctor and the monster was terrific.

I know I haven't posted much lately about my book series, The Epherium Chronicles.  Well, there was a reason.  I recently pulled down my self-published novels from all the distributors and I have signed a three book deal for the series with Carina Press.  I am excited about this opportunity and I am sure many of you are excited to see this series really take off.  The plan is to have the sci-fi space opera released in early 2014.  I don't have an official pub date, but I believe it will be late January or early February.

I still plan to do at least five for this series and book three is in the works.  I wanted to start this novel, Echoes, off with a bang and, if the first chapter is any indication, I think I've done exactly that.

Anyway, here is the post on Publisher's Marketplace for the deal.

		August 22, 2013
		Digital: Fiction: Sci-Fi/Fantasy		T.D. Wilson's space opera trilogy THE EPHERIUM CHRONICLES, in which the Earth Defence Force must defeat alien menaces and dark agendas in order to protect legions of human colonists in faraway solar systems, to Angela James at Carina Press, for publication beginning in 2014, by Laura Wood atFinePrint Literary Management (World).

I will continue to update you all on the progress of things, including releases of new cover art.  I can't use the old covers, but I'm sure these new ones will really catch your eye.

For most of my life as a kid, I was a huge fan of the big monster and giant robot movies.  Godzilla, Mothra, Gamera, King Kong, Ultraman, you name it.  You see them now and they look kind of cheesy, but back then, it was really cool stuff.

The Godzilla movie in 1998 with Matthew Broderick was just not the same.  I left that movie feeling a little deflated.  I wasn't sure if it was the story line around the monster or the monster itself.  It will be interesting to see what comes out of the new Godzilla movie to be released in 2014, but I digress.

In Pacific Rim, monsters have entered our world through a dimensional rift in the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.  The creatures continued to get stronger and slowly began to appear more frequently.  Soon, mankind's conventional weaponry can't handle them.  So, the Jaeger program began.

Let me stop there.  I am a big Rifts roleplaying fan, as well as Robotech and Battletech.  The idea of developing hundred plus ton robots or powered armor with human pilots is just freaking cool.

Now, the movie's plot is not deep and for a summer action movie like this, it doesn't have to be.  It was made for one reason; ENTERTAINMENT.  Trust me.  For an old monster/robot movie fan, this movie had that in spades.

I really liked the idea that the invaders were sending clones of the monsters or Kaiju through the rift.  It was really interesting to learn the clones were mentally linked.  They helped future monstrosities learn and adapt to the human tactics. The Kaiju were intelligent and they were sent through with a purpose. I thought the idea that the would be invaders were colonists and had tried to come over before using the dinosaurs was also a fun idea.  I give the writer kudos for the back story.

Now for the Jaegers.  Wow.  I liked the Drift.  In my own writings, I have employed the uses of neural interfaces with machines.  I could easily understand the impediment on the human mind if a solo pilot tried to control one of those huge mechs.  For me, I would love to be one of those who sign up just to try.  I have a twin brother is who is a six degree black belt in Okinawan Karate.  Hmm.. Drift compatible for kicking butt..  Heck yeah!!!

I loved the idea of this movie and want to see more.  If the rift continues to be a problem and budgets aren't too much, I could see this being made into a TV series.

I give it an 8.5 out of 10 for its butt kicking monster bashing action.  The Jaegers were awesome.  Also, I took my kids to this movie.  Nine year olds, who like their dad, love big robots and hulking monsters on the big screen.  Gotta love it.

My family and I had waited a long time for Christopher Nolan's Man of Steel.  To be honest, there had to be something to redeem the Superman story line after Superman Returns.  There just had to be.  I have several friends who have been dogging this movie.  Too much of an action sequence here, not enough depth here, these characters didn't work....  I'm sorry.  I liked the movie.  It was good representation of who DC plans to portray Superman for the near and hopeful future.

Characters..  Amy Adams did a good inquisitive Louis Lane.  I liked her in this and the red-hair was a nice change of pace too.  Now, I have heard all kinds of grief about Russell Crowe and Kevin Costner.  I don't know why.  "They didn't offer anything!" is a claim I heard a lot.  My two cents, here.  They are not the main character!!!!  However, they did provide us the unique boundaries of Clark/Kal's personality.  What they valued, what they believed in, and how much they loved their son.  What lengths should someone go or even sacrifice themselves to save others whom they have never known.  Jor-el and Jonathan Kent showed their son the value of life.  In doing so, it made it so much harder for Superman to take the Zod's life in the end of the film.  Zod gave him no other option.  That choice that Superman makes will undoubtedly haunt him to the end of his days.  All through the film we really begin to see the depths of Superman's humanity.

Now with Zod gone, Kal-el is truly the last of his race.  That is unless a new way can be made to reopen the phantom zone.  But if the Kryptonians there are freed, would they listen to Clark and try to find a new life for Krypton?  Or would they continue the course Zod had already put on?

There are a few nitpicks on dialogue and some confusing character interaction, but they didn't overly detract from my enjoyment of the story.  I did like the idea that all Kryptonians are essentially clones that are generated from the same codex.  It also makes sense that Jor-el, the rabble rouser (if there is such a thing on Krypton) that he is, would break with society and have a naturally conceived child.  I give it a 7.5 out of 10.  It was good, but not quite the wow.

I do think this film is a good starter that can make more inroads into other films for DC and ultimately to a Justice League movie.  Marvel has done a fantastic job integrating story lines for its characters involved in the Avengers and I would truly like to see DC step up and bring us something worthy of the World's Mightiest Heroes.

I forgot to post this one...  I took the family out to see the third Iron Man movie the weekend it came out.  a bit crowded, but not too bad for the time slot we chose.  My boys and I were really psych'd about this one.  The movie was action packed, full of good witty humor, and I wondered when AIM would show up in the Iron Man story.  This movie really is Tony Stark's final transformation from playboy to hero.  I liked the interaction with the kid in the movie and I think it kept him grounded.

Despite how much fun it was, I did have a few issues.  First of all, some of the one liners and comic jabs looked forced and felt as if they were only there to get a laugh, rather than be truly something Tony or one of the other characters would really say.

Two.  After all the other crap that Pepper Potts has been through, she is playing the damsel in distress?  Come on!  She should be flying her own suit by now.

The final issue I had was really my kids issue.  I loved Ben Kingsley, but my boys wanted the Mandarin.  THE MANDARIN!   And yes, SPOILER; the Mandarin is a fake setup by AIM that uses Ben Kingsley's character as a prop.  Maybe the real Mandarin will get offended and come back wanting an Iron Man 4.  LOL.

All in all a good film.  I would give it 8 out of 10.

Ok, I pulled out my geek card to get stamped last weekend and trundled off to the movies with the family to watch the second J.J. Abrams Star Trek film, Into Darkness.  It was awesome!  The knitting of the old story timeline with the new one fit right in and Benedict Cumberbatch's portrayal of Khan was well done.  I know there are many of us Star Trek purists out there that believe that no one could replace Ricardo Montalban as Khan, but come on.  Just face it.  Benedict did the character proud.

There was only one issue I had with the movie and that goes back to the purist thing.  Long ago Gene Roddenberry declared that the Enterprise design could not operate in an atmosphere.  Well, even in the first movie, Starfleet was building the ship on a Earth ground based shipyard.   Not in space.  With the right thrust capabilities and stabilizers, I believe it could work, but that is my engineering background coming out again.

One spoiler.  I did like the movies role reversal with Kirk and Spock.  This time it was Kirk that lay dying in radiation chamber and Spock looking helplessly on the outside.  Very well done and nicely played.

Ok, second spoiler...  My son asked my why Spock went after Khan in the final big chase and not some of the security guys.  One, the red shirts die..  The walking dead...sorry.  Two, Vulcans are strong.  Much stronger than humans and there had to be someone that could face off with Khan in a hand-to-hand fight.

Only one final comment.  Alice Eve as Dr. Carol Marcus... Hot!