So I recently made mention to all my
FB friends how fall is my favorite time of year. The summer releases its relentless grip on us
and gently gives way to a comfortable season where I can get to where I’m going
without breaking into a sweat. In
addition, fall is good for football season, all things pumpkin, primetime TV,
beautiful changing colors of the natural world, and of course the holidays.
What’s not to love about that?
I’ve been watching TV and trying to
read books and other stuff. I’m watching
the Vampire Diaries, and the spin-off, the Originals. Both are easily my favorite shows. I don’t care much for the tired Vampire
themes, but the characters keep me wanting more. That goes to show how important good
characters are in a story –just ask the Breakfast Club. I’m also watching Revolution, but I’m barely
hanging on. The storyline is getting a
bit sloppy. Two Broke Girls are smoking
hot, and the show is good too; Dads is sofa king funny; RHONJ is pretty good
(don’t ask), and I’m still watching some of the old shows and a few other new
ones that are not yet worth mentioning.
I’m also reading a few things. I (virtually) bumped into Ernest Hogan at
Labloga and I started reading High Aztech and his
short story, the Frankenstein Penis. I
gave up, for the time being, on High Aztech, not because it wasn’t good, in
fact, I’d like to see where the guy (protagonist) ends up, but I stopped
because I didn’t have the vocabulary needed to get through it easily. It was a bit hard to read because Ernest
artistically chose to use a made up language, mixed with Spanish and
Aztec. I’m sure I’m fucking that
explanation up, but that’s what I perceived it to be. I have the Frankenstein Peen bookmarked, but
I haven’t got around to it yet. Either
way, I’m glad Ernest is out there doing what he does, and from what I can tell,
he is a pioneer in the Chicano Sci Fi genre.
ChiFi? I don’t know what my
obsession is with coming up with short cut phrases.
I’m also reading Happy Hour at Casa
Dracula, a free promotional e-book from Marta Costa. It’s ok so far. I just started chapter 7, and it’s probably a
bit too chick lit for me, but I feel vested at this point and I will probably
finish it. More to come on this
one. Uh, I also started reading a book
on my iPhone called Shoe Strings, by Christy Hayes. I found it because I was scoping competition in
the “Pumps” category of stories, but this didn’t turn out to be that at
all. I read the first four chapters, and
the story was taking too long to develop.
The writing was mechanically good, but the story lagged too much. Sorry Christy, if you’re reading this, but
not enough was happening. I kept hoping
that the lady (I forget the protagonist’s name) would do something, but she
just kept hanging out with the old guy and giving the young guy the cold
shoulder. And why was she not working on
her shoes? She just ran away for no
reason, which I’m sure Christy explains later…?
Lastly, I found a friend of mine
online. She is a poet out of North
Carolina, just beginning to get her stuff out there. Her name is Tye and this is her. She is
a very outspoken free thinker with a strong voice and mind. Tye is definitely a strong woman, as is my
wife, Allie. Love the strong women out
there standing on their own, representin’!
Tye has some very raw pieces out, and I love them. Can’t wait to read more, Tye!
Lastly again, aside from all that,
I’m working diligently on LA Ninja II: Rise of the Cartel. Nobody will read it, as nobody read LA Ninja
I: Fallen Love, but amazingly, it doesn’t stop me from the insanity –lol. Anyways, I’m on chapter twelve, and even
though I had the blueprint all set, the story has taken me in a different
direction. Surprise surprise, not.
I will say that writing LA Ninja II
has made me feel a bit embarrassed for writing LA Ninja I. It’s not that LA Ninja was bad; I still think
it’s good, but the story was very singular and linear. It was written more like a movie script,
which at the time I had purposely set out to do. But now, my writing is very different. I have many plots going on in parallel, right
from the start, in LA Ninja II. It’s
turning out pretty good, and Sergio Munoz, Gabe, and some others are doing some
pretty interesting things. I wonder how
it will turn out? Anyways, that one is
almost to the halfway point, I'm guessin, so it’s gonna finish out at about
27 chapters or so. That’s my life in
books and TV at the moment. And don’t
you guys get any ideas about me not spending QT with my two girls –they
wouldn’t let me have it! I’m the
quintessential NightWriter. NightWriter,
I love that! It’s so me.
