Reviews

The State of the Writer: 5/28/23

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<–The State of the Writer: 4/16/23         The State of the Writer: 6/11/23–>

A post updated every other Sunday discussing my current writing projects and any completed the prior two weeks.

Finished Projects: 1

Project: Story/Series
Working Title: The High Archon (The Truth Seeker Chronicles)
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Original
Length: Novel
Current Word Count: 11,282
Status: Reorganizing
Progress: Preparing to review draft

I’ll talk about my horrendous schedule later below, but right now my goal is to get back to drafting.  My last post was almost a month ago, and once again I got lost in the weeds of worldbuilding.  I had to step back and ask myself what my goal was and why I’d stopped drafting in the first place, and while the answer was I needed more background, like the obsessive I am, I went overboard.  Yes, I might need these extensive notes at some point, but I don’t need all these details right now, and I could work on some things concurrently as I’m drafting.  So the plan is to review what I have written and figure out what I directly need to hash out and if I haven’t already then do so.

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The Stillness of the Sky by Starla Huchton (Flipped Fairy Tales #2) (DNF)

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Title: The Stillness of the Sky
Series: Flipped Fairy Tales
Author: Starla Huchton
Date Added: August 16, 2017
Date Started: November 21, 2018
Date DNF: November 23, 2018
Reading Duration: 2 days
Genre: Fantasy, Fairy Tales (Retellings), Romance, Young Adult (YA)

Cover of The Stillness of the Sky by Starla Huchton (Flipped Fairy Tales)Pages: 322
Publication Date: January 7, 2015
Publisher: Self
Media: eBook/Kindle

Once upon a time, my life was certain: it was insignificant, and it was cruel. But I refused to let it define me, no matter how great the cost.

Once upon a time, I made a wish. The world I knew grew wider than the sky and higher than the stars, and I listened to the voice within me, reaching out for freedom.

Once upon a time, my wish became my fate, and my destiny the hardest lesson to learn: kindness may be the most difficult path, but it can save entire kingdoms.

This is a “Jack and the Beanstalk with a different gender retelling,” which has never been one of my favorite fairytales.  I don’t hate it, but I could never be completely on Jack’s side.  I mean he did break into someone’s house and steal their shit so why wouldn’t the giant be angry about that?

As with most fairytale MC’s the mother is absent, though this time not dead.  She left when Jack was younger, leaving her with an abusive and alcoholic father, though apparently this was by Jack’s own choice, because if she’d gone with her “who would’ve taken care of the animals” 🙄.  Of course there needs to be a catalyst for a story (had Jack gone with her mother there wouldn’t be a plot), and I think Huchton is trying to say it wasn’t that the mother didn’t want her, but rather Jack made her own (poor) choices, but it’s pretty infuriating.

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The State of the Writer: 4/16/23

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<–The State of the Writer: 3/19/23         The State of the Writer: 5/28/23–>

A post updated every other Sunday discussing my current writing projects and any completed the prior two weeks.

Finished Projects: 0

Project: Story/Series
Working Title: The High Archon (The Truth Seeker Chronicles)
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Original
Length: Novel
Current Word Count: 11,282
Status: Reorganizing & Worldbuilding
Progress: Adding more background notes to Scrivener

This is why it takes me forever to do anything…I spent about half an hour on Pinterest because I got distracted then I had to look for the source because nobody fucking includes sources and it’s like grrrr.  Sorry, I know to some it seems like nbd but when you don’t include a source the artist doesn’t get credit, and it’s…just a whole thing.

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The State of the Writer: 3/19/23

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<–The State of the Writer: 3/5/23         The State of the Writer: 4/16/23–>

A post updated every other Sunday discussing my current writing projects and any completed the prior two weeks.

Finished Projects: 1

Project: Story/Series
Working Title: The High Archon (The Truth Seeker Chronicles)
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Original
Length: Novel
Current Word Count: 11,282
Status: Reorganizing & Worldbuilding
Progress: Working on tangential ideas

I don’t remember where I found this picture.  Maybe on Pinterest or Twitter?  It was probably Pinterest because that’s where I have it saved and of course there’s no source ugh.  He’s probably from some game or manga I should know about but don’t.  Anyway, I immediately thought he looked like he’d make a beautiful bride and I wanted to write about him lol.  Because my brain will just hyperfixate on something and stay with it until I take enough notes to appease the shit sponge, I’m currently writing some background for this.  Will it make its way into my WIP?  Who TF knows.

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Bear With Me: The Lost Robots

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More video game reviews and analyses can be found here.

Title: Bear With Me: The Lost Robots
Series: Bear With Me
Genre: Point-and-Click, Puzzle, Mystery
Developer: Exordium Games

System: Nintendo Switch
Release Date: August 8, 2016

Bear With Me is a point-and-click adventure developed by Exordium Games, an Croatian indie studio founded in 2014.  The original was released in three episodes in August 2016 with this particular part, a prequel, The Lost Robots dropping in July of 2016.  All of the iterations are best described as “episodic noir adventure games,” drawing obvious inspiration from the genre of film noir (per Wikipedia).

This was one of those games where I absolutely loved the demo, immediately bought it, and then instantly forgot about it.  Since I’m nearly always in the middle of playing something (often more than one something), I won’t start another game right away, but I want to be able to as soon as a “slot” opens up.  The main issue is I only have so much energy, including emotional energy, to dedicate to something, and once I’m in I’m all in.  Granted Bear With Me was more relaxing than taxing, but you don’t necessarily know that beforehand.

The aesthetic of the game is perfect for the film noir mien with everything in black and white,

and the voice acting is excellent.  Ted, or Ted E. Bear, the one referenced in the title, has the hardboiled detective persona down pat.  His voice has a bit of a flat effect, but it fits the character of the jaded PI.

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The State of the Writer: 3/5/23

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<–The State of the Writer: 12/11/22         The State of the Writer: 3/19/23–>

A post updated every other Sunday discussing my current writing projects and any completed the prior two weeks.

Finished Projects: 2

Project: Story/Series
Working Title: The High Archon (The Truth Seeker Chronicles)
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Original
Length: Novel
Current Word Count: 11,282
Status: Reorganizing & Worldbuilding
Progress: Updating Scrivener with details about merfolk

I have been on this merfolk/seafolk kick for a good two or three months now.  I already had ideas about hybrids in the series combined with needing to create lore for people who live by the sea on the other side of a mountain, and I was able to tie that in with other previous lore.  I’m at the part where I put everything into Scrivener, which is the last step, but I still have at least two other demographics to do after this.  Eh, slow progress is still progress.

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Blister by Jeff Strand

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Title: Blister
Author: Jeff Strand
Date Added: October 1, 2017
Date Started: November 12, 2018
Date Finished: November 20, 2018
Reading Duration: 8 days
Genre: Thriller, Horror, Suspense, Dark, Humor

Cover of Blister by Jeff StrandPages: 275
Publication Date: June 21, 2016
Publisher: Sinister Grin Press
Media: eBook/Kindle

They call her Blister. She’s a hideously disfigured twenty-three year-old woman, living in a shed next to her father’s house, hidden away from the world.

Jason Tray is a successful cartoonist, banished to his agent’s lakeside cabin for a few days of mandatory rest and relaxation. One night, while hanging out with a couple of the locals at a dive bar, he takes them up on their offer to go “see Blister,” having no idea what they’re talking about.

He peeks through the window at the most nightmarish thing he’s ever seen.

In the morning, he wakes up, hung over and regretful. He’s better than this. He needs to…apologize?

From the Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of PRESSURE, DWELLER, and WOLF HUNT comes a tale of fiendish secrets, ghastly crimes, and human monsters.

Blister’s premise is a bit of a bait-and-switch, and it kind of has to be.  You can’t squeeze a 275 page story out of a man being an asshole to a disfigured woman and then apologizing the next day.  Obvious questions about how she became disfigured come up, as well as why the hell she’s living in a shed, and just when you think all the questions that can be answered are, something else happens to keep the story interesting.

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The State of the Writer: 12/25/22

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<–The State of the Writer: 12/11/22         The State of the Writer: 3/5/23–>

A post updated every other Sunday discussing my current writing projects and any completed the prior two weeks.

Finished Projects: 0

Project: Story/Series
Working Title: The High Archon (The Truth Seeker Chronicles)
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Original
Length: Novel
Current Word Count: 11,282
Status: Reorganizing & Worldbuilding
Progress: Updating language details on Scrivener

Since I’m working on updating my term glossary with Ravic surnames and they use a lot of jewels/gems/precious stones, I figured this image would be fitting.  I’m finally putting the language notes into Scrivener, which is the final part of the update.  I did each separate group, but now I’m doing a more general language notes with gender markers.  I’m still debating doing a separate post that kind of explains some of the world, but it would definitely be after we move lol.

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The State of the Writer: 12/11/22

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 9 Comments

<–The State of the Writer: 11/27/22         The State of the Writer: 12/25/22–>

A post updated every other Sunday discussing my current writing projects and any completed the prior two weeks.

Finished Projects: 0

Project: Story/Series
Working Title: The High Archon (The Truth Seeker Chronicles)
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Original
Length: Novel
Current Word Count: 11,282
Status: Reorganizing & Worldbuilding
Progress: Working on surname details

I really hope I have the name of the piece and artist correct.  I checked some images with the titles and artists in English to match up where this information was.  I’m fairly certain the characters are Chinese (I went to Google translate and I put them into Traditional Chinese and I think I might be right), but it’s one of those situations where I recognize the language but don’t know it.

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The State of the Writer: 11/27/22

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 6 Comments

<–The State of the Writer: 11/13/22         The State of the Writer: 12/11/22–>

A post updated every other Sunday discussing my current writing projects and any completed the prior two weeks.

Finished Projects: 0

Project: Story/Series
Working Title: The High Archon (The Truth Seeker Chronicles)
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Original
Length: Novel
Current Word Count: 11,282
Status: Reorganizing & Worldbuilding
Progress: Working on surname details

Image is just one of the many I have for character ideas.  I love Pinterest as someone who uses artwork for inspiration, but I hate it for the sake of visual artists.  It’s almost entirely made up of stolen art and even if you do find the source, you can’t leave links in the comments.  I have seen more people being called out for it though.  With all visual artists are going through now with this AI generated art bullshit, I don’t blame them for mass exodus from sites like DeviantArt, which forces you to opt out of having your work used for such, and you don’t even know if that makes any difference.

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