Time to buy your copy of the (soon-to-be) WORLD FAMOUS The Box Under The Bed a collection of scary stories from over 20 authors. Many of the stories here are by first time published authors I hand selected for this amazing anthology. Others are bestselling authors who’ve already made a name for themselves, selling tens […]
After a mad long week, I came home to this little delight of a surprise.
You can still grab this little box of horror as an ebook for 99 cents, until the 1st.
My eye was caught by a long reads title “Is Joss Whedon a bad feminist?”
Of course I clicked. I adore Joss, I can’t imagine anyone who grew up watching Buffy not adoring Joss. But the article isn’t about the feminism or lack there of in his work.
In fact, it’s more of an introduction to a list of other articles. I stopped reading after the intro.
Apparently Joss recently got a divorce. It happens, to what 60% of marriages now? Anyway, his ex decided to write an open letter lambasting him for being a horrible human. Everything he accomplished was because she built it for him and he cheated on her.
The blogger said she didn’t even feel surprise reading this, it made perfect sense to her. Huh? A spurned ex lover makes accusations and you accept them without any further thought to bias?
I think it’s where society is now. Of course, a woman was secretly the driving force behind Joss Whedon’s amazing body of work, because only women are capable of greatness. Men are worthless cheats.
Makes total sense. To someone, some where. To too many people too many places.
Not to me though.
I’ve been mad busy lately. A few weeks back fellow author, Dan, asked for submissions for an anthology he was putting together. He wanted to publish October 1st. Gulp. He wanted all submissions for consideration by September 1st. Double Gulp. And then the big one. He wanted scary stories for a Halloween tie in. Aw, bleep.
Horror is SO NOT my genre. I don’t even write SciFy which can sometimes be scary by it’s nature. sigh.
But I wrote something. Something in my wheel house – everything I write is vaguely a psychological study into human nature. All three of my CPs liked it. But on very different levels. Hrm. The hubs said it was erotic horror. K said it scared the bleep out of her. G just said she liked it. Hrm.
I sent it, fully expecting he would say no thanks this isn’t really the kind of scary we had in mind.
sigh. Guess he liked my psychology. LOL. I am in – with a lot of bigger names than mine.
You can pre-order the book, here, for 99 cents. It doesn’t get any better than that my friends.
Nope, not about Erectile Dysfunction. Although, if I could take a little blue pill to cure my Eating Disorder, I would. I feel like I am talking about this a lot lately. First with the Jennifer Weiner review and now the netflix movie. Some things just come about in rounds I suppose. I’m talking about To The Bone, a netflix movie made about eating disorders.
On one hand nothing about this movie triggered my food issues, so yay there. Like most things in life, I tend to try a wide variety of things. Like books: I read everything but horror and fantasy, and I’ve tried those and found they don’t suit. But I tried them. So with my ED I have tried just about everything. At heart I am a binger. Yes, I know exactly where I get that. I know what series of behaviors and experiences in my life that led to me soothing my emotions with food. Personally, I’ve always been grateful for that because if I had found say alcohol or drugs I would have never made it to recovery. Hello Overdose. But I’ve always spent some time with purging and anorexia and exercise bulimia. In fact I really liked combining anorexia with exercise bulimia. Endorphins.
That said, this movie rubbed me the wrong way in a few places. I think netflix wanted to show a serious look at ED with a look how bad it can be if you don’t get help with a you can get better vibe. Most of the movie takes place in a treatment house. 7 patients, only one binges. Felt unrealistic. In my experience, bingers get help more often because society disapproves of us and the pressure constant disapproval can exert is phenomenal.
Next rub, they threw in a love story. The main character forms a romantic attachment with another inmate at the house, the only male. Really, we need a love story in here?
But the real rub, the big one. The male character tells her more than once how stunning she is. Yep, all of your bones sticking out, bruising up your spine from too much exercise, lanugo all over your body —- but you’re stunning. Good job netflix. Way to undo what ever realism you were trying to achieve.
Has this ever happened to you? You finish writing, editing, and fine tuning a piece…all that is left is the last double checking, whatever your process for that might be. And then while you’re walking your dog (running on your tread mill) thinking about the next piece you are about to write that day….you realize you forgot to wrap up a thread in your story. Maybe it’s a minor thread. Maybe the fact that it is dangling has no baring on the any of the plots. Maybe no one would even notice but you….but somehow the idea that a character of yours is walking around with duct tape holding a knife wound closed rubs you the wrong way.
Oh well. There’s still time to bring in a doctor.
I spent a bit of time with my old mystery this week. I had planned to cut a chapter and reword it as an entry for the SIWC competition but I can’t tell if it’s working.
I wrote a new short for the scary anthology. I have no idea if it’s even scary. LOL.
Sigh. At least I’m working forward.
Greetings and Salutations!
I finished editing my spy novel last week. So I took a bit of time off writing this week and handled some other things.
I did decide to try to come up with something for the anthology. It’s supposed to be a scary/spooky type story which is not my usual but I’m trying for the stretch. Can’t grow if you don’t stretch.
I actually got an idea last night, that might work. Maybe. I pitched it to the hubs and he wasn’t all that sure. shrug.
I am off to 4 days in Portland with the in laws. Record breaking heat here we come.
Thanks in large part to a baby sitter who didn’t go away for the summer this year, I am done editing my spy novel. Woot!
Next steps:
Oral read through with the hubs. I do this with every novel. It’s pain staking and time consuming but I know from experience it’s worth every minute.
But that means: new projects!! First up is to take a left over scene from that murder mystery I wrote and then hated a few years back and work it up into a fun short for the convention that’s coming up.
But Dan Alatorre is putting together an anthology, a scary/spooky/creepy anthology he wants to publish October 1st. Ouch. I told I would tell him yes or no by Friday. I need a new idea and a story written and edited by end of August to make that time line. Essentially working both shorts at the same time with the same due date.
Realistically I manage to scrape together 5 hours a week to write.
Is that really enough time?? What say you dear readers?
This as been a seriously productive week despite a few set backs. The kiddo has a summer cold. Grrr. Really screws with my timing. Especially since he has camp this week. There went 12 hours of expected alone time down the drain. LOL
On the plus side, I did get ten chapters edited. Having a sitter just a few extra hours a week is making a huge difference for me. Of course I am finding little issues. Things I left hanging and I need to decide if it matters or if I should circle the wagon to clean it up. Some are a definite yes. And I need to figure out some solutions. Other are still up the air. And I think I rush Talon’s emotional growth, so I’ve been editing that back. I need to give him a new arc. Good thing I watch a lot of house rehab shows. I know all about building a new set of stairs with a better run/rise proportion. LOL
I also gave up on 5 AM. It’s just not happening for me and the effort to do so makes me sad and tired. I don’t even need an alarm to get up between 630 and 7. That’s just going to have to be good enough for now. I’d have to get way more analytical, but I think I’m actually more productive sleeping in an extra hour and a half. hrm…..
What makes you feel more productive? And do you care if you actually are more productive or is the feeling itself enough?
T.A. Henry 