Tate Hallaway's Blog, page 15
September 18, 2014
Thursday Evening Podcast
Mason and I posted #25, in which we discuss Bleach, Toriko, One Piece, and a number of other monthlies I got sucked into. http://mangakast.wordpress.com/2014/09/18/25-barrel-of-monkeys/
September 16, 2014
A Front Row Seat to the Writing Process
And... it's a bit messy.
This is my way of saying that I've had some epiphanies about my work-in-progress, but since I'm writing this 'out loud' I'm having to wrestle the plot back under control in a very public way. Still, I think this whole thing is kind of valuable. I mean, how often do you, as a reader, get a chance to watch a writer figuring a novel out as she goes along?
I feel like this is clunky, but it will be interesting to see what my regular readers make of it. Because, maybe, it's not as obvious as I feel it is. It's hard to say. Go see what you think, if you'd like.
I will admit that I nearly named this chapter, "Part 23: In which things come to a head and a decision is made..." a very A. A. Milnes kind of chapter title, but I decided instead to call it "Part 23: Word Up."
This is my way of saying that I've had some epiphanies about my work-in-progress, but since I'm writing this 'out loud' I'm having to wrestle the plot back under control in a very public way. Still, I think this whole thing is kind of valuable. I mean, how often do you, as a reader, get a chance to watch a writer figuring a novel out as she goes along?
I feel like this is clunky, but it will be interesting to see what my regular readers make of it. Because, maybe, it's not as obvious as I feel it is. It's hard to say. Go see what you think, if you'd like.
I will admit that I nearly named this chapter, "Part 23: In which things come to a head and a decision is made..." a very A. A. Milnes kind of chapter title, but I decided instead to call it "Part 23: Word Up."
September 12, 2014
The Manga Chapters Are Mocking Me!
Seriously, so yesterday I get the alert that Blue Exorcist is out the day AFTER Mason and I podcasted, and then, last night, another one came in--Shingeki no Kyojin #61 (aka Attack on Titan.)
To that end, I've written up YET ANOTHER review for the Mangakast page: http://mangakast.wordpress.com/2014/09/12/shingeki-no-kyojin-61-a-review/.
In a nutshell, I'm just not sure about this "The End" to the political goings-on in Shingeki no Kyojin. As I say in my review, it seems a bit... simple, which doesn't bode well for the manga's conclusion in general. But, I shall wait and see.
To that end, I've written up YET ANOTHER review for the Mangakast page: http://mangakast.wordpress.com/2014/09/12/shingeki-no-kyojin-61-a-review/.
In a nutshell, I'm just not sure about this "The End" to the political goings-on in Shingeki no Kyojin. As I say in my review, it seems a bit... simple, which doesn't bode well for the manga's conclusion in general. But, I shall wait and see.
September 11, 2014
My Unsolicited Opinion of Things
Yeah, you so didn't ask. But, I'm going to tell you anyway. The new Ms. Marvel title is fairly frickin' awesome. I have a couple of caveats (one, actually,) but I give it my full endorsement. I wrote a whole extensive post about it over on my alter ego's Dreamwidth page: http://lydamorehouse.dreamwidth.org/352141.html
Also? Mason and I managed to miss the publication of the latest chapter of Ao no Exorcist/Blue Exorcist by ONE DAY, so I wrote up a review of it over on MangaKast: http://mangakast.wordpress.com/2014/09/11/ao-no-exorcist-60-review/
September 10, 2014
The Ever-Moving MangaKast
The schedule for the publication of our manga keeps getting shifting, but we're trying to stay on top of it! To that end, Mason and I have published our 24th podcast: 24: Otaku in the Basement. In it we discuss the recent chapters of Bleach, One Piece, Toriko, and a new manga I started reading Hitogatana. If you're the sort, check it out! Enjoy!
September 9, 2014
Tate's Tuesday!
Having completely missed last week thanks to internet fail and school starting with a bang, I am back today with a new weekly installment of her work-in-progress, serialized sequel to Precinct 13 on Wattpad. Check it out! In this one, Valentine FINALLY shares some secrets...
www.wattpad.com/70174389-unjust-cause-part-22-dragonkin
I don't know what else I have to report. I spent part of the weekend reviewing the e-book mark-up of my AngeLINK short story, "The Case of the Missing Devil Child," which Wizard's Tower Press is offering as part of the full AngeLINK e-book bundle that people purchased as a premium for https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/accessing-the-future (there are still a few left, btw.) Similarly, I need to go over the proofs for the e-version of Resurrection Code, so we can get that out the door.
I'm also working hard on revising the "seekrit" project I alluded to in the previous post. So, soon there will be EVEN MORE places to read my stuff.
Our cat Inky gets to go to the vet today. He's been having litter box trouble again. This isn't a new problem, but we had it under control, or at least in a more tolerable way. Something seems to have happened--either he panicked after all our various vacations or he's got some new irritation in his bladder. We thought the vet ought to have a look, at any rate. Fingers crossed that it's something fixable. Shawn is kind of at wit's end with all the extra laundry he's caused.
www.wattpad.com/70174389-unjust-cause-part-22-dragonkin
I don't know what else I have to report. I spent part of the weekend reviewing the e-book mark-up of my AngeLINK short story, "The Case of the Missing Devil Child," which Wizard's Tower Press is offering as part of the full AngeLINK e-book bundle that people purchased as a premium for https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/accessing-the-future (there are still a few left, btw.) Similarly, I need to go over the proofs for the e-version of Resurrection Code, so we can get that out the door.
I'm also working hard on revising the "seekrit" project I alluded to in the previous post. So, soon there will be EVEN MORE places to read my stuff.
Our cat Inky gets to go to the vet today. He's been having litter box trouble again. This isn't a new problem, but we had it under control, or at least in a more tolerable way. Something seems to have happened--either he panicked after all our various vacations or he's got some new irritation in his bladder. We thought the vet ought to have a look, at any rate. Fingers crossed that it's something fixable. Shawn is kind of at wit's end with all the extra laundry he's caused.
September 5, 2014
Scheduling and Apologies for Lack of Post
If you were looking for a new chapter of UnJust Cause, my sincerest apologies. Our internet crashed and burned and we only really got it up and running a day or so ago. I will be back to my usual schedule next week.
This was also the start of school for my son and we have a crazy new start time that we're ALL still getting used to.
We actually got the podcast recorded and posted early this morning, but I had to run off to work at the Maplewood Library, so I forgot to do all the social media-ing to let people know it was out and up. If you want to listen to it, you can find ihere:http://mangakast.wordpress.com/2014/09/05/you-and-me-23/.
Figuring out the new manga publishing schedule as well as Mason's o'heck o'clock school start time is kind of doing a number on us. We may end up shifting our 'broadcasting' schedule again... to be timely, we may have to post on Thursday nights. That might work out all around, since I'll be more caffeinated and we won't have to have Shawn breathing down our necks that it's time to get going. (Though that added a certain otaku flavor that I really liked.)
At the library today my manga find was volumes 1 &2 of : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingyo_Used_Books (known in Japanese as Kingyoya Koshoten). I've been trying to find an on-line source for it with no luck. It's a combination of two genres I like in manga--slice-of-life and manga about manga. The "main character" (there's kind of couple at the center) is the woman pictured on the cover below, who has taken over general management of her grandfather's legendary used manga store. Stuff happens around them, manga changes people's lives, and a lot of manga are discussed and quoted.
I haven't decided how I feel about it, but it's a lot of fun.
This was also the start of school for my son and we have a crazy new start time that we're ALL still getting used to.
We actually got the podcast recorded and posted early this morning, but I had to run off to work at the Maplewood Library, so I forgot to do all the social media-ing to let people know it was out and up. If you want to listen to it, you can find ihere:http://mangakast.wordpress.com/2014/09/05/you-and-me-23/.
Figuring out the new manga publishing schedule as well as Mason's o'heck o'clock school start time is kind of doing a number on us. We may end up shifting our 'broadcasting' schedule again... to be timely, we may have to post on Thursday nights. That might work out all around, since I'll be more caffeinated and we won't have to have Shawn breathing down our necks that it's time to get going. (Though that added a certain otaku flavor that I really liked.)
At the library today my manga find was volumes 1 &2 of : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingyo_Used_Books (known in Japanese as Kingyoya Koshoten). I've been trying to find an on-line source for it with no luck. It's a combination of two genres I like in manga--slice-of-life and manga about manga. The "main character" (there's kind of couple at the center) is the woman pictured on the cover below, who has taken over general management of her grandfather's legendary used manga store. Stuff happens around them, manga changes people's lives, and a lot of manga are discussed and quoted.
I haven't decided how I feel about it, but it's a lot of fun.
August 29, 2014
MangaKast has Moved...
As I'm sure many of you have heard, Weekly Shounen Jump has changed its publication date. The translations were scheduled to come out Friday, but we managed (like many people who were crashing the various translation sites) to read them on Thursday afternoon. We decided to stick with a Friday AM publication, anyway, because, honestly, I suspect it will settle into that soon enough. Anyway, you can get the link to our podcast here: mangakast.wordpress.com/2014/08/29/22-we-love-you/
In this podcast, I actually spend some time trying to figure out why this last chapter left me feeling unsettled. Ultimately, I think I decided it was the questions that a certain scene opened... but go listen. I'm actually fairly articulate for once, which is fairly amazing considering how little coffee I had before we started this.
At Wyrdsmiths last night I was overwhelmed by a desire to doodle and drew this on my paper cup:
I call her "meep" and she seems to be at least partly inspired by Digger (by Ursula Vernon), which Mason has been re-reading. She also has a very long, dinosaur like tail on the other side of the cup and has probably been recycled by now.... but she made me think that I should try to draw a graphic novel type thing with these kinds of fantasy characters. Because, you know, if I don't get the bodies just right, WHO WOULD EVEN KNOW?? :-)
In this podcast, I actually spend some time trying to figure out why this last chapter left me feeling unsettled. Ultimately, I think I decided it was the questions that a certain scene opened... but go listen. I'm actually fairly articulate for once, which is fairly amazing considering how little coffee I had before we started this.
At Wyrdsmiths last night I was overwhelmed by a desire to doodle and drew this on my paper cup:
I call her "meep" and she seems to be at least partly inspired by Digger (by Ursula Vernon), which Mason has been re-reading. She also has a very long, dinosaur like tail on the other side of the cup and has probably been recycled by now.... but she made me think that I should try to draw a graphic novel type thing with these kinds of fantasy characters. Because, you know, if I don't get the bodies just right, WHO WOULD EVEN KNOW?? :-)
August 26, 2014
Tuesdays with Tate
Today is Tuesday, which means you can read the newest installment of my work-in-progress, UnJust Cause, a serialization of the sequel to Precinct 13. In this episode, Alex hangs out with the werewolf biker gang while on run from the demon agents... http://www.wattpad.com/67753844-unjust-cause-part-21-heart-breakers-and-heart
August 25, 2014
When Rivendell Calls, I Answer
The Rivendell Discussion Group of the Mythopoeic Society has invited me to join their discussion of "The Hobbit: That Wasn't in the Book" at Common Good Books in St. Paul on Monday, September 22 at 7 PM. (September 22, of course, being the date recognized as Bilbo and Frodo's birthday by most Hobbit/LotRs fans.)
Apparently, Gandalf David was having some trouble finding a burglar panelist for this gig. I'm not quite sure about this funny mark he's left of my door, but I'm sure it will all be fine. I'm not really the adventurous type, you know. Do hope there might be a bit of singing, though (and some sexy dwarves.)
Fingers crossed. See you there, perhaps.
Apparently, Gandalf David was having some trouble finding a burglar panelist for this gig. I'm not quite sure about this funny mark he's left of my door, but I'm sure it will all be fine. I'm not really the adventurous type, you know. Do hope there might be a bit of singing, though (and some sexy dwarves.)
Fingers crossed. See you there, perhaps.
