Hello,

Thanks for the likes and follows.

Last week went well. Life outside of writing has improved. My dad was in the hospital for about a week and a half.  He did have to go through a procedure. It was successful and he is home now.  Which is great. I am still sifting through my feelings about the whole situation.  It is very complicated and has too much information to share.  

When I wasn’t writing I watched some exciting vlog essays on characters from various fantasy series.  GRR Martin’s Game of Thrones/ A Song of Ice and Fire and JRR Tolkien’s Silmarillion/Lord of the Rings series were prominent because of the prequel streaming shows on HBOMax and Amazon Prime.  I watched these discussions on YouTube and according to the Content Creators there, House of the Dragon is a hit and Rings of Power is a miss.   I am still on the fence about these shows.  I understand their appeal to audiences who are not fantasy readers and I know the frustration of those who are.  A showrunner and writing teams interpretation of the same book that fans read, extrapolated, and developed settings, situations, and characters that are different from what was imagined.  It can feel like an insult or an attack. A way to deal with negative feelings that may arise is to step away from the “offensive material” and recognize that this fiction may not be for you.  Remember the original material is still there.  Also remember that especially with JRR Tolkien’s work, he wrote from his experiences and of his time.   I am writing this from a perspective of a Black Woman.  He may not have meant to write things that now sound and are offensive, but they are still there.  I don’t believe it was his intention to insult anyone.  So, in general, I ignore it.  I also consider that adapting anything for the large or small screen, needs to be inclusive.  I refuse to take offense to original works or adaptations.  Distancing oneself is better than a vitriolic rant.  There is a thin line between dissent and insult.    These methods may also be successful with GRR Martin’s work but since he is alive. He has the option to comment on live-action productions and the agency to establish the canon.  The audience has a chance to pick a side. 

This is the last week of September.  My original goal was to finish Connection Lost by this time.  Then I could leisurely prep for National Novel Writing Month in October. Nano fans call it Preptober. There is also an Inktober, but controversy kind of killed the event. Preptober is the time Nano writers prepare for the event.  It is also where Content Creators also share tips and suggestions for participants to win.  This is all voluntary and free.  I usually decided to participate in Nano, in the last week of October or the first week of November.  I wanted to use Preptober as the time to really develop the frame of the story.  I have been thinking about it for two years and I have written some notes on it and a few character profiles.  It is an experiment to see if this kind of planning can help me win. If it doesn’t help, I will still have the words and learned that this method did not work for this story.  A side goal is to get as many badges as possible. They are meaningless in the long run, but they are so much fun to acquire.  There is a sense of accomplishment when I see the 7-day or 10K badge light up.

I have been dividing the year into 3-month quarters, gleaning tips and suggestions from others with similar planning methods.  This last quarter I am challenging myself to do better.  I wrote this before, and I will continue to do so until it is so.  There is a lot of work, I would like to complete to improve this website and other social media spots.  It is true that I’ve been neglecting them, and the result is I don’t like the position it has put me in.  Every day is an opportunity to do better.  The mantra for the week. 

That is all for now.  I didn’t plan to write as much as I did but I am glad to get the thoughts out.  Now to focus on my own stories.  Enjoy the rest of the week.  Please remember to be kind. 

End.