New Bloggy Update! 5/10/23

Another event has gone down in the books! The First Sunday Midwest Bazaar in Springfield, Illinois was a rousing success. I was a little nervous during the first few hours as sales were slow, but suspense folks must just wake up later in the day because the numbers made up for it as the hours passed. Great time, great vendors, and a good overall experience. (no chickens, unfortunately…the building (Orr) was the old chicken building during the State Fair)

Sanctum update – I am working through the eighth draft of the manuscript. It’s now in proper layout form, so I am making final edits (changing some word choice, punctuation, spacing, etc.) which Tami (the lady who does the cover and layout so I can upload it to Amazon) will handle. Once she fixes those final issues, she’ll send me the actual links to upload both cover and manuscript to Amazon proper. From there, it’s only a matter of days (hours?) before it becomes available. (Kindle version to follow soon) So, the hold up at this point is ME getting through Draft #8. I’m currently about a third of the way through right now.

My next event is Steampunk! Cogs and Corsets in Bloomington, Illinois! It takes place on June 2, 3, and 4. https://www.cogsandcorsetsil.com/

I’ve had to order a TON of things as of late. Why does it all happen at once? Business cards (through MOO), more bookmarks, Toad Bags, actual copies of my books (!), and Toad Pads (notepads). I wasn’t going to go that route, but I was able to find a less expensive outlet for them, so, we’ll see how they turn out. I also had my phone “explode” three days before this last event, so I had to get a new one. Yep, it’s been an expensive week.

So, what the heck have we been watching?

The Snowtown Murders (2011) – A charismatic but violent predator (Daniel Henshall) takes his girlfriend’s teenage son (Lucas Pittaway) under his wing and makes him an accomplice in a murder spree. (Google) I have to admit that I wasn’t too familiar with this true crime story. I was very interested in learning about this horrific tale, but I came away barely knowing any more than I previously had. The way the film was shot (and everything else about it – characters, dialogue, interactions) heavily assumed that the audience already knew the whole story. Charlie and I were both confused, trying to figure out who was who, who was related to whom, and grasping for any backstory or reasoning for the killings. There’s probably a documentary out there that will explain things better, and I would advise anyone to seek that out first. We both rated this one under 5 (out of 10).

The Power (2023) – A British Sci-Fi drama (series). The world of The Power is our world, but for one twist of nature. Suddenly, and without warning, all teenage girls in the world develop the power to electrocute people at will. It’s hereditary, it’s inbuilt, and it can’t be taken away from them. Coming alive to the thrill of pure power: the ability to hurt or even kill by releasing electrical jolts from their fingertips, they rapidly learn they can awaken the Power in older women. Soon enough nearly every woman in the world can do it. And then everything is different. (Wikipedia). We are eight episodes into Season One (not sure if there will be a season 2) and while I’m not a big proponent of sci-fi shows in general, I’ve found this one interesting enough. It does lean a bit heavy on the teen angst, which is where it loses me, but there are enough “adult” themes to keep me coming back. I’m curious to see how it wraps up (or continues). If I had to grade it right now, without seeing the end of Season One, I’d likely give it a 6 (out of 10). Recommend if you dig YA/teen shows/Girl Power themes.

That is it! A BIG shout-out to all the new followers, new Meet & Greet Authors, Spotlight Artists, and FlipSide Musicians who have shared recently. Thank YOU!!