L.G. Estrella's Blog, page 32

The Insomnia Kicks In

Well, as usual at this time of year, I’m dealing with insomnia. Lack of sleep can make you write some funny things. Oh well. At least, I’m not convinced I can see through time or anything. And, no, that didn’t actually happen. Probably the weirdest thing I’ve had due to lack of sleep are dreams that basically cover entire lifetimes from birth to death. Yeah. That’s very trippy to wake up from.

I remember one dream where I woke up convinced that I had kids and was married for a few minutes bef...

On Precision

Today, I would like to talk about precision. What does it mean to be precise in the context of writing fiction? The answer to that might be more complex than you think.

To write precisely is to write in a way that is both exact in meaning and accurate in terms of detail and expression. When you write precisely, then your reader will know exactly what it is you wish to convey. However, it is all too common for people to mistake being concise with being precise. The two can certainly occur togethe...

On Ben Simmons

Oh, where do I begin?

Let’s start off with the positives. Ben Simmons is a fantastic passer with great court vision and awareness, and he is a great defender who can legitimately defend all five positions. There’s not many people in the league who can do that.

However, none of that really matters. It truly doesn’t.

Why?

Simple. The best ability is availability, and he can’t stay on the damn court when it actually matters.

For all of his court vision and defensive prowess, Simmons has ...

Memorable Memories #1 – Marsupial Combat

Back during my last year of high school, I played more video games than was probably wise, especially PC games. Since I didn’t have my own PC at the time, I played on the family’s PC. Since we all had to share it, work and school obviously came before gaming. As a result, I generally played when nobody else needed to use it, which meant I was often playing late at night and early into the morning.

Now, at the time, my family lived in an area with quite a bit of bushland around, which meant there...

Mythology and Storytelling

As a child, I was an avid reader of mythology. I began with Greek mythology and steadily expanded into other forms of European mythology before turning my attention to Asian mythology and mythology from the Americas and Africa. Later, I also began to look into mythology from Australia and the Pacific. I can honestly say that reading so much mythology has been nothing but beneficial for my writing.

Why?

Well, in a way, it’s very simple. Many of the myths we know today have endured for centuries, ...

Playoffs

It’s playoff time in the NBA. Unfortunately, my team (the San Antonio Spurs) didn’t make it this year. On the upside, I’ve been able to watch without my stress levels going through the roof since I’m not especially partial to any of the remaining teams. What I’ve found fascinating, however, is how the different fan bases have reacted to their teams’ performances in the playoffs.

Some fans are just really happy to be there. If you’re a Knicks fan, for instance, it’s been a long time between drink...

Nostalgia

As I’ve hinted at in quite a few of my posts, I do play video games. Admittedly, I don’t play nearly as much now as I once did, but that comes down to not having as much time as I used to and developers not making games that I particularly enjoy anymore. That’s right, I’ve become that crazy person sitting on their porch and ranting at passersby about how awful everything is now and how everything was better back in the old days.

That said, video games played a huge role in my childhood and young...

A Love of Reading

One of the greatest things that my mother ever did for me was to foster my love of reading. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of her taking me and my sister to the library and of her buying books for us. It’s easy, when you’re older, to underestimate how important those moments are, but they really do matter. 

Reading isn’t just something you learn for school. It’s something that can open up entire worlds.

As a child, I didn’t just read any fiction I could get my hands on. I read a...

Mother and Son

In honour of Mother’s Day, here’s a snippet featuring characters from The Unconventional Heroes Series.

Katie glanced at the calendar. “Hmm… it looks like Mother’s Day is coming up.”

Spot looked up from the pineapple he was devouring. Mother’s Day? What’s that?

“Oh, right. This would be your first Mother’s Day.” Katie reached over Spot to grab some fruit. The dragon watched her like a hawk until she settled on an apple. Satisfied that the remaining pineapple would soon be his, he relaxed. “Basi...

Happy Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day!