The White Room Interview

Hey everyone! I was interviewed by the great Emma Hardcastle on The White Room. It's currently on Youtube! Check it out!

Legos & Life

Recently I got a promotion at work which has also involved working a lot of overtime. A lot of the plans I had for the blog are getting pushed to the side because of this. The good news is that I am going to update this blog more often, but I won't be making the switch to being a video blog as I had been planning.

With my free time I have to balance my writing and entertainment. I tend to binge watch TV shows while working on writing and editing my work. So this week I want to talk about a few shows I have been watching and also talk about the awesome that is also known as LEGOS. Also I want to announce that final edits for The Ghost are done! I'm pushing it out to beta readers now, formatting for publication, and waiting for cover art to come back.

So recently I watched the new season of Orange Is the New Black and GLOW which are put together by the same producers. Both were well done. The story of GLOW has always been an interesting one to me and this first season goes over how it got started and the struggles that almost killed the project before it ever began. OITNB was just as fantastic as the show has always been. The characters are what make the show and they always find a way to give you insight on minor and major characters alike. The development of each one in this show is fantastic and I always tear through each season. They just released 4 episodes of Castlevania animated series which takes an anime style animation mixed with actual English speaking voice actors. The result is something that fans of anime and the video games should enjoy. I was left wanting more, but I think that was the point. Next on my plate is Shooter which is a TV show based on a movie by the same name. Also Gypsy is also catching my eye, so it might be next if only so I can see Naomi Watts.

LEGOS

Now we're into the good stuff! If you follow me on Instagram then you know that I occasionally put together large sets of LEGOS and document my progress there. I like the simple building process and many of the sets are undeniably cool. Tie ins with Star Wars, Batman, and many other franchises also ramp up the cool factor.

I usually just follow the instructions within the box to build these sets, but I have built a few practical things with these magical building blocks. The one I use the most is a cellphone stand that I use nearly every day. Nearly anything you can get at OfficeMax that is a plastic placeholder can be built using LEGOS. The only drawback is that sometimes you need more weight to hold things. There are 2 ways to do this, build a wider base, or add weights to the super light blocks.

When buying LEGOS I usually follow a simple formula for figuring out if a set is worth the price on the box. Most sets will average out to $1 for every 10 pieces. That means a 500 piece set should come out to around $50 for an average deal. I will overpay for some sets that I must have like the Millennium Falcon. The two newest sets I got were a steal with over 1000 pieces each and a price of around $50. Anytime I can get some cool Batman LEGOS for half off I am going to get them! If you are interested in seeing my progress on the most recent LEGO sets follow me on instagram. The link is at the top of the blog!

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Writing Progress Updates

The Ghost Novella
5th Edit Run: Finished!
POD Formatting: Finished!
Ebook Formatting: 10% done

Book Review: Ubik by Philip K Dick

Ubik by Philip K. Dick
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Do you ever feel the need to read reviews before purchasing a book? Alleviate your worries with the fantastic Ubik! Just rub the pages on your skin or consume them orally. Satisfaction is almost guaranteed if used as directed. Side effects include pinching yourself, questioning reality, and confusion on whether you are dead or alive. Please use in moderation as Ubik is a strong remedy for what ails you and can be highly addictive!

This is my first venture into the land of Phillip K Dick other than the movies that have been made based off his works. The story follows Joe Chip who is everyone's favorite screw up. He can't afford the nickel cost to open the front door to his apartment. He works for Runciter and Associates as what amounts to a talent scout for anti-powers. The company he works for helps to protect corporate interests against those who have powers. Psychics, mind readers, etc. all have their powers negated by these anti-ability people who work for Runciter. Things change when Joe is brought a young woman named Pat Conley to test. Her talent is unique in that she can change the past which forcefully changes the visions that pre-cogs have. At the same time there seems to be an incoming showdown between the psychics and Runciter's company.

Ubik is one of the best written hallucinations I have read. I enjoyed the book thoroughly, but it wasn't a book I loved. The world it takes place in is an interesting futurescape that has a Libertarian influence that I had not considered before. There are many aspects of the novel that make you think about the world which I very much enjoyed. The only reasons I didn't give it 5 stars are because of the characters and the twists in the story. The characters for the most part are flat and without any humor. Everything seems to be strictly confusion and business. I did enjoy the twists, but also saw each one coming from a hundred pages away. Perhaps I am nitpicking and this novel deserves 5 stars, but I'm reviewing from my experience of the book. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys mind-bending reads or SciFi in general.

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  Writing Progress Updates

The Ghost Novella
5th Edit Run: Page 45 of 47
Also commissioned cover art! Will have release date soon!