Looking back at 2017: Top 5 articles on Super Powered Fiction

I did not publish as much this year as I have in the past. Things came up that derailed just about everything, from battles with intestinal issues (three times) to depression and money issues. It's been a rough go and that meant sometimes this blog suffered. But here are the five high points of my 2017 blog publishing schedule, even if they came as sometimes low points for my life.

I rarely need a ton of excuses to post a picture of beautiful women, but I'll use this one 
to give another look at the lovely (and inspiring) Ginary Suicide. Imag: SuicideGirls.com.

• Where I've been, or when life leaves you with no lemonade
  
  This is the post where I covered some my issues in the first half of the year. I won't pretend they're all fixed, but a job change and (relatively) better health have helped a lot.
  
  
• A few thoughts on Wonder Woman
  
  I didn't catch the Gal Gadot vehicle until it hit VOD, but I threw out a few of my thoughts on why it succeeds while other DC releases have not.
  
  
• Succubi and sucky jobs
  
  I still haven't quite wrapped my urban fantasy project, but this article talks about a few of my plans there as well as those aforementioned positive job changes.
  
  
• Star Wars, divisive pop culture and entitlement
  
  Because it needs to be said again and again, I wrote this article on why it is okay to not like the new Star Wars while still letting everyone else love it and it continue in the direction Lucasfilm has chosen.
  
  
• On Cornell
  
  I wrote this one after Chris Cornell took his own life. I have to be honest that while I was never at that point, I was certainly spiraling towards it. His suicide was a sobering moment for yours truly and it still leaves me with a spirit to fight. Godspeed, Chris. 

We will end the week of looking back (with one last article on 2017 in the wings for next week) with Chris Cornell's last major hit, one whose Old West music video has been removed from online. Featuring Cornell escaping a hanging, it seems it was deemed too dark in the wake of his death. But "Nearly Forgot My Broken Heart" is an amazing song from an immense talent that needs to be heard.

What's Up for October 27, 2017

What's Up is a simple post where I give you links to the books, comics, movies, games and/or music I have been enjoying as of late. Feel free to check them out if you would like to enjoy them as well or give your opinions of these works in the comments below (though do try to keep it spoiler free.)





Succubus Blues | Sheriff of Babylon | Spider-Man: Origin of the Hobgoblin |
Meet the Robinsons | Lana Del Rey: Lust for Life

I just made the list!

One thing I always do as I set out to write a new project, especially a novel length one, is a playlist of music to serve as inspiration for my writing. I usually frame this around the feeling of the novel, but with this new project, I'm specifically tailoring two playlists around each of the lead characters.

Soul singer Kehlani is not just a feature on the playlist, but
another source picture in my succubus image folder. 

I've kept no secret about my succubus co-lead of the new novel, so it will be her playlist I share with you here first. It's all conveniently framed up on Spotify for your enjoyment if you have your own succubus-based novel to write (which I'm sure you all do.) Alternately, give it a listen and maybe you'll find a few clues about the character of Aisha as she slowly takes shape in my head.

Succubi and sucky jobs

This image of Suicide Girl Ginary is currently
the placeholder image in my head for one of
the two leads in my November project.
Image copyright Suicide Girls.

It's been a strange couple of weeks. I've in the midst of my final days at my job of the last three years. It's one I have never been totally passionate about, but in recent months I have come to realize the culture of that employer was nothing but poisonous. Thankfully I had a second job in place that could easily become a full time job. Next week, I'll leave behind overnight shifts and the back and issues given me by concrete floors and move into a comfortable job at a local bookstore. While entering the retail field full time in November isn't the best idea ever, I look forward to the free time it will open as I start to rebuild my writing schedule.

As I mentioned previously, I'm setting up for NaNoWriMo right now. With the new job starting on Halloween, I'll have free time open just in time to get working on fifty thousand words for the month of November.

But the move to one job with far more satisfaction in it than two jobs with one being a soul-sucking miasma should free up a lot more time for everything. I hope to use the next month's novel as the springboard for regular writing projects. I have a few ideas already percolating for the days after the novel, but I'm taking baby steps right now.

Anyone interested in joining me for some novel writing in November, can become my writing buddy at the site. My screen name might even be a clue to an upcoming project I have in mind.

In the mean time, I'll be continuing to develop my female lead for the new book, a reluctant succubus in a world far too easy for her to find prey.

What are you currently doing to develop your novel before November? Let me know in the comments or on social media?

Prep in my step

As I wrap up edits on one project, I am also deep into preparation mode for my next personal writing project. National Novel Writing Month begins on November 1st and I plan on using it as motivation to start my next full length writing project.

While I have done a little bit of short story work in the last few weeks, I haven't taken the time to write anything of significant length since summer. But Nanowrimo offers me a chance to fix that and I will be hard at work on a new project, one that takes me out of my usual super wheel house. 

I'm sure I will speak about this project more as I start actually put word to screen, but this new work will be my first foray into urban fantasy, a genre with its own traits but one at the edge of super powered fiction already. It should come as no surprise that I have a supernatural tinted character created decades ago that I think would be a perfect fit for the genre, but the transition from aged super-concept to another genre offers a few challenges.

Setting has proved the easiest. I made the decision to set the first novel in my own neck of the woods. Eastern Iowa has a few weird bits of supernatural history. Coupled with a location most people outside the state don't realize is a city of a quarter million and I have a fascinating place to drop my leads. 

This is a great piece by Genzoman, but I blame Darkstalkers for the sudden
need to give every succubus wings.

From there I've been working on lore built around various secret societies and ancient fears. Succubi, incubi, Lilith, Leonardo Da Vinci and the Knights Templar are a few of the touchstones that will be featured in the upcoming work. While I plan to make the story my own, I also don't want to trounce all over standing legend. As a writer, I often get annoyed when someone uses a concept in name only. My goal is to introduce these concepts in a way both true to their "history" and interesting to new readers. That means research though, so I'm deep into that as I write this. 

Prep can become its own evil however, so I specifically opened a window of time for myself to do it in. I want to have a good idea where I'm going with the new novel ahead of November and what it will feature, though not enough that I cannot let the characters surprise me as they go. That is the joy of writing for me and I don't like the research to get in the way when I'm barreling through 50,000 words in thirty days.