Danielle Thamasa's Blog, page 18

Weekend Writer: October Prompts

Hey all, Sam here.

I completely messed up the order my posts were supposed to be posted this weekend. I was supposed to do the first chapter of No Plot? No Problem! today. Yesterday I was meant to do my October prompts, as it was the first Friday of the month.

I use several story generator tools to create various creativity prompts for both you and I to use to help kickstart your creative projects (your choice if you want to write something or draw something). Then, on the last Friday of the month, I share snippets of what I’ve been working on over the month…it could be from the prompt generation, or it could be from some other project I’ve been working on…or it could be from both. I’ve had a couple months where I’ve shared a couple passages from different writing projects.

For the rest of the Fridays of the month, I do a deep dive breakdown that focuses on some aspect of creative writing. That has mostly been deep dives into sections of books about the craft of writing, but sometimes might be a deep dive into a lecture or an episode of a podcast or a YouTube video or just a general discussion about some sort of creativity/writing topic.

And since I missed out on sharing my September writing snippets, I will have that posted tomorrow. Why yes, it is a whole weekend of Weekend Writer, so I hope that you are all ready for it and that you enjoy the posts.

Let’s get started.

October Prompt Time

All right…I currently have six different creativity generator tools in my collection/arsenal. Some of them are technically aimed at TTRPGs, BUT I’ve found that for the most part they work for creative writing just fine as well, which is why I include them all. With each prompt, I take a photo of the prompt randomization (whether that is dice rolls, card draws, or whatever), type up the prompt below the photo, and then I include a paragraph where I give you information about the generator tool I used.

If you know of any other useful tools like these, please let me know. I’d love to keep expanding my collection. It’s cool to see what sorts of ideas can be generated when you use a randomization method for creation.

I tried to keep to a Spooky Season theme when coming up with these prompts this month, and honestly, I think they’re all pretty cool…so here they are…

Story Engine Deck

Prompt: A Ghost Wants to Unravel the Mystery of A Damaged Map But it Will Cost Them Their Soul.

This prompt comes from this storytelling deck from The Story Engine, which is a prompt and idea generating tool that I adore for both creative writing and for TTRPG plotting.

Tarot/Oracle Deck

Prompt: Grief, Ghosts, Memory

Once again, I used my Urban Crow Oracle Deck by MJ Cullinane for this prompt. I really like using this oracle deck, because the card names are different from a tarot deck. I do have a few different tarot decks as well, and I might use those at some point for future draws, but for now I’m really enjoying my crow deck. What can I say? I just like crows.

Roll & Play

Prompt: The Drowned Lady – an elderly woman who swims and floats as if in water, is stuck in this realm because she was sent back on a mission by an entity in the afterlife.

This month I decided to roll the dice on the Spooky Specters pages in the Roll & Play book. You can use the dice I rolled, or if you have your own dice, you can roll on the chart yourself. Or heck, if you want to then you can just choose whichever option sparks your interest. 

Sidequest Decks

Prompt 1: Save or Kill the Princess — A princess was bitten two weeks ago by a werewolf. Yesterday (the first night of the full moon) she transformed, attacked several people in the palace and escaped. The king’s ransom is double if she’s brought back alive.

Prompt 2: Dead and Disapproving — A ruler married a forbidden mate from a nomadic tribe, and now dead ancestors are rising to cleanse the bloodline.

The Sidequest Decks from Inkwell Ideas are another wonderful accessory designed for TTRPGs, but can easily be used for writers as well. This time around I went back to the After the Total Party Kill deck, and again, I went with two options as prompt inspiration. You can use either option, and you can either use the basic concept at the top of the card, or you can use the various encounters at the bottom of the card to expand upon the adventure/story further.

The Oracle Story Generator

Prompt: A Faction Will Hire You to Neutralize An Undead To Gain Power But the Undead Takes Measures to Protect Themselves

Next, we have The Oracle Story Generator by Nord Games. They have a Character Generator as well, but that one won’t be shipped out for another couple months. I’ve enjoyed playing around with these cards the past couple months, and look forward to doing even more with them in future. With this prompt, you can make it even more specific by either rolling a four-sided die for each card, or by simply choosing which option you like best.

Deck of Worlds

Prompt: A creature has claimed the Deathless Crematorium as its lair, located in a Necropolis founded as a funerary city that was once said to be a gateway to/of the dead.

The newest addition to the prompt generation is the Deck of Worlds by The Story Engine, and it works in a very similar way to the story deck, but it helps you think about and build either micro settings or small words or huge words with numerous countries throughout. It’s pretty cool.

For this first foray into the prompt generation I chose not to use the full deck. Instead I only used the Worlds of Blight & Shadow: Horror Expansion in honor of it being Spooky Season.

All right, that is all from me for today. I honestly don’t know yet which of these prompts I’ll use for some bonus writing in October, but I’m looking forward to creating something cool using them. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

Weekend Writer: No Plot? No Problem! A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days by Chris Baty – Chapter One

Hey all, Sam here.

Even with taking out the chapter’s title from this post’s title, it still feels like a long title. I guess that’s what happens when the book has a long title and so do some of the chapters. That’s okay though.

Anyway, hello, and welcome back to Weekend Writer. NaNoWriMo is coming. If you don’t know what that is, NaNoWriMo–National Novel Writing Month–is an annual writing challenge that takes place in November, where people all over the world try to write 50,000 words in just 30 days.

This challenge started back in 1999 and grew from a tiny thing with only 21 participants to something that now is tackled by hundreds of thousands of people each year.

I first learned of NaNoWriMo in 2005 while browsing through stories on fictionpress, and decided to give it a try for the first time in 2006…you know, sure, easy enough to do as a first year college student, why not. I did manage to succeed that first year, but I had no region, no fellow writers in the area, nothing. But I did intrigue a few new friends, who then joined me in 2007, and in 2008 I officially started a region in our college town and became the region’s ML (Municipal Liaison). Basically I planned write-ins and scheduled hang-outs to get us through the month, and tried to send out encouraging messages to help my fellow writers balance classes, on-campus jobs and activities, and writing a novel all at the same time.

And I have participated almost every year since. For the first twelve years I participated, I crossed that finish line of writing 50,000 words in 30 days. 2018-2022 were years when life got a bit too much in the way.

That being said, I figured it was about time for me to pick this book up again and read it another time. And I figured it would be beneficial to bring all of you along with me.

The first few chapters are NaNoWriMo prep chapters, which is fitting because this is the prep time, and then chapters 5-8 are week by week breakdowns for November, then the book concludes with a look at the Now What? or post NaNoWriMo time.

So…let’s get started.

Chris Baty, founder of the wildly successful literary marathon known as National Novel Writing Month, has completely revised and expanded his definitive handbook for extreme noveling. Chris pulls from over 15 years of results-oriented writing experience to pack this compendium with new tips and tricks, ranging from week-by-week quick reference guides to encouraging advice from authors, and much more. His motivating mix of fearless optimism and practical solutions to common excuses gives both first-time novelists and results-oriented writers the kick-start they need to embark on an exhilarating creative adventure.

You’ve always wanted to write, but . . . just haven’t gotten around to it. No Plot? No Problem! is the kick in the pants you’ve been waiting for.

Let Chris Baty, founder of the rockin’ literary marathon National Novel Writing Month (a.k.a. NaNoWriMo), guide you through four exciting weeks of hard-core noveling. Baty’s pep talks and essential survival strategies cover the initial momentum and energy of Week One, the critical “plot flashes” of Week Two, the “Can I quit now?” impulses of Week Three, and the champagne and roar of the crowd during Week Four. Whether you’re a first-time novelist who just can’t seem to get pen to paper or a results-oriented writer seeking a creative on-ramp into the world of publishing, this is the adventure for you.

So what are you waiting for? The No Plot? approach worked for the thousands of people who’ve signed up for NaNoWriMo, and it can work for you! Let No Plot? No Problem! help you get fired up and on the right track.

Chapter One: Secret Weapons, Exuberant Imperfections, and the End of the “One Day” Novelist

I know that normally I do a more in-depth breakdown of these chapters, with lots of quotes and sometimes personal thoughts that go along with those quotes, but this is a book that I: a) definitely recommend picking up a copy for yourself if you want to participate in NaNo or if you just want to write a book on a short deadline, and b) have read a few times myself, so that combined with having done NaNo many times, I occasionally have a lot to say.

There will still be plenty of quotes though.

Oh…and I should just go ahead and say that yes, you can get this book at your usual book retailers, but you can also purchase it directly from the NaNoWriMo online shop.

All right…to start with, once upon a time, Chris Baty believed that in order to write a novel you needed to have heart-fibrilating amounts of coffee, plot, character, and setting.

What was discovered in the early days of NaNo is that you don’t actually need to have those ideas really (although having some idea of what you want to write does help).

What you need to write a novel, of course, is a deadline.

Deadlines are the dynamos of the modern age. They’ve built every city, won every contest, and helped all of us pay our taxes reasonably close to on time for years and years. Deadlines bring focus, forcing us to make time for the achievements we would otherwise postpone, encouraging us to reach beyond our conservative estimates of what we think possible, helping us to wrench victory from the jaws of sleep.

A deadline is, simply put, optimism in its most ass-kicking form. It’s a potent force that, when wielded with respect, will level any obstacle in its path. This is especially true when it comes to creative pursuits.

Page 32

Because the fact of the matter is, most of us could spend months or years trying to fit the pieces of our book shaped puzzle together so that they are absolutely perfect before we ever sit down to write. We could agonize over word choice or sentence structure to the point that we’re stuck at one passage for ages, waiting for that divine inspiration to strike so we can continue on with the story.

Writing on a deadline—and importantly, sticking to it–changes that issue. Having an end date means that you have to just move on and worry about polishing things later. You don’t have the time to attempt to make things perfect from the beginning.

The NaNoWriMo goal of 50,000 words in 30 days equates out to 1,667 words per day, which is something manageable and achievable, while also still providing enough of a challenge. And if you only give yourself a month, 30 days, then you’re only overturning your normal schedule for a month and then things can go back to normal.

The insanity only lasts a month–just long enough to get “write a novel” checked off your to-do list. And then normal life, with its regular showers and reasonably clean apartments, can begin again. Should you decide to take your month-long novel and revise it to perfection later, you can do that. If not, you’ll still have experienced a creative month like no other.

page 35

Now, why did Baty decide on 50,000 words as the goal for NaNoWriMo? He grabbed the shortest novel on his shelves at the time, did a rough-count of its word count, and thought that seemed like a good figure to use.

In this book, Baty says that average typists can write the daily word goal of NaNo in about an hour and a half, which seems doable even for someone with full-time jobs and chaotic home lives. I remember when I was really going full-force into writing, where I did it pretty much all the time through college and for a couple years after, I would pretty much hit the daily goal in about 30-45 minutes, which feels absolutely insane to me now. I’m a little rusty.

One of the next important things Baty talks about in this chapter is to give yourself low expectations for this novel in a month. This round of writing is going to give you a “vomit draft,” something that will need to be rewritten and edited and polished to make it really shine.

Many, many books on writing will tell you this, and Baty chooses to use a quote by Ernest Hemingway: “The first draft of anything is shit.” But that doesn’t mean that the shit you write in this month of writing is bad…it’s just absolutely wonderful shit.

A first draft is an anything-goes space for you to roll up your sleeves and make a terrific mess. It is a place where the writer’s battle plan is redrawn daily; a place where recklessness and risk-taking is rewarded, where half-assed planning and tangential writing can yield unexpectedly amazing results. It is, in short, a place for people like you and me.

pages 36-37

But in order to allow ourselves the space to write this terrible, horrible, messy draft, we have to embrace the imperfection of it all. Too often in endeavors, especially creative ones, we give up and pack it all away because we fear not being good enough. Because of expectations at school and at work, we judge ourselves based on skill level and achievement. We stick with our routines because they are comfortable and familiar, and we can meet those expectations.

Give yourself the permission to be bad at writing this first draft, this novel in a month. This is a learning experience. In this month of writing you will be learning about your characters and the setting and the plot. You’ll be figuring out sentence structure and cliffhangers and all manner of literary devices…although worry about foreshadowing when it’s time for your editing/revising drafts. Trust me, it’s way easier to foreshadow when you know the eventual outcome.

Aside from a deadline, the next big, important thing you need for this upcoming month of writing is company. Trust me, I know this from experience…having others who are also writing with you is a big help. Yes, writing is pretty much a solitary thing (unless you write with a co-writer/co-author). You’re the only one who can put the words on the page…but it doesn’t mean you have to be alone to do it.

Find other writers and have “write-ins” together, whether in person or digitally. If you don’t have writer friends, then just have some supportive friends and family who will hang out with you. Now, this isn’t a writing group where you all read passages of each other’s work and give critiques (although, that can happen in the Now What? months). You need an actual writing group where you meet up to each work on your own projects.

I am one of the MLs for the Iowa::Elsewhere region…basically this region covers anyone in Iowa not covered by the other regions (which is mostly the bigger areas like Des Moines and stuff). Obviously it is difficult for my group to meet in person because the state of Iowa is actually pretty big and most of us don’t want to drive a few hours each way to write for a couple hours.

So we have a Discord group…and honestly, I don’t even care if you don’t live in Iowa. If you want to join my online writer’s community, feel free to: https://discord.gg/F3NY4fJB2w

You can also search for a local region through the NaNoWriMo site. A lot of them will be holding in-person events, either in October as a NaNo Prep/hangout time, or during November to be able to write with other writers.

I’ve always enjoyed attending write-ins. It’s nice to be able to get real time support and advice from others, and being surrounded with all that creative energy and camaraderie is honestly very inspirational.

So there you go…set a deadline (and stick to it) and have a community/support group. Now you just have to do it.

That is all from me for today. There are plenty more chapters to go for this book, and it will take us through the beginning of December. I hope these will be helpful for you, and if you are joining in for NaNoWriMo, I hope you are able to write all the words you need to cross that finish line.

Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

September Wrap-Up

Hey all, Sam here.

Since we have rolled over to a new month, it’s time to look back at the last month and go over everything I managed to finish reading. Obviously in September there was a hiatus here on the blog, and in that time I also tried not to adhere to any sort of set TBR, which was nice. While it wasn’t my best reading month of the year or overall, it was still a pretty decent month of reading.

Normally when I do these wrap-ups, I include links to the books that I’ve already reviewed, but again, there was a blog hiatus last month, so none of these books have been reviewed yet. I am starting to type them up and they will be up soon and continuing until I’ve caught up on them all….although I will not be reviewing the poetry books. I read those purely to get lost in the words; I spent too many years in school having to dissect poetry and now I read them purely for pleasure.

Hopefully these reviews will be starting to hit the blog next week.

All right, let’s get started.

Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q Sutanto — 4.5 stars

Maybe Today by S.K. Williams — 4 stars

Winter Roses After Fall by Robert M Drake and R.H. Sin — 4.5 stars

This Day is Dark by R.H. Sin — 4.5 stars

Half Sick of Shadows by Laura Sebastian — 4 stars

Small Favors by Erin A. Craig — 4 stars

Duel with the Vampire Lord by Elise Kova — 4.5 stars

Eragon by Christopher Paolini — 4 stars

Godkiller by Hannah Kaner — 5 stars

Heart of Night and Fire by Nisha J. Tuli — 4 stars

Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo — 4.5 stars

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan — 4 stars

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan, narrated by Rosamund Pike — 5 stars

You may have noticed that I included the first Wheel of Time book twice. I was listening to the audiobook while reading a physical/digital copy at the same time…so I am counting it as two reads, because it feels like I was reading it twice.

But whether you count it as 12 books read or 13 books read, it was still a good month of reading. And hopefully October will be equally good, because I already know that November is likely to be a slow reading month.

All right…thanks for stopping by. I appreciate it, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

WIP Wednesday – Oct 4

Hey all, Sam and David here.

Hello and welcome back to another weekly check-in post. We once again have had a bunch of things on our plate, so there’s plenty to talk about. If you’re new around here, this weekly series is called WIP Wednesday, and it’s just a dedicated place for both David and myself to keep track of everything we’ve been reading, watching, playing, and doing each and every week.

It’s actually pretty nice to be able to look at all the things we do on a regular basis, just so we can see what we do manage to accomplish on top of working full-time jobs. Sometimes it’s so easy to think that we don’t do a lot or to think that we’re not accomplishing anything or that we’re being lazy, but a weekly post recapping everything basically debunks those thoughts and shows us that we actually do quite a bit in our day-to-day lives.

All right, let’s get started.

Sam

Reading: I finished the month of September by barreling my way through Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo, Heart of Night and Fire by Nisha J Tuli, and finally finishing my readalong listen of The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan.

I am in the middle of The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon right now, and really hoping to dive into Shield Maiden by Sharon Emmerichs and A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross. I’m trying to work my way through more of my Spooky Season TBR while also trying to tackle some of my October NetGalley TBR as well. We’ll see how well I do, considering that I’m also juggling a lot of other to-dos as well.

Watching: The WGA strike has concluded with a happy outcome for writers, but SAG-AFTRA is still on strike…so this section will continue to have nothing in it until the actors have also negotiated a successful new contract. The recap that comes after this is all over is going to be a big one. You have been warned, lol.

Writing: I am writing, and editing, and plotting…basically all the things to get ready for NaNoWriMo which is in less than a month. My revising pass for Project Death: Resurrection is still going pretty well. I have made A LOT of notes to myself about things to add to, rewrite entirely, clarify, or shift to a different section. So it’s going to be a lot of work, but that’s okay. I’ve already surpassed my reading goal for the year, and after NaNoWriMo, there’s no real big plans on my plate, so I can buckle down and really get the writing finished.

Other: David and I had a spooky date day yesterday. We went decoration shopping at Menards, Target, and Walmart. We watched some of our favorite fall movies while decorating fake pumpkins (don’t worry, real pumpkins are coming soon), we ate a wonderful fall comfort meal of chicken and noodles over mashed potatoes and tried a delicious apple cider cocktail recipe. Oh, and we made cookies, and of course we started really getting the outdoor decorations up.

Oh, and I also played several hours more of Fae Farm on my Switch. I’m still really enjoying this game…although I’m not having the best time with trying to get through the dungeon in the Fae Realm. It’s a little more difficult than I personally would like from a cozy game, but I’m also a casual gamer and so my opinion is probably in the minority.

David

Crafting: So I’ve been doing a bit of small scale crafts for our spooky season stuff. Sam got a picture of my super awesome scary pumpkin. I am also starting on some of the crafting for some terrain dioramas for my photos with my painted miniatures. I also made one of those plastic bag spiders today and I got to say it definitely did not come out how it looks on the packaging.

Painting: So painting slowed down a little bit this past week but I am about to start up on another project since I am not feeling into the ones I was working on. So for now I am halting the Ultramarines and Slicing Noose Kill Team to paint a bunch of my Nighthaunts. I will probably sell them afterwards since I won’t get a chance to play anytime soon. It might give me money enough to buy and paint some more too which is a win/win situation.

I want to try painting other Warhammer figures as well so if anyone has some suggestions, or even have some they just want painted feel free to hit me up on that lol. I got a lot of miniatures that need painted for Dungeons and Dragons as well so it’s not like I don’t have an abundance of things to paint, mostly a lack of ones I am in the mood to paint.

Reading: I finally read up to Volume 6 of My Dress Up Darling. I really love this series and its mostly how adorable both of the main characters are. Wakana having an obsession with painted japanese dolls had me reeling over and the fact that he took his skills and has been learning to apply them to another craft is really nice. Marin just seems excited to be there and be able to dress up as her favorite characters.

I also started listening to A Plague of Giants by Kevin Hearne. I love the way their special abilities work in this world. The seven kennings each having their own unique takes and uses is fun. I think the bard’s ability is my favorite, being able to be heard even from a league or more is really cool and their are other aspects they reveal of his kenning that get explained a bit later as well.

All right, well that is all from us for today. Thank you so much for stopping by, and we’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

Cover Reveal: Evocation by S.T. Gibson

Hey all, Sam here.

Well, I haven’t done one of these in a while…today is the cover reveal for a book that I know I’m really looking forward to reading. I’m not really going to waste any more time blathering on in an introduction, though. Let’s just jump into the cover reveal.

So…this is the reveal photo idea I came up with…and my husband David helped me bring my idea to life.

Now for the full, blown-up version of the cover, plus all the other gorgeous details…

Release Date: May 28, 2024

Publisher: Angry Robot Books

Cover Art by: Eleonor Piteira

Cover Design by: Alice Coleman

When a family curse threatens David’s life, he will turn to the only person he’s ever trusted, his ex-boyfriend, Rhys – which means he will have to open his heart to Moira, Rhys’s wife.

The day David Aristarkhov’s occultist father died, he bought himself an Audi, drank every drop of liquor in the house, and abandoned his life as a teen psychic prodigy. Now pushing thirty, David is a Boston attorney, moonlighting as a medium for a secret society.

But when the Devil comes to collect on a deal David’s ancestor made, he reluctantly reaches out to his ex-boyfriend Rhys for help. However, to get to Rhys, David will have to befriend Moira, Rhys’s wife. The trio gets a little too close for comfort as they combine their powers to unravel the century-old curse, and if they don’t break the curse by David’s thirtieth birthday, he won’t live long enough for everyone to figure out their feelings for each other.

Basically, I am very excited about this book. It sounds really cool, and I am very much looking forward to reading it. I was approved by Angry Robot for an ARC of this book as well, so once I get my copy in the mail, I will definitely be planning on reading and reviewing it. Plus, I also still need to read and review Saint’s other books, so those will likely be coming in the near-ish future as well.

That’s it for this post. Thank you so much for stopping by, and we’ll be back later with our usual WIP Wednesday post.

NetGalley October TBR

Hey all, Sam here.

Hello and Happy October! While I definitely considered last month to be part of Spooky Season, we are truly in the heart of Spooky Season this month. I am ready for strolling through apple orchards and pumpkin patches, indulging in corn mazes and haunted houses, walking trails in parks as the leaves change color…all while dressed in lovely sweaters and with a nice Thermos of whatever my hot beverage of choice is that day (could be cider, could be tea, could be coffee, could be cocoa, could be some nice mead).

As with last month, I’m just going to do a NetGalley TBR to go over the books I’ve received through NetGalley that are releasing in the month of October that I’m really hoping to read and review in their release month.

I wasn’t all that successful with my September NetGalley reads. There were seven books on the list and I only completed two of them…but I still managed to read an okay amount of books, and I was trying to give myself just a little bit of a break from the somewhat intense reading/reviewing schedule I’d been under for months before that. So, even though I didn’t read many of my NetGalley books, I’m still pretty happy with my progress…and I obviously still do intend to read all of my NetGalley backlog.

Apparently October is a big month for book releases, because I have 11 books on my NetGalley TBR…and one of them I am already reading. I don’t even know that I’ll be reading them in release order. I might just bounce around the list, depending on what I’m in the mood for…and I’m obviously also still working on reads from my Spooky Season TBR.

Oh, also…my boss decided to try a different schedule for me at work this week. I’ll be working four 10 hour shifts instead of five 8 hour shifts…so this week I’ll have Monday and Tuesday off like normal, but then I actually get Saturday off as well (although David still has to work on Sat)…and I have no idea what I’m going to do with an extra day off. Honestly, probably read, maybe write a little, and possibly play some more Fae Farm and/or have some TV show on binge-mode in the background.

Anyway…let’s go over all the October releases I’ve been approved for over on NetGalley. I will note that the release dates listed here are the ones that were given on the NetGalley site.

The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon (Oct 3), Shield Maiden by Sharon Emmerichs (Oct 3), Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson (Oct 3), Wrath Becomes Her by Aden Polydoros (Oct 10)

The Art of Destiny by Wesley Chu, The Night Hunt by Alexandra Christo (Oct 10), Secrets of the Catalogue by Amelia Spencer (Oct 15), Unholy Terrors by Lyndall Clipstone (Oct 17)

Our Divine Mischief by Hanna C. Howard (Oct 17), Under the Smokestrewn Sky by A. Deborah Baker (Oct 17) , Two Twisted Crowns by Rachel Gillig

Why yes, I do still need to read The Art of Prophecy by Wesley Chu and One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig before I can read these new/upcoming releases. I do want to read them both, and hopefull soon, so we’ll see what happens…and I have a feeling that I’ll be tackling Under the Smokestrewn Sky by A Deborah Baker (AKA Seanan McGuire) sooner rather than later.

I’m aware this is a shorter post, but I want to save some of my thoughts for Instagram or TikTok or a future blog post book review. Oh, and I can now be found on Blue Sky as well, with the same name as everywhere else: SamRushingBooks.

That’s all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

WIP Wednesday – Sept 27

Hey all, Sam and David here.

Our more frequent posting schedule will be back at the beginning of October. We’re working on getting the posts prepped now, particularly when it comes to book and manga and tabletop reviews, because those can be done ahead of time.

Each week we do this post to help ourselves keep track of everything we’ve done in the past week. That’s everything we read and watch and write and paint and craft and do. Some weeks we do more than other weeks, but it’s still always nice to have a place where we can keep track of everything.

This is also a place where you can share the cool things you’ve been up to as well, so let us know in the comments. Let’s celebrate our daily or weekly or monthly achievements with each other.

Let’s get started.

Sam

Reading: I think I’ll be finishing up Godkiller by Hannah Kaner today…possibly tomorrow, but I’ll go ahead and count it as a finished read. This book is incredible, and I think I’m going to have to get the UK versions, because the UK edition of the sequel will be out in January 2024, and I haven’t even seen a date for the US sequel, but I imagine it will be September 2024 and I don’t want to wait that long.

I am so close to finishing The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan. I should definitely have it finished by next week’s post. I need to get back to reading a little bit more, but I’ve been distracted by other stuff…which you’ll be able to tell in the next sections. I have read exactly zero of my NetGalley September releases…so hopefully I can at least get Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo and Heart of Night and Fire by Nisha J Tuli read by the end of the month.

Watching: Am I watching things still? Yes, absolutely. And I’m hopeful that I’ll be doing a big recap of the last couple months of watches soon enough, but until both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA have successfully concluded their negotiations and the strike ends, I’m not talking about any of it here.

Writing: I have been re-reading through Project Death: Resurrection and have been taking a lot of notes about things that need expanded on or clarified. Basically I’m doing two reads of my book, the first for the big picture, for general plot and characterization and world-building, and then the second one will be more technical, looking for spelling and grammar and the smaller pictures that help build up the bigger picture.

So a lot of my time has actually been spent either actively reading or passively dreaming of and thinking about my book.

I should also probably start doing more prep-work for NaNoWriMo, because that is coming up too. My goal right now is to get through the two reads of my book before November, and then after reaching my NaNo goal, then I’ll get back to work and actually adding in all the new content to Project Death: Resurrection.

Other: First up, Cincinnati Comic Expo was last weekend (Sept 22-24) and we teamed up with our friend at Mousai Crafts to help with her booth in Crafters Alley, and were able to set up a few of our own things as well….and by that I mean that David had some of his stuff set up. Since I didn’t have my book revised and re-released, I had nothing on the table.

I did pick up a copy of my friends 10th Anniversary Edition of her book, Farther Side of Away, and it is basically the story of Adam and Eve from the Bible but if Adam was a werewolf and Eve was a vampire, and a lot of the issues through them and their descendants are because of those differences. I’m definitely due for a re-read of the book, because it has been years.

I also picked up a set of dice that I didn’t necessarily need because we haven’t really been playing much (or at all) recently, but the dice spoke to me. And then I bought a Fairy Tail headband because it has my favorite character, Levy, on it.

Other purchases included some adorable new desk buddies from our booth neighbor, KrystalineStudios, and she makes amazing 1:12 scale foods and other items for dollhouses and such, but she also makes so much more. Finally I picked up a fantasy romance series by Allison Rook: Stone of War, Dance of Dragons, and Crystal of Memory.

The last thing to mention for this other category is that I started playing “Fae Farm” and so far I’m really enjoying it. I guess I’ve realized that I’m more of a cozy gamer. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy playing the Diablo series and just tanking up combat encounters and reveling in a big ol’ kill streak…but for the most part I’d rather do a cozy build, grow, collect, craft type of game. If it has the option for romance then cool, and in some plays I will go the romance route, but for others I just enjoy playing.

David

Printing: Been trying to smooth out the seams of the Green Goblin mask and having no luck. So instead I decided to focus on the Infinity Mjolnir I got the stl of from Hex3d’s Patreon. I got that done and I am super happy about it. I was finally able to print enough parts to get some of the PaintPal shelves done and am almost ready to start migrating my dropper bottle paints to said shelves.

Painting: So I got a lot of painting done while we were at Cincinnati Comic Expo. Decided to start painting all of the figures from the Warhammer Undergrounds Beastgrave box set I have. I was a little disappointed I wasn’t able to sell any of my painted Warhammer but its okay we made some friends, got to hang with some old ones, and had a good old time just being at the convention.

I also am almost done with putting finishing touches on some Ultramarine Bike Squad figures from the Warhammer 40k Elite Set. Started to fall out of my urge to paint so much which I am hoping doesnt go back to ‘I don’t want to paint anything at all right now.’

Watching: Well finally finished my rewatch of DBZ and got to say some of it was forgotten by me until now. Vegeta is still my favorite though with Gohan and Piccolo tied at second. I don’t know what I am going to watch next but I am not in the mood to start back up on One Piece just yet I feel. Maybe I should take up playing some video games for a bit. Sam has us playing a bit of Fae Farm and it’s been fun so far lol. I do still have to finish Tears of the Kingdom.

All right, well that is all from us for today. Thank you so much for stopping by, and we’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

WIP Wednesday – Sept 20

Hey all, Sam and David here.

Plans are in place, y’all. We are starting to get posts prepped and written. The regular posts are coming back in October. So for now, you’ll be getting the WIP Wednesday posts this week and next week, and the end of the month prompt share for Weekend Writer is coming next week as well. After that, we’ll be back to more frequent content. We’ve been working on Manga Monday and Tabletop Tuesday posts…and the books Sam has been reading in September will help give a good start to book reviews in October.

Anyway, each week we do this post to help ourselves keep track of everything we’ve done in the past week. That’s everything we read and watch and write and paint and craft and do. Some weeks we do more than other weeks, but it’s still always nice to have a place where we can keep track of everything.

This is also a place where you can share the cool things you’ve been up to as well, so let us know in the comments. Let’s celebrate our daily or weekly or monthly achievements with each other.

Let’s get started.

Sam

Reading: Duel with the Vampire Lord by Elise Kova, Eragon by Christopher Paolini

This feels like a small finished reading list, another week with only two books read. But when I think of how much time I spent reading/listening to the first Wheel of Time book, I guess it was still a really productive week. And I’m hoping to finish a re-read of the Inheritance Cycle in time for the release of Murtagh by Christopher Paolini in November.

I have this idea for a blog post, or maybe a TikTok video…where I compare the first books of the Wheel of Time and the Inheritance Cycle…because I noticed a lot of similarities when I was reading them. Let me know if you’d be interested…and if you’d rather have a written post or a video.

I got a few extra hours of reading/listening time in for The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan this week, so I’m like 80% finished…so hopefully next week I’ll be moving it over to the read column. But I never even got around to Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo or Heart of Night and Fire by Nisha J. Tuli because I got distracted by deciding to start a re-read of the Inheritance Cycle.

And then, at the store, I picked up Godkiller by Hannah Kaner. This book came out in the UK back in January, but it just came out in the US this week. I read all of two pages last night and I AM HOOKED. I had to set it down or I would have stayed up way too late and just read the whole thing. But, basically, if this book ends up being as good as I think it will be based on those two pages, I’ll be picking up book 2 when it lands in the UK in January, because I will not be waiting until next September to read it.

Watching: Still watching stuff, still enjoying stuff…have seen some trailers for some upcoming shows and movies that I’m really looking forward to…have introduced David to some of my childhood favorite shows…but yeah, still not talking about specifics until this WGA/SAG-AFTRA strike has concluded. Pay content creators what they’re worth. We consume enough of their content regularly; they should be paid for that.

Writing: My friend Signy Cullen got the 10th Anniversary Edition copies of her book Farther Side of Away in the mail, just in time for Cincinnati Comic Expo. I totally failed in my goal of getting Project Death: Resurrection revised and expanded in time…but that doesn’t mean that I’m giving up on a 10th Anniversary Edition. Technically it came out in Summer 2013 but as long as I can finish up my work and get the book out before 2023 is over, I’ll consider it still good.

So I’ve been doing more editing, more plotting, more dreaming, and more getting ready for NaNoWriMo. I’m actually one of the MLs for the Iowa Elsewhere region…and considering the region covers most of the state, I actually don’t even mind if people from outside Iowa join the region too. We have a Discord. Feel free to join in our writing community: https://discord.gg/jqbD26S48m

Other: I mentioned it in passing just a moment ago, but we’ve been spending time getting ready for Cincinnati Comic Expo, which is Sept 22-24th. We are working with our friend Signy Cullen at her Mousai Crafts booth. We are in Crafters Alley, Booth E16. Mousai Crafts has fabric pouches and headbands and jewelry and candles and wax melts, a whole bunch of cool geeky stuff. And we at Free State of Geek will have some of David’s 3d prints available. I’m sure he’ll talk about it in his section of today’s post.

Come by and see us, say hello…we’d love to see you.

David

Painting: Okay so a lot of painting again this week as well guys, I am hoping to finish a few more figures to show off at Cincinnati and maybe get some army commissions lol. I have almost finished painting the followers of Khorne. I have completely painted the Celestar Ballista, and I have 1 more Trogoth to paint.

I also finished up a terrain diorama for photos and the like so that was fun. I am probably going to need more basing materials if I plan to do some more of that though. I have worked with plaster fabric before so that was fun and messy. I ended up using some of my acrylic paints which I have not touched since the beginning days of painting miniatures. Except for when I tried painting nerd stuff on to a canvas topper for a shelter thing.

Printing: I have been printing some small stuff lately and have not been able to do any work on my goblin slayer cosplay yet. I did manage to make a few small models in tinkercad and am doing test prints right now to see how well they will work. I am printing paintpal shelves to organize my paints, coin display holders for the coins i printed. The coin holder I found on Cults 3d and the maker is Helionline.

So the models I made were simple business card holders, one is made to look similar to an old gaming controller, one is made to look like an open book but i am still making tweaks to that model. I also made a halloween themed can cozy with two handles and a pumpkin face on it. I even made an alternate version with one handle. I have not tested the can cozy yet but I will try to have a photo of how that goes soon enough.

All right, well that is all from us for today. We have to finish getting ready for Cincinnati Comic Expo. If you’ll be there, swing by Crafters Alley Booth E16–that’s the Mousai Crafts booth–and say hello.

And once again, thank you so much for stopping by. We’re happy to have you here and would love to chat, so let us know what you’ve been up to in the comments. We’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

WIP Wednesday – Sept 13

Hey all, Sam and David here.

It’s hard to believe that it has already been a week since our last post. I promise that the regular schedule of posts will be coming back. I just really need to take the time to recharge from the burnout situation I put myself in by pressuring myself to do so much on this blog and to consistently think about content and do work to prep for even more content. It was a lot. So, for the moment, we are doing this weekly post, and everything else will be coming back……probably by the beginning of October.

Anyway, each week we do this post to help ourselves keep track of everything we’ve done in the past week. That’s everything we read and watch and write and paint and craft and do. Some weeks we do more than other weeks, but it’s still always nice to have a place where we can keep track of everything.

This is also a place where you can share the cool things you’ve been up to as well, so let us know in the comments. Let’s celebrate our daily or weekly or monthly achievements with each other.

Let’s get started.

Sam

Reading: Half Sick of Shadows by Laura Sebastian and Small Favors by Erin A Craig are the two books I completed in the past week, so not a lot of progress, but still something. Between some before bed reading and some reading on one of my days off work, I was able to finish this reinterpretation of the tale of the Lady of Shalott, aka part of Arthurian legend. And then as the perfect late-summer read, at work I managed to read this Erin A. Craig release that has been on my shelf for longer than I would have preferred.

So, I didn’t take the book to work that I had planned to over the last week. Oh well. It just means that it is my work book for this week, so I have Duel with the Vampire Lord by Elise Kova on my work reads list, and since I get out of work early on Friday and Saturday and have to sit around for a couple hours waiting for David, I will be listening to more of The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan and narrated by Rosamund Pike.

Also on my current reads/soon-to-read list are two of the books from my September NetGalley reads list, because I have honestly completely neglected that so far this month. I’m hoping that Mammoths at the Gate by Nghi Vo will be a quick read because it is a novella. I also have Heart of Night and Fire by Nisha J. Tuli, which is a romantasy inspired by Indian mythology, so I’m excited to give this author a try.

Watching: The new release show that we finished watching last week…yeah, we totally watched it again. It was fantastic. And watched the newest episode of another newer release show, the fourth episode of which came out last week. It’s an okay season, but I’m not fully sold on it compared to season one, which seems to be the opposite of critics and fans alike based on online reports.

Again…I’m not naming shows or really doing much in regards to updating this section because the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strike is ongoing. I’m watching and enjoying, and keeping track of everything, so eventually there will be a nice big update for y’all.

Writing: I have been creating. Minimal writing, minimal editing, but I have been doing some plotting and planning and worldbuilding, and it has been pretty fun.

I finally got around to checking out The Story Engine’s Deck of Worlds, plus all of the expansions, and it adds a whole new way to look at building up a fictional world and thinking about locations in that world from different perspectives. I’ll have to do a Weekend Writer post specifically about this deck, especially as I start playing with the Deck of Worlds and The Story Engine Deck together. I am really excited for the release of the Lore Master’s Deck next year, because that’s going to expand and elevate my worldbuilding and storytelling even more.

Other: I went for a walk around town for a little bit and carried a bag of books with me to snap some Bookstagram photos. It was pretty nice.

David

Painting: Been catching up on more painting while I can, I painted a couple of followers of Khorne, some Stormcast Eternals, Saurians and in the process of painting the Steamforge/Critical Role Mighty Nein miniatures.

I have been trying to practice keeping my color schemes to how the character art is done by some of the official artists and in the books. Though I did take some liberties to make sure to add Blood for the Blood God technical paint for the Khorne soldiers. I am hoping to do some photos shoots and maybe some short fun videos with the figures soon enough and get them posted for you guys to see.

Watching: I’m rewatching some more of the live action One Piece show again. Me and my buddy Jeff have reached the episodes of the Baratie and Sanji. We have high hopes for the continuation of this series. We have been trying to think of how they might choose to represent certain characters. How do you guys think they are going to bring characters like Chopper, Frankie, and Brooks to life in the live action sense?

All right, well that is all from us for today. Thank you so much for stopping by and we’ll be back soon with more geeky content.

WIP Wednesday – Sept 6

Hey all, Sam and David here.

Hello and welcome back to another weekly check-in post. Each week we do this post to help ourselves keep track of everything we’ve done in the past week. That’s everything we read and watch and write and paint and craft and do. Some weeks we do more than other weeks, but it’s still always nice to have a place where we can keep track of everything.

This is also a place where you can share the cool things you’ve been up to as well, so let us know in the comments. Let’s celebrate our daily or weekly or monthly achievements with each other.

Let’s get started.

Sam

Reading: Dial A For Aunties by Jesse Q Sutanto, Maybe Today by S.K. Williams, Winter Roses After Fall by Robert M Drake and R.H. Sin, This Day is Dark by R.H. Sin.

In the past few days I finished a few books, and yes, three of them are poetry. Now, I don’t think I’m going to do a review for each collection of poetry, but I will say that each had poems that affected me and resonated with me, so I found these books (at Target) at the right time. Sometimes I do get into the mood to read poetry, but after years in school of having to parse through the meanings of every line, every rhyme, every stanza…I just have no desire to go anywhere near a review for poetry. I just want to read them and let the feel of them settle into me and let that be it. I do have ratings for them, but that’s it (they were 4 and 4.5 star reads).

In progress reads include a dual read of The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan, which I am reading while also listening to the audiobook. It’s going to be slower going on this one, because I’m only reading/listening on Friday-Sunday, when I get off work a couple hours before David. I go out to the car and open up Audible, and open my book. It’s basically 2-3 chapters each time I sit down. I’m on page 124 currently.

My bedside book right now is Half Sick of Shadows by Laura Sebastian, so it’s the book I pick up when I want to read for like 30 minutes before going to bed, so again, not a lot of progress so far, but I am enjoying it.

And my current take to work book is Duel with the Vampire Lord by Elise Kova. As you can see, I’m actively working on tackling my Spooky Season TBR. I do want to complete some of my NetGalley September reads and get them reviewed too, but right now I’m just reading books with no expectation to review them just yet. Obviously I’ll probably review all of them eventually.

Watching: I finished watching a really cool new release and really enjoyed it, and watched all the current episodes of another new release, as well as some re-watches of some movies and shows and stuff that I enjoy…but I’m not naming any of them until the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strike is over. Both groups are encouraging us to keep watching the movies and shows because that shows that there is a demand for the product, so I will keep watching for now. But if they call for a strike on watching things on streaming services, I’ll follow that too.

But, when it’s all settled and over, I’ll have a big watching recap for y’all.

Writing: I have done a little bit of writing, not much overall, but I have put at least a few paragraphs down onto paper. I have thought a lot about my stories and the characters, but the ideas and words are still stuck in my head. They’ll come out when they’re ready. For the moment they’re still brewing.

Other: We went to the local Putt-Putt Golf/Ice Cream place and tried some of their fall treats. I got an Apple Snickers flurry, and David got a Caramel Apple Pie flurry. We also played a round of putt-putt while we were there. And we went to a nearby Goodwill and found this awesome Halloween tree, so it came home with us to join our fall decorations, which we’re still in the process of putting up around the house.

David

Painting: Finally finished painting and basing the Ork Kommandos Kill Team. It was fun to paint and I am looking forward to painting a lot more Warhammer over the coming months. I am debating whether or not I am going to sell some of the painted figures though. I know a lot of people would pay a good amount for painted figures but I put so much work into them that it is hard to come up with a fair price on them.

I started painting a few of the Saurian Lizardmen. I have some foot soldiers that came from Warhammer, and some mounted soldiers that are from Warhammer 40k. I cant be one hundred percent sure but I am pretty sure that’s where each is from. I like the shades of blue I am using with red for their spikey protrusions. Gold and Iron for the weapons, and I am using a yellow for the boney shields they are using as well. I am going to go with various shades of green for the dinosaur mounts the one set is using.

Watching: I am still watching DBZ for now and have made it to the part where Gohan has taken over the fight with Perfect Cell. Its about here that my memories of the series start to get a little hazy, but it is really nice to have something playing in the background while I am doing other stuff.

Printing: I am setting up some coins to print again since we are going to Cincinnati Comic Book Expo soon and I like to pass these coins out with our business cards. It gives people an idea of some of the things I can make or print for them to really immerse themselves into their tabletop games. I think I am going to print some elvish coinage this time but I will need to do some test prints first before anything else.

Other: I am trying out crochet for the first time and I am doing so using Woobles. So far the step by step instructions have made it super easy to follow. I don’t know if I will be adding crochet to my list of crafting skills anytime soon but we will see how much fun I have with it first. Here is my first attempt so far.

All right, well that is all from us for today. Thank you so much for stopping by, and we’ll be back soon with more geeky content.