***A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP***
I talk about my sleeping habits a lot in these journals because I’m always in search of a reason why my low energy level is interfering with my creative projects. Sleep apnea will certainly suck the strength out of anybody. Being overweight does that all the time. But there are other contributing factors that all of us can pay attention to when it comes to our own lives.
My most recent solution was to wake up at 11:00 in the morning every day regardless of how tired I am. I was able to do it yesterday, but that was only because I actually had the energy to pull that off. I turns out I had a lot of extra time in my day and I used it to finish reading “Love Me Today, Kill Me Tomorrow” by Marie Krepps before writing a review for it and eventually going to my dental appointment. Today, on the other hand, was a much different story. My mom came in and raised the blinds to help me wake up at 11:00 again, but this time I was too zonked out to do it. And then I go back to all the times I woke up early in the day only to take a nap in the afternoon and go back to my usual sleeping cycle.
Yet another solution was to drink milk before going to bed. Milk has a narcotic effect on the human mind and puts said human to sleep in no time at all. Sometimes this has worked for me, sometimes it hasn’t. Maybe the failure rate has to do with me grabbing a midnight snack before going to bed. I’d love to give that habit up, but because I wake up late every day, I’m not around for breakfast. They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day for a reason: because it will determine your energy for the rest of the day and it will leave you full enough so that you’re not hungry before bedtime. I could easily combine the solutions of waking up at 11:00 and eating breakfast and I’d be on my way to perfect health.
But then there’s something else I learned about recently. Did you know that staring at a computer screen has the same optical effect as flashing a light in your own eyes? Blue is a common color in computer screens and it’s the same one that makes your eyes tired when you’ve been sitting in front of the screen for a long time. Starting tonight, I’m going to try something new and you all are welcome to try this if you’re having trouble sleeping. Before going to bed, stay awake for at least another our while trying to avoid looking at computer or TV screens. If you need sleeping music like I do, but you use your computer for that, turn off the monitor and leave the speakers turned on. If you need an activity that trumps dinking around on your social media accounts, read a paperback novel or write in a paper journal. I would advise against listening to your MP3 player since that has a digital screen like TV’s and computers do.
November is a month of challenges. It’s a challenge for writers to produce something every single day, but for me personally, it’s also going to be a challenge to alter my sleeping habits so that I can wake up with enough energy to blow through my creative projects and hopefully lose some weight in the process. Wish me luck! You can also wish me goodnight if you want!
***POISON TONGUE TALES***
My plans to write “Born to Die” have not changed, although it’s getting a little difficult trying to plot this story from beginning to end. I’m going to try and stay disciplined so that I don’t have to choose another story to write in its place. The writing can be easily figured out. The editing, on the other hand, has taken a slightly different direction. As you all know, Marie Krepps is my beta reader and she’s been doing a stellar job of critiquing my work and getting it ready for the marketplace. Recently, she’s been sending me back her notes a rapid fire pace and I applaud her for that. Because I have a lot of stories to work on, I’m no longer going to randomly choose one story at a time to work on. I’m instead going to bulldoze these stories like I did with American Darkness not too long ago. By that, I mean edit the stories in alphabetical order and do three per day with no excuses. You hear that, Death Blade? You too are getting the bulldozing treatment no matter how scary you are! Have I told you all lately how awesome and wonderful Marie is? ^_^
***LUNACHO***
Do you all remember me talking about suspending Blood Brawl because I had writer’s block? It’s the whole reason why I’m trying to finish up Poison Tongue Tales. But what happens after Poison Tongue Tales? I’ll have both an editing and writing job to do. I plan getting Marie’s critiques on my most recent first draft novel “Watch You Burn”. For the writing itself, I’m going all in with LuNacho, the animal fantasy story about two kitties I used to have, Luna and Nacho. Unlike Blood Brawl, I planned out LuNacho the right way and I actually have the intention of following through with it. And this time, though the chapter count of 20 will stay the same, I will start shooting for 40,000 words or more, which means each chapter has to be at least 2,000 words long. Can I do it? You’re damn right I can! It means I’ll have to push myself beyond my comfort zone, but goddamn it, I can do it!
***READING***
Now that “January First” and “Love Me Today, Kill Me Tomorrow” are in my rearview mirror, I need two more books to read and review. My choice for a digital book was easy: “Box of Chocolates” by the ultra-lovely and tough-as-nails Marie Krepps. Since the book is in the neighborhood of fifty and sixty pages long, I could probably read it in one day and review it right away. For the paperback book, as in the one I will read in lieu of dinking around on the computer tonight, I’ve got “A Street Cat Named Bob” by James Bowen. I was browsing Barnes & Noble one day and since this book had a picture of a cute, cuddly kitty on it, I purchased it without hesitation. The kitty on the cover actually reminds me a little bit of Nacho. Aww!
***DARK FANTASY WARRIORS***
In the past few days, I’ve drawn pictures of two different people with Brock in their names: Ryan Brock (barbarian from “Streetwalker”) and Brock Dempsey (monk from “Maggie’s Wisdom”). That’s a Brock of shit. (Audience boos and throws vegetables at me.) Okay, okay, bad pun, I get it. There won’t be anything funny about the next character I’m going to draw: Corey Darkside, yet another barbarian. Maybe my family is right about me: I AM obsessed with barbarians. Hehe!
***WRESTLING QUOTE OF THE DAY***
“What do I think of Seth Rollins? I think he’s a weasel and a thief. He didn’t earn that championship; he stole it from me. At Battleground, it’s over.”
-Brock Lesnar-
***POST-SCRIPT***
And now that makes THREE people with the name Brock.
Showing posts with label Love Me Today. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Love Me Today. Show all posts
Friday, November 6, 2015
Thursday, November 5, 2015
"Love Me Today, Kill Me Tomorrow" by Marie Krepps
BOOK TITLE: Love Me Today, Kill Me Tomorrow
AUTHOR: Marie Krepps
YEAR: 2015
GENRE: Fiction
SUBGENRE: Vampire Erotica
GRADE: Extra Credit
Alexus suffers from acute depression after living a life full of abuse and heartache. Her father and her older brothers Thomas and Brian were the worst offenders when it came to Alexus’ abuse. They tried to control every aspect of her life, tried to make her conform and fall in line. And now she wants to kill herself. She doesn’t know how until she meets a vampire named Artus who could easily bite her neck and drain her dry. Things take a much different direction when Artus can’t bring himself to kill Alexus. Instead, the two of them make love together and become that much closer to becoming a couple.
If you’re familiar with Ms. Krepps’ works, you know how much of a master she is at creating sex scenes. These scenes aren’t a bunch of bullshit from porn magazines or even Fifty Shades of Grey. These are real, love-making, penis-hardening, and vagina-wetting sex scenes. It’s more than just being on top and getting it over with. The variation in sexual acts keeps the love-making fresh in the mind of the reader. These two vampires can make every reader’s fantasies come to life with just their lust for each other. With that said, you might want to keep a box of tissues next to your e-reader for this one. You never know when Mt. St. Helen might erupt or how much of a mess it’ll create when it does.
The vampire logic is another thing Marie Krepps is passionate about. Every last detail having to do with vampires is planned out and well-researched. Everybody knows that vampires burn when they’re exposed to sunlight. But did you know that a vampire’s bite can actually feel like heaven despite the sharp fangs? It can also feel like you’re getting your body turned inside out if you piss off said vampire. And if you think you’re going to get in a slugfest with a vampire and live to tell about it, you’re bat shit crazy. Bottom line: even though this is a vampire story, everything in this book is believable. You actually want to get behind these characters because the author is holding a mirror up to society in the guise of fiction.
But then you have the primary reason why this book earned an Extra Credit (five-star) rating. At the beginning of the book, Marie Krepps dedicates the novel to everybody who has suffered from a mental illness. The struggles that Alexus faces as a depression victim are very real and make the story sound somewhat autobiographical. I know this because I’ve had my fair share of shitty people in my life and they all brought me into a darkened state in one way or another. Nobody takes as much abuse as Alexus has and comes out smelling like roses. Suicide is not selfish by any means. It’s what the mentally ill consider when they see no other solution to their demons. But when you finally see that glimmer of hope, suicide will seem irrational at that point. Let us all come together and be each other’s glimmer of hope. The world will be a better place for it.
Reading Marie Krepps’ writing gives me a newfound respect for her with every passing piece of literature. She shows new wrinkles to her game and is easily coached when it comes to taking advice from other writers. My friendship with her isn’t the biggest reason why she gets five stars. Her writing was what earned her the respect she so deserves. In spite of having a day job, four daughters, a husband, cats, and a mind full of demons, she actually finds time to write such beautiful stories and poems. The next time someone cracks a joke about millennials being lazy, be sure to give that person a kick in the groin. Marie Krepps is far from lazy. She’s the hardest worker in the writing business today.
AUTHOR: Marie Krepps
YEAR: 2015
GENRE: Fiction
SUBGENRE: Vampire Erotica
GRADE: Extra Credit
Alexus suffers from acute depression after living a life full of abuse and heartache. Her father and her older brothers Thomas and Brian were the worst offenders when it came to Alexus’ abuse. They tried to control every aspect of her life, tried to make her conform and fall in line. And now she wants to kill herself. She doesn’t know how until she meets a vampire named Artus who could easily bite her neck and drain her dry. Things take a much different direction when Artus can’t bring himself to kill Alexus. Instead, the two of them make love together and become that much closer to becoming a couple.
If you’re familiar with Ms. Krepps’ works, you know how much of a master she is at creating sex scenes. These scenes aren’t a bunch of bullshit from porn magazines or even Fifty Shades of Grey. These are real, love-making, penis-hardening, and vagina-wetting sex scenes. It’s more than just being on top and getting it over with. The variation in sexual acts keeps the love-making fresh in the mind of the reader. These two vampires can make every reader’s fantasies come to life with just their lust for each other. With that said, you might want to keep a box of tissues next to your e-reader for this one. You never know when Mt. St. Helen might erupt or how much of a mess it’ll create when it does.
The vampire logic is another thing Marie Krepps is passionate about. Every last detail having to do with vampires is planned out and well-researched. Everybody knows that vampires burn when they’re exposed to sunlight. But did you know that a vampire’s bite can actually feel like heaven despite the sharp fangs? It can also feel like you’re getting your body turned inside out if you piss off said vampire. And if you think you’re going to get in a slugfest with a vampire and live to tell about it, you’re bat shit crazy. Bottom line: even though this is a vampire story, everything in this book is believable. You actually want to get behind these characters because the author is holding a mirror up to society in the guise of fiction.
But then you have the primary reason why this book earned an Extra Credit (five-star) rating. At the beginning of the book, Marie Krepps dedicates the novel to everybody who has suffered from a mental illness. The struggles that Alexus faces as a depression victim are very real and make the story sound somewhat autobiographical. I know this because I’ve had my fair share of shitty people in my life and they all brought me into a darkened state in one way or another. Nobody takes as much abuse as Alexus has and comes out smelling like roses. Suicide is not selfish by any means. It’s what the mentally ill consider when they see no other solution to their demons. But when you finally see that glimmer of hope, suicide will seem irrational at that point. Let us all come together and be each other’s glimmer of hope. The world will be a better place for it.
Reading Marie Krepps’ writing gives me a newfound respect for her with every passing piece of literature. She shows new wrinkles to her game and is easily coached when it comes to taking advice from other writers. My friendship with her isn’t the biggest reason why she gets five stars. Her writing was what earned her the respect she so deserves. In spite of having a day job, four daughters, a husband, cats, and a mind full of demons, she actually finds time to write such beautiful stories and poems. The next time someone cracks a joke about millennials being lazy, be sure to give that person a kick in the groin. Marie Krepps is far from lazy. She’s the hardest worker in the writing business today.
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
November
***NOVEMBER***
I’ve spoken on the topic of National Novel Writing Month before, but I did so in a negative light. All this time I was convinced that my mental exhaustion would keep me from pumping out 50,000 words of a singular story within the month of November. Year after year I’ve opted to stay out of this particular challenge. But after having a heart-to-heart with my best friends Marie Krepps and Zero Urrea, I have a slightly different idea of what November is supposed to mean.
Marie disputed the idea of plotters having a disadvantage in this particular challenge. While it is true that I’ve got several ideas for a novel in my writing folder, none of them are planned out from beginning to end, chapter by chapter, scene by scene. Marie suggested that I participate in next year’s contest since a year is ample time to come up with a decent plot, especially something that’s supposed to be 50,000 words long. Of course, I could write the novel right away at that point, but doing it in November is an exercise in discipline and self-motivation since it requires daily attention to the task at hand.
Zero furthered the point of November being an excuse to write every single day. What he said after that put everything into perspective for this particular year. What I’m working on doesn’t necessarily have to be a novel. As long as I write something of substance every day, then the self-motivation is working. Therefore, for November 2015, my main writing project will be finishing my 50 story quota for Poison Tongue Tales. I have 41 stories already written, so I have nine more to go. Obviously, the other 41 stories were written before the challenge started, so I may be cheating a little bit. Other pieces of writing include reviews for books and of course, this journal entry.
You all know about my plans to write “Born to Die”, which is about the martial arts monk who challenges a bar full of mercenaries to a battle royal. My review for January First is live on all of my social media accounts as well as Amazon. The next thing I plan on doing is blitzing through Marie Krepps’ e-book “Love Me Today, Kill Me Tomorrow” and writing an honest review for it. I have only 180 more pages to read and it’ll be over. Right now, the book is looking at a grade between Extra Credit (five stars) and Pass (four stars). The sex scenes are hotter than hell. The vampire logic is well-done too. The thing that will ultimately determine the final grade, however, will be the attention to the topic of mental illness. January First paid great attention to schizophrenia to where it deeply affected me, therefore earning it five stars. We’ll see how Marie’s book plays out.
My attitude toward the month of November has changed significantly since having conversations with Marie and Zero. Plus, seeing my other author friends taking up the novel writing challenge is motivating for me as well. I may not be following every rule of the challenge to a tee, but it’s better than sitting on my ass and letting sleep apnea consume my brain. Let’s get some shit done!
***DARK FANTASY WARRIORS***
Now that October is over and therefore so is Villains Month, it’s time to start drawing some heroes from my short stories and novels as well. My next drawing will be of Brock Dempsey, the angry monk from the story that used to be called “Saggy-Maggie” and is now called “Maggie’s Wisdom”. An angry monk? Someone trying to reach ultimate nirvana is also a hotheaded dynamite shack? Luckily for Brock, he has a cute little puppy-duppy named Maggie to get him through it all. Before you ask, yes, Maggie is based 100% on my black and white Springer Spaniel with saggy jowls.
***HALLOWEEN***
Instead of going to New Orleans, I went around downtown Port Orchard and around my neighborhood with Reina. She was dressed as the female version of Finn from Adventure Time and I was dressed as a member of Slipknot. We both got a lot of candy like we set out to do. But the most rewarding part of that night for me was scaring the shit out of everyone around me. Little kids were crying and screaming in fear at my costume, but also because I slipped onto the rainy ground twice in the same night and unleashed a cataclysm of swear words in the process. As it turns out, my Slipknot mask has piss-poor eyesight, so that will be the last time I wear it for anything other than a photo opportunity. Next year for Halloween, I’m getting a mask without lenses, preferably of the Guy Fawkes or white sheep variety. All in all, it was a good night and I’m glad I got to spend it with my niece.
***MOVIE DIALOGUE OF THE DAY***
RANDAL: Jesus Christ, Elias! Step away from the deep fryer before you burn us all alive!
ELIAS: It’s not my fault you abandoned your post!
RANDAL: Was it too much to ask that you make the fries?! The machine does all the work! What, does a machine have to turn into a giant fucking robot before you take it seriously?! Go home!
-Clerks II-
I’ve spoken on the topic of National Novel Writing Month before, but I did so in a negative light. All this time I was convinced that my mental exhaustion would keep me from pumping out 50,000 words of a singular story within the month of November. Year after year I’ve opted to stay out of this particular challenge. But after having a heart-to-heart with my best friends Marie Krepps and Zero Urrea, I have a slightly different idea of what November is supposed to mean.
Marie disputed the idea of plotters having a disadvantage in this particular challenge. While it is true that I’ve got several ideas for a novel in my writing folder, none of them are planned out from beginning to end, chapter by chapter, scene by scene. Marie suggested that I participate in next year’s contest since a year is ample time to come up with a decent plot, especially something that’s supposed to be 50,000 words long. Of course, I could write the novel right away at that point, but doing it in November is an exercise in discipline and self-motivation since it requires daily attention to the task at hand.
Zero furthered the point of November being an excuse to write every single day. What he said after that put everything into perspective for this particular year. What I’m working on doesn’t necessarily have to be a novel. As long as I write something of substance every day, then the self-motivation is working. Therefore, for November 2015, my main writing project will be finishing my 50 story quota for Poison Tongue Tales. I have 41 stories already written, so I have nine more to go. Obviously, the other 41 stories were written before the challenge started, so I may be cheating a little bit. Other pieces of writing include reviews for books and of course, this journal entry.
You all know about my plans to write “Born to Die”, which is about the martial arts monk who challenges a bar full of mercenaries to a battle royal. My review for January First is live on all of my social media accounts as well as Amazon. The next thing I plan on doing is blitzing through Marie Krepps’ e-book “Love Me Today, Kill Me Tomorrow” and writing an honest review for it. I have only 180 more pages to read and it’ll be over. Right now, the book is looking at a grade between Extra Credit (five stars) and Pass (four stars). The sex scenes are hotter than hell. The vampire logic is well-done too. The thing that will ultimately determine the final grade, however, will be the attention to the topic of mental illness. January First paid great attention to schizophrenia to where it deeply affected me, therefore earning it five stars. We’ll see how Marie’s book plays out.
My attitude toward the month of November has changed significantly since having conversations with Marie and Zero. Plus, seeing my other author friends taking up the novel writing challenge is motivating for me as well. I may not be following every rule of the challenge to a tee, but it’s better than sitting on my ass and letting sleep apnea consume my brain. Let’s get some shit done!
***DARK FANTASY WARRIORS***
Now that October is over and therefore so is Villains Month, it’s time to start drawing some heroes from my short stories and novels as well. My next drawing will be of Brock Dempsey, the angry monk from the story that used to be called “Saggy-Maggie” and is now called “Maggie’s Wisdom”. An angry monk? Someone trying to reach ultimate nirvana is also a hotheaded dynamite shack? Luckily for Brock, he has a cute little puppy-duppy named Maggie to get him through it all. Before you ask, yes, Maggie is based 100% on my black and white Springer Spaniel with saggy jowls.
***HALLOWEEN***
Instead of going to New Orleans, I went around downtown Port Orchard and around my neighborhood with Reina. She was dressed as the female version of Finn from Adventure Time and I was dressed as a member of Slipknot. We both got a lot of candy like we set out to do. But the most rewarding part of that night for me was scaring the shit out of everyone around me. Little kids were crying and screaming in fear at my costume, but also because I slipped onto the rainy ground twice in the same night and unleashed a cataclysm of swear words in the process. As it turns out, my Slipknot mask has piss-poor eyesight, so that will be the last time I wear it for anything other than a photo opportunity. Next year for Halloween, I’m getting a mask without lenses, preferably of the Guy Fawkes or white sheep variety. All in all, it was a good night and I’m glad I got to spend it with my niece.
***MOVIE DIALOGUE OF THE DAY***
RANDAL: Jesus Christ, Elias! Step away from the deep fryer before you burn us all alive!
ELIAS: It’s not my fault you abandoned your post!
RANDAL: Was it too much to ask that you make the fries?! The machine does all the work! What, does a machine have to turn into a giant fucking robot before you take it seriously?! Go home!
-Clerks II-
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