Quarterly Goals (Follow-Up)



It's still Wednesday, at least!


12 hours after I usually remember I'm supposed to post, here I am. Funny enough, I thought to myself that I needed to write this this morning, because I had time before work. I at least caught up on other stuff I needed to do. Still. Good evening!

We're in the middle of the 2nd quarter, and it's the 5th Wednesday, so I'm talking about my goals for the quarter. Of course the big one: publication. My cover artist e-mailed me Saturday to say she'd gone into labor, so I hope she and the baby are doing well. She was working on finishing touches for me, so I'm not too worried about my timeline. I still haven't picked a date.

I decided to not create a whole new website, especially since I do so well maintaining this one. Blogger can't get rid of me yet.

I'm still reading How Long 'Til Black Future Month, just because I have so much going on. It's so good! Some of the stories are so innovative. I love N.K. Jemisin's work.

My next goal is to read It before the second movie comes out. I haven't read Stephen King's fiction since Full Dark No Stars, so I may need to pray before this one, especially as my mom and older sister agree the Bev in her old house scene is the scariest in the book, and it looks terrifying in the trailer.

Also, I can't wait for the Summer shows that I watch to return, and the new ones to come on! I have yet to start Chernobyl, but I'm really anxious to. I just started watching the last season of Broad City. I'll miss it.

All right, that's really all I have. Next quarter, I hope to be a novelist and also, I'll be 35!!

What are your goals this quarter?

Monthly Review: May 2019

© Creative Commons Zero (CC0)

We're almost a week away from unofficial Summer, aka June, and this month has whisked by. I guess that happens the older you get.

My mom is home with my sister and I, and she's doing much better. She'll be getting physical therapy soon, and hopefully that will get her up and walking long distances again. She's bored out of her mind (and I love NCIS, but I'm tired of hearing NCIS) but already up to her normal shenanigans.

Game of Thrones ended Sunday, and I can't wait for Winds of Winter at this point, because this final season was rushed and therefore garbage. I know the overall thing about ASOIF has been expect the unexpected, but usually the unexpected makes sense. I hear D&D are writing the next Star Wars, so...good luck SWU fans.

Now that we have HBO for the season, there are a few new shows I look forward to watching: Chernobyl, Euphoria; I'm catching up on Barry. There was something else, but I can't remember what.

I am hoping to have my final book cover by the end of the month! I created a Spotify playlist for Fractured Princess, which was really fun. I'll add a button here for your enjoyment, when I figure out how.

That's all I have for now, but I hope you're having a great May! I will see you next week with my quarterly goals.

May Writing Update

Comic by Guy Kopsombut at 4amShower

Is that not the truest comic we'll ever see? Is "writer" Yiddish for "procrastinator?" I know it's not, but haha!

In the April Writing Update, I saw the black and white draft of my cover. This month, I have seen a COLOR draft. I believe the next one is the final, and I am so excited! I've created the bookmarks for my backers, and there are going to be a few extra, so I might have some giveaways with those. Once I get the final cover, I can make my backers' Thank You Notes, and I want to have a few more prizes for them. I started a newsletter for them, and I'm glad they're all people who already know where I live, because by law, my address needs to be posted on there! Whether or not I open up the newsletter to others depends on if I acquire anymore readers and draw enough revenue to buy a PO Box (those things are expensive).

I'm trying to decide, for my NA/A Fantasy, whether or not I want to keep it 1st Person limited or open it up to a few other perspectives. I have scenes in my head that pertain to three other characters, but I'm currently liking the angle of the "unreliable" (she's not completely unreliable; maybe biased is a better word) narrator. Maybe I'll make the other perspective short stories, like N.K. Jemisin did for The Inheritance Trilogy. I really like that idea (and God, I need to reread that series. Nahadoth!).

That's it on the writing side. I will see you all next Wednesday for my Monthly Review, and it looks like I have a Quarterly Goals post this month as well! I guess I thought April had five Wednesdays, but it did not.

Enjoy the rest of your week, and tell me how your writing is going in the comments!

Wednesday Words: Manga Review - Adorned by Chi


1. I need coffee.
2. I knew I should've scheduled this post yesterday, but here we are.

The 2nd Wednesday of the month is typically set aside for what I am reading. I am still in NK Jemisin's short story collection, but I did pause long enough to read the manga I will be talking about today! Jacque Aye's brain child: Adorned by Chi.

Available for Pre-order right now!
When an ancient apocalyptic beast is awakened and threatens humanity, five Nigerian students must embrace their magic, put their differences aside, and band together to defeat him!

Adorned by Chi is an experience! There is a website with clothes, jewelry, accessories, and then you have this manga. First presented to us chapter by chapter, you are introduced to 5 Nigerian students at Peace University who are sought out by little familiars that help them tap into their magical powers! So far, this doesn't happen unless they are attacked by evil mmanwu, spirits that usually aren't evil as far as I'm aware, but because of some dark force rising in the background, these are (sort of).

What appealed to me about Adorned by Chi first was the clothing. You can take a quiz to find out which "character collection" appeals to you best. I haven't had much money to get anything besides the comics yet (UPDATE: I have 1 shirt, wore it for my birthday last year), but soon!

Back to the manga: our main character is Adaeze, a girl who after her father dies mysteriously, has crying spells throughout her life and isolates herself because of this. Whether it's because she has these magical empathic powers, or she is clinically depressed, it's yet to be said, but it's very important that we are presented with a young black woman with mental illness, which is often not discussed in the black community. Because she always feels like a failure, it takes her the longest of the 5 characters to properly tap into her magic. It makes for a partially funny moment.

Having read the original chapters and then the full manga, I was able to connect dots that I missed across chapters, so the twist we're presented with in this first volume is fairly dynamic, and it makes me wonder how the rest of the story will play out.

Overall, this is a fresh take on the magical girl, who even in Japanese anime is often portrayed as white girls. We have 4 black magical girls and 1 black magical boy! Each character is well thought out and unique; typical anime characters, but not stereotypical black characters, which is refreshing:

Adaeze is dealing with her issues as already stated;
Her roommate Gogo is bubbly, energetic, and striving to join the cheerleading team;
Her twin sister, Kelechi is the complete opposite, goth, hates parties, and loves black;
Kaira is earthy and meditative, one with nature and doesn't like to hurt living creatures;
and Emeka is the star soccer player, epic party host, and big man on campus.

We have a new setting for a manga by way of a university in Nigeria. As the goddaughter of Nigerians, I was excited to see this, and because of the setting, we're also provided beautiful, bright colors, patterns, and people! The individualism of each character, whether main or just a passing extra in the background, was well thought out, and the art is beautiful! Even the mmanwu we see, the way they are drawn makes them almost come to life right off the screen!

The whole volume is a really fast read, only 155 pages (I finished it in less than half a day). I don't know if Jacque will slow the story down, now that all of the characters are aware of their powers, and give us some more character backstory/development. I wouldn't mind it. We have glimpses of who each character is, but it would be nice to see them fleshed out just a little more, like Agents of the Realm or Sleepless Domain, online comics that also feature black magical girls and give us very detailed looks at who each character is while still giving us some action to enjoy.

Either way, I'm excited for this brand, and I hope it goes on strong. It gets 4 out of 5 stars from me!

Insecure Writer's Support Group


I can't believe it's May already! That means the Insecure Writer's Support Group is back! Take a moment to thank our founder, Alex J. Cavanaugh and visit the IWSG Site to join in and read others' posts for the day.

I actually don't have a lot to say this month. I'm writing in my New Adult fantasy project and waiting for the final version of my young adult fantasy cover! By June, I will know when I am publishing Fractured Princess!

If you haven't signed up for the IWSG e-mails, you should. This month's e-mail focused on marketing as a self-published author, and I intend to soak up that information over the next few weeks. I'm still very excited.

The question of the month is: What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?

I'm not sure how to answer that, really. I think it's because I've always been someone who loved to read and write, there hasn't been that type of epiphany? I guess stepping into Narnia that first time, or falling in love with A Christmas Carol; those stories remain some of my favorite childhood tales, and they couldn't have been had the words and imagery not been so powerful.

Have a great May!