I’ve been gone for the last two weeks for a variety of reasons that are more uninteresting than you would expect. But there is something in my life that I think is happening.
I’m going forward with self publishing my first collection of short stories, A Heartbeat in the Darkness. I got the cover from a very good artist and I’m really looking forward to putting it out there. One of the stories will be on my fiction Friday.
As I finish up editing and writing the last stories for it, I’m kind of nervous. I’ve never put myself forth like this before. I recently put out a story and it got slammed by a bunch of people online. It was in a genre that I didn’t really write in before. I have to say that it shooke me a little bit. I’ve never gotten feedback like that.
But I think I’ve learned my lesson. I need to get thicker skin. If I’m going to be on the internet, I need to make sure that I can handle anything. Eventually, I’m probably going to be getting death threats for some of my opinions and writings. What’s that saying, if you’re not pissing off certain shitty people then are you really doing the right thing?
Anyway, I just thought I would give this update on my life. I think my collection is going to be great and hopefully it’ll be really spooky.
Okay, so I know that everyone is at their best during the Lord of the Rings movies. The visual effects artists, writers, directors, actors, extras, costume and prop designers, everyone. Especially that person that made the one orc that looked like Harvey Weinstein that disgusting pervert.
It’s like I’m seeing double!
But my favorite performance in the first movie is Sean Bean as Boromir. He slays through the whole movie. He sells you on his desperation and though there isn’t a huge amount of dialogue for all the characters, he shows you his entire backstory in what few lines he has.
He’s a man, tired of so many things. He has to fight against Mordor constantly and he gets no help and pushed aside even here among his friends. Suddenly, he sees a treasure that he has heard tales about that could make his life so much easier. Anyone would take it. The fact that he made it as far as he did was a thing of wonder.
Even beyond that, there’s just so much to like. He spars with Merry and Pippin and is concerned when he might have hurt them, he puts a comforting hand on Gimli’s shoulder when Gimli finds his relative dead and has to inform Gandalf that continuing over the mountain will kill the hobbits. When Gandalf is gone, he comforts Frodo and asks that they have a moment to grieve. He treats them a bit like children because maybe that’s how he sees them. It makes you wish he had some of his own…
It’s not just in these moments of kindness that Sean Bean shines. There’s a moment when they’re defending the Mines of Moria where he goes to look out the doors when they hear the orcs approaching. He reports back to the others that they have a cave troll. But he does it in a tone that’s almost like “They have a cave troll, fits perfectly in my week, I tell ya.”
When he gives into the ring’s corruption, it’s not even evil or megalomaniacal. He’s desperate. He immediately regrets it and does his best to save Merry and Pippin. Several arrows thud into him and he dies with his king, Aragorn.
It’s easy to see how this got him Ned Stark in Game of Thrones. They’re similar roles and characters though I think that Boromir is a bit better person.
This is how you write a sympathetic character. This is how you write a betrayal that hurts. You weep for Boromir. You wish he could see home again. To lie among his people. But he won’t. One final heartbreak for a hero.
So, I want to talk about how good this book is and to do that, I’m going to spoil some things. To that end, if you want to read this book, stop reading here and go read it. It’s a great read, I couldn’t get enough of it. Check it out.
Alessandra is a straight up piece of shit and I love her for it. She is self-absorbed, conniving and power hungry. She’s also highly intelligent and charming. She’s been overlooked by her sister and now she wants to step into her own. She has a plan to do this by marrying, fucking and killing the current leader of the world, the Shadow King. Step one of the plan is scamming a bunch of idiots into giving her money and jewels. She uses that to fund her trip and we’re off to the races.
The thing is with this book, is that neither lead are good people. In fact, they’re both monsters that occasionally do nice things for each other. I think that this is great and such a refreshing take on one of these kinds of novels.
Alessandra helps him hunt down and kill the local Robin Hood. Every time the king is displeased some of his servants die. This is against the backdrop of him conquering the world. There’s never a point these two ever get better.
I once had a conversation about Roy from Full Metal Alchemist that my friend didn’t like that he was so charming despite committing so many war crimes. My other friend countered that that was the point. He came back from the war and put his uniform on and makes you forget. That’s what real monsters do.
Alessandra and Kallias do the same thing, they make you forget they’re terrible by being nice… to one another. Everyone else to them is disposable.
Yet, I couldn’t stop reading. The writing was so excellent, each twist drew me further into the book. It was phenomenal.
The only minor complaint I can have is that it felt like Alessandra got out of certain trouble a bit too easily. It kind of reminded me of Josh Hartnett’s character in the movie Trap(2024). When that happened it didn’t make me think that she was that smart or resourceful. But there are other moments where her intelligence does shine through. So, maybe it evens out.
This whole book reminded me of the tone of Creep by Lygia Day Penaflor. Where the narrator helps draw you in with what’s going on and you start understanding, accepting and somewhat even encouraging the terrible things the narrator’s doing until you shake your head and remember no this is bad. It’s good for us to have books like this where terrible behavior isn’t excused. The author just presents it and you get to make your own choice.
In short, highly recommend. Five stars, 10/10, check it out.
For the last three years, I’ve been trying to move out of my old apartment to finally live on my own. I’m not upset by the amount of time it took, I liked living with the various roommates I’ve had throughout the years but now it’s time for me to be on my own. Since I’ve been living on my own, I’m never going back. I will never live with another person again unless I’m in love or that person is need.
However, my last big endeavor was getting my degree in IT. I did that and that led to the job I have now and my moving out on my own.
Over the weekend, I was enjoying Star Trek: Lower Decks and doing puzzles. I finished with that and started to go into my room to play some Persona 3. It was then that I stopped myself and thought. I don’t have an actual goal. In that moment, I felt so lost and afloat.
Fortunately, several decades of therapy have prepared me for moments like this. I thought about that thought. Where did it come from?
I think it came from the idea that I was stagnating. That I wasn’t moving forward anymore. That there was no direction forward.
So, as I played Persona 3 because if I’m not going to figure out Tartarus who is? I thought about the next goal. First, I would like to move forward in my career at some point. Secondly, I would like to go to Maine and to Acadia national park to hike its many trails. For that I would need to train. Thirdly, I would like for someone to read my books and tell me that they like them. Whether that’s self published or through a publishing company.
Even if I hadn’t come up with this, I think that it’s important to have some kind of destination in mind. It doesn’t matter how long it takes to run the race. Just that you have a finish line. Something to go for.
I’ll let you know how this goes. The steps I’m taking, this website being one of them, to get to my various goals.
The sound of her leather jacket was soothing. She had done her makeup the night before and put her hair into a bun on top of her head. Wrapping it with a bandana. There was the crunch of gravel underneath her feet as she walked into the convenience store.
There was an old man standing behind the counter. He was reading a paperback novel. There was music playing on the overhead speakers. Given that it was morning, she bought a small sleeve of donuts. He had a pot of coffee going and she poured herself a cup. Adding her sugar and cream, she approached the counter.
“Morning,” he said setting down his novel.
“Good morning,” she said.
He looked at Julia. She was young, somewhere in her early twenties. She had bright red lipstick and her skin was pale. She wore a buttoned down dark blue shirt with white polka dots tied at the waist. Black boots and black leggings.
She glanced at him. He had a Santa quality about him. Was probably a grandpa. He wore a black Motley Crue T-shirt and jeans. He had tiny reading glasses perched on the edge of his nose.
He glanced at the clock. It was five in the morning.
“If you don’t mind me asking, what’re you doing up so early, dressed so fine?” he asked.
“Couldn’t sleep,” Julia said. “Thought I would take my bike out for a ride. Go see the sun rise.”
“That sounds like a helluva morning,” the old man said.
“I noticed your sign has different hours. You shouldn’t be open this early.”
“Couldn’t sleep so I figured I could make some money to early risers like yourself.”
“That’s fair.”
“Where are you heading to see the sunrise?”
“West Quoddy Head lighthouse. I’m racing the sun.”
“Funny, isn’t it? The most eastern point in America is called West Quoddy. Interesting.”
She held out a twenty.
“Keep it,” he said. “You have a good ride. Wish I was your age again. Sounds like you’re having fun.”
“I am and I don’t want to short a small business, especially one run by such a gentleman,” Julia said.
“Fair enough.”
He took the cash and gave her her change. She offered her hand and the took shook. She walked out of the store and threw her leg over her bike. She started it up, revved the engine and took off down the road.
The road to the lighthouse needed people to be wide awake. The coffee was a boon to her. She got to the lighthouse and parked her bike in the parking lot. She climbed the small hill and waited.
There were others there with her. They were doing the same. Waiting for the sun. Waiting for a new day full of promise.
She thought about the breakup that she had gone through recently. How for so long, she had felt wrong and foolish for breaking up with him. He had done such a good job putting her down. Trying to dampen her light. Now though, as the sun rose turning the sky pink. The feel of the sea on her face, she felt alive again. Light and beautiful. She raised her cup to the sun and hoped that the old man at the convenience store had a good day as well.
The next day was rainy and cloudy. The day after promised clear skies.
Because of this, an older gentleman, white of beard and aching in his bones rolled a motorcycle out of his garage. An older but slightly younger woman, not used to being awake at this time of day but happy that her husband was happy, came walking out of the house securing a helmet over her hair.
“Let’s go, mama,” he said.
They drove into the coming dawn. They saw the sunrise. They hit the road again. They saw where the day could take them.
(There’s a scrape of metal on wood as I drag a chair over and turn it around. I sit on it backwards. I’m clearly uncomfortable but going to push through.)
Hey, kids. Let’s rap. I’m down with what the kids are with it these days. Let’s talk about writing.
So, you have rough ideas of your characters, the setting and concept for your manuscript. But you don’t know how to start or where to go with it. Well, I have the solution for what ails you.
Write fanfiction.
I see you slamming your hands against the table as you jump to your feet. You point your fingers like a bunch of Phoenix Wrights.
Hear me out. What is the purpose of fanfiction? Fanfiction has many purposes, it’s great practice for early writers who haven’t come up with their own concepts yet, you can use it to explore relationships that you haven’t seen in the media you’re fanficcing, add missing scenes that you feel should be included. But most of all, you can use it to learn how to write in voice.
And that’s why you should write fanfiction of your own work. You don’t have to worry about the scenario or place your characters in, you can just throw them in the sandbox and see how they interact with one another. You can establish how they interact, possibly hint at their past and then workshop that into your main work. You can also figure out what the tone is regarding your work. Is it fun and playful or dark and mysterious. That’s how you have fun. Hell, you can try your characters in different genres.
Anyway, that’s what I wanted to talk about today. Stay cool, kids.
(I get up from the chair and I was clearly uncomfortable because I’m walking poorly.)
Okay, so things have happened in your life that you now own a transit van. It has no windows in the backends because people aren’t supposed to be there. There might be people back there because you’re going to a gig you’re roadie-ing or you need to get them across state lines or just because you’re moving house. Anyway, the back is going to be unimpressive unless you expect some action back there.
A friend once told me upon seeing one of the American Ninja Warriors that lived in a van, that she was past that part of her life to hook up with someone in the back of their van. Another friend said she wasn’t. So, you’re going to have a 50-50 chance if people are ready to rock back there. If you’re attracted to men, you don’t have to worry because if real life and horror movies have taught me in anything, men will walk into a bathtub of used syringes if it means that they can get some action.
Anyway, I’m getting away from the subject at hand. You own a transit van. You need something on the side of it. It’s going to showcase that you listen to some form of heavy metal. Well, here’s my advice for your custom van based on what I would do.
Shirtless Barbarian/Female Barbarian in a Fur Bikini
A classic of the genre. You’re going to have a dude who seems vaguely viking in attire except for his completely impractical attire. Why wouldn’t he wear some form of armor? Because he’s too fucking hardcore and too good at fighting. That’s why he doesn’t need any armor. What is he a wuss? A NERD?!
Anyway, he’s going to be holding a sword aloft. Lightning may or may not be striking the sword depending on how magical he is. Dealer’s choice on that one.
He may have a pretty lady, bikini clad, tugging on his leg. But you might have noticed I gave you an option of either/or. Bikini or shirtless barbarians. That’s where we’re going get ’em. Hit ’em with something they didn’t expect. Bikini barbarian holding a sword aloft and shirtless buff viking holding onto her leg. Put the dude in a bikini. Fuck it. Go nuts. Life is too short.
2. Giant Cobra
This cobra is going to be showing off. Full fangs. Full hood. He’s going to be some sick ass colors like purple and black. There may be lightning behind him. It’s what you’re willing to put up. But yeah, no fuss, no muss. Just a massive cobra looking cool as hell.
3. Wizard
The longest white beard, the robes of the darkest blue and shooting lightning from his hands. You might have noticed through this list, that I’ve mentioned lightning so many times. Why not fire? Why not wind? Because we’re not going to make the guy with the spray nozzle work hard. We’re going to have him make some crackling lines and that’s it.
4. Unicorns
That ‘s’ isn’t a typo. We’re going to have two unicorns. They’re going to be facing each other. They’re going to be crossing horns as if they’re in battle or love. You decide. Their coloring is going to be the purest white. There’s going to be a lens flare at the end of each horn. Whose going to be on each unicorn? Well….
5. A Knight Playing an Electric Guitar
The knight is going to be in full armor. Unlike the barbarians, we’re not going to see a single shred of skin. He is going to be absolutely shredding on a flying V guitar. The coolest looking most uncomfortable guitar to play. Can’t play it sitting down. There’s going to a half cloak over his shoulder. It’s going to be sick as fuck.
6. Words
Let’s throw on a catchphrase.
“Man with a van and NO PLAN”
“Comes to pick you up whenever you call one of those for a good time call numbers on a bathroom stall”
“This van is gender inclusive but we gonna make out”
“Ass, gas or grass? More like class, class or class. You’re going to either teach me something, play DND with me or have a fancy tea party”
“This van ramps over everything”
7. Red Tailed Hawk
Okay, I know you might saying, Frank, you’re a patriot. You love your country. Why wouldn’t you throw on a bald eagle? Well, because as much as I love my country, I love Animorphs more. So, we’re going to represent the eyes in the sky, Tobias. God, that name is so cool.
How many eyes of enemies have bald eagles ripped out to save the world? I can’t think of that many. Tobias has blinded so many people to make sure that they didn’t have to kill any humans but they still incapacitated them in some way.
Tobias is one of the greatest heroes of literature.
8. A Bald Eagle
Still not for America! The bald eagle was Rachel’s flight morph. So, even if they can’t be together in the books because Rachel died in battle, they can be together on the side of my van.
It still hurts, K.A. It still hurts. But you were right. There was no way she could come back from the war.
9. Any Alien From Animorphs
I was thinking about Animorphs like usual and then remembered how metal the designs were. First, we have the andalites.
Everything about this rules. The six pack abs. The cool scorpion tail. The elf ears. The stalk eyes. The centaur body. Fuck you actual centaurs. This is so much cooler.
The ravenous Taxxon! These things will eat anything. Including each other when they’re killed. I think that’s Rachel behind them? She doesn’t need to be on it. We just need this big bug.
Finally, the hork bajir, the walking razor blade foot soldiers of the Yeerks. And the most metal design of all of them. Look at them. They’re giant bipedal cool dinosaurs.
They also harbor the great tragedies of the war. They’re normally a gentle race that wouldn’t hurt a fly. So, why have all those blades? Because they live on a planet with massive trees and they use all those blades to harvest bark to eat. That’s right, they’re vegetarians.
And once again, the reason Tobias gets on the side of the van is because he made sure that there were free hork bajir for the first time in decades. God bless you, Tobias. The liberator.
10. Giant Clam
This might be a weird come down from the others. I just showed you so many cool aliens. So, why the humble giant clam? Because it contains multitudes. You can put in so many other things. Imagine a clam that opens up to release a bunch of fairies or just some treasure?
That’s the whole point of this is to show you that even the humblest things whether they be van or clam, can contain wonders.
I happened to take both of these books out of the library at the same time. I didn’t realize in the moment that I was following a theme until I started reading them. Both of them deal with a pair of royal sisters in unique scenarios trying to maintain their control over their kingdoms.
Well, in Sisters of the Snake, they’re not both royalty. One of them is a street thief trying to survive. When she breaks into the palace to steal the royal jewelry on her way out of town, she discovers that her and her twin sister were separated at birth. The two of them decide to princess and the pauper it, with the princess sister heading out into the wilds to find magic and save her country. Meanwhile, her twin has to start learning about court intrigue. From there, the two go on an amazing adventure.
Version 1.0.0
Meanwhile, in The Girl King, Lu is set to inherit the throne and become the first female empress. She finds out that her father has betrayed her and she is forced to flee into the wilds with a young man who has had his family betrayed by the very country she’s trying to save. The other sister, Min, is left behind forced into a marriage that Lu ran away from. Discovering a magic all her own and possibly becoming a new threat to her sister.
While both of these books are similar in their concept, they couldn’t be any more different in their execution. They actually are somewhat inverses of one another, with the more street wise sister having to learn courtly graces in Sisters of the Snake while the more versatile, stronger sister is in the wilds in the Girl King.
Either way both of them were highly enjoyable reads. I don’t want to give too much away but I would like to make sure you go pick them up. I can’t wait to read their sequels, Daughters of the Dawn by the Nanua sisters and Empress of Flames by Yu.
Franklin Cota, an author and podcaster 