Sidney Blaylock Jr.'s Blog

Author’s Note: Project Wall = Wallrats

Source: Prompt by Xavier – Flux_Pro_Art https://fluxpro.art/prompts/cm0qxkpxw0w3b11m7zzfxd2ho

Introducing my brand new story: Project Wall is now known as Wallrats. I went ahead and submitted it to a publisher last night. The publisher was open from August 1 – August 7, so at around 9:25pm I went ahead and submitted. I’ve submitted to the publisher before, but have not, so far, had anything accepted, although I did get a personal rejection that indicated that they liked the story(Unhallowed), but thought it might have skewed to literary for their tastes. I thought I’d give them a try because they do a lot of genres of speculative fiction, including the type that I’m interested in for this story.

Inspiration — Title

So, the story takes its title from a play on “Mallrats,” which is slang for people (usually teenagers and young adults) who frequent/spend a fair amount of time in malls. Usually, there is an air of the young adults being unsupervised and preferring to spend money/hang out in the malls, so mallrats is a pejorative and has a negative connotation. In my story, there is a massive wall around the city where the story takes place. There are three main groups: Rangers, who forage outside the wall, in fast but light, powered armor, Wardens, who act as a police force for the city inside the wall and superstructure of the wall, and the Sentinels, who are a military force and who are supposed to respond any incursions on the wall or over it (“You want me on that wall–you need me on that wall” — A Few Good Men (1992)).

Inspirations — Plot and Setting

Much of the plot and the setting comes from an amalgamation of two video games, one successful and one not so much. The two games that serve as inspiration for this story are: Dino Crisis (1999) and Anthem (2019). I thought that Anthem’s original pitch (as reported on by Jason Schreier for Kotaku) sounded like the perfect pitch for a video game. Mark Derrah, a designer at Bioware who ultimately finished the game of Anthem has been detailing what went wrong with the game. It apparently morphed from its original concept of going out with your friends on an adventure, to this open world, live service type of game that had not references/learnings back to other games like Destiny. I think this idea of multiplayer (based on Mark’s breakdown) was a major reason why Anthem failed. Originally, it sounds that Anthem was supposed to be more like Armored Core 6, which is both successful in terms of sales and well regarded in the gaming community, but according to Darrah, multiplayer had ALL of the attention at EA, so that’s what Bioware’s pitch was. For my story, I went back to that original pitch and thought, okay, what if there was someone in a mecha, a powered human size suit, who had to go on an adventure. So, then I remembered Dino Crisis and one of my favorite settings was that the island. After an experiment, something happened where the island experienced an anomaly of some sort and then the island was overrun by dinosaurs. I crafted a scenario where a city was cast adrift in time and space, and then I knew that the city, if it survived the multiple hostile encounters would create a wall of some sort to protect the city as well as protectors to try to keep the city safe, hence the division of peacekeeping duties as listed above.

Inspirations — Characters

The main characters were inspired by talks that I had with my mother. My mother and her brother (my uncle) were close and they would stick up for each other. As an only child, I don’t know what that sibling relationship looks like, so I thought I’d try crafting a brother and sister (younger brother, older sister), where they’ve lost their parents and they would have to look out for each other. Then I put the younger brother on a Ranger recon team that was getting swarmed, and I put the sister on the wall with an uncaring commander of the Sentinels, and that’s where we start the story.

I won’t say that it wrote itself, as it surely didn’t, because their were a LOT of failed drafts/partial drafts to get me to this successful draft, but once I had that arrogant commander who refused to help, everything just slowly started to slot into place.

Inspirations — Theme

This one came in first: I really wanted to have a theme of “brothers and sisters united against the world.” There is nothing this particular older sister won’t do to fight for/rescue her younger brother, even when he makes choices that may not be to his benefit. She’s willing to risk her life for him, because he’s the only family she has left.

Where This Story Goes From Here

As I mentioned, it is currently out to a publisher. I’d love to publish it at a paying market somewhere. It is an action story and a story that could be considered military science fiction or action science fiction. While no Starship Troopers or Helldivers 2, or even Pacific Rim, it does have elements of those type of science fiction, which unfortunately, doesn’t seem to have much sway in the traditional prose markets that I submit to, so I’m not sure at all what the story’s ultimate fate will be. Still, I enjoyed writing the story and think that it has a strong theme, stronger characters, and a plot that is coherent and builds to an exciting climax and resolution. One can hope that this story has what it takes to be published.

I do have ideas to expand the story as well. There’s the backstory of the world and the city and how it disappeared. There’s also a retelling of the losing of the brother and sister’s parents. There’s even a potential mystery dealing with mysterious deaths throughout the city after this incident. I’d love to build on those threads and expand them into a larger work. Only time will tell if I’m able to do that.

SidneyIn-Progress — CreativeThe Runner (Fantasy — 2023 Revision) (Fantasy Story: 4100 words)Status: (In — looking for a market)Dire (Urban Fantasy — 2024 — 2025 Revision) (Fantasy Short Story: 5100 words)Status: (Out — to a market). Avg. Response time = 45 days (Out for 8 days)Wallrats (Science Fiction — 2025) (Science Fiction: 4700 words)Status: (Out — -to a market). Avg. Response time = 113 days) (Out for 2 days)PUBLISHED WORKS of Sidney Blaylock, Jr.

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

Read Skin Deep (Science Fiction) for Free at  Aurora Wolf Read Childe Roland (Fantasy) for Free at  Electric Spec Purchase  Unhallowed  (Fantasy short-story: Weird Western) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Independent  (Science Fiction short story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  HawkeMoon  (Fantasy shorty-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or eBookPurchase  Dragonhawk  (Fantasy short-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  WarLight  (Science Fiction short-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Ship of Shadows  (Science Fiction shorty-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Faerie Knight  (Fantasy short-story–Faerie) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or Kindle Space, the Feminist Frontier: Essays on Sex and Gender in Star Trek
Chapter 3 — How Nichelle Nichols’ Uhura Inspired the African American Female Character in Science Fiction 
Status: Published! Out NOW @ Amazon.com (Please consider a purchase to support the authors!)

August 2025 Writing Update

Image Source: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/writing-hub/crafting-your-memoir-a-guide-to-storytelling-reflection-and-connection/

Hi Everyone,

This is the August 2025 Writing Update where I’ll talk about my writing accomplishments for the month of July 2025 and detail some of the projects I’m currently working on at the moment and discuss potential plans for upcoming future projects. I’ve tried weekly versions of this type of post based on Brandon Sanderson’s weekly updates, but I’m not set-up for weekly updates. I basically work from month-to-month and then can tally my accomplishments on that schedule. In other words, that’s what seems to work best for me, so going forward, I’ll try to update these on monthly basis, so you should see about 10-12 of these per year. Not sure if I’ll do a “yearly” update of these; I’ll see how I get on towards the end of the year.

Short Story — Project Wall (COMPLETED = 4100 WORDS INITIAL DRAFT = 4900 AFTER 1ST REVISION)

Okay, so this was an absolute blast for me to write (which probably means that it won’t sell). I’ll discuss more on this later, but creative writing on Saturdays seems to be my “superpower” and creative writing on weekdays seems to be my “Kryptonite” (to steal a metaphor from Superman). I was able to generate a solid “Working Draft” of about 4100 words. I took an older “rough draft” and merged it with another “rough draft” and that basically formed my “zero draft.” I’d estimate that the zero draft was about 750-1,250 words all together.

I broke that zero draft into 3 parts: Beginning, Middle, and End with about 350-400 words in each section, although the middle had the most words and the beginning and ending had about the same number of words.

From there, all I did was expand on those sections and dramatize them with character actions, character feelings, character motivations, scenery, and dialogue. Every Saturday in June and July, I worked on it, a little at a time, until I finished the story (4th weekend in July, I think). For the fifth weekend in July, I put it aside and worked on revising Dire (more on that below). Then for the first weekend for August, I picked up Project Wall again and revised it, adding more scenery, context, and character actions. I also refined the dialogue in some spots and changed a couple of the characters names and titles. I tried to find an epigraph to put at the beginning of the story, but the only one I liked came from Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, but with a 1952 copyright, I can’t use it because it isn’t in the public domain. Malcom X had a couple that I liked that weren’t quite what I was looking for, but could work. Shakespeare also had a quote in Hamlet that could fit the bill (that’s definitely in the public domain), but I’ve not yet decided if I want to go with that one or just go without one for this story.

I’m going to leave the title as “Project Wall” for now for the blog, but will reveal the title in another blog post when I: 1) submit it to its first publisher and 2) do an Author’s Note blog post where I talk more about the genesis of the story and give a bit of the context for the story (both will coincide with each other).

Learning More About My Writing Process (July 2025 Edition)

Yep! I now know that Saturdays are my “creative” days. I haven’t missed a writing session yet since I moved to Saturday evenings. I’ve (so far) managed to finish one story and revise another in the span of about two months — which is fantastically prolific on my part by the standards of what I have been doing over these years. Now, the big test is whether or not I can keep this up once the demands of a full semester start. This will be a good time to experiment — I know I can be creative and productive on weekends during the summer, but can I continue this throughout the year, or is it only good through summer. August, and especially September and October, will put that to the test.

I didn’t really get a whole lot done on my larger project. Sundays just doesn’t seem to be as conducive to writing, even if it isn’t purely creative in nature, as I struggle to get blog posts done on Sundays, let alone the Short Story Collection that I was working on.

Project Short Story Collection

So, this hasn’t gone well. I’ve not yet been able to get back to the short story collection in any meaningful way. I’m going to try to move this away from Sundays into the Saturday slot once I revise “The Runner.” I think I might make progress then. I’m hopeful that I can perhaps work on two or three stories and then maybe plan out my next short story (either on that Saturday or maybe write on Saturday and plan on Sunday), but I think Sundays are a “bust” for any type of creative writing as it seems like more and more of these blog posts are getting done on Mondays and uploaded on Monday or Tuesday.

Dire and The Runner

Dire: So, this will be a much shorter update, but basically, I went back and revised my werewolf short story, “Dire.” I changed a few things, deleted some things, added in more things (more about their blood and their history). I added in the idea fur curling into dreadlocks, to mimic Black hair for men, and also tried to be more specific about the two important werewolves who have their climatic confrontation at the end of the story. I also renamed a couple of characters. I sent it off to the publisher. I was feeling good about it until I realized that I missed one instance of a character’s old name not being changed to the new name in the first section after I had already submitted it to the publisher. Is this one mistake enough to sink the story’s chances? Who knows, it depends on how forgiving the editor is (although I would have obviously preferred to fix the error — which I did on my end — and send in a new copy, but there was no easy way to have them rescind the old copy even if I sent a new copy, so I’ll just have to let it ride). I should now in approximately 45 days (perhaps sooner), but I’ll hedge my bet and find another publisher who might be interested as “back up.” Anyway, even if the publisher doesn’t take it, the “corrected” version will go out next time, so hopefully I will have only sabotaged the story’s chances for one market (if that). I think the story’s good and the editor does want stories of “gods and monsters,” which does seem to fit the bill of Dire, so we’ll see.

The Runner: So, this one is an “upcoming” project, but I’m hoping to do the same to The Runner as I did to Dire. Revise it and find a new publisher to send it to. I have far fewer things that I feel like need to be changed with this story as I’m pretty happy with it as is (even though it isn’t selling for some reason — although, to be fair, it was a finalist for 2 out of 2 competitions that I entered it in, so I feel like it’s right there, but hopefully I see something in the revision process that pushes it to the next level). Hopefully, I’ll have more to say about this one next month.

Well that’s it for me! Have a great week!

SidneyIn-Progress — CreativeThe Runner (Fantasy — 2023 Revision) (Fantasy Story: 4100 words)Status: (In — looking for a market)Dire (Urban Fantasy — 2024) (Fantasy Short Story: 5100 words)Status: (Out — to a market). Avg. Response time = 45 days (Out for 8 days)Project Wall (Science Fiction –2025) (Science Fiction: 4900 words)Status: (In — looking for a market)PUBLISHED WORKS of Sidney Blaylock, Jr.

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

Read Skin Deep (Science Fiction) for Free at  Aurora Wolf Read Childe Roland (Fantasy) for Free at  Electric Spec Purchase  Unhallowed  (Fantasy short-story: Weird Western) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Independent  (Science Fiction short story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  HawkeMoon  (Fantasy shorty-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or eBookPurchase  Dragonhawk  (Fantasy short-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  WarLight  (Science Fiction short-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Ship of Shadows  (Science Fiction shorty-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Faerie Knight  (Fantasy short-story–Faerie) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or Kindle Space, the Feminist Frontier: Essays on Sex and Gender in Star Trek
Chapter 3 — How Nichelle Nichols’ Uhura Inspired the African American Female Character in Science Fiction 
Status: Published! Out NOW @ Amazon.com (Please consider a purchase to support the authors!)

The Dark Tower (2017) Movie Review

Image Source: https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/8/3/16088340/dark-tower-movie-review-actually-good

Did I like this movie?

I must be a contrarian because, yes, I did actually like this movie.

Go figure, the “internet” likes Twisters (2024), but I didn’t. This time the “internet” doesn’t like this movie all that much, but I did. I think this movie isn’t well liked because it isn’t a faithful adaptation of the source material. It makes a LOT of changes to Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. Some are good and some are bad, but on the whole, this movie’s “heart” seems to be in the right place (even if it isn’t a true representation of King’s work).

The Good

I think that the movie’s script, while not actually “good,” is still “good enough.” I say good enough because you have to understand that this isn’t actually a Dark Tower movie even though that’s the title of the movie. Actually, this a Young Adult (YA) movie rather than a Dark Tower movie. In Gunslinger, Stephen King’s first work in the Dark Tower series, there’s a young man named Jake Chambers who is a part of the story. Now, Jake is a part of the story but not in the same way as he is portrayed in the movie — in the book, Jake is “cast aside” so that Roland can continue on the path to the Tower. In many ways, this action is the key action of the first book to show Roland’s “ruthlessness” in his quest to reach the Tower . The movie changes this and moves Roland from the main character to a supporting character. The movie substitutes Jake as the main character. While not officially explained or referenced, Jake’s visions make him appear to be eccentric or on the spectrum. For some reason, this change in the story AND character worked for me. I thought that it was plausible and that making this a YA movie in which the main character felt out of place told a compelling story of someone on the spectrum finding their place in the world.

The Bad

Normally, I really like adaptations to be “authentic” to the source material. However, I don’t necessarily see the changes made as “bad,” but the changes did have negative aspect — confusion over what the story trying to accomplish. The Tower is depicted as the lynchpin of keeping enemies from outside the universe from getting into the universe. Essentially, the Tower is a “shielding” mechanism, keeping the universe safe from the outside enemies . However, the film doesn’t describe what the Tower is or how it accomplishes its mission. It doesn’t give the reason Man in Black, the ultimate bad guy of the movie, wants to do this (outside of just wanting to cause chaos, mayhem, death). A lot of the plot is this way — things just happen and there is little to no explanation as to WHY it happens or what the ramifications are. For example, Jake has high psychic abilities, “shine,” but outside of showing telepathic exchanges and energy discharges at the Tower when Jake is captured, shine isn’t explained or explored in any real detail.

The Beautiful

I think what makes the movie work for me is that it makes Roland a supporting character, but Roland is Idris Elba. I can’t remember if Roland is a white man inside King’s story, but I do know that the cover of the edition that I have has a Gunslinger prototype based on a young Clint Eastwood type, in body, if not in face. I think Idris has the correct amount of world weariness and laconic dialogue delivery. His great conflict is that he wants revenge on the Man in Black, when the bigger goal should be to save the Tower (and Jake). The story could have easily followed the book and cast Jake aside, but by not being willing to do so, the story completes the YA theme quite nicely.

I think, too, that the 94 minute runtime was perfect for this type of movie. It would horrible for a Dark Tower movie (as my dissatisfaction with things not being explained or explored makes clear), but for a YA movie, this does just what I want it to do: set up the teen’s problem (Jake’s), give him a way of solving it (belief in Roland as a Gunslinger and not as a revenge filled drifter), and both Roland and Jake coming together to deal with The Man in Black and save the Tower.

Rating

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I would give this movie a solid B (80-85). This was a bad Dark Tower movie, but as I’ve argued above, this isn’t really a Dark Tower movie. This was a Young Adult movie that features the world of, and the setting of, the Dark Tower story from King’s work. I know that it isn’t the current fashion to like non-authentic representations of adaptations these days, but I found the story to be a fun one, a short one, and one that took enough of what I liked about the Dark Tower story and world and turned it into a fun movie that I enjoyed watching!

SidneyIn-Progress — CreativeThe Runner (2023 Revision) (Fantasy Story: 4100 words)Status: (In — looking for a market)Dire (Summer 2025 Revision) (Fantasy Short Story: 5400 words)Status: (Out — under consideration by a publisher)Project Wall (Science Fiction Short Story)PUBLISHED WORKS of Sidney Blaylock, Jr.

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

Read Skin Deep (Science Fiction) for Free at  Aurora Wolf Read Childe Roland (Fantasy) for Free at  Electric Spec Purchase  Unhallowed  (Fantasy short-story: Weird Western) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Independent  (Science Fiction short story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  HawkeMoon  (Fantasy shorty-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or eBookPurchase  Dragonhawk  (Fantasy short-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  WarLight  (Science Fiction short-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Ship of Shadows  (Science Fiction shorty-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Faerie Knight  (Fantasy short-story–Faerie) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or Kindle Space, the Feminist Frontier: Essays on Sex and Gender in Star Trek
Chapter 3 — How Nichelle Nichols’ Uhura Inspired the African American Female Character in Science Fiction 
Status: Published! Out NOW @ Amazon.com (Please consider a purchase to support the authors!)

Twisters (2024) Movie Review

Image Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12584954/

Did I like this movie?

No, not really.

Being more verbose about it, well, it’s complicated. There were aspects of the movie that I liked but there were more aspects that I didn’t like. There were places where I thought the movie did plot and character very well (if overdone in places — people became caricatures or stereotypes far more often than I would have liked), but there were other places where I found the story and characters derivative, almost to the point of tropes/trope status.

The Good

To be fair, I have to admit that the actors did a wonderful job in their roles. I didn’t really have any issues with the actors. This seems to be a modern issue with films — the actors do a great job with the material that they are given. The problem is the material and/or director’s /editor’s choices (or, less charitably, studio involvement/interference). As a writer on the outside looking in, it is really easy to second guess the choices made in the film, but when I find myself constantly praising the actors, but not the movie as a whole, Hollywood should probably take notice, especially when low Box Office numbers continue to follow new releases (although it seems the Summer of 2025 might be the first to shake off the Box Office doldrums, but I digress, I’m talking about a 2024 movie here).

The Bad

The script. Usually, here I note how nonsensical the script is in terms of plot (or characterization), but not so. Here, the script is one-note, as in I’ve seen this story before already, multiple times. Girl has some sort of issue and runs away from that life, one guy tries to get her back to old self, a “new guy” comes to town, the two guys vie for her affection, one guy is nerdy and a friend, but has “shady” dealings/past. The other guy is wild and kooky and fun (wow, I wonder who she’s going to pick for her love interest — it’s such a mystery . She’s going to get told that she needs to get back on that “bucking bronco” before she loses herself (and/or her gift). True story, in this movie the main character is told she needs to get back on that metaphorical “bronco” before she loses herself (or lines to that effect) by the wild and kooky (and fun) love interest. She then gets back to doing what she loves.

And at the end of the movie, the nerdy friend has to tell the suddenly to “go get the girl.” (I so wish WordPress had a TRUE spoilers tag).

I hate to be that guy, complaining about having seen this before, but it’s true. I’ve seen it in Shadow and Bone (Netflix), Tomb Raider video game (Shadow of the Tomb Raider), I’ve seen it in Horizon Forbidden West (elements), and I’ve seen it in Hunger Games (again, elements). I could probably continue if I racked my brain (elements in The Battle of Five Armies), but at this point I have to argue that this is beyond “Plot Points” and has moved into the formulaic.

The Ugly

But beyond that, I don’t like how this one really tries to push me away as an audience member. In Twister, Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt pull me into the story and make me want to care, even thought I’m not a tornado hunter and hope never to be one. However, the “idea” of being a Tornado Chaser is something that the movie clearly has a LOVE for, where Twisters seems to actively hate the storms and make them out to be monsters (yes, there was an element of that in the original movie, but based on love and grief). This one (again, uncharitably) wants to monsterize the storms (the beginning and ending tornados), the people (greedy corporations want to take good ideals and turn them into exploitation), the characters (only rebels — YouTubers and their followers are the “good” guys, mavericks without a cause). This movie is trying so hard to be Top Gun Twisters: Maverick so hard that it can’t even allow it’s main actor to do anything other than take the Tom Cruise role from the other movie, YouTuber it a bit, and bing, bang, boom, “Bob’s your uncle, we print money!” .

From a (current as of this blog post), a 6.5/10 and a Google rating of 3.5, audiences seemed to like this okay. I did not. This one seemed to actively push me away and say, “hey, we’re only looking for the Country Music YouTuber Millenial and Gen Z crowd. Everyone else, need not apply.”

Unfortunately, I can’t help but think of the line from Twister said by both Jo and Bill “Cow. Another Cow.” “Actually, I think that was the same one.” I’m sure the studio was thinking “cash cow” or “franchise,” but I didn’t really get on with this movie despite the good work from the actors.

Star Rating

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

If I had to score this, I would give it a C- (D+ if I investigated all the Top Gun Maverick”isms” that the movie tries to reference.) It was competently made, but much like Alien Romulus, “franchise” over “story” is NOT a recipe for success in my book. Add in the fact that this “story” is beginning to veer into the formulaic, and I just can’t say that it was as good as I thought it would be based on the hype/or hoped it would be based on the movie that it was supposed to be a sequel/reboot to. The original is FAR superior to this one AND has the added benefit of actually inviting me in to be a part of the experience instead of pushing me away and marginalizing me off to the side.

SidneyIn-Progress — CreativeThe Runner (2023 Revision) (Fantasy Story: 4100 words)Status: (In — looking for a market)Dire (Summer 2025 Revision) (Fantasy Short Story: 5400 words)Status: (Out — under consideration by a publisher)Project Wall (Science Fiction Short Story)PUBLISHED WORKS of Sidney Blaylock, Jr.

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

Read Skin Deep (Science Fiction) for Free at  Aurora Wolf Read Childe Roland (Fantasy) for Free at  Electric Spec Purchase  Unhallowed  (Fantasy short-story: Weird Western) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Independent  (Science Fiction short story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  HawkeMoon  (Fantasy shorty-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or eBookPurchase  Dragonhawk  (Fantasy short-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  WarLight  (Science Fiction short-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Ship of Shadows  (Science Fiction shorty-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Faerie Knight  (Fantasy short-story–Faerie) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or Kindle Space, the Feminist Frontier: Essays on Sex and Gender in Star Trek
Chapter 3 — How Nichelle Nichols’ Uhura Inspired the African American Female Character in Science Fiction 
Status: Published! Out NOW @ Amazon.com (Please consider a purchase to support the authors!)

Wheel of Time — Season 3 Review and Show Postmortem

Image Source: https://decider.com/2025/03/11/the-wheel-of-time-season-3-prime-video-review/

So, let’s go ahead and establish something right from the beginning: I’m NOT a Wheel of Time (The Show) “hater.” If you’ve come to the blog to hear me slag off the series, then you’ll probably won’t to move along. This isn’t the post you’re looking for (to steal from Star Wars: A New Hope).

A (quick) Defense of the Show

A quick defense of this post (and the show): one of the (many) reasons that I stopped blogging on regular basis was that I saw the numbers on what my post did on disliking Shaun of the Dead. While not my most popular post (my posts on the “Working Draft” and various ways that I draft are shockingly my most popular posts, with old series where I noticed “little known” actors a close second), the Shaun of the Dead post did ENORMOUS numbers for about 3 months straight. That really unnerved me because it was such a massive boost in such a short time, so the temptation was there to go really negative for the “numbers.” As any YouTuber will tell you, “hate generates clicks” as does controversy.

There is a cottage industry of YouTubers (among others on social media) who have fallen into that trap, especially for Wheel of Time (the show). They are almost too numerous to mention: Daniel Greene, Disparu, Sword and Pen Reflections, and Bookborn come to mind. Luckily, there were other reactors who watched the show and had a more appropriate touch, some more critical than others, but all seemed to actively watch the show . . . as a show, for its good and bad elements, not as something to actively hate on for views/clicks: Tori Talks with Dr. S., Unraveling the Pattern, JK Reacts, and Nerdly Nightly come to mind, in addition to several other channels that feature African American reactors or smaller, less visible channels. If you must watch reactions, I urge you to move away from the toxic channels to the more balanced channels that I’ve linked above. They are not all praise and offer their fair share of criticism, but at least they seem to enjoy the content that they are watching and reacting to, rather than (as one TEDTalk participant once put it) “creating a dystopia just to make people click.”

Season 3

Absolutely loved it! Was it perfect? Absolutely not! I didn’t care for the characterization of Elayne’s brothers, for example, at all. It was the single, sour, clanging note of dissonance from the season for me. Do I understand WHY the changes were made? Yes, but I felt like they should have been done slightly differently than was presented. Don’t get me wrong–I liked the actors and felt that they did a good job in portraying the characters as presented, but the characters were not only wrong from the by the way the show had set up Morgase and Elaida. Both were absolutely ruthless and there’s no way, sons or not, that both brothers would have been allowed to have been a foppish as they were portrayed under two such powerful and utterly ruthless women, monarchs, and Aes Sedai.

Characters

I thought that this season, the characterization, which was mostly on point, but sometimes off in places, really hit its stride. Most of the character, outside of Elayne’s brothers, really hit their stride in this season. All the characters, when together, felt like friends, and when apart, seemed like fully realized versions of themselves.

Joshua Stadowski as Rand al Thor was a standout for me this season. I really liked the way Joshua inhabited multiple versions of his line in the Rhuidean storyline. Priyanka Bose as Alanna Sedai was also really cool as her character got to experience a strong character arc. Kate Fleetwood as Liandrin was pretty amazing as we got to see her character arc and Shohreh Aghdashloo (who was amazing as Chrisjen Avasarala from The Expanse). Marcus Rutherford as Perrin was amazing this season and I love how they brought in Falcon/Faile with Isabella Bucceri. There are two songs in the show, Sing of Manetheren (Season 1) and it makes a return in Season 3 with Perrin singing it in preparation for the Two Rivers battle. The Hills of Tanchico (Season 3) was appropriately bawdy, but very much in keeping with the characters and how they needed to deflect suspicion of Elayne’s heritage in their undercover search for Liandrin. And speaking of Elayne, Ceara Coveney does a wonderful job in bringing Elayne’s character to life. Yes, again, she’s different from her book character, but there’s still much more of her that’s close to the book characterization AND the changes that were made for the show make sense based on who her mother is and how her mother is portrayed (Elayne both rebels against Morgase but also is very committed to the Lion Throne. Almost forgot Matt, Lanfear, and of course, Moiraine

Storylines

While I can’t go into too much detail here because of spoilers, I really felt that this season shone in that it set up many of the storylines from the book, both in the book as well as in the show. I like how they brought many of the narratives from books 4, 5, and 6 in season 3. There are lots of things that they had to cut out, but I really enjoyed what they included.

I think the Forsaken plot line was awesome as was the Rhuidien. The Three-Fold Land was very well done as well as getting to Tanchico. I think what I really enjoyed was seeing much more of the book and the book’s world come to life. Unfortunately, the series had to a LOT of character building and world building in the first two seasons. The fact that there were MAJOR issues during these first two years, such as Covid and one of the major stars not returning once lockdown had been lifted, really hurt the ability of the show to be a more faithful adaptation of the books, especially in that “rocky” first season.

If the Show Was So Good, Why Is It Cancelled?

There are a LOT of reasons; I don’t think any one thing “killed” the show, especially as Season 3 was so good. Season 3 was widely hailed, even amongst its most harshest critics (warning: SPOILERS), that it was the best season of the show to date. While I have read up and could potentially source the much of the following information, I’m low on time, so I’ll just link a generic search of why The Wheel of Time was cancelled, and you can follow up on your own if you so choose.

Money: Fantasy (and Science Fiction) shows are EXPENSIVE. When you consider costuming, actor salaries (ensemble show with multiple characters), CGI, in addition to the normal production budget, its easy to cut the “Speculative Fiction” shows when money gets tight.

New “Regime”: From my understanding, a new set of upper level executives also came in and when that happens, shows under the old regime are often first to go if they don’t fit with the new regime’s priorities.

Identity Politics: Let’s be honest, there’s a LOT that the show creator changed. While I would argue that most of the changes are for the better, there are a LOT of disgruntled fans who only want to see ONE version of society that fits their vision of what society should be. Take Perrin, for instance. Marcus Rutherford’s Perrin IS Perrin, a gentle giant who struggles with violence and its effects. The fact that Perrin in the books is Caucasian shouldn’t matter — but for some it does. The fact that Perrin didn’t have a wife in the books shouldn’t matter — but for some it does. The show needed a VISUAL CUE that Perrin struggles with violence and its effects and would probably follow the Way of the Leaf if the Pattern allowed — and adding in wife and the effects of what happens to her in Season 1, Episode 1 does EXACTLY the same thing that Perrin’s ambivalence in the book accomplishes. That Perrin in the book is a white young man doesn’t mean that Rutherford’s Perrin can’t display the same ambivalence, the same self-revulsion, the conflict towards his outward wolf-like appearance and inner gentle giant tendencies as Jordan’s “version” of Perrin, but because some seem to not want anyone but their own group to be portrayed in stories, we have the sturm und drang of the YouTubers (and other “keyboard warriors”).

Rings of Power: Finally, Amazon already has a fantasy show in Rings of Power. From my understanding, it is one of the most expensive shows out there AND from what I understand, it also has a guaranteed five (5) season run. So, if you have two expensive shows and one’s got to go (or one’s up for renewal and is on the chopping block) . . .

Ratings: Oops! This really is the final reason. Ratings. It always comes down to ratings. Ratings are not nearly as transparent through streaming as they are through regular/broadcast TV, but supposedly, the ratings weren’t the greatest. I was, unfortunately, knee deep in trying to get through all of Star Trek Discovery, a show that I’d only seen bits and pieces of when Paramount put the first season on CBS several years ago. Now that summer has come around, I finally had a chance to catch up with Season 3 of Wheel of Time and was blown away! My favorite season bar none!

Rating

Season 3 (4.75 Stars/5 Stars)

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Show as a Whole (4/5 Stars)

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I really think, like most people who watched the show who weren’t “hate watching” it like the YouTubers and keyboard warriors that mentioned earlier, that the show found its footing in Season 3 and really should have been given 5 seasons (with the understanding that the show would end at Season 5 unless the Ratings numbers REALLY exploded). This would have given the show’s creator and the actors time to created something truly magical and maybe even would have made Amazon Prime TV a destination place, like AppleTV, Netflix, and other streaming services are working towards, where Amazon seems to want to relegate itself to an also-ran service that can’t capitalize on the power and creativity of their talent.

Have a great week — and go watch some Wheel of Time (especially, Season 3 if you’ve not yet seen it, or watch it all over again, or for the very first time!)

SidneyIn-Progress — CreativeThe Runner (2023 Revision) (Fantasy Story: 4100 words)Status: (In — looking for a market)Dire (2024) (Fantasy Short Story: 4900 words)Status: (In — looking for a market)Project Wall (Science Fiction Short Story)PUBLISHED WORKS of Sidney Blaylock, Jr.

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

Read Skin Deep (Science Fiction) for Free at  Aurora Wolf Read Childe Roland (Fantasy) for Free at  Electric Spec Purchase  Unhallowed  (Fantasy short-story: Weird Western) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Independent  (Science Fiction short story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  HawkeMoon  (Fantasy shorty-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or eBookPurchase  Dragonhawk  (Fantasy short-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  WarLight  (Science Fiction short-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Ship of Shadows  (Science Fiction shorty-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Faerie Knight  (Fantasy short-story–Faerie) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or Kindle Space, the Feminist Frontier: Essays on Sex and Gender in Star Trek
Chapter 3 — How Nichelle Nichols’ Uhura Inspired the African American Female Character in Science Fiction 
Status: Published! Out NOW @ Amazon.com (Please consider a purchase to support the authors!)

July 2025 Writing Update

Image Source: https://news.mit.edu/2023/mit-best-kept-secret-writers-group-1010

Hi Everyone,

I’ll keep this short and sweet. I know I’ve not blogged in a while or consistently in the past couple of years and there are reasons, but I don’t need to go into that right now. Today, I just want to talk about my writing journey over the past month for June 2025. I’ll hopefully get back to a more regular blogging schedule in the near future, but we’ll see.

Short Story — Project Wall

In June (and in May as well), I began to work “seriously” on Project Wall. I put seriously in quotes because I’ve been working on it for the past two years, but I have several “zero” and “rough” drafts — some partial and some complete — of the story but haven’t really figured out a “starting point” that I liked. I had the scene that I wanted but I kept trying to start the scene in the wrong place. The scene was to start in media res (in the middle of things) so as to grab the readers attention. However, this starting point didn’t work with the character and the characterization that I wanted to establish. For this draft, however, I backed up just a bit and had the main character have a frustrating and unsuccessful conversation with someone who ultimately decided not to help her, meaning that the main character would have to do the action of the story by herself (which she promptly does and is the “inciting incident” of the story). I feel that I needed this early scene to show the main character’s characterization, something that I couldn’t achieve with the action scene (no matter that it was cool as heck) alone. I feel good about the draft. I’m deep into Section 2 (aka “The Middle”) of the story and feel like it is progressing nicely. I hope that I can continue the momentum of the story/draft all the way to the end.

Learning More About My Writing Process (June 2025 Edition)

Writing on the weekends works for me. There is something about the end of the week and focusing on my creative endeavors that just works. Even if I have the same amount of time (or more), there is far more “internal friction”to writing (creatively, blogging, etc.) on the weekdays than there is for me on the weekends. The problem is that I do a lot of “housekeeping” on the weekends (from yard work, to movie watching, to cleaning, and playing video games for recreation), so there never seems to be enough time to get every done. For the past few years — since Covid, I prioritized other activities over creative writing, always telling myself that I’d get back to it on the weekdays and then never having the mental energy to do so when the week rolled around, even when I had open evenings/afternoons.

One thing that I’m curious to try about my process is that I think that I have the mental energy for one short project (basically a short story) and one long project (graphic novel, novel — 1st draft, or screenplay). I’m hoping to test this theory out in July if I can find one of my published stories that I can adapt and add onto so as to create a new, longer work. I’m going back to my published stories and trying to think of sequels/other stories that I’ve always wanted to do in the universes with those characters.

Project Short Story Collection

While I try to determine which of my published stories might make a good candidate to expand into a longer work, since I have over ten (10) published stories all over the place in various publications and online venues, I thought it might be good to try to collect those stories and try to publish them in a Short Story Collection. One of the online venues is now offline, meaning the one (1) online story is out of print. At least three (3) other venues that published my print stories have gone out of print and you now can’t get access to three (3) of my stories even if you wanted to, so it feels like this is a good time to attempt a short story collection.

I’m currently going through each of my stories now, putting them into an order that I like and adding a two paragraph “context” section about the stories — where they were originally published, why I wrote them, and interesting sidelights and tidbits about the stories. I’m not sure if there is a market for short story collections from semi-pro writers like myself. I know that the larger authors have them, but I’m not sure if I can find a publisher for my work.

I’ll keep you apprised of the experiment.

Dire and The Runner

Nothing new to report on either of these two projects. Both are “IN” at the moment, meaning I don’t actively have them out to a publisher. Each one has currently racked up double digit rejections so far, not necessarily an indication of quality, but I’ve not received any commentary/comments on them in a while, so I don’t know if they have significant issues that I’m just not aware of or if I’m just in a “slump.” I do have plans (have actually already started) to revise Dire and add in a little more characterization for the main hero, One. However, I’m in such a good groove for Project Wall that I plan to finish that story first and then (as a “break” in between small projects), revise Dire (maybe even change the title), and then find my next small project (short story) to work on during the Fall semester.

Well, that’s all I have time for today. With luck, I will be back to a weekly cadence of these blog posts as the weekend JUST WORKS for me when trying to work on creative endeavors–so, as G.I. Joe used say at the end of most episodes–“Knowing is half the battle!”

Have a great week!

SidneyIn-Progress — CreativeThe Runner (2023 Revision) (Fantasy Story: 4100 words)Status: (In — looking for a market)Dire (2024) (Fantasy Short Story: 4900 words)Status: (In — looking for a market)Project Wall (Science Fiction Short Story)PUBLISHED WORKS of Sidney Blaylock, Jr.

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

Read Skin Deep (Science Fiction) for Free at  Aurora Wolf Read Childe Roland (Fantasy) for Free at  Electric Spec Purchase  Unhallowed  (Fantasy short-story: Weird Western) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Independent  (Science Fiction short story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  HawkeMoon  (Fantasy shorty-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or eBookPurchase  Dragonhawk  (Fantasy short-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  WarLight  (Science Fiction short-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Ship of Shadows  (Science Fiction shorty-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Faerie Knight  (Fantasy short-story–Faerie) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or Kindle Space, the Feminist Frontier: Essays on Sex and Gender in Star Trek
Chapter 3 — How Nichelle Nichols’ Uhura Inspired the African American Female Character in Science Fiction 
Status: Published! Out NOW @ Amazon.com (Please consider a purchase to support the authors!)

Spring Break 2025

Image Source: https://in.pinterest.com/pin/free-vector–705587466642128538/

Hi Everyone!

I’m currently on Spring Break! So this post will be fairly short and will cover a few topics in a small amount of detail rather than going into detail on one specific topic. This has been a very busy semester for me, so I’m trying to balance getting enough rest to finish out the semester strong while doing the things that I need to do in order to catch up from getting behind in the earlier semester. It doesn’t help that our semester essentially started one week earlier than normal and that our Spring Break is 1-2 weeks later than normal but still — Spring Break is finally here and I’m using it as intended — which is 1) a time to get some rest in and 2) time to catch up where possible.

Grading

This is where I’m focused on catching up the most — thanks to the early start of the semester and lots of professorial duties, I’ve had to let grading slide in order to complete the duties. While most of the duties are finished, I still have some duties remaining but my goal is to put a significant amount of time each day into catching up grades for as many of the classes that I’m teaching as possible. There will be essentially one month left when we return, so I’d like to have as much done as possible.

Star Wars Rebels/Reacher, Season 3

This week, I’m devoting myself to watching/catching up on several series (may only be the two in the heading but I’d like to see others if possible). I recently finished Star Wars The Clone Wars Animated Series and I saw where Star Wars Rebels acts as continuation of the SWCW series (of a sorts — different characters but continues the storyline). As the show is short (30 min episodes), I’m watching 1-2 per day. I’m already on Season 2 and will probably make it into Season 3 by the middle of the week. Reacher just started its Season 3 as well and my Season 1 Review of the series has been my top posting of the last two weeks. I’ll probably put out a Season 2 review of the show (spoilers: I liked it) as well as a Season 3 review but there are other posts that I want to get to, so all the hype and hoopla will have probably died down around the show by the time I get to it.

Creative Writing and Academic Writing

So, finally, to round this week out, I’d like to complete two pieces of writing. First, I’d like to complete the “Working Draft” of Project Bear. The Baen Fantasy Adventure Award’s deadline of April 30th is coming up fast. Last year, it came up on me too fast, and even though I was able to finish and submit Dire before the deadline, somehow my story got missed and I never received a response from the contest. I knew it didn’t win when I didn’t receive an email letting me know that I was one of the finalists, but they usually send out rejection notices (or at least they did with my first submission — The Runner), but I didn’t get one and had to assume that the rejection email either hadn’t been sent out or that my story had been missed by the contest editors. This time, I’d like to have my submission in just before or just after Easter (or have it in by that Sunday before the deadline — by 2 or 3 days at the latest). This way, I can be sure that my submission can be seen and considered for the contest (which, if I’m honest, I have no real way of knowing if they actually saw my submission or not which is a real bummer as I worked hard to get that story in before the deadline. I even used it to show my English 255 Creative Writing class that one should always try to meet the deadlines when submitting their work). So unfortunate — I’d like to avoid a repeat of this, if possible. Also, even though I turned in my chapter for a scholarly anthology, it was right after (two weeks) I had to do a Three Year Tenure Portfolio, a TN Philological Association Conference (one week), and present a local Film Festival (two days!) so it wasn’t very well done. I’d like to take this week and revise it and make it better so that any feedback I receive on it from the editors/peer review process will be relevant and useful, so my goal is to work on that as well.

Well, I just wanted to let everyone know why this post is a little late and why it isn’t in the usual format. Next week, I’ll be back to the regularly scheduled content but I’m going to take it as easy as possible this week! Hope you have a good week!

SidneyIn-Progress — CreativeThe Runner (2023 Revision) (Fantasy Story: 4100 words: 21 Submissions)Status:  Out  (In — looking for a market)Dire (2024) (Fantasy Short Story: 4900 words: 6 Submissions)Status: Out (Out to Publisher)Project Bear (2025)Completed. 1st Draft (Rough Draft) In-Progress. 2nd Draft (“Working” Draft)In-Progress — Scholarly Chapter 3 — How Nichelle Nichols’ Uhura Inspired the African American Female Character in Science Fiction 
Space, the Feminist Frontier: Essays on Sex and Gender in Star Trek
Status: Published! Out NOW @ Amazon.com (Please consider a purchase to support the authors!)Unnamed Book Chapter
Status:  In-Progress PUBLISHED WORKS of Sidney Blaylock, Jr.

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

Read Skin Deep (Science Fiction) for Free at  Aurora Wolf Read Childe Roland (Fantasy) for Free at  Electric Spec Purchase  Unhallowed  (Fantasy short-story: Weird Western) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Independent  (Science Fiction short story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  HawkeMoon  (Fantasy shorty-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or eBookPurchase  Dragonhawk  (Fantasy short-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  WarLight  (Science Fiction short-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Ship of Shadows  (Science Fiction shorty-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Faerie Knight  (Fantasy short-story–Faerie) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or Kindle

On My Bookshelf: Ni No Kuni 2 (PlayStation 4 Video Game)

Image Source: https://gamerant.com/ni-no-kuni-2-best-higgledy-abilities/

So, this week, my blog post is going to be a bit niche’. Video game posts on the blog don’t really do all that well but I’m not doing this for the “algorithm” (actually, there is NO algorithm working on WordPress but there are views and metrics — and it is ALL TOO EASY get caught up in the cycle of “chasing the views” which is the same issue with YouTube’s infamous “algorithm”). Ni No Kuni 2 is a niche’ video game title in that it is a Japanese Role Playing Game (JRPG) and that itself is niche’ that used to be super popular in the 90s but has ebbed and flowed in the intervening years, though that genre has been on a resurgence for the past 8-10 years as they modernize and add in new core systems. I never used to play JRPGs in my childhood (although I did play Western RPGs like Knights of Legend, The Bard’s Tale and The Bard’s Tale II, and the AD&D “Gold Box” Games). A quick observation–JRPGs have taken over another of my gaming genres — the Fighting Game. Unfortunately, games like Street Fighter 6 and other fighters are currently trying to parcel out game characters — you get a base number (fairly low usually) — and then you get more coming out during the intervening years. I think I’m done with fighting games until the newest one ships in a series comes out — so that I can get ALL the characters in an “ultimate” edition of the older game or something similar. Street Fighter 5 did this and I regret jumping in at the beginning. JRPGs come in with well over 50-80 hours of content and can climb higher if you do everything (or most everything) in the game.

Ni No Kuni 2

Ni No Kuni 2 (NNK2) is a sequel to the first game, Ni No Kuni. While I have the game, I never played it as the storyline features a storyline that too closely mimicked events that were happening during the 2013s when my grandmother passed away. I knew the storyline would be too painful to play during my own grieving process but hoped that I’d get to it eventually as it featured animation artwork from Studio Ghibli. While I never got back to it (although I still have it), I did try NNK2. I got past the introduction to where the game first opened up into its “open world” design but found another game more compelling at the time (Gravel — a racing game on the PS4?). I put it down, fully meaning to get back to it, but just now was able to do so just before Christmas 2024 while looking for something else to play after finishing Far Cry 6 (more on that in a future blog post hopefully). The storyline is NOT a continuation of the first game and this also helped me to get into game.

Finished the Game

I finished the game on Saturday (the main campaign’s storyline). I enjoyed the storyline and managed to finish the game well under the Level 100 level cap for the game (early to mid-70s). I think that this is a great “beginner’s” RPG (although I think “beginner” in this case is relative). It is a strong JRPG in terms of systems, featuring an “active time battle system” in which the combat is real-time and the player controls the action. There are NO turns to slow the down the combat. The storyline is simplistic — much like a Saturday morning cartoon from the 80s or early 90s before Saturday morning cartoons went away. The storyline is satisfying to children and potentially adults but won’t be to those looking for a more edgy storyline (for instance those interested in The Fast and the Furious or Elden Ring. I enjoyed this one, but not as much as the other JRPGs/Action Games that I’ve finished recently (such as Tales of Arise, Dragon Quest XI, Scarlet Nexus, and Nier Automata).

Platinum Trophy Clean-Up Run

So, I’m currently heading into Spring Break next week. While I’m behind on grading and will be using some of that time to trying to finish/accomplish the developer’s challenges for the game so that I can get a piece of virtual bling: the Platinum Trophy for the game. I’ve covered this in a previous blog post a while back but the short version: as you’re playing the game, if you achieve certain developer set goals, you can get a “trophy” for it. Playstation uses a Bronze, Silver, and Gold system. If you get ALL the trophies (do all of the challenges), then the developers award you ONE extra trophy — the Platinum Trophy. It’s just a bit of virtual “bling” that sits in your profile and lets others know that you did EVERYTHING that the developers asked you to do, not just that you FINISHED the game/made it to the end (this is usually one of the challenges in some way and is usually worth a Gold trophy) . Usually, these challenges are wacky/crazy or are more straightforward. I like JRPGs because most of the time they require you to see the game through (something that I’ve discussed before — MOST people don’t finish games — many don’t even make it halfway through before getting bored and moving on to the next game — based on anecdotal Trophy Percentage data). So far, I’ve put in over 100 hours in the game (110s?) and I’ve completed 67% of the trophies. I feel like I’m quite close to two more trophies (so I should be at over 70% by next weekend). I’m hopeful that I can finish up the final trophies over Spring Break and start a new game for April. As I’ve been playing NNK2 since Dec. 18th 2024 (or even earlier — let’s just say December 2024), I definitely would like to start tackling a new game that is on my (ever growing) backlog of games that I’ve acquired but not really had a chance to play.

Well, that’s all I have for today! Have a great week!

SidneyIn-Progress — CreativeThe Runner (2023 Revision) (Fantasy Story: 4100 words: 17 Submissions)Status:  Out  (In — looking for a market)Dire(2024) (Fantasy Short Story: 4900 words: 3 Submissions)Status: Out (Out to Publisher)Completed. 2nd Draft (“Working” Draft) In-ProgressIn-Progress — Scholarly Chapter 3 — How Nichelle Nichols’ Uhura Inspired the African American Female Character in Science Fiction 
Space, the Feminist Frontier: Essays on Sex and Gender in Star Trek
Status: Published! Out NOW @ Amazon.com (Please consider a purchase to support the authors!)Unnamed Book Chapter
Status:  In-Progress PUBLISHED WORKS of Sidney Blaylock, Jr.

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

Read Skin Deep (Science Fiction) for Free at  Aurora Wolf Read Childe Roland (Fantasy) for Free at  Electric Spec Purchase  Unhallowed  (Fantasy short-story: Weird Western) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Independent  (Science Fiction short story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  HawkeMoon  (Fantasy shorty-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or eBookPurchase  Dragonhawk  (Fantasy short-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  WarLight  (Science Fiction short-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Ship of Shadows  (Science Fiction shorty-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Faerie Knight  (Fantasy short-story–Faerie) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or Kindle

2025 Writing Journey

Source: https://quotefancy.com/quote/896767/Ralph-Waldo-Emerson-It-s-not-the-destination-it-s-the-journey

Hi Everyone!

Sorry that I’ve been away — these past few years have been very hectic as I try to adjust to my new role as an Assistant Professor, duties, finishing the dissertation and the like. I tried to re-launch the blog several months ago but didn’t have much success. One thing that I’ve discovered on my writing journey is that I’m not strong at assembling blog posts in a “piecemeal” fashion. My goal was to put these posts together section by section throughout the week and release the finished post on the weekends before I left for home. However, I just don’t write that way — I tend to follow themes and ideas. I guess that’s why I’m such a slow writer — I can’t bounce from project to project (or idea to idea) like most writers can. The same is true for these blog posts — it would have helped if I could have done that, but since I can’t, I’ll just do it the old fashioned way (or the way that works for me).

2025 Writing Journey

In that vein, I haven’t published anything in about three (3) years. Not for a want of trying, I keep submitting The Runner and Dire and they both seem to get close (they either get to the finalist stage for contests that I send them out for — The Runner is 2/3 as a Finalist Contender for the three contests that I’ve sent it to and Dire was out for a while at two publishers that it seemed to be in the running for based on how many rejections happened early for those publishers — checking rejection on Duotrope), but neither seem to be able to seal the deal.

I was working on Project Captain and got 2/3 sections done (and have a pretty clear outline for Section 3). However, as I noted in my last blog, my writing time clashed with my TV series/movie watching time and with the proliferation of movies and TV, I was starting to fall behind on “keeping up” and starting to lose series (I actually already have but that’s a blog post for a different day). I decided to go back to a “back to basics” approach for my writing — what worked previously. My first publication was a rough draft written(The Ghost and the Shadow) in the Spring for a Creative Writing class at U.T. Knoxville. I was happy enough with it and it earned an A- as a score for the class. However, during the summer, I rewrote it from scratch and made it more of what I envisioned for the draft (or in my terms, I wrote a rough draft then a “working draft”). I edited it and sent it out and it became my first published short story (my Scream-Team comics were my first “professional” publication and beat out The Ghost and the Shadow (the short story) by about 3-4 months.

I’ve decided that I’m far too busy to try to “write” during the Fall/Spring semesters (except for maybe 1 project — more on this in a moment). So, I’m now working on writing Pre-Writing, Outlines, and Rough Drafts during the school year. I’m just working on taking the ideas that I have in folders and notebooks and fleshing out the ideas, then I’m working on Story Maps that will help me lay out the story, then Character Sketches, and finally a Rough Draft that is simply a Beginning, Middle, and Ending. Just enough to “tell myself the story.” I’m going to save the actual “story” writing for the summer. I hope that, even while teaching a summer course, I’ll still have enough time/energy to create the working draft. I’m trying to find what works for me in this new paradigm of teaching/grading four classes per semester (which is draining to say the least).

Contests (Sci-Fi in the Fall and Fantasy in the Spring)

My only exceptions to this is that there are two contests each year that I want to target. Parsec offers two contests per year (a themed Science Fiction one and a themed Fantasy one). Baen Books offers an “open” Fantasy Contest in the Spring each year. I would like to write at least 1 Sci-Fi story in the Fall and 1 Fantasy story in the Fall. My goal would be to always have a fantasy story for Baen and a Sci-Fi story for Parsec (when the story matches the theme). This is what I’m working on right now — Project Bear has all of its pre-writing done and I have beginning for my rough draft. I need to work on my middle and ending. I had hoped that I would have it ready by my Spring Break (the last week of March), but that is looking less likely as time goes on. The deadline for Baen Fantasy Adventure Award is April 30th, so that’s what I’m aiming for (coincidentally, that’s also our last day of classes, so it’s an easy deadline to fix in my mind.

My ultimate goal is to have Project Bear ready for submission by this date, so I’m writing this blog to help myself to lock this date in and commit to it so I’ll report on whether or not I make the deadline.

I’d love to talk more, but I have a film to co-host with my colleague at 6pm and it is already just after 5pm now, so I guess its time for a quick dinner and then back out to campus. I just wanted to make sure that I got a blog post out since I have decided that I want to add blogging back into my repertoire.

Have a great day!

SidneyIn-Progress — CreativeThe Runner (2023 Revision) (Fantasy Story: 4100 words: 17 Submissions)Status:  Out  (In — looking for a market)Dire (2024) (Fantasy Short Story: 4900 words: 3 Submissions)Status: Out (Out to Publisher)Completed. 2nd Draft (“Working” Draft) In-ProgressIn-Progress — Scholarly Chapter 3 — How Nichelle Nichols’ Uhura Inspired the African American Female Character in Science Fiction
Space, the Feminist Frontier: Essays on Sex and Gender in Star Trek
Status: Published! Out NOW @ Amazon.com (Please consider a purchase to support the authors!)Unnamed Book Chapter
Status:  In-Progress PUBLISHED WORKS of Sidney Blaylock, Jr.

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

Read Skin Deep (Science Fiction) for Free at  Aurora Wolf Read Childe Roland (Fantasy) for Free at  Electric Spec Purchase  Unhallowed  (Fantasy short-story: Weird Western) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Independent  (Science Fiction short story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  HawkeMoon  (Fantasy shorty-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or eBookPurchase  Dragonhawk  (Fantasy short-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  WarLight  (Science Fiction short-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Ship of Shadows  (Science Fiction shorty-story) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase  Faerie Knight  (Fantasy short-story–Faerie) on Amazon.com (Paperback) or Kindle

The U.S. Postal Service: The Grinch Who Stole Christmas

Image Source: https://www.thestandalone.com/products/disney-grumpy-bah-humbug-christmas-snow-white-seven-and-the-dwarfs-first-release-pin

Well, this is truly something that I’ve never experienced–the U.S. Postal Service–a service that is supposedly(in theory) deliver items to other recipients once the correct postage has been paid, has FAILED (AS OF THIS WRITING) to deliver two packages that I sent to a friend for Christmas (12/25) and the friend’s birthday. Now look, I get it — it’s the holidays, there are deadlines that have to be met, there are people who have booked (scheduled) time off to be with family and friends, there are people who are overworked trying to maintain a heavy workload of delivering packages/mail in a system where the leaders are trying to “do more with less” as part of their grand plan (scheme) to move the operating budget deficit from negative to positive (even though a government is — by definition — a not for profit entity). While no one wants to see waste and inefficiency, the public good is supposed to outweigh the business person’s zeal for efficiency and profit, something the current leaders of the postal organization seem to be unwilling to grasp.

“But Do You Know, That Old Grinch Was So Smart And So Slick, That He Thought Up A Lie And He Thought It Up Quick”

Yes, I have a package that wasn’t delivered as it should have been and so I am upset. However, I’m upset because, you see, this didn’t have to occur. Every year the post office mails out a mailer that indicates the dates by which you should have your packages in if you’re wanting to make sure that they arrive at your destination in time. See Exhibit A below:

Yearly postal service mailer — Addressed to: POSTAL CUSTOMER, Address, City and State. “See inside for new stamps, ship-by dates, and how USPS is making the holidays easier.”

How are you making my life easier, USPS, when you won’t deliver the packages even when I’ve met your “ship-by dates” deadline? How about sending your mailer with MORE APPROPRIATE LEAD TIMES if you KNOW OR SUSPECT that you CANNOT HANDLE THE VOLUME. However, let me start at the beginning:

I’ve been collecting gifts for my family and friends throughout the year (to avoid issues like this one, but I digress), and I had a rather large item that I found and put aside for a friend. I worried all year about how I was going to ship it and get it to my friend, but thought, well, there were only two options really, USPS and UPS Store. I’ve used them both in the past, but prefer USPS as I’ve never really had any issues with the post office delivering mail (outside of one many years ago when I was an undergraduate student, but that was as much my inexperience with life as an adult as it was the postal service, so I’ll stand up and take the “hit” on that one). So, I inelegantly wrap the larger item in shipping paper (never wrapped anything so large before) and put the rest of the items in a fair sized box, and trundled over to my local USPS office on December 18th, 2024 at 11:06am. The date and time are important, but I expected USPS to not be able to accommodate the size of my one gift and then I would make the 30 minute drive (and spend the next 30 minutes waiting in line) at the UPS Store. However, the postal clerk said that it would be doable (paraphrasing) and cheerfully weighed the two items, accepted my payment, gave me my receipt, and I was on my way, thinking that I had dutifully crossed all my items off the list except for one final one and headed to the mall for a later than I would like mall hunt for last minute gift items because finding what my mother was looking for in terms of a gift proved more challenging than anticipated. However, I returned home that day thinking that I had been successful — O, how wrong I was, dear readers.

 Pooh-Pooh to the Whos! . . . He Was Grinchily Humming

I didn’t know anything was wrong at all. I received a package from my friend and I thought that my package had also been received, but I didn’t check as everything had been automatic up until this year (and everything had gone so smoothly at the post office — there was no mention of any foreseen problems, issues, and I was a day EARLIER than the suggested deadline). However, when I didn’t get an email/text from my friend (as one of the the gifts was “perfect” for my friend’s interests), I started to get worried. A nagging kept tugging at my mind, so on Christmas Day I went on an extended search for my receipt — luckily, I found it amidst the chaos of wrapping paper and other receipts for other gifts and I looked at it and it said: item weight and size, where it was going (inside TN) and what I thought I’d seen at the store and was confirmed by the postal clerk (“EXPECTED DELIVERY DATE SATURDAY 12/21/2024“). A sinking feeling gnawing at my stomach, I typed in the tracking numbers. Both items: Left Postal Facility (12/18/2024, @5pm), on their way to next facility (DECEMBER 22, 2024 — no time associated), Status — Moving Through Network, Arriving Late. The last time that either package had ANY update was on Sunday, December 22, a FULL DAY AFTER THE ITEMS SHOULD HAVE ARRIVED. There have been NO updates since then.

It is now December 27th, 9 days AFTER when I mailed, 8 days since the supposed “deadline” for mailing to have items shipped to addressees by Christmas, and 6 days AFTER when they were supposed to arrive. Even if we are feeling “generous” and give the USPS a 3-5 day window (which they themselves give on their website (NOT ON THE POSTAL MAILER THAT THEY SENT OUT), the packages should have arrived on Tuesday, December 24th (technically, it would be a day earlier, but I’m giving them the “Sunday”).

Here is Exhibit B (from their own “Priority Mail Delivery Map”:

Source: USPS.com Priority Mail Delivery Map

It shows CLEARLY that ALL of TN (except the farthest reaches of the western part of the state) are in the 2 Day Delivery window. Again, it’s the holidays — I would expect an expansion of the time, but NOT TO DELIVER AT ALL?

From the Princess Bride: “Inconceivable!”

That means my friend doesn’t get the Christmas Presents that I carefully cultivated/collected for them all throughout the year AND won’t get the birthday presents (two that I bought in May of 2024 on a day-trip to Atlanta with my mother). How come I can keep up with my gifts for well over 6 months, but the USPS can’t honor their obligations (paid for with acceptable US currency, by the way — money that I worked for) to provide a service that — if the guidelines are followed — results in a successful deliver? The USPS is NOT a “free” government service — it costs actual money. Yes, our taxes subsidize the USPS, but that’s all. I CANNOT recover any of the money that I spent on this service, because you see, there’s only ONE GUARANTEED tier of service (yes, the “highest,” most “expensive” tier — which, might I remind you that I WASN’T EVEN OFFERED because I was WELL WITHIN THE DEADLINE FOR PRIORITY MAIL DELIVERY). Neither myself nor the postal clerk foresaw a problem because (even during the holidays), package and mail delivery (used) to act on a rational system.

Then The Grinch Thought of Something He Hadn’t Before. Maybe Christmas, He Thought… Doesn’t Come From A Store

So, to finish the story (up to the point where we are now), I texted my friend and explained the situation and my friend was cool about it. I really didn’t want to explain what had happened, but in the end, we talked via text for a while and do hope that my friend had a great Christmas. The same is true for my friend’s birthday today — I sent a text and will send another to let them know that I don’t expect that the post office will do anything before the New Year. It is so DISAPPOINTING to do the best that you can, but to have others mess up your plans because they are too busy “running a government institution into the ground.”

I, myself, fumed, but I had my family (mother and step-father) coming over and I didn’t want to ruin their Christmas, so I “tamped down” on my anger, disappointment, and disgust at the way in which this situation went down, resolving that I will NEVER AGAIN use the USPS for ANYTHING that I consider “mission critical.”

I will end on a video game metaphor: I’ve watched Skillup’s review of Fallout 76 quite a bit lately as it sums up my disappointment with “adulting life.” You have people who always seem to “fail upwards” in roles that they shouldn’t be in because they are using the WRONG metrics. The YouTuber flays Bethesda’s leadership on the game title because he believes that money/profit have been put before customers’ wants and needs for a fun and enjoyable game title — and I see the same metric here on a much larger, but no less destructive, scale.

There is NO REASON that there cannot be adequate staffing levels (especially during the holidays). Why does the manager at Lowe’s recognize that he/she/they need to hire MORE workers in the spring because “spring time” is effectively Lowes’ “Christmas” time period? This was mentioned to me when I was looking for a job during my college years and the manager wanted me to check back closer to spring (yes, I did actually eventually did take a job at Waldenbooks instead, but this manager understands what the leadership of the U.S. Postal Service clearly doesn’t — and yes, I’ve worked in retail during the Christmas and Holiday season, so I do “get” it), but I’ve also worked at the Chattanooga Public Library when it’s hours weren’t so generous to the staff as they clearly are now where the library closes at 6pm on open days (my old schedule was: M-Th, 9am – 9pm and Fridays and Saturdays, 9am-6pm — AND during some mayoral administrations Sundays, 2pm-6pm) and there were adequate staffing levels during the holidays — such to the point that I was encouraged NOT to take days off even if I had them during that time period (or being asked to work the dreaded “Split Shift” which was essentially a 12 hour day, but told to go home for 4 hours in the middle of the day and then come back to cover the missing person’s 4 hour all important “night” shift). I hated those — and had one of my three (car accidents) after working one of those for the SECOND time in ONE WEEK (and had an insurance adjuster look at me with shock when I took the blame for the accident and didn’t blame it on my working conditions after I explained the situation to him). Yet, no one (NO ONE) at the Post Office has/will reach out to me to make this situation right. Somewhere, those packages sit, either on a truck or in a distribution warehouse, but either way, it isn’t “on its way,” nor has it been delivered, despite following (and exceeding) the guidelines posted by the agency’s OWN MARKETING DEPARTMENT.

America deserves BETTER than a third rate postal service that can’t even follow its own “marketing” materials. It deserves a BETTER leader of the postal service who understands that a postal office isn’t there to look pretty, be a vanity project, or institute WORSE service simply because it will look good on a resume/C.V. America deserves BETTER oversight of an agency that is responsible for the well being of ALL its citizens, whether that is in the normal operation of the post office, the highly irregular holiday periods, and yes, the critical timeframe of elections and mailed ballots. This agency is responsible for the critical functioning of our nation and this lapse (among anecdotal evidence of other such lapses that I’ve seen) does NOT inspire confidence in me that the U.S. Postal Service is rising to meet the mandates set out by its citizens.

Needless to say, if my friendship survives this horrible gaffe on the part of the U.S. Postal Service, I will simply spend the gas and time (2+ hours — or 4+ round trip) to drive the gifts to my friend next time. It is a shame that, in 2024, the U.S. Postal Service is LESS RELIABLE than it was in the past. I guess, in the current leadership’s eyes, that truly is “progress.”

SidneyCreativeThe Runner (2023 Revision) (Fantasy Story: 4100 words: 17 Submissions)Status:  Out  (In — looking for a market)Dire (2024) (Fantasy Short Story: 4900 words: 3 Submissions)Status: Out (Out to Publisher)Project Captain (2024)(Science Fiction Short Story): 1st Draft (“Vomit” Draft) (4000 words) Completed. 2nd Draft (“Working” Draft) In-ProgressScholarly Chapter 3 — How Nichelle Nichols’ Uhura Inspired the African American Female Character in Science Fiction
Space, the Feminist Frontier: Essays on Sex and Gender in Star Trek
Status: Published! Out NOW @ Amazon.com (Please consider a purchase to support the authors!)Unnamed Book Chapter
Status:  In-Progress