TIW Thanks (3) ...Brian Rogers (Happy Birthday!)

Yes, it's the 3rd TIW Thanks, and it goes to the founder of the Challenge, Brian Rogers :-)
Every week this guy puts on 4 more elements and I go and write up the story...what an excellent taskmaster!
And it's his BIRTHDAY TODAY!
"Happy Birthday, Brian!"
let's say a bit about his 'creation'...
The Iron Writer Challenge itself is a great place to write and meet other like-minded people. It's a huge massive monster now and Brian is a ROCK! he's the greatest.
But, not only is Brian the founder of TIW Challenge...http://theironwriter.com/
...a challenge that every writer should at least try once, but he is also an accomplished author himself!
Check out his novels!
The Sin of Certainty...http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005AZ66SU
Black Friday http://www.amazon.com/Black-Friday-B-Y-Rogers-ebook/dp/B006XZ2FKE
Shorts http://www.amazon.com/Shorts-B-Y-Rogers-ebook/dp/B00B8711O8
Six Sisters http://www.amazon.com/Six-Sisters-B-Y-Rogers-ebook/dp/B00AKHV7PU
Phobia http://www.amazon.com/Phobia-B-Y-Rogers-ebook/dp/B00BR4MP7O
Give Me Liberty Then Death http://www.amazon.com/Give-Me-Liberty-Them-Death-ebook/dp/B00GU1R2NQ
Baby Boomer http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Boomer-B-Y-Rogers-ebook/dp/B0088YNGCO
Thrashing Charley Little http://www.amazon.com/Thrashing-Charley-Little-B-Rogers-ebook/dp/B00785R60M

And here's a little 50 worder for his birthday :-) (elements - airport patdown, heartthrob and Whitesnake lyric) plus some 'jello' from 'Frankieismymiddlename' :-)

"…There is trouble always coming my way..." Brian watched the over-sized 52-46-54 200lb Audrey Hepburn lookalike airport security guard walking over.
"We've got a right one 'ere, Madge!" shouted the guy doing Brian's pat down.
This would be the last TIW Conference Brian would set up....or maybe not...'Madge' had jello...

TIW Thanks (2) - Danielle Lee Zwissler

It's the 2nd TIW thanks today, for a newcomer to the fore...Danielle Lee Zwissler!
Lately I've not been feeling well and Danielle has appeared in this stage of my 'writing' life, a great writer, a funny person, beautiful and so goddamn clever! She's recently read one of my books, and she's helped me out of a few 'doubting' moments, which seem more frequent nowadays.
Her writing is the greatest and she's one of the lucky ones and has found success on Amazon, selling 1000s of her romantic/erotic light humoured books. I envy her but I also congratulate her on this success :-)
I'm also up against her in the TIW Final! I'll need to have my wits about me! (though we all know who will win...unfortunately)
Here's her website...www.danielleleezwissler.com
Danielle's Amazon page...
http://www.amazon.com/Danielle-Lee-Zwissler/e/B005HI56MW
And check out her latest series of novels "Cowboys & Cowgirls"! They're fantastic! (and a little racy :-))
Long Ride Home (FREE) http://www.amazon.com/Long-Ride-Home-Cowboys-Cowgirls-ebook/dp/B00HMXEXNS 
The Cowboy Takes Slave http://www.amazon.com/Cowboy-Takes-Slave-Cowboys-Cowgirls-ebook/dp/B00F1F127O
The Cowboy's Bride http://www.amazon.com/Cowboys-Bride-Cowgirls-ebook/dp/B00DH25008

Zappa Plays Zappa (Blogging A-Z Challenge)

 

"Zappa Plays Zappa" – what else could it be for the last post? Zappa died 4th Dec 1993....BUT...his music lives on...
Dweezil Zappa followed in his father's footsteps, even made a few albums, which were pretty damn good.
He did a remake of "My Guitar wants to Kill yout Mamma"...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nISG72CRP0E
And I bought his "Confessions" album, there were a lot of nice tracks (though most were teenager-ish)..whole album is here...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfNLfTJlvZs&list=PL2B76C82AC5527C6A
I really have no idea what happened after this, but after his father passed away, Dweezil took up the family name and created "Zappa Plays Zappa". Excellent! The music lives on. Here's 'Zappa plays Zappa'...(tons of videos on youtube, here's one)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcOlFBkS7_c

And there are other bands who keep it going for the old fella!
Dangerous Kitchen - Whipping Post - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tekCeKMYlw
The Pojama People... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vun4PQrYSkg 
The Central Scrutinizer Band.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X0AMPYStYI
..and a lot more, just search...

..and here endth the "Zappa" Blogging A-Z Challenge (April 2014)...it's been an experience...! Thanks to "Blogging A-Z Challenge"! I must remember to do this next year...

TIW Thanks to (1)...Tannis Laidlaw

Yep, in the run-up to the BIG TIW FINAL, today I start a BIG TIW THANKS to those TIW writers who have given me help and inspiration when I needed it. There are so many of them who have helped me over the last year, they're a fantastic circle of writers :-) There's so much going on, especially in the closed Facebook group, that only TIWs see...it's great to be a member, and I'm grateful to Brian Rogers for allowing me to be there...I'm usually kicked out within 3 months...

Err, no, I don't start with Brian, no. I actually start with a New Zealand writer (eh?) who somehow...I've forgotten how...introduced me to TIW (The Iron Writer) Challenge way back when...last year - Tannis Laidlaw! (website here...http://tannislaidlaw.com/)
Tannis has always been there for me, right from the start of TIW, and we've shared much correspondance. We're also working together on the official TIW Challenge anthology. As do I, she also writes up each weekly challenge and if I'm correct, most or all of the Weekend Quickies.Still waiting for her 2nd compilation of TIW stories to come out.
I reviewed her novel "Bye Baby Bunting" almost a year ago, an enjoyable well-crafted book. Though where I put it, I don't know...I'll find it and put it up on Amazon.com...:-)...ah-ha, it was on Amazon.co.uk...
Here's the book....
www.amazon.com/bye-baby-bunting-Tannis-Laidlaw-ebook/dp/B00H1CQ76Q
And here is a link to Tannis' 1st collection of TIW stories...reviewed that one, too...
http://www.amazon.com/Warring-Warren-other-Short-Shorts-ebook/dp/B00H2AC8EW

Yellow Shark - Zappa (Blogging A-Z Challenge)

 

"Yellow Shark" from Ensemble Modern- the last album from Zappa before he died...I played it a lot, and liked a lot of it too, especially "G-Spot Tornado" and that bit about the American passport control spoken in a German accent ("Welcome to the United States")! Mainly background music for writing, though.
I've also got a "Yellow Shark" badge somewhere...and a black beret but that's another story....
Here's a WHOLE concert performance...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCSbucdVEkg

How I like to Show (show vs tell) + Dani's Shorts Reviews

Brian at TIW put up one of my 'articles' about writing, my 'show versus tell' piece. Go and have a read, you might find it interesting.
http://theironwriter.com/editing/show-vs-tell/

Yes, I finally got some reviews for 'Dani's Shorts' and 'Dani's Shorts 2' from Cinta Garcia de la Rosa, someone who I featured a month back for tweeting me...oh, oh dear...she gave a 4 star and a 3 star...my first 3 star review on Amazon :-( That hurts.
She says about 'Dani's Shorts 2'...
Second collection of stories featuring stories written for the Iron Writer Challenge. This second set of stories was a bit less enjoyable than the first one. Some of the stories weren't gripping or interesting enough and I found myself skipping pages. The writing is good, but the stories need more editing.  

Mmm...IMHO the second collection outshines the first, especially the 2nd half of the main challenges and all Weekend Quickies. The stories are based on or influenced by events / people in my life or even classics / media classics. Infact there's a definite family feel to the whole collection, getting deeper into my own psyche, so a '3' for these is like shooting me in the head.
The stories were also written within the Challenge parameters, and that includes the 4 day limit as well as the 4 elements, so editing does not come into it, it's not part of the writing challenge. Editing would be cheating.

If some of you don't come along and help me out by placing better reviews, I'm gonna hafta pull the 2 books from Amazon - for me this is negative exposure, something I really don't need at the moment. I only put them there because Smashwords has a smaller audience. Plus I don't get any downloads from Amazon, nor do I ask for any - these books are FREE on Smashwords. And if I want paperbacks, I go to Createspace. So, shall I pull them/ take them off Amazon?
Here's a link to 'Dani's Shorts 2', the worst 'hit'.
http://www.amazon.com/Danis-Shorts-2-Dani-Caile-ebook/dp/B00IHYKKG0

Xylophone (Ruth Underwood) - Zappa (Blogging A-Z Challenge)

'Xylophone'...with Ruth Underwood :-) Zappa loved his little black dots, and the percussion parts were always fantastic! IMHO, Ruth Underwood was one of, if not, the best.
Here's "St Alphonzo’s Pancake Breakfast/Rollo" with Zappa (from the album 'Aposthrophe')
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzfzsKENCbU
Here's a nice video with Ruth Underwood playing the same piece 30 years later :-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrdjkdS_qY8