Old Man’s War ~ Book Club Discussion Questions

I couldn’t find discussion questions for one of my favorite books so I  came up with some for our book club, here they are. Please feel free to add to these in the comments and when there’s a few I’ll repost the list. SPOILER ALERT!

Old Man’s War Discussion Questions

 

Does the future world/universe view seem believable?

 

How does the body change, change John Perry?

 

Would you volunteer in the Colonial Union?

 

When John Perry met Jane Sagan, do you agree or disagree with his pursuit of her? How does her true age affect your feelings? She was only a few years old when they met, but an adult physically.

 

Was it good or bad for John or Jane that she wasn’t his dead wife, but only had her DNA?

 

Does their budding romance speak to our genetics being a factor in compatibility and attraction? Or was it just John’s previous love and affection for his wife that captures Jane’s interest, as she does not have a past to draw on and John can give her his wife’s past?

 

What did you think of John Perry’s experience of having to stomp an alien race that was only an inch tall?

 

What did you like about this book? What did you dislike?

Soon to follow: Our book club’s review of Old Man’s War.

RIP, Sheri Tepper

Source: RIP, Sheri Tepper

How to do a Book Signing

How does one do a book signing? I’ve been to other author’s book signing. I’ve participated in a mass signing where we each had our little table with our books and people walked around looking for something interesting. I met and got a book signed by one of my former favorite authors. He wasn’t friendly. He radiated that he didn’t want to be there at the L.A. Bookfair. Unlike, Harry Turtledove who was so awesome to my son who was a fan, that I started reading his books.

Tomorrow, I will be the lone author. The best author book signing I went to was so awesome I went again years later to see the same author. @JAJance. She read poetry, she told funny stories, and she sang! At the second one, we were privileged to dine and chat with her! I got lucky and was seated at her table. I can only hope to be as entertaining as she is. Her books are awesome, too.

So, I will not sing, because I’m not that good. I will not read poetry, because my poetry is always depressing. I could tell funny stories, but I might embarrass my spouse.

What will I do? I will connect with people like Harry Turtledove and @JAJance. I’m going to meet people who like to read what I like to write. I hope to make new friends. @JAJance and I have emailed each other on and off over the years. She has become one of the authors I will always look up to. If she came to my area or I was in hers, I’d go to another signing of hers or offer to buy her lunch. If she took me up on the offer, I wouldn’t be surprised, because she is that awesome of a person and an author.

That’s just it, she’s a person. I’m a person. I write books. When I got serious about my writing I never put much thought into doing author signings. It wasn’t my focus, but I’ve been nervous about doing them. No more. Tomorrow, I will just be me. I’ll talk about why I love my books and why I’m so proud of them. I’ll ask people questions, like: What makes a book great for you? Who are your favorite authors? Do prefer digital or paper? Stuff like that.

I am looking for more book friends, because other than loving to write books I love to read them and discuss them.

Happy Friday and HUZZAH to books!

Labor Day Surprise!

Early Thursday last week, our friend Jamie from Michigan, sent me a text asking me for my address, because she wanted to send me something. I was like, “Oh, cool, I’ve been wanting Jamie’s address for Christmas.” A year and a half ago, my mate and I moved to Southern Texas, and lately, we’ve felt a bit homesick for our small Michigan community and all our friends there, especially those we hung out with a lot, like Joe and Jamie and Dan and Mar. (We’re always missing our adult sons who chose to stay in Michigan when work dictated our move.)

Jump to Thursday evening, Jamie texted me a picture of our 2015 Mustang with the caption, “I like your car.”

Huh, I didn’t remember taking that picture. I would never take a picture of our awesome car just sitting in our driveway. I pose our car for his pictures. 

Jamie sent me another picture of the interior of our car.

My mate said, “They’re out there.”

My brain translated, “Someone’s messing with our car.”

 

“Get your gun!” I said as I headed down the stairs to the door. (We are in Texas and one must have a gun, right?)

“No, they’re here! At our door!” he shouted back as he followed me down.

Opened the door, and holy shit, there’s two faces I haven’t seen in too many months!

Screams and hugs and “Oh, shit, the apartment is messy!” My cleaning and laundry days are Mondays and Friday! It’s Thursday. Yikes! Oh well, it doesn’t matter. Two friends chose to surprise visit us. That’s the best gift in the world! If I did the same to them, I wouldn’t give a shit what their house looked liked, unless they’re poop hoarders.  (Joe had to show us a video from the show Hoarders of a person’s house who hoarded their poop! Ah, there’s not another friend like Joe.)

We hung out the rest of Thursday evening. Had a drink and a game of pool at the Templin Saloon.

 

 

 

 

Friday morning we headed to a giant Buc-cee’s, because it’s a tourist destination-mega convenience store and gas station. I kid you not! 

My mate, who’s driving, forgot his wallet, so we headed back eleven miles to the apartment. We get to talking and head out again. Spouse stops for gas. He forgot to grab his wallet again! Back home, he runs in and we’re off to San Antonio!

 

 

It rained on us a little as we toured the Alamo and the Riverwalk! It was a great day so far. Now it was time to head to Chunky’s for this challenge!

DO NOT DO THIS CHALLENGE!!!! You’ve been warned! Joe claims he’s retiring from food challenges like Adam from Man V Food did after THAT hell burger! But, he took the challenge and survived! I would have died.

Saturday, after breakfast, we took them to our favorite coffee shop owned by our friends, Quincy and Kraig. Their son, Krieg, was in epic entertaining form! It was awesome to bring our friends together to meet. If I win the lottery, I’m starting the Weirdo Commun, where we can all live and be odd together. After that, we toured Gonzales – Our museums and bars. It was hot as in I’m boiling and I’m going to die, hot!

Sunday was a lazy day. We showed off the Mustang’s acceleration power and watched Deadpool! That was a blast. After Deadpool, we started watching True Detective, season 1. That’s an intense show. The evening waned and they had to go. Monday morning they had to drive a couple of hours to the airport where his company plane hopefully waited for them. (If there’s not enough travelers, the plane doesn’t leave. Company rules, I guess. (Still, free plane fare. Now that’s an awesome company!)

We were so sad to see them go. Monday felt empty without them. Today, Tuesday, as I struggled to get back into work mode, I couldn’t stop thinking how wonderful it was to be with our friends again. Thank you, Joe and Jamie, for a weekend we’ll never forget. (Okay, I may mix up what happened on which day, but that’s why I’m writing this blog before it gets fuzzier!) This weekend was like our own personal episode of “Friends” or “Seinfeld.” It needed recording!

 

 

Creating Your Author Brand

Some great ideas to get your books into reader’s hands!

Hello everyone! I hope all is well with you! I’m back today to share some of my thoughts with you on Author Branding. Have you seen the movie “Our Brand Is Crisis?”

If you get a chance watch it.Not only is it an excellent movie, it’s a great example on how to establish a brand. In the movie Sandra Bullock is a strategist for a man who’s running for President in Bolivia.He’s at the bottom of the polls, he’s not a very likeable candidate. What’s worse? His opponent’s strategist is Bullock’s long-time nemesis, and so it begins.

What was so interesting about this movie is how she came up with a brand for her candidate. That brand was crisis. Her candidate wasn’t popular by any means, but he ended up winning the election. Why? Because of how he branded himself.

Photo via VisualHunt

His brand was that he was the…

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Goodbye, Germaine’s w/ Pictures

For six years I was blessed to call Germaine’s my home away from home and now it  has closed its doors. Working at Germaine’s after being a stay-at-home mom for years was one of the best things to ever happen to me. I was also new to Michigan, having moved from California a month before Brenda hired me. I learned all over again how to talk to adults and for the first time in my life I became a part of a community.

I went from rusty to too fast (A squirrel caught in a cage was how Brenda described me when I really got rushed.) I met my best friend there and forged so many more lifelong friendships that enrich my life to this day.  My youngest son Zack had his first job there. That job, washing dishes, taught him to study hard and go to college. Sure, working there had its rough days, but there was a lot more good than bad.

Germaine’s was more than a place to eat and have a drink. It was a comfortable, welcoming gathering spot to meet old friends and make new ones. I mean really, if you didn’t love a place you wouldn’t go there on your days off. Let’s all raise a glass tonight to the wonderful years we got to have our Germaine’s. May we always remember the good times!

                                   

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Brightening Our Darkened World

I should be working on my novel, but I’m having trouble getting reality out of my head and heart. Reality: a gunman shoots up a nightclub killing 49, injuring 53 just because they’re gay and he wants to be or is a part of ISIL. Everyone’s talking about it or about gun control or about love instead of hate. Me, I’m just sad and scared of what’s happening in our world. I’ve got my opinions on the issues, but right now I have to find something to brighten our darkened world. I haven’t written poetry in a long time and I’m rusty, but here goes.

So, Brightening by Kacy Jey

I’d Love, to see a rainbow, arching around the world

To Hug Everyone, healing our spirits and reminding us that

Right Now, isn’t forever except it’ll never leave us

So, I’d Love To Hug Everyone Right Now

Hug

6/13/16

How to Kill Pop-Up Ads

We click on a story in our feed to see a kitten marsh-mellowing and POP there’s an ad in the way. While trying to click the ad’s X, another ad opens or moves in the way of the cuteness!

After spending three minutes trying to get to the story that made us click, we close the damn story and find something else to read or look at.

Now, there is a way we can end this. It won’t take a law or a Presidential decree.

Don’t ever buy from a pop-up ad! I don’t care how great the product sounds, don’t. You’re only encouraging them to keep getting in the way of the adorable thing that would have made us smile! (

Let’s take this one step further. If it’s an ad for Farmer’s Insurance or Ipods or whatever, don’t buy those products anywhere. When their sales drop, they’ll try something different than pop-up ads.(This will work on spam, too!)

I don’t mind ads on the side of the story, or in the middle of my feed, or at the end, but damn it, let me see the cute kitten pictures!

Pass it on so we can end cute blockers!

(So tempting to put a pop-up ad in here somewhere just to be a smart-ass.)

 

 

#FLASHbackFriday #Feelingfriday

The night we served food to the Grease Soundtrack. We actually got tired of it!

Miss working with you Connie and Tiff.

Supernatural- Best Show Ever?

 

Supernatural is one week from the 11th season finale and has been renewed for two more years! But there’s a new online poll for the best show ever and Supernatural isn’t winning, yet. Supernatural is up against the shows, The Walking Dead, Gray’s Anatomy, Once Upon a Time (which is currently winning), The Vampire Diaries, An American Horror Story, Dr. Who, Teen Wolf, Chicago Fire, Sons of Anarchy,  and Pretty Little Liars.

First, I’ve got a problem with the choices. There’s been a lot of great shows in my lifetime and before. Okay, obviously, sitcoms weren’t included, but Friends was a great show that can be rewatched over and over. Still, it doesn’t matter what shows Supernatural is against, because I venture that if you watched the first five seasons, you probably made it through the iffy story lines to where the show became great again. Why? Sam and Dean!

What’s so special about Sam and Dean? In episode 91 of season five, The Real Ghostbusters, (the one where they go to the first ever Supernatural Convention) Sam and Dean get a look at how we fan see them.

DEMIAN
You’re wrong you know.

DEAN (Turning back) Sorry?

DEMIAN
About Supernatural. No offense but I’m not sure you get what the stories about.

DEAN
(Smirking) Is that so.

DEMIAN
All right. In real life, he sells stereo equipment. I fix copiers. Our lives suck. But to be Sam and Dean, to wake up every morning and save the world. To have a brother who would die for you. Well who wouldn’t want that?

Well? Who wouldn’t want that? As a rabid fan, I follow Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles on Facebook and they’re best friends in real life. They hang out, their kids hang out, they pick on and play tricks on each other in real life! That great real life relationship carries over into the show. 

Now, let’s take my number two pick in that poll, Sons of Anarchy. I wasn’t a rabid fan, but I always got the feeling they got along. I’ve read a few articles that back this up. Here’s one clip:

Sutter on Charlie Hunnam

One of the most rewarding facets of the show, Sutter goes on to say, was the relationships he developed with his cast and crew. He and wife Katey Sagal… talks about how nice to was to be able to chat to him and describes one evening where he and Sagal were missing their daughter (Esme Louise Sutter) and Charlie Hunnam dropped by:

“…for Katey it was like seeing one of her kids. We hung out for an hour or so and it was this lovely infusion of family I just really felt how lucky I was and how rare that is to have built those relationships along the way. I love Charlie, man. We can’t wait until we have an opportunity to work together again.”

The Walking Dead would be my third choice on that list, but I couldn’t find much on cast relationships. Plus, it has got to be hard to form strong relationships when no one knows how long their going to be around. Still, I believe that Andrew Lincoln (Rick) and Chandler Riggs (Rick’s son Carl). Here’s one article I found to back that up.

BUT! There are missing shows on that poll! Buffy! (Most of the cast, except Sarah Michelle Geller got along great and we see what that’s done to Geller’s career as in what career?) Star Trek Next Gen–They’re all still friends to this day! (Actually, STNG ties with Supernatural for me.)

There are tons of shows I could list, but I think it’s evident that to make a great show that lasts the cast has to like each other. Or you get what happened on Castle, Stana Katic killed the show.  Same thing happened to Remington Steal, Moonlighting and I’m sure a lot of other great shows of their time.

I’m not a show creator, I’m an author. Applying the above theory to my fiction, I see another reason the relationships in Jolene, You’re Not a Monster work and help elevate the thrilling action into a complex story that makes us cheer, care and cry for Jolene and Reese. I hope if ever Jolene is adapted for the screen the actors will get along enough that it carries over, because we the audience can tell.

Okay, I’m done being philosophical. Please go vote for which of the listed shows you think are the best shows ever.