Sidney Blaylock Jr.'s Blog, page 2

October 2024 Thrifting Haul

Image Source: https://www.cincinnatigoodwill.org/4-items-to-look-for-at-goodwill/

Thanks to a computer enthusiast and retro computer gaming channel, I’ve taken up “thrifting” over the past few months. The channel is Lazy Game Reviews (LGR), a channel that has been on Youtube long enough that the channel now goes by its initials rather than the original channel name (a common occurrence once a channel seems to become established enough on the platform — i.e., Marques Brownlee becoming MKBHD (short for Marques Keith Brownlee High Definition)). This channel, LGR, sometimes features videos in which the host visits various Goodwill stores in his local area and points out interesting computer, software, and gadget related products for sale in the stores. As a PC and tech aficionado, the host does a great job at highlighting some of the more interesting finds, but he doesn’t actually buy every product that he points out. At the end of the videos, he does a quick rundown of what he did purchase — a few products that he pointed out are in the “haul,” but a good portion of them are ones that he didn’t necessarily choose to spotlight in the video.

As I have become a professor with one of specialities being film, I noticed that LGR often highlights movies (usually DVDs and VHS tapes) in the Goodwill stores, and I thought this would be a great way to increase my film collection in a fairly economical manner. So, over the past year or so, as I donate items to Goodwill, I’ve taken to going into the store (something I’ve never really done before) and looking over the store. At first, I looked for tech items like LGR did in his videos, but my local Goodwill store isn’t really big on tech items — there are always a few, but nothing like the PCs, monitors, keyboards, or “unique” items that LGR seems to find. I find that I tend to gravitate to two sections: 1) films and 2) books. Most of my purchases have been in those two sections. I thought I’d take a moment and highlight some items from my most recent trip after dropping off some items to the local Goodwill.

Note: LGR was affected by the Hurricane Milton (or Helene) and has sizable damage to his house/Youtube studio. He is okay, but quite obviously, his channel is on temporary hiatus as he works with his insurance and contractors to repair the damage to his house. He did lose a portion of his technology collection in the storm, but he, himself, is okay.

Books

Shadow Moon and Shadow Dawn by Chris Claremont and George Lucas — This is a fantasy series that was in the bookstores in the 1990s. I shelved it quite often during my early years at the library, but after about the mid-2000s, I remember this series sitting on the shelf and did not really circulate. My guess is that it isn’t very good — while I like the authors (Claremont wrote some really popular stories in the 80s and 90s X-Men comics and Lucas was the storyteller behind Star Wars and Willow — which is what this series expands upon), I think that this one is probably average, at best. If I don’t like it, then I feel certain that I’ll just donate them to the Chattanooga Public Library (CPL) for their semi-annual book sale. Hopefully, if they aren’t to my taste, someone will find them to theirs.

Game Day Eats by Eddie Jackson and Red Copper Skillet Cooking by Cathy Mitchell — I’m working on expanding my cooking abilities (especially in the realm of grilling). Anytime I find a book that looks like it will allow me to try/add recipes that are simple and don’t require a lot in the way of ingredients and/or prep time, I will probably take a look. A quick skim through both shows that I’m probably going to like Game-Day Eats, but the jury is still out on Red Copper Skillet Cooking. The neat thing about books is that, if they don’t work, I can donate them to the CPL book sale.

The last two books are an odd pairing, but they are Rimrunners by C.J. Cherryh and Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe. Rimrunners is a science fiction book with a cover that always intrigued me as a teen when I saw it on the shelf at the CPL. I never read it though (which doesn’t bode well for it), but it was there in paperback form so I thought I’d give it a try. Doctor Faustus is one that I might have read already in a college literature class, but as I don’t remember reading it, I thought I might as well pick it up and give it a shot now (again, as an English professor, I should really read all the classics that I’ve never gotten around to so I try to pick up a literature book every time I see one if it is available if I’ve not read it). It has student markings in it on pretty much every page, so the professor who taught it was very thorough. It almost makes me hate to see — not because it marks up the book although that can be very distracting in its own way — but because that’s so much knowledge about the book that’s the student will never ever be able to access again.

*Slight Digression* — Here’s a reason why I’m often down on American culture — this penchant for a “one-and-done” mentality. The class is over, the grade has been earned, so the student sees no more value in the book and gets rid of it. While I’m happy to have it, I would rather whoever took so much time to “annotate” the text would have kept it and referred back to it periodically during their lifetime so as to “refresh” their knowledge — but that’s NOT how Americans tend “to roll.” For context, I’ve kept all my textbooks every since the 2nd year of college and while I don’t get the opportunity to re-read them as I would like, I still have the potential to do so if the need/occasion arises — not something that you can say for the owner of the Doctor Faustus text. */end Slight Digression*

Films/Movies

As I am working on building a film class devoted to Martial Arts (and because the store didn’t have any good Blu-Ray movies that I was interested in or hadn’t seen), I decided to pick up several Martial Arts DVDs that were available.

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li: Surprisingly, enough I’ve not seen this movie. I expect it to be cringe-worthy but I will check it out nevertheless. I do intend to have a Unit devoted to Women in Martial Arts films, but I doubt that this one will make the cut. Right now, Kill Bill (esp. Vol. 1 and maybe Vol. 2) and much less known movie called Furie are the prime ones for that unit. I would like to find two more movies–preferably featuring Michelle Yeoh (I will already show Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon for a different unit). While not nearly as many as there are for male martial artists, there are still some classics to turn (Female led Martial Arts movies) to before Legend of Chun-Li (as I suspect that even a movie like Lady Bloodfight will probably work better for the class than this one), but as I’ve not seen it yet, now is as good of an opportunity as any.

Ong-Bak The Thai Warrior and Ong-Bak 3: The Final Battle: These DVDs are parts 1 and 3 of a trilogy. I’ve seen the entire trilogy and was highly impressed by the action, choreography, and (sometimes) the story. Part 1 has its own story that is complete, while Parts 2 and 3 are interconnected and form a duology of sorts. Parts 2 and 3 have issues from the storytelling perspective, but are enjoyable enough as long as you ignore a central flaw related to the cliffhanger of part 2 and the resolution of the cliffhanger in part 3 (no spoilers). However, I may not have time in the Unit to show and discuss this one (but it is on my first draft of movies — although it might not make the final cut of movies).

SidneyCurrently Working On (As of October 2024)CreativeThe Runner (2023 Revision) (Fantasy Story: 4100 words: 17 Submissions)
Status:  Out  (In — looking for a market)Finalist in the Baen Fantasy Adventure Award ContestFinalist in the LeVar Burton Reads Origins & Encounters Writing ContestDire (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

September 2024 Writing Journey

Image Source: https://www.wiki-calendar.com/september-calendars.html

Hi Everyone!

Apologies that I’m only now getting a chance to “update” everyone on my writing journey for September as it is the middle of the month for October, but I’ve had quite a LOT to do. I’m behind in grading as I’ve taken on a fair few new responsibilities at work and have had an increased amount of meetings that have gone with those new responsibilities (which doesn’t leave a lot of time for writing/feeling like writing when I get back to the apartment). Also, I’m going to split up the “update” into two separate blog posts — a “journey” and a “journal.”

The journey (what you’re reading now) discusses what I’ve done and ACTUALLY got accomplished–while the journal is more aspiration and discusses what I would LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH in the near future. If you’d like to see if I accomplished what I set out to in my “journal,” then please visit me here in my “journey” and you’ll see what managed to get done and what did not.

September Writing — Project Captain Completed!

I FINISHED A STORY! Yay! That calls for a celebration, right? Well not quite — while I did finish a story, it was the “vomit” draft (first draft) of a story that I had been thinking about for a while. It is a science fiction story (this semester is ALL about science fiction for me).

The story that I finished is called Project Captain. I’ve spoken about it on the blog before — see the September Writing Update for more information. Once I’ve gone back and completed the 2nd Draft of the story (“The Working Draft“), I will formally announce the story’s title AND I will do an AUTHOR’S NOTE for the story. The First Draft came in at about 4,000 words (I thought it would be about 3,500 but the last section really seemed to come together). It is 3 sections — beginning, middle, end — but I think the ending is fairly strong and pretty close to what I envisioned. Most of the work, I feel, in the revision process will be done in the first and second sections.

September Publications?

Nope, no publications to speak of for September 2024. I have two stories out to publishers, The Runner and Dire. Both stories haven’t had a response yet, but I’m okay with that — my new philosophy: no news is good news. Of course, the best news would be an acceptance for publication, but quite a few stories for both markets have already been rejected, so for me, I’m just going to assume (hope) that my stories have been “shortlisted” and may find success (maybe not, as one market had almost 1000 submissions during their submission period), but hope springs eternal.

Saturdays = Writing Days

Why am I suddenly more productive than I have been in a while? Well, because I’ve started writing on Saturdays. I usually clean, take care of errands and/or yard work around the house on Saturdays. While I do watch college football from time to time, in general, I’m not a huge fan and don’t watch anywhere near consistently. As such, most of my Saturday is catching up on movies, video games, and other media that I’ve not had the time or ability to watch, play, stream, read, or otherwise get to during the week. Movies are a prime focus for me on Saturdays/Saturday nights.

However, in the past two months or so, I’ve noticed that I’ve been “super” energized and creative right around the time that I would normally watch a movie (after supper). I started writing on Saturdays and it has been highly successful. There have only been 2 Saturdays that I’ve not written since the semester started in August and on BOTH of those Saturdays, I was ill/sick in some way.

I’m finding that I have natural rhythm of about 500 words per writing session. I can go under/over, but I tend to end the session somewhere are around the 500 word mark (about 2 typed double spaced pages). I actually work single spaced, so for me, 500 words looks like anywhere from 2-4 paragraphs of writing (not including dialogue). Eight to ten (8 to 10) of those equals (=) 1 single spaced “page” in my mind (or one completed “section” of the story. Thus, I can generally finish a section (“vomit”) in two “sessions” (or two weeks) and can finish a whole story in about six weeks/six sessions (again, “vomit”). Takeaway the 2 Saturdays (or in this case add them in +2) for illness and this pretty much works out to where we are now (6 + 2 = 8).

The only issue that I’m running into is that I’m often unable to do BOTH as either the movie or the writing will bleed into the time for the other and, as I biologically need to go to bed on Saturdays before 1am, I’m finding that I don’t have time to do a 1 or 2 hour writing session of 500 words AND then have enough time to start a movie that will end at a reasonable time (around 11:30pm/12am). Anything later, and I risk being fatigued on Sunday as my body won’t let me get up any later than my normal 5am/6am wake-up time, no matter how I try to go back to sleep. 5 hours of sleep (or less) just isn’t enough to cut it for me anymore — I need at least 6 hours or more of sleep to feel rested, so I’m losing out on quite a bit of “movie” time now that I’ve gained a more stable (and productive) writing time. This is something I’m going to have to work on going forward.

Where I’m I Going From Here?

Check my next blog post — October Writing Journal. But as a preview: I’ve started my graphic novel journey in earnest and I’m starting the “working draft” of Project Captain.

SidneyCurrently Working On (As of September 2024)CreativeThe Runner (2023 Revision) (Fantasy Story: 4100 words: 17 Submissions)
Status:  Out  (Out to Publisher)Finalist in the Baen Fantasy Adventure Award ContestFinalist in the LeVar Burton Reads Origins & Encounters Writing ContestDire (2024) (Fantasy Short Story: 5100 words: 2 Submissions)
Status: Out (Out to Publisher–Contest–No Response — 125 out of 139 days, story not among finalists),  Out  (Out to Publisher — new publisher).Project Captain (2024)(Science Fiction Short Story): 1st Draft (“Vomit” Draft) (4000 words) Completed. 2nd Draft (“Working” Draft) In-ProgressScholarly How Nichelle Nichols’ Uhura Inspired the African American Female Character in Science Fiction (Chapter 3)
Space, the Feminist Frontier: Essays on Sex and Gender in Star Trek
Status: Published!Unnamed Book Chapter
Status:  In-Progress

Movie ReWatch: Total Recall (4K Edition)

Image Source: https://www.amazon.com/Total-Recall-Anniversary-Blu-ray-Digital/dp/B08HPHL4JB

Total Recall (1990) is a science fiction movie from the 90s that I absolutely enjoy — not as much as other classic science fiction movies of the era (Aliens, Jurassic Park, Independence Day, etc.), but it is a fun romp through the mind of Phillip K. Dick, an author who I’ve not actually read all that much off, but would like to emulate in the manner of having multiple short stories picked up and turned into movies. I’ve not yet done a collection of my stories, but at 10+ published stories, I do have a fair amount that I could turn into a collected volume. I think that might become a summer project for Summer 2025, but I digress — Total Recall is a fun movie with some issues, but overall I enjoyed the experience of rewatching it last weekend.

Classic Arnold

One of the reasons why I like this movie so much is that it is “classic Arnold,” meaning that, even though Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t giving T2 or Conan the Barbarian like performance, there’s still enough energy and verve in the character and performance that makes me want to root for the character of Quaid. It’s almost like his Running Man movies, but an increase in charisma, characterization, and overall performance really make me believe in the movie’s central conceit: he isn’t who he thinks he is. I don’t want to casually spoil the movie (even though it is on the older side), but the way that the filmmakers use the “amnesia” plot line is masterful and really adds to the tension of the story — and, too me, Arnold’s acting sells it. While I like movies like T2 and True Lies better in terms of performance, most of the time I stop seeing Arnold Schwarzenegger and see Quaid in the movie–unlike in some of Arnold’s other movies from the era (looking at you Commando and Eraser).

Great Science Fiction

Another thing that I like about the movie is that there is a great level of science fiction and speculative fiction on display. Having the movie set on Earth and Mars was awesome to me when I originally saw the movie as a teenager/college age person. While some of the visions of the cars, outfits, and other ideas (like passenger space travel to other planets) hasn’t come through yet, you can still see elements of commentary about current American society in the 90s reflected in the setting and themes of the movie. While its take on “self-driving taxis” isn’t a reality, it does at least hint at the Waymo and other automated vehicle as taxi idea. The same is true tracking and surveillance and similar technologies. While many public places now rely on metal detectors, I’ve always thought that weapon detection system, such as the one implemented in the movie, would be highly effective AND would sidestep the issue of “privacy” (simple skeletons on a background is much less “creepy” that our current machines that peer beneath clothing, but the goal of both — preventing unauthorized weapons in public places — is still maintained).

Image Source: https://theasc.com/articles/total-recall-x-ray-effectsViolence and “Creepiness” Factor

The only real problem that I have with the movie is the level of violence in some instances and the “creepiness” that pervades some of the scenes — the three breasted harlot being one such example. While not nearly as bad in terms of violence as Robocop or the leeriness and toxic girlfriend/boyfriend dynamic found in Starship Troopers, I find that — on the whole — I just don’t mesh with the director’s — Paul Verhoeven — sensibilities when it comes to satire. Total Recall, like Robocop and Starship Troopers take a satirical look at the world (specifically America) and this just isn’t as appealing to me as the actually concepts of space travel, landing on new worlds, dealing with aliens or robots, and other tropes of the sci-fi genre. In other words, I like Verhoeven and think he’s at his best in his movies when dealing with the sci-fi tropes and his characters trying to survive, but am turned off and/or less interested when he turns to satire and pumps up the violence/sex factor of the stories — including this one. I can respect what he does (unlike Shaun of the Dead for which my disdain is palpable), but the satirical elements just lower my interest whenever they overwhelm the narrative.

Overall

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I give this movie a strong 4 star/4.5 star review. I really enjoy watching it (and rewatching it). I’ve seen this film countless times, probably more than 10, but less than 25 times) since it first released — I’d watch it whenever I saw it on cable, so I’ve seen it probably 5-10 times whenever it was on HBO and/or other networks that showed movies with commercials on cable tv (like USA Network). I really enjoy it and loved the other performers in it who weren’t Arnold. I think (selfishly) that Hollywood should think about adapting more short stories as they might make stories that are well suited to 2 hour mark. There are a LOT of us short story writers out here AND they’re published stories too, meaning that while there’s no guarantee that they’ll make successful movies like this one, for a risk adverse Hollywood Executive, there is a level of “gate-keeping” that publication can provide. I know I’m howling in the wind, but there’s a whole raft of stories just waiting for their time to shine on the big screen — novels aren’t the only places where good storytelling happens.

Just saying.

SidneyCurrently Working On (September 2024)CreativeThe Runner (2023 Revision) (Fantasy Story: 4100 words: 17 Submissions)
Status:  Out (Out to Publisher)Finalist in the Baen Fantasy Adventure Award Contest Finalist in the LeVar Burton Reads Origins & Encounters Writing ContestDire (2024) (Fantasy Short Story: 5100 words: 1 Submission)
Status: Out (Out to Publisher–Contest–No Response — 125 out of 139 days, story not among finalists), Out (Out to Publisher — new publisher).Scholarly How Nichelle Nichols’ Uhura Inspired the African American Female Character in Science Fiction (Chapter 3)
Space, the Feminist Frontier: Essays on Sex and Gender in Star Trek
Status: Published!Unnamed Book Chapter
Status:  In-Progress

Social Media: The Death of Reasonable Discussion — or Why I Won’t Be Going Back To GameStop Any Time Soon

https://www.reddit.com/r/memes/comments/q5d2oe/i_prefer_mangoes_to_oranges/

I needed a new PS5 controller today — well, I’ve needed one for a while now and have done a bit of “window shopping” online to see if I could find a color that I was really interested in (I really wanted a collectible one — like the Spider-Man, God of War Ragnarok, or the Astrobot controller, but those have long since sold out to scalpers — a blight on consumer experience which was much different in the 70s, 80s, and yes, even 90s — although sports game ticket and concert ticket scalpers were a frustration to many of the era).

I went to GameStop (I’ll leave the location unknown as my intent isn’t to get anyone in trouble/cause trouble for anyone, but rather to illustrate how social media has changed American mentality). I was trying to decide between the blue controller or the camouflaged one, when the representative mentioned silver. I ended up going with silver (even though I really didn’t want to — and will probably go back and get a different color). Why buy a color that I’m not interested in? Well, I mentioned that I was hoping to score a PS5 30th edition and/or controller and that the color was similar.

Well, while polite, the “knowing smile” that appeared on his face was one of the worst interactions that I’ve ever seen. Why? Read on, dear reader . . .

No PhD Required to be an “Expert”

He goes on to tell me about how the 30th Anniversary PlayStation is a “scalper’s paradise” (his words) and how the PS5 controller will only come with the system and hasn’t been confirmed to come separately. He indicated the it would “probably” come later. Here is the direct information from the PS Blog:

PlayStation 5 Digital Edition – 30th Anniversary Limited Edition Bundle  Pre-orders at participating retailers begin October 10   DualSense Wireless Controller – 30th Anniversary Limited Edition (standalone)Pre-orders at participating retailers begin September 26.  

As you can plainly see — there it is in black and white (Wireless controller–standalone). I thought that was the case at the time, but I didn’t see the need to question it (I’d watched the accompanying video earlier that week). However, the interaction continued in a downward spiral — let’s just put it plainly, the man thought I was an idiot. I can’t speak anymore plainly than that. Not yet sensing the “turn” of the interaction, I continued to make small talk and mentioned that I was going to try for the 30th Anniversary Edition, but would take a PlayStation Pro whichever edition I could get. THAT’S when that sardonic smile popped onto his face. Seeing it, my demeanor changed, and I chose not to go into confrontation mode — I try NOT to do that with customer service workers having been one myself (Waldenbooks = 1.5 years) and working with the public (Library Assistant = 17 years). I try, when possible, to keep a hold on giving those workers a hard time — so I made a self-deprecating joke to acknowledge the GameStop employee’s reaction and diffuse my own rising annoyance. As Mark Twain has said:

The human race has but one really effective weapon, and that is laughter

Mark Twain

Consensus Thinking = The Only Way Americans Can Think Thanks to Social Media

After that, he goes on to tell me that “there a no games out there that will take advantage of the PlayStation Pros power” (again, his words). That is a line used on social media to justify the outrage that people feel at Sony’s $699 price tag for the console. There are other commonplaces like “arrogant Sony” or PS3 “$599” debacle or other such “catchphrases” used in place of more xenophobic ideation which isn’t permissible in today’s society (note to self — or other academics — it would be interesting as an academic to investigate the language looking for ways in which xenophobia and racism is coded into using various “commonplaces” — arguments that stand in for other arguments).

However, Digital Foundry has already identified several games with which the power of the PlayStation 5 could really help out, in particular: Dragon’s Dogma 2 (a game I currently own, but am waiting for Christmas to play). It has a notorious reputation among PlayStation gamers for having a really inconsistent frame rate on top of visually gorgeous world (it looks stunning, but it doesn’t play well). Another game (same situation — I own it, but haven’t played it) is Final Fantasy Rebirth. Digital Foundry did a video on that one as well. Looking into the future, there are several titles that I’m interested in that could probably use the extra power of the PS5 Pro, but I’ll only list one: Crimson Desert. This is the game that I sort of have in the back of my mind as the poster child for why a PlayStation 5 Pro might be useful (even as the GameStop employee was talking). Will the game be pretty, yes, but will it run well on a 5 year old system (assuming a 2025 release — even older it slips into 2026)? I don’t think so — and based my experience since the Atari 2600 and up in generations, I’m looking for the best possible console experience that I can find — games, hardware, etc. (Slight digression: even if Microsoft hadn’t alienated me with the whole Halo debacle, I STILL wouldn’t have chosen the X-Box Series consoles because “more power” doesn’t mean raw performance — it’s an integration of form, function — and for games — experiences. Sony has ALWAYS been better at this than Microsoft has through ALL console generations, although it isn’t a given that this will always be the case).

However, to return to the thrust of the argument for this post — the GameStop employee’s attitude was very dismissive after making his assertion, almost daring me to say differently. With the video of Crimson Desert playing in the back of my mind, I just decided that the argument (in the rhetorical sense) wouldn’t work as he wasn’t willing to entertain any other notions than what SOCIAL MEDIA had told him: “PlayStation 5 Pro = bad” (I’d had a similar experience at the same GameStop years before when Bloodborne for PS4 was released and everyone went “ga-ga” over it and I canceled my preorder — the level confusion as to why I wouldn’t want to play what the internet called — at the time — “the bestest game ever from the bestest game company was truly something you’d have see to believe — although the same is now true of our “lord and master” Elden Ring).

The Group is ALWAYS Right (Even When It Isn’t) and NO COMPROMISE (aka The Customer is NEVER Right When They Go Against what “The Internet” Says)

Social Media (or the internet — which is just another commonplace for social sites like Twitter/X, Instagram, YouTube, Reddit, and other places where people can post their opinions like the comments sections of news stories) allows non-experts to attain the level of “expert” without actually having to accrue any real knowledge or skills. Want to say you’re a movie reviewer, boom, set up a YouTube page and now you’re a reviewer. We don’t know if you have any previous movie industry experience (probably not), we don’t know if you have any real training, degrees, or skills in analyzing and understanding movie forms and functions, the historical significance of the movies you’re watching, or anything of that sort to become an “expert” in something. And because of this, opinions get increased to the level of facts. I don’t like something, and see all these other people don’t like it, so you’re a fool for liking it.

Well, there’s a name for that whole way of thinking: The Bandwagon Fallacy. This is a fault in argumentation where people assume that because others find something correct or incorrect, those people can’t be wrong — and as pretty much any social ill that I can think of, from genocide to apartheid to racism, and all the other “-sims” out there, yes, I’m pretty sure that a group can (and will) be wrong just as often as an individual could be.

The reason I didn’t feel the need to argue with the GameStop employee is that because even I might have a counterargument to the “no games will take advantage of the PS5 Pro” argument, he’s been conditioned by the internet (social media) not to take in alternate viewpoints or ideas and would have just argued back and it would have caused drama. How do I know?

Because of the final interaction where he tried to sell me the “protection plan” for the controller. I know that I’ve got about a year or two before I’ll need to buy another controller (that’s been the general lifespan of controllers for me with the PS5), and I’ll do so when I need to, so the protection doesn’t make sense for me. Rather than get into a long winded discussion, I politely declined and said, “no thank you, maybe next time” referring to the next time I come into the store I might purchase the plan on a future purchase. However, he had moved into a more confrontational stance — even though I had not — and chose to take my words for this particular transaction — perhaps to make the sale or make me change my mind, if we’re being charitable, but rather to emphasize that “I don’t want to see you in here again when you have broken controller, and you’re complaining to my that you’d like to do the protection plan because now it’s too late,” if we’re being honest. Remember, I’m an “idiot” for liking and wanting a PlayStation 5 Pro, and seeing value in the system. So, of course, let’s antagonize the person who is spending money at your store because you don’t like their choices — because their choices don’t agree with what “the internet” says is correct.

One Good Thing

There was one good thing that happened — although it too was a moment that made me reflect on the way certain people choose “patronizing” as choice in the customer service industry which then will affect the way that the customer chooses to interact with them. My mother put Call of Duty on pre-order for me at GameStop as I’ve moved away from actively spending money on it, so she does it for me. Well, she’d put money on a Call of Duty game that had already been released, but the clerks at GameStop had never moved the pre-order money over to the newest game (he said it was for Modern Warfare III from last year, but it was actually MW II from a year earlier based on the screenshot). So I told him to go ahead and move the money over to the newest game (BlackOps) which was already pre-ordered by my mother. Yes, he did also treat me like an “idiot” for having pre-order money on a game that was already released, but I’m going to call it a net “win” as now my mother won’t have to pay as much for the game as before.

Closing Thoughts

Will I go back to GameStop? Yes, probably, but not that one and only as a last resort. I would probably see if I could find what I was looking for at alternatives like Best Buy or Walmart from now on. I would also probably order online first (which is what I’ve normally done since around 2016 or so) even though I’d been trying to increase my traffic of local stores as they seem to be closing at an alarming rate. However, when I’m considering telling someone that I’m Dr. So-and-So with a PhD in Rhetoric and Composition and Film and that I’m pretty confident in my information, that’s usually an indication (to me — maybe not to others) that this isn’t a place that I need to be. If I have to rely on my PhD to justify that I’m a rational human being and that I’m worthy of respect just as they are — well, I think my time would be better spent elsewhere. It just makes me sad for all those without PhDs (or advanced degrees of any sort) to be dehumanized just because that’s what “the internet” says — and heaven forbid that we should think for ourselves and allow others to think for themselves.

The internet doesn’t tell me how to think — I tell me how to think — and that’s why I have a PhD and am a published writer (and have had a console for every generation since the Atari 2600). I think I’m doing just fine, “the internet” be damned.

SidneyCurrently Working On (September 2024)CreativeThe Runner (2023 Revision) (Fantasy Story: 4100 words: 17 Submissions)
Status: Out Finalist in the Baen Fantasy Adventure Award Contest Finalist in the LeVar Burton Reads Origins & Encounters Writing ContestDire (2024) (Fantasy Short Story: 5100 words: 1 Submission)
Status: Out (Out to Publisher–Contest–No Response — 125 out of 139 days, story not among finalists), Out (Out to Publisher — Apparition Lit (final submission period/issue).Scholarly How Nichelle Nichols’ Uhura Inspired the African American Female Character in Science Fiction (Chapter 3)
Space, the Feminist Frontier: Essays on Sex and Gender in Star Trek
Status: Published!Unnamed Book Chapter
Status: In-Progress

September 2024 Writing Update

Image Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/travel/things-to-do/september-is-here-and-so-are-the-beautiful-festivals/photostory/85769105.cms

This month I had quite a few challenges, but I did manage to both write on new work and to submit work out to publishers. I’m going to briefly talk about the challenges that I had to over come this month and then I’ll discuss some of the successes that I had during the month.

August Wrap-up (Challenges)

Writing Time or Movie Time: I am facing a bit of problem/issue, however. My simplest, but hardest challenge to my creative writing is this: my most effective writing time is actually currently conflicting with the time that I watch weekly movies. I usually watch movies on weekly basis (although I’ve not done that on a consistent basis in a while). However, during August, I discovered that the time that I generally use for watching a movie is ALSO one of the times that I’m the most creative. I’m actually having a bit of trouble now trying to do both during the same “block” of time. If I don’t get carried away with both of them, I usually have enough time to do both, but if I write too much or if I take too long to decide on a movie, then I have trouble getting the movie in before it gets too late. Even as I write these words on the blog, I’m looking at the clock. If I try to complete this entry in ONE session, then I’m definitely NOT going to have enough time to watch a movie this week, so I’m going to have to compose this entry in multiple sessions. This is something that I’m going to have to try to work on in the future.

Health: So my health has been a bit challenging this summer, particularly in August, when I had to have wisdom tooth removed. I lost a Saturday from both writing AND watching a movie as my body recovered from the effects of anesthesia and my mouth healed from the removal of tooth. I truly had the intention of writing every Saturday this month, but that didn’t happen, but to my credit, I did pick up where I left off on the next Saturday.

Fall Classes: So, most of my time this month (when I wasn’t recovering from the wisdom tooth extraction) was dedicated to creating my Fall classes. While fun, it is a lot of work to lay out the class schedule, set-up readings and assignments, and put it on to our Course Management System (CMS). Losing 4 days of set-up wasn’t ideal but I managed to get everything up and ready for the students. So, hopefully, I keep the weekends free for creative endeavors–that’s my goal at least.

August Writing

So, at the time of this blog entry, here’s where I am in my writing:

Creative Writing Project: Project Captain (Sci-Fi Short Story)
1229 words (out of approx. 3000). Finished Section 1 (of 3). I’m aiming for about 1000 words for each section for this story. This is a “Working Draft” (2nd Draft) of the story (I finished the “rough draft” last year in pencil in one of my journals). This isn’t a 1st Draft because this draft is one where I’m dramatizing the story, naming the characters, and starting to define the characteristics of the main characters. So far, I’m feeling good about the story — I think it may need a fair amount of work to get it ready, but I feel like the story is progressing generally where I’ve envisioned it in the rough draft/story inspiration.

Creative Writing Project: Graphic Novel Adaptation — The Independent
0 Pages (out of a projected 80 or so). My goal with this one was to work in 8 page “sections” (with 3 of those sections = 24 pages or 1 “issue”). However, I have two problems: 1) I need to completely finish the “Working Draft” for Project Captain first. I can’t switch back and forth — if I do, neither project will get finished. So, once Project Captain’s draft is finished, then I’ll move on to try to finish 1 chapter (8 pages) OR 1 “issue” (24 pages) of the script. I’m not sure which will work best for me — my first comic book, I worked in 8 page chapters, but I think I work better when I finish discrete chunks (or even a whole “draft”). 2) I can’t find my outline for each page. I wrote out a page-by-page outline for the story, but misplaced it. I can’t really do anything until I found it. I would like to do a really “rough” draft (in pencil) and then expand upon it when I put it in the computer and in “script” format, but until I find it, I can’t really work on it.

September Aspirations

Nothing too special — just to complete Sections 2 and 3 of Project Captain. I seem to have a natural rhythm of about 500 words for fiction (or at least I do for this story). At 500 words each weekly session, I should finish the “Working Draft” a little bit before the end of the month. I’m hopeful that I will have found the outline for the Graphic Novel Adaptation by then and can at least start to work on a “chapter”/”Issue” to see which feels most comfortable to complete before choosing another short story project.

Publishers/Publications

The Runner: I submitted this story to a publisher. I’ve submitted to this publisher before, but it has been a while — several years, in fact. The timing of when my stories were finished and ready to go out to the publisher never seemed to align with this publisher’s open status, but this time it did, so I went ahead and submitted. At the time of this writing, I’ve not heard back from the publisher, but it has been there longer than many of the stories that they’ve already rejected, so I can only hope this is a good thing and that they are maybe taking a second (and/or third) look at the piece.

Dire: There is a publisher that I wanted to try to send Dire to now that I know that the story was “rejected” from the previous market. I put “rejected” in quotes because I’ve not yet been sent an official rejection, even though I sent it before the deadline. However, the magazine that I’m sending it to is closing after this last submission period/issue and, as they’ve seen evaluated, most of my previous stories, I thought I’d give them one last try before they disappear into the ether. As this is their last issue, I don’t mind naming them (I don’t usually name the places where I submit unless my story is accepted for publication as it isn’t considered “good form”). However, Apparition Lit has been a consistent market for me to send stories to over a period of at least 10 years or so. While they’ve never accepted any of my stories, I think they’ve “shortlisted” the last two (which means they almost made the cut). So I can see a definite improvement in my writing over the years.

Anyway, that’s all that I have for today! Have a great weekend (and if you’re in the U.S. or its territories, have a wonderful Labor Day holiday)!

SidneyCurrently Working On (September 2024)CreativeThe Runner (2023 Revision) (Fantasy Story: 4100 words: 17 Submissions)
Status:  Out Finalist in the Baen Fantasy Adventure Award Contest Finalist in the LeVar Burton Reads Origins & Encounters Writing ContestDire (2024) (Fantasy Short Story: 5100 words: 1 Submission)
Status: Out (Out to Publisher–Contest–No Response — 125 out of 139 days, story not among finalists), Out (Out to Publisher — Apparition Lit (final submission period/issue).Scholarly Unnamed Book Chapter
Status: Out (Out to Publisher: Peer Reviewed Publication)Unnamed Book Chapter
Status:  In-Progress

August 2024 Monthly Writing Update

Image Source: https://www.wiki-calendar.com/august-calendars.html

One of my current favorite authors, Brandon Sanderson, has a YouTube video where he updates viewers on his current writing projects on a weekly basis (on most cases — sometimes, when he’s at an event or conference, he may not upload), but generally speaking, you can depend on him to update the followers of his channel on weekly basis.

Inspired by his dedication, I tried that earlier this year on this blog, but realized fairly quickly (after the very first weekly post), that I couldn’t keep up that pace. I’m not a full-time writer (I’m a full-time Assistant Professor) and I’m not a New York Times Bestselling author like Brandon (looking at my ISFDB page, one can see that I tend to publish in major markets — the ones picked up by ISFDB — about every 2-3 years). I’ve been relatively consistent over the past decade or so, but being a Ph.D candidate, then Visiting Scholar, and now Professor means that I do a LOT (and usually a lot of that requires writing in some form or other), but it doesn’t translate into tons of creative writing publications.

New Format

I said all that, to say that I’m going to try a new format going forward: the monthly writing update. However, I’m going to try to modify it from what a tradition update might look like. For instance, another channel that I subscribe to on YouTube, looks at the month that just passed for its monthly update, while on a 3rd channel that I subscribe to (yes, I know I have a lot of YouTube channel subscriptions — I’m working on cutting back — but blame it on the “Covid Lockdowns”) looks forward in time to discuss what’s upcoming (near term)/what he hopes to do on the channel (later in the month). Now, there are only 3 channels that I subscribe to that do updates and only 2 of those do it monthly, but I thought it would be cool to combine the two formats into one monthly post — what did I work on the previous month (factual — what actually got done) and then discuss what I hope to accomplish for the upcoming month (aspiration — what do I think I can get done/hope I can get done).

I’m hoping that if I can actually document my successes and my failures as a creative writer, I won’t get discouraged, but rather, figure out where/how I can better spend my time and maybe even get to a point where I 1) publish on a more regular cadence — yearly would be a good starting point and 2) challenge myself and move into longer and more challenging works — I’ve done quite a few short stories now, but have yet to finish any significantly longer forms.

July Wrap-Up

Ah, July. A contradiction of months for me. First, I teach summer classes — well, in this case, one class. While online, I did have a significant set of challenges, including lots of student emails, family obligations around the July holidays (including a family member who became sick and we visited them while they got better) along with two of the three major assignments for the class. So, a LOT of time was used administering and keeping up with the course.

I was bitten by the writing bug this month and worked to organize my writing better. I decided that during the Fall semester — August through December — I would work primarily on works of Science Fiction. I gathered together all of my in-progress sci-fi works and put it in an organizer. I decided that during the Spring semester — January through May — I would work on work of Fantasy (mostly because the annual Baen Adventure Fantasy Award’s deadline is April 30th). I put all of my in-progress fantasy works together and put them in the same organizer with a divider. So, as the months roll by, I will pull out 1 of these in-progress works and JUST WRITE THEM OUT to the best of my ability. While I highly doubt that I can create 5 well-crafted, well-fleshed out stories during the 5 month semester period (this would be ideal, but when has my life ever been ideal?), I would like to aim for at least 1-2 stories per period and this would effectively double my output of stories — which seems to be 1 per year.

I also took to heart what my Department Head (of English) said in my last performance review where he encouraged me to expand on my abilities (he was speaking about attending new conferences as I’ve attended the same conference for the past 6 or so years), but he spoke about branching out and trying new things. In that same spirit, I decided to turn one of my published short stories (The Independent) into a graphic novel. I’ve outlined it and created a rough draft page-by-page breakdown of the story. I’ve only written 1 page of comic book script for it so far, but I think that once school starts, I will attempt to finish out all 3 issues of the story (with an extended epilogue, so it will be more along the lines of 3.3-3.5 issues long).

August Aspirations

In August, I work on developing the classes, assignments, readings, etc. for all my classes — this is the development of the entire class, so this is what will probably take the bulk of my time from now until the 1st day of classes (Aug 21). However, once classes start, they generally run on “automatic” until the first major assignment comes due (usually at the 3 or 4 week mark in the class), so I’m hopeful that I can work on the graphic novel AND 1 of the sci-fi projects during this time. My goal is to have at least one section written out completely of the short story (or rough draft out all sections) AND 8 pages or so of the graphic novel by the end of August. I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to do both based on setting up the classes, but I would most certainly love to try. I’m not sure which of the in-progress projects that I’m going to want to work on first, but I think I’m going to try for the one(s) that really inspire me first. I have several projects to choose from including: Project Captain, Project Ranger, and Project Wall. While these might mean nothing to you, to me, these are science fiction stories and worlds that have been living in brain for a while now and that I just need to get out on to the page.

Finally, the latest thing that I wrote (before needing to turn my attention to grading my students’ final Argumentation Essays for the summer) was a Beginning, Middle, and End outline of another sci-fi graphic novel adaptation that I want to do for another of my published stories: WarLight. I don’t think I can get two graphic novel adaptations done in one semester, but it might awesome to at least get it mapped out for 2025 (especially if I’m looking for yearly publications — that might be doable during the semester).

Publishers/Publications

Nothing much to speak of at the moment. I only have 2 finished short-stories: The Runner and Dire. The Runner is currently in at the moment — I’ve sent it to 17 publishers so far. It has been a 2x Finalist in two different writing competitions, but no one has accepted it for publication yet. I feel like it will be published, but that I haven’t found the right market for it. At the moment, there are no markets open for it that I’ve not already submitted it to for consideration, so it’s awaiting a market that’s not yet seen it to open up.

Dire was just finished in April and was technically out to one of the writing competitions that I submitted The Runner to. However, even though I’ve not yet received the rejection letter for Dire, I checked the list of finalists for the competition (the listing was announced earlier this month) and Dire wasn’t among the listing, so I just haven’t received a rejection response yet. A market will open up on Aug. 15th and I will submit it there — unfortunately, that market will be closing after this issue, so this will mark my 3rd (and last) submission to this market. Fingers crossed that 3rd time is the charm, but if it isn’t, there are still QUITE A FEW markets that this story has not been considered for and still has quite a few places where it might have a chance. My only concern is that it is a “werewolf” story and thanks to things like Teen Wolf, Twilight, and Underworld, werewolf stories are considered “hard sells” at many markets.

Also, the publisher of the my short story, The Independent, reached out to me to see if I had in novellas (16,000 words to 50,000 words) available as he is interested in expanding his publishing line. Unfortunately, I don’t have anything that long — although Sister-Knight was approximately 8,000 – 10,000 words all told and I do, technically, have a sequel in mind that takes place years later that I could add on to and expand it into a longer work (along with Dire–where I actually planned a sequel/alternate version) as I was working it. However, he needs it by Sept. 30th and based on me needing to set up classes, I’m not sure I can get either done by then. I’ll give it a shot, but I think this might be step too far given my current obligations as a teacher and scholar. It is Underdog Press and here is the author’s call if there’s anyone who wants to give it a try.

Well, that’s it for today. Fingers crossed that sometime in September, likely Labor Day (as I have it off and don’t have to teach on that day), but perhaps sooner than that, I’ll be able to do the September version of this post and will have made some progress on these goals. Let’s see if I can!

SidneyCurrently Working On (August 2024)CreativeThe Runner (2023 Revision) (Fantasy Story: 4100 words: 17 Submissions)
Status:  In (Looking for publisher)Finalist in the Baen Fantasy Adventure Award Contest Finalist in the LeVar Burton Reads Origins & Encounters Writing ContestDire (2024) (Fantasy Short Story: 5100 words: 1 Submission)
Status: Out (Out to Publisher–Contest)Scholarly Unnamed Book Chapter
Status: Out (Out to Publisher: Peer Reviewed Publication)Unnamed Book Chapter
Status:  In-Progress

The Great “Concord” Debate

Source: Pintrest (Robyn Socha)https://www.pinterest.com/robynsocha/argumentative-essay/

So, this summer, just as I’ve did last summer, I’ve taught a 8-week course in Argumentation (EN 112: Argumentation, to be exact). Now this course is a condensed version of the full 16-week course that I have taught previously at both my current school and previous school. It is the 2nd course in a two course cycle for composition. The first course generally deals with rhetoric and composition and the second course deals with argumentation (although I generally review some rhetoric/rhetorical concepts in this argumentation class just to be sure). While I’ve done it many ways, including the formal Toulmin style argumentation, I usually (especially for the 8-week course) stick to the “basic” approach of Claim, Reasons/Reasoning, and Evidence. These concepts are usually enough for students to understand how argumentation works and how to effectively argue (although I usually spend a week in the 16-week course running student through the more “advanced’ concepts of warrants, backing, inductive and deductive logic, but students’ eyes usually glaze over during that week–so, unless I’m vested in doing that for entire semester–as I did during one class in my time as Ph.D–you don’t really see returns with that methodology, so I eliminate it completely in the 8-week sessions). I bring all this up because I just came across a set of “arguments” that illustrate why the internet is NOT a great place for argumentation and why argumentation might break down on the internet (and modern society as well).

The Great “Concord” Debate

First thing to know: Concord is an upcoming shooter from Firewalk Studios. This studio was “bought” by Sony even before they produced their first game, the result of which is Concord. At first, there was tentative excitement in the Sony “fanbase,” but Sony’s planned deviation from single player games and gaming experiences into the (then) hot area of live-services gaming (where games were multiplayer focused and were ever evolving (in the vein of games like Fortnite, Over Watch, Destiny and Call of Duty Warzone) caused Sony fans no end on consternation. Generally not well received due to buggy experiences, shallow gameplay, and fairly aggressive monetization by publishers/developers, confirmation at a recent Sony State of Play event (where Sony showcases upcoming games mostly by partners, but sometimes their own internal studios) via trailer and gameplay, Concord was met with a fair amount of online hostility and skepticism.

The Lost Art of Argumentation

Sony, originally walling off the game’s beta (a technical test where users play the game at scale in order for the developers and the publisher to get valuable data and feedback on the usage/playing of the game before it releases to the wider public), decided to open the beta members of its Playstation Plus subscription service, increasing the player count dramatically. Push Square, a Playstation focused news site, published a fairly positive “first impressions” video and accompanying website piece that listed both the positives and the negatives of the game as it stands now, but ended on a fairly positive note. However, the comments section to the website, stands at 95 comments, up from 70 comments when I viewed it about 2 hours ago. While a few of the early comments take issue with the introductory phrase of the title, “Preview: Ignore The Haters, Concord Is a Good PS5 Shooter We Can’t Wait to Play More Of,” there are comments that betray how the idea of Claim, Reasons, and Evidence are fundamentally ignored in the online space.

I’ve Not Played It, But I KNOW It’s Bad, So Don’t YOU Buy It!

This title, while seeming to make a play for sarcasm or a sarcastic response is actually the sentiment of many of the respondents left via the website’s comment feature. For instance, the site runs a poll that asks players what level that they think it is (from Brilliant to Terrible in a scale equivalent to A to F, with a final option of I’m not playing it at the end). The “I’m Not Playing It” is currently “winning” at this point with a score of 43%. It’s Brilliant = 8% (A), It’s Good = 18% (B), It’s Okay = 12% (C), It’s Kinda Bad = 8% (D), and It’s Terrible = 10% (F). So, the two highest score distributions after the massive 43% for Not Playing It, are 18% for It’s Good and 12% for It’s Okay — which is what the article/preview intimated. In other words, the majority of people who actually played the game corroborated the article (which has solid reasoning and evidence).

Then why do you have responses like this in the comments section:

So now you’re telling people to ignore me? — Czar_Khastik

Hard pass. Don’t want to support Sony going down the games as service route.—Icey664

I played the beta. It’s not very good in my opinion. Does that make me a hater?—nessisonett

To answer, nessisonett’s question, yes, unfortunately, it does, because — as I told my students time and again — without logical reasons AND evidence then all it takes is one (1) person with an equal and opposite opinion and you’re back to square one. In the case of nessisonett’s example, okay, this responder doesn’t like it, but let’s say I do, then where does that leave us? One positive opinion and one negative opinion cancels each other out and leads to no discussion, no consensus, no persuasion. Again, using myself as a hypothetical example, I “like” Concord, but nessisonett doesn’t — what is a prospective reader supposed to draw from that? Well, now it becomes a matter of “ethos” (or credibility). Who does the reader trust most? And in some cases, that can be a valid deciding factor, but most arguments should be decided by the evidence — what screenshots can you point to prove that it is a good/bad game? What videos are out there? How does it feel to play? How egregious are the monetization elements (or how egregious could they be since this is a preview)? Without EVIDENCE there’s NO way for a 3rd party to make up their mind as to whether myself of nessisonett is the most trustworthy, and it all falls back to reputation (subjective) or worse, who’s liked more (HIGHLY subjective).

Which leads us to Czar_Khastik’s (Czar) quote = yes, people SHOULD IGNORE YOU unless you can give valid reasons supported by evidence as to why we should (or should NOT) play it. It really doesn’t even matter what side of the fence Czar is on (although since the article says we should ignore the haters, we can infer from Czar’s comment that he is a hater), but the fact that we’re supposed to TRUST CZAR’S word (HIS OPINION) without any corroboration is worrying. Czar isn’t looking to PERSUADE, but (perhaps appropriately given the screen name) is in fact looking to DICTATE to the reader that Czar’s position is the ONLY correct position. There’s no evidence presented in the response, there is no line of reasoning as to why that should be the case, there’s nothing but Czar’s assertion that “hate” is the only possible outcome with a preview of THIS PARTICULAR upcoming game–and if you happen to like it, well the inference is clear: there’s something WRONG with YOU. In the online space, DOMINATION seems to be the key play and ANY who don’t follow along with the DICTATES of the majority opinion are to ostracized (and on some discussion boards and in some contexts, harassed and bullied, although that doesn’t seem to be happening here with these three comments). Czar’s post indicates that they have no problem “OTHERING” ANYONE who dares to have an opinion counter to their own.

However, it is icey664’s (icey) comments that are the most troubling in that they reveal the ultimate goal the lack of argumentation in online environments. Icey’s comments (in addition to Czar’s) reflect the “echo chamber” that has so distorted online discourse and the wider discourse as well. Icey doesn’t want Sony to continue to create “games as service” experiences. Yet, for icey, it doesn’t matter that 38% of Sony’s audience seems to this is an acceptable endeavor. It does NOT work for icey (1 person), so it shouldn’t work for ANYONE ELSE. Icey is so troubled by a company’s product that icey is not willing to try it for free. When you add Czar’s assertion that opinion flouts evidence, it becomes clear that many on discussion boards/comments sections are looking for like-minded opinions. They are looking for people who agree with their values and their way of thinking, and are not willing to compromise, much less see that persuasion requires MORE than simple belligerence or intolerance.

Even Sherlock Holmes Needs Evidence

In closing, the three commentators (nessisonett, icey664, and czar_khastik) would do well to consider the phrase that “even Sherlock Holmes needs evidence.” The greatest detective mind out there still requires facts upon which work his considerable mental powers upon. Argumentation requires more than brow-beating people until they agree with the position held by the brow-beaters. For someone to be effectively moved, logical reasoning and evidence must be applied to the situation. Nessisonett has at least played the beta, and therefore, has at least done the bare minimum required to begin the argumentation process. However, without actually explaining why it isn’t very good AND providing evidence directly from the game/beta to illustrate his points, we are still only left with only Nessisonett’s OPINION. For Nessisonett, that opinion is GOOD ENOUGH, but not for people who either might have differing opinion or who might have no opinion at all–it doesn’t explain why the responder doesn’t like it (needs to be a rational reason) nor does it provide detailed evidence that backs up the reasoning. While it is unclear if Czar has actually played the game, both Czar and icey’s response indicates that they both seem to be looking for people who share their viewpoint. They also provide no evidence, although icey’s reasoning, while valid for that one responder, seems to invalidate the experiences of others who disagree. Choosing not to do something (or to do something) based on one’s personal experiences is one thing, but working to actively strangle that experience for others is quite another. Shouldn’t Sonly be allowed to also make choices and shouldn’t it be the free market economy that chooses what succeeds and what fails in a capitalist society? Or, is the role of respondents to dictate their opinions and choices onto everyone rather than trying to persuade others to be on their side through logical reasoning and evidence that backs up their assertions?

Want to know what all the hubbub is about yourself?

Here is a fairly negative/critical take on the upcoming game from YouTuber Skill Up:

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ikeRtj39U0

Here is a much more positive spin on the game from Push Square (a Playstation-focused channel):

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYLmRaA4KdM

Each one of these sites has an entirely different take on the game. However, unlike the commenters/responders presented above, they provide reasons and evidence for WHY they think the game is either good or bad. It is up to the reader to examine the reasoning, the evidence, and also the credibility of each two points of view and to make up their own minds. THIS is argumentation, THIS is what I’ve spent the last 7 weeks trying to teach my students and THIS is what the world needs MORE of (and yes, we need it in the discussion boards/forums/comments sections) on the internet as well.

SidneyCurrently Working On (July 2024)CreativeThe Runner (2023 Revision) (Fantasy Story: 4100 words: 17 Submissions)
Status:  In (Looking for publisher)Finalist in the Baen Fantasy Adventure Award Contest Finalist in the LeVar Burton Reads Origins & Encounters Writing ContestDire (2024) (Fantasy Short Story: 5100 words: 1 Submission)
Status: Out (Out to Publisher–Contest)Scholarly Unnamed Book Chapter
Status: Out (Out to Publisher: Peer Reviewed Publication)Unnamed Book Chapter
Status:  In-Progress

Author’s Note: Dire (Fantasy Short Story)

Image Source: https://www.cleanpng.com/free/wolf-head.html

Hi Everyone,

So sorry that I’ve been away, but I’m trying to get back to blogging on a regular basis. To that end, I want to talk about the reasons, rationale, and inspiration of the my latest short story, Dire. Unfortunately, Dire is the first short story that I’ve had the opportunity to create in the year and a half since I finished my last story, The Runner. I’ve been focused on finishing the dissertation, graduation, and working on developing, teaching, and administering classes, so that hasn’t left a lot of time for creative endeavors. Add to that, last summer was my first time teaching a summer course and wanting to make it a good one, I inadvertently forgot to actually rest during the summer of 23. Because of this, I found that I was very much on the back-foot and burned out for much of the 23-24 semesters. Adding to this, I also took on a LOT of additional tasks — so this is the reason that I’ve not really been writing consistently or blogging consistently either. However, I had the opportunity to teach a Creative Writing Appreciation class as part of the Spring 2024 semester. I promised my students that I would complete a short story at the end of the semester as I asked them to complete the assignments. Dire is the result of the this promise to my students.

DreadWolfDragon Age: DreadWolf (now Dragon Age: The Veil Guard)

As the very top image implies, I’ve had the idea for some sort of “werewolf” story for a while now, but it was this trailer that cemented my desire to do some sort of werewolf story. While I liked the trailer and its concept, I’ve only been somewhat invested in the Dragon Age story. I started Dragon Age Origins, but never finished it. I did finish Dragon Age 2, but started only started Dragon Age Inquisition before I had to put it down to finish up my dissertation. I do intend to get back to it, but the point I’m trying to make is that it is less about the Dragon Age world and mythos that inspired my story and more about the title chosen, DreadWolf. I think that is one of the most impressive titles as it implies an “older,” more mature type of werewolf than the “bog” standard typical werewolf that we always see/hear about. If I’m honest, I was fairly angry and disappointed at myself for not coming up with this title first (as a LOT of my titles, both published and aspirational are based on enjambment which is what this title uses–my published story, HawkeMoon, for instance).

Dread Wolf vs Dire Wolf

However, as I mentioned above, I wanted some sort of “uber” wolf, and the developers of the Dragon Age game had already beaten me to the “Dread” moniker, something that is used to denote something ancient and/or more powerful than a traditional thing. I thought to myself, was there another moniker that does the same thing, and I came up with DireWolf/Dire Wolf. In the fantasy world, particularly gaming, but also using in other mediums, “Dire” does the same thing that “Dread” does — it evokes a “more powerful” version of the thing. A Dire Bat, for instance, in gaming, evokes not just a bat, but an enormous bat, probably human-sized or larger, with a massive wingspan and powerful echo-location. Similarly, a Dire Wolf evokes a wolf (probably large enough to be ridden a human) with powerful jaws and fangs. I looked around online, and while George R. R. Martin does seem to mention them in his works, they didn’t seem to be a HUGE component of his work — people seemed to reference his “White Walkers” and his dragons. Outside of the idea that scientific understanding that true Dire Wolves were actually a non-wolf species that went extinct, primarily Dire Wolves comes up in gaming circles (like D&D and other fantasy gaming rulesets).

Black Werewolves

This story came about because, while there are a few of high profile vampire stories that feature Black or predominantly Black characters (although not many in relation to the myriad of vampire related/adjacent content out there), I couldn’t recall ever really seeing a werewolf story dealing with Black characters. I tried to create a subculture around how there might be Black werewolves hidden into the Black culture. I came up with the idea of making the society Matriarchal — ruled by female werewolves after playing Horizon Zero Dawn and seeing how that game handled matriarchal rule. I then looked at how age/wisdom might play into it as Black society, while not nearly as elder reverent as other societies, has a bit of “rely on the wisdom of your elders” in it (especially learning from one’s mothers/grandmothers). I then looked at how age might play out for males with a young, inexperienced group, an older group (like fathers, grandfathers, and wise cousins/uncles). Finally, I looked at the way there are icons in the Black community and thought that there is where I could situate Dire Wolves. These are the ancient ones, who are always there, and who can only go away through violent succession (a bit of Highlander). My hero, is a Dire Wolf, or shortened in this world to a Dire. They are so powerful that there can only be ten (10) of them in the world at anyone time and so there names are their numbers (which reflect their position–One, Two, Three, etc.).

Coming Together

I overworked myself in the Spring 24 semester and took on too many projects, so I let this story slide until the last month of classes (April) after having written the first section way back in Jan./Feb. at the start of the semester. I didn’t think I was going to finish it by the end of the semester, but I managed to do so with the help of Spotify (I created a “Dire Wolf” playlist of approx. 10 or so key tracks) and The Law of the Jungle by Rudyard Kipling. I used the songs to help give me the mood/emotion of the piece and Kipling’s poem helped to give me epigraphs as well as certain concepts (such as “The Council”–see the quote below)) to help flesh out the world.

The Lair of the Wolf is his refuge, but where he has
digged it too plain,
The Council shall send him a message, and so he shall
change it again.

I finished the story just before the end of the semester, and I submitted it to a Fantasy Contest. It won’t win (as I tried to tell my students) because I didn’t have time to do a revision phase and there are places that seemed clunky or that didn’t work (I just barely had time to do an “editing” phase and I don’t think I did a very good job there either). However, the goal was to get them to see that sometimes, if there’s a deadline you’re working towards, you HAVE to finish it AND you HAVE to SUBMIT IT, even if you feel that it isn’t your best work because the deadline takes precedence.

In closing, I think I have a solid draft, but that it is going to take some work to get it publishable. However, I think I achieved what I wanted to with it — finding some way to link the “werewolf” mythos with Black culture, and I’m pretty proud of the overall result. Now, it just needs a bit of polish and refinement and I think it could ultimately be a pretty good story.

Sidney

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 KindleCurrently Working On (June 2024)CreativeThe Runner (2023 Revision) (Fantasy Story: 4100 words: 17 Submissions)
Status:  In (Looking for publisher)Finalist in the Baen Fantasy Adventure Award Contest Finalist in the LeVar Burton Reads Origins & Encounters Writing ContestDire (2024) (Fantasy Short Story: 5100 words: 1 Submission)
Status: Out (Out to Publisher–Contest)Scholarly Unnamed Book Chapter
Status: Out (Out to Publisher: Peer Reviewed Publication)Unnamed Book Chapter
Status:  In-Progress

Weekly Writing Update — November 15, 2023

Image Source: https://www.autocrit.com/blog/12-writing-memes-brighten-monday/

Brandon Sanderson, the bestselling author, has a YouTube channel and one of the pieces of content that he posts to his channel is a short weekly update on the status of his writing projects. I’ve tried to do the same basic idea in the past on the blog, but let it slide because I could never replicate his process exactly . . . and I’m not nearly as consistent as I once was because of finishing the Ph.D. process along with the pandemic and other factors, I’ve moved away from blogging consistently. However, I’ve determined that is/was a bad move in that blogging helps to force me to be creative by making sure that I write creatively on at least a semi-regular schedule (or even, gasp , a regular schedule). So, I’m going back to these weekly writing updates. I may use the same protocol that we use in our departmental meetings where if we’ve nothing to report on that week, we say “nothing to report,” or something similar, so if I’ve not made progress on a specific area from we to the next, don’t be surprised if there is a “nothing to report” or similar wording. The goal of this type of blog is to “encourage” me to focus on my writing as an avocation by cataloging a week’s worth of work (or to put it another way, to help me push forward on my writing goals one small step at a time and recording that journey weekly). I will generally focus on 3 main areas of writing: Short Project(s), Long Project(s), and Scholarly Project(s). There will likely be a 4th area every now and again called, Ideas, but I’m VERY good at generating ideas. For me, success (in writing) is moving a project beyond the idea phase into the drafting phase, finishing it, and get it published. While each “phase” is important (idea, drafting, finishing, submission/publication), I don’t consider a project a “success” until it is published.

Short Project = Project Uplift (Sci-Fi)

This is a project that I started seriously at the end of 2021 and worked on in 2022. I was able to do a rough draft that had 3 sections. When it came time for the working draft, I was only able to complete one section (the 1st section) of about 2500 words. I got stuck about halfway through the 2nd section at about 1500 words and finally put it away. This week, I completed a CHARACTER SKETCH for the main character/protagonist (currently named Vangelis). While the name might change, the character is locked in and should inform the next draft of the story. I did NOT have a character sketch while I was working on the working draft last year and it is possible that is why that draft faltered.

Also did some ruminating on the title. I’m not sure Uplift is the best title. In my story, “uplifting” has a definite meaning, but there is already a sci-fi concept of “uplifting” that is totally different from my usage of the word. I’m afraid editors/readers will confuse the already established use of “uplift” with my unique usage of it. It may be better to change the name of the project, but I’ve not yet come to a decision.

Long Project = Unhallowed Graphic Novel

This one was a bit of a mistake. I started writing two graphic novels based off the recent publications of two of my short stories (i.e., exercising my own copyrights by creating expanded derivative works on the short stories that I’ve already published). The two projects are Unhallowed and Childe Roland. I started Unhallowed, but put it down and started working on Childe Roland as I felt it would be the easiest of the two to adapt and as I’ve not adapted a completed story before/completed a full graphic novel (just one comic book story/issue), I wanted to something to practice with. However, when I grabbed the folders, I inadvertently grabbed the one for Unhallowed rather than Childe Roland. Rather than wait a week to go back and grab the correct folders, I just started on Unhallowed and will work on this one until completion.

I worked on a story map for issue 1 of the graphic novel (“The Warden”). This story map was fairly easy as it is mostly the short story adapted into 28-32 pages of comic book script. The challenge is going to come from mapping out the next 3 issues as I only have a vague idea where the story should go from there. I do want to include the main character’s (Arizona’s) backstory somewhere in the graphic novel, but I’m not quite sure where to put it. Feedback told me that the backstory slowed down the pace of short story, so I took it out. I’m thinking it needs to go in issue 2 or 3, but I’m not sure where to put it so that it doesn’t kill the flow of the story.

Scholarly Work

This week I made sure to complete a 150-250 word abstract for the Call for Papers for the Tennessee Philological Association as the deadline was November 18th. I try to attend their conference yearly–this year’s them is children’s literature–and this year I’d finally read a children’s book that I’d been wanting to purchase for a while now, The Girl with the Silver Eyes, a 1980s book about psychic powers. I created the rough draft for a paper about psychic powers in children’s literature. At the time of reading the book, I was also engrossed in a video game about psychic powers called Scarlet Nexus and I saw several overlapping similarities between the two mediums/stories. I’ve also seen/interacted with other psychic power stories over the years and it will be interesting to continue to develop this idea into a larger article should the conference paper prove viable.

Well that’s all that I have for this week. This was a productive week, and I was able to get a fair amount of writing done. I hope it continues! See you all next week.

Sidney

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 KindleCurrently Working On (November 2023)CreativeThe Runner (2022 Revision) (Fantasy Story–4100 words)
Status: Out to Publisher, Finalist in the Baen Fantasy Adventure Award contest, Finalist in LeVar Burton Reads Origins & Encounters Writing ContestScience Fiction Story (1st Draft)
Status: Section 1 of 3 completedFantasy Graphic Novel Story (1st Draft)
Status: Prologue CompletedScholarly Dissertation Completed
Status: Published!Unnamed Book Chapter
Status: Out to Publisher!Blood on the Shield: African American Trauma in Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Status: Published!

Movie Review — Smile (2022)

Image Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15474916/

Not going to sugar coat it–this is one of the only horror movies that I’ve watched in this past stretch of horror movies (Us, Nope, Meagan among others) that I’ve watched this semester that I did NOT care for. Yes, it had a few “jump scares” that I didn’t really like (I don’t really like “jump scares” in my horror, I’ve discovered, but rather rising tension as things ratchet up out of control). No, what really got to me was that the movie made the same mistake that Pitch Black did, it refused to let the protagonist, well, you know, “protag.”

A Protagonist should “Protag”

Simply put, a protagonist should be allowed to complete a full character arc (i.e., understanding of their inner conflict as it applies to the outer conflict of the story) and have the ending flow from that realization. That’s the short version, but the longer version is the same, just with more verbiage. Essentially, a story is defined when a character has problem that they must solve (external conflict). However, something in their nature usually hinders them in some way (inner conflict). The story ends (is resolved) when the character discovers something (usually a truth about themselves) that allows them to overcome their problem. For instance, Luke Skywalker wants to leave the farm, but feels beholden to his uncle (and feels that the Empire/Rebellion conflict is too big/too far away for him to do anything about it). However, when the inciting event happens and Luke finds himself on an adventure, he must learn to put away his daydreaming and focus on trusting (by faith) on a power (the Force) that he can feel even if Han cannot. It is this faith that is put to the test when Ben tells Luke to turn off his targeting computer and trust in the Force. Luke does so and the rest is history.

This is NOT the case with Smile. No, with this movie, the character has a redemption arc and discovers that the (*spoilers*) “entity” is based around trauma. The “protagonist” faces her trauma and confronts it head on and even apologizes for hurtful behaviors, but it doesn’t matter–the entity still “wins.” So, I ask, what is the point of the story? Why, if the protagonist was ALWAYS going to lose, why did I have to waste nearly two hours of my time watching it? (*spoilers*) The movie had ONE job, to entertain, but because of faulty story construction, it couldn’t even do that.

Dark Doesn’t Equal Mean and/or Clever

When will the writers of “dark endings” (Pitch Black and Smile) learn that “darkness” doesn’t equate to an ending that is supposed to be mean spirited and/or clever. George Lucas, say what you will about the Prequel trilogy, managed to pull off one of the darkest endings for Episode Three. And he was successful with Anakin due to one thing that the characters in Pitch Black/Smile should have had, but didn’t — character flaws.

You see, to earn a dark ending, you need to have a character who has some major flaws. And these flaws have to be exhibited in the story and they are what keep the character from achieving their arc and this is what allows the audience to “buy” (suspend disbelief) for a dark ending. Anakin Skywalker has at least 3 character flaws that I can think of off the top of my head (probably more), but definitely three. 1) He listens to the wrong people, specifically Chancellor Palpatine, rather than Obi Wan or Yoda. Obi Wan is like an older brother and Yoda is like an uncle (sometimes kind and sometimes unyielding, but always with Anakin’s best interests at heart), yet Anakin allows Palpatine to fill his ears with poison agains the Jedi, 2) Anakin is impatient and wants every thing now. He bristles when made a Jedi, but not one of the council, 3) he forms attachments (he secretly marries Padme) and it is fear of losing these attachments that drive him to despair and 4) he has anger inside of him (he slaughters the sand people who stole and killed his mother). Palpatine uses this rage (and his fear) and turns him into a monster. Padme even says, “don’t go where I can’t follow.” Each one of these fatal flaws make it clear that the arc that Anakin is on probably won’t be successful (although, if he could overcome them, he could still find his way to a redemptive arc. And yes, I did find more than three (as figured I would).

Smile doesn’t do this. Rather than showing fatal flaws, it shows a character who does all the requisite things to have a redemptive arc (investigates why this is happening, formulates a strategy, executes the strategy and succeeds)–at least until the plot says she doesn’t and then she’s not successful. Her arc does not in success even though she does everything in her power to make it succeed. The Exorcist is similar in construction, except here, there is a character arc that is redemptive. The young priest must save Regan, a child, from the “entity.” Here, the priest does everything possible, and while it is costly, he succeeds. What happened if he failed and Regan was consigned to suffer the fate for the rest of her life? The movie might not have been nearly as successful. Writers really need to understand that this type of manipulation isn’t clever or new, it’s manipulative. The writer is making the audience care about the character all the while knowing that they aren’t going to fulfill their end of the bargain by giving us a fully completed character arc. When writers create these manipulative endings, they essentially rob the character of the agency to achieve their goals (or fail). No, other characters take over and take the agency from the protagonist. This type of writing/plotting is sort of a reverse Deus Ex Machina story, where they agency isn’t given to some “god” character/outside agency, but rather to some other character or entity in the story, to the detriment or negative of the main character.

I’ve seen it happen this way in too many movies to count, but most especially Pitch Black and now Smile. I didn’t like it then and I don’t like it now.

Rating: 2 out of 5.

I wish I could give this type of movie a 1-star rating as I detest it (and its ilk) so much, but I personally reserve 1-star reviews for something so fundamentally broken or bad that it has few, if any, redeeming qualities. This movie is technically strong (it is a solid Hollywood horror film) so there is some level of competence and technical achievement in the film. However, any good will that the movie had earned with me (which was limited as I felt it relied on too many “jump scares” for my liking), the movie burned away with the last 10 minutes of the movie. After the movie was over, I instantly was filled with regret and wished that I had watched another movie (Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter) that I’d picked up or the 2nd episode of Lawmen: Bass Reeves as I’d seen the first episode but didn’t get a chance to see the 2nd episode that they’d released. Regret is NOT the emotion that you want to leave your audience after watching the film and that ending . . . woof, that ending. Until the writer of the film (whose name was PROMINENT in the introductory credits) learns that “clever” still means that you have to adhere to certain writing conventions, I’ll be sure to avoid (or at least be more careful with reviews/expectations) next time. If you want a “dark ending,” please Mr. Writer of Smile, remember that’s what character flaws are for. Please don’t have the character spend (waste) two hours of our lives and then yank their agency from them.

Do I feel strongly about this–yes, I do! Time is a resource (just like money) and I’m resentful of the fact that I sat through a movie expecting a protagonist who would have a character arc to have agency only to find out that the outcome was “predetermined” from the moment the screenplay said “Fade In.” That’s a “trick” that the writer pulled and I most certainly feel cheated out of my two hours (1 hour 55 mins) where I could done something else. Or, to put it another way:

Sidney

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 KindleCurrently Working On (November 2023)CreativeThe Runner (2022 Revision) (Fantasy Story–4100 words)
Status: Out to Publisher, Finalist in the Baen Fantasy Adventure Award contest, Finalist in LeVar Burton Reads Origins & Encounters Writing ContestScience Fiction Story (1st Draft)
Status: Section 1 of 3 completedFantasy Graphic Novel Story (1st Draft)
Status: Prologue CompletedScholarly Dissertation Completed
Status: Published!Unnamed Book Chapter
Status: Out to Publisher!Blood on the Shield: African American Trauma in Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Status: Published!