Ahoy, good people! I hope everyone’s doing well.
And so, February closes out, and we enter March, arguably the most boring month of the year. But hey, as of tomorrow, March 7th (with this blog having dropped on the 6th), it will have been a full year since I started this little blog of mine, and I just think that’s neat! To all who have been reading and keeping up with my antics this past year, I sincerely appreciate it.
My original goal with this blog was to establish more consistent writing habits for myself, and overall, I think it’s done wonders for me in that regard. Obviously, the number of posts I’ve been putting out now isn’t as high as when I started, but with the other projects I’ve been working on lately and life just generally being kind of frenetic, I figure it hasn’t hurt that I’ve mostly been sticking to once-a-month posting. That said, though, I do have another blog planned for March, pertaining to one of my favorite Marvel comics of all time, so stay tuned for that.
Speaking more about those aforementioned projects, though, chief among them is “Vial,” the latest story in my little Blood Sisters collection. I’m proud to say the first draft of this short story is finally finished! “First draft” is putting it mildly, however—she definitely needs some work. As I was writing the story, more and more layers started popping in, and there was a lot more research needed than I initially expected, given the subject matter. Still, I’m confident I’ll be able to shape this story into something awesome and share it with you all soon.
While I was writing “Vial,” I also started realigning my goals with the Blood Sisters collection as a whole. Namely, I want to give “Recoil” another rewrite, and there are some quality-of-life updates I want to make to “Scars.” Furthermore, there are a few pieces of connective tissue between the stories that I really need to fix. So, before I even drop “Vial,” I’m going to be posting updated version of the other stories, which you can probably expect within the next month or two. Again, stay tuned!
In other news, I’ve also finally submitted “Soul Survivor” for potential publication with a literary magazine! This has been a long time coming, and I’m super excited (and nervous) to see what happens. Many experienced, published writers will say to expect dozens upon dozens of rejections before you actually land a publication, especially for guys like me who are still technically getting their start. While I’m appropriately tempering my expectations, I’m also very hopeful. I’m also obviously very biased towards my own work, but I do genuinely believe “Soul Survivor” is the best thing I’ve ever written, and I have faith I’ll find someone to publish it sooner rather than later.
In other exciting February news, I am also now an uncle! My older sister gave birth to her daughter Noelle on February 26, and I couldn’t be happier for her. Granted, the circumstances weren’t ideal, as my niece arrived about a month early, but nevertheless, everyone is safe and healthy back home now. And, of course, we’re looking forward to making many, many beautiful memories with little Noelle in the coming years.
On the nerdy side of things, I’ve been catching up with a handful of Marvel comics lately, having taken a bit of a break from The Lord of the Rings. Because holy moly is that book tough to get through. It’s the same problem I have with Watchmen, where I know the content is really good, but it’s written in a complex manner that makes it read somewhat slowly at times. I’m also heavily biased towards the film trilogy, so trying to detach myself from the movies to read the book is kind of tricky. Still, I’m sure I’ll get through it eventually.
February also further cemented the fact that 2023 is shaping up to be the year of video game remakes and remasters. Following their latest Direct broadcast on February 8th, Nintendo shadow dropped the nuke that was Metroid Prime Remastered. Metroid Prime is my favorite game series of all time, so receiving this little gem out of the blue was a real treat. And, lo and behold, the game remains a masterpiece, with the improved graphics and controls making this the definitive version of the game to play.
Oh yeah, Cocaine Bear was also a movie that came out. It was, uh… fun. Like, seriously, it was a lot of fun. Horror comedy done right. I mean, come on, it’s called Cocaine Bear! What’s not to love?! Go see it if you think you’ve got the stomach for it.
Apart from all that, life has been rolling along rather pleasantly lately. I feel like I’m in strong place right now, especially with all of my writing endeavors, though there’s still plenty of room left for me to improve and progress. Overall, I think things are really going to start to pay off for me soon, professionally speaking. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
I think a big part of my improved mood is how I’ve been lightly delving into my old love for singing. A good friend of mine has been working on an album for a long while now, so I’m helping out with some backing vocals as needed. It’s a fun time, to say the least, and it has served as a very alleviating outlet for me. It gets even better when we have other friends tag along and we can all just pal around and have fun while making music together.
Now, this isn’t necessarily me trying to break into the music industry; I have enough challenges with the literary industry as it is. Again, it’s just another fun little outlet for me to explore. I mean, sure, if things were to start lining up properly, I think I’d love to try my hand at actually writing lyrics or something and making music for real, but for now, I’m happy to keep this as a hobby. But hey, I guess we’ll see what happens.
With all of that being said, though, I hope everyone else was able to have an enjoyable February as well. I know the winter season isn’t the easiest to get through, but thankfully, this one hasn’t been so bad. And hey, at least we’re now on the cusp of spring, which is a big plus in my book.
So, as always, peace out until next time! And be on the lookout for another new blog update sometime in the next week or two!