Tag: Lisa Medley

Final Girl Phenomenon

On By Lisa MedleyIn MoviesLeave a comment

Final Girls are hot right now. What are FINAL GIRLS? A final girl is a horror trope, which refers to the last girl standing in a horror film (or book) to face the killer and live to tell the story.

I’ve read two new books released last month just in time for the spooky season, and I was lucky enough to meet both authors at special library events. They were both very much inspired by the rise of the horror movie genre in the early 80s. You know, my high school prime, lol. I watched all those movies: Friday the 13th, Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, etc. for the first time then and remember them being so scary!

After reading Grady Hendrix’s The Final Girl Support Group and Stephen Graham Jones’ My Heart is a Chainsaw last month, I decided I needed a slasher refresher and cued them all up to rewatch. I added Scream as well because somehow I had missed that one. I love all things monsters, but HUMAN monsters I do not love. I think they are way scarier. I won’t watch series like Saw or Hostel, torture porn is not my scene. I don’t need that in my head.

Somehow, slasher movies, especially the old ones that lean toward campy (no Camp Crystal Lake pun intended), are just more fun than scary. I gotta say, the first time around in the early 80s though, I was scared. But this time, I just found myself laughing and marveling at all the young actors who appeared in those shows and went on to big movie careers like Kevin Bacon and Johnny Depp for example.

I’d give both of these books FIVE STARS and definitely recommend them. Grady Hendrix has a very entertaining website as well. He has read and reviewed hundreds of 70s and 80s horror fiction novels. It’s worth your time to read a few of his reviews. 😀 Also, if you ever have a chance to see Grady Hendrix and hear him speak on the history of slashers, it is well worth your time.

He was delightful.

Monster Spotlight: Werewolves

On By Lisa MedleyIn Comics, Games, Monster Spotlight, Movies, Television, WerewolvesLeave a comment

ON OCTOBER 29, 2021 BY LISA MEDLEYIN UNCATEGORIZEDEDIT

This week’s MONSTER SPOTLIGHT is on WEREWOLVES. Werewolf lore is found in almost every culture. Sure, they have different names (loup-garou, wendigo, rugaru, wolven), abilities (change from human to wolf on the full moon–or not, tremendous strength, speed, and aggression), and weaknesses (silver bullets, other silver weapons, wolfsbane), but they are a common staple in myth, legend, and folklore around the globe.

The werewolf is only one incarnation of a variety of human-to-beast shifters in lore to showcase man’s baser instincts in the physical form of a monster.

I love a good werewolf book, and one I’m looking forward to coming out on Nov. 16, 2021 is THE WOLF by J.R. Ward. Ward’s book Dark Lover began my writing obsession back in 2010. I can’t wait to see what those “Brothers” have been up to and continue the story…

You know where else you can get your werewolf fix? Comics, movies, and games!

Check out these monstrous deals…

Werewolf By Night: New Wolf Rising (Werewolf By Night (2020-2021) Kindle & comiXology

Collects Werewolf By Night (2020) #1-4.

A new Werewolf by Night is prowling the American Southwest — but all is not as it seems! A young man, a family curse and an unholy experiment prove to be a dangerous combination for a small town in Arizona. All young Jake wants is to protect his people, but who will protect him from the monster within? Jake soon finds himself in way over his head, and the law — and Red Wolf — are closing in! With his entire life in chaos, Jake’s only way out may be to fully embrace the secret history of…the Werewolf by Night! Taboo of the Black Eyed Peas and writer Benjamin Jackendoff team up with artist Scot Eaton to tell an epic tale of righteous fury, lycanthropic legacy and incredible transformation in the Mighty Marvel Manner!

Bezier Board Games Ultimate Werewolf Deluxe Edition Black

Each player gets a unique role: A Werewolf, Seer, Troublemaker, or another, all with special abilities. After a secret night phase that includes changing roles, players have just 5 minutes to find a Werewolf. Figure out who’s who in this fun group bluffing game.

Ravensburger Horrified: Universal Monsters Strategy Board Game for Ages 10 & Up

Take your best shot defeating the WOLFMAN among other Universal Studio monsters in this fun cooperative board game

An American Werewolf in London (Full Moon Edition) [Blu-ray] by Universal Studios

David (David Naughton) and Jack (Griffin Dunne), two American college students, are backpacking through Britain when a large wolf attacks them. David survives with a bite, but Jack is brutally killed. As David heals in the hospital, he’s plagued by violent nightmares of his mutilated friend, who warns David that he is becoming a werewolf. When David discovers the horrible truth, he contemplates committing suicide before the next full moon causes him to transform from man to murderous beast.

We have a blurb! Reap & Reckon gets a blurb!

On By Lisa MedleyIn ReckonLeave a comment

I’ll be honest. Blurbs are the WORST part of writing a book. I mean, you have to condense down THOUSANDS of words and HUNDREDS of pages into a couple or three paragraphs to try to entice a reader. Like I said, the worst!

BUT, I did it. Take a read and let me know what you think. Suggestions are still welcome. It’s not in stone just yet.

Reap & Reckon releases Sept. 15, 2019.

The end is here.

As Lucifer’s minions attempt to breach the city of Meridian’s weakening portals, The Reaper Authority Force faces its final battle to save humanity. Desperate to find his partner, lost in the last skirmish, RAF member Samkiel recruits an unlikely ally, Officer Victoria Moreno.

Victoria comes across a decapitated body in the chaos of what she is thinking of as her own personal zombie apocalypse, and against her better judgment, she alerts the mysteriously compelling man who asked for help in locating his missing friend.

Their discovery of a hellish new monster released upon the city, which attacks Samkiel, opens her eyes to the previously unseen supernatural horrors lurking all around her beloved city. Her faith is tested at every new and terrifying turn.

Reapers are real. Angels are real. Lucifer is real… and they’ve all converged on Meridian.

Prepare yourself for the final and most epic battle yet.

Would this blurb make you want to read?

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Read it. Saw it. Wrote it. — June Edition

On By Lisa MedleyIn Read it. Saw it. Wrote it.Leave a comment

Wrote it.

June was a big month for me. I began writing again in earnest after a nearly three-year break. I finished the final story of The Reaper Series and began a new episode of the Cosmic Cowboys series. 

Here’s Reap & Reckon’s cover again if you’ve somehow missed it. I think it’s my favorite of the series. Reckon will be the series wrap-up. I think I tied up all those loose ends. Whew!

Reap & Reckon has been edited by two very wonderful and capable editors and is off for proofreading. Release date is Monday, Sept. 16. Why so long? Well, I have a couple of vacations coming up. The family and I are finally heading to Glacier National Park for two weeks June 20-Aug. 3. 

Then the weekend of August 24th, I’m heading to Rocket City – Huntsville Alabama for Adult Space Academy. Yep, space camp. Fear not. There will be pictures.

Read it.

Since I started writing again, the reading has suffered. My brain and eyeballs can only do one thing at a time. Probably like yours. I did finally manage to read Packing for Mars by Mary Roach. It was a great non-fiction read about the weird intricacies of space. Things you might not think about like toilets or space dust, and how something so seemingly small can crush the souls of adventurers, even putting their lives in peril. Roach really gave the book the Michael Pollan treatment (which you should totally also read all of his books if you haven’t. They are life altering. You’ll never see food the same again). Roach’s book was thorough and funny investigative journalism. I loved it. 

Saw it.

I also finished the final season of Jessica Jones on Netflix. Jessica Jones is my favorite of all of the Netflix Marvel series’. I’m sad to see them all ending. Except for Iron Fist. That’s thirteen hours I’ll never get back. I didn’t bother with season two. Season One of Jessica Jones had the best super villain I’ve ever seen/read. Killgrave was just terrifying and charming and evil. I loved him. Season three’s villain was somehow even worse. Maybe because it was just a human. Humans are horrifying. Or can be. He was. To me at least.

Jessica is one tough and damaged chick. Also, I don’t know how her liver has survived.

If you haven’t seen it. Go. Now. Before it all goes away.

Ten stars!!!!

What are you reading and watching now?

Start The Reaper Series FREE for a LIMITED TIME ONLY. Like…this week.

On By Lisa MedleyIn RepentLeave a comment

Since I’ve moved ALL of my books back to KDP Select that means they are all on AMAZON now and available to read for FREE if you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited. KU is an awesome service. I read loads of books there. But even if you don’t have KU, I am running Reap & Repent (book one of the Reaper Series) FREE there THIS WEEK ONLY.

June 17-Friday June 21. 
FIVE DAYS OF FREE! 
Woot! 

If you’ve already read Repent, YAY!! Please forward this post to a friend who might enjoy a free book about sexy reapers. And really, who wouldn’t?

They see death. Can they share a life?
 Ruth Scott can read the energy of every person she meets. Then she meets Deacon Walker. She can see his ice-blue eyes, his black hair, and his gorgeous face. But this beautiful stranger has no aura.

Deacon is just as unsettled by Ruth—and, having spent more than two hundred years ushering souls to Purgatory, Deacon is seldom shocked by anything. As he helps Ruth to understand her true nature, she awakens desires that he decided long ago a Reaper can’t afford.

A demon invasion forces Deacon to confront the darkness in his own past even as he fights to save the human souls he’s charged to protect. When he’s taken captive, his first concern is for Ruth. But Ruth just might be able to save herself—and the Reaper she can’t live without—if she can learn to wield her newfound powers.

If you can’t get enough reapers…Have you tried Darynda Jone’s Charley Davidson series? Darynda was kind enough to read and blurb Reap & Repent for me years ago. Her series is AMAZEBALLS.

But wait…there’s more! My friend Angela Roquet’s Lana Harvey series if FILLED with hilarious reaper goodness as well. First in the series is FREE.

Thanks for reading!

The Art of Finishing: What Happens Now?

On By Lisa MedleyIn ReckonLeave a comment

I used to consider myself more of a starter than a sustainer. I liked to begin things but often lost interest partway through. Over the years, I’ve finished lots more things than I’ve started, and I think it’s safe to say that tide has turned for me. There is a great satisfaction in finishing a languishing project.

That said, if a thing or situation isn’t for you, and it sucks your soul away to even think of continuing it; don’t do it anymore. Life is too short to do crap we really don’t want to do.

Reap & Reckon was a project that has haunted me for the past three years. I really needed to wrap up the series with one final book, but my heart wasn’t in writing anymore after my mom died. That last year with her was all-consuming, but I wouldn’t have traded the time we had with her for anything else.

When I put the project away, I put everything away. I packed up my desk, and folders (five years of research, stats and ideas) and stuffed them into a tote in the closet. The back of the closet. I was done.

Or so I thought.

Sometimes projects, books, people come along at just the right time to reignite and old flame. That’s what happened with Reckon. And now it’s finished.

Here’s what BEFORE/DURING the the writing of Reckon looked like after I freed it all from the CLOSET TOTE…

And here’s the after…

It took much longer than I had anticipated, but Reckon is off for editing. I’m free to start a new book. A fresh start. A do-over.

And that feels great!

If you’d like to read the series, you still have plenty of time to start. I plan for an Aug/Sept 2019 release of Reap & Reckon. You can read the entire series for FREE if you are a Kindle Unlimited subscriber. Otherwise, you can find all of my books exclusively on AMAZON. Don’t forget to leave a review when you are finished 😀

http://www.amazon.com/Lisa-Medley/e/B00I66M24M/

Reap on.

The FBI, Bigfoot and the best little book you haven’t read yet.

On By Lisa MedleyIn Shifted In SeattleLeave a comment

YESTERDAY, the FBI released results of an alleged Bigfoot hair sample from 1975 in this very interesting report. You can read it HERE for yourself for the results. I’ll just say…the truth is still out there, my friends. And if you’re wondering why there has never been a Bigfoot/Sasquatch/Yeti caught, it’s because they are human/animal shapeshifters or skin-walkers as the Native American cultures call them.

Yep, I wrote a fun book about it called Shifted In Seattle.

It’s my favorite story I’ve written so far. Come read for yourself on Amazon or Kindle Unlimited. Let me know what you think!

No one’s ever captured a Sasquatch. 

Until now. 

Sasquatches have roamed the Pacific Northwest for centuries, hiding in the wilds of the northern territories and protected by the Lummi nation. 

When Seattle author Ethan Lane’s secret is exposed after a first date with Ruby Parsons goes wonderfully right, then horribly wrong, he’s faced with betraying his clan or losing his only chance at true love and a normal life.

Sometimes love gets hairy.

READ ON AMAZON NOW