Review - The Terminal List - True Believer - Prime

The long-awaited Season 2—True Believer—of The Terminal List finally made its premiere on Prime on October 21.

I imagine all who were fans of the 2022 The Terminal List were glued to their TV sets as they binge-watched the 8 episodes on Prime.

True Believer picks up where the first action-thriller  series ended with James Reece still hallucinating on events and people in his life. He's on a sailboat in the ocean and one gets the feeling he's wondering why he should go on living.

For this series, they seem to be taking Jack Carr's books in order. The first season was from the book, The Terminal List. This second season is from the book, True Believer.

The third season if it happens will be based on the third book, Savage Son. As a reader, I love it when something like this happens which is very rare.

 WHAT'S TRUE BELIEVER ABOUT

Reece finished his Terminal List, but he may also be terminal, but he's not dead yet. He does his best to disappear and find some kind of life, but  acts of terrorism and the CIA pull him back to do what he does best: hunt terrorists.

TRUE BELIEVER CAST

You'll see some familiar faces from The Terminal List and also from Dark Wolf, the Prequel Spin-off starring Taylor Kitsch.

In the order of their roles, here's the Cast:

• Chris Pratt as James Reece

• Constance Wu as Katie Buranek

• Taylor Kitsch as Ben Edwards

• Tom Hopper as Faife Hastings (Raife Hastings)

• Dar Salim as Mohammed Farooq

• Gabriel Luna as Freddy Strain

• Luke Hemsworth as Jules Landry

• Riley Keough as Lauren Reece

• Arlo Mertz as Lucy Reece

• Jeanne Tripplehorn as Lorraine Hartley

• Costa Ronin as Vasili Andrenov

• Alexis Louder as Nicole Deptul

MY THOUGHTS

If you like realistic action, charismatic characters, strongly plotted stories, watch TRUE BELIEVER. If you have not seen THE TERMINAL LIST yet, start with it. 

It gives emotional resonance to the characters and you'll understand Reece's motivation, his character, and his sense of honor and brotherhood.

I really liked True Believer, but it wasn't as emotionall wrenching as The Terminal List until the end when one death affected me so strongly that I cried as if I'd known the soldier.

 TAKEAWAY TRUTH

 No doubt about it, Jack Carr is a storyteller who intimately knows what he writes about.

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Monday Magic - MS Office Vs. Libre Office

Welcome to the first Monday in November. Wow. Where has the year gone?

Today's Monday Magic post is a little different. No free app to review but a free office suite to share with you.

If you're still paying for Microsoft Office Suite, why?

That's the question you'll be asking yourself after watching Microsoft Ruined Office; People Found a Better Way by Money Legends on YouTube.

This channel has about 80K subscribers.

Now, I am not a hardware and software expert of any sort. I only know what I've personally learned about computers and operating systems. I can see how one operating system and software works as  opposed to another, but this is just my opinion, not advice to tell you how to manage your own computer system.

WHY SWITCH?

(1) No Copilot.

The advent of AI on Microsoft has been a game changer for many people—especially authors—and not in a good way. A friend of mine was venting about how Microsoft has slowed her productivity because when she's writing a paragraph and pauses a few seconds to decide which word she wants to use, Copilot begins filling in words. These are sometimes ridiculous words. She ends up having to delete, deleted, delete and put in the right word.

(2) Linux and Libre Office are free.

The escalating subscription price for MS Office is a nightmare for many. I happen to own my copy of the MS Office Suite because I bought it several years ago, and I'm still using it.

However, the other elements of Windows have slowed everything on my computer down to a snail's pace. The constant updates are frustrating in the extreme.

To make a long story short, my Darling Hubby removed everything to do with Microsoft Office and Windows. In its place, he installed Linux Mint Cinnamon for an operating system (free) and Libre Office Suite to take the place of MS Office. Everything works at warp speed.

I've seen how his laptop works with Linux and how his MS Office files work with Libre Office. Of course, he had to save all of his MS Office files on flash drives to download back into his computer once Linux and Libre were installed.

(3) Libre Office reads all of MS Office files. You can even save as an Excel or whatever file.

(4) Another advantage? Viruses aren't as much of a problem with Linux as with Windows.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

Watch the video and do your own analysis, and make your own decision. 

As for me, when I get this book finished, I'll have my Darling Hubby do the same to my desktop computer that he did to his laptop.

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Nose to the Grindstone, a Writing Jouney

Hello, World! I'm still here, pecking away on the final draft of my book that will be released in November.

Since I haven't blogged since this past Saturday when I shared the recipe for Sweet Potato Cranberry Muffins, you probably thought I had:

(a) slipped away for a Mediterranean Cruise,

(b) got konked in the head and developed amnesia and didn't remember I had a blog,

(c) finally fallen asleep after a couple of months of insomnia and just now woke up, or 

(d) been chained to my office computer and must stay here until the final draft really is FINAL.

THE ANSWER IS

Of course, the answer is D. I'm spending hours at the computer, editing and rewriting the final version of this book that has gone through nearly as many rewrites as any work by Roald Dahl.

You know him. He wrote children's books like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Matilda as well as adult short fiction.

In case you don't know, he would rewrite his stories over 150 times before he was satisfied with them.

I haven't done that many rewrites, but I wanted this to be special. This work that I'm obsessing over will be the Second Edition of my very first published novel, Summer's Fortune.

The book, published so many years ago, has no mention of the things we take for granted. No cell phones. No social media domination. 

I wanted to rewrite it to meet today's expectations of a romance novel as well as to add in the humor that was in the original story.

Why do all that? Because the premise of the book is made for a crazy romantic comedy. It's just taken a lot longer to do all that. 

Also, I've been through a dozen book covers but haven't landed on the one that's perfect. I can't put it up for pre-release on Amazon until I have the cover.

*long drawn-out sigh*

When will this book be available? Hopefully I'll have it up on pre-release next week. Be sure and check back for that announcement. Better yet, sign up for my free newsletter. 

In the meantime, check out JANE (I'm-Still-Single) JONES, my ebook on sale for only 99¢. As one reader said, "It's a hoot and a half." This book is also available in Audio and Print, but those editions, though reasonably priced are not on sale at this time.

JANE - US             ***                  JANE - UK               ***                  JANE - AU

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

Like Gustave Flaubert once said, "Writing is a dog's life, but the only life worth living."

If you like Exclusive Content, Book News, and Bargains, sign up for I LOVE READING, my free newsletter. Your email will never be shared. SIGN UP TODAY and receive a copy in your Inbox. By the way, this month's sale book is shown above. Check it out!

Saturday Share - Sweet Potato Cranberry Muffins

I love muffins of every variety, but they're often more like tiny cakes with lots of sugar. (Yes, I'm talking about banana nut muffins.)

Today's recipe was created by my younger daughter. These muffins are sweet, but not too sweet. They do require a few minutes of prep work, but you could do that the night before. 

If you have a food processor, just toss in the roughly chopped ingredients to make shredding them easy.

These muffins are full of fiber and healthy ingredients. They call for almond flour, but you can substitute AP flour or self-rising. If you use self-rising flour, leave out the baking powder and salt.

I think you'll like them. Even better, some of the ingredients just shout, "Autumn!" Get your muffin tin and baking spray out or those cute little silicone muffin cups and set your oven for 350°F (175°C). Get a big mixing bowl ready. After you process each ingredient, dump it into the big bowl.

Ready? Let's bake a batch for the weekend.

SWEET POTATO CRANBERRY MUFFINS

Ingredients

• 1 medium sweet potato, peeled, chopped, and shredded
• 2 carrots, peeled, chopped, and shredded
• 2 bananas, peeled
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup coconut
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries, without added sugar
• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

1. Place peeled, chopped sweet potato and carrots in food processor and pulse until shredded then add to the mixing bowl.

2. Peel bananas, toss in food processor, and "liquefy" then add to bowl and stir together.

3. Add the egg and mix well then the flour, salt, and baking powder. Blend well.

4. Add the coconut, chopped pecans, cranberries, and cinnamon and mix until well blended.

5. Using an ice cream scoop or small measuring cup, add the batter to the muffin tin.

6. Bake 30 to 35 minutes until tops are golden. Serve warm.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

A food processor makes prep a breeze, but a sharp knife and a chopping board are also easy. These are healthy and delicious and perfect for the season.

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Worry or Work

Pardon me while I yawn. Again. I didn't sleep well last night. I fell asleep quickly but woke up just as quickly a short while later.

I think it was because I couldn't stop thinking about the book I'm writing.

I couldn't seem to fall back asleep. After an hour of tossing, turning, and fuming, I decided to do as Dale Carnegie once advised.

"If you can't sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying. It's the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep."

I suppose I was fretting over my slow progress in getting this book into publishable form. So, I was up, thinking about it, making more notes, and trying to figure out why I'm having such a hard time with this book. I think it's because I've had so many interruptions and distractions since I began the book.

A long-form piece of writing demands consistency because holding the information about plot, chracters, emotional truths, setting, etc. in your mind is required. Every interruption from brief to lengthy means you end up going back to your outline and notes rather than simply sitting down and let the words flow from your fingertips to the keyboard to the screen in front of your face.

I guess that's the way I bring an idea to a book ready to be read. So, I'm still trying to build that consistency of habit so that everything I know about this story is ever present in my mind. 

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

At least, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

If you like Exclusive Content, Book News, and Bargains, sign up for I LOVE READING, my free newsletter. Your email will never be shared. SIGN UP TODAY and receive a copy in your Inbox. By the way, this month's sale book is shown above. Check it out!

Review - Fear the Night on Prime

Since Halloween is a couple of weeks away, horror movies are all over the streaming services. I don't care much for horror, but I did watch FEAR THE NIGHT, starring Maggie Q.

You may think this is not a horror film, but I disagree. Any movie where 8 women are at a bachelorette party and masked men with bows and arrows show up and begin killing them one by one? That's a horror film.

ABOUT THE MOVIE

Tess, played by Maggie Q, is an Iraq War veteran and recovering alcoholic, who returns home to heal. Despite her strained relationship with her sister Beth, they join with other friends for their younger sister Rose's bachelorette party at the family farm.

Tess tolerates the group's activities, observing from a distance because she senses something isn't right with the caretakers. Later that night, all hell breaks loose when a band of men attack.

The movie is brutal and gory as the men murder several women, and Tess, the war veteran, returns the favor as she fights to save the women and herself.

The action is intense, and the pace is relentless. It would be nice to think that all women would band together to fight for themselves, but some of the women can't rise above their fear.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

If you're looking for an action flick with no holds barred and a tough as nails protagonist, Fear the Night is for you.

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Monday Magic Free App - Organize Holidays

Take a deep breath. You're going to need it because Thanksgiving is only 38 days away. 

I always think of the time from Thanksgiving Day to New Year's Day as a sprint, not a marathon—it's a 36-day race to get past the first day of the New Year so life can get back to its normal pace.

Don't panic. There's a way to get organized so you can handle all the demands. That's what today's free app is all about.

Any.do is free for iPhones and Android.

Of course, there are 2 tiers to this app: free and subscription. You can read the difference between the two on their website. 

Any.do can take the stress out of the upcoming holidays by helping you put all tasks in one place: shopping, decorating, sending cards, wrapping gifts, etc. As a task management app, you can integrate your calendar, to-do lists, and daily planners.

You can also collaborate with others directly in the app to help plan family gatherings or coordinate holiday events. Advanced features include color tags to mark high-priority tasks and a built-in AI assistant to help you organize your lists efficiently.  Here's an overview of what's free.

FREE PLAN

* Tasks and Lists: Unlimited personal tasks and to-do lists.

* Calendar & Daily Planner: Built-in daily planner view and calendar sync.

* Reminders: Basic one-time reminders.

* Syncing: Real-time syncing across your mobile, desktop, and web devices.

* Grocery Lists: Shared or personal grocery list creation. 

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

If that sounds like the kind of help you need, visit Any.do and get started.

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