CASSANDRA FARRAR: MY SERENDIPITOUS DISCOVERY

This is my first posting since Oct. of last year. That makes this more of a clog than a blog, doesn't it?

And you'd think that it would've been the new release of the second volume of my novel, XIANNE: A COMEDY OF CULTURES that motivated me to finally break my blogging silence...but you'd be wrong. I certainly intend to blog about Xianne.

But this post isn't about Xianne.

Right now, there is something--someone--that has more-immediately claimed my attention, and tapped into my obsessive compulsion to promote.

You see, what happened was...

A month or so ago, I became aware of Syfy's upcoming new TV series, Defiance. I was intrigued by the premise, as well as the promise that it holds for excellence, due to many of the same players being involved who made the reboot of Battlestar Galactica so successful. I've since learned that Defiance is a Massive-Multiplayer-Online video game, as well--one that directly impacts the television series...and vice-versa.... Groundbreaking and bold, to say the least!

But this post isn't about Defiance.

As the date nears for Defiance's premier (April 15), I've seen more and more advertisements for it, and I've been particularly struck by the song that is being used in these spots. My "research" (Hey, Son, what's that song they're playing?) revealed that it is "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons. This led me to Youtube.

At Youtube, I was, of course, rewarded with myriad choices for this one song. I discovered that in addition to being used to promote Defiance, it was also used to promote the video game Assassin's Creed 3 (apparently due solely to its having the words "flag" and "revolution" in the lyrics--it's much more suited to Defiance). In addition to this, there are countless "cover" versions of the song, but I quickly located the official video and availed myself of the entire performance by Imagine Dragons.... The song was terrific, except for the exaggerated pauses, which I believe are for the sake of the video. The video itself, however, was deliberately ridiculous, but ridiculous none-the-less.

But this post isn't about Imagine Dragons, or even their song "Radioactive".

As I searched for a more satisfying video for the song, I began to view the "cover" performances; whereupon, I was struck by the thumbnail photo of Cassandra Farrar..

CASSANDRA FARRAR

This post is about her.

I eagerly clicked on her version of "Radioactive"--after all, she was young and hypnotically-beautiful in that best-of-all real-world way...

I was rewarded for this effort by discovering that she is also incredibly-talented. What she does with just an acoustic guitar and a mere angelic voice is truly an amazing accomplishment! I watched the same video a dozen times....

Then I wanted more. I began viewing her other videos--of which, thankfully, there are many--not only of "cover" performances, but of her own original songs. Videos of her alone, as with "Radioactive", as well as with her band, The Left-Brains. And they are all wonderful.

I cannot recommend this young woman and her music enough. Please check her out--for your own pleasure.

Also, please check out her Facebook page and "like" her there. And, of course, I'd appreciate it if you mentioned that I sent you....

CASSANDRA ON FACEBOOK

Serendipity is the phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for....

I wasn't seeking for Cassandra Farrar...but how agreeable it is that I found her!

XIANNE IS NOW AN E-BOOK

Well, I promised, and now I've delivered. Xianne can now be had for next to nothing and won't even clutter up your bookshelves. Do people still have bookshelves? Probably not. Ahhh, I remember bookshelves....

Anyway, in my on-going effort to keep up with 21st-century technology, I have abandoned my old tried-and-true method of carving each copy of my novel onto stone tablets in favor of "digitizing" it to the "webby-net". In less than a minute, you can own Xianne: A Comedy of Cultures: Volume One by going to http://www.amazon.com/Xianne-Comedy-Cultures-One-ebook/dp/B009PC5LBW/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1350053223&sr=1-2

Please "LIKE" it while you're there, and take advantage of the opportunity to read the sample that's available if you're undecided. Just click on the cover and read away!

I hope everyone who deigns to buy it will also provide feedback here, or on Amazon, or anywhere you like. And don't forget to visit my new author page on Facebook. I'd appreciate any and all "LIKE"s that I can get there:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jayce-Grayson-Author/315536508543088?ref=stream

I Urge You To Open THE GATE!

THE GATE by Jason Brant gets 5 stars from me because my ratings are based on my personal enjoyment of the material at hand, and Jason absolutely delivered for me this time. He seems to have a firm grasp on character interaction; that's for sure! I would be content to read endless volumes of "Bryan" and "Kyle" bantering with each other, even if he had no plot--but plot he does have, and it would be the biggest spoiler of all time if I disclosed exactly how it made the book so enjoyable for me. I can only say that THE GATE isn't what it may at first seem....

How many of us would accept a job working for a television show--including an opportunity to appear in it--even if we felt the stars of the show were complete idiots? Many of us, no doubt. That's just what happens to Bryan and Kyle as they join The Specter Slayers on an outing to investigate the mysterious Danver Church, billed as "one of the most haunted places in America". They are joined on the adventure by best-selling horror author Katie Upshaw (another of Jason's frustrating hotties), and the stage is set for chills and thrills--and laugh-out-loud comedy!--as nothing goes according to plan, and our heroes are forced to wing it through life-threatening weirdness that could only be conceived by Jason Brant.

I, personally, am not that much of a horror and/or supernatural-paranormal fan, but Jason' novella ECHOES introduced me to his writing style--particularly the way he handles characters--and I gave him the benefit of the doubt, and I was rewarded for such wisdom by being greatly entertained by this fast-paced, hard-to-put-down full-length novel.

The characters are well-developed, and highly-entertaining, easily the best part of the book for me. Those of you who like the "dark and scary" will also love the atmosphere of this tale. And if you like monsters...well, you are definitely in for a treat!

My two favorite quotes from the many excellent ones to be found are:

"And now you're telling me that the 'spirit world' smells like shit."

and

"Hey Kyle, do you remember the time I followed you into the woods to fight monsters with nothing but a rock? Oh you don't? That's probably because we're both dead."

A great read. Get THE GATE....

http://www.amazon.com/The-Gate-Jason-Brant/dp/1478384166/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1347821333&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=the+gate+bason+brant

Progress Report on XIANNE, Volume Two

Yesterday, 9/1, I began the third (and what should be the final) edit/revision of the second installment of my tale, Xianne: A Comedy of Cultures. Chapter One, entitled Harry Dobbs, received a few changes of tense and a couple of tweaks in dialogue, but otherwise passed muster with me. I'm hoping that's indicative of how the rest of the job will go.

The action in Volume Two takes place primarily on the surface of the Moon, in and around the Lunar settlement of Sunita, near the headquarters of Captain Tom Duncan's Duncan Industries. Here, my narrator/protagonist, Jim, encounters four new characters from the crew of Xianne, whom I hope will prove to be as entertaining as those from Volume One. If I take at face value the comments I've received from Cynthia Shepp (Cynthia Shepp Book Reviews and Editing), who has had opportunity to read an early draft, then I have succeeded in making them so.

Please judge for yourself, however. Naturally, I hope everyone will check out Xianne: A Comedy of Cultures: Volume One, and then get ready for the soon-to-be-released Volume Two....

Xianne: A Comedy of Cultures: Volume One by Jayce Grayson

MAIDEN VOYAGE OF XIANNE

Well, to begin a new blog, I guess I'll refer to the ship which brought me to this point: Captain Tom Duncan's privately-owned interplanetary freighter/luxury yacht XIANNE.

Although using the word "maiden" to describe any voyage of Xianne's is probably one of the greatest misnomers possible--as anyone who has read my first novel, Xianne: A Comedy of Cultures: Volume One is aware of. The setting is the 24th century, and sexual and romantic attitudes have steadily evolved from where we are today until the social customs of the 2300s are as far "advanced" from those of the 2000s as 2000s' are from the 1700s.

I invite everyone to come aboard and explore for yourselves what 300 years of exposure to the Internet can do!   http://www.amazon.com/Xianne-Comedy-Cultures-Jayce-Grayson/dp/0741464721/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326862134&sr=1-1