I’m at Erin Quinn’s blog on Wednesday, talking about the inspiration for my award winning work of science fiction romance, Captured.  Please stop by and say hello.

It seems to me this is the perfect time to talk about Cowboys and Aliens – which hubby and I saw on Sunday night.

I knew the moment I spotted the very first ad for the movie I’d have to see it in the theater, for a few reasons:  Daniel Craig, Daniel Craig on a horse, Harrison Ford, cowboys, aliens and Daniel Craig’s bare chest.  I have a thing about Daniel Craig.  Rachel Weisz is one lucky woman.

Okay, so anyway, yeah, the movie’s fun and all that, real entertaining, worth your dollar, but a couple things bothered me – and here’s where Captured comes in.  In film these days, aliens are portrayed as super villains.  If I’m going to watch villainous aliens, I’d much prefer the aliens in Independence Day because while their technology was far superior to ours, their bodies were just as fragile.

In Captured, Ekkatt’s people, the Atun, are somewhat bigger and stronger, but they are humanoid, and in truth, their concerns are similar to ours.  Unlike the aliens in Cowboys and Aliens, they can’t run at 60-70 mph, they can’t take down a horse and rider with a sweep of their arm, they can’t fight with ten arrows sticking out of their backs and five blasts to the chest with a six-shooter.

I’m going to go out on a limb here (not really) – if an alien species ever does visit us, I suspect they won’t need to probe us or laser us to learn about our bodies because if they have the technology to get here in the first place, they’ll have scanners of some sort.  Think the predator in Predator (I love love love that movie).  Or something far more advanced.  I mean c’mon, we have all sorts of scanners – infrared, magnetic resonance imaging scanners, all sort of nuclear and x-ray scanners and we’re pretty primitive.

I also found it amusing that the few humans in the posse kept getting killed by the massive numbers of aliens, but somehow the number of humans never diminished and in fact, seemed to increase.  Ah, suspension of disbelief…

I had a few other issues with the movie, but you know, watching Daniel Craig ride a horse as though he was born to it, made all those issues fade to black.

By the way, Charlie over at Smart Girls Love Scifi has a great discussion going on about Cowboys and Aliens if you want to talk more about the movie.

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2. Incorporeal – Virtual Book Tour. Here I come! Right now you can visit Fangs, Wands...
3. Amazing Reviews for Incorporeal plus a contest! Please stop head over and see what these two book...

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Run, do not walk, to Book Lovers Inc. to read my interview with The Geeky Bookworm!  http://book-lovers-inc.blogspot.com/2010/07/interview-author-julia-barrett-giveaway.html

I’ll be giving away a copy of Daughter’s of Persephone – new release date for volume one is July 21, for volume two, the new release date is September 8.  Stop by Book Lovers Inc. and leave a comment!  Please!

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Recs!  I love reading reviews – sometimes I find a gem in a genre that isn’t exactly my cup of tea, like Steampunk and YA.  I just bought a used copy of Kathleen Givens’ Historical set in 13th century Scotland, Rivals for the Throne.  Historicals aren’t among my usual suspects, but this book was highly recommended by a book blogger and her readers – I bought it before I left and it was waiting for me on my porch when I returned.  I wish I could remember which blogger featured the book…sorry!

Interaction!  Book bloggers like to…well…let me qualify that…many book bloggers like to interact with authors.  They are happy to read and review our books, and feature interviews, guest blogs and givaways.  They make me feel welcome!  It’s a quid pro quo kind of thing – very participatory and I love that!  Susi over at Book Lovers Inc. gave my coming sci fi book, Daughters of Persephone, a plug in her new releases post – I believe she plans to post her interview with me today or tomorrow as the book comes out tomorrow…fingers crossed!  http://book-lovers-inc.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-releases-week-of-july-12-18-2010.html

Hilarity!  Jessica over at Read React Review and her ROTFLMAO review, or rather, nuview, of Passion, by Lisa Valdez.  I just about peed my pants reading her post!  http://www.readreactreview.com/2010/07/06/review-passion-by-lisa-valdez/#comments

Education!  Rebecca, at Dirty Sexy Books, Jessica at Read React Review, Chris at Stumbling Over Chaos, Kelly at Five Agents and a Funeral, and everybody at Dear Author – are all really smart as opposed to snark.  They manage to enlighten without insulting. I’m likely to come away from one of their posts with a new perspective on an author or a genre or the publishing industry in general.  Thanks, ladies!

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Take a look at what I received today!!!  My own SASE containing a 3″x8″ piece of paper!

Read it and weep, sucka!

“Our submission policy has changed.

Blankity-blank-blank Publishing is no longer reviewing unsolicited manuscripts.  Previously we have endeavored to look

at everything that arrived.  This is no longer practical due to the extent of our already planned releases and the challenges

of keeping up with the  volume of submissions in a timely manner that respects the authors needs.

Please check back at blankity-blank-blank.com for changes in our submission guidelines.”

(and on the back of the small sheet of paper)

“Thank you.  No.  Sorry it took so long.  Good Luck!”

I submitted the above rejected manuscript back on September 4th, 2007!!! Bwaaahaaaaa!  2007! Sorry it took so long?  Really?  Well…guess blankity-blank-blank Publishing is more considerate than all those pubs and agents who didn’t bother to return the SASE at all.  But three years?  It’s gotta be a record.

In other news, I’ll spare you my next literary passage about love and loss, but you can read it tomorrow…promise.

Oh, and that World Cup game was exhausting!  Now that the U.S. is out, I’m forced to either cheer for Germany – on behalf of my friend Susi – The Geeky Bookworm – or for Uruguay cuz the guys are cute and their play is dynamite, or maybe Mexico because I can get a real cool jersey from my neighbor.  My daughter is cheering for Ghana because they beat us and she figures you should hope the team that knocks you out of the competition knocks out everyone else.

I’m taking my first tentative steps back to normalcy.  I’ve managed to pull up four…count ‘em…four WIPs and I’m studying them.  I actually did a bit of editing on number four.

Inception, the new Leo DiCaprio movie, is based upon the fantasy book, The Dream Master, by Roger Zelazny. Seems like the movie might be a bit of a cross between The Matrix and Total Recall.  I might be interested…haven’t seen a movie in quite a while.

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I got five tea cups…really pretty tea cups, for Captured!

Thanks, LynnMarie!

LynnMarie’s Review

Mari has just about had it with life. While she’s out collecting eggs, something happens that will change her future forever. She wakes up inside a cage, naked, and never so confused. Little does she know, she is being taken to a far away planet to be sold on the meat market.

The concept of the book intrigued me from page one. I had to know Mari’s fate. She was a great character! Strong, foul mouthed, and very easy to relate to. Mari isn’t a reluctant heroine or wilting flower, despite the traumas in her past. She’s smart and knows what she wants.

The beautiful cover of the book perfectly reflects the striking dragon tattoo on her back, as well as her flaming red hair. The same hair that caught her captor’s attention when he came to Earth seeking prisoners.
Ekkatt is so easy to fall in love with. He’s a hot, ripped alien, with golden skin, and a strong moral conscience. When he discovers that humans are far more than mindless animals, he just can’t sell Mari off like cattle. He hides her out in his home, and a love story is born.

Julia Rachel Barrett has created a complex sci-fi romance that I adored. Her sense of humor was priceless! The sex scenes were hot, but the developing romance took the prize in Captured. Our hero and heroine are so different, but learn from each other, and grow as people.

I highly encourage you to take this journey…to lose yourself in a different world. Captured is a sci-fi romance you don’t want to miss out on. I want more from Julia Rachel Barrett!

5 Tea Cups and a Recommended Read!

You can read the review yourself at their delightful site: http://hea-reviews.blogspot.com/2010/06/review-captured-by-julia-rachel-barrett.html

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