M.L.S. Weech's Blog, page 8

Announcing Week 1’s Winner in the 2021 March M.L.S. Weech March Book Cover of the Month

Greetings all,

We’re a few weeks out from the book cover of the year poll, which is exciting. This means we ned to name the winner for Week 1.

The Week 1 winner for the 2021 March M.L.S. Weech Book Cover of the Month is …

The Starless Crown by James Rollins is just a beautiful cover. The color is great. The composition is fascinating. I honestly wouldn’t change a thing about it. It’s a fitting first entrant into the March competition.

You can vote for Week 2’s cover right here.

I’d appreciate it if you headed over to my YouTube channel and gave it a like and subscribe. It would really help me out, and it shows these authors and artists support.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Visits From A Man Named Nobody 68

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He wasn’t sure how long he sat there, but she eventually wrapped him in her arms, whispering, “We don’t ever get a say in when we die, but that only makes it that much more important to use the time we’re given. I’m sorry you’re scared.”

A derisive burst of laughter exploded from Paul. He looked at her with an expression that had to convey his shock.  “You have a tumor, and you’re telling me you’re sorry!”

She smiled at him. Her tears were gone. She was just his mom again. “I’m not afraid. I don’t want to leave you. I don’t want this to be the end, and that’s honestly a bit hard to explain. I love you, but if this is my time, I’m going to a place without pain or hurt, anger or sorrow. While I’m on this earth, I have work to do, but death isn’t the end, it’s the beginning of an eternity of joy and peace.”

“How can you possibly know that?” Paul wanted to imagine she was just putting on a brave face. He could see her lips tremble. He could see the unshed tears in her eyes, but she held it all together with a strength he couldn’t begin to imagine.

His mother took a deep breath. “If one believes in God, they believe in his promises. My faith isn’t based on blind ideology. When I met Bill, I had questions. I had so many questions. When we lost Bill, I was angry for a short time, but for those who really look, the truth is there. I feel more sadness for those who refuse to believe than anything else.”

“But you’re … “ he couldn’t bring himself to say, “dying.” 

She must have understood what he meant. She stood and then helped him up, saying, “We’re all going to die. There’s no science or power that can stop death, and I know that statement could cause some debate with you, so please just hold on to the part that matters. If everyone is going to die, then living in fear of that seems silly. Instead, I put a great deal of thought into what happens after death. My faith allows me to look at death with a strange excitement. I’m not exactly going to do anything to expedite my passing, but I know I have something wonderful to look forward to. I’m just not sure my work here is done, so I endure this life, thankful for the blessings it’s brought.”

He stared at her in bewilderment. Is this what Bill thought as he died in that accident? 

“Well I don’t want to let you go,” he said. “So I’d rather talk about options.”

She laughed, and it was a pure, amused sound. There wasn’t a hint of resentment or frustration in it. “The truth is there’s nothing you can do. The doctors are going to remove it, and we’ll hope that does the trick.”

“So I’ll stay with you,” Paul said. “Whatever you need, I’ll make sure you get it.”

She smiled and wrapped her arms around him again. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

The end of Chapter 19.

… To be continued …

Visits From A Man Named Nobody 687

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He wasn’t sure how long he sat there, but she eventually wrapped him in her arms, whispering, “We don’t ever get a say in when we die, but that only makes it that much more important to use the time we’re given. I’m sorry you’re scared.”

A derisive burst of laughter exploded from Paul. He looked at her with an expression that had to convey his shock.  “You have a tumor, and you’re telling me you’re sorry!”

She smiled at him. Her tears were gone. She was just his mom again. “I’m not afraid. I don’t want to leave you. I don’t want this to be the end, and that’s honestly a bit hard to explain. I love you, but if this is my time, I’m going to a place without pain or hurt, anger or sorrow. While I’m on this earth, I have work to do, but death isn’t the end, it’s the beginning of an eternity of joy and peace.”

“How can you possibly know that?” Paul wanted to imagine she was just putting on a brave face. He could see her lips tremble. He could see the unshed tears in her eyes, but she held it all together with a strength he couldn’t begin to imagine.

His mother took a deep breath. “If one believes in God, they believe in his promises. My faith isn’t based on blind ideology. When I met Bill, I had questions. I had so many questions. When we lost Bill, I was angry for a short time, but for those who really look, the truth is there. I feel more sadness for those who refuse to believe than anything else.”

“But you’re … “ he couldn’t bring himself to say, “dying.” 

She must have understood what he meant. She stood and then helped him up, saying, “We’re all going to die. There’s no science or power that can stop death, and I know that statement could cause some debate with you, so please just hold on to the part that matters. If everyone is going to die, then living in fear of that seems silly. Instead, I put a great deal of thought into what happens after death. My faith allows me to look at death with a strange excitement. I’m not exactly going to do anything to expedite my passing, but I know I have something wonderful to look forward to. I’m just not sure my work here is done, so I endure this life, thankful for the blessings it’s brought.”

He stared at her in bewilderment. Is this what Bill thought as he died in that accident? 

“Well I don’t want to let you go,” he said. “So I’d rather talk about options.”

She laughed, and it was a pure, amused sound. There wasn’t a hint of resentment or frustration in it. “The truth is there’s nothing you can do. The doctors are going to remove it, and we’ll hope that does the trick.”

“So I’ll stay with you,” Paul said. “Whatever you need, I’ll make sure you get it.”

She smiled and wrapped her arms around him again. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

The end of Chapter 19.

… To be continued …

Writing Tip: The Other Reason You Probably Haven’t Finished Your Book

Greetings all,

To answer what might be the first question you have, the first reason you probably haven’t finished your book is the fact that you haven’t started your book.

The most common question I get is, “What does one have to do to write a book?” The answer sounds rude or condescending, but it’s just simple truth. You have to write. You have to put aside time every day to sit down and work on your book. If you never do that, then it’s academic. You can’t ever finish a thing you didn’t start.

So that means I can talk about the “other” reason.

The simple explanation: When you’re writing your book. Don’t. Stop. I remember talking to my brother, I’m not sure if I finished my first manuscript or not, but he mentioned trying to write a book, and he said he wrote one sentence over and over again. That’s when it dawned on me.

One reason why I’m able to crank out novels is because I’m relentless. I don’t stop to edit. I don’t stop to think about how the book works. When it’s time to draft (write the actual story), I just let my fingers fly, and I’ve learned just how hard that is for some people to do.

Now, as I teach journalism, I see the same issue. I’ve sat, my heart breaking, as I watched students write a few words. Then they’d stop and look up how to write something or see if a term should be abbreviated. Then they’ll type a few more words or a sentence and then manipulate it for a painful amount of time.

Image from Pixabay

The motivation of someone wanting their writing to have a high quality product is understandable, but here is the most valuable advice I can give a person aside from, “write.” That advice is, “Draft now; edit later!”

If you agonize over a sentence or a scene, you’ll never finish. You need to let go. Trust the Force! I’ll admit this thought is hard for some to understand. It’s equally hard for me to understand why people can’t just pound out the words, but it happens.

I promise, there is a time to edit. There is a time to look at your story and mold it into its greatest potential, but that time doesn’t come until you have a completed (start to finish) draft.

If you can cultivate this habit, I promise you’ll finish novel after novel.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Book Review: Bleach Volume 64 by Tite Kubo

Spoiler free summary: In Volume 64 of Bleach by Tite Kubo, The battle with the Quincies is gaining momentum, and both sides are suffering losses. Now it’s time for Yachiru to take center stage.

Character: This volume in a somewhat convoluted way reveals Yachiru’s deepest secret. Frankly, I needed a YouTube video to really figure it out, but I’ve never claimed to be the smartest man. What’s obvious without the video assistance is still pretty epic. It starts off in an adorable creepy way and then gets more awesome by the moment. Also, we get to see the results of Ken’s training, and that’s cool too. I’ll admit I had to review this volume, but I’m glad I did. This volume is one of the better ones because the payoff matches the plot reveal.

Exposition: This volume just has your typical monologuing that so common in manga, but I somehow find it even more endearing when the monologuing is a character freaking out about how scary another character is. At least, I give that sort of stuff a pass. This volume harkens back to some of the less annoying fillers we’ve seen throughout Bleach, only it’s cannon and plot relevant.

Worldbuilding: We’ve had tiny, tiny hints in other volumes about certain aspects of this lore that I can’t even name without spoiling stuff. What I’ll say is this aspect of the magic system is every bit as touching as it is (sort of) heartbreaking.

Dialogue: Yes, we have more of the typical boasting, but this dialogue actually rivals that of other volumes here. It’s on the higher spectrum because it delves into the character through the dialogue, what is said and how characters say it.

Description: I’m not sure if this is just coincidence, but the art here is pretty epic. Maybe the artist sort of laid back for the previous volume to get ready for this one. I suppose it could be possible. I’ll note again that I went back and looked. I remembered the big reveal; I just thought it was later in the series. This might be one of my favorite fights an plot arcs in this war. If I end up watching the anime, I’m going to be excited to see this part.

Overall: This is one of the more frustrating things about the series. The main characters seem sort of glossed over, but some of the more notable side characters have some of the most epic scenes and moments in the series. Honestly, if I only knew about this fight and what it promised in terms of lore and worldbuilding, I’d read the whole series just for this.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

The 2021 M.L.S. Weech February Book Cover of the Month Bracket Has Begun!

Greetings all,

We have our fourth and final weekly nomination, so we can begin the February Book Cover of the Month!

The Week 4 winner of the 2021 M.L.S. Weech February Book Cover of the Month is …

The Light We Lost by Kyla Stone had great color and a pretty solid landscape for those characters to walk through. The dog earns bonus points.

This book joins Outcast, Atomic Ballerina, and Rising Shadows to round out the four for this month, which you can vote from right here.

You can vote for the first week of March (the last month of the year) right here.

I’d be grateful if you would be so kind as to stop by my YouTube channel and give it a like and subscribe. It is a nice way to support me as well as the artists and authors I talk about in each weekly episode.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Visits From A Man Named Nobody 67

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Hours later, after a small flight and a quick drive, Paul opened the door to his old house. His mother lay sleeping on the couch. The vacuum was out; its cord was strewn out toward the plug. The kitchen, normally full of various things heating or simmering, was quiet and empty. He looked back at his mother, who wore a robe over her nightgown instead of a simple dress or comfortable pair of jeans. 

He considered what he should do. The only options seemed to be to wake her up or to get some food ready for when she woke up. He stepped toward her when an idea struck him. He lifted his arm and tapped in a request for delivery food on his PID. Then he quietly rummaged around until he could find a notepad and pencil. He scribbled on one page, trying to think about other areas he might choose to research. That page seemed to only reveal nonsense and a few ideas that couldn’t hold his attention. He turned the page over and started trying to reconcile the formula to his original project. He brought up his PID to go over the formula line by line, but he couldn’t see why the formula wouldn’t balance. 

He ran out of space on that page, and went back to brainstorming ideas. Page after page flew by, each repeated the same two things as the first two pages: He had no idea where he wanted to research next, and there wasn’t any way to balance his equations for the project.

His mother stirred. It nearly startled Paul. He’d almost forgotten where he was.

She looked at him, eyes widening with realization. “Why did you wake me up?!”

Paul opened his mouth to answer, but the doorbell rang. He smiled at her. “I sent for some food. I figure whatever had you sleeping on the couch when you knew company was coming meant you needed that rest.”

He stood and handled the delivery person, collecting the food after a perfunctory wave of gratitude for the driver. He turned to find his mother scurrying from her room in a pair of sweats and an overlarge pullover sweater.

Paul set the food on the dinner table as his mother brought out some paper plates and plastic cutlery from the kitchen. 

“You have a long day?” Paul asked. 

“Well, it was certainly an experience.” She gave a weak smile. “But what about you? How was the trip?”

Paul shrugged. “Same as usual. Glad I found a flight on call, but since it’s not exactly travel season, I think it all worked out well.”

“I’m glad.” She sat down to eat. That’s when he heard her grunt in pain.

Paul was at her side before she could even catch her breath. “What’s wrong?”

She offered another smile and lightly shoved him away. “I’m not made of glass.”

“You’re not answering,” Paul said. She’d never, ever lie to him, but that made the fact that she’d avoided the question all the more concerning. 

She looked at him. “Well, I have some news.”

Paul waited as she obviously collected herself.

“I went to the doctor because of some headaches I’ve been having.” She paused. Paul sat there waiting, but she still didn’t speak. He wanted to shout, asking what was wrong, but he couldn’t force himself to speak. After an incredibly long wait, she continued. “They tell me it’s small, and that’s a good thing.”

“What’s small?” Paul’s voice sounded odd as he heard it. “Mom, what’s wrong?”

“I’m not really sure how it happened,” she said. “I mean, I felt fine except for a headache.”

Something strange happened. The anger that Paul always felt under the surface seemed to flare. For an instant, Paul thought he’d explode like some sort of super volcano, but as quickly as if flared, it left. He looked at her and somehow understood how hard it was for her to talk. All he wanted was to help her. All he wanted was to give her whatever he could to make her comfortable.

“Mom.” He wasn’t sure he’d ever sounded so gentle in his life. “What is it?”

A tear fell from her eye. “They found a tumor.”

He meant to take a knee beside her chair, but it was more of a fall. He wrapped an arm around her waist and used his other hand to lightly grip her head and gently place his forehead against hers.

“They say they’re going to go in and take it out.” Words started racing from her mouth. “I’m actually pretty lucky because we caught it before it could affect my speech or motor function. As scary as it all sounds, this could be over in a few days.”

Paul just held her as she explained everything. The food grew cold as he sat there holding her, listening to her describe what happened.

“Thank God they caught it now.” She whispered.

A strange barking laugh exploded from Paul. “Even now.” That volcano that seemed to vanish came back to explode just as quickly as it disappeared.

“Stop!” One shout from his mother, and everything froze. The surging anger fled at the sound of the only time his mother had ever raised her voice to him. His biological father had done terrible things to them both. She cried in sadness when they got the news about Bill. But she’d never done such a thing. “Yes, even now. This personal grudge you have with God is every bit as nonsensical as it is foolhardy.”

Paul stood, opening his mouth to argue.

“It’s can’t be both!” Tears flew more steadily from her eyes. “You can’t hate a God who’d take Bill or me away without first acknowledging he gave them to you in the first place. We’re human, Paul, and we’re all going to die at some point and at some time, and that’s frankly our own fault. So you can hate God, but you have to hate everything he’s done. You can’t choose to look at all the sadness in your life and ignore every good thing. And if you choose to acknowledge a God exists, then even you, the brilliant scientist, have to acknowledge that this being would be powerful enough to do anything, so fighting him is nonsensical, isn’t it?”

She waited. It stunned Paul to realize she actually wanted an answer. “I don’t want him to take you, too.”

He fell to the ground. It was just like that alley. All the strength fled. The anger he used to hide behind everything else fled, and all that was left was the fear. Was he really going to lose everyone?

… to b e continued …

Leverage: A Brilliant Show

Greetings all,

It’s been a bit since I’ve just sort of chatted about writing inspiration material. My family has started watching this with me, and it’s still brilliant.

Leverage came and went ages ago, but it’s currently on IMDB, and I highly recommend it.

Why am I talking about it now other than I’m watching it?

Well, I like to point out quality work, and Leverage is amazing at outlining and providing satisfying plot twists. I’ll take a moment to talk about those traits and maybe one more.

Outlining: The two traits listed above are very closely related. you can’t have a satisfying plot twist without the appropriate amount of planning. However, since doing one only helps the other (satisfying plot twists depend on quality outlines, but outlines don’t guarantee a satisfying plot), I feel like I can discuss them as two separate things. The trick to a great outline is understanding how it all comes together. I personally do this by writing the ending (the plot twist) and working my way back from there. I ask questions like, “How can I get there?” and “How can I make it seem like it’s all going to fall apart.” Whenever someone watches a show like Leverage, they know the good guys will win. They know they’ll figure it out, so the real trick is to make the danger feel real. The longer the show goes, the harder a creator has to work to make the danger feel real. Leverage constantly provides clever heist stories with sharp turns that truly threaten several parts of the show. Yes, the con they’re trying to pull is always threatened, but, uniquely, something else is also threatened: a character’s hidden secret, a budding relationship has a wedge shoved between the characters. Something else happens that adds to the conflict. That’s the part that really makes this all work. The other thing is to plant little hints, hints that almost seem like a bit of simple description or camera movement. Then, when the twist comes, it all comes together.

The Satisfying Plot Twist: What makes this actually happen is the moment the twist comes. Sometimes, the show might give you a few flashbacks to show you how it happened, which is the lesser thrill, but still valuable. The greater thrill is making it so when the twist comes, the viewer (or reader) either says, “OH! I should have known!” or “I knew it!” This show constant forces you to pay attention to every detail. Then when it all works out, the biggest thrill is realizing how it all came together. The more you watch, the more you find yourself wanting to watch just to see if you can figure it out.

Character Development: I have to spend a bit of time on this. In episode one, you see little hits of both the archetypes these characters portray and the potential they have. As each season progresses, the characters grow (or devolve). Every episode builds on the character’s sympathy and motivation. You just don’t see it very much these days, and it’s even harder to find in entertainment that’s PG-13. I love this cast from episode one, and I love them more and more with each moment.

As a side note, I feel no shame in admitting that Leverage heavily influenced my short story Stealing Freedom. I often pitch the story as, “Leverage on a futuristic planet.” So if you like that story of mine, try the show out. If you like the show, maybe try that story out.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Book Review: Bleach Volume 63 by Tite Kubo

Spoiler free summary: In Volume 63 of Bleach by Tite Kubo, Several captains are struggling against a single foe, but Renji enters the contest with an intent to change it all.

Character: I don’t honestly remember much about this volume. So it’s sort of unfair to judge. My lack of remembrance is good in that it wasn’t so bad that I remember it. However, it can’t have been that great because I don’t remember anything about it. I put this here because usually when I fail to remember something, it’s because the characters didn’t do much. I remember the captains being the victims of the, “we need these bad guys to be scary” syndrome, which is common in manga, but that’s about it.

Exposition: Another example of what happens when a book isn’t memorable is that however MEH it may be, it didn’t drag on with exposition. I’m inferring that the bulk of this volume was fighting, and I usually do a good job of remembering matches. This means that most of the volume was fight scene that, while possibly entertaining, wasn’t memorable.

Worldbuilding: One thing I do remember is the hint regarding the Quincy king’s power. This sort of revealed a few key pieces. That tidbit was actually pretty nice foreshadowing. We get a tidbit here, and then as the reveal plays out, we come to understand how this arc truly connects all the way back to the beginning.

Dialogue: This was likely typical boasting.

Description: This is probably the most negative part. You see, if I can’t remember any part of it, it means there wasn’t a single panel that stood out in my mind. That’s not great if you’re a manga.

Overall: I’ve been wracking my brain trying to remember any portion of this. I didn’t have the energy to go back and review it just to refresh my mind. Maybe if I saw a panel or two, I’d remember where this was in the sequence of events, but as it stands, I’m pretty much at a loss until Squad 0 shows up. This volume sort of exemplifies what I’m getting at with some stories. At a certain point, everything blends together. The enemy can only get “so” strong. The “clever turnaround” can only happen so many times. Once the pattern gets too repetitive, the individual fights lose their unique standing. It’s weird because Naruto went more than 70 volumes, and I can still remember pretty much every fight. But part of that is because the cast had more weight. Here, aside from Rukia and her brother, the other characters don’t get much. There was the character from the last arc, and that was cool, but this manga just didn’t have much.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Announcing the Week 3 winner of the M.L.S. Weech February Book Cover of the Month! Vote For Week 4!

Greetings all,

Another week, another book cover, and this means we’re basically five covers away from having our Book Cover of the Year poll. That’s exciting! So let’s get to it.

The Week 3 winner of the 2021 M.L.S. Weech February Book Cover of the Month is …

Outcast by Louise Carey had great color and great use of the reflection/balance design technique. It joins The Atomic Ballerina and Rising Shadows in the overall February bracket.

You can vote for Week 4’s cover right here.

I’d appreciate it if you all took a glance at my YouTube channel and gave it a like and subscribe. It helps me out, and it gets these authors and artists some more visiblity.

Thanks for reading,

Matt