April Review

 

© Creative Commons Zero (CC0)


It is already the last Wednesday of APRIL. This is wild.

This month has flown by. Things are steadily picking up a pace of sorts for me. I took a break in March, which was helpful. I also had my 3-month lab and doctor appointment, and my oncologist said I could get my port removed! So, this past Monday, that's exactly what I did, just 1 year and 2 days after my last chemo treatment! I got Thai-rolled ice cream and then later DQ ice cream to celebrate with my younger sister, who went with me. I can't wait to sleep on my left side and not feel that piece of plastic in my chest, or the cut healing, which feels very weird when a surge of slight pain hits.

I had started streaming my video game play, and I realize I don't really like to, so after I finish replaying the Final Fantasy VII Remake, I probably won't stream again for a long while. Maybe when I have a fanbase and someone to talk to besides a potential follower in the future, I'll pick it back up. N.K. Jemisin does it every now and then, and I'd like to do that, too one day.

While I don't want to keep on the secretary/admin track I've fallen into, my older sister said she recommended me to my brother-in-law to do his admin work when he gets his business up and running. That would be a little different from being a government secretary, and certainly a work-from-home gig, which I would highly appreciate. I'd also really like to do more proofreading, so I set up a profile for Upwork for freelance jobs. I have an alert for Writing jobs set up through Linkedin, but I realized I don't want to do a writing job that isn't me writing my books. That's enough pressure as it is. Proofing is something I can almost do in my sleep, and I used to have a business in it that didn't really take off past a few clients I already knew, so that's what I would like to lean towards.

Writing-wise, I looked at both my NA Fantasies this month. I need to get back to those, but as I've figured out my next step in the Fractured Princess sequel, I need to work on that more. I honestly don't know what the future holds for me being a signed author versus an independent author, but I do know I'm going to keep writing that series.

I hope everyone has had a prosperous April. Just three more days, and you know the drill:




April Writing Update

 


It is mid-April! UGH. Time. Slow down!

More specifically, it's the third Wednesday, where I provide an update about my writing if I have one. AND I DO. Last week, I realized who the main antagonist is the Shattered Chronicles series, and I'm super excited. I might even have enough material for a whole other book. Which is scary, but we'll see what happens. It's not like I don't already have prequel-type scenes sitting in a Word doc already. *wicked smirk*

More news to hopefully come soon about the republishing of Fractured Princess in two parts. The current policy of SFF/For the Culture brand is for books to be approximately 45K, so I can't do anything about it but hope that it changes in the future. We shall see.

Wednesday Words: Stephen King's The Shining

 


I'm actually back, I think! Happy 2nd Wednesday of the month! On this day, I share with you all what I am reading, and this month is a fun one. If by fun, you like being scared out of your wits.



A few weeks ago, my younger sister said she had never seen all of The Shining, so I said we should watch it. As we were watching it, I realized I'd never seen the whole thing! Before then, I had only seen from the point where Wendy was speaking to a therapist, but also, I'd only ever seen it on cable, so there were several scenes that were cut. I'm not a fan of Stanley Kubrick's movies. I think he butchers and over-sexualizes books when he adapts them, and that's going off of the two I've seen. So, the only important scene that was really essential that I'd never seen but had heard my older sister always talk about was the old woman in the bathtub. She was featured heavily in Doctor Sleep, which was a GREAT movie. Maybe we'll read the book next, as there is an excerpt at the end of this one.

But anyway, I say all this to say that after we watched it and told our older sister, we decided to read the book together, so that's where we are. I haven't read a Stephen King novel since Full Dark No Stars, which wasn't really scary, just super dark. I know how The Shining ends, and it doesn't end with Jack frozen in the maze, eyes rolled back for no reason. But if you haven't read it, I won't give it away.

Here is a bit of dialogue about the creepy old woman, cutting out the rude misogyny in this. It's excessive here:

"...a chambermaid, Delores Vickery...she gives out with a helluva shriek while she's makin up the room where those two stayed, and she faints dead away. When she comes to she says she seen the dead woman in the bathroom, layin naked in the tub. 'Her face was all purple an puffy,' she says, 'an she was grinnin at me.' So Ullman gave her two weeks' worth of walking papers and told her to get lost. I figure there's maybe forty-five people died in this hotel since my grandfather opened it for business in 1910."

All the big hotels have secrets and superstitions. I'll stick to Days Inn then. haha


What are you reading this month?


Insecure Writer's Support Group

 


Happy April!
I'm currently on a blogging break, but I did want to pop in to answer this month's Insecure Writer's Support Group question! You can visit the website and our founder, Alex J. Cavanaugh, for the list of co-hosts for the month and other participants, as well as join us by signing up!

This month's question is: Are you a risk-taker when writing? Do you try something radically different in style/POV/etc. or add controversial topics to your work?

I don't know if I'm a huge risk-taker. I probably have a darker focus in my work than other YA/NA writers. I've never been afraid to have more gruesome scenes or imagery in my stories, even when I was a kid. I grew up in a Stephen King-loving household, so I'm sure that has something to do with it.

Actually, Style/POV-wise, I decided to write the Shattered Chronicles series in present tense to pull myself more into it emotionally, and I know present tense might be considered a risk. I hardly notice the tense in books when I read them unless it suddenly changes, so it's not something I consider a risk, but I know others don't like it. Makes no difference to me. :)

What about you?