tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10206538501616637002024-03-16T14:51:56.898-04:00Across the Boardweekly thoughts from your friendly neighborhood genresStephen Kozeniewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15185600045044927669noreply@blogger.comBlogger906125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1020653850161663700.post-42755816399583544182023-12-18T12:00:00.099-05:002023-12-18T19:33:29.511-05:00Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen<p><strong style="color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><em>The last ever quality post brought to you by </em></strong><a href="http://amazon.com/author/kozeniewski" style="color: #3170fc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration-line: none;"><strong><em>Steve</em></strong></a><strong style="color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><em>!</em></strong></p><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><a href="http://amazon.com/author/kozeniewski" style="color: #3170fc; margin: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="amazon.com/author/kozeniewski" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc8c_BJZRKMP_qtFSxIv7KCmYdgGubvvng5SO7gVYcYCmHbPJlA0hZbMVnyJRWTq3f_KxE0qa8cBZe1Tt5Yn1oN-u-2SRYVNzPq6TFQWBAew1xsA7gTEVjP46jkZGWoTcQfJBcEvATaMY/s1600/Signature.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); padding: 0px;" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Hey, everybody!</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">That's the last time I'm going to say, "Hey, everybody!" on this blog.</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">In case you've missed it over the past month plus, Across the Blog is retiring...at the end of this post. I could make some empty promises about us getting the band back together here and there, or maybe hosting a special event or a special guest in the future, but they would be just that: empty. Probably after today this blog will just sit and rust, unused, unthought of, and unread, until Google shuts down Blogger or the internet implodes.</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">And that's sad. </div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">But it's not the end of the world.</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">We'll all still be here. I have <a href="http://manuscriptsburn.blogspot.com">my own personal blog</a>, which will probably become the new ground zero for my thoughts, as it was before there ever was an Across the Board. For the last few years, as I've found I have less I wish to say publicly and blogging has become harder and harder, I've held everything back until it was my turn to come on here. Now, when thoughts arise that demand to be shared, I'll just go straight to Manuscripts Burn.</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Christian, Victor, Jess, Kayleigh, Mary, Sam, and Karissa will all return to their corners of social media and the internet, as so many of our contributors have before. And the friendships will remain. </div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">So why does it feel so damn hard to say goodbye?</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">I haven't been involved with a lot of creative endeavors that ended. Usually, if anything, they just peter out. And when something just peters out you don't "miss" it in the way you would that something with a hard start and stop does, because you never really thought about it ending, until you look back at it and realize that it just did at some point. Certainly, I've never been involved in a creative endeavor that lasted ten years and then ended. That's...my God, a quarter of my life. It sounds stupid to say, but it's true. Almost the entirety of my writing career, put another way.</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">For the past two months, in anticipation of this day, I've been looking back at our earliest posts, mostly to get a feel for when we actually started and how and what that looked like. My first appearance on this blog was being interviewed by Kimberly Garnick Giarratano, who invited me to be a contributor here in the first place, and has gone on to have an astonishing career. Then my first post was interviewing Mary Fan, who a few years later would become a contributor here, and has also gone on to have enormous success. </div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">I hate to name any more names, for fear of making anyone feel left out, but I've followed the careers of each of the contributors to this blog since departing, and everyone's gone on to do great work. In a funny way, a lot of people had to say goodbye to ATB in the first place because their careers were taking off. Maybe someday looking at the ATB archives will be like looking at that photograph of the West Point Class of 1915.</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Or maybe not. Maybe it's just a thing some people did for a while, and then will have fond memories of for a little while, and then be completely forgotten.</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">I probably need to stop writing now or I'll start crying. Or, worse, get schmaltzy like the last episode of MASH, and perhaps even name this final blogpost after it.</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">So...thank you. Thank you for reading. Thank you for being here. Thank you for spending the last ten years with all of us here at Across the Board. And we'll see you all on down the road.</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Goodbye, everybody!</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiOtKp_kQeooAvKsLbIYVvQA56tVxJE3OtaRG0ojzrYGPPBjwDnF8YPniYR06SBiWMM-EXY8USeyx0Cl89o5idzyOI9PARgvWTbNjlnNzVorJW7UuanackgfNcWPG-Tzj49JauS2mF1Lhmtd8rgbA1Eu8VPwPmTALpSjUYC78Rib-WTDorLUSgt3tyhnU/s1000/MV5BOGJmYjc1NDYtMThiZS00YWJhLWFkOWYtODRiZGQ1ZTQ1YWEzXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjUxMjc1OTM@._V1_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="523" data-original-width="1000" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiOtKp_kQeooAvKsLbIYVvQA56tVxJE3OtaRG0ojzrYGPPBjwDnF8YPniYR06SBiWMM-EXY8USeyx0Cl89o5idzyOI9PARgvWTbNjlnNzVorJW7UuanackgfNcWPG-Tzj49JauS2mF1Lhmtd8rgbA1Eu8VPwPmTALpSjUYC78Rib-WTDorLUSgt3tyhnU/w640-h334/MV5BOGJmYjc1NDYtMThiZS00YWJhLWFkOWYtODRiZGQ1ZTQ1YWEzXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjUxMjc1OTM@._V1_.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div>Stephen Kozeniewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15185600045044927669noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1020653850161663700.post-50955751379717080752023-12-16T13:28:00.007-05:002023-12-16T15:39:00.429-05:00On Death and Rebirth - A Goodbye Post from New Orleans<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhFUB9H0cgdgtN-f1J_3Ra04ddeAjdkUCjgTgV8VebC1aCzngOE9dvatfO5znWopyYooJvyxxW-uoWm83JyxLU4ERwRu2QFztAHfyEX7gmqviota1UOoOZkDdYhd-qq5SDv5aVY-FqMkUJREKgnRmoB-BHyfdY2Q3tH69N3u_YKkoOD4hh1b52fpsRcSqA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhFUB9H0cgdgtN-f1J_3Ra04ddeAjdkUCjgTgV8VebC1aCzngOE9dvatfO5znWopyYooJvyxxW-uoWm83JyxLU4ERwRu2QFztAHfyEX7gmqviota1UOoOZkDdYhd-qq5SDv5aVY-FqMkUJREKgnRmoB-BHyfdY2Q3tH69N3u_YKkoOD4hh1b52fpsRcSqA=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">I am currently writing this final post for </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">ATB: Writers</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> in New Orleans, where I am attending the wedding of a friend. It’s been a commemorative and lively celebration of sorts thus far, celebrating in a city very much built to be the life of the party in and of itself. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Weddings are events celebrating the fact we are very much alive. A reinforced forging of a bond crafted out of something something broken. There’s something magical to the deconstruction and of the I in the embrace of the WE. A ritual that sees two spirits becoming one in partnership sharing their ideals, hopes, and dreams. Forged in rituals of reaffirmation, marriage feels like a reminder of the ending of one's bachelorhood and the embrace, of a new modality of being, and the priorities that come with it.</span></div></span><span id="docs-internal-guid-043dd5fc-7fff-cf74-000f-113af2d902f4"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Children. Retirement. Savings. Responsibility. Things of interest in the pursuit of fulfilling the needs of not just our happiness, but with that, those of the external other that is your partner. To live for not just your interest but in the joys of being with that someone as well or else you become a lost soul in the sea of the strayed. Which I don’t fully believe yet is something proselytized to no end.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I love the city of New Orleans because it is a city of Life and Death. A place alive with its lively jazz music – an improvised style historically crafted to embrace the feeling of the moment – and sweeping all-spiritual juju, summoned by imbibing in the spirits. The absinthe bottles to ever clear the clairvoyance of our perception that New Orleans has always felt like a place to ramble on absolutely about absolute nothings, which is not unlike what I'm doing right here.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In the short time that I’ve spent in this city, besides getting heinously drunk – or Cahssay’d as the locals have called it – I have now tried all the local cuisine, done the French Quarter tours, and visited many museums, atop checking out a few local hauntings and cursed places. I visited these places out of morbid curiosity and personal interest, coming from a former Goth kid gone Emo turned Scenester, now just shy of middle age for any of these hipstery labels to feel relevant now.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjqpMmiNWtZ30lgZUdpPGJasV3UfqmU8Ok7GQoqQepZsRS41MsRw8Vu6UDRHii23rZWrMG71o6ec6kOL4y8t9systl-gB0dnFLWSBx2aR4j4JmoyF2PcignhQgT9I4Q-fIthk4qw-fMSq0IiH8Jk5Dg0u13BTy4mCVh1CYhKGCmPid-QTxDtmmHjnvO2RE" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center; white-space-collapse: collapse;"><img data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjqpMmiNWtZ30lgZUdpPGJasV3UfqmU8Ok7GQoqQepZsRS41MsRw8Vu6UDRHii23rZWrMG71o6ec6kOL4y8t9systl-gB0dnFLWSBx2aR4j4JmoyF2PcignhQgT9I4Q-fIthk4qw-fMSq0IiH8Jk5Dg0u13BTy4mCVh1CYhKGCmPid-QTxDtmmHjnvO2RE=w607-h640" width="607" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Tomb of still-living actor Nicholas Cage in New Orleans' oldest cemetery.</i></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Adventuring the city included visits to the most popular attractions of the spiritual including a </span><a href="https://neworleanshistorical.org/items/show/1492" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">cursed ghost mansion of atrocities</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, a convent </span><a href="https://mytpl.org/project/vampires-in-the-deep-south-the-casket-girls-and-comte-de-st-germain/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">hosting a series of vampires</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, and the </span><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/marie-laveaus-tomb" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">grave of the Voodoo Queen.</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> On our first day, we found a three-hundred-year-old European mirror at an antique store, whose frame was finished about the edges with a pair of dancing Phoenixes. Creatures who in ancient Egypt, depicted rebirth within the flames. It was the death of who we were as people from before. The beginning of something new. And the embrace of the people we were going to be, which is what I was happy about with the newly married couple.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This was sort of the feeling I’ve been having this entire trip with me leaving The Workprint, my little entertainment journalism outlet I helped shape after 6 years, and of course, seeing the end of this Blog right here. I do feel like many chapters of my life are closing at the moment but I also do think this is making room for brand new stories. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">See, I’m at a point in life where I feel connected to something beyond my control. I have a greater sense of purpose now, which as mentioned in </span><a href="https://atbwriters.blogspot.com/2023/11/the-end-of-days-and-finishing-my-first.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">my previous posts</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> after </span><a href="https://atbwriters.blogspot.com/2023/10/on-awkward-debuts-on-beautiful-in-tomb.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">finishing my first comic book</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, makes me sharper in pursuit of what I want to value within my life. This is good, as I’ve been feeling like I have been needing a change for quite some time. </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">At the moment, I have a new Comic Book I am working on called ‘Dead on The Inside’. It is a different take on the zombie genre equal parts love letter as it is, satire. Atop of this, I am also ghostwriting a book about recruiting, pitching a few stories, and working on a screenplay pilot for a company hoping to get picked up by Netflix. So yes, this year, will be my busiest, and I’m sad I cannot share it here. Though I can promise things are happening for me.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I can’t think of a better place for this new phase to begin than down in New Orleans. A place built upon the abandoned graves of the dead, spawning life anew in the Bayou. When I visited the Tomb in Cemetery #1 of Marie Laveau, a woman of legend whose life inspired not just Voodoo but the city itself and </span><a href="https://medium.com/the-riff/the-witchy-woman-who-inspired-songs-in-many-genres-3db84e6754ba" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">a whole sea of art and music</span></a>, <span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I couldn’t help but feel like I was meant to make a wish on her spirit. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The sayings tell stories of her being almost like a D'jinn of sorts, etch XXX on the tomb and ask a deal with her soul and the spirits of the Earth for any wish in return. Which I wondered, if it would be worth it, to ask for strength to make something great that’ll stand the test of time. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I realized of course, that despite liking to write about the paranoia of the paranormal – I’m actually, not all that into the practice. Just the ideas behind beliefs. Which, I promise, if you follow me on this next leg of the adventure, is where the magic will be made. Those things</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> will happen soon in my life as a storyteller. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And the world will feel ineffably changed. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I’ll leave you with this. In the 13th card in the tarot deck, lies the death card. It is one that I often draw by chance quite often in these ‘psychic’ readings. 13 is also, by coincidence, my lucky number. If you know me personally, I probably have also shared with you that wherever I go, death often seems to follow. So as a result I'm a bit obsessed with death and the beyond. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Yet, as dictated in both Boolean logic equations which form the basis of modern computing, and even, the philosophy of Daoism: every iteration of something hosts a concept of NOT that thing in itself. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">So with every death comes rebirth. The start of life anew. Or as that drunken bar tune goes…</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">So here’s to the end of ATBWriters and the beginnings of something else entirely.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Thank you to Mary Fan for letting me be a part of the club.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This one is for all of you. That we may start the new year with humble beginnings that shake the foundations of our very world -- for the better.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Cheers.</span></p><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div></span>Christian Angeleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867087955880025664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1020653850161663700.post-42344263941259313082023-12-11T09:00:00.001-05:002023-12-11T09:00:00.136-05:00The End of an Era!<p style="text-align: justify;">Hello (and goodbye, I suppose)!</p><p style="text-align: justify;">If you regularly read the blog you'll know that we're closing up shop, and are all posting are last ever offerings to you fine folk. This is mine.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I would have had to, regretfully, leave after this last month of 2023, anyway, but I'm sad to know that it's all ending entirely because I enjoy reading everyone's posts each month. This year has been crazy, so packed with responsibilities, new things, and obligations. I've hit the point of complete and utter burnout, so much so that I've come to the reluctant realisation that moving forward in 2024, I'm going to have to drop some of the plates I've been spinning.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I'd like to thank Koz for inviting me on as a contributor a couple of years ago, and everyone else for having me in the clan, amongst all the other wonderful posts that I've got to live amongst. And obviously, to anyone reading - thanks for being here! I hope you've enjoyed my ramblings as much as I enjoyed writing them!</p><p style="text-align: justify;">So to close out, I'd like to share the good word about one last thing, a festive book that I'm currently reading! John McNee's <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hail-Santa-John-McNee-ebook/dp/B0CJZZ632J/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1702020624&sr=8-1" target="_blank">HAIL SANTA</a> is currently available, and satisfies both my love of horror, and my extremely intense and all-encompassing love of Christmas!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrsphNC38EPtQpOwpePAzmIb6Q1i_pOptz0G9FmJVFEKE5SL1lgtDT-leCx-zvo2RMkwTjZMqnO8qqdpvO2HFXBymzuvq4nJw8cN8zWu4m6pn4qMMRiiNJqYKfovcbqHg4cRxhnhlOT3HwGEJvzixt7jWirOG0438Vj8CCw0Cr1TTXFjZJKfCuxLFUWMG0/s5000/199216452.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5000" data-original-width="3333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrsphNC38EPtQpOwpePAzmIb6Q1i_pOptz0G9FmJVFEKE5SL1lgtDT-leCx-zvo2RMkwTjZMqnO8qqdpvO2HFXBymzuvq4nJw8cN8zWu4m6pn4qMMRiiNJqYKfovcbqHg4cRxhnhlOT3HwGEJvzixt7jWirOG0438Vj8CCw0Cr1TTXFjZJKfCuxLFUWMG0/s320/199216452.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>Reject God. Worship Santa!</i></b></span></div><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><div style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><div style="text-align: center;">With a failing economy and dwindling population, the once-flourishing mining community of St. Nicholas in northern Canada is on the road to ruin.</div></span><div style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><div style="text-align: center;">That was until the arrival of the Bingzhen Group, a Chinese-American conglomerate with ambitious plans to buy the town and transform it into the most popular ski resort and holiday destination in North America.</div></span><div style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><div style="text-align: center;">With the deal done and Christmas approaching, the community is buzzing with excitement about the future and the influx of new residents, like Binzhen envoy Ling Wong, Scottish schoolteacher Shona Fleming, new school custodian Curtis Tate and a small army of contractors. What none of them realize is that St. Nicholas was never theirs to sell.</div></span><div style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><div style="text-align: center;">There is something else here which has long laid claim to the land. Something which has long held the town in its thrall and does not intend to give it up without a fight. Something strange and inhuman. Something cruel and powerful and very, very, hungry.</div></span><div style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><div style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;">The children call him Santa Claus.</div><div style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I'm only one chapter in and already I recommend it. The mystery, the scary folk-horror(ish - don't know where it's going yet!) vibe, and the tone it's written in is thoroughly entertaining!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">If you want to check it out, you can find it<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hail-Santa-John-McNee-ebook/dp/B0CJZZ632J/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1702020624&sr=8-1" target="_blank"> HERE.</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Okay, for the last time, that's it from me. Happy Holidays everyone, love to you all xxxxxx</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></span><p></p>Kayleigh Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02685638940539219658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1020653850161663700.post-69314739405449384312023-12-07T12:00:00.001-05:002023-12-07T12:00:00.139-05:0010 Resolutions for 2024 (Goodbye)<p> </p><p>The year is coming to an end, and it looks like this blog is too. Everyone's already touched on that by now. We're all a bit sad and a bit relieved at the same time. The end of one era signals the beginning of another. I'm so glad I got to be a part of it these last few years. I didn't always have a lot to say. Blog topics have always been hard for me, but it was nice to have something to contribute to on the regular. I'm super thankful to Koz for inviting me to be a part of it.</p><p>So, now that the elephant in the room has been acknowledged, I leave you with my list of New Year's Resolution suggestions for the start of 2024:</p><p> </p><p>1.) Make yourself the most important person in your life.</p><p>2.) Stop defining yourself by what you do to earn money (or how much money you make!)</p><p>3.) Take long relaxing soaks in the bathtub at least once a week.<br /></p><p>4.) Stop worrying about your weight and concentrate more about your overall health.</p><p>5.) Be proud of every scar, wrinkle, and stretch mark you've earned.</p><p>6.) Wash your pillows more often.<br /></p><p>7.) Redo one room in your place, even if it just means throwing out stuff.</p><p>8.) Create something.</p><p>9.) Splurge every now and then.</p><p>10.) Tell your friends you love them.</p><p><br /></p><p>I'll knock one of these out right now. </p><p>I love you all. </p><p>Thanks for reading my random crap every week. If you want to read more of my crap, visit my website for a list of my newest books at <a href="http://www.jessicaeppley.com">www.jessicaeppley.com</a>.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Stay weird.<br /></p>~Jessica Eppley~http://www.blogger.com/profile/07961206925959220124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1020653850161663700.post-70782798845748337802023-12-04T09:00:00.016-05:002023-12-04T09:00:00.134-05:00Fare Thee Well, Across the Board!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.MaryFan.com" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="179" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8b4CB1dUGlnmIHD9YnUBOBPTvJYzZn3KG08axsWkB9ITTcvxEO77u3f5OoBCdROVfflGC7yJEcJ7i_7_1UiM4BOsVaW0RJnH-4T_6HjrWNGKXgS9gY1bhyglovuhHuTccasNMFTxnfpBuqFxHdJVgpKVyA-w9EMCTMogz-CSwBljkMiwUI25cFkfuw2A/s1600/Favicon.png" width="179" /></a></div>If my <a href="https://atbwriters.blogspot.com/2023/11/writing-one-true-constant.html" target="_blank">previous post </a>sounded a little final, well, that's because I actually thought it was gonna be my last post and only realized after writing it that there was another month left to 2023 (I've been very discombobulated this year). I'm of course bummed about the blog coming to an end, but also I'm glad we were able to give it a proper send-off. Also, eight years, the amount of time I've been writing here, is a looooong while to be doing anything. Other than living in my Jersey City apartment and owning my cat, I haven't stuck with any one thing for this long consistently.<p></p><p>Since I already waxed philosophical last month, I figured I'd use this final post to give a summary of where I'm at, writing-wise, and what's coming up next.</p><p>A bunch of my writer friends were making graphics to show off their published output for 2023, and of course I couldn't resist jumping on the brag train...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM-EUMNvoAHXe23tG_YDL9q4_BDCCNbMkGLLwLall0oTk4usWbLoXL0wGOMbOs9lyyGhCWu3L7MABoFcj0eGNCyxK-SPVH1DmVPMVhededE2WMgLuF6hZefqIHbzTB-2rnVBNiqGEjPvyjo6FVbWiSUsU2t9i3bq20cWe6MJXQChDigm7jfxieyHEjJN8/s940/Contributed%20story%20%E2%80%9CThe%20Woman%20from%20Wuchu%E2%80%9D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="940" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM-EUMNvoAHXe23tG_YDL9q4_BDCCNbMkGLLwLall0oTk4usWbLoXL0wGOMbOs9lyyGhCWu3L7MABoFcj0eGNCyxK-SPVH1DmVPMVhededE2WMgLuF6hZefqIHbzTB-2rnVBNiqGEjPvyjo6FVbWiSUsU2t9i3bq20cWe6MJXQChDigm7jfxieyHEjJN8/w400-h335/Contributed%20story%20%E2%80%9CThe%20Woman%20from%20Wuchu%E2%80%9D.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I find it pretty funny that they're all short stories pictured here, since I still consider myself a novelist, and still say I can't write short stories, only mini novels. The novel I was supposed to publish this year, <i>Flynn Nightsider and the Ire of Inferno</i>, hasn't materialized yet for a number of reasons... okay mainly one reason, which is burnout. I also have half a dozen novel-length manuscripts in the aether... maybe my agent will be able to find a home for one, or maybe I'll publish one myself after I wrap up the <i>Flynn Nightsider</i> series. I don't know. A few years ago, I wanted nothing more than to see my books in print, even if it meant putting in the work to print them myself. Now, I'm a little more neutral about it. Having the book be finished was the goal... I care less about whether it's out there or not. Or maybe that's the burnout talking.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Anyway, here's what I've definitely got coming up in 2024:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJnhzfzEZvzQOj5npl9QBIkiC94cXnrqp4f9v8F6xCaA0fA5dqcOFMqECx2kEFGjYv17N6ua9ww1yvMlghFOQ98CI3QzEaqgSZ6UKo3GughPzbkob-Bza4leubF9ASVuKfh2Qm_eropZeDXshp_WqqA8ixRzGKc0bgAuOB8sQNOwRfeEs0yEtUXGwuuvA/s300/IreOfInferno-200x300.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJnhzfzEZvzQOj5npl9QBIkiC94cXnrqp4f9v8F6xCaA0fA5dqcOFMqECx2kEFGjYv17N6ua9ww1yvMlghFOQ98CI3QzEaqgSZ6UKo3GughPzbkob-Bza4leubF9ASVuKfh2Qm_eropZeDXshp_WqqA8ixRzGKc0bgAuOB8sQNOwRfeEs0yEtUXGwuuvA/w133-h200/IreOfInferno-200x300.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><br />Flynn Nightsider and the Ire of Inferno, </i>the third and final Flynn Nightsider book... I mean it this time! I'm gonna release this one at Gen Con in August if it's the last thing I do!!!!! I already have a full outline and the first few chapters written... just need to shake the cobwebs out of my head and finish the damn thing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRgK6XQwxnEtknMU8dV_OXmsDduc2dCguLbSnmM4Fmod-GetgdGPn_0lOKxkDYLZMvBP5AwG2Fw8XyxpxLb5CnTYO2hnx5NLxiQUfSVwGC83S5s2nvNDxHwo0gv_sdXsfXNZ2IYGjzXakP0aHwjz4qlXRWYSIlh7tVtIpss3FtrS70oesFGmaUfNPy_2I/s300/BraveNewGirls8-200x300.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRgK6XQwxnEtknMU8dV_OXmsDduc2dCguLbSnmM4Fmod-GetgdGPn_0lOKxkDYLZMvBP5AwG2Fw8XyxpxLb5CnTYO2hnx5NLxiQUfSVwGC83S5s2nvNDxHwo0gv_sdXsfXNZ2IYGjzXakP0aHwjz4qlXRWYSIlh7tVtIpss3FtrS70oesFGmaUfNPy_2I/w133-h200/BraveNewGirls8-200x300.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><i>Brave New Girls: Chronicles of Curious Girls who Create. </i>Yes, we're back with an EIGHTH anthology,<br /> which feels wild because the whole project kicked off after a beer-fueled Facebook rant between me and Paige Daniels, which led to the crowdfunding campaign for what was meant to be a single book, which has apparently turned into a series... hey, as long as people keep askin' for 'em, we'll keep makin' 'em! <a href="http://bravenewgirls.weebly.com/submissions.html" target="_blank">Submissions are currently open</a>, by the way! We'll be releasing the anthology in July 2024.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg10kl3U8Yh000BTXxAxVaqkEfDeeDP6FK2uUR1WhqrIBdx_7fITWFK2jSF9K9GC35zzvtF5A62hBVh6CS08BCKTxJunKwGHnRL_F7sGzQ-WDUH4xgYPMT3DfpnJ7dltDyguL68VYlFpP2pzlTFb_PT4w5ICDb3zOU01R-dJQqZnncdLdyP5po8NDWasH8/s1200/MagicUnderTheBigTop_Ebook_BN.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="800" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg10kl3U8Yh000BTXxAxVaqkEfDeeDP6FK2uUR1WhqrIBdx_7fITWFK2jSF9K9GC35zzvtF5A62hBVh6CS08BCKTxJunKwGHnRL_F7sGzQ-WDUH4xgYPMT3DfpnJ7dltDyguL68VYlFpP2pzlTFb_PT4w5ICDb3zOU01R-dJQqZnncdLdyP5po8NDWasH8/w133-h200/MagicUnderTheBigTop_Ebook_BN.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><i>Magic Under the Big Top</i>, a circus-themed anthology I'm editing for indie author collective Snowy Wings Publishing. This one's taking longer than expected to come together because we're all busy, busy indie authors with a gazillion irons in the fire... I just finished my own contribution, like, yesterday (that's not even an exaggeration). But I'm okay with the long timeline, since I know it'll be amazing when it finally comes out... sometime in 2024.<br /><br /><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz4rF1DtZgL5FQ30MF5DSHixIxfk6_bgnus7ByEM6j1OOOqhonVCIV2yZ62yzAQzvnNy9i9JG68yJMVo7d5VcbW064wMdz_P0hGsBk-BQOjJJLM7z0mTeQebn9lQRjQO3PraIcPHzz6igPCPsWIiUQOIHD5v69CXYr0EW4ueDS6OBz1MfNRinFy7MgQIo/s1538/phenomenons%203%20art.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1538" data-original-width="1254" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz4rF1DtZgL5FQ30MF5DSHixIxfk6_bgnus7ByEM6j1OOOqhonVCIV2yZ62yzAQzvnNy9i9JG68yJMVo7d5VcbW064wMdz_P0hGsBk-BQOjJJLM7z0mTeQebn9lQRjQO3PraIcPHzz6igPCPsWIiUQOIHD5v69CXYr0EW4ueDS6OBz1MfNRinFy7MgQIo/w163-h200/phenomenons%203%20art.jpeg" width="163" /></a></div><i>Phenomenons: The Wind and Fire</i>, the third installment in Crazy 8 Press's superhero shared-world anthology, edited by Michael Jan Friedman. We just hit our Kickstarter goal, which means this book is definitely happening! My salt-wielding teen heroine Sarcastic Fringehead will be returning for another adventure! What's it about? Not entirely sure yet, though I think I'll pick up some threads from my last story, "Above the Salt", in <i>Phenomenons: Season of Darkness</i>... </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Eliminate the Impossible</i>, an anthology of Sherlock Holmes reimaginings with Derek Tyler Attico, Christopher D. Abbott, and Keith R.A. DeCandido. We'll be indie publishing this just-for-funsies project, with a cover by yours truly! Who will my Holmes be? Undecided... But I'd better figure it out soon, because we're aiming to release it around Christmas 2024.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Combat Monsters</i>, a World War II secret history anthology edited by Henry Herz, in which I'll have a short story. The theme is: What if monsters and mythical creatures had taken part in major World War II battles? This was new territory for me, and writing my story took a lot more effort than I expected. But I turned in my draft earlier this year, and I'm excited to see it out in the world sometime in 2024!</div><p>That's it for now (wait that's already 6 things GAH!). There may be one or two other short things that materialize over the course of next year... Also, at some point, I've gotta return to the <i>Fated Stars</i> series... we'll see...</p><p>Anyway, farewell, Across the Board! You can find me writing at <i><a href="https://www.theworkprint.com/author/mary-fan" target="_blank">The Workprint</a></i>, and, of course, posting on the socials, mainly <a href="https://www.facebook.com/mfanwriter" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/astralcolt/" target="_blank">Instagram</a> (and occasionally, for some reason, <a href="https://twitter.com/AstralColt" target="_blank">Twitter-now-X</a>).</p>Mary Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11280462566854191985noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1020653850161663700.post-82896887328282336272023-11-30T12:00:00.048-05:002023-11-30T12:00:00.137-05:00Endings are Hard<p>Well, here it is, My final post on the blog. </p><p>I was thrilled to be invited here in 2021, and my <a href="https://atbwriters.blogspot.com/2021/12/beginning-at-end-my-first-post-all.html">first post</a> was published almost exactly two years ago. My first appearance on here was about eighteen months before that, where I discussed our pandemic rewatch of the <a href="https://atbwriters.blogspot.com/2020/05/a-star-war-day.html">Star Wars films</a> with Karissa Laurel and Mary Fan. It's been a fun two years, where I got to write about <a href="https://atbwriters.blogspot.com/2023/08/artificial-indolence-or-why-ai-may-take.html">AI created TV shows</a>, <a href="https://atbwriters.blogspot.com/2022/05/jacks-back-look-at-jack-reacher-on-page.html">Jack Reacher</a>, how to approach art from creators who are <a href="https://atbwriters.blogspot.com/2022/01/so-your-favorite-writer-turned-out-to.html">assholes</a>, and introduce many of you to the <a href="https://atbwriters.blogspot.com/2022/06/google-confirms-what-i-already-knew.html">cutest dog in the world</a>. It's been great to have a place to share my thoughts on things that I didn't otherwise have an outlet for. </p><p> As this blog draws to a close, I got to thinking about what makes a good ending. We all have examples of an ending that feels satisfying and endings that don't. (Hoo boy, do I have examples of shows that didn't stick the landing... Too bad the blog is wrapping up because I could write a few thousand words about Game of Thrones and how they screwed over Danerys and WTF with King Bran and... <i>deep breath... cool blue ocean...)</i></p><p>But, in the time we have left together, let's focus on the positive. For me, one of the most satisfying endings ever came from the HBO drama, Six Feet Under. The show was good for about three seasons and kinda wonky for the last two, but the finale...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w5JkGY1qC8Y" width="320" youtube-src-id="w5JkGY1qC8Y"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>In case you are unfamiliar with this 20-year old prestige soap opera, it centered on a family-owned funeral home, Fisher & Sons, and the foibles of the staff. One of the hooks of the show was that the cold open each week would show someone dying, often in a fairly gruesome or macabre way (like the woman who stood out of the sunroof of her limo and got slammed by a traffic light). The episode would feature the staff preparing their funeral while their own personal dramas played out, giving you a bit of a window into the life the deceased had.</p><p><a href="https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xcnghv">For the final scene</a>, the daughter, Claire, is driving off to college. As she heads east through the desert, the episode flashed forward, showing glimpses of the lives of her family and their partners and children. And it also shows how each one of them will meet their end. Most live long and happy lives, some end unexpectedly (RIP poor Keith Charles' security guard character), but it absolutely feels true to the series. </p><p>While the series may have gotten wildly off track in its last two seasons, the finale definitely nailed what fans liked about the show. Every character had their story completed, every arc was paid off in a satisfying way that was true to the characters. The subtext of the series about life at a funeral home was always that life can end unexpectedly, so treasure what you have. Especially those around you. </p><p>Thank you to everyone who read my posts over the last two years. Thank you to this blog for hosting me. Thank you to Karissa and Mary for inviting me to come write. </p><p>And if you want to follow me or more of my writing, you can find me at Instagram and Bluesky under the handle @vgcatano, and over at the pop-culture site <a href="https://www.theworkprint.com/author/victor-catano">TheWorkprint.com</a></p><p>And Dany will miss you all as well, so come and visit her on Instagram where you can see more cuteness.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjJAXqADCgMSXRjHMtU8fw1Fc2MC3llRj2_DZq0_B1Pm7V7TSZgVXymrvWIwfzibI_NChs_wjfssbkuk64sMeRCI2w-3YJqc9-XEXb2739Q1wAphXcLj_EnUCr2XlI-jMZMv4zfONfwIQa-k-x0BIt_IRX4WQxjP-l-HL2eTaRTsdFo2VidDl7oJ-DIrNU" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1385" data-original-width="945" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjJAXqADCgMSXRjHMtU8fw1Fc2MC3llRj2_DZq0_B1Pm7V7TSZgVXymrvWIwfzibI_NChs_wjfssbkuk64sMeRCI2w-3YJqc9-XEXb2739Q1wAphXcLj_EnUCr2XlI-jMZMv4zfONfwIQa-k-x0BIt_IRX4WQxjP-l-HL2eTaRTsdFo2VidDl7oJ-DIrNU=w220-h322" width="220" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>Until we meet again.</p><p><i style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Victor Catano lives in New York City with his wonderful wife, Kim, and his adorable pughuaua, Danerys. When not writing, he works in live theater as a stage manager, production manager, and chaos coordinator. His hobbies include coffee, Broadway musicals, and complaining about the NY Mets and Philadelphia Eagles. Follow him on Bluesky and Instagram @vgcatano and find his books on Amazon</i></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Victor Catanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08424398263872654599noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1020653850161663700.post-32022352126550693572023-11-27T00:00:00.001-05:002023-11-27T00:00:00.142-05:00That's All Folks 🫡<p>I discovered Across The Board two years ago, when Koz made a post asking to fill a spot that had recently been vacated. At the time, I saw it as a way to reach a larger audience in regards to my book reviews and indie horror. Now, as I look back at my time with ATB, I realize these regular postings and email updates became a part of my routine that I'm greatly going to miss.</p><p>Koz really said everything best with his most recent post, especially since I haven't spent the last decade in this arena. However, I will say that I have appreciated this opportunity so much and it's been a pleasure to write amongst the amazing writers here. Koz gifted me a chance I'll always appreciate and that I'll never forget. </p><p>Thanks to all our followers and supporters, thanks to the awesome Koz, and thanks to my fellow bloggers. Happy holidays and happy new year! 🥳 ✨️</p><p>If you'd like to connect with me in the future, you can find my socials here: </p><p> https://linktr.ee/samanthas_shelf</p><p>Goodbye friends ❤️ </p><p><br /></p>Samanthas_Shelfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10674687826855319502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1020653850161663700.post-9953044621182601272023-11-20T12:00:00.076-05:002023-11-21T21:36:06.397-05:00The End (of the Blog) is Nigh!<p> <strong style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><em>Another quality post brought to you by </em></strong><a href="http://amazon.com/author/kozeniewski" style="background-color: white; color: #3170fc; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration-line: none;"><strong><em>Steve</em></strong></a><strong style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><em>!</em></strong></p><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><a href="http://amazon.com/author/kozeniewski" style="color: #3170fc; margin: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="amazon.com/author/kozeniewski" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc8c_BJZRKMP_qtFSxIv7KCmYdgGubvvng5SO7gVYcYCmHbPJlA0hZbMVnyJRWTq3f_KxE0qa8cBZe1Tt5Yn1oN-u-2SRYVNzPq6TFQWBAew1xsA7gTEVjP46jkZGWoTcQfJBcEvATaMY/s1600/Signature.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); padding: 0px;" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>October 9, 2014.</b></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">That's the date our founder, Leandra Wallace, published <a href="https://atbwriters.blogspot.com/2014/10/our-first-post.html">our very first post here</a> on Across the Board.</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>October 23, 2014.</b></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">That's the date <a href="https://atbwriters.blogspot.com/2014/10/trolling-trolls-interview-with-mary-fan.html">I posted here for the first time myself</a>. Believe it or not, I was one of the founding members of Across the Board. And of those founding members - Carrie Beckort, Nilah Magruder, Amy Jarecki, Jonathan Schramm, Kimberly Giarratano, Beth Ellyn Summer, Leandra, and myself - I am the only one still standing.</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">But not for much longer.</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>December 18, 2023.</b></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">That will be the date of our last post here on Across the Board.</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">We've been going for almost, but not quite, ten years. Most blogs become defunct within the first six months. So, in a sense, we've been shockingly resilient. But still, after three presidents, seventeen thousand Avengers movies, and nearly a decade in the digital business, we've come to the hard decision to close up shop.</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Why?</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Well, every year around this time I canvass the bloggers and see if they're still interested in keeping Across the Board a going concern. There have been a couple of occasions where I've been prepared to throw in the towel myself, as I put a lot of time into organization and administrative work that our readers never get to (or, frankly, would want to) see. But the contributors always wanted to sally forth, and their dedication carried me through.</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">This year, though, seemed like a naturally stopping point. Ten years is a long time. More than half of the current contributors were planning to bow out at the same time, and while we have worked miracles before of bringing on two, or even three new contributors at once, five is too many. A lot of what has always made Across the Board unique was the special alchemy between the eight of us, covering different subjects in different styles with different perspectives. Trying to rebuild that almost from scratch was a daunting prospect.</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">So, as a team, we decided to bow out gracefully.</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">For the next month, our remaining contributors will be making their farewell posts. So make sure to tune in for reminiscences, final thoughts, no small amount of tears and emotions, and maybe just some damned good thoughts on genre fiction. Then, on the 18th, we'll pull the plug, pop the corks on our eight bottles of champagne, and move on to the next chapters in our lives.</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Won't you follow us...one last time?</div>Stephen Kozeniewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15185600045044927669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1020653850161663700.post-46653871036285728442023-11-16T13:34:00.007-05:002023-12-16T08:46:56.636-05:00The End of Days and Finishing My First Kickstarter<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKLN-xQcHHjHTNcJ26a5ifFuZGUvRInfxzrTDoNN4Snw_d5yfrBrKLzc-I-EkLETOKSo0YKwli4r_dpLE9dTizzxjyzuBPcMIwTJAtVCcKSl7gMJrtgDnYzViaSaUbXPQLoxaNkAD595_Uior8kbxO-sN8LjIXpg6i0DBA0h4kicHIlIqm9F1OSVJ9z4o/s2000/Baalberith%202%20cover%20COLORS%20PREV.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1647" data-original-width="2000" height="528" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKLN-xQcHHjHTNcJ26a5ifFuZGUvRInfxzrTDoNN4Snw_d5yfrBrKLzc-I-EkLETOKSo0YKwli4r_dpLE9dTizzxjyzuBPcMIwTJAtVCcKSl7gMJrtgDnYzViaSaUbXPQLoxaNkAD595_Uior8kbxO-sN8LjIXpg6i0DBA0h4kicHIlIqm9F1OSVJ9z4o/w640-h528/Baalberith%202%20cover%20COLORS%20PREV.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Variant Cover by Shawn McManus<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I am writing this while being fully aware that this will be the second to last post I'll ever make for ATB: Writers, a group that I feel blessed to have joined at the end of 2021. It's strange to me that this is going to be the end given that everything is changing in my life right now. It's the beginning of something new. Something that seems to be happening with this writing career I struggled so hard to pull off.</span><p></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In the last post, I talked about </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1020653850161663700/4665387103628572844#" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">my awkward launch of a debut</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> as a comics creator. Well, we officially hit our funding a few days back. The next 24 hours are the final moments to support the Kickstarter for </span><a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/markinker/the-tomb-of-baalberith-v2?ref=creator-nav" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Tomb of Baalberith Volume 2</span></a>. <span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">As the first comic I've ever created, this issue may hold value one day, so I think you should buy it. </span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">My story is illustrated by the talented artist and my creative co-partner Jameson Matunas, along with developed by a stellar anthology of unique talents, as a project meant as a cool collaboration I do think these stories came out fantastic. It's creepy. It's meaningful. It conveys a message and has some pretty great interiors. With a reference page 1 of my comic below. Suffice it to say, I’m excited to see what happens next in terms of where this may go in the next two years. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOZrXqXafw-ZeAJA5RGHS0jkfIHbRbwd4YclZsNTAQ94oHrTHqzC4iHc0JWuhuC2m2gOQUKiNMK2xH8agp74knrnVhBMK7ohTdQGFe2q7377JGK26oK1-Jx-sIN81_5tDHbzbYbcmME0KeegwYw5MZHIAscrKjmolV-K9J02NBksGI8y4MUHqTiCTWGYs/s3132/Baalberith_v2_Beautiful_PG_1_R2-08%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3132" data-original-width="2064" height="865" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOZrXqXafw-ZeAJA5RGHS0jkfIHbRbwd4YclZsNTAQ94oHrTHqzC4iHc0JWuhuC2m2gOQUKiNMK2xH8agp74knrnVhBMK7ohTdQGFe2q7377JGK26oK1-Jx-sIN81_5tDHbzbYbcmME0KeegwYw5MZHIAscrKjmolV-K9J02NBksGI8y4MUHqTiCTWGYs/w570-h865/Baalberith_v2_Beautiful_PG_1_R2-08%20(1).jpg" width="570" /></a></div><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I will admit getting funding was a bit hard. Not just asking from the family and friends angle, but more importantly, landing the attention of that target audience. I'm talking about getting fellow creators, consumers, reviewers, and people who just genuinely like comics, both the ones who are old fans and those hungry to find something new, it all became a massive spam and say-and-pray technique of asking people to pay attention. </span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I was tired of it by the end but felt like I had to do this… given I don’t have a fanbase yet outside of a few journalism pieces. Posting constantly is tiring. Getting people to see a product stand out is some serious burnout. </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I think it was best summarized by this little blurb from Humans of New York a cousin shared with me this morning…</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ44j4lSKyLa6CbxPf7JfW9Y6J-yCnxmsDY5uOUQ85O8xnjjroZwY2drbcnzcfH6M-CeGx5-H40Ra22vpyLYTu4Vl8HhN5ISzNsor8mP5WmogsHSCM5QS9tdBdkkTOc0HQZT3wx49U4ZdfZwsjSusnAlto2qXschjk_l5HMsaOND40m4bTGVIGml0xPfQ/s1473/Screenshot%202023-11-16%20at%201.21.30%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1473" data-original-width="1361" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ44j4lSKyLa6CbxPf7JfW9Y6J-yCnxmsDY5uOUQ85O8xnjjroZwY2drbcnzcfH6M-CeGx5-H40Ra22vpyLYTu4Vl8HhN5ISzNsor8mP5WmogsHSCM5QS9tdBdkkTOc0HQZT3wx49U4ZdfZwsjSusnAlto2qXschjk_l5HMsaOND40m4bTGVIGml0xPfQ/w592-h640/Screenshot%202023-11-16%20at%201.21.30%20PM.png" width="592" /></a></div><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I am happy the comic is getting made. Yet, I'm also incredibly tired of trying to promote it, even though, I sort of know it never really stops from here on out. Because after that's finished there'll be the next one. And if not that next project? Then myself to promote. I have to keep the algorithm fed now. This was the point. The debut. The visibility and what it takes to be seen, which I don't want to engage with but do understand its value in an ever-more-so online world.</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Anyway, I'm sad ATB: Writers is ending. I liked promoting things, oversharing things, and taking things far too seriously, such as my ever-dying love of Neil Gaiman. Unfortunately, I can't deny that the hurdles aren't there. Overall, blogging seems to be dying in an age of video.</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Whatever happens next, I do plan on writing. Being a writer. Telling stories.</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">You can find me on Google writing for different outlets. I'll eventually also get my website up at <a href="http://www.christianangeles.com">www.christianangeles.com</a></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial,sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Christian Angeleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867087955880025664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1020653850161663700.post-75004745867800103212023-11-13T22:53:00.000-05:002023-11-13T22:53:20.579-05:00Why Can't I Stop Watching Gilmore Girls?<p style="text-align: center;">I usually write about books or at least about horror stuff, so this topic is weird for me. However, I'm currently on my... millionth?... rewatch of Gilmore Girls, and I don't know why but I just can't stop. It's mostly background noise for me at this point - I like a little company when I'm working or doing some other activity, but not company that I need to pay attention to. Thanks to intently watching the whole show right through several times, I kind of know it well enough to not need to tune in to enjoy having it on now.</p><p style="text-align: center;">But, for real, I think I might have a problem. I watch it from beginning to end, including A Year in the Life (even though I despise AYITL), and then I start all over again immediately. It's definitely my comfort show and I can't see it ever being replaced.</p><p style="text-align: center;">I think the writing is (mostly) excellent, to be honest. All of the characters are flawed and complex, so even when they're being dickheads, you can at least understand where they're coming from most of the time. However, I actually think that the real magic of this show is the world building. I've never wanted to live anywhere more than I've wanted to live in Stars Hollow. That town, with all it's weird festivals and celebrations, the weekly town meetings, and the general sense of community, is a cosy, friendly place of dreams for me. I wish it was real. It's the funniest, strangest, most colourful place in the world - the fictional world, unfortunately.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Outside of the lovely, familiar, welcoming settings, I think the side characters and supporting cast are outstanding - hands down the best of any show I've ever seen. Lorelei, Rory, Emily, Richard, Sookie, and Luke are the people I consider the "main cast", and they're all great characters, but honestly, given the choice, I'd want to be friends with Babette and Miss Patty first. I want to go to a town meeting and marvel at how pedantic Taylor is, and argue with him about moving a shed two inches. I want a friend like Brian, who writes a song for me in a sincerely platonic way and then is so awesome that he'd rather help look after my twin babies that go out living the rock n roll life. And most of all.... I want to be the frenemy of Paris. She might have horrible social skills rooted in self-esteem issues, but she is waaaaay more inspirational than Rory. She's the most dedicated and hardworking person I've ever seen on TV, and nothing made me happier than seeing how things turned out for her in AYITL. She was the saving grace of that reunion mini-series - and is responsible for my favourite GG moment ever. I lost it when she's in the bathroom at Chilton, freaking out, and kicks the door closed, wearing stilettos, no less.</p><p style="text-align: center;">I have to talk about the weird phenomenon of the fandom being super loyal to the show and somehow also quite hateful of both Rory and Lorelei, but especially Rory. I can't stress enough that what I'm about to say is nothing to do with Alexis Bledel, who plays Rory - she is so sweet and lovely. But Rory becomes a trash person, and I don't know why the writers did this!</p><p style="text-align: center;">When the show originally aired on TV, there were a few episodes on per week, so it took years to watch the whole show, and obviously there were gaps between seasons where we got no Gilmore Girls fix at all. It was regarded by fans as light and frothy, and Rory was a teen icon who appealed to a lesser-represented demographic of teen girls: the quiet reading type. Rory wasn't bothered about popularity, was quite comfortable being herself, had her priorities right, and was most comfortable reading a good book. She was super sweet, and ambitious in her studies, went on to a great school, had some ups and downs, and ended on a note of maturity and personal growth. To this day, the final scenes of the last episode (of the main show) make me cry. She made some pretty horrendous mistakes, like sleeping with her married ex, but the fans mostly forgave her because though her choices were bad, they were written quite realistically and were therefore believable. It was kind of fun to see the golden girl making mistakes, and learning from them.</p><p style="text-align: center;">And then, years later, Gilmore Girls became available on Netflix, allowing its original fans to binge-watch it. It also attracted many new fans, who binge-watched it. Before long, articles and YT videos about what a heinous horror Rory actually is started popping up all over the place. My flabber was ghasted - how dare they talk about my beloved icon this way?! So I also went back and binge-watched it. And then I saw what everyone else was seeing.</p><p style="text-align: center;">When you watch a few episodes a week, and time passes between them, you don't remember every little detail. When you see a season finale on the TV, and have to wait months for the resolution of the conflict-baiting conundrum, you forget how you felt in those moments that you questioned Rory's behaviour. In short, the original run's expanse of time sort of diluted her worst moments. But when you see it all back to back, probably the entire show in only a matter of weeks, all of her worst choices and qualities are crammed together and extremely noticeable.</p><p style="text-align: center;">It was only as I binged it that her patterns of behaviour suddenly became apparent to me. For example, she cheats in every single relationship she's in. She kissed Jess behind Dean's back, thus cheating on Dean and starting her relationship with Jess with a cheat. She has an affair with Dean when he's married. She kisses Jess behind Logan's back (and clearly went to see Jess to use him just for that purpose). The older she gets, the worse her relationship morals seem to go. But she's young during all these things, and there are emotional factors to all of them, so though yeah - it's bad - there's plenty of time for redemption. But then they made A Year in the Life - a much anticipated limited series released like a decade after the original show.</p><p style="text-align: center;">I couldn't contain my excitement as I waited for it to appear on Netflix. I couldn't believe that we would get to go back to Stars Hollow, catch up with everyone, and see where everyone had ended up. I had never been so thrilled about a new season of anything ever. But. OH. MY. GOD.</p><p style="text-align: center;">It felt so cold. It lacked the warmth of the original show, and I still can't put my finger on why. The quick, quippy dialogue seemed forced somehow, and the cosy feel that the show is so beloved for just wasn't there. The side characters were mostly all back, and once again, the highlight, but it's with the major characters that, in my opinion, the show totally effed up.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Firstly, Lorelei and Emily are STILL at odds with each other about the same old shit. In the finale of the main show, Lorelei establishes that though Rory is leaving, she'll continue the Friday Night Dinners. It indicated peace, growth in their relationship, and love, which is really what Gilmore Girls was always about. And yet, in AYITL, they're still treading the same ground and having the same arguments.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Lorelei and Luke are still together, but their relationship is weirder than ever. They never married or had kids, which would be fine except that in the main show, they'd both expressed the desire to do both of those things, and their reconciliation at the end suggested the happily ever after that they'd originally been on track for.</p><p style="text-align: center;">A full 20 minutes of one episode is used on the world's most irritating musical. I found it funny for a couple of minutes but Jesus Christ.... twenty whole minutes! If that isn't just a way to burn screen time without any substance, I don't know what is.</p><p style="text-align: center;">I have lots of grievances with AYITL but my biggest one is with the full character assassination they did on Rory. She's one of our two main characters and we're supposed to like her, so I can't fathom why the F they made the decisions they did. Not only was she lazy and morally bankrupt, but the way she was depicted retroactively made her character in the main show worse, because now we know where she was heading.</p><p style="text-align: center;">She hasn't learned from a single mistake. She's STILL a cheater, and an even worse one because now she's a grown woman without the excuse of lack of experience and immaturity to explain it away. She has a long-term boyfriend who she constantly forgets, and this is played as a big joke, but it's not funny. Paul is a nice guy and an innocent pawn that Rory has absolutely no love or even respect for, and she treats him appallingly. I don't know why the writers thought this would be amusing. She sleeps with an interviewee while she's supposed to be working, and then feels sorry for herself about it because the dude was a "wookie-costume-wearing-loser" that she had no intention of seeing ever again. I don't know what the poor guy did to deserve to be described as a low point, but it pissed me off. During her rant about this, she doesn't even mention her boyfriend, who she just pointlessly cheated on with a complete stranger.</p><p style="text-align: center;">But worst of all is her affair with Logan, who is engaged to a woman called Odette. </p><p style="text-align: center;">Odette is regarded as an inconvenience. She's mentioned a couple of times by Rory, and always in the context that Rory is the one being wronged. She's mad at Logan when Odette moves in with him, and butthurt that she can't just call him at any given hour risk free anymore. She's annoyed that from now on, she'll have to meet him at hotels, instead of staying at his place, which is also Odette's home. Odette is sleeping peacefully in the bed that Logan has been cheating on her in, and yet the focus of the sympathy is on Rory. What the actual F is going on with this storyline? The show ends with Rory pregnant. I think it's pretty clear that Logan is the father, but since she had a one-night stand AND had a boyfriend the whole time, there are 3 possible fathers. Which is kind of funny, actually, because in the original show, April had 3 possible dads, a fact for which her mother, Anna, was heavily judged for.</p><p style="text-align: center;">I've got no qualms whatsoever with consensual, casual sex, so long as no one is getting hurt, but that's not the case here. She's cheating on her boyfriend with someone who is seriously committed to someone else, which is two of the things she did in the original show rolled into one. She has learned NOTHING. And even worse, she doesn't care. She displays not even one morsal of guilt toward anyone on the receiving end of her callous, deceptive ways.</p><p style="text-align: center;">At least, I suppose, she's got a career going for her. When she left us in the main show's finale, she had her first proper job as a reporter on the campaign trail with Obama. She would get to travel, meet industry contacts, and work in her chosen field. She was off to conquer the world! It was so nice to see her in AYITL pursuing her... oh wait, no. She had ONE singular piece of work of note, and besides that, was just sort of aimlessly floating around unable to find a steady job. I understand that this is the real world experience of a lot of people in their thirties, especially people who work in creative or freelancing fields. I would have been happy with a storyline about how, actually, despite her education and work ethic, things haven't panned out yet. What I take issue with is that clearly, the reason it hasn't panned out is because she has no work ethic, and is so entitled that she still expects everything handed to her. The scene where she gets to Sandy Says actually boiled my blood. She understandably thought she was accepting a job, not a job interview, but her attitude once she realises is so unprofessional that I could see why no one else had hired her either. She's pissy, totally unprepared, has no pitches - which is ridiculous because she was going there to write... so what did she plan to write? - and her 'I'm too good to be here' attitude was so apparent. I didn't like Sandy much, but I was on her side when she changed her mind about having Rory work for her after meeting her for five minutes.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Also, how on earth is Rory broke? She expresses several times that she's broke, but we know that at the age of 25, she would have received a quarter of a million dollar inheritance from her paternal grandmother. Additionally, Richard has also passed away, and no one can convince me that he didn't leave her - his favourite person in the world - a substantial sum of money. I think this is probably just a plot hole and the writers forgot about the money coming to her - they did write the original show several years prior, to be fair - but it still bugs me to no end.</p><p style="text-align: center;">I meant to write a pleasant overview of why I love the show and just realised I've been on a full rant. I'll wrap it up. In short, Rory, Alexis Bledel, the entire show, and the fans, were done wrong with AYITL. Emily's arc was great, and it was wonderful to see Paris - the actual hero - absolutely smashing her professional life, as she deserved to be. But Rory... oh, my dear beloved Rory, why did they do this to you?!</p><p style="text-align: center;">And yet, despite everything I just said, I'm still watching it over and over. It still - for the most part - makes me feel happy and peaceful. It's on right now, in the background, even as I write this. For its faults, it's still wonderful, and I love it.</p><p style="text-align: center;">PS. Lindsay did nothing wrong, and it's always bugged the shit out of me that somehow, she's the character that gets booed at conventions by GG fans. Wtf?</p>Kayleigh Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02685638940539219658noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1020653850161663700.post-5358440464223343322023-11-06T17:01:00.001-05:002023-11-06T17:04:26.935-05:00Writing: The One True Constant<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.MaryFan.com" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="179" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFtZSTom3Fedwde3GsSEBF8R0v7n1rkZIygsMzjrIin-b2Fw5LX5FYgsJtVEQqB0VZk_kboNlZyhrzF3RX5YnA4As5ttMG3n_KeBI9JbuThukeKDYS4fG7olmnmXmtn297HPDVQbWX6W0qePyRMHibB11qz-K_keRuZxy2u_zxMgUSumKucvEUACD_vxs/s1600/Favicon.png" width="179" /></a></div>Hey everyone! Mary here with what will be my second to last post, after <a href="http://atbwriters.blogspot.com/2015/06/resident-nerd-reporting-for-duty.html" target="_blank">more than eight years writing for this blog</a>. Damn, that feels weird to say. Obama was president when I started contributing here in June 2015. Since then, I've changed jobs twice, I've moved, I've dropped and picked up various hobbies, I've made new friends and fallen out of touch with others. Suffice it to say, life can change a lot in eight years.<p></p><p>The one thing that's still going though? Writing. Somehow, that old habit is still following me around.</p><p>Not to say that it doesn't change and evolve with time. In 2015, I was primarily a novelist; I think I'd written one or two short stories ever. Also, my genre was general sci-fi. Now, I've written and published more short stories than I can remember (seriously, when I proofread some to reprint, I was like, "Wait what happens in this one again?"). And my genre is YA sci-fi/fantasy, with my best known book being a fantasy.</p><p>Still, even as the format and genres have shifted, writing has <i>always</i> been there. I've taken breaks, burned out and reignited, abandoned projects and picked them up again. Yet even when I would go months without writing anything new (heh, like this past summer), it was always lurking in my life, through author events I'd attend (this past Summer of No Writing was also the Summer of Four Conventions), manuscripts I was in the midst of editing or publishing, workshops I'd agreed to moderate, etc.</p><p>And I know that even if my life changes drastically — if my job changes, if I move, etc. — I'm certain that wherever I end up, whatever I end up doing, writing will be there. Oh, maybe I won't be producing new words... let us not get into how woefully behind I am on my current manuscripts... but I'm sure it'll be part of my life somehow, whether because I'm ushering an older project over the finish line, or am simply mulling over what I'll work on next.</p><p>After all, once you put a book out there, it's part of you forever.</p><p>Anyway, I'm of course sad that this is one of my last <i>Across the Board</i> posts, but as Chaucer said, all good things must come to an end. And eight years is a good run at anything... it's longer than any of my day jobs have lasted (hey, we live in a capitalist society where if the chow is better on the other ship, you jump ship).</p><p>Anyway, I'll be back in December with a farewell post. After that, you can find me writing on culture site <i><a href="http://theworkprint.com" target="_blank">The Workprint</a></i>, mostly movie and TV reviews, or on the socials: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/astralcolt/" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/mfanwriter" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, and somehow still <a href="https://twitter.com/AstralColt" target="_blank">X (formerly Twitter)</a>, because old habits die hard.</p><p>As for what I'm up to writing-wise? Well, I'm currently putting together a circus-themed anthology, <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/164702432-magic-under-the-big-top" target="_blank">Magic Under the Big Top</a></i>, for Snowy Wings Publishing, and taking submissions for our eighth (!!!) <a href="http://bravenewgirls.weebly.com/" target="_blank"><i>Brave New Girls</i> anthology</a>. I'm also working on the third and final <i>Flynn Nightsider</i> novel, <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/94158649-flynn-nightsider-and-the-ire-of-inferno?ref=nav_sb_ss_2_25" target="_blank">Flynn Nightsider and the Ire of Inferno</a></i>, and will be tackling the second <i><a href="https://www.maryfan.com/fated-stars.html" target="_blank">Fated Stars</a></i> book after that (let's not talk about how long ago those series starters came out...). And depending on how <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dmmyers/battleshed-the-storage-of-war" target="_blank">certain</a> <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1881107045/phenomenons-the-wind-and-fire?ref=discovery_category" target="_blank">Kickstarters</a> fare, I might have a few more short stories in the works soon.</p><p><br /></p>Mary Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11280462566854191985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1020653850161663700.post-90586790679920176342023-11-02T13:57:00.000-04:002023-11-02T13:57:30.241-04:00When It's Made Just For You...And It Sucks<p> Last time on ye olde blog, I made an offhand comment about how the algorithm got upset when you didn't watch the show it had selected just for you, based on all the shows you had previously watched and liked. </p><p>But that got me to thinking...</p><p>There have been a number of shows that felt like they were made just for me. And I didn't like them!</p><p>For example, I am a huge fan of all things circus and especially of sideshows. I love reading about the real thing. I've seen Tod Browning's "Freaks" about a dozen times. (<i>One of us! One of us!</i>) Geek Love is a favorite novel of both my wife and myself. For Christmas, I got that huge Taschen art book with hundreds of circus posters and vintage photographs. My favorite episode of <i>The X-Files</i> is "Humbug," which has Mulder and Scully investigate a series of strange murders in a community of sideshow performers. </p><p>So you would think that I would be a huge fan of the 2003 HBO show, <i>Carnivale</i>. After all, it's about a depression era travelling sideshow, except the performers have real powers and not carnie trickery.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNyIN_ZzvGyKt9HF6_CdWH-jHD1K9C24q-en7Cuz001hpTSpCT_ljoGZUAZB9eVEmwXEqFJDH_pTw18HmepFXMC0q5xwXvHX5kidiqw0rjJhsuyQW-jc51RZ_CCiuvd40scVe4XBsnOr0q96XdI7TKPWsLI02TKB3H1oPl_31PXb6B5FYOssNnomkfNMg/s1280/Carnivale%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNyIN_ZzvGyKt9HF6_CdWH-jHD1K9C24q-en7Cuz001hpTSpCT_ljoGZUAZB9eVEmwXEqFJDH_pTw18HmepFXMC0q5xwXvHX5kidiqw0rjJhsuyQW-jc51RZ_CCiuvd40scVe4XBsnOr0q96XdI7TKPWsLI02TKB3H1oPl_31PXb6B5FYOssNnomkfNMg/w535-h301/Carnivale%201.jpg" width="535" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>You would think so! You would be wrong. </p><p>It has a devoted following. I made every effort, but I simply could not get into the cult show. I found it to be a dour slog. And <i>boring. </i>This show had little people, strippers, and conjoined twins. Do you know how hard you have to work to make it boring?</p><p>Now, of course a show set in the dust bowl in the depression is probably not going to be a candy-coated laugh riot. But damn! Smile once in a while! Maybe they were upset because literally everyone and everything was caked in dirt. </p><p>It didn't help - at least not for me - that the carnival performers were overshadowed by the overarching battle between good and evil. Good was in the form of a whiny, runaway farm boy who has healing powers (that - of course - come with a <i>price!</i>). Evil was personified by - are you sitting down? - a priest! (Whoa! What a twist! The guy who is supposed to be good...<i>is actually bad!</i> Is your mind blown yet?!?!?) Clancy Brown played the priest. Clancy Brown! This show made the Kurgan from The Highlander boring! SHAME!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiv9J3W_k1l0nN5MlSYk-FxF-f1dnGKOa85OirYPYA2zJwHp8Lo7UDVPT17gWk0PNv1EF7IFoz_FYnDrU_Wy7v_auzUVacAJWBJoOQR6pD1uNSKIlQ4u2a_CxseMRxaTo0xlzbZczwrcuH_UtykChgCoLycGNcahK6Gtdh3uEYCplRy61Ck9sRGHj-V3s/s1113/clancy-brown-kurgan-highlander-skull.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="626" data-original-width="1113" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiv9J3W_k1l0nN5MlSYk-FxF-f1dnGKOa85OirYPYA2zJwHp8Lo7UDVPT17gWk0PNv1EF7IFoz_FYnDrU_Wy7v_auzUVacAJWBJoOQR6pD1uNSKIlQ4u2a_CxseMRxaTo0xlzbZczwrcuH_UtykChgCoLycGNcahK6Gtdh3uEYCplRy61Ck9sRGHj-V3s/w411-h231/clancy-brown-kurgan-highlander-skull.jpg" width="411" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Like how? How do you make this guy dull?</i></div><p>Good and evil engaged in a supremely dull battle over two seasons before the show was cancelled. Also, God might have been the boss of the travelling carnival (referred to as "management" by the always delightful Michael J Anderson, the little person who ran the carnival.)</p><p>The only times this show was truly memorable for me was when they ditched the battle of good and evil and focused on the carnival. There was an episode when they went to a literal ghost town to perform, and some of the carnies got trapped and left behind. That was legitimately chilling. And my favorite, when the carnies are down on their luck and decide to do a bust out. This means they break out every scam they know and fleece every rube. This culminates with them getting people to pay to see a Man Eating Chicken, and are instead treated to a man... who is eating chicken. (With the reminder to tell their friends, implying they should trick them as well.)</p><p>It would have been great if this show stuck with the carnival story rather than trying to graft it into some kind of religious, heaven vs hell plot. Alas, it did not. So a thing that was seemingly made for my tastes turned out to be pretty bad. Boo. </p><p>I would like to thank our blog hosts for giving me the opportunity to vent about Carnivale, the show I was supposed to like. I've been waiting for a long time to properly unload about it.</p><p>Carivale is the most egregious example, but there have been others. Take Carnival Row. (<i>Please!)</i> This was a Victorian, steampunk adventure which had faeries coming to live in Whitechapel, and it wasted that premise by shoehorning it into an allegory about racism. (The faeries are mistreated and consigned to be hookers or maids!) And it takes a lot to turn me against a supernatural Victorian steampunk setting! </p><p>There are lots more. If you have a personal example of the show you should've loved, but didn't, please leave it in the comments below. </p><p><i style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Victor Catano lives in New York City with his wonderful wife, Kim, and his adorable pughuaua, Danerys. When not writing, he works in live theater as a stage manager, production manager, and chaos coordinator. His hobbies include coffee, Broadway musicals, and complaining about the NY Mets and Philadelphia Eagles. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @vgcatano and find his books on Amazon</i></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Victor Catanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08424398263872654599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1020653850161663700.post-72659783751625597572023-10-23T12:00:00.008-04:002023-10-24T19:45:28.390-04:00October 2023 Library Events Autopsy<div><p style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><a href="http://amazon.com/author/kozeniewski" style="clear: left; color: #3170fc; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="amazon.com/author/kozeniewski" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc8c_BJZRKMP_qtFSxIv7KCmYdgGubvvng5SO7gVYcYCmHbPJlA0hZbMVnyJRWTq3f_KxE0qa8cBZe1Tt5Yn1oN-u-2SRYVNzPq6TFQWBAew1xsA7gTEVjP46jkZGWoTcQfJBcEvATaMY/s1600/Signature.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); padding: 0px;" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><strong style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Another quality post brought to you by </em></strong><a href="http://amazon.com/author/kozeniewski" style="color: #3170fc; font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration-line: none;"><strong><em>Steve</em></strong></a><strong style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>!</em></strong> </p></div><div><br /></div><div>Hey, everybody!</div><div><br /></div><div>It's spooky season and you know what that means: live events! I have been absolutely swamped with events this past month, and I wouldn't want it any other way. I recorded a video to let you know how my local libraries have hosted three amazing events over the past few weeks. Check it out!</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-ap2aOz7XLg?si=9L4S6P9lieogZtkm" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div>Stephen Kozeniewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15185600045044927669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1020653850161663700.post-64777700897386352652023-10-19T16:17:00.011-04:002023-10-19T19:17:11.478-04:00Awkward Debuts: On 'Beautiful' in The Tomb of Baalberith Volume 2<p><b id="docs-internal-guid-5db70eb4-7fff-15e5-432e-dcde0647614e" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><br /><br /></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-5db70eb4-7fff-15e5-432e-dcde0647614e" style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjl1nLr-D_n1JH6qwa8J2_e7c1km9l45rNIUR0SE2vDRCJnPQQqNonscYtNk46fGULxHgkAiVPmVp_86xL67j8mxz8I0or85YUPaxd_7ISQOlWN-GzMlUK04PMJbaFGLiKUaBP7StlxQJ5m_0gtTRGgnrJZGgEqc4gl1NwBNKj0t9pse-LVDl4MZUH6Z1M" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1338" data-original-width="3533" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjl1nLr-D_n1JH6qwa8J2_e7c1km9l45rNIUR0SE2vDRCJnPQQqNonscYtNk46fGULxHgkAiVPmVp_86xL67j8mxz8I0or85YUPaxd_7ISQOlWN-GzMlUK04PMJbaFGLiKUaBP7StlxQJ5m_0gtTRGgnrJZGgEqc4gl1NwBNKj0t9pse-LVDl4MZUH6Z1M=w526-h199" width="526" /></a></b></div><b id="docs-internal-guid-5db70eb4-7fff-15e5-432e-dcde0647614e" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span id="docs-internal-guid-783e039e-7fff-a9e8-6456-c2b48e0d85fd"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It's really weird for me to do one of these as I'm not really one for self-promotion. Almost everything I do in the journalism space is about someone else's thing, or some company's newest thing, and rarely - if ever - do I feel free to talk about myself openly. Then again, I've never really had a thing I had to promote. Almost every project or accomplishment I've ever worked on was part of a team or a collaboration with that in mind. The Tomb of Baalberith anthology is very much this sort as well, it’s just, still strange to me to see words I wrote turned into imagery. The campaign was created by my good friend and comics veteran <a href="https://www.markmckennaart.com/">Mark McKenna</a>, along with a cohort of writers and friends such as Jad Kaado and Mark's own son Kyle. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">What's cool about this project is we take on a sort of horror comics of the 50s approach. It's Tales from Crypt-styled horror - though never too much or too little in terms of excess. The story that I'd written is called ‘Beautiful’ with thoughtfully stunning artwork from fellow newcomer Jameson Matunas. To be quite honest, a good reason why I've been missing posts and such lately is our collaboration, as we've been working on this and talking about collaborating on a bunch of projects together in the future. Safe to say, Jameson is my new artistic partner and together, we plan on unveiling stuff that isn't just about his sexy scratchy art style, or my verbose and often turning the trope on its head style of writing - but rather, we strive to make stories that make a difference to today's world. Which is sort of my goal as a writer and ours as creatives.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">We want to make art that doesn't just entertain but actually says something. Tells hard-to-listen to truths about the world and brings it to the forefront of the conversation. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Why? </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Is because although escapism is nice. Entertainment feels overripe with it right now. The world needs to talk about its issues. So I've made a vow to always write about the truths that never get addressed in conversation and in media. Basically showcase, why the world is so full of gray right now - in an era where everyone has become black and white. Us versus Them. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I want to say in my art that life is complicated. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I want us to do something about it, which is why I write the way I do. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">To try and change the world. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">For 'Beautiful', the best way I can describe our short is I wanted to make something with a female demon/monster since the original Baalberith was missing a bit of that. Yet, immediately when I had to think about female demons - I couldn't think of many. Sirens. Maybe. A Gorgon. Possibly. Maybe. Definitely? Something with eyes looking into the heart of your soul. As Souls was a big thing in the original comic.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It was then I thought. Ya know. It would be really cool if I could tell a story about my cataract surgery back in 2013. Basically, what it's like being awake while a doctor slices away at your eyeballs. Because I've done that. I've lived that. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Most people would be horrified by the kind of melting orange colors you see that is your puss seeping out of your eye lenses. So I originally went with a Gorgon, and to do so, I thought, well, the original story in Perseus looked into Medusa's gaze... This ugly creature who couldn't see herself. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Which to be honest... then brought me to the idea of tackling a topic on Beauty. Or BEAUTIFUL which is what I called the story so as to not be confused with the BEAUTY comics by Image creator Jeremy Haun (also a great comic btw).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I thought about it for a while. What if I did a story about modern beauty fanatics? How social media is destroying women's personal body images of themselves - particularly on Instagram. Influencers and girls who are obsessed with selling their looks. I also had a beauty influencer friend from high school that I reconnected with in 2022 named, Jessica DeFino. </span><a href="https://jessicadefino.substack.com/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Who'd kinda gotten famous on Substack talking about Beauty Culture and her days working for the Kardashians... </span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Anyway, I knew where this story was going but I really wanted to make sure it didn't come across as misogynistic. I needed to stress what I was doing was empowering and not victimizing this person. So I wanted to make a statement about the culture rather than the subject and talk about the toxic nature of chasing fame and having this become everything you wanted... the real-world problems of when you have a be-all-end-all mentality to anything in life.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I realized soon after that The Gorgon wasn't gonna cut it. The pages I'd written for that, contrasted very hard with the plotting of what I wanted to say in this story (it's kinda hard to make a compelling snake woman story where she's hiding from the world and essentially can't look at anyone, else they turn to stone).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">But I had this character that I already made for this named, Brandi. A play on the word 'Brand' and also a bit of a valley girl namesake by ending it with an i. I knew the only way this would work was if she obsessed over her pictures and beautiful images - and then throw in a conflict where we take that away. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">To build the horror elements, David Cronenberg's body horror movies came to mind almost immediately. But if not a Gorgon then what else could the monster be?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And it became obvious. A Succubus. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Though again, I didn't want this to be outright naughty for the sake of selling copies. A lot of people do that in the industry and I don't want to be like other people necessarily - so I needed the story to stand out. The idea was something sexy in terms of imagery but with no nudity. In fact, what if... and bear with me.... what if we did a succubus story without any actual sex involved? Would that even be possible and how could it tie to the mythos established within Volume 1 of this story?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The result is what I ended up writing. However, I can't help but feel uneasy about the launching of this. As I am slowly realizing this is the beginning of a very long journey I've been prepping for a long time. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I can't deny that I'm a bit fazed. A bit flabbergasted. A bit all over the place regarding the launch. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Anyway, please do support my first breakthrough into comics. Click the Kickstarter. Pledge a few dollars. Buy a copy, a bottle opener, and a T-shirt. And more importantly: watch our video.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Because I scripted that too.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-5db70eb4-7fff-15e5-432e-dcde0647614e" style="font-size: medium; white-space-collapse: collapse;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-783e039e-7fff-a9e8-6456-c2b48e0d85fd"></span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-0662495f-7fff-8b7b-4df2-3759dbbd43be"><a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/markinker/the-tomb-of-baalberith-v2" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/markinker/the-tomb-of-baalberith-v2</span></a></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><br /><br /></span></b><p><br /></p>Christian Angeleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867087955880025664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1020653850161663700.post-74266623321911849912023-10-16T16:43:00.004-04:002023-10-16T16:43:54.906-04:00The Perfectly Fine Neighborhood<p style="text-align: center;">Hi everyone! I have been absolutely swamped recently. Between work, my own writing, running my website, and working on THE PERFECTLY FINE NEIGHBORHOOD, I haven't had a second to myself! I loved working behind-the-scenes with Steve Kozeniewski and Wile E. Young putting this anthology together though, and I wrote a whole post about a couple of weeks back. Sorry for the redirect, but I am currently a headless chicken - so click on the picture for more details!</p><p style="text-align: center;">I swear, next month I have an original post planned for this blog - love to you all, and HAPPPPYYYY SPOOOOKY SEASON!</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://happygoathorror.com/2023/09/29/my-first-time-working-behind-the-scenes-on-an-anthology-the-perfectly-fine-neighborhood/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="938" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxOvvjbAUsKPz2bKedzjuUpcTWT6f-jifS_5qVBcz46QZAKudHe-eXR3w4EKIPnlwc0LMhYH_oJldBE5aGo08CpYwmr_nU_vcK3runS5nSXfPEK_EevGGQ4JXqDcfaEKwwnGW6lQ7848Nnx2dPuMPcN9sTSP6XqObkJ31Ak05KKeTLkiJPYZ-tvv8M4R8t/s320/tpfn.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Kayleigh Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02685638940539219658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1020653850161663700.post-30459335645329506192023-10-12T12:00:00.001-04:002023-10-12T12:00:00.142-04:00If David Attenborough Did a Segment on Fall<p>Autumn is here.<br /></p><p>The once green leaves are now brittle and brown. The air, once ripe and hot, is now crisp and cool. Mosquitos and other biting insects have gone into hiding, while spiders have undoubtedly begun moving into houses to overwinter and lay eggs in the humans' ear canals. Females in sweaters and Ugg boots are slithering out of their burrows to feast upon the bountiful crop of pumpkin spice and apple cider that now flourishes in every coffee shop and bakery. </p><p>And of course, it's almost Halloween, an annual Autumn celebration where the youth of the town hide their identities behind the masks of their favorite superhero or monster. They travel from home to home demanding treats from strangers, a fun reprieve from their usual stance on the subject. They prance about the streets for an our or two at a time, carrying bags and buckets to collect their haul. When they're finished, they gather back at their domiciles to feast. Some of the more rambunctious young will visit homes not to collect treats, but to annoy their neighbors by decorating their homes with eggs and paper.<br /></p><p>For the adults, Halloween is a time to show off one's best plumage. Females and males alike often decorate themselves in scanty attire, often themed to look like various animals, professions, and time periods. Many individuals make themselves up to look as intimidating and frightening as possible, in hopes that they will impress their rivals. During Halloween celebrations, adult humans will often imbibe in fermented juices, often overindulging just as their young do on their candy. </p><p>Yes, Autumn is a unique time of year in the human world.<br /></p>~Jessica Eppley~http://www.blogger.com/profile/07961206925959220124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1020653850161663700.post-63981292145884689542023-10-09T18:01:00.002-04:002023-10-09T18:01:21.531-04:00Reminder to Self: Fun Things Are Meant to be Fun<div class="separator"><a href="http://www.MaryFan.com" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="179" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGGN9Lr99xcIGI2XuAkJ_-uUTNsdXK4yBsJvSWUI9AuzYPGIicSpuoAn6ocbtpjnns4N-kXFcPysAIGfYi__GtWrfl3ADyM27ruT68XgW4r8-tBDLVu80SINXJ1rSgvghBC9z7pAv5-pZVbqbzRdxEH1_3fnXU2ogzR-qOslYUlBYlPI0cZdKqrddoZn8/s1600/Favicon.png" width="179" /></a></div>Not gonna lie, I've been in a bit of a funk lately. And by "lately" I mean "since, like, May?" For various reasons... okay, mostly because I overcommitted myself AGAIN... I've plateaued on all my passion activities. Plateaued? More like flatlined.<div><br /><div>First, I burned out HARD on writing. My original plan for 2023 was to whip out <i>Flynn Nightsider and the Ire of Inferno </i>in the spring, between editing <i>Brave New Girls</i> stories, and have it out in time for Gen Con in August. Hey, I'd done just that the year before with the second book in the series, <i>Flynn Nightsider and the Shards of Shadow</i>. All I had to do was follow the same timeline as 2022! Easy peasy!</div><div><br /></div><div>All right, so I also committed to composing a few short stories for various anthologies, but those were little projects. I could just slot them in and still knock out my novel.</div><div><br /></div><div>Except my brain had other ideas. After constructing an outline I was happy with, I dove head-first into the manuscript and... made it to about Chapter Three before my mind went <i>splat</i>. I'd just stare at the open document and tumbleweeds would blow through my skull. I still managed to hit my short story deadlines—hey, I made a commitment! — but other than that, I just couldn't bring myself to be productive. I ended up rewatching <i>Star Treks</i> <i>Voyager</i> AND <i>Deep Space Nine</i>, then binging a bunch of trash I can't even remember.</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, this kind of thing has happened before, and <a href="http://atbwriters.blogspot.com/2019/01/get-thee-hobby.html" target="_blank">I found refuge in my other activities</a>. Activities that I took up to get away from writing. Activities that I was okay with being mediocre at because they were just meant to be an escape.</div><div><br /></div><div>But a funny thing happens after you've been doing things for a while... you lose perspective. </div><div><br /></div><div>Choir was out for the summer, but I was hitting the circus studios whenever I could. And I. Was. Flatlining. Trapeze tricks I'd been working on for a million years weren't getting any better, and in fact some were getting worse (I spent so long trying to clean up my layout that I lost my go-to trick, the split, which I first nailed in 2019). Over on aerial silks, it hit me that moves I was struggling with two years ago (hello, inverted climbs) were still a hot mess that felt nearly impossible. Meanwhile, I watched classmates that had started around the same time as me become more and more advanced.</div><div><br /></div><div>A big reason for this was that said classmates dedicate a lot more time to what is, for them, a passion. Meanwhile, my training schedule became super sparse thanks to summer travel (turns out you can't reeeeeeally gain strength by climbing a thing once every other week). </div><div><br /></div><div>Suffice it to say, I was felt like a loser by the end of summer. And I was determined to get myself back on track after Labor Day.</div><div><br /></div><div>AND THEN THE PLAGUE HIT. No, not that plague, though I almost wish it had been because it'd be easier to gain sympathy. But it turns out a run-of-the-mill not-pandemic-y virus can still knock you flat (it's hard to do anything when you cough every other breath). That meant goodbye, most of September (also, that's why I missed my last post).</div><div><br /></div><div>So here I am, up and about again but even further behind, and <i>really</i> feeling like a loser. I finally managed to buckle down and work on some short stories, at least, but <i>Ire of Inferno</i> remains barely written. Current plan: To use NaNoWriMo to kick it into action. But first, must finish short story...</div><div><br /></div><div>Meanwhile, my physical stamina is at zero, which is a problem when you've signed up for an aerial performance workshop. It means I get winded really easily, and I can't actually manage to string together the moves I want for my piece. Then I get to watch my classmates be awesome while pouting over what I hot mess I am.</div><div><br /></div><div>Whine, whine, whine, poor me.</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, wallowing won't do me any good. So instead, I keep reminding myself how all these things I've been feeling like a loser over are meant to be FUN. I started writing stories because it was FUN. I started climbing fabric and swinging from the sky because it was FUN. And it wasn't supposed to matter how "good" I was at any of it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Sometimes, I wish 2011 Mary were here to remind me that she only wanted to finish a manuscript, never mind if anyone read it.</div><div><br /></div><div>2019 Mary isn't that far behind, yet apparently I've still forgotten how she was thrilled that she was even allowed onto a flying trapeze, or could climb two feet off the ground unassisted. </div><div><br /></div><div>I think it's a natural inclination, especially if you grew up in one of those over-achiever-y households, to think that you must be constantly improving on all things, or else you're falling behind. But that doesn't have to be true... some things are meant to be fun for their own sakes. And hey, what's wrong with a plateau? They can be rather nice!</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm gonna keep telling myself that while I continue struggling at all the things. At least choir's back in session, and I'm still a decent sight reader.</div></div>Mary Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11280462566854191985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1020653850161663700.post-7438795651763955992023-10-06T21:27:00.000-04:002023-10-06T21:27:02.014-04:00When it gets to be a slog...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB5nmtO0RVqeqi3XcVIeWlYr4I-y-9Y0Q6T6E9HrVn5wsakpMP5SA-mtWoP3byV_fyrrnCLbNlXbxddPaYEgya-tatBCaKhRIQa-rNBDHe9USlmX5m4cREaZyEPasu7K6XxoBRoLgXoCWwayrohkDQotZIyfk-SstkxB7LFGm44i9tJMjaKQI2mUV4po8/s750/book-piles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="750" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB5nmtO0RVqeqi3XcVIeWlYr4I-y-9Y0Q6T6E9HrVn5wsakpMP5SA-mtWoP3byV_fyrrnCLbNlXbxddPaYEgya-tatBCaKhRIQa-rNBDHe9USlmX5m4cREaZyEPasu7K6XxoBRoLgXoCWwayrohkDQotZIyfk-SstkxB7LFGm44i9tJMjaKQI2mUV4po8/w386-h186/book-piles.jpg" width="386" /></a></div><br /><p>Hey, did you catch that new show? You know, the one all your friends are talking about. The one that they can't stop chatting about in the group text?</p><p><i>Oh yeah. I meant to watch that one, but I was trying to finish the last series they were raving about and then they dropped a whole second season and I got further behind...</i></p><p>Or what about that new book? Your favorite author just released the latest book in your favorite fantasy series!</p><p><i>Um, yeah...I pre-ordered that one... It's on my kindle... I'll get to it...</i></p><p>Hey, did you catch all those movies that just dropped on that streaming service you pay $10 a month for but never watch?</p><p><i>Please leave me alone...</i></p><p>***</p><p>Remember, this is supposed to be fun. </p><p>This is supposed to be an age of plenty, where we can decadently select whatever we like to amuse ourselves with for an evening like an emperor idly choosing which servant girl will dance for him. Only now the decadent emperor has thousands of dancing girls to choose from and by the time he picks one he's too tired to relax and enjoy the show. </p><p>Have you had that feeling? A new show comes on, one that seems tailor-made for your preferences, almost like the algorithm pulled it from your subconscious desires, and your first reaction is <i>Ten episodes? I don't have ten free hours...</i></p><p>(The algorithm worked really hard to give you that show about astronaut spies that are also dinosaurs! You made the algorithm cry! YOU WATCH THAT SHOW!)</p><p>And of course, it is a running joke among me and my writer friends how long our TBR (To Be Read) lists are. Since I bought a kindle and was introduced to the joy of Bookbub sales, I have accumulated hundreds of books. (It didn't help that I was a wiz at a sadly defunct online trivia game that paid out prizes in Amazon gift cards.) If I read a book a week, it will take years to get through them all, and that's assuming I don't get any more. Which we all know is not going to happen. My sister in law gave me an Amazon card for my birthday and I promptly bought about 5 more books. On to the pile with you!</p><p>And that can all be overwhelming. And stressful! It makes me feel like I'm back in school and have to read some 500 page doorstop for English class and then write a report. (Oh and don't get me started on the whole Review Discourse on Twitter. Look, sometimes I don't feel like writing a damn book report. Just be happy I left a star rating.)</p><p>It is depressingly easy for me to forget that reading for pleasure should be <i>pleasurable.</i> </p><p>I have to remind myself constantly, that if I don't finish the library book before it's due? I can renew it. I don't have to try and cram it in. </p><p>If I don't get to that book I bought on sale last year? It's not going anywhere. And the writer will still be happy to get a review whenever I do read it. </p><p>If I don't get to a show? That's ok. There are a lot of shows. I still haven't seen all of Bridgerton Season 2. Or Mad Men (I got the gist, ok? Martinis, ad men, sexism, Christina Hendricks in tight sweaters. Get off my back.) </p><p>I'm trying to cut back. I've dropped a couple streaming services I wasn't watching. Some of those choices were easy. I stopped HBO because their idiot of a CEO wanted to charge me $17 a month to watch him destroy what was once a great service. I really think about clicking "purchase" on those cheap books. I try and check the library first. But mainly, I'm just giving myself permission to relax. </p><p>I'm not worrying about my Goodreads Reading Challenge. I'm just going to read books I like by authors I like and try out a different genre every now and then. (I was reading a romance novel at Barnes & Noble last week, and I liked it! It was sweet! And no one got murdered! So far!)</p><p>Honestly, let's all just get off our backs. No one has to write a paper on modernism in short fiction of the 1950s or anything, so just enjoy your book. </p><p>And take me off the group text. I want to stay spoiler free for when I finally watch that show in three years.</p><p>I'll get to you yet, Season 2 of Stranger Things... </p>Victor Catanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08424398263872654599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1020653850161663700.post-57049853425867937662023-09-25T12:00:00.093-04:002023-10-24T19:42:59.579-04:00The Neighborhood is Perfectly Fine<p style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><a href="http://amazon.com/author/kozeniewski" style="clear: left; color: #3170fc; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="amazon.com/author/kozeniewski" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc8c_BJZRKMP_qtFSxIv7KCmYdgGubvvng5SO7gVYcYCmHbPJlA0hZbMVnyJRWTq3f_KxE0qa8cBZe1Tt5Yn1oN-u-2SRYVNzPq6TFQWBAew1xsA7gTEVjP46jkZGWoTcQfJBcEvATaMY/s1600/Signature.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); padding: 0px;" /></a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><strong style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;"><em>Another quality post brought to you by </em></strong><a href="http://amazon.com/author/kozeniewski" style="color: #3170fc; font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left; text-decoration-line: none;"><strong><em>Steve</em></strong></a><strong style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;"><em>!</em></strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://mybook.to/PFN"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTDuLNjokynEpMaOgPsTejYjS3wq0RJ6gKvNc7Esvun0dlJS2SBHQML9GfMR51L9bwu6MwevGldRg-kH1L886Z-ZYtRGshfLCg2mQ5U5tb4I9MKtBj89uDYlSnuhdV5Dv2zplCdIl5OuJOsG6qSWFm-glApPntMMeXw3YzoCTf40_9UIPvBpUNEGx8UkI_/w396-h640/TPFN%20ebook%20Cover.jpg" /></a></div><br />Hey, everybody!<br /><br />In case you've been wondering (you haven't) why I've been drunker and surlier than usual lately, it's because I've been pounding away at <a href="http://mybook.to/PFN">THE PERFECTLY FINE NEIGHBORHOOD</a>, the first anthology I've ever edited, alongside my regular collaborator Wile E. Young and our very own Kayleigh Dobbs. <a href="https://atbwriters.blogspot.com/2022/09/a-brand-new-venture-for-brand-new-press.html">If it seems like</a> <a href="https://atbwriters.blogspot.com/2022/12/open-call-perfectly-fine-neighborhood.html">I've been working on this anthology</a> <a href="https://atbwriters.blogspot.com/2023/07/google-search-how-do-you-edit-anthology.html">for the past year</a>...well, it's because I've actually been working on it for three. Fucking icebergs, you know.<div><br /></div><div><a href="http://mybook.to/PFH">THE PERFECTLY FINE HOUSE</a>, the reverse haunted house story that I wrote with Wile E., came out on March 16, 2020. Which, if you'll recall, was also the day that a global pandemic was declared so, um, yeah, people had other shit on their minds than our little ghost story for a while. </div><div><br /></div><div>We were a bit disappointed by sales and later that year, when we were tossing around ideas to get more exposure for our book, we naturally discussed the idea of a sequel. But how to write a sequel to a book with such a...let's say...definitive ending? Well, why not open the world up to other contributors with different perspectives? Get a feel for what else was going on in our universe during, before, and even after our novel?</div><div><br /></div><div>What was going on in Australia? The UK?</div><div><br /></div><div>What was going on with the young people? Or the ghosts who had been around for ages?</div><div><br /></div><div>Lawyers? Sadists? Hit men?</div><div><br /></div><div>Wile E. and I went off to begin writing our own shorts immediately, we were so excited. Then we spent the next two years trying to secure funding from various publishers. (Trust me, publishing an anthology, and paying your authors fairly, is an extremely expensive proposition.) I ended up looking at my half-finished story after nearly three years, and completely forgot how I had intended to end it. Sometimes that happens with stuff you set aside for too long, no matter how excited you were about it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Finally, thanks to over thirty Kickstarter backers and handshake promises from several prominent authors as incentives, we secured funding, and the stories started rolling in for our open call.</div><div><br /></div><div>After six month of submissions, we managed to find fifteen diamonds among the...not diamonds, and it was off to the races. And by "races," I mean, learn all of the moving pieces involved with arranging a table of contents, formatting an anthology, paying fifteen people, sending rewards to thirty people...and on and on it went.</div><div><br /></div><div>And now, bafflingly, it's over. This morning I shipped out the last of the backer rewards. I mean, the real task, marketing, is about to start, but it's very strange to not have this albatross around my neck for the first time in almost a year. </div><div><br /></div><div>So, here it is and here's to you. I hope you'll all <a href="http://mybook.to/PFN">grab a copy</a> of this Taj Mahal, this massive opus and undertaking, and tell all of your friends. Maybe it'll make a huge splash. Maybe it'll be the greatest anthology of time. A guy can dream, can't he?</div>Stephen Kozeniewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15185600045044927669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1020653850161663700.post-26495579045441284412023-09-21T08:49:00.001-04:002023-09-21T08:49:07.007-04:00Always Pressed for Time<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEih6SMxoExqN4Tb9uEYoAVz37glnA0_zzUkkwuCbzPFKrYi2nGldu-bGhO0o41BZ1Fv16ITI33Ew3dvf527QZO-JCjkxQpoiBFOhHmSrbgkKJkq1nKuI8BdFA9GhZgnsPqxG_QKpBRVRgdmtQw06s5g8eVnemFGwV42Km83yebn2V3WPejZBSTY2SX52LA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEih6SMxoExqN4Tb9uEYoAVz37glnA0_zzUkkwuCbzPFKrYi2nGldu-bGhO0o41BZ1Fv16ITI33Ew3dvf527QZO-JCjkxQpoiBFOhHmSrbgkKJkq1nKuI8BdFA9GhZgnsPqxG_QKpBRVRgdmtQw06s5g8eVnemFGwV42Km83yebn2V3WPejZBSTY2SX52LA" width="240" /></a></div><br />It is 3 weeks away from the next Comic-Con in NYC and I've overbooked yet again on appointments. The plan is to focus exclusively on comics this time given the writer's strike (comics don't have a union). Though there are ongoing talks at this very moment that the strike might actually end today.<p></p><p>I'm not sure what the plan will be anymore. I haven't since January of this year. </p><p>I am trying to organize how to go about doing everything between my comics work, some book work, and some conventions. However lately, I'm feeling overwhelmed. Nothing seems to be working out as planned. Everything feels like it's not really doing okay despite on the surface level seeming peachy keen. </p><p>We've got layoffs and higher prices on goods of everything, gas prices on the rise, a housing market that's high in interest rates, and an even higher cost of ownership. Debt up the wazoo. Government shutdowns. Multiple recessions across countries such as China, Canada, Germany, and just about all of Europe. Plus food shortages in the UK. These are supposed to be better times... It certainly doesn't feel like it.</p><p>I'm genuinely worried about the near future and that anxiety never went away this year. It got me thinking about the nature of time recently. In college, I was a large supporter of humanistic psychology. My mentor at the time was a proponent of Martin Heidegger's 'Being in Time', though I won't focus on that as much given Heidegger's association with the Nazi party. </p><p>What was important was this idea Heidegger had called 'Dasein'. </p><p>Being and Time. The experience being reflective there within capable of experience at this moment. How we are always in a perpetual flux of being in relationship to our objective reality and how that dynamic within this moment influences who we are right now. Thus it reflects who we become later and see ourselves then. Time is reflective. Time is... short. Time seems to be the one thing no amount of money can ever recapture. And our memories, the one thing we have that makes someone themselves - are mostly nothing but frozen moments of time. </p><p>I worry because I think I am almost out of time. </p><p>Before you know it... there it goes. A lifetime,</p><p>Passes you right by.</p><p><br /></p>Christian Angeleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867087955880025664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1020653850161663700.post-44354441479166318382023-09-18T15:00:00.006-04:002023-09-18T15:00:46.992-04:00Every Adam Nevill Book Ranked<p style="text-align: justify;">Hi everyone! I hope you're all well and have been enjoying good movies/games/shows/books! Speaking of books, I recently finished reading every novel by my absolute favourite writer, Adam Nevill, and I ranked them. If you're interested, you can click on the video below!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxSOy3Qk418&list=PL8_cxNDvclME4zLUyEMFhQS__mlw1qRWa&index=2" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGAs20ulpkLrR7dzLEeHuywd-y5LW0a-UxHeRAj08EBEm9GH-TjkA4c9YiwuZWWj0XroC4tOLRZZU4NfBFe5CPTOrOxxfrYCWTOJqNGHy_EBXltBIG1F2yPIXc7s09vGQ1did4u5TndcsdP9BBqyEMxB2kEBPT_DlL4rGM1_03mprkhe0KVVMkt1rt8vvx/w471-h265/Ranking%20Every%20ADAM%20NEVILL%20Novel.png" width="471" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: justify;">I realise that a video link is cheating a little, as it isn't an article per se, but I have been absolutely swamped so I hope this will suffice! I happen to know that the main man himself enjoyed this video, and was even kind enough to mention it in his most recent newsletter (mind blown!).</p><p>I'll be back next month with more musings!</p><p><3</p>Kayleigh Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02685638940539219658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1020653850161663700.post-58371163668284529092023-09-08T15:21:00.001-04:002023-09-08T15:21:25.395-04:00It's a Shore Thing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtgTfMtV95taTc9HafbZvC9ByzTMwiF1lWuhLGquWeed2YnYSpCxeTbQDL2JedHwxwvoRCXkWXBCVKoSh1ZsAOq_584jZ82X5ZSYBO9j19WJIRD7rh2xC2ZxBNEhCr0GaMsqJOjBc_S_YK_D5kIUWP-NG5z7Tei-HiDRCQZULcEWPa5sAgGzPsHevdhl0/s4032/IMG_4530.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtgTfMtV95taTc9HafbZvC9ByzTMwiF1lWuhLGquWeed2YnYSpCxeTbQDL2JedHwxwvoRCXkWXBCVKoSh1ZsAOq_584jZ82X5ZSYBO9j19WJIRD7rh2xC2ZxBNEhCr0GaMsqJOjBc_S_YK_D5kIUWP-NG5z7Tei-HiDRCQZULcEWPa5sAgGzPsHevdhl0/s320/IMG_4530.HEIC" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>To be extremely reductive, there are two kinds of people. Beach people and non-beach people. </p><p>Do you love the sun? Is there nothing better than stretching out on hot sand and reading a trashy novel while sipping a cold beverage? Do you enjoy the waves rolling in on your feet as you walk along the beach at sunset, holding hands with your love?</p><p>Or are you Anakin Skywalker?</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2tLf1JO5bvE" width="320" youtube-src-id="2tLf1JO5bvE"></iframe></div><br /><p>I come from a mixed family. My mom spent her summers at the Jersey Shore, going to Wildwood with her big family every summer. To this day, she and her siblings rent a house on the shore for a week after Labor Day. </p><p>My dad thought Anakin liked the sand too much. He hated the beach, hated getting hot, hated sand getting in everything. The only thing he liked less was standing in line in the sun, which is also why we never went to Disneyworld as kids. </p><p>Still, I'd head to the beach when I could. Since we were in Halifax, NS, and swimming in ocean water, it was really only warm enough to go once or twice each summer. We'd go with friends or Dad would drop us off and then drive away, tires squealing.</p><p>Fortunately, I married a beach person. My wife grew up on the Connecticut shore, living only blocks from the beach. We now go on many beach trips together. </p><p>We recently took a brief end of summer trip to Ocean City, MD. It is a classic Shore Town. Which got me to thinking, what makes a Shore Town? There are plenty of beaches, but just having a beach is not enough. </p><p>Well, I am here to provide you with a list. Every Shore Town has to meet this criteria. Sorry, that's just how it is. </p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>1) Beach</b></h2><p>I mean, that's obvious. Not every beach is a Shore Town, but every Shore Town has a beach. You need a warm, sandy beach. You need umbrellas and pop up canopies. You need fish-belly white tourists (like me) overdoing it and turning lobster red. (I keep telling my wife that I need to get my base burn for the summer, but she is not having it.) </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjV-hAGOX8eTQ9udC77KnRt3oaWHRxzdOD5FnEdu2g5ViN772hG-AUG7z4Z6ejTbwkmPHg7k34k4are2io7MsvMHjXlYhnBB4U9EMCwC-a0y65_teoRqARJeTKQTGOXdBfSeaMKVw5gWXzaoqSkTP4HIEok95SXq8pZD5DlDjheJnIfX1hh_16TGEhk9Q/s4030/IMG_4521.heic" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4030" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjV-hAGOX8eTQ9udC77KnRt3oaWHRxzdOD5FnEdu2g5ViN772hG-AUG7z4Z6ejTbwkmPHg7k34k4are2io7MsvMHjXlYhnBB4U9EMCwC-a0y65_teoRqARJeTKQTGOXdBfSeaMKVw5gWXzaoqSkTP4HIEok95SXq8pZD5DlDjheJnIfX1hh_16TGEhk9Q/s320/IMG_4521.heic" width="240" /></a></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i>You laugh, but once the burn fades, I am golden brown. </i></div></i><p>You need frat boys playing football. You need kids trying to boogie board. You need those crappy foot showers to attempt to rinse off the sand. If you don't, don't even bother. </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">2) A Boardwalk</h2><p>This is key. You need a boardwalk to stroll along. The boardwalk has to be packed full of just the best, most terrible food options - hot dogs, pizza, funnel cake, fried dough, french fries, lemonade, etc. You know how to tell if the food is good? Check out the seagulls. If you have some big ass gulls that look like they could carry off a toddler, then you've got some good food. They've spent the summer feasting on leftover fries and are now ready to fight you for your hot dog. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMjOC2SXIp3eUv1o85UhKFPpPfyAt1qV92BliRBfz3T9H91HZeio7DTbA1fOBfsCi6PfG_x_UwdHwx9cDhYkwlR6UwzKeouoCSwF40wenlGLu2eqcF-_ztBUZbxSi2qWbHf6vjPvBOHun-JBbx8I_w17-QQdyWuGgPTHwgBWI7zAhm86hwoTmMDnhWQJw/s4032/IMG_4523.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMjOC2SXIp3eUv1o85UhKFPpPfyAt1qV92BliRBfz3T9H91HZeio7DTbA1fOBfsCi6PfG_x_UwdHwx9cDhYkwlR6UwzKeouoCSwF40wenlGLu2eqcF-_ztBUZbxSi2qWbHf6vjPvBOHun-JBbx8I_w17-QQdyWuGgPTHwgBWI7zAhm86hwoTmMDnhWQJw/s320/IMG_4523.HEIC" width="240" /></a></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Fries? Where?</i></div></i><p><br /></p><p>You also have to have a plethora of shops selling just the most offensive t-shirts possible. If you don't have a boardwalk stall selling "I Heart Sluts" shirt, are you even trying? </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4lDTqncaNjkcJkVHEVYorwSNcnPk45utJBJNKz2tIGHGmA4dGhaH3gcVlLLXQ7MFCWo93k4jtXBY1Waee0U5QZsmYuM1OpuBSWdzrxCxrZigf6zMU9l0I3kuBOIV9dD1wJ-rwgIPeY1pcvxCV0rMn9POo9xPkwHVetJdeNFcyW1WwxTxVnHpY7TLKvto/s4032/71579540504__9EAAF1DD-3CC7-41B8-BA0F-99FBAA77D09F.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4lDTqncaNjkcJkVHEVYorwSNcnPk45utJBJNKz2tIGHGmA4dGhaH3gcVlLLXQ7MFCWo93k4jtXBY1Waee0U5QZsmYuM1OpuBSWdzrxCxrZigf6zMU9l0I3kuBOIV9dD1wJ-rwgIPeY1pcvxCV0rMn9POo9xPkwHVetJdeNFcyW1WwxTxVnHpY7TLKvto/s320/71579540504__9EAAF1DD-3CC7-41B8-BA0F-99FBAA77D09F.HEIC" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>The shops in Ocean City had the Trump mug shot shirts out, and were selling both GUILTY and NOT GUILTY versions. I told my brother he was getting a NOT GUILTY one for Christmas. He was not amused. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidpoJpt_rUHJm0-hroIo8z7TMDDJUT4-nkXZVO82yWfCL1Jvxg51xth23anVu5htJqlJDYJjd9j-9nydBPgCF3UAlkcRDE_2GTZ3-QdcFO9_For_w_JOBtThjI9iJiLFxpndIg7vN5dBC4TAvt5-cqoyCyqSvwf5NzVxqZSGikRryPNshE2_t73eb15OI/s4032/IMG_4532.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidpoJpt_rUHJm0-hroIo8z7TMDDJUT4-nkXZVO82yWfCL1Jvxg51xth23anVu5htJqlJDYJjd9j-9nydBPgCF3UAlkcRDE_2GTZ3-QdcFO9_For_w_JOBtThjI9iJiLFxpndIg7vN5dBC4TAvt5-cqoyCyqSvwf5NzVxqZSGikRryPNshE2_t73eb15OI/w282-h376/IMG_4532.HEIC" width="282" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">3) A Crappy Amusement Park</h2><p>It can be better than crappy, but honestly? Crappy is kind of better. You really aren't getting the full experience if you aren't doing a haunted house ride, where the scariest thing about it is the smell of mold and the surly teen shoving you in. Or a big slide where your mat is so damp it sticks to the slide and will not move. Or a thrill ride where the thrill comes from the question of whether or not the bolts stay bolted. Bonus points if the park is on a pier, and the pier is supported by what looks like rotting telephone poles. </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">4) Horrible Puns</h2><p>Everything in your Shore Town should be named as if a committee of Dads got together and voted on the worst puns possible. You need a restaurant called Crabby Pete's or Crabby Dick's. You need a place with Rusty in the name, like The Rusty Scupper. You need a hotel or a cottage called the Sea Plus. No pun is too bad. </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">5) Pastels</h2><p>Your Shore Town should look like the design team of Miami Vice decided on the color scheme. Bright, light colors everywhere! Remember, you want to look sun kissed, not like you've been hiding under a rock. Bonus points if the pastels are the result of your bright primary colors being sun baked and not retouched. </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">6) Mini Golf</h2><p>You have to have mini golf and it has to be an acceptable theme. Acceptable themes include:</p><p><span> - Dinosaurs</span><br /></p><p><span><span> - Pirates </span><br /></span></p><p><span><span><span> - Sea Creatures</span><br /></span></span></p><p><span><span><span>I will also accept vikings as a subset of pirates. Dragons qualify under Dinosaurs. At the very least, you need a windmill or a waterfall. </span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span>It's important to meet all these criteria, because in the depths of winter you will find some sand in your car mats. Or a crumpled up scorecard from the X-Treme Mini Golf center showing how yo absolutely DOMINATED your family on the T-Rex hole. Or a wrapper from some salt water taffy in your jeans. And you will remember what it was like to be warm and strolling on the sand, fighting off seagulls. </span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span>See you on the Shore!</span></span></span></p><p><i style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Victor Catano lives in New York City with his wonderful wife, Kim, and his adorable pughuaua, Danerys. When not writing, he works in live theater as a stage manager, production manager, and chaos coordinator. His hobbies include coffee, Broadway musicals, and complaining about the NY Mets and Philadelphia Eagles. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @vgcatano and find his books on Amazon</i></p>Victor Catanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08424398263872654599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1020653850161663700.post-35024349688941448742023-09-04T00:00:00.001-04:002023-09-04T00:00:00.152-04:00Book Review: Wasps In The Ice Cream<p> "Wasps In The Ice Cream" by Tim McGregor. </p><p><br /></p><p>"Wasps In The Ice Cream" by Tim McGregor</p><p>Summer, in the 1980s. Mark Pruitt and his two best friends, Eric and Kevin, are inseparable. That is, until the day Kevin chooses to play a cruel prank on the Farrow sisters. The aftermath of the prank leaves Mark feeling terrible and wanting to make amends. What ensues is a unique relationship with George (Georgia) Farrow that will take you on a journey of loss, grief, first love, and friendship. </p><p>Last year, Chad Lutzke posted his top books for the year, and this story was on his list. The title and coming of age aspect of this story is what attracted me the most, but the character driven story and beautiful prose are what kept me reading. </p><p>Mark and George had such an interesting dynamic. I loved their character interaction and how complex both sets of characters were. </p><p>I also really appreciated the nods towards Shirley Jackson. The reference towards "The Lottery" was great. That's a story that has stuck with me, much like "Wasps In The Ice Cream" will now. </p><p>Realistically, this story could be a few things; a ghost story, a love story, a coming of age horror novella. I personally didn't consider it horror, but it did emit all of the creepy vibes. No matter what you're looking for when you sit down to read, I guarantee you'll find it inside these pages. </p>Samanthas_Shelfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10674687826855319502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1020653850161663700.post-8278321994633793022023-08-28T12:00:00.027-04:002023-08-28T19:04:51.774-04:00Anarchy in the UK 2023!<p> <a href="http://amazon.com/author/kozeniewski" style="clear: left; color: #3170fc; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="amazon.com/author/kozeniewski" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc8c_BJZRKMP_qtFSxIv7KCmYdgGubvvng5SO7gVYcYCmHbPJlA0hZbMVnyJRWTq3f_KxE0qa8cBZe1Tt5Yn1oN-u-2SRYVNzPq6TFQWBAew1xsA7gTEVjP46jkZGWoTcQfJBcEvATaMY/s1600/Signature.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); padding: 0px;" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><strong style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Another quality post brought to you by </em></strong><a href="http://amazon.com/author/kozeniewski" style="color: #3170fc; font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration-line: none;"><strong><em>Steve</em></strong></a><strong style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>!</em></strong> </p><br />Hi-diddly-ho, neighborinos!<br /><br />What's that, you say? Why the change in normal greeting? Well, let me tell you. I am drunk. And I have not slept in weeks. Drunk at noon, you say? Fuck you, says I. I have been editing, editing, editing...oh, and filling out contracts and sending out rejections and crushing dreams and making payments. Never let anyone tell you that you should ever edit an anthology!<div><br /></div><div>But since I already did the hard work, I hope you'll all tune in on Wednesday to see how THE PERFECTLY FINE NEIGHBORHOOD (that's right, I tied it all back together) will look. I hope to see some of your smiling faces at the big Table of Contents announcement on Wednesday. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1232198187446606">Here's the link</a>, which you can click right now to add it to your schedule of events, or just click at the appropriate time.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, I spent the last year or so planning for a big trip to Europe. The day I got back was actually when my last ATB post went up (don't worry, I scheduled it weeks ahead of time.) But knowing that I would eventually want to share all of my experiences here on the blog, I made this video. And now I can finally share it!</div><div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/08_5N-Va-Pw?si=BXiNVtinWpqY82Mg" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Since I ended that video by starting to eat some of the British snacks, I decided I'd better eat them all for your viewing pleasure. So the next week I basically made a mukbang as a direct sequel.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ANCGAoNhONA?si=SNOxlvBi5t3VbR-h" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div>Stephen Kozeniewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15185600045044927669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1020653850161663700.post-17328114157606331152023-08-24T20:36:00.004-04:002023-08-24T20:37:58.206-04:00Launching a New Podcast: Monomythic<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMrm0h5J4jQgnSOO2OLsJF6sc1QGtsj5wuy09_yj6ev2-5RprSuCTZUOMwy1Kti2kHoYPTbTPiUwQzw7PbuIUAdA4jlEAGuDKsxBeuGI-_EfouJAUbroa04CDK131zZB5A6F6niWNYeag1H7UxQwIQjKJweBBbqoAKPuWrs2N4UA-6GdvC-OPnUiHI2tg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="monomythic logo" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMrm0h5J4jQgnSOO2OLsJF6sc1QGtsj5wuy09_yj6ev2-5RprSuCTZUOMwy1Kti2kHoYPTbTPiUwQzw7PbuIUAdA4jlEAGuDKsxBeuGI-_EfouJAUbroa04CDK131zZB5A6F6niWNYeag1H7UxQwIQjKJweBBbqoAKPuWrs2N4UA-6GdvC-OPnUiHI2tg" width="240" /></a></div><p style="text-align: left;">Hey everyone!</p><p>Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I've been juggling a lot of creative projects atop the usual journalism work and so have fallen behind on staying on top of these.</p><p></p><p>One of the biggest of my projects lately has been this new podcast I just launched. It's named after my company MONOMYTHIC (my writing LLC I made for projects and creative work) and in it, I interview authors, creatives, and people working in the industry about their own hero's journey and what they're promoting.</p><p>First, starting with a few comics folks like my buddy Trevor Fernandes-Lenkiewicz about his latest indie comic, then with Fantagraphics creator Natalie Norris, and then horror writer and Marvel Unlimited published author Clay McLeod Chapman (<a href="http://atbwriters.blogspot.com/2022/09/interview-clay-mcleod-chapman-on.html">whom you may remember from my interview with him from before</a>.</p><p>Then, of course, I brought on fellow ATB: Writer and wonderful author Mary Fan as we talked about her superheroic origin story. Followed by another comics interview with comics legend Mark McKenna, an original member of John Romita Sr.'s Romita's Raiders and my current boss for my first indie project!</p><p>Yes, that's right. I have my first big comics publication to come soon hopefully. We're planning to launch a Kickstarter real soon this Fall. All-in-all I've been busy. But I'm still here. Still shooting stories. Still supporting in spreading the news of fellow creatives. </p><p>If you want to be a guest on the podcast, give me a shoutout. I'd love to promote your book and talk stories. You can check out the podcast (link below) to listen to what I do, and if you enjoy it, please like and subscribe. I'll be interviewing lots of creatives in the future and this will be my own private flagship to give you the experience of getting to know fellow creatives. All with a person-centered approach to interviewing. Questions? Yes. But about the artist. About the journey of making things.</p><p>And most importantly: About actual people. </p><p>(<a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/30ghbft5nUjEJ41WATqQSe?si=2PUnKFnCTtKdnJWidZBGNw">Click here to head to it in case the embedded episode doesn't work below</a>)</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /><iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="352" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/30ghbft5nUjEJ41WATqQSe?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="100%"></iframe></p><p style="text-align: center;">This Awesome Podcast with Mary Fan! Thanks again Mary!</p>
<br />Christian Angeleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11867087955880025664noreply@blogger.com1