Just Saying Hi!

Hi Everyone!

Sorry I've gone dark. I've just been busy working the day job. Trying to write when I can.

Later,

Gail Starbright

I did NOT pay for it!

Hi everyone!

So…I have some news!

I checked amazon a couple of days ago, and I was happy to see I got a review for War Prize.

Yay! Party Time!!!

Wait! It’s a one-star review. Booo!

Turn off the light. The party is over.

But when I read the review, it wasn’t really that bad. In fact, the reviewer only said the book focused too heavily on “sexual domination.”

Hmmm, well, this guy clearly read the book. I can’t resent him for being honest. Oh well, I guess “sexual domination” is just not his cup of tea.

But…the thing is….

A day or two later, I checked amazon again, and the same guy bought the sequel, Agent of Darkness, and also gave it a one-star review, complaining of the same problem.

Hey, wait a minute, I recognize that name. If you hated the first book, why did you buy the sequel?

I mean, I’ve never once said, “Wow, I hated that book! One-star! Where’s the sequel? I must read the sequel for the book I hated immediately!”

So, this is my theory.

I think the reviewer actually liked my book. In fact, I think he liked it so much, he bought the sequel within a day or two. And I think he was trying to help promote my book too.

I mean, come on, in this day and age, does anyone really believe 5-star reviews anymore? With amazon suing everyone over fake reviews and the copious amount of reviews that say, “I was given this product in exchange for an honest review,” does anyone really look at a 5-star review and really believe it?

Personally, I don’t. In fact, I think some “best-selling” people looked pretty stupid recently when amazon started cracking down on that nonsense.

So, all-in-all, it wasn’t really a bad one-star review. And I can say this, and I’m pretty sure people will believe me.

I did NOT pay for it.

So….I’m gonna chalk this up as a win.

Party Time!

Gail Starbright

Sequel to SS book!!!

Hello everyone!!!

Well, I feel better now. I did a google search on that weird “cookie notification” thing on my blog and apparently, a lot of people got that, and I think blogger already fixed it. It’s so like me to freak out over some old thing that’s already fixed.

Anyway, I got so distracted by that notification that I didn’t get a chance to do a good post. So, I’m going to slow down for a minute and tell my story.

Let’s start at the beginning. Way back in July, I finished the sequel to the SS book. At the time, “Captured by the SS” was still under contract with Ellora’s Cave and unlike some people, I never really had a problem with Ellora’s Cave. In fact, I liked getting those little checks in the mail, even if they were sporadic about when they came. Hey, as long as they came eventually, I was happy.

So, since “Captured by the SS” was still with Ellora’s Cave, I went ahead and sent them the finished sequel. They accepted. They offered me a contract. I signed it. I sent the contract to them. And then…nothing. I waited and waited, and I was like, ‘wow, why is it taking so long for them to sign the contract.’ And then, well, I got the email. You know the one. The email. The Ellora’s Cave is closing email.

Now, I wasn’t really happy to hear about that. I thought I did okay with them. No, I wasn’t a big best-seller, but I made a little money.

So, to make a long story short, I got all my books back, including the SS sequel I had just sent them.

Now, this is the interesting thing. When I wrote the sequel, I re-read my paperback version of “Captured by the SS” many times, trying to figure out where the story should go. And when I was re-reading “Captured by the SS,” I kept thinking that I wished I had done a few things differently. I really liked the first half of the book. But I think I kinda missed the mark on the second half of the book. I think the story was always supposed to be a “dubious consent” story, but I think I was scared to do that or I think I was scared that people would hate it. So I tried to make it more of a game, I think, which I don’t think quite worked.

So, when I got the rights back on my books, including “Captured by the SS,” I kinda felt I had been given a second chance.

So, I “tweaked” the book a little bit. The only thing I’m worried about now is I’m hoping I haven’t disappointed the fans who liked “Captured by the SS” in the first place. I really do believe that it’s basically the same book, only better, and more in sync with what I think the book was supposed to be.

So, even if you’ve already read “Captured by the SS,” I recommend reading the new version, War Prize.

And as a way of saying “Thank you” for everyone’s support, I have decided to make War Prize FREE for a week on amazon, as well as giving away both my vampire books for a week. I think it should start on 5-22-17, so keep an eye out for that. (Although, amazon mentioned something about fixing the start page on my book, so it might take another day or two. I’m not sure.)

And, yes, the sequel is finished too!!! The sequel is called Agent of Darkness. And it’s only $2.99.

I hope you guys like War Prize and Agent of Darkness. I had a lot of fun working on them!

Peace and Love,

Gail Starbright

Vampire Books will be Free this week!!

Hi everyone! Well, I guess my blog still works. I had a couple of messages about something with cookies, so I don't know. Anyway, my vampire books will be FREE this week. Also, yes, the sequel to the SS book is finished. Let's see if I can add some pictures and links here.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072FM84NM/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1495405063&sr=8-4&keywords=war+prize

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071HZKK8Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1495405195&sr=1-1

Okay, hopefully, those links will take you to amazon. Still trying to work on some stuff here, so be patient. I know all my stuff is a mess right now. I wasn't expecting Ellora's Cave to go out of business.

Thanks,

Gail.

Sequel to SS book! Agent of Darkness!

Hi everyone!

So, just a quick update. Yes, the sequel to the SS book is finished! Also, I decided to rework  parts of the first book, Captured by the SS, which I republished under the title, War Prize. I'll try to add the links here.

War Prize.


Agent of Darkness

Anyway, I hope you like it. I hope this posts. I had some odd messages on this old blog about how I'm not doing something right. So, I dunno.

Gail Starbright

Saying Hi!

Hi everyone!

I know I went dark there for a little bit, but things got a little crazy with work. I had to work overnight a few shifts at my job, which is weird because I don't usually do that...at least, not for my day job. That's usually when I write. Anyway, it took me a few weeks to recover from that ordeal, and I think I'm just now getting back into the swing of things.

Also, I've been working really hard on a sequel to the SS book. I've had a lot of people emailing me for a sequel and after a lot of false starts, it looks like something is really coming together.

Also, in case you're wondering, I'm still a little mad about Star Wars. I've had a lot of debates at work with people who think I'm crazy and think that Star Wars 7 is the best Star Wars movie ever. But, I still maintain my position that The Empire Strikes Back is still the greatest film of all time because Darth Vader was the most awesome bad guy ever. So, there.

Anyway, not much is going on. I'm going to try to get back into my writing tonight. I recently upgraded my TWC stuff, and I'm getting all these new channels I've never gotten before. So, I need to focus.

Peace and Love!
Gail Starbright

Star Wars Rant! Warning! Contains Spoilers!!!

Warning!!! This post contains some major spoilers about Star Wars Episode VII. So, if you haven’t seen it yet, you may not want to read this rant.

Okay, so, I saw the new Star Wars movie earlier today, and at first, it started off awesome!!! I loved the new characters. I loved Poe and Fin and Rey. And I loved how everyone played off each other’s energy. And when Han Solo and Chewbacca got into the story, it got even better. In fact, as I was watching the movie, I was making silent plans in the back of my mind to try and get tickets for a later show that night and/or the next day. I was already planning on seeing the movie several more times because I was enjoying it so much!!!!!

Now, you have to understand that I didn’t really read anything about this film. I intentionally avoided a lot of Star Wars stuff, just so I could be surprised when I saw the movie.

Well, I got a surprise….and not a pleasant one. Warning. Here comes the spoiler! Han Solo dies in this piece of garbage film. And not only does Han Solo die but he dies at the hands of this whiny, little piece of crap, sniveling, bitch character who’s prone to little temper tantrums, and oh, by the way, this whiny, little bitch character is Han Solo and Princess Leia’s son. What? Are you gonna cry, you little bitch? Oh, do you feel the pulse of the light? Shut up!

Now, before one of you tells me that I just can’t handle the death of a major character, let me tell you something. I was sad when Yoda died, yes, but I understood that it was time for the character to die, and it was important to the story in that it solidified the fact that Luke Skywalker was really the last of the Jedi; he was everyone’s last hope. (Yes, except for Leia, I know.) And it was kinda sad to see Vader die, even though he was a bad guy, because you walk away from the film with a sense of loss and finality about the story. But, I still understood why Vader had to die in the story.

Now, when Obi-wan died, it wasn’t really that sad because, now listen carefully, he actually spoke to Luke at the end of the movie. Several times! “Luke, use the force.” “Luke, trust me.” “Remember, the force will be with you. Always.” It kinda ties back to that whole line of, “If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.” To me, that always meant that he could continue to help and guide Luke but free of the limitation of the flesh. He was still with Luke, just in a different form. Obi-wan didn’t just drop out of the story, like Han Solo, never to be seen or heard from ever again. Just gone! Just dead as a doornail! 

Even Qui-Gon kinda managed to reach over from the dead, when Yoda explained Qui-Gon had reached out to him during his meditation. So, a lot of characters who seem to die don’t really die, not really, they just advance to a different plane of existence. And, you can see them in the freaking film! Obi-Wan shows up as a spirit in Empire Strikes Back. And then, Vader (Anakin), Obi-Wan and Yoda appear at the end of Return of the Jedi.

In fact, the only thing that kept me in my seat was I kept hoping that we would get to see or hear something that Han was somehow okay but maybe in a different form, like, I don’t know, maybe Leia could have a dream about him and he could come talk to her in the dream and say he was okay and hanging out with Obi-Wan and the gang and they’re all gonna go get drunk in the spirit realm bar and go hell raising and girl chasing. Is that too much to ask??????

And it wouldn’t have bothered me so much if Han Solo had died in, uh, I don’t know, maybe an actual fight. No, he just gets impaled with a lightsaber by some whiny, little brat who apparently has some teenage angst and seems to idolize his grandfather’s mask. As far as what Kylo-Ren’s issues are, exactly, I’m not sure. Apparently, he feels his grandfather was really awesome but doesn’t seem to have any actual vision or plans for the galaxy. I mean, it wasn’t even his idea to fire the “SUPER-LASER” from the really big-ass death star. That was some other guy’s idea, to strike at the Republic, to cut off the Republic’s senate etc. Kylo-Ren’s biggest thing is that, “He can feel the pulse of the light.” Okay.

The young Darth Vader felt that the universe was a place of chaos and disorder, and he believed that peace could be achieved through a dictatorship with fear keeping everyone in line.

In short, when that scene happened, when Han Solo got killed, I literally felt ill. I mean. Literally. I walked out of that theater feeling like someone just kicked me in the stomach. I was mad about it all day, and the only question I kept coming back to was, why???? Why?? It added nothing to the story!!! Nothing!!!! You could just cut that scene out, and the story does not change at all. It’s like everyone involved in this project was just like, “Hey, you know what would be funny? If we just kill Han Solo. Yeah, that would be totally cool and funny. Let’s do it.”

I just have one question for the people who put this film together. You do understand that the point is to sell tickets and entertain people, right? Not flip off your fans with this giant middle finger of a film.

I mean, seriously, that’s how I felt. I felt like this film was just a giant middle finger to all Star Wars fans. Oh, do you like Star Wars? Oh, here’s a giant middle finger in your face! Blam!!!

I mean, let’s just go off topic for a minute, shall we? Let’s talk about the Star Trek films. Now, I don’t know that much about the Star Trek films, but I do remember when Spock died. Now, that was really, really sad. But he sacrificed himself to save everyone else on the ship. If I remember correctly, he went into this radioactive room and fixed something that saved everyone else. And then he told Jim, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one.”

I mean, that broke my heart, but it was beautiful. And for crying outloud, at least they gave Spock a funeral! “Out of all the souls I encountered in the universe, his was the most…human.”

Even Darth Vader got a Viking style type funeral, where Luke Skywalker burned his remains!

And then, when Queen Amidala died of…what was it….despair??? Yeah, you don’t die from despair. You don’t die from despair…I don’t care how freakin’ sad you are. You don’t die from despair. (Anyway, I’m not going into all the things that bugged me about the prequels.) At least she got a funeral at the end. We had a moment to bury this character.

What do we get with Han Solo? He gets impaled with a light-saber before falling off a bridge.

And then the movie wastes no time in grieving for the guy. Oh no, let’s just move on here! Nothing to see here! Now, let’s have some light-saber fight between Kylo Ren and Rey. And what was with the chest pounding???? Is Kylo Ren part gorilla or something??? Does he think he’s King Kong or Tarzan or something? “Me bad guy. Me kill Han Solo.” Yeah, great, thank you, Tarzan. You gonna cry again, you little bitch? Are you gonna throw another temper tantrum with your light-saber??

I read one review the night before I saw the movie, just to make sure I wasn’t going to see Jar-Jar Binks step in poop. (I’m not even going to justify that character with a comment.) And the reviewer said that Kylo Ren brought rage to ever single scene he was in. Uh….what????? Now, I admit, the character started off kinda cool. The scenes between Poe and Kylo Ren were totally awesome! And I loved how he stopped that laser blast in mid-air. Awesome!!!!!

Oh, my God, and how cute was that little droid? I think his name was PB8, I think. The thumbs up with the lighter was totally cool!

I mean, the whole movie was just so freakin’ awesome until they took a major left turn.

Like I said, the entire movie rocked until the scene where Han died. And then, you’re just like WTF?????? And I couldn’t believe the movie had the nerve to just keep going. Like, okay, here’s the next scene, where Rey and Kylo Ren get in a light-saber fight. Ooo, aren’t you impressed? No, you have some explaining to do, movie!!! You need to go back and address this whole Han Solo just got impaled with a light saber scene here. Can we have a moment of silence or something? Can I have a moment to mourn a character who has existed in my head for almost forty years now? For crying outloud! Star Wars came out in 1977! And in case you didn’t know this, Han Solo is a little popular with people. Just a little. Now, if you’re gonna kill the guy, can we have a second to process this???? I mean, you just kicked me in the gut and flipped me off? Can I have a second to try and grapple with this scene?

What?? Was I supposed to just know this already???? What? Is this my fault that I didn’t read every article and blog out there about the rumors around Star Wars???

I saw this movie almost twelve hours ago, and I’m still furious about it!

I keep trying to tell myself that maybe it’s not true. Maybe Han Solo will rise out of the ashes, dust himself off and say, “I feel terrible.”

But, even if that were true, and he really does live somehow in the sequel, they should have done something to give us a glimmer of hope. Like Leia saying something to Rey like, “He’s not dead. I can feel it.”

In conclusion, I started off really loving this movie! I was laughing! I was cheering! I was awe-struck! I was, in short, totally impressed with what they had done with Star Wars. I was ready to get back in line and see it again. I mean, seriously, when I was watching the movie, the thought kept crossing my mind, “Man, I wonder if they’re sold out for tonight’s shows. I need to see this again!”

But when they killed Han, I could not get out of that theater fast enough when the credits started, and I have no plans to see it again. In fact, I’m not even sure I’ll buy the DVD, and that was going to be a no-brainer when that hit the shelves! I mean, I even bought the prequels, and I wasn’t that huge of a fan of those movies, even though I did like the costumes.

So, that’s my rant. I might have a drink tonight, and I don’t really drink.