Goodmorrow, friends! Everyone doing well? I certainly hope so.
So, May was busy. Like, extremely. It was hectic, to be sure, but also highly rejuvenating. Between fun writing endeavors, a handful of concerts, and celebrating my 27th birthday (woohoo!), there was no shortage of things to enjoy.
Chief among the goings on was the release of the rewrite of “Recoil,” which, if you haven’t already, you can find here! I’m really pleased with how this version of the story came out; I think I managed to maintain a lot of the silly, comic book like aspects that I introduced in the original while also more strongly grounding the story in reality and making it feel more believable. I also figured, since it’s part of a larger story, that it made sense to not give readers all the answers up front. There’s more to come, rest assured, with the release of the rewritten tale of “Scars,” which will be dropping on Wednesday, June 21st!
In less exciting news, right at the end of May on the 31st, I got the results for round two of NYC Midnight’s Short Story Challenge. Sadly, I didn’t make the cut for round three. That said, though, I’m still really proud of what I was able to accomplish in the first two rounds, and the feedback from the judges for my two stories is beyond appreciated. I’ll definitely be working on the first story so I can potentially publish it with a literary journal or magazine sometime in the future. As for my second story, I’ll likely be posting that one here on the site at some point, but that might change. I have to see what I’m able to come up with, in terms of sprucing it up.
May also saw the release of three major metalcore albums, each of which gave me plenty of new tunes to listen to while getting some much-needed writing done. These albums were The Death We Seek by Currents, Not Without My Ghosts by The Amity Affliction, and Take Me Back to Eden by Sleep Token. I was giddily looking forward to each of these, and I’m glad to report that each of them absolutely slaps. I know I had mentioned in my previous blog that I might do a large review blog to cover these three, but timing didn’t really allow for that, sadly.
Each album offers something completely different, but they’re all undeniably amazing (at least, if metalcore is your thing). Currents’ latest effort is an absolutely brutal record, with gut-punching instrumentals and hard-hitting vocals galore. The Amity Affliction have had an interesting progression in their sound these past few years, but I’m so glad they’ve finally found their way back to the melancholy tone and lyricism that made albums like Chasing Ghosts and Let The Ocean Take Me so powerful. And the rapid success of Sleep Token should come as no surprise to anyone, really, and their latest album, which features some truly incredible musicianship, is a testament to why they deserve it.
Oh yeah, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 dropped too, and holy crap, it’s basically director James Gunn’s greatest film yet. I posted a brief review on my Instagram and Twitter, because again, I sadly didn’t have time to do a full review, though I really wanted to. To repeat what I wrote on socials, though: this movie is basically what happens when Marvel and Disney just let their filmmakers make films. It’s an absolute superhero storytelling masterclass (if not a general storytelling masterclass), and regardless of whether or not you’ve seen the prior Guardians films or any other MCU movies, I highly recommend you check this one out.
Other than all of the other usual fun stuff, life has been fairly smooth sailing lately. Between working on various projects and planning for other exciting events yet to come this year, I’ve no shortage of things to keep me busy and my mind preoccupied. Which is good! Keeping myself busy keeps me from dwelling on life’s worries. Although, that said, I think I need a break sometime soon. I’m hoping after I finally unveil “Vial” for you all next month that I can block out a bit of time to just chill out for a bit. Which would be very convenient, given we’re entering summer, and a beach day or two would be really appreciated.
In the meantime, though, there’s still plenty left to look forward to. Case in point, sometime this week, I’ll be dropping my full review of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which dropped last Friday, June 2nd. All I’ll say for now is this: Ho-ly shit. What a film. Be sure to keep an eye out for the full review (which I hope to put out on Wednesday, but it could get pushed back to Thursday or Friday; we’ll see).
Until then, peace!