The Thursday Takeover: With Author Genevieve Dewey Heaston

Happy Thursday all! This week, I'm introducing a new feature to my blog called the Thursday Takeover. There will be more coming on a regular basis in the coming weeks. They will feature some of the best selling independent authors out there as well as aspiring ones. Here authors can promote their works in anyway they see fit. If you're interested in a future spot, please leave a comment or send me an email. Without further ado, I hand you over to the wonderful Genevieve Dewey Heaston.

THIRD TIME'S THE CHARM

The Downey Trilogy #3

Adult Contemporary Fiction: Family Drama/Romantic Suspense

Once to Begin, Twice to Bind, and Third Time’s The Charm…

Of all the things Mickey Downey has accomplished in his life, successfully quitting his vices is the one thing he hasn't been able to master. For the first time Mickey is free to have both Mary and Tommy in his life, yet he's never been closer to being pulled back into the criminal world. While Tommy, Ginny and James work overtime to expose a nefarious plot threatening all of them, Kiki and Maeve Downey are hatching their own plots to make Mickey’s dreams come true. With shenanigans afoot in every aspect of Mickey’s life, he may be forced to pick up the weapons he promised Mary he would leave behind in order to protect his children. Can Mary finally accept he might never truly be free of it or will Mickey’s enemies once again succeed in tearing them apart?

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It is necessary to read First, I Love You (Downey #1) and Second of All (Downey #2) prior to reading Third Time's The Charm.

And now, An EXCLUSIVE (never before seen) excerpt from Third Time's The Charm:

When her gaze finally lifted to his, his face was blank. The only emotion vaguely present was resignation. The same little devil that had prompted her to invite him to supper with Jack and Claire on her last visit took over. She lifted her chin. “I’ll stay with you. Ten minutes for every question you answer truthfully.” “Why? So you can act outraged again and run away?” “Run away?” Mary’s heart was running so fast in her chest her ribs actually ached. “I’m not running away. And I’ve a right to be upset with what you’ve told me.” His eyebrows contracted faintly but he continued to stare at her blankly. She walked forward and grabbed the box from his hands. She knew it was his surprise at the action more than anything that had him letting loose. “These are mine. You meant them for me. You might want to lie to yourself they were meant for you, but the lying to me stops today. Now,” Mary finished firmly. She ignored the slightly outraged, stunned look on his face and marched towards the door. “You want to know the truth, Mary?” She turned back around at the marked anger in his voice. He had only rarely been angry with her. They had fought like cats and dogs that last year they were together but he had always fought with a detached sort of disdain and condescension, only rarely with anger. He stood up slowly, his eyes burning, nostrils flaring. “Well, here’s the truth, Mary, and don’t go crying because it’s not what you wanted to hear. I’m as sick of that as you are of the lies. The truth is I didn’t want to retire. Not the first time, not this last time, not ever. I moved mountains to try and be with you and Tommy and it didn’t work. Then I asked you what would work and did that, and all it’s done is put all of us at risk, and you’re still playing games. Tormenting me.” “Tormenting you!” “Yes, Goddamn it! Dates, conditions, games. Here’s some more truth, Mary. I hate being retired. I hate relying on Carlo and the fucking cops and I hate being good. I miss the rush of making money, being in charge, breaking the law. Is that enough truth for you? When will it be enough sacrifices for you? When are you going to sacrifice something for me?” Mary thought maybe it was the trembling from her emotions but it took her several seconds to really grasp he’d said that. She continued to stand there for a full minute. How could he be so clueless? “Sacrifice? Are you serious? I sacrificed my entire life to be your mistress. The first four years of our child’s life were spent living a lie. I sacrificed the joy of a family unit, I raised our son alone.” “By choice.” “I have been alone because I couldn’t risk anyone finding out who his father really was! I sacrificed my young and pretty years on the RUN! I sacrificed finding love and having a real family, having more children. Now I’m a dumpy middle aged woman with a grown man for a son. I just sold the home I worked myself to the bone to earn to move here! I sacrificed everything!”

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About the Author:

www.GenevieveDewey.com

(Get missing scenes and supplemental flash fiction!)

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Genevieve Dewey is the author of The Downey Trilogy and the Downey spinoff short romances featuring Katelyn & Dominic (The Bird Day Battalion and The V-Day Aversion). She is a wife, mother, sister, friend and Anthropologist. She is also an unapologetic lover of chocolate, bourbon, high heels, guns, and spending hours getting lost in research. Gen lives in Nebraska with her husband and three children. Her books include:

The Downey Trilogy First, I Love You Second of All Third Time’s The Charm Short Romances The Bird Day Battalion (Free everywhere!) The V-Day Aversion Coming Soon The Good Life ( A Dom & Kate Novel)

Rubber Movie Review

Happy Friday everyone! It’s time for another film review this week, but to be honest this is probably the strangest I have ever reviewed. 

This week I have been watching Quentin Dupieux’s 2010 box office flop, Rubber. So what’s the premise you ask? It’s about a tyre that kills people. Seriously. This tyre comes to life and kills people by using its psychic powers. Now you’re probably wondering why any studio ever agreed to make such a film. The answer? I have absolutely no idea. They must have been smoking something illegal. 

But as strange as it sounds, it is not actually a bad film. Now before you think I’ve been smoking something too, I’ll explain why. The film opens with a sheriff climbing out of the boot of a car and addressing the camera. In this introduction, actor Stephen Spinella explains that cinema history is filled with examples of things that happened for no reason, for example, like why ET was brown coloured - there’s no reason for this. He explains that Rubber is a homage to these random moments in cinema history. With that set-up, the killer tyre’s rampage begins. 

Rubber is obviously not a film to be taken seriously but at the same time it’s not hilarious either. I thought it would have gone further to make fun of other classic film moments or genres, but it fails to capitalise on these. That’s very disappointing after the “get out of jail card” it gave itself at the beginning. 

There’s also a strange subplot going on where the sheriff tells other characters half way the film that none of what they are doing is real. There is also a group of people “outside the film” as it were, though on site, watching the movie through binoculars at a distance. The film cuts regularly to these people, but as to the ultimate purpose of both ideas, the movie offers no answers. It’s not funny, it’s just confusing. 

Rubber was interesting. I would not say good but nor would I say it was bad either. If it had been funnier then I think it would have been much more positively received. 

It gets 4/10.

From Up on Poppy Hill Review

From Up on Poppy Hill is a 2011 Japanese anime produced by the world famous Studio Ghibli. Chances are you will probably have seen films produced by the movie studio without realising it even if you are not an anime fan (thinks Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Ponyo).

I’m not a big anime fan myself but like previous movies by the studio, From Up on Poppy Hill has a way of connecting with audiences the world over despite cultural differences. The movie is set in the Pork of Yokohama, in 1960s Japan and tells the story of the blossoming romance between 16-year-old Umi and classmate, Shun.

The story is very gentle and is a departure from previous works by Studio Ghibli which all include some form of magic, spirits or monsters. From Up on Poppy Hill features none of this magic that made the studio famous, opting to tell a simple love story instead. While a little slow in places the film is visually stunning. It’s drawn in the same colourful and detailed style as its predecessors and is a treat to the eye. In an age where most cartoon films are drawn entirely on computer, the artists at Studio Ghibli have shown they can still surpass this with a traditional, entirely hand-drawn movie.

Also rather uniquely to a Studio Ghibli film From Up on Poppy Hill has some musical numbers thrown into the mix as well. I was not keen on this myself but then I am not a big fan of musicals anyway, but it is nice to see the studio try new things.

I give it 6/10.

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A Dance with Dragons Review

After what seemed like an eternity I finally finished A Dance with Dragons, which is the sixth book in George RR Martin’s epic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire. Or to bring this down to a broader cultural understanding for those who haven’t read the books: Game of Thrones. 

If you have never read the novels or watched the show then maybe you should go put the kettle on and have a nice cup of tea…are they gone? Then we’ll continue. A Dance with Dragons takes off where A Feast For Crows finished. But unlike A Feast For Crows it was not nearly 800 pages of filler. Basically Crows spent more of its time following the misadventures of minor characters the series has never shown an interest in before and suddenly decided that they deserve a whole book for some reason. While that’s not to say nothing of any importance happened in the book that was essentially to the overall plot, those golden nugget moments were very few and far between.

A Dance with Dragons once more focused on the main characters and their continuing adventures. Tyrion Lannister, having fled King’s Landing is roped into some mysterious quest to the other side f the world while Daenerys Targaryen sets up home in the desert city of Mereen. Jon Snow has to contend with the reality of a shortage of rangers to defend The Wall and Bran Stark finally meets the mysterious three eyed crow that has been plaguing him through dreams for the last six books. 

There is a game changer this time round, resulting in probably the best twist in the series so far (which I will not spoil here). This very easily makes A Dance with Dragons the best in the series to date.

As usual the story sucks you in, with events running in tandem across Westeros and other parts of the world. As ever George RR Martin’s characters are memorable and on form.

The only critique I have is that once again, another war is looming within the pages of the book. After six books of other wars and scuffles, I kind of feel I’ve had my belly full. There are a lot of new locations visited in the book and some great revelations along the way but I do feel the series is starting to run out of steam a bit now.

The Field of Blackbirds Review

I do not read a lot of crime thrillers but Thomas Ryan's The Field of Blackbirds has made me rediscover an affection for the genre. I very rarely give out five star reviews but this was one of those rare books that was hard to put down.

What begins as a New Zealand vineyard owner's quest to find his missing friend, Arben Shala, in Kosovo after he disappears turns into an international hunt for a terrorist network that are blowing up the European landscape. There's double crossing, corruption at the highest official level, secret agencies and murder.

While the story is fictitious it feels very real. The characters, both Jeff, Morgan, Sulla and their enemies are all well crafted characters with their own personalities. The bad guys are not shady, pantomine figures which you never see, they feel like real people.

Thomas Ryan has hit the nail on the head with HIS crime thriller, offering a believable portrayal of the covert world of terrorist hunting with a balanced mix of danger, humour and romance thrown in. A story with many twists that will keep you turning the page. I hope to see Jeff Bradley returning in a sequel.

It gets 8/10 and can be purchased here.

Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts Review

This is something I have put off for a long time but I don't think I can for any longer. So let's all take a shot of vodka, or two, and just get it over with. It's time to talk about Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts. If you are not familiar with the game series here is a bit of a flashback. The game series follows the adventures of Banjo the bear and Kazooie, his wise cracking bird that lives in his backpack...don't ask me why she lives in a backpack. 

Anyway Banjo Kazooie`s first outing was on the Nintendo 64 back in 1998. The platformer was a smash hit and in 2001 a sequel in the same vein was released, receiving a similar reception. At the end of the second game it was revealed that a third was in the pipeline. Development was on and off for several years after the games creators, Rare, were bought by Microsoft. And that's when things nosedived. 

In 2010 the long awaited third instalment was released. So you will be wondering why such a popular series bombed? Quite simply this: they turned it into a car building/racing game. This is not what people expected after ten years of development for a game series that was known for being a platform adventure. If would be like the makers of Bioshock making a new game but instead of it being a third person shooter the game took on the format of Tetris. So you can imagine why a lot of people were pissed off. 

Some of you will probably be thinking that I’m being unreasonable and that I should give this game a chance. Well, I did. I never bought into the whole car aspect but I still got the game and gave it a chance. I never finished it. It wasn’t the change in gaming style that did it for me though, it was how frustrating the game was. 

To complete different missions and thus advance in the game you have to modify your vehicle. I would not have had a problem with this but it is all the time. You spend more of your time looking at menus and switching wheels and engines with other parts than you do actually in the levels. Also you are dropped in at the deep end, it is impossible to know what works with what equipment and what doesn’t. 

The lack of variety is another major issue. The original games were as much about exploring and finding things to help you in your quest as they were about boss fights and puzzles. In Nuts and Bolts you are either racing, building a car or racing. It’s just so repetitive. I have a car in real life. I don’t mind driving but it’s not the highlight of my day. Why would I want to play a virtual version of this or spend my time in a virtual garage for that matter? This will sound hypocritical but I love Mario Kart. But the tracks on Mario Kart are interesting and you never stop.

                                           Glory days: Banjo and Kazooie on the Nintendo 64

In Nuts and Bolts the races are dull and unimaginative and there are many times you come to a sudden halt simply because your vehicle isn’t advanced enough. Guess what? Back to the garage to spend another twenty minutes randomly sticking virtual van belts and gizmos together to see if that will help. You might get strike the right combination on the twentieth go and win the race. Are we having fun yet?

It gets 2/10.