Pay the Artist, Please

Wow I did a lot of publishing last week. Too bad I don't get paid per word--that would be killer.
In the mean time, I created a new spreadsheet (I know, ANOTHER ONE?) That helps me manage my social media publishing schedule in accordance with when each platform is the most active. So. That should...make things more efficient.

I guess I'm frustrated and if I didn't write about frustration as often as joy, I'd be lying. I'm frustrated because I genuinely work 40 hours a week on a slow week and at the end of the MONTH my takeaway is pocket change. I'm not mismanaging my time, I'm not wasting it messing around...so what's the problem?

A Fixation Friday Moment of Silence

-For the Duffer Bros and their shaky integrity

 

 -For JK Rowling and the fact that she's been canceled

 

-For Kanye West and his missing mind

 

-For Ferris Bueller, who is home from school because of his very serious and not at all made up illness.

 

 -And for Michael Jackson. In memoriam. Always.

I started drafting this post a looooong time ago, but the list of people doing dumb shit in the spotlight has grown longer and longer since then. Instead of starting over I've just added to it.
Stranger Things 3 began filming recently, without camera crew member Peyton Brown, who accused the Duffers of "verbally abusing women" on set. The bros have since apologized in a stereotypical "we did it but it doesn't count" kind of way. Netflix apparently investigated and found no wrong-doing. That, of course, doesn't mean the bros are clean, just that the streaming service isn't willing to do anything about it in case it messes with one of their biggest money-making properties.

Fixation Friday in A Pineapple Under the Sea

We are going to New York this weekend to celebrate me getting way too old. And we're doing so with tickets to The Spongebob Musical. I'm staying at my dad's house for about a week after that to FILM MY BOOK TRAILER!!!! But I'm getting ahead of myself. Before I can look at where I'm going, lets take a look at where I've been this week.

 

Fixations of the Week:

MDWAP Live

Best friend Lee and I attended a live show for the podcast “My Dad Wrote a Porno” this week. I had a migraine. I hate migraines. I still had tons of fun and screamed with laughter. Don’t chew on anyone’s testicles, folks.

February Jams for Settling In

February is always a jam-packed month for me. I turned 30 this year! As did a handful of my friends (was May 1987 a specifically sexy time, guys?). It was also a solid month for movies. I got to see Black Panther (!!!!) and Coco (WHY DID I WAIT SO LONG??) so they each got spots on the track list. Speaking of which...

Track List

I waited WAY TOO LONG to see Coco

1. "Morning in America" / Jon Bellion
2. "What's My Age Again" / Blink-182
3. "Relax" / Frankie Goes to Hollywood
4. "Un Poco Loco" / Anthony Gonzalez (Coco soundtrack)
5. "We Are the Kids" / WALK THE MOON
6. "This World Will Remember Us" / Laura Osnes and Jeremy Jordan (Bonnie and Clyde OBCR)
7. "Clap Your Hands" / LeoSoul
8. "Redemption Interlude" / Zacari (Black Panther soundtrack)
9. "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (Part 1)" / The Flaming Lips
10. "A Whole New World" / Lea Salonga, Brad Kane (Aladdin movie soundtrack)
11. "Secret for the Mad" / dodie
12. Remember Me (Lullaby) / Gael Garcia Bernal, Gabriella Flores (Coco Soundtrack)

Fixation Friday: Cats are the Priority

Now that it's March I'm officially over the "settling in" phase of returning from Iceland and into full panic mode about being so close to Meet the Judges week. But that hasn't stopped me from attempting to keep up my writing chops with plenty of online publication (see below for links) about Star Wars and Marvel and reflections on Iceland.

Iceland Reflections: Part Two (PHOTO GALLERY)

My Reflections on Iceland continue with today's entry on sightseeing. Please enjoy the photos.

 

Sightseeing in Iceland

Tourism has blown up in the last few years in Iceland, ever since traveling there has become easier and less expensive. It’s not hard to see why people want to visit. The landscapes are pristine and, especially in the winter, unlike anything I’ve ever seen. 

Mike likes the beach and the VOLCANO SAND

I got to see beautiful mountains and waterfalls (see above), frozen lakes and black sand beaches (see below), geothermal fountains and massive craters... everything was new and amazing to me. Every natural formation was different from what I was used to, it seemed. The sand came from volcanic activity and the greenhouses ran on geothermal energy. On clear nights, we could see them glowing orange and warm all the way across the lake in Laugarvatn. 

Iceland Reflections Part One

The past calendar year has been full of residencies for me, and they have completely changed my life and my career. 

Most recently, I spent January as a resident at the Gullkistan Center for Creativity, in Lugvagartn, Iceland. I had my own room and shared studio and living space with 1-4 other women. I aimed to spend my time there working on the manuscript for The Last Stand, as well as developing my presentation and pitch information.

I reached that goal, or at least I’m pleased with the amount of progress I made on the manuscript and I’m ready to start in-depth edits of what I’ve created. I also worked on my PowerPoint slideshow, which I will have to present along with my manuscript and potential cover art for my book, should it be chosen for publication. I hired an artist for that part of the project as well and worked with him to come up with a concept for the cover. I didn’t do as much online writing as I wanted (you’ll notice this blog has been on a bit of hiatus), but that’s alright. I needed to focus on the novel.

Here are some more detailed thoughts on my time at Gullkistan!

Fixation Friday: Homeward Bound

Yes, I've been home for almost a whole month. Readjusting to life at my own desk has been a little more complicated than I expected! A month away, a month to readjust. Seems fair. Anyhow. Here's what's going on here in casa de Pendragon:

Fixations of the Week:

 

Finer Things Book Club

My friends and I like to read. A lot. And we like talking about what we read. It follows, pretty logically, I like to think, that we should start a book club. So we did. This month's read was Parable of the Sower, by Octavia Butler which I didn't love. Perhaps if I had read it when I was younger, when it was "newer" to the sci fi scene and I wasn't yet burnt out on dystopian futures....or perhaps when it wasn't quite so....possible?

An image of Lauren from Parable of the Sower

BOOK REVIEW: Stephen King's "It"

As it turns out, It has an unearned reputation. Pennywise the Clown is not the scary part of the book. Maybe he’s scary in the film, I don’t know, but in the book he’s only a symbol for a much bigger evil. It the creature is a glimmer or a spectre—she (yup) can change into whatever form she needs to, and Pennywise is her friendly shape, to lure children to her den. So let’s start there—clowns have been destroyed forever thanks to Stephen King. I’m okay with that because honestly, they weren’t doing themselves any favors before Pennywise. Clowns can rot, but I do want more people to read It.

Pennywise is arguably not even what the book is about. The heart and soul of It is the found family created by the Loser’s Club—a group of exhaustingly brave kids. By the end of their journey together, they’re bonded in more ways than one.

Without spoiling a major emotional event of the book, I will say I read the end of It through uncontrollable tears. Movies and television shows pull at my heart strings pretty easily, but I don’t remember the last time a BOOK had me in tears. Probably The Fault in Our Stars, which was about four or five years ago now, and nowhere near as powerful. 

Spoilers ahead, though it’s not a play-by-play of the book.

A January Playlist

Andrew Keenan Bolger (Newsies, Tuck Everlasting) puts out monthly playlists on Spotify, and I really liked that idea. I decided to try my hand at it, and then write little blog posts explaining my picks on here. So that's what I'm doing. See under the cut for the full list/explanations.