Out this Weekend - The Dark Knight Rises and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Last week there were no new movie releases besides Savages which seems interesting sure but not enough to spend a $12 ticket on, that's $14.29 in US. I'll rent it when it comes out on DVD. However, this week there are TWO new movies that everyone on WildFire are eager to watch. The Dark Knight Rises which was released last Friday in the states and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, which came out who knows when. My brother and sister will of course be coming along to the movies with us but my brother isn't seeing Abe kill any vampires because you know it's rated R.

I am sure everyone who enjoyed The Dark Knight has been waiting anxiously for this one. I have read reviews from people who loved it as much as The Dark Knight and reviews by others who have not. I just hope I love it.

I thought it sounded like a weird book when I first heard the title but then I saw the trailer and it actually looks like it could be awesome. I don't know what the general reaction is for this one but with all movies I go and see I hope I love it.

What movie do you want to see this weekend? What was the last movie you saw?

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Giveaway: Lazy Days of Summer Hop

This Giveaway is now closed

The WildFire Writing team are continuing our futile effort to clear out our shelves so here is another giveaway.

Lazy Days of Summer Giveaway Hop
July 27th to August 1st

Hosted by Colorimety
&
I Am A Reader, Not A Writer

PRIZE
1 Hardcover copy of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
1 Hardcover copy of Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick

2 Winners, 1 book each.



RILES
1. You must be 14 years old or older.
2. You must have a US shipping address as this giveaway is only opened to the US.

TO ENTER FILL OUT FORM HERE

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Book Review: Hexed by Kevin Hearne

Atticus O’Sullivan, last of the Druids, doesn’t care much for witches. Still, he’s about to make nice with the local coven by signing a mutually beneficial nonaggression treaty—when suddenly the witch population in modern-day Tempe, Arizona, quadruples overnight. And the new girls are not just bad, they’re badasses with a dark history on the German side of World War II.

With a fallen angel feasting on local high school students, a horde of Bacchants blowing in from Vegas with their special brand of deadly decadence, and a dangerously sexy Celtic goddess of fire vying for his attention, Atticus is having trouble scheduling the witch hunt. But aided by his magical sword, his neighbor’s rocket-propelled grenade launcher, and his vampire attorney, Atticus is ready to sweep the town and show the witchy women they picked the wrong Druid to hex.

After defeating a hateful Irish god of love, taking on a coven of wicked witches, and losing his right ear to a demon I think it’s appropriate to say that Atticus O’Sullivan deserves a break. But not everyone gets what they deserve and unfortunately the last thing our witty protagonist catches in this second installment of the The Iron Druid Chronicles is a break. Before Atticus can sign a mutual non-aggression agreement with the local Tempe coven of Polish witches, he’s magically attacked by a new resident of witches who don’t like to share. Well those ladies picked the wrong Druid to piss off, ok he’s the only Druid but that’s be sides the point, the point being that Atticus may not like to pick fights but he sure as hell is going to finish them.

If I thought the first book in this series had action then Hexed definitely doubles the ante, not only does Atticus have badass witches to deal with but he also has a ravenous fallen angel buffeting at the local high school (a consequence of Hounded) and a troupe of Bacchants looking to have a good time, unfortunately these ladies’ parties tend to destroy lives. Not only this, but Atticus’ longtime acquaintance the Morrigan is back and although she’s technically not against Atticus she’s also not against dropping trouble at his door. You think with all this going on the book would feel a tad convoluted but the way Kevin Hearne lays out the plot and subplots I could easily keep track of each storyline and had the thought, while reading, that this series would make a fantastic graphic novel series with maybe two or three volumes per novel.

Getting back on track though, besides the action keeping the pace of this book quick and the story entertaining I have to say that the characters are my favourite part. Many old favourites return from Hounded like Granuaile (brilliant druid apprentice) and Oberon (hilarious Irish wolfhound). Along with a few new comers who make brief appearances like Coyote and others who might be coming back in later books to cause Atticus some unwanted trouble, think hunters of all things “evil”.

In conclusion, this book is just fun, the author obviously does his research and it pays off in the world building and his writing is laced with humour and the story is carried by great characters. If you’re looking for a book that is different from the usual stack of urban fantasies then give this series a shot.

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Book Blogger Confessions #14

Book Blogger Confessions is a new bi-weekly meme hosted by Tiger @ All Consuming Books and Karen @ For What it's Worth Reviews.

What do we owe publishers and authors? If we accept ARC’s do we “owe” anything to them or just an honest review to our followers? As book bloggers are we obligated to do more than just review books? Post covers – participate in book tours – host guest posts - promote authors?

I say if a blogger accepted a free ARC for review all we are obligated to do is give an honest review, if we are able to complete the book. If you couldn’t finish the book then maybe you could pass it on to someone else who might enjoy it more than you do or write a post about the book that way you still get the word out there but I don’t think this should be required. I mean what if you hated the book so much you wanted to burn it? Then it’s probably not a book you even want to mention on your blog.

Most book bloggers do what we do for fun, we are not getting paid for our services or the time we spend on our blogs so I don’t think we a required to do anymore then review a book we’ve accepted for review. If a blogger wants to help promote an author and their book by participating in blog tours, hosting giveaways, etc then that is solely up to the blogger.

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The Great and Powerful Oz Movie Trailer

The release of the trailer was brought to my attention over at a GREAT read and I am excited ^_^. Although I am surprised that the trailer for this movie was released so early. I don't even think we would normally get a teaser at this time but here we are with a full and proper movie trailer!

Disney's fantastical adventure "Oz The Great and Powerful," directed by Sam Raimi, imagines the origins of L. Frank Baum's beloved character, the Wizard of Oz. When Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he thinks he's hit the jackpot--fame and fortune are his for the taking--that is until he meets three witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone's been expecting. Reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz and its inhabitants, Oscar must find out who is good and who is evil before it is too late. Putting his magical arts to use through illusion, ingenuity--and even a bit of wizardry--Oscar transforms himself not only into the great and powerful Wizard of Oz but into a better man as well.

Release Date
March 8th 2013

So what do you think of Oz? Think it's going to be one of the top movies of 2013?

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Movie Review: The Amazing Spider-Man

Production Company: Columbia Pictures/Marvel Studios
Director: Marc Webb
Writers:James Vanderbilt, Alvin Sargent, Steve Kloves, James Vanderbilt, Stan Lee, and Steve Ditko
Main Stars: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Rhys Ifans

Peter Parker finds a clue that might help him understand why his parents disappeared when he was young. His path puts him on a collision course with Dr. Curt Connors, his father's former partner.

Peter Parker finds a clue that might help him understand why his parents disappeared when he was young. His path puts him on a collision course with Dr. Curt Connors, his father's former partner.
At first I was not sure I wanted to see this movie, because I thought it was just another remake of an already great string of movies. But I am glad I watched it, because it totally wasn't. Of course we decided like a lot of new movies, to watch it in 2D...since 3D here sucks! It is certainly not like Universal or Epcot. Maybe it‘s our screen or something...anyway back to the movie.

There is not much I can say about the movies without giving away spoilers. I will say this though, there was plenty of fast paced action and the storyline was done in a completely different way, which made the movie a standalone movie. Being a Spider-man fan I can't say I was disappointed at all...besides the whole him not being able to spin his own web thing which bothered the heck out of Reeshe :-).

I was not sure about the new guy; Andrew Garfield, I mean he is no Toby Maguire...he so skinny! But he pulled it off nicely, showing a more comical side to the character. Emma Stone also did a good job playing Gwen Stacy (the MJ of this movie). I actually liked her because she liked Peter from the beginning, not like the stuck up MJ.

The movie also has a new villain; "The Lizard", which I appreciated that they did not do the whole Green Goblin thing again...although this one was still green. Funny enough this one was not so scary, but still cool.

After a few movies we realize that sometime extras scenes show during or after the credits so we waited back a bit...looks like there might be a sequel brewing! :-)

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Cover Up #12: Clockwork Princess and More

Lots of pretty covers were revealed in the last few weeks and these are the ones I didn't see much talk of in the blogosphere except for Clockwork Princess of course, people are kind of going crazy over that cover reveal right now :).







I have a thing for bright colours and striking contrasts so of course Ravage and The Name of the Star stands out to me but I also really love Shards & Ashes because although the shades of colour are pretty subtle the red, greys, browns and white really stand out against each other and I love the beautiful image. Kitten says out of all the Infernal Devices covers, Clockwork Princess is her favourite and Reeshe says she likes The Stone Demon's cover more than The Iron Witch, the first book in the Iron Witch series.

Click on the covers to be taken to their goodreads pages.

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Movie Review: Rock of Ages

Production Company
New Line Cinema

Director
Adam Shankman

Writers
Justin Theroux, Chris D'Arienzo, Allan Loeb, Chris D'Arienzo

Main Stars
Diego Boneta, Julianne Hough, Tom Cruise

A small town girl and a city boy meet on the Sunset Strip, while pursuing their Hollywood dreams.

Firstly let me tell you that some of us were totally unaware that this was a musical lol. And it borders the line between PG-13 and R ratings, something we did not realize when we dragged Sandy's little 12 year old brother to watch it.

The movie is about a small town girl coming to find her dream of being a singer in Hollywood, a bartender and his band trying to make it as the next big rock-n-roll success, a couple of stuck in the 80s guys running a club to relive their glory days and of course the washed up Rock God (played by Tom Cruise) looking to rekindle his fire, by going solo.

If you are like me who grew up in the 80s or just like 80s rock, you will love this movie. I was singing along to every song. The producers did a wonderful job in fitting the songs perfectly with each situation.

It was an all around feel good movie, which I enjoyed greatly and would definitely recommend it, and get it on DVD.

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Book Series: Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Hex Hall is a part of our book club books for this month and I must admit it is one of the most exciting books I have read in a long time. At the very least, it wasn't what I expected.

This books was so fascinating that I couldn't put it down. I am try to go through this review without spoilers, but I know I probably can't. It was like looking through a telescope, but never being able to see the moon, until it drops on your head. I will tell you this, not everything or everyone should be trusted in this book and I learnt that the hard way. There are witch hunters called "The Eye"who not only hunt witches, but everything that is magical.
I couldn't put this down, it was so good I had to go out and buy the other 2 books right away.


Demon Glass was a book worth reading. There were so many secrets that came out in this book, that I couldn't believe these people could actually trust each other. This book was about a young women finding her way, and no matter how many mistakes she makes along the way, she finally saw that the people around her loved her. I am so in love with the main charterer Sophie; her soul and personality was great and also inspiring. Her heart was pure, but in all good books there is always a Love Triangle. Personally, I am all team Betrothed (you will understand when you read the book). Of course in this book she finds out her mother will keep secrets and also who are the bad guys.


In the 3rd book Spell Bound; Sophie learns to fight, but of course like all good, pure girls she doesn't want to kill, and that is a good thing. She also endangers lots of people, and even as she tries to save them all, she is forced to live through some things she never thought possible. There was a lot of loss in this book, which hurt me deeper than any of the other books.

Every one pulls together in this book, and of course through the twist and turns, you find out about a lot of things which no one will ever know. You will be able find out what is set in stone, and what is not.

I give each of these books

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Movie Review: Madea's Witness Protection

Production Company
Tyler Perry Company, The

Director
TYler Perry

Writers
TYler Perry, Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell, Irene Mecchi

Main Stars
TYler Perry, Eugene Levy, Denise Richards

A Wall Street investment banker who has been set up as the linchpin of his company's mob-backed Ponzi scheme is relocated with his family to Aunt Madea's southern home.

At first I thought this movie was going to be about Madea going into the Witness Protection Program, since I did not really watch the trailer. I just love Tyler Perry movies, so it did not really matter to me.

Turns out it is actually the opposite. Her nephew; a lawyer investigating a charity fraud case (played by Tyler Perry himself), asks her to hide his client and his family, who he believes is innocent, from the Mafia until he can testify.There's just one thing...they're white!

The movie was funny but there was something off about it. I thought this was not directed by Tyler Perry himself, because there were some flaws in the acting and camera shots, but then I found out he did direct it.

Madea was just not the same. The real Madea would not hesitate to lash out at an unruly child, but this one maintained control. Perhaps they are trying to change things up a bit, but I say "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

I would still commender to go see it, but a true Tyler Perry Madea fan will be a bit disappointed.

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Stumble Upon Songs #3

I haven't done this post in a while and that's because I'm not a big audiophile, you'll notice by now that most of my song choices come from book playlists or movie soundtracks. So I am open to all recommendations!

"9 Crimes" by Damien Rice

Discovered on Kathleen Peacock's blog this is one of the song's from the playlist of book 2 of the Hemlock trilogy. Werewolves people werewolves!

Gone by Ioanna Gika

From the official movie soundtrack of Snow White and the Huntsman. Go here to read my review.

Noble Maiden Fair (A Mhaighdean Bhan Uasal)

From the official movie soundtrack of Brave. Great movie, go here to read Kitten's review.

What are you currently listening to?

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Movie Review: Brave

I have been given the task of writing the movie reviews for the blog. Since I am not used to doing reviews, it may take me a little while to get the hang of it, and let me apologize now for being late. in my defence, all of these movies are still showing in the theater here in Cayman :-).

If you have already seen the movie, then I encourage you to please share your comments. If you have not, then I hope my review will help you decide it you do or do not want to see it...but please remember it is only my opinion, so watch the trailers first.

Production Company
Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar Animation Studio

Director
Mark Andrews
Brenda Chapman
Steve Purcell

Writers
Brenda Chapman, Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell, Irene Mecchi

Main Stars
Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson
Determined to make her own path in life, Princess Merida defies a custom that brings chaos to her kingdom. Granted one wish, Merida must rely on her bravery and her archery skills to undo a beastly curse.

First off, I was very glad to see the new short from Pixar, which always come before their movies. This one was actually a bit more vocal terms of grunts, groans and what might have been Spanish?? None the less it is always a pleasure.

The story started off with Merida; a typical little tomboy just trying to be a kid having fun. Her father the king is very playful and childlike himself, encourages her. Her mother the queen on the other hand is trying her best to prepare her in being a lady, for the day she will one date rule the kingdom.

Then comes along her three little little brothers, who do their share in distracting her in their mother's teachings. They are always getting into mischief and trouble, while Merida and their father eggs them on, enjoying their childhood.

One day, Merida gets the news which she is totally oblivious to; all the first born from the surrounding clans will come forth to compete in a competition for her hand in marriage. She of course is upset about this and reluctantly sits in, picking the sport of Archery (her favourite) as the deciding factor.

All hell breaks loose when Merida herself steps in (as first born to her parents) to compete for her own hand, winning the competition by splitting the bullseye arrow down the middle with her own arrow. She is determined to have her way.

Her mother is furious and forbids her, but Merida runs off into the woods. She finds these mysterious glowing fairy like creatures called wisps and follows them even deeper into the woods. There she finds a mysterious cabin, and a wood carver/witch whom she begs to give her a spell to help her change the outcome of her destiny.

Despite the witches warning she uses the spell with devastating results. She has only two days to reverse the spell by mending the bond between her and her mother, while trying to protect her from danger.

This was a wonderful tale, and just goes to show, be careful what you wish for, because it might not be exactly what you hoped for.

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Out this Weekend - The Amazing Spiderman

My coworker may not like superhero movies but the team of WildFire Writing definitely do. We haven't discussed it yet but I think we're going to be buying our tickets today and seeing the movie tomorrow.

So...ignoring the little music at the end. What movie are you seeing this weekend?

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Manga Review: Chibi Vampire by Yuna Kagesake

Karin is a cute little girl who also happens to be a vampire...with a twist. Once a month, she experiences intense bleeding from her nose--we're talking gushers! In other words, she's a vamp with blood to spare, so rather than stealing blood from humans she actually gives her blood to them. If done right, this can be an extremely positive experience that benefits the "victim" as much as the vampire. The problem is that Karin never seems to do things right!

Chibi Vampire is a very interesting little manga. We decide to add this manga to our reading list because it sounded unique. After reading volume 1, I must say it does sound like some thing I would like to continue reading. It showed me a new way to look at vampires, and I liked it.

I must say, the only down fall to this manga is that it seems too short. When I finish reading it I felt like I was left with too many questions. I guess in a way it is good for the writer because now I have to read volume 2 hoping to get some answers.

This book is about a young girl who turns out to be a vampire; in fact her whole family are vampires. There are five of them, and all are different in there own way. They seem to be just like a regular family, most of the time. I hope you all enjoy this manga as much as I have... I don't want to spoil anything for you.

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Feature Fiction: Midnight City by J. Barton Mitchell

Ever stumble across a book that you instantly love? You've only seen the description and the cover but you already want to share the book with everyone you know? It doesn't happen often but it does happen so I thought I would create a little feature to showcase the books that make me want to share them with the world even if I haven't read them yet.

So this week during my daily perusal of my blogger dashboard for updates I checked out the Nerdette Reviews’ weekly Waiting on Wednesday post (meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine) and you know what lovely book she was featuring?

In a post-apocalyptic world controlled by alien invaders, two teens and a young girl with mysterious powers embark on a dangerous journey. What they find will change everything…

Earth has been conquered. An extraterrestrial race known as The Assembly has abducted the adult population, leaving the planet’s youth to fend for themselves. In this treacherous landscape, Holt, a bounty hunter, is transporting his prisoner Mira when they discover Zoey, a young girl with powerful abilities who could be the key to stopping The Assembly. As they make their way to the cavernous metropolis of Midnight City, the trio must contend with freedom fighters, mutants, otherworldly artifacts, pirates, feuding alien armies, and perhaps most perilous of all: Holt and Mira’s growing attraction to each other. Published by St. Martin’s Press.

As soon as I saw the cover I was in love and instantly had to share it with Reeshe and Kitten and then after I read the description of the book I quickly added it to my goodreads to-read list. Do you know what convinced Kitten she wanted to read the book before even reading the description?

Strangelands

Midnight City

Mantis Encounter

The author, J. Barton Mitchell, asked artist Evan Cagle to create these three illustrations depicting scenes from the novel. I actually saw the last one first and then located the first and second image. I say these drawings confirms what the description implies that this story is going to be grand, filled with science fiction goodness, and heart pounding moments.

Midnight City
releases October 30th 2012
from St. Martin Griffin

Do you have a book that you haven't read but want to share with everyone?

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Book Blogger Confessions #13

Book Blogger Confessions is a new bi-weekly meme hosted by Tiger @ All Consuming Books and Karen @ For What it's Worth Reviews.

Blogging controversies? How do you address them? Do you join the Twitter frenzy? Write a ranty post? Stay on the sidelines and hope they go away?
How do you think we should address plagiarism scandals? Bad author behavior? Negative comments on our blogs?

I am not a fan of controversy so as much as a page view raiser posting controversial posts are I don’t do them and I just sit back and wait for the storm to pass. I’m not saying I won’t read someone’s post addressing the topic of the moment but I won’t post my own, and I usually don’t comment. I’ll talk about it in private with friends sure but nothing public.

As for plagiarism scandals I applaud all bloggers who go through the effort of writing up their posts and sharing their views against plagiarism and the latest plagiarism scandals but as much as it’s great to get the word out there against it, these posts also tend to help generate traffic for the plagiarizer which indirectly helps their blog out. Some people also tend go a bit overboard and taking a stand against a plagiarizer can quickly lead to cyber bullying when people start going down the road of bashing and personal attacks. Also I believe if a blogger sincerely apologizes and makes a 150% effort to clean up their act then I think they should be forgiven for what they have done. Everyone makes mistakes and if someone acknowledges they have done so, apologizes and never does it again I think we should give them a second chance.

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