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Wednesday, February 26, 2025

The worm has turned...

...the indecisive asshole.

Me. Today.












Because why NOT drive myself crazy with three crucial scenes in "Canary: Out of the Shadows"? And why not finally give a story to a character name I couldn't get out of my grey matter about a week ago? I mean...WHY THE HELL NOT???

This?  This insanity smooths my edges. I'd rather be a chaotic cow tapping maniacally away than a sad sow looking at my keyboard longingly.
So. Bring on the chaos and the characters and all the mania and mayhem.
I've been waiting for you...

Also...my favorite worm right here. (No shade to Slimey.)




Monday, February 24, 2025

I need a mechanic for my struggle bus

Today, my brain is braining. But it is not, of course, braining like I NEED it to brain.
I need the fucker to focus.

The wee grey matter does not want to focus on writing. It doesn't want to focus on posting on my FB page. The bastard isn't cooperating at all.
I am...displeased.
My goals for this year are large. LARGE, I tell you. Sitting on my hindquarters, staring into the ether, and having the most random shit boot-scoot through is NOT productive. 
It is quite maddening.
I don't exactly need more maddening.

I want to finish three book titles this year, but I've mentally upped that to four because why not fuck with myself? Actually, one is not a romance, and I've mostly finished it. But it needs some heavy editing. It's not for the faint of heart, and I often wonder why murdery books don't sell as well as romance. True crime, to me, is horrifying and yet fascinating. I used to read thrillers, but they've waned for me lately. 

I've taken to watching The Hunting Party, and I'm on the fence a bit. The premise is AMAZING. 
"The Hunting Party follows a small team of investigators who are assembled to track down and capture the most dangerous killers ever seen, all of whom have just escaped from a top-secret prison that's not supposed to exist."
But the episodes are squished tight. There is so much information they need to convey, it feels like you've only received the clues, and then you've caught the killer. They should have made each episode two parts. Explored the character and his/her behavior and rehabilitation techniques further. The psychology is fascinating.

Think I'll go read and maybe clear out the cobwebs...

Friday, February 21, 2025

I dislike remakes

I say this firmly, head held high, eyes straight. Why mess with a classic?

But money talks, and extraordinarily bullshit copycats are made. Off the top of my head, I would throat punch ANYONE wanting to remake:  Labyrinth (you don't mess with Bowie in a codpiece, Ludo, or the cutest fucking worm ever created...the end), The Breakfast Club (the cast, the chemistry, and Bender 💖), The Princess Bride (As you wish, the best dialogue ever created, THAT CAST), or The Lost Boys (vampires, that soundtrack, costumes, Jason Patric and Kiefer Sutherland).

Because you can't replicate nostalgia. You know what I mean. That feeling when you first watched Bowie twirl those crystal balls in his hand. Mesmerizing you with those eyes. Your heartbeat slamming in your chest when Judd slipped Molly's earring into his ear. The absolute pin drop when Cary stood, pointed at Chris, and demanded, "Drop. Your. Sword."

Viewers' reactions are so pure at first watch. And we chase that high again and again on rewatch. I will never grow tired of watching the crew dance on top of the railing in the library. I will always swoon watching David and Jennifer glide around at the masquerade ball. Billy and Carol send me into stitches every time. And when the boys drop from tracks? Goosebumps.

Would The Princess Bride be the same with Nicholas Galitzine? Honestly, he would be a great Westley, if there weren't an already even greater one previous. And who would, God forbid, play Inigo Montoya?
I shudder. Okay, maybe Lin-Manuel. But I'm just spit-balling, and may this never ever happen.

Money can't buy nostalgia. It can't purchase the feelings we feel when we settle in to watch these movies or shows that mean so much to us and evoke strong feelings of joy. Anything less than the original is simply a cheap copy meant to pacify us long enough to spend our dollars and keep these assholes repeating this pattern.

Always writing...
and diatribing about remakes, apparently...  

Wednesday, February 19, 2025

I cannot do two things at once.

Okay. I can but maybe not well. Tropes, as promised, on my Inman Books Facebook page. It's funny. My chaotic short ass desperately wants to make up new tropes. I am THAT writer. And, you know, they tell you not to be.
That's the rub.
I love being different.
Different storylines. Different characters. Simply...different.
But, to sell, authors are told to be the same in book covers and descriptions and aesthetics.
And, God forbid, you color outside the lines.
Guys, I'm not even coloring on the pages.

I'm coloring in my Mind Cabin with umbra, a character born to a psychotic demigoddess and Nyx, Goddess and personification of Night. I'm playing Spades with a gay dragon and his Berserker husband. I'm watching the stars with a half-blind warrior and his lover. I'm petting a hellhound twice as big as I am who is glowing a bit to keep me warm on this chilly evening.

I'm not a beach house writer with margs on deck. I wouldn't know a billionaire if he bit me on the ass, though he could certainly try. I don't write about functional families because I didn't have one. Writing what you know is brilliant fucking advice. 
BRILLIANT

But I know and like weird shit. That's why I enjoy paranormal. I can blend weird factoids and mythology and history. I can take so many different little pieces and make a mosaic. I stir shit together and out comes this ridiculously rich tapestry of lore stitched with my heart and mind. 

THIS is what excites and soothes my soul. Why I write. Why I love words. Why I WHY.

Back to it. 

Always writing*


Tuesday, February 11, 2025

It's better for me if I hate you

I don't like nice guys, bookishly speaking. At least, not like I used to. I blew through Catherine Anderson's collection, and my favorite book was Baby Love. I was feeling delicate at that moment in my life, and I needed Book Daddy's that wanted to cuddle and take care of their women. This book delivered. 
I then moved on to the Black Dagger Brotherhood Series. Anything but sweet. These heroes made me sweat in the best damn way. I think I dropped off after maybe book 9, when I realized J. R. Ward and I did not mesh politically.

My favorite tropes, AKA categories of romance books, are usually Enemies to Lovers, Opposites Attract, and Fake Relationship. I like sparks from the beginning, and I love characters who are assholes. Not everyone is nice 24/7. I would question the shit out of that. I would immediately think serial killer because I AM A CYNICAL HEIFER. 😌

As a writer, I love damaged characters. I love writing and reading them. These speak to me more than any other, and they have the room for the most growth. I'm having stickers made for my next book event with this print:


But...they do. And we know that they do. But it's deep deep down, and I love the challenge of bringing that up and making the character evolve, emote, and bringing the reader along for the ride. 

Oh, darling. You want to be a dickhead? Please, do. We're going to have SO much fun together. 🥳



I'll be talking about tropes in my books on this blog and my Facebook page. Come chat with me!

Always writing*

Monday, February 10, 2025

I suck at newsletters.

Listen.

I can write a 78,000 word page book in three months readers love. What I can't do? Write a damn newsletter. 
Everyone, and I mean EVERY ONE, is saying I need to have one to sign up readers and keep them abreast of my latest comings and goings. I tried the newsletter thing for like, three months. I sucked at it. I sucked HARD at it.
I would forget what day of the month it was. This happens frequently in my daily life as I work full-time from home. I would feel my content was not up-to-par. I felt like a fraud. And I hated every minute of it.
I decided to give it up for my mental health. 
I've wracked my brain at finding suitable alternatives, and this is all I got. This blog. I'll post here and on my Inman Books Facebook Page.

That should keep everyone up-to-date. I love to blog and blather on about the writing and other subjects.



If you're joining me from the Flirty in Kansas City 2025 Book event, Welcome! I'm feral but friendly and honest to a fault. Okay. I am blunt. Blunt woman. Often uses profanity and does not understand people. Loves books, music, Simba--my golden child, and factoids. Eclectic. Weird. Can probably interchange those.
And...I suck at newsletters. 😌
If I get my shit together together this year, I want a PA, and this ray of light will be in charge of newsletters and making me virgin jello shots.
 
Always writing...
on a book or two or Facebook or LinkedIn or my blog or anything but a newsletter!