Category Archives: reading

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Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker Movie Review

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If you’ve already made up your mind about Star Wars, this review isn’t for you.  Go ahead and move along, because if you’ve decided to love/hate it because of politics/gender/(insert stupid thing to care about with space wizards) then go elsewhere.

I did my very best to leave all my preconceptions of Star Wars, other movies,  Directors, Producers, Actors, Politics/politicians and all the rest when I went to see it.   I didn’t watch the trailers, I didn’t read spoilers.  I wanted to see what JJ Abrams and cast could do.

And I enjoyed myself.

The Rise of Skywalker starts of jerky and comes in a tumbled rush.  The first half of the movie, the pacing is awful, the editing is jerky, and it’s something of a hot mess.  But it’s also fun.  Poe and Fin work well together, and both are given opportunities to put actual character into their characters.

Rey actually has character growth and has to struggle.  It’s a foreshortened struggle, compressed into the too-packed movie, but it’s there and it’s interesting, it made me actually care about her as a character.

The fight scenes are impactful and I had some emotional attachment when characters were in peril.

They make use of a lot of movie cliches and they pay total homage to every bit of fan service they can.  It can be eyerolling, at times.  But it gets back to a central part of Star Wars: hope and redemption.   That people can change the universe for the better and that what you do is more important than where you come from.

It’s not a great movie.   We are not getting the Extended Universe books in movie form that all the die-hard fans (including me) wanted.  But it was an enjoyable night out, the movie closed the chapter on the trilogy, and it’s something I can show my kid and share in his enjoyment, as well.

At the end of the day, that’s enough for me.

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Kal’s July 2019 Forecast

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Hey everyone, it’s July!  For my fellow Americans, I hope you had a happy and safe 4th of July.  For everyone else, well, I ate lots of food and hung out with friends on your behalf.

I’ve just finished off Army Space Corps: Vernian Space Gun, which is headed to a potential publisher.  It was a blast to write and I hope that you guys will be able to see it soon.  The story sort of hijacked my brain and I didn’t get a lot else done while working on that.  On the other hand, I’m finishing off the seventh Shadow Space Chronicles book and I hope to have it finished off soon.

Next up in the cue is the follow-on series that starts after the events of Valor’s Stand.  I’ve got it outlined and as soon as I get The Star Engine finished I’ll work on knocking that out.  Then I have to hop back to the next Forsaken Valor book.  It should be a very busy next few months as far as book releases.

Speaking of busy, I’m moving in the near future.  The move is going to eat up a lot of my free time, so posts may be a bit scarce, but I will be trying to release books and get my writing done.   I am pretty much done with conventions for the year, mostly because moving, starting a new job with the Army, and lots of other life drama.

That’s all for now, thanks for reading!

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Now Available: Stolen Valor

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Hey everyone!  Stolen Valor, Forsaken Valor book 2, is now available on Amazon.

https://amzn.to/2Wlgiob

They stole my life, so I stole one right back.

My name is William Alexander Armstrong.  I come from a long, honorable, military family.  My grandparents were heroes back home… but not me.  Kidnapped by pirates, I’ve had to fight to survive on the streets of an alien world.  Only now, I’ve got a way out.
 
The only trouble is, my way out is to serve in the enemy’s military, hidden under a stolen identity.  I’ve got to hide who I am, build alliances, and hope to keep my head down at a military institute where one in three trainees don’t survive.
 
But hiding isn’t in my blood.  I’m an Armstrong, I’m born to fight, born to lead… and in this case, that might be the only thing that saves me.  Because something is rotten at the Heart of Drakkus Prime, and stolen identity or not, valor may be the only thing to save the day.

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Kal’s June 2019 Forecast

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Hey everyone, June is here!

If you haven’t heard already, Stolen Valor, the second Forsaken Valor book, comes out June 8th.  I’m really excited for this one, it’s a pretty intense book.

I’m working on The Star Engine, this month, which is the seventh book of the Shadow Space Chronicles.  My goal is to have that one out for the end of the month.

I’ve also started working on Heir to the Fallen Duchy, the 4th book of the Eoriel Saga, my epic fantasy series.  If all goes well, that one will be coming out soon, too.

What else is going on?  Well, in a real-life plot twist, I’ve been called back to active duty in the military.  There’s going to be a lot of changes for me and my family.  The short term effect is that in a couple of months, we’ll be moving.  That in itself is going to be an adventure.  I hope that the long-term effect is that I’ll be able to focus more on having just two jobs: the Army and writing.   While I’ve enjoyed civilian life, more than once it’s been hard to focus on that while also being a reservist.  Throw in the author stuff on top of that and it’s been stressful trying to balance everything.  While going on active duty orders for several years was somewhat unexpected, at the same time, I’m excited to see what challenges it brings.  If nothing else, I’m certain it will give me a lot more fodder for writing, and who could ask for more than that, right?

That’s all, for now, thanks for reading!

 

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Stolen Valor: Forsaken Valor Book 2

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They stole my life, so I stole one right back.

My name is William Alexander Armstrong.  I come from a long, honorable, military family.  My grandparents were heroes back home… but not me.  Kidnapped by pirates, I’ve had to fight to survive on the streets of an alien world.  Only now, I’ve got a way out.
 
The only trouble is, my way out is to serve in the enemy’s military, hidden under a stolen identity.  I’ve got to hide who I am, build alliances, and hope to keep my head down at a military institute where one in three trainees don’t survive.
 
But hiding isn’t in my blood.  I’m an Armstrong, I’m born to fight, born to lead… and in this case, that might be the only thing that saves me.  Because something is rotten at the Heart of Drakkus Prime, and stolen identity or not, valor may be the only thing to save the day.
Stolen Valor is coming June 8th
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Coming Soon: Stolen Valor!

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Alright everyone!  Mark you calendars, because Stolen Valor, the second book of the Forsaken Valor series is coming!  Right now I’ve got it scheduled for June 8th.

I’m really excited to get this one out to everyone, because it’s been incredibly awesome to write.  William Armstrong has a very different story from that of his sister and the places it goes and the ideas and themes I’m getting to explore are a blast.  Plus there’s powered armor and big guns, so what’s not to like?

Stolen Valor will be live on Amazon on June 8th, and I hope you enjoy reading it!

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Kal’s May 2019 Forecast

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Hey everyone, it’s been a bit of a crazy past few months, but I’m getting back into things and I should be on track again soon.  If you hadn’t seen, my father passed away recently and combined with some other family things, some work things, and some Army things, well, life has been a bit more hectic than usual.  I can’t say it’s getting any better in the near future, but I am adjusting and, well, there’s about as much good as (or more than) the bad.

So, anyway, what’s the rest of May hold in store?  Well, I’m hopeful to get Stolen Valor, the 2nd Forsaken Valor book, completed, edited, and published by the end of the month.  It’s a matter of completing it and getting it to my beta readers in time and I think that’s on track.

As I finish that off, I aim to do the same with the second Argonauts book, A Cold Day in Hades, which I need to finish, edit, and again, send to my beta readers.  From there, I’ll do my final edits and send it to Chris Kennedy Publishing.  My goal is to get that sent to them before the end of the month, as well.

What else, you ask?  Well, there’s quite a few projects I want to work, including a new one (gasp, I know, I have a lot of in-progress series).   But the next book I plan to publish is the last of the main-line Shadow Space Chronicles books, The Star Engine.

I know I won’t get it done before the end of the month, but it’s going to be coming in the next few months.  It’s a bit behind when I planned it, but I think it’ll be worth the wait, tying of the SSC storyline and setting things up for future series in that universe.

That’s all for now, thanks for reading!

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Avengers: Endgame Review (No Spoilers)

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I’ll preface this by saying that I tried really hard not to get any spoilers.  Then, on my way into the movie theater, there were a ton of people headed *out* who were discussing every detail.  Talk about spoilers… it was rather frustrating for me, but overall didn’t impact my enjoyment of the movie as much as I feared.

It’s hard to say much about the movie without getting into the heavy spoiler department.  There’s a lot of emotional stuff.  There’s a fair bit of fan-service.  There’s something for just about everyone.  Some of the humor is spot on.  Some of it is so far off base that I’m left scratching my head.  The major emotional stuff hits home and it does so very well and doesn’t pull any punches.

The movie doesn’t stop.  Be fully prepared to be locked in your seat for that three hours.  This is a movie with very real stakes and they make it clear from the beginning that things aren’t going to be all happiness and light.  The acting is great, the actors are fully invested, and the sequences and staging of the story are fantastic.

Sit back and enjoy the ride is my best advice.  Also, maybe wear earplugs while you’re walking in so you don’t have the biggest twists and turns given away by people walking out of the theater.

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Kal’s April 2019 Forecast

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Hey everyone, this year is just flying along, isn’t it?

If you missed it, last week I released Valor’s Stand, the fifth and final book of the Children of Valor series.  While the YA series is done, the stories of the characters will continue later this year with the War of Valor series.  If you’ve already read it, please leave me a review.  If you haven’t read it, well, why not?

I’m trying to get Stolen Valor finished and ready for publishing here in April.  Unfortunately there’s a lot going on in my life (seriously, if the powers that be would ease up a little, that would be nice), so I may not make it.  I’m also working on A Cold Day in Hades, the next Argonauts book with the 4HU.  If all goes well, I’ll be sending that to the publisher around the end of the month and depending on their schedule, you should see that soon(ish).

Writing projects on the deck after that is a return to the Eoriel Saga.  It’s been far too long, but I’ve got the next 3 books plotted and I want to get the 4th book finished and released in the next couple of months.  Moving on from there, I plan to close out the 7th book of the Shadow Space Chronicles.

The audiobook of Valor’s Child has been sitting in the review process for a while, so I’m hoping it will be approved soon and released to Audible in the next week or so.  The narrator, Honey Wirth, did an absolutely fantastic job and she’s already started in on Valor’s Calling.

This has been a busy year so far, but I’ve managed two releases in three months.  Here’s looking at turning that into 3 releases in 4 months!

That’s all for now.  Thanks for reading!