October Goals

Hello,

Thanks for the likes and follows. For October, the flowers are marigolds and cosmos. The birthstones are opal and tourmaline.

September ended, and we are all still dealing with the unexpected. An author more successful than I has a 90-day method, and she suggests a reset 4 times a year. Evaluate what works and what does not. Establish new strategies and sustain progress.

Writing update: Dead Girl Tale 2: Nox (DGT2) has been on pause for at least 2 weeks now. The change perspective method did not work as well as I hoped; instead of forcing words, I have moved back into a thinking phase for the scene. It was a little disappointing. I don’t want to tolerate setbacks, especially since DGT2 is part of a series.

This is where I tell an odd anecdote. I have multiple stories in various stages of development. I decided to be practical and look up ways to produce short stories. An excellent site for generating short story prompts is Reedsy. There are even weekly writing contests with rules and an application fee, but it’s worth it if you win or get an honorary mention. I’ve been a member since 2022, I think. So I saw a prompt and decided to write with it. I had no intention of entering a contest; my writing has not been consistent enough for that. I took the prompt and started to write, and the story fit easily into the FM Monogatari (FMM) writing project. This is a series of paranormal/urban fantasy short stories and novelettes featuring the same characters: Fayte (Fate) Devoe and Maghnus Knight. Monogatari is a Japanese word for a story. I am not an expert, and this is just a working title that I borrowed from a book I liked. I may have written about this project before. The idea has been in my mind since 2016. It’s paranormal and feels appropriate for October, and I have at least 2 complete stories for the anthology. They do need some edits, tweaks, and clean-ups, but they are in the almost-done phase of the writing process. Which was a happy surprise for me. All this time, I thought I was a mouse on a wheel, going nowhere, when in fact, progress was hiding in plain sight, or in a file folder.

This does not mean I have given up on DGT2. I will review my notes and adjust the outline to move the story where it needs to be.

Media update: The C-dramas I’ve been watching have reached the arc where the male lead and female lead have become a couple, and the real antagonist is revealing themselves. I’ve taken a break from them.

Instead, I updated my account to the streaming service Peacock and found myself rewatching the sci-fi drama Defiance and the urban fantasy Sanctuary. During the early 2000s, these were my go-to shows. In later seasons, the narratives got muddled, and I’m wondering if I was wrong. I found more problematic tropes and potential story waste. I was not aware of this before, but Peacock has produced a significant amount of original content. Some of the Peacock shows are fascinating and appropriate for October. The shows I’m going to mention for now are Girl in the Woods. It is a horror series based on the short film “Door in the Woods.” I am not a horror fan, but this felt more YA than just horror. I was intrigued to see how it would end. The other Peacock original is Vampire Academy, based on the book series by Richelle Mead. The series was considered a contemporary of the Twilight series. There was a movie that did not do well. Someone thought they could make it a TV show. Similar to what was done to The Mortal Instruments, a book series by Cassandra Clare, which became the TV show Shadowhunters. I would like to write more, but that is a post all on its own.

Goals for the month are to write 500 new words a day on the project of choice. This could mean DGT2 or FM Monogatari. I will also continue to look into writing prompts and see if I can apply them to the other story ideas and characters. I know I mentioned this before, but in the future for this website, I plan to launch a story page. The logistics of it all have yet to be finalized. The other goal is to complete the scenes in FMM and finalize the outlines of DGT2.

That is all for now. I wrote more than I planned to. This is what accountability looks like, I guess. I hope this post finds you all doing well. Don’t miss any positive opportunities and remember to be kind.

The End

Updates April 11 – 15

Hello,

Thank you for the likes and follows. I really appreciate them.

I apologize for not posting on Monday or Wednesday. This month is different for me. The first month of the second quarter. I was reviewing the last three months. Trying to figure out where I did get stuck. I still don’t have answers. But as usual, I have not given up. I love writing and I love stories.

With that sentiment in mind, I watched Bridgerton season 2 on Netflix. It is loosely based on the Viscount who Love Me by Julia Quinn. Well, the whole series was created and written by Julia Quinn. I don’t remember what I wrote about season 1 or if I did. I’m not going to look it up. My feelings about it are the same. The Bridgerton show season 1 and 2 are romance stories but they are not the stories I loved written by Julia Quinn. Some of the changes work well for live-action and some don’t work for me. Instead of watching it all at once, I’m watching the 2 episodes at a time. I like this Kate and Anthony, the actors did a great job with the script they were given. I prefer Kate and Anthony in the book a little better. To be completely honest, my favorite books in the series were Books 2, 3, and 6. The others were fun and I was able to enjoy them all on Audible for the subscription fee. Audible/Amazon tries to trick you into thinking that the audiobooks are free, but that is the case as long as you are a member.

Watching Bridgerton strangely lead me to re-watching episodes of the 12 Monkeys on Hulu and Fringe on HBOMax over the weekend. The two shows are similar in their fantastical psuedo-science and premise. Only these chosen few can save the world. The question might be why the Bridgertons and these two science fiction shows are completely different. All three shows have a romance thread flowing through them. In Fringe and 12 Monkeys you could say that the romance was the secondary or third plot. I would disagree. Many of the characters are motivated by love. It may not be the one true partner but there is love. This is one of the reasons I like writing romance because it is in all the stories. When it is not blatant there is always fanfiction.

In writing news, you may have noticed the Camp Nanowrimo picture. I signed up after believing for most of the year that I was not going to participate. The story I am working with is still Connection Lost. The good thing about Camp Nano is that you can set your own goals. My goal is 25,000 words. Connection Lost is not going to be 25,000 words. There are 3 other short stories in development connected to Connection Lost. Some authors don’t like the competitive nature of Nanowrimo. I am on the fence about it. I am aware of many authors have won Nanowrimo as much as others who have lost and are still successful. I find that when I am participating in the events I put in more effort. I don’t get stumped on small things like, what city in California will my characters show up in. The sentence goes likes this “the west coast city’s weather was better than expected.” The sentence does two thing boost my word count and set a reminder for edits, win-win. I have not written every day but I am already over 3000 words. So gold stars for everyone.

For this week, the goal is to complete this story and move on to the next in the series. I will be also be writing notes on a the books, I’ve listened to. I am strongly avoiding listening to the Viscount Who Loved Me, until after I have watched Bridgerton season 2. I have always compared the Bridgerton series to Bedwyn series by Mary Balogh. That is a project for a later date.

That is all that I have to write for now. I hope these words are entertaining. I encourage everyone with creative or self improvement pursuits to not give up. Please remember to be kind.

End.

Accountability Wednesday

I feel like every time I post on Wednesday, I’m keeping on track. Nothing planned for Wednesday is where I want them to be. This is a short note to let you faithful few know what I am doing. I am going to briefly talk about two books, I’m currently listening to on Audible; two books I will start to listen to this week and a book I am reading with no audio and planning to complete end of the week.

These are four books I’m listening to. Except for Hollywood Homicide by Kellye Garrett, all the books are sequels. I didn’t know it when I bought the Dating Plan by Sara Desai. I will elaborate further in the posted review. Full disclosure and all that The Fated Sky by Mary Robinette Kowal is a relisten. I have posted my thoughts on The Calculating Stars and decided to continue. Especially when I heard from the author herself she is writing the fourth book in the series. I will most likely be writing a review on Blade Song and Night Blade together. Because all of these books are audios, I will speak a little bit about the narrator as well. Bringing a story to life with your voice is a skill that not everyone has. I have learned this after listening to over 100 books.

This is the last book, I am going to write about and it will be in the series of YA books that tricked me. Just joking, I bought this book because I like the summary and this cover. It is so pretty. I have moved away from Young Adult years ago, however, there are a few that catch me once or twice a year. A good story is a great story at the right time. This story is intriguing enough to keep me reading.

In the past, I have posted a reading list that was more than ambitious. I kind of set myself up for failure. With this accountability post, I am using this small list as a test. The goal is to complete at least 3 of these books by the end of the week. I am still giving myself a week to post the first review. Next week’s Wednesday post will be a status report or maybe a hot-take.

Writing decent reviews is also a skill that can be learned but to write a review that inspires someone to either pick up that book or make talking points, is a form of greatness. I hope this short post finds you all doing well. Please leave a comment, like, or follow.

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Words posted on Wednesday

This post is going to be about me recommitting myself to writing reviews or initial thoughts on subjects I find education, interesting and entertaining, all together or separately. There is so much media out there – books, movies, films, podcasts, that a person can become overwhelmed. I often wonder if I’ve been on another planet when I find an entertaining or educational gem and they have been producing content for years. I also wonder what makes something a hit in the past and a miss now. Why do some fans become viscerally angry about remakes, reimaginings, prequels, and sequels? Why do some adaptations blow up spawning new fans and others burn? There are many platforms that highlight these topics. I am adding my 5 cents. I will put serious effort into my thoughts, references, and suggestions.

I have been writing that Wednesday is a review day for a long time. It was the plan at the beginning of 2021. I struggled with a rating system. It may have been noticed in previous reviews, there is a distinct like or dislike. I will be adding a standard 5-system, silver, and gold. Not sure yet what will get 5 silver stars and what will get 5 gold. I have a composition book that has been converted to a reading journal. I also have shiny washi tape and gold and silver stars of various shapes. I guess I will have to call it a media journal now, since notes about films, animations and podcasts will be in there as well. That plan may go south but it is in practice for the next 3 months.

I won’t be releasing a list until January. Some reviews will be on new subjects and some will be revisits. I believe in accountability but I also know myself. This will be the last weird tilted Wednesday post for this year I think. In the future, if one is posted you know something odd went on over the weekend.

This weekend will be Christmas. I hope all goes well for everyone.

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Place Holder 06

Hello thanks for the likes and follows.

I usually only write that sentence with the update posts but let us be real. These place holders are unofficial updates. Except for this one because I am not writing about my work or what my week will be like. This is just a response to a question. It is my opinion, and it could very well be wrong. However, this is where I am today.

Last week on the YouTube channel Casually Comics, the host Sasha posted a video she titled: The return of Supergirl, Is Kara being exploited? The episode consisted of how Supergirl or Kara Zor-El came back to the DC Universe after being killed off in a Crisis event. A question came up that is paraphrased by me like this: Is there a double standard for female fan service as opposed to male fan service? Dick Grayson/Nightwing’s booty is admired by fans and characters in the comics on many occasions. His body had been ogled and taken advantage of, in the comics and animations, look up Batman and Harlequin 2017. However, hackles rise when it is Supergirl. Full disclosure I am attuning my response to the images shown on CC and memory of Superman/Batman: Apocalypse 2010. I have not read the comics that this Supergirl was based on. I was pleasantly surprised in the movie Kryptonian actually sounds like Esperanto. I would also like to add that I focus more on story than artwork even in comics.

For me, the cringe factor grew as they emphasized her age. Kara should be older than her cousin, however, due to science magic, and happenstance, she is younger and underage. She is 17 years old in mind and body, adults are looking at her with inappropriate thoughts. Yes, I know she is a fictional character. I don’t get the same cringe from Nightwing. I think that is because he is an adult. I don’t admire his body when he was Robin. Only when he is a young adult or new adult in his mid to late ’20s. It all sounds ridiculous to think this hard about a subject. But consider this situation, in Nightwing #93. Nightwing is sexually assaulted by another “superhero”, her name is Tarantula. The issue came out in 2004. I don’t know when it was outright called rape, but I first saw an article about it in 2018. There was a lot of shrugging off the issue by the writer and DC comics editors that green-lit the whole scene. I believe the situation would’ve been stopped immediately if Dick Grayson had been a 17-year-old boy. No one would be questioning if it was rape or just “nonconsensual sex” as if one is not like the other. A situation like that cannot happen to 17-year-old Kara because people would call it out for what it is, immediately. The fact that Nightwing is an adult, despite emotional trauma, plays into what people think of the whole situation. So maybe we are just twisted individuals on varying levels.

During the episode, I didn’t feel offended, I knew a number of images were taken out of context, but I did feel a whole lot of cringe for Kara Zor-El/Supergirl. There will be a number of fans who don’t see this and a number of fans who will, and a percentage of that number will also have inappropriate glee from it. This is what puts a shadow on most of my feelings the idea that some jerk is enjoying the scene for the ick value. This brings another thought to mind, exploitation is easy.

When Sasha asked my thoughts on the issue, too many words came into my head. I don’t think a dissertation needs to be written in the comment section of a YT video. I would have liked to put up a compare and contrast pictures but didn’t want to be sued. So enjoy the peaceful science view of the mountains. There will be people who read this or watch Sasha’s video and say that this does not matter. I of course, don’t agree with that. I don’t condemn the writers or artist that drew the characters they way they did or the wrote the stories the way they did. I do believe we should be free to analyze them from all angles. For some these images and even the situations are harmless for others they are trauma triggers. We should be able to face both sides with rational thoughts. Not have these things retconned or pulled from publications because a percentage is upset. This is not for every image and situation, I believe in case by case.

I am truly amazed I had so many words on the topic. I hope this video finds everyone doing well. Please leave a comment, like and subscribe. The week is still new and full of opportunity.

Happy Holidays.

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