The Last Thing You See

The State of the Writer: 8/23/20

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 23 Comments

<–The State of the Writer: 8/9/20         The State of the Writer: 9/6/20–>

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

Finished Projects: 1

Project: Story
Title: The Broken Rose
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Fanfiction
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Length: Novel
Current Word Count: 250,199
Prior Word Count: 250,796
Word Difference: -597
Status: Editing
Progress: First edit of Chapter 26

It is so much more difficult to edit smut than it is to do general editing lol.  I think it’s because it’s so easy for something like this to veer into cheesy and hilarious territory.  I mean we’ve all read bad smut/poorly planned erotica and it’s not the vibe I’m going for.  I’ve cut a lot of things out.  Some of it might find its way into the more explicit version; other parts are definitely gone to stay.  I only have less than a page left to edit, but I really need to bring my A game because it’s definitely one of those that could be laughably bad if done wrong.

Continue reading →

The Last Thing You See by Marie Batiste (Rachel Dixon #1)

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 4 Comments

Title: The Last Thing You See
Series: Rachel Dixon
Author: Marie Batiste
Date Added: March 26, 2020
Date Started: June 23, 2020
Date Finished: July 9, 2020
Reading Duration: 16 days
Genre: Fantasy, Supernatural/Paranormal, Horror, Mystery/Murder Mystery

Cover of The Last Thing You See by Marie BatistePages: 185
Publication Date: February 5, 2020
Publisher: Self
Media: eBook/Kindle

Riley Green’s parents came home one morning to find their daughter missing and human organs in their dining room.

Following a ten-month suspension, forced rehab and a tumultuous divorce, New Orleans Detective Rachel Dixon is finally stitching her life back together when she is called to a strange crime scene. Joined by her new partner, Elias Crowe an intuitive elf dealing with discrimination in the department, Rachel starts the search for Riley’s killer.

Soon the investigation leads them to a series of strange murders not just in the city but across the nation. Desperate to find the killer the detectives seek help from an undead blood analyst, a standoffish necromancer, a tree spirit, and a living sculpture. But when the killer seems to have set their eyes on Rachel all the help and magic in the world may not be enough to catch the elusive serial killer.

Join the detectives as they maneuver through a familiar world stitched together with magic, blood, and animosity.

Rachel Dixon is a flawed but intensely likable detective who is being overly punished for the mistakes she’s made in the past.  The world merged with a magical one around twenty years ago, and the oddness and curiosity around this event is maintained throughout the novel as even the inhabitants of it remain clueless to the entirety of the effects.  The characters treat the world like their world (as you do).  There’s no info dumping; you’re given enough to understand how things work, and that’s all it is.  It’s like if you lived in a reality where magic existed, you wouldn’t bat an eye at it when it manifests, because it would be as commonplace as a smartphone.

Continue reading →

The State of the Writer: 8/9/20

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 8 Comments

<–The State of the Writer: 7/26/20         The State of the Writer: 8/23/20–>

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

Finished Projects: 2

Project: Story
Title: The Broken Rose
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Fanfiction
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Length: Novel
Current Word Count: 250,796
Prior Word Count: 251,552
Word Difference: -756
Status: Editing
Progress: First edit of Chapter 26

The artist of this week’s pic is a long time favorite of mine.  She, too, writes Aeriseph and is a talented illustrator to boot.  Her story Border of Taboo is actually available in physical format on Amazon (???) which…is now making me very curious how she managed to avoid copyright issues with Squeenix???  I may have to investigate this.

…

Continue reading →

The State of the Reader: 7/15/20

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 8 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 7/1/20         The State of the Reader: 7/29/20–>

A biweekly post updated every other Wednesday detailing my current reading projects and what new titles I’ve added to my to-read list.  Title links go to Goodreads, and if you have an account there feel free to friend me!  I’d love to see what you’re reading and/or planning to read.

Purchased: 3

Finished: 1

Title: The Last Thing You See
Series: Rachel Dixon
Author: Marie Batiste
Date Added: March 26, 2020
Date Started: June 23, 2020
Date Finished: July 9, 2020

Cover of The Last Thing You See by Marie BatisteMedia: eBook/Kindle

This ended a bit more abruptly than I was expecting, but then I remembered that it’s a series.  The author does a fantastic job making you absolutely loathe the killer and his “associates.”  You know I love my sympathetic villains, but there’s something about having one that you just absolutely hate and want to see tortured just like their victims.  It’s something I’ve done before myself.  There’s a dark catharsis in having a character do despicable things so that you don’t feel terrible when your hero skins them alive.  I don’t know if that’s the route this is going to go, but I’ll be rooting for Rachel if it does.

Currently Reading

Continue reading →

The State of the Reader: 7/1/20

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 4 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 6/17/20         The State of the Reader: 7/15/20–>

A biweekly post updated every other Wednesday detailing my current reading projects and what new titles I’ve added to my to-read list.  Title links go to Goodreads, and if you have an account there feel free to friend me!  I’d love to see what you’re reading and/or planning to read.

Purchased: 3

Finished: 1

Title: Supernice: Smile. Or Else.
Author: Petra Jacob
Date Added: June 11, 2020
Date Started: May 20, 2020

Cover of Supernice by Petra JacobMedia: eBook

Every single book I read by this author just gets better, and the first one I read, Riddled With Senses, was already excellent.  It’s like her take on current culture becomes more acerbic and accurate, because what occurs by the end of Supernice is exactly what would happen.  The mindset of people would absolutely lead them down heinous paths, and there would most definitely be others who’d oppose it.

Like I do with other books by self/indie published authors, I’ll be reviewing this next (or after the one I already have in draft) since reviews are way more important to get out for them.

Currently Reading

Continue reading →

The State of the Reader: 4/8/20

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 4 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 3/26/20         The State of the Reader: 4/22/20–>

A biweekly post updated every other Wednesday detailing my current reading projects and what new titles I’ve added to my to-read list.  Title links go to Goodreads, and if you have an account there feel free to friend me!  I’d love to see what you’re reading and/or planning to read.

Purchased

Books On Hold: 1

Title: Man and His Symbols
Author: C. G. Jung et al
Date Added: August 4, 2017
Date Started: January 7, 2020

Man and His Symbols coverMedia: Paperback

Apparently I even forgot to include this last time.  Oh well.  I put it on hold because only the first essay is written by Jung himself.  Not that I doubt the other psychologists aren’t worth my time, but I really liked Jung’s style.  I think I’m going to splurge and pick up his Psychology and Alchemy, because I’ve been pretty immersed in the latter.  It’s…EVERYWHERE, and I want to be able to pinpoint its symbols and usages in FFVII et al.

Continue reading →