Suvudu Universe

World Wide Box Office –
Jurassic World is now number three:
1 Avatar - $2,788.0 million
2 Titanic - $2,186.8
3 Jurassic World - $1,582.4
4 Marvel's The Avengers - $1,519.6
5 Furious 7 - $1,511.7
6 Avengers: Age of Ultron - $1,398.8
Other noteables:
34 Minions - $920.3
234 Mad Max: Fury Road - $373.1
299 Ant-Man - $332.5
333 Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation - $310.6

Only two movies have been number one at the box office this year for four weeks straight – Furious 7 and American Sniper.

A remake that should never be made…

Production continues to flounder on the remake of The Crow. According to the AV Club, yet another lead man departed this summer:
It was nearly four years ago that Bradley Cooper exited the project, after which the lead role was reportedly offered to notorious goths like Mark Wahlberg, James McAvoy, and Channing Tatum. Since then, the project drifted from Tom Hiddleston to Luke Evans to, finally, Boardwalk Empire‘s Jack Huston. Now, Variety reports, Huston is out too, the result of a “scheduling conflict.”

My wife and I recently watched the original film. There is absolutely no reason to remake it.

There is no way to recapture the mystical quality of the film. Ever. The creator of the graphic novel, James O’Barr, wrote it as a way to deal with the death of his girlfriend due to a drunk driver. That Brandon Lee would die on the set, and while engaged to be married, amplifies the powerful emotions this film captures.

Alex Proyas, who also directed Dark City, did an amazing job with the film. It contains so much atmosphere and the effects hold up well after over twenty years. Not to mention that the soundtrack is kick-butt.

I can only hope that this project continues to be sidetracked…


It's time to announce the winner of the box social contest!

Last week, I asked you to guess which box--red, blue or brown--contained the lizard. Everyone who guessed the correct box was entered into a drawing for a free e-copy of my new book, Precious Atonement.

The lizard was in the brown box!
For the record, I accepted brown, tan, bronze, cream, gold. If you didn't say red or blue, you got added to the list. ;)

*drumroll* And the winner chosen by Random.org is... J. E. Oneil!
Congratulations, Jeanne!!! :D

Thanks to everyone who played, and a big thanks goes to Alex for hosting me. Melissa Maygrove


Dianne Salern i is holding a cool giveaway! Win a Transitioner’s 16 Month Calendar — complete with 8 days a week! Open until August 31.

Denise Covey and Yolanda Renee have started up Write...Edit...Publish again. This month, it’s Spectacular Settings. See their sites for details.

Charity Bradford is hosting the Bold New Worlds Contest again for high school students. See her site for details.



Liesel K. Hill is hosting a great giveaway that includes a Kindle Fire HD.

The Box of Souls by Tanya Miranda
Available at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, iTunes, Smashwords, and CreateSpace
You can also enter the Goodreads giveaway.

Beyond Space Opera
Featuring Milo James Fowler


War movies:

1 – Hugo Weaving, Chris Evans, Tommy Lee Jones 2011 – Captain America
2 – Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Donald Sutherland 1967 – The Dirty Dozen
3 – Jude Law, Joseph Finnes, Rachel Weisz 2001 – Enemy at the Gate
4 – Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan 1995 - Braveheart
5 – Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Michael Fassbender 2009 Inglourious Basterds


At the request of Truedessa, I have written a short story that takes place after Dragon of the Stars.

This short story is available for free to anyone who has read Dragon of the Stars! Just send me an email (alexjcavanaugh AT earthlink.com), tell me what happens to Aden at the end of Dragon of the Stars, and tell me what format you want – ePub, Mobi, or PDF file.

Thanks to everyone who has read Dragon of the Stars! It still amazes and humbles me. To think I never even wanted to be an author...

And finally, just some Internet questions that really have me curious…

What compels you to put someone in your sidebar?
(I update mine once a month or so, and anyone who visits me every week, and I visit them, goes in my sidebar.)

Are you ever intimidated to leave a blog comment?
(I don’t think I’ve ever been afraid to leave a comment. We’re all just people after all…)

What other social platform would you recommend?
(I’m considering either Tumblr or Pinterest. Not sure which one.)

What’s the worst thing about Twitter?
(For me, it’s a toss-up between people who claim that can get you thousands of followers and those who constantly Tweet ‘Buy my book.’)

For those who have been around a while, what’s an aspect of blogging you really miss?
(I miss the variety. I used to have the most eclectic followers, and now it’s almost all writers and authors. I love you guys, but where did everyone else go?)