R.K. Gold's Blog, page 6

Cuz Y Not Bruh

I really don't knw where the title of this blog came from, but to be honest that''s how I feel about almost all my titles (some books included).

Well it's that magical time of the semester again. Midterms! They told me I should prep for midterms but I said no, no, no.

Except not really I'm kinda prepping like crazy right now. Always have a textbook or lecture notes on my person to sneak a peak whenever I can.

I started working on a new WIP. I think I mentioned it in a previous post. The basic idea came from a Kiefer Sutherland interview. Now, the interview itself is not what inspired me. More the fact he brought up 24 and it got me thinking about a show where an entire season takes place over the course of 24 hours.

I started thinking "hmm I bet I could make a book take place in a shorter period of time" and I kept condensing the time frame more and more until I reached 5 minutes.

Yep, that's whats taking all my free time up now. When I'm not stressing about school or reading I am writing a new manuscript that takes place over the course of a five minute gun fight.

Fun Fun Fun! Maybe one of these days I'll get to editing, but not this day.

Side note I saw Terry Tempest Williams speak last night and she was amazing. Every word she spoke just made me want to take action now to protect our National Parks; her passion just filled the auditorium and really resonated with my family.

Midterms Can Duck a Sick

Well, it's the first major obstacle of the semester over here at the University at Buffalo. I have one more week before my midterms week, which is every bit exciting as it sounds. My professors are now taking the opportunity to push us just to prove how little we know before giving us an exam to confirm how little we have retained.

I am currently in the library studying for my forecasts and fluctuations mid-term, which is sort of like a surprise party no one wants to go to. The professor spends most of the class talking to himself and typing code on his computer, then assigns us coding HW.

Here's the catch: The exam isn't on coding or MATLAB. It's pen and paper. So far all our lecture notes have been on how to use this new software and all of our HW has been on practicing this software, only to find out our exam is just on the same econometric formulas we learned the previous two semesters.

Am I missing something? Are we not supposed to be tested on the things we learn in class? You can imagine what this uncertainty is doing for my writing. Thankfully I have a moment at least once a day where I go "fuck screw it, I'm just gonna write, because at least that makes sense to me."

Something About Maude has still sadly taken a back seat. I know I keep bringing it up, and I really do want to edit it, but it's just such a time commitment during a month I feel like I have none. I know that's just a terrible excuse and there is always time for those who look for it, but truth be told, writing the first draft is just so much more fun than editing and re-writing. It's why these short stories have been so much fun (but the issue with those being my fingers typing don't seem to want them to be short).

The Goblin, which was supposed to maybe be a couple pages at most, is looking more like a 10k story now, which still isn't bad, but shoot I remember when I was younger and writing stories was the most fun and easy thing I could do. It just made sense ya know? I would go home to my grandma's house after school and use her desktop to write stories because it was more fun than tv or video games; I could create the whole world and make the characters do whatever I want.

Now I'm in full novel mode, where every time I open a new document and a character introduces themselves, it's time to make it a whole book.

I am excited to finish the Goblin though. It's me getting back to those magical realism roots I like so much. I remember the first magical realism story I read. I know this is a basic answer but it was Gabriel Garcia Marquez man with enormous wings. I read it in it's original Spanish and a translation of it (I had moments of being an overachiever lol).

That kinda story always stood out to me. It was always more like what would people do if supernatural phenomena actually happened. In fantasy and urban fantasy stories, some paranormal event could occur and characters won't even bat an eye. But we all know humans are irrational and when something new enters their plane of existence they want to snuff it out like the body chasing a virus.

Since I am working at a slower pace I'm hoping to finish at least the rough draft of the Goblin by the end of October, and maybe find time in November to get back on track with editing Something About Maude.

But for now, it's time to get back to studying.

Unicorns and Weirdos Three

This is a title I am definitely going to use for a story ASAP. It's just become a sort of, I don't want to say obsession, but definitely a burning desire to use. I dont think these blogs are doing the title justice, especially since the first one was such a ramble romble rimble.

But I do have plenty of stories in the pipeline, so for the few of you who are actually following my career, you might have something to look forward to.

The Goblin is coming along well. It is looking like it's going to be a nice 10k word story about an internet artist using his talents to escape the town that neglected him.

I also have a few more magical realism tales to tell. While my novels range a wide spectrum of genres I'm realizing my stories seem pretty centered on Magical Realism. They seem dead set on trying to rationalize the fantastic and normalize the supernatural/paranormal. They aren't stories about monsters--at least not exactly. More like how the world would interact if a monster was actually born in their city, a monster that wasnt trying to hurt them, but was just there and rejected for being different. I know this isn't a new narrative, Hell Frankenstein's Monster became what it was from the hatred of man not from his birth.

Though the editing of my manuscripts is moving more slowly than I would like, I hope these stories can bring as much joy to my readers as they do for me to write them; that is to say, writing is my true passion; no matter what else I do in life this will always be the thing I love most and I hope my writing can make you love this passion too. If that sounds funny I apologize, I wrote this post in six minutes and don't have time to edit because International Economics is about to start.

HAVE A GOOD DAY!

P.S.

Have you ever noticed how cashiers/check out clerks are always surprised when you respond to them saying "have a nice day"? I just said "I will," when the barista told me to and she looked at me like it was the first time anyone decided to follow her advice and be happy.

Unicorns and Weirdos Two

See I'm making this happen, I am determined. I am listening to Stevie Nicks and studying exchange models, but I am determined to make Unicorns and Weirdos a thing. I am a member of this and I am calling it the cool kids club. Who wouldn't want to be a Unicorn and Weirdo? We are the mythical mischief beings bringing joy through sarcasm to all who read our work, hear our music, and sit in our presence.

I'll keep this short and sweet; if you saw a badass book cover with the title Unicorns and Weirdos, would you at the very least open the flap/read the back to see what it's about?

Unicorns and Weirdos

If there are errors or typos in this post, I apologize, I did not have much time to review it. Off to see my TA.

Feel free to love the title, it's pretty much been my mantra for the past two weeks, just cause. I dont know what started it, well I sorta do I guess. It all came from a silly Facebook video illustrating the hot to crazy scale once used by Barney in How I Met Your Mother. Anyway, a term for someone exceedingly attractive and completely sane was a Unicorn, and since then I began sending Unicorn Emojis via text as a compliment for my already overused Black Santa Emoji.

Since seeing that video the unicorn emoji has become my new most frequently used emoji and I settled on the title for Unicorns and Weirdos. I dont know what I'm going to use it for, or if it's even any good, but I know I like it and I'm going to keep throwing it around until everyone who takes the time to entertain my presence on a daily basis (through text, blog post, or in person conversation) come to love it too.

If I had any musical talent whatsoever it would be the name of my band. Then again, lacking writing talent hasn't stopped me from putting out books, so why not just pick up an instrument and see what happens.

Sorry for the rambling in this post, I am just killing time until 4:00 and thought I would put one out since it's been like a week. I am waiting for my TA's office hours. This semester has been-- I dont want to say difficult, at least not yet, but definitely forcing me to learn fast.

Infringing on the time I could be dedicating to getting Unicorns and Weirdos off the ground though. I need to think up so logos.

The Short End of the Stick

I had to read over 300 pages this weekend. . . for school. I don't mean to complain, the truth is I am having a blast with my program, and I enjoy being challenged because I'm actually learning from it, but it sucks having free time at the end of the day when you're already exhausted and you have to decide between putting your energy towards something that gets you paid, or something that makes you happy (the paid usually wins).

Editing has unfortunately taken a major back seat. I think I've edited about 10 pages in three days, then I usually pass out with my computer on my lap, or if I'm with my GF that evening, with Shameless on in the background (she got me hooked on the show I can't help it).

I will say, since I have been too busy to dedicate enough time to my novels, I am currently getting back into short stories. I think I may need to read more shorts though because it's been around three years of novel writing for me now, so I'm still hardwired for novel mode. Writing a short story is more difficult than writing a novel. It's difficult to condense ideas to under 10k words let alone under 5k.

I have five stories currently in the works on my computer, I try to do 1-2k words for one of them on any given day (I know not a lot), but a lot of that time is me talking myself out of expanding the story into a novel. It's been a rough learning curve, which is funny because when I first started writing I looked at novels as daunting and would crank out a short story a day.

I wanted to write this today because I had a little extra time and have crossed off most of my morning to-do list already. It's been a while since I wrote anything substantial for this blog and I didn't want it to be dormant for too long.

I'm just feeling a little--I don't know, not lost, because I still know what it is I want out of life, but definitely a little rutterless. Like I'm trapped in rough waters with no sails or steering. Just when I see an opportunity, another priority crashes on me. I had an interesting conversation with one of my author friends about greatness (because I think it's something a lot of people want, not everyone but enough to make it a relatable topic). We were talking about day dreams vs realities and how when we see our ideal futures in our heads it all just makes sense. We see the steps we have to take, and we see when we reach them, but then when we hop back to reality the steps are less clear or the time frame seems impossible.

In our heads, or at least in my head, being great seems so easy, all you have to do is great things-- lol but then you say it outloud and you realize how ridiculous that sounds.

Yeah all you have to do is great things, like write 10k a day and cut back on sleep because who needs that, not to mention all your other responsibilities can obviously be done in just a couple hours--and--and, yeah then reality strikes and certain tasks take a little too long, others fall through, a long day knocks you off your feet, you get into bed around 10 or 11 with plans to finally get personal priorities done and bam sleep hits you with a haymaker.

Success comes and goes, and even lets the lucky ones win, but greatness-- I mean thats hard. It's daunting, always towering over you, taunting your effort and progress, making you question if it's really in the cards for you. You can try as hard as you want, give it 100% only to find you needed to give 110. It's that ever changing point that no matter how fast you move or how far you travel it's always just a bit too far.

I hope this post didn't depress anyone reading it lol it's not meant for that purpose. It's just been one of those short weeks of self reflection, which of course stemmed from long weeks of self reflection lol.

Growing___Up? Nah

Well grad school is taking its toll. The hw is getting longer and more demanding and the professors are now ready to assume at least half the class isn’t a bunch of idiots. So editing has had to take more and more of a back seat, which stinks because I was starting to get into a groove with Something About Maude. I really made some good advancements on my protagonist’s story and the side stories of supporting characters to flesh them out.

It sucks when your passion has to be put on hold for the practical parts of life. Like at work, I’m obviously there because I need money to live, but it’s tough to forget about writing, the one thing that just always seems to make sense to me; the one thing that I always know ,or believe to know what the next step is.

Same with school; I may be researching ETFs and Mutual Funds for foreign countries but in the back of my head I am playing with ideas for stories I think I can squeeze out by midnight. Is it wrong to feel like a child over this? Is it wrong to feel sort of stupid to struggle to make time for my passion?

I’m not sure if growing up actually happens. I am in my mid-twenties and most of the time I feel like a kid pretending to be an adult. With so many things going on in my life I almost feel like I need my parents to swoop in once again and tell me what to do.

I can’t be alone with this. I immediately think of Aubrey Plaza from parks and rec saying no one knows what they’re doing they just pretend to until they figure it out. Does anyone else feel this way?

Same Old Abuse

Well here we go again. Tomorrow the Buffalo Bills football season begins again, and I begin crying on a weekly basis because repeating "this is our year" every year since 1999 can conjure optimism only so many times.

So here's to the weekly abuse I'm about to put myself through, it's gonna be such a fun fall and winter. I get to drown in textbooks during the week, and losses on the weekend.

At least I have trashy reality television shows to keep the mood up. I have to thank Erin for introducing me to those. Before her, I used to limit my reality tv to Ink Master. . . and total divas, but in my defense, that's just because I used to be a huge WWE fan.

I know this is a bit of a rambling, it's just late and I've been looking over my calculus notes for the past hour, constantly looking at the clock, thinking how in 12 hours I will be on my way to the first tailgate of the season to watch two of the worst teams in the league play each other. This may be the least optimistic I've ever been at the start of a Bills season, and I'm not going to read into that.

Anyway, I hope anyone reading this has a great weekend and Sunday evening. In other news, to fill my Game of Thrones void I have been rewatching the series and have reached episode ten of season three. It's funny, I know everything is coming now and still feel so many of the same emotions.

Happiness Can(not) Wait

Personal health and fitness is obviously important. I also know I tend to write a little better after a workout. I’ve been trying to get into running because there is something to be said about that runner’s high. It’s rather enjoyable to sit at the desk and edit with a clear head, covered in sweat, mind still buzzing from the endorphins. But, now that school is in full swing and the homework is piling up, I’ve been going to the gym more (because it’s right there on campus) and I’ve decided to start killing two birds with one stone: I get my television time and my exercise time done in the 1-2 hour span I spend there.

Now I know some of the purists out there gasp at the thought. How can it be a real workout if I’m busy focusing on TV? Well to that I say. . . shrug lol. It’s my workout and if that’s what it takes for me to stay healthy that’s what I’m gonna do.

I will say, personally I have a blast on the elliptical, but sadly I was cursed blessed with this Y chromosome. So when the bros at the gym see me walking up to the cardio area, they’re left asking me Y am I wasting my time, and how much better my body will be if I lift weights with them.

This may be true, but when I’m on the elliptical I have Game of Thrones, so—you tell me what’s more important lol.

I have to thank HBO Go for making my gym experience something I actually look forward to now. I’ve gone now 9 out of the last 10 days and I’m feeling great. Isn’t consistency the most important thing anyway?

I don’t know. I just realized I’m writing on a book social media about the gym and television, maybe I should pick my audience better. But this is currently my favorite place to shoot the shit host a discussion on a wide range of topics. So I thought, why not just write a post on something in my life that’s making me happy?

Beyond Flattered

Well, this post is going to be short because I have A LOT of reading to do for school this weekend (over 300 pages wtf) and also because the Harry Potter Marathon is on.

I just wanted to say thank you to the Goodreads community. I know this isn't a major accomplishment for some, but I am excited Lost in the Clouds has been added to over 700 people's to-read shelves. Again, a minuscule step for some but a major milestone for me. Next goal is 1000 obviously, but I feel like if I didn't take a moment to appreciate the small accomplishments I would go mad. This writing journey can be every emotion at once and is sometimes a little overwhelming. I think that's part of the reason I write, to relieve some of the pressure.

But as promised I want to keep this short, and just say thank you. Thank you to everyone who has shown an interest in my book, shared it, read it, reviewed it, or whatever-ed it. Thank you.