Collectively Catching Up

Hey there! Hope everyone had a wonderful past couple of weekends and past week, and I hope all the moms of all kinds out there had perfect Mother's Days. I had a fantastic time at both Mysterious Galaxy bookstores and all over the rest of SoCal! It was great seeing so many of the Alien Collective these past days. But, I'm back home and much went on while I was gone, so let's get all caught up, shall we? We shall!
First up, and speaking of the Alien Collective, the last stop on the Alien Collective Blog Tour is large and in charge. Head over to Word of the Nerd for your last chance to enter to win your choice of one of the first 8 books in the series (Touched through Research), signed and personalized. Open internationally.

And don't forget about the other stops that have come before! Most have interviews and/or reviews and all have chances to win. And all are open internationally. So if you've missed a stop that's still open, rectify!

Remaining open contests:
-- Pearls Cast Before a McPig, ends May 25
-- Gizmo's Reviews

Speaking of rectification, here's a special prize available, at every stop on the Tour but it's for my Hook Me Up! Subscribers only. Not on? Perhaps now's the time to rectify that mistake. Send an email to gini@ginikoch.com with "Hook Me Up!" in the subject line and you'll be in and sent the special instructions!

Once you've entered to win, see what Word of the Nerd though of Alien Collective. Then see what Bitten by Books, A Buckeye Girl Reads, and Bring on the Books thought of it as well!

Then see who Larissa's Bookish Life chose as her favorite fictional mothers. And check out T.L. Smith's article at Slice of SciFi where she asks 5 friends what they'd take to colonize a new world -- and since those friends include moi, L.E. Modesitt, Jr., Weston Ochse, Bruce Davis, and Ben Bova, you know you want to check it out!

Phoenix Comicon is just around the corner, and you NEED to make plans to be there. Why? In addition to seeing the me and other amazing authors, there are some seriously cool media folks that will be there as well, including Nathan Fillion, Stephen Amell, Cary Elwes, Bruce Campbell, Stan Lee, and Danny Glover...and TONS more! Be here June 5-8, 2014 and have the time of your pop cultural life!

Remember that the Brenda Novak auction is still going on through the rest of the month Check out my fantastic Alien Pack -- and bid early and often!

I've also been announced as an Author Guest at CopperCon Fantasm, August 22-24, 2014, at the Hilton Garden Inn, Avondale, AZ. Make your plans to come to a fun, intimate con with a ton of great authors and fans!

That's it for today, but as always, more's on the way. So let's be winning, con-going readers out there. Peace out, my li'l gangstas, and I'll catch you on the flip side!

Love,
Gini

Collective Offerings

Happy Friday! Hope everyone had a wonderful week and that the weekend is full of fun and rest and all that good stuff. The weekend is full of book signing for me, and I hope to see a lot of you at The Poisoned Pen on this Saturday, May 3, from 2-3pm. Prizes, fun, and Alien Collective three days earlier than you can get it anywhere else! So, come see the me and get your bookie wookie before everyone else can!

But that's not all that's going on. No, indeed, we have the Alien Collective Blog Tour in full swing! Head over to Bibliognome and see what she thought of Alien Collective. Then, check out her stop on the Alien Collective Blog Tour & Giveaway where there's a little interview with moi AND winning. That's right, you can enter to win your choice of one of any of the first 8 books in the series, signed, personalized, and with accompanying swag. Open internationally.

And the same contest is still going on at Larissa's Bookish Life as well, so don't miss out on even more chances to win!

There's a special prize, at both Bibliognome and Larissa's Bookish Life, but it's for my Hook Me Up! Subscribers only. Not on? Perhaps now's the time to rectify that mistake. Send an email to gini@ginikoch.com with "Hook Me Up!" in the subject line and you'll be in and sent the special instructions!

After you've entered to win, check out what Bring on the Books thought of Random Musings from the Funny Girl.

But wait, there's more! The May issue of Penumbra eMagazine went on sale yesterday, and within its pages is the first Alien Series short available, aka the story of When Reader Met Gower, aka "Alien on the Runway". Want more reasons to get this issue? Check out the Big News -- complete with, yes, more yapping from moi -- at the Penumbra blog.

So, have you bought your subscription to Penumbra eMagazine yet? If not, what are you waiting for? I've read this issue and every story in it is great. But that's just a reason to get May's issue, right? BUT, I have two more shorts coming in Penumbra this year. And, sure, you could just buy each issue separately for $3.99 each.

Still need a little more convincing? Well, how about this -- there's a special deal going. Right now, you can get The Gini Special -- instead of paying $3.99 an issue, you'll get a year's subscription for just $24.00; that's half price. But there's more! You'll also get the Best of Penumbra 2012 AND 2013. That's a full year's subscription for half price plus two free Best Of collections and three Alien series shorts that will only be available in Penumbra...as long as you use this coupon code (exactly as shown here) when you order: 2014Gini This offer is good only through August 1, 2014, so don't miss out and get your subscription going today! Right now. Hurry up, before the stories get read by everyone other than you.

Oh, and lest we forget, the bidding opened up at the Brenda Novak auction yesterday, and will be going on all month. Check out what my offering is -- a fantastic Alien Pack -- and bid early and often!

Lest we forget #2 -- Have you gotten Touched by an Alien in audio format yet? Well, if not, join the aural party! Available from Audible, Amazon, Tantor Audio, and other fine retailers all over.

Lest we forget #3 -- I'll be in SoCal for the rest of my mini book tour. Saturday, May 10 at Mysterious Galaxy San Diego, party goes from 10am-5pm, I'll be speaking and signing from 1-2pm, but will be around all day. Monday, May 12 at Mysterious Galaxy Redondo Beach, from 7:30-8:30pm.

That's it for today but, trust me, more, a lot more, is on the way. So enjoy the downward slide into the weekend, see some of you on Saturday, enjoy "Alien on the Runway" as an appetizer for Alien Collective, and let's be winning readers out there! Peace out, my li'l gangstas, and I'll catch you on the flip side!

Love,
Gini

Heating it Up

Hey there! I know, I've been fairly quiet, but that's 'cause I've been very busy. Doing what, you ask? Finalizing edits on Alien Research, starting Alien Collective, and hitting some movie premieres, because it's good to be a reviewer for Slice of SciFi. But, things have been going on, so let's get to them, shall we? We shall!

 First up, if you've been waiting for the physical copy of The Happy Acres Haunted Hotel for Active Seniors wait no more. It's now available at Amazon, and will be at some independent bookstores soon.

Next, and speaking of movie reviews, check out my latest review, of Star Trek: Into Darkness, over at Slice of SciFi.

Then, see what Bring on the Books thought of Alien in the House.

I also saw The Heat, and because I'm a giver, here's the review, hot off the presses, no waiting!

The Heat stars Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy in a buddy cop movie. I really enjoyed this movie, for a lot of reasons, not the least of which being I love Sandra Bullock and I think Melissa McCarthy's hilarious. But I also enjoyed it for the very reasons it was made -- because there aren't enough buddy comedies for and about women out there.

Sandra's the straitlaced, really good FBI agent who isn't liked by her male coworkers because she's smarter and better at the job than they are. Melissa's the sloppy, break the rules detective who doesn't want the FBI on her turf. They have to team up, of course, in part because Sandra's bucking for a big promotion and her boss is telling her that if she teams up with the local detective and if she solves the case, she may get the promotion. But since she's not well liked, it's an iffy subject.

Melissa, on the other hand, has her precinct under her very effective control. They're afraid of her, but she's the best cop there, and they all know it. It's following the standard buddy cop formula you've seen, and loved, in countless other movies, and it works here because a) the formula DOES work, b) the script is good, and c) the leads have good chemistry on the screen and with each other.

One of the most interesting things for me about this movie is that if you put two men into the leading roles, the movie would work exactly the same way as it does now -- it'd be really funny with a lot of action, a tiny bit of romance, and your typical Odd Couple pairing. Right up until the ending.

I'm not going to spoil the ending, because it's a right on ending. But I think it's an ending you wouldn't get if the two leads were male. You'd get half of the ending, Melissa's ending, for certain. But Sandra's? That ending would be different. Sadly, Sandra's ending is the real world ending. I realize this is vague, but I don't want to ruin a fun movie by giving away its ending. But when you get there, think about how Sandra's ending would have been if, say, her character had been played by Mark Wahlberg or The Rock.

The one thing I hated, and I do mean HATED, about this movie? It's opening and closing credits. They're literally like something out of the 1970's, and there's no real reason for it (other than the production team feels this is a kind of throwback film to that era of moviemaking). However, it sets up the moving badly, and ends it badly. I can't think of another movie where the opening and closing credits have turned me off so much that they caused me to lower my grade on the film, but there's a first time for everything, and this is that time.

There's some gross humor, and this movie earns its R rating, mostly for language and violence. I enjoyed it, I laughed pretty much all the way through it, and give it a very solid B+. It missed an A- due to those awful credits. I'm a tough grader, what can I say?

That's it for today, but as always, more's on the way. So, enjoy the downward slide to the weekend, and let's be readers out there! Peace out, my li'l gangstas, and I'll catch you on the flip side!

Love,
Gini

Frenzy On and On

Hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend. Mine was incredibly busy, because Phoenix Comicon was da BOMB! And a full recap is coming later this week. However, we have an important announcement first.

Because I was so busy at the con, I didn't score as much swag as normal. But what I did score the most of was...wait for it...wait for iiiitttt...more posters. (Including...Green "Ryan Reynolds is so hot" Lantern" and The "Johnny Depp AND Angelina Jolie" Tourist posters.) SO, I'm extending the Poster Frenzy Contest! There will be even MORE in each pack, and I might even add a non-poster pack (that will, of course, include some books). Contest will extend through next week, ending on Wednesday, June 8th. Of course, it's still for Hook Me Up! subscribers only. So, if you're not on, now's the time to get on! Send an email to gini@ginikoch.com with "Hook Me Up!" in the subject line, so you can get your win on!

We also have some great new reviews. Check out what the Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell and For the Love of Books have to say about "Alien Tango". Then head over to see what Bring on the Books thinks of "Alien in the Family".

I'll be at Desert Rose RWA tonight with my awesome agent, sharing How to Have a Good Author/Agent Relationship. The meeting starts at 5pm, so if you're nearby, come on down!

Remember that I'll be at Arizona Dreamin' this coming Saturday, June 4th, and it's not too late for you to register. 24 authors, 1 hot cover model, lots of readers. It's gonna be a blast, so don't miss out!

If you're on Twitter, mark Friday, June 10th on your calendar now. I'll be the author guest at #SciFiChat from 11-1 Mountain Standard/Pacific Daylight time (2-4 Eastern Daylight). We're discussing strong female protagonists in SF/F...so you know I have some views on the subject!

That's it for today, but never fear, more's always on the way. So, I'll catch you on the flip side!

Love,
Gini

Yapping All Over The World

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a good week and an even better weekend! As my Hook Me Up! subscribers already know, we've got a lot going on...you know, just like every other Monday, it seems. So, without further delay, on with the countdown! (Sorry, nostalgic Casey Kasem moment there.)

First up, check out not one, but two new interviews with moi. Head over to Ramblings From a Chaotic Mind and check out that running of the yap, then hit The Itzel Library for my first ever bilingual interview (courtesy of Yel, not me, LOL) which also includes a giveaway of a signed, personalized copy of "Touched by an Alien", "Alien Tango", OR "Alien in the Family" (winner's choice).

Next, head on over to Larissa's Bookish Life and see what her top 5 favorite 1st books in a series are.

Then check out what Terracotta Geek Army has to say about "Touched by an Alien", and what Bring on the Books thinks of "Alien Tango".

Got the good word from Mysterious Galaxy that "Alien in the Family" was one of their bestsellers for the month of April!

Upcoming In Person Events (don't miss 'em!):

Book signing, with author Erin Quinn
May 21, 2pm-4pm
Barnes & Noble Dana Park
1758 South Val Vista Drive
Mesa, AZ 85204
480-545-8507

Phoenix Comicon
May 26-29
Phoenix Convention Center, Phoenix, AZ
My Comicon Schedule & Booth Info: http://phoenixcomicon.com/guests/Gini_Koch

Desert Rose RWA
Presenting: How to Have a Good Author/Agent Relationship
(with my own awesome agent!)
May 31, 7pm (meeting starts at 5pm)
Monti's La Casa Vieja
100 S. Mill Ave., Tempe, AZ

Arizona Dreamin' Reader Event
June 4
INN SUITES Hotel Tempe/Phoenix Airport, AZ

Queen Creek Writer's Group
June 14, 5pm
Presenting: Writing From the Hindbrain
Queen Creek Branch Library
21802 S Ellsworth Rd
Queen Creek, AZ 85142
Phone:602-652-3351

San Diego Comic-Con
July 21-24
San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, CA

That's it for today, but never fear, more's on the way soon! Until then, have a good one and and let's be readers out there!

Love,
Gini