Life is Life-ing and we're trucking forward.
It's June! We're literally at the halfway point of the year and I have yet to use this blog as intended (for literally whatever I want lol). So I guess now is as good a time as any to start updating with what I've been up to. I've sort of been doing a lot but also it feels like I've done barely anything so this is why we jot things down.
Most of my time has been spent at WildStar Press:
New Book
Expanded the Press
Getting ready for more books and anthologies
And even going to Heroes Con this year (AA-621 if you're looking for me)
For me personally, I have been in my writing era still. It's just been tragically slow. It came to a halt in May (don't ask me about May, it was bad). But a lot of my writing is just not out or available to see yet.
I got into the Let Her Be Evil anthology and am excited to see how that turns out. Script is already done, now I'm just eagerly collaborating with the artist [spoilers because I don't think I can say yet].
Interview with Death is technically done script wise! Collecting artists is where the trouble comes because money makes the world go round and the world doesn't seem to want to give that up.
I've borrowed some friends' characters and have been building stories for them. Who knows what will come of them, but they are written.
And Cursed Flowers, my beloved, I'm chipping away at chapter 4. I made some headway, but it's going at a snail's pace.
Honestly, the theme lately has been the struggles of creativity with a full-time job and several 'side gigs' plus the industry's lack of appreciation and pay to the people that are the backbone of their companies. Without these creatives there's no movies, no comics, no music, no books, no billboards, no advertisements, no nothing - but it's still treated as such a frivolous job as if the people creating these things aren't worth the money that these corporations sit on. Writer strikes have been happening, the bird app recently started a ComicsBrokeMe tag and all of it is disheartening for the future of the industry (especially as fools think that AI is a replacement to quality art).
It's ridiculous, it's disheartening, it stems from an even greater capitalistic problem and oh boy is this country full of its problems that people in charge don't want to solve. But it should also strengthen resolve and make people even more determined to unionize and build and create their own things - That's not to say that doing that is easy or will bring in dividends immediately, but investing in the community and in these indie companies and these individual artists will put power back into our hands rather than corporations greedy claws. There's no such thing as competition when the money is being stripped from all of us.
And yeah absolutely, this is easier said than done, but it won't get any easier until we actually do something. WildStar Press was started out of that same defiant energy, that same need to be the supporting hand that artists need to thrive. It's with mixed success, but there is always some success when people believe in it. There's so many people out there with amazing stories to tell and art to share and that's who we should be focusing on. Focusing on the individuals will surmount to having a greater whole - at least I think so.
But this is all stuff we all know well by now. We know corporations don't care about people as much as they care about money. We know the world is burning and collapsing. But here we all are still trying to make art in this world and that's honestly an inspiration in itself.
Without sounding like a broken record, you should check out my Recommendations Page to find a new artist, writer, etc etc to support!
I hope that in these turbulent times we all find some semblance of hope, the warmth of community, and tbh money. We all need it. We all deserve it. And I don't need to go into a rant about capitalism to explain why.
📺Watching📺
I saw Across the Spider-Verse and the animation was so beautiful. The story was so good. You can tell that a LOT of love was put into that movie. Blows a kiss to the sky for Hobie and Pavitr for being great, can't wait to see more of them. Also the fact that Lego Spidey was Miguel's best asset... The joy I have for this tiny Lego lol. That was such a fun part. Shoutout to the 14-year old kid that made me remember Legos are fun.
📚Reading📚
Finished Static: Season One and I like this new updated version. It's very on the nose with the times and that's not a bad thing but it is something I was hesitant about going on. Protests, discrimination, etc etc are things that have happened and are still happening but it was portrayed in a way that wasn't... well, daunting for lack of better words. I wasn't finding myself dreading what was next and instead eager to see how things would turn out.
Read Godzilla Rivals: Mothra vs Titanosaurus and this is just a fun Kaiju story. I don't have any indepth words about it but I did like it.
Read Gideon the Ninth and that was also a good story. I was more interested in it towards the end than the beginning and it was probably because I didn't expect it to be a (spoilers?) murder mystery.
🎶Listening To🎶
If you haven't already, do yourself a favor and listen to The Age of Pleasure by Janelle Monae it is such a good album. It is THE summer album.
And that's about it! To June being Pride Month and my Birthday Month. To 2023 being at the halfway point. And may we all find some positives going forward. 🌟