Good Afternoon. Gigi the parti poodle here and thank you, I am feeling much better this week. My daily meals have been upgraded to canned food. I adore it…even if I must share it with the Maltese. It is the same gourmet brand but softer. And I deserve it…the food that is, not the Maltese. I am most proud of my novelist this week. She has released the second novel in her series. The book is called Musicology: Volume Two, Kid! I could not be prouder. I assisted her in designing the advertisements. What would she do without me? I am also delighted her films this week center around one of my favorite directors, Alfred Hitchcock. I adore the macabre. And it is a fitting season for it. Without further ado here is my novelist.

Musicology Volume Two, Baby is now available on Amazon as a Kindle book and a paperback! This is the second installment in the Musicology comedy/satire book series.

As a celebration of releasing this book I am offering the first book in the Musicology series Musicology: Volume One, Baby! FREE now thru Sunday, October 18^th!!!

I will keep you posted on the release of the third book in the series coming soon. And I will be offering another book deal upon its release. Please enjoy and HAPPY ROCKTOBER!!!!!

My Books

You can check out my books Chicane and the first two books in my Musicology book series Musicology: Volume One, Baby! and Musicology: Volume Two, Kid! on Amazon in Kindle and Paperback editions. You can also check out Musicology’s web site at www.musicologyrocks.com and vote for who you think will will Musicology!!!

STREAM OF THE WEEK: SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1943)-Peacock

Since it’s Rocktober I thought it would be fun to spend the month choosing lesser known Hitchcock films for my stream of the week picks. Peacock offers some wonderful ones to view. The first movie I have decided to feature is Shadow of a Doubt. Shot in glorious black and white it is a marvelously malevolent film about a young woman named Charlie and the uncle she is named after. Uncle Charlie (coolly played by the fantastic Joseph Cotton) is in some hot water and has decided to go visit his older sister’s family who welcome him with open arms. And no one adores Uncle Charlie more than his niece Charlie (Teresa Wright). Uncle Charlie loves to shower his family with lavish expensive gifts, especially the emerald ring he gives his niece (the importance of the ring harkens back to the series I did on the importance of props in writing and the prop exercise). But upon the visit of men looking to interview the family Charlie begins to doubt the true nature of her uncle as things become more and more harrowing. Look for Henry Travers (Charlie the Angel from It’s A Wonderful Life) and Hume Cronyn who have some delightful scenes together.

SMART MOVIES FOR SMART KIDS: DISTURBIA-TNT

This one is for the older kids. A clever young adult film loosely based on Hitchcock’s Rear Window, it’s the story of a teenager named Kale (Shia LeBeouf) who through a series of unfortunate events has found himself under house arrest. But all is not bad. A new family has moved in next door who happens to have a teenage daughter named Ashley (Sarah Roemer). With the help of his buddy Ronnie (Aaron Yoo) Kale sets out to meet the girl. But on the way he starts to notice something amiss going on at the house of his other new neighbor, Mr. Turner.

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The second novel in my Musicology book series, MUSICOLOGY: VOLUME TWO, KID! is now available on Amazon!!! Here’s the description:

Who is “The Kid”? After Ruby Diamond’s shocking decision, the Circle of Ten results have been revealed. Now Ruby is about to drop another timebomb into Max Buckner’s hands, a dangerous secret that puts the show on a collision course with legal and financial ruin. As Max scrambles to find out which contestant is “The Kid” and save Musicology from scandal, the Circle of Ten start carrying out agendas of their own …especially the resident diva who will stop at nothing in her attempt to destroy every contestant in her path, dominate the competition, and take the Musicology crown.

Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the parti poodle once again and this has been one of the most dreadful times of my life. I had my teeth professionally cleaned last week. Let me tell you that is no walk in the park. My novelist took me to the veterinarian’s office at eight in the morning where I was kidnapped, laid down on a disturbingly cold table and shot up with mind altering drugs. The next thing I knew I had a terrible taste in my mouth, and I had been brainwashed. Every thought I had was strange. I even hallucinated the Maltese took over my blog. Absolute pandemonium. And all this right before my novelist is about to publish her second book in the Musicology Series. One should always be in one’s right mind before their novelist is on the precipice of releasing a new book. Without further ado here is my novelist.

Musicology Volume Two, Kid! will be available on Amazon for Kindle and in paperback on Monday Rocktober 12th! And to kick it off here is the description:

Who is “The Kid”?  After Ruby Diamond’s shocking decision, the Circle of Ten results have been revealed. Now Ruby is about to drop another timebomb into Max Buckner’s hands, a dangerous secret that puts the show on a collision course with legal and financial ruin. As Max scrambles to find out which contestant is “The Kid” and save Musicology from scandal, the Circle of Ten start carrying out agendas of their own…especially the resident diva who will stop at nothing in her attempt to destroy every contestant in her path, dominate the competition, and take the Musicology crown. Vote for who you think will win Musicology at www.musicologyrocks.com!

Stay tuned there will also be a special Musicology surprise coming soon!!! Until then…

MY BOOKS

You can check out my books Chicane and the first book in my Musicology book series Musicology: Volume One, Baby!  on Amazon both in Kindle and Paperback editions. You can also check out Musicology’s website at www.musicologyrocks.com The second book of the Musicology series, Musicology Volume Two, Kid! is releasing Monday, Rockctober 12, 2020!

STREAM OF THE WEEK: THE FROZEN GROUND (2013)-NETFLIX

This movie is based on the true events of an Alaskan serial killer named Robert Christian Hansen (played by John Cusack) also known as the Baker Butcher. The story which is set in 1983 primarily circles around Cindy Hansen (Vanessa Hudgens in a tour de force performance), a 17-year-old prostitute working in Anchorage who was wily enough to escape from Hansen before he was able to put her on his bush plane and hunt her down for sport in the Alaskan wilderness. Other women (about seventeen of them and maybe more) were not as fortunate. Cindy tells her story about Hansen to the police. But because she lied about her age and worked as a prostitute and Hansen is considered an upstanding community member, a family man with his own restaurant (Please note: the nineth most common job for psychopaths is chef) her story was not believed by the police…except for one officer, State Trooper Jack Halcombe (Nicholas Cage). Halcombe struggles to form a case to bring Hansen in before he claims more victims and tracks down and kills Cindy. The film was Scott Walker’s directorial debut and shot entirely in Alaska.

SMART MOVIES FOR SMART KIDS-ROOM ON THE BROOM (2012)-Amazon Prime

This is a cute short stop animation film based on the book Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson and Axel Schleffler. It is the story of a kind redheaded witch and her orange cat and the wind which blows the witches items away one by one. Every item is retrieved by a different animal, each one asking after retrieving her item if there is room on the broom for them. It is appropriate for kids of all ages and witty enough for adults. Perfect for the Halloween season.

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Hello…I am Tucker. I am a Maltese. I live with Gigi. Today I am introducing our novelist. Yesterday my novelist gave me a haircut…well, part of a haircut because she usually trims me a couple days in a row till it is finally finished. I look good now. I weigh less. I am not as warm. I got to be brushed too. I like being brushed. I did have to get a bath before she gave me the haircut and I do not like baths. Baths are wet. I do not like being wet. And I get cold waiting to dry. I shake the water off, but it does not seem to go away. My novelist dried me off and then she wrapped me up in a blanket. Then I got warmer. Here is my novelist.   

Rocktober is almost here and you know what that means! That’s right, Musicology: Volume Two, Kid! is about to be released! When I am getting ready to release a book there’s a few things I do to prepare.

Use the Read Aloud in Microsoft Word. This is my favorite new tool. Perhaps there are some of you out there who have used this for a long time, but it was only recently when I started preparing my Musicology book series that I found its great value. It is one thing to read through your writing as you go to polish your final draft. It is quite another to listen through it. This function is fantastic at catching mistakes and it is easy to find in Word. Simply open Word, go to the search at the top of Word above the ribbon and type in “Read Aloud”. Your stop and start button will be over to the right-hand side of your document. You can also change the voice by left-clicking the speaker icon by the fast forward button, clicking on the drop-down box, and choosing a voice. You can also choose the reading speed of the voice here as well by moving the level on the bar.

Choose a Good Photo to Make My Cover. If you publish on Amazon, you need to create a cover for your book. It is wisest from what I understand to use a photograph as opposed to a drawing for a cover design. I tend to be a frugal person and I think you should not be paying ridiculous amounts of money to produce a good cover for your book. I personally like to search for royalty-free images. I go to Pixabay and Pexels to find a bevy of choices and search for subjects that pertain to my book.

Prepare and Create a Cover. Again, being relatively frugal I like to get the best cover for the best price which is to do it myself. For the creation of my visual masterpiece I use Derek Murphy’s tool. He has a wonderful list of fonts and effects to choose from that help make the picture pop. For help I go through the tutorials on his site. I would have made a lot of mistakes with my cover had I not listened to him. And if you do create a cover of your own be patient. Take the time to make a great cover and be prepared to make over a dozen variations so you can choose the best one. If a writer has the patience to write a great book, they should have the patience to design a great cover. I did twenty covers for Musicology: Volume Two, Kid!  before I got it the way I wanted.

Write a Book Description. This is not as easy as it sounds but it is crucial. Be prepared to rewrite this little blurb several times to get it right. I like to think of it in the same way I would a movie pitch. Make it about one paragraph and make it interesting. Be sure the first sentence is an attention getter because some of the rest may not be immediately viewable to the reader looking for your book unless they click on read more.

Make it Available in Paperback. Yes, this one is a serious pain because you must format your Word doc a certain way. But if you do, you will be glad you did. Also, I have not done one yet, but it is not a bad idea to do an audio version of your book. If you look at the book How to Publish a Book on Amazon in 2020: Real Advice from Someone Who’s Doing It Well (Work from Home Series: Book 5 by Sam Kerns he gives some good basic advice.

MY BOOKS

You can check out my books Chicane and the first book in my Musicology book series Musicology: Volume One, Baby!  on Amazon both in Kindle and Paperback editions. You can also check out Musicology’s website at www.musicologyrocks.com The second book of the Musicology series, Musicology Volume Two, Kid! is releasing in October 2020!

STREAM OF THE WEEK: SELF/LESS-Netflix

If there are three things movie critics hate they are sex, science, and redemption. And this one has a little of all three. Sometimes critics do not get it right. But to have so many pan this one is odd. I’ve watched it twice on two separate occasions and I’ve liked it both times. I like the concept, the directing, and the acting. And I like the mood of the film. The story is a science fiction action thriller and it works like this. Seventy something Damien Hale (Ben Kinsley) is an extraordinarily successful New York real estate developer who failed in his personal life. He has an adult daughter named Claire (Michelle Dockery) who despises him and works for a non-profit organization. Finding out he has terminal cancer he decides to make things right the only way he knows how: by giving her a check. Claire rejects the check and sends him on his way. But Damien is not ready to quit yet. He has been looking into a process called “shedding” where one leaves one’s body in trade for one that’s “made in a lab”. After paying millions for the procedure Young Damien (Ryan Reynolds, who’s great here) finds himself living a whole new life…but whose life is he really living?

SMART MOVIES FOR SMART KIDS- A SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE: FARMAGEDDON-Netflix

I enjoy a lot of the Aardman films, and I am especially fond of Shaun the Sheep. Netflix released this one earlier this year that is quite cute. Shaun and his gang of sheep are hanging out on the farm getting into trouble with Bizer the dog who is always trying to please The Farmer. When a strange creature ends up in the barn, Shaun summons up the bravery to meet her. Half blue Christmas tree and half blue puppy dog she turns out to be an engaging little character who made a mistake and now needs to find her way back home to her parents. There is hardly any dialogue in the film, but the visuals are all you need. A great film for kids of all ages.

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Good afternoon. Gigi the parti poodle here and this week has been wet. Wet and dark. The dreadful Maltese and I have been out on a couple of walks when my novelist has managed to get us out when it is dry. But I must say I do not like getting wet. The word Poodle comes from Pudelhund, which means to splash about. Rubbish! I detest puddles and precipitation falling on me from the sky. I have often told my novelist she should consider finding a warmer dryer place for us to live. But every time I do, she pats me on the head and tells me I am a good dog. I do enjoy owning a novelist, but their condescending sense of humor disturbs me at times. That said, here is my novelist.

This week the premise is You Can’t Outrun Your Past. And a movie that shows this beautifully is one called The Town. The movie is based on the book Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan which received the Hammet Award. Ben Affleck directs, stars and co-wrote the script.  

The story is set in Charlestown in Boston where a group of four young men have made a career of robbing banks and armored cars. They work under a man named Fergus (Pete Postlethwaite) who worked with all their fathers setting up and carrying out bank robberies for years. Fergus is also rather fond of selling drugs and one of the four men, a psychopath named James (Jeremy Renner) has a sister named Krista (Blake Lively) who assists in that as well. Krista is also having an on-again off-again romance with one of the other four men, Doug (Ben Affleck) who is the brains of the group. When he was younger, Doug was drafted into professional hockey but his knack for getting into fights got him fired. Doug’s father Stephen (Chris Cooper) is serving time in prison. The other two young men are Desmond (Owen Burke) and Gloansy their driver (Slaine).

The story starts out with the four young men robbing a bank. They are all dressed in costumes and complete face covering masks. When they go to open the safe, they need the help of a bank manager named Claire (Rebecca Hall). When Claire is opening the safe, she panics and cannot turn the dial. Doug gently helps her calm down and tells her to take her time. She can now open the safe and the men are able to load their bags. On the way out the door James decides to take Claire as a hostage. They put Claire in their getaway van, blindfold her and leave her on a beach where terrified she does as they tell her and walks until her feet feel water.

After the robbery Doug finds he is attracted to Claire and follows her to a laundry mat where she serendipitously asks him for quarters. He asks her out on a date and becomes smitten. This is where he begins to consider starting a new life. But Claire is not part of his criminal world and to have a life with her he must find a way to outrun his past. This is not as simple as it seems. The FBI is on he and his gang’s tail, his best friend James is not on board with his choice to change careers and neither is Fergus. Not to mention Fergus, singlehandedly destroyed Stephen’s life when Stephen tried to leave his gang when Doug was a child.

One of the things that makes the movie so compelling is the more Doug tries to hide his past from Claire and forge a way out the more harrowing things become. The stakes continue to climb all the way to the satisfying conclusion of the story. It is not just that Doug can’t outrun his past it’s that his past is dangerous and grows more hazardous at every turn.

MY BOOKS

You can check out my books Chicane and the first book in my Musicology book series Musicology: Volume One, Baby!  on Amazon both in Kindle and Paperback editions. You can also check out Musicology’s website at www.musicologyrocks.com The second book of the Musicology series, Musicology Volume Two, Kid! is coming in Fall 2020!

STREAM OF THE WEEK: L7: PRETEND WE’RE DEAD-(Amazon)

L7 was one of the prominent bands in the grunge and punk movement and this unflinching documentary is their story. Starting in 1985 and reformed in 2014 these four feminists were a force to be reckoned with. Traveling around the country and across seas they made a profound impact on music and culture as true pioneers in their field. These extremely funny and incredibly talented artists are shown though interviews and home video footage and their journeys are absolutely electrifying. They are real, direct, gleefully controversial, and fearless. And I do mean fearless. The movie does an excellent job showing the highs and lows of their careers and their lives. An absolute must see for rock, grunge and punk fans everywhere.

SMART MOVIES FOR SMART KIDS: THE SPEED CUBERS-Netflix

Kids like documentaries too and this one is quite good. It the story of Feliks Zemdegs and Max Park. Feliks is Australian and Max is American, and they are both fierce rivals and great friends in the world of competitive Rubik’s Cube speedsolving competitions. Feliks held eight different world records, the 3x3x3, 2x2x2, 4x4x4, 5x5x5, 6x6x6, 7x7x7, 3x3x3 one handed and 4x4x4 blindfolded. This is no easy feat. And whatever Feliks can do Max can do as well. Max has also held the world record in 4x4x4, 5x5x5, 6x6x6, 7x7x7 and 3x3x3 one handed. This is a wonderful story about competition and what it means to be a gracious winner and a gracious loser. The cubing in the movie is riveting and I think many kids will find it fascinating.

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