Giving Up

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Hello My Imaginary Friends,

Let’s talk about consuming and creating media. I say media instead of art to avoid any quality bias. I might think my writing is art but others would disagree.

Consuming

I have a rule, well more of a guideline, about consuming media. It goes like this:

“If you’ve gotten through at least 25% and you’re dreading continuing, it might be time to quit.”

I’ve applied this to most long form media like books, movies, comics, TV, youtube shows, etc. There’s a certain amount of relief that I get when I let myself give up on something.

I’ve often broken this guideline, the book I’m currently reading is only 250 pages so I figured I’d finish and critique it properly. I rarely quit a book, I won’t read the rest of the series, but I’ve quit reading 2 books in my life. One was Interview with a Vampire, and the other was a book about a murderer that somehow killed people using landline phone calls.

Series and TV shows are different. I’ll give a book series, one book, and a tv show at least 1 season unless it offends me in the first 2-4 episodes.

It’s really easy to give up on something that no one cares about, but it’s a completely different thing to give up on something that is a cultural phenomenon. When everyone is talking about something, or your group of friends are, there’s a sense of obligation in consuming that thing.

I’m of course talking about Game of Thrones, I’ve watched the first 4 seasons, and read the first 2 books and I just don’t like it. The plots are inconsistent, the characters are either despicable, boring, or dead, and I find it painful to read or watch. There I’ve said it. Revoke my geek card if you wish.

Other shows that are close to me giving up on are Grimm, The Arrow, and Supernatural. All because of inconsistent and downright annoying writing.

Creating

Creating it is completely different. That rule is:

“If you’re dreading creating something, you need to rethink your approach.”

I have been struggling this year with my novel, Everdome. Not just because of book itself. I caught 2 flu’s and the plague. I’ve also apparently been doing something wrong at work and I’ve been getting pain in my right arm. On top of that my work has lost a lot of employees and I’ve had to do more work than past years. (Ok, enough excuses.)

One of my major issues was that I had a beginning and an end, 6 character points of view, and one big cool concept. Unfortunately without character arcs, and a middle, I was having trouble putting words in front of each other.

Last week I stopped and thought about all the characters I had left and where I wanted them to be and how I could get them there. It helped me set things up and start writing freely again.

I think the concept and the characters in this book are awesome, but I’m not sure how good a book it’s going to be. I never am.

 

What popular media have you given up on?

Eric

Screens, Screens Everywhere!

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Hello My Imaginary friends,

I hope you enjoyed last week’s instalment of Only Human. If you haven’t been reading the serial story, go check it out.

I’ve had a crazy busy day this morning at work. I work for the government and they have recently started upgrading our equipment. It means big changes in the way we work. For one thing I no longer have the time to nap when my computer boots up. It actually boots in under 5 minutes. So weird!

It also means that older, and now more expensive, equipment is being phased out, particularly landlines. Who would have imagined that cellphones would someday be cheaper for offices than landlines? Seriously weird!

Unfortunately with better tech comes better firewalls and that means I can no longer load TV shows onto my computer to watch while I work. For that reason I started bringing my personal tablet to work. I work way better with something playing in the background.

Because I’m a web/print designer I have two large screens. When they upgraded the computers they choose Microsoft Tablets. Surface Pro 3 I think. It has a dual core i5 and 4 gigs of ram, which is awesome for the government.

One of the interesting side effects of the Surface is that you can use it as a second, or in my case third, screen.

So for those of you counting at home, I now have 6 screens at my desk. My two work monitors, work computer, work phone, personal phone, and personal tablet.

I personally think all these new technologies are exciting and will ultimately help me do my work more efficiently. I love new tech but it’s really funny to see all this stuff on a desk designed for 1 CRT monitor.

We’re also moving to newer more modern offices which will be exciting. I’ll finally be able to work standing up, which I hear is better for you.

So in short, lots of screens.

What tech would help make your work more efficient?

Later days,

Éric

Only Human (Serial Story) Part 2

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Part 1

Walking down the Greek row of Monster University was both disgusting and fascinating. It was a welcome party that looked completely normal, until you noticed that half the students were drinking blood instead of beer. There were vendors selling everything from crickets for the Medusa to frozen animal hearts for the werewolf population.

As the only human on campus, Rachel should have felt hunted, but she was the one hunting. Her sister would have loved it here, she was always trying to find and understand cryptoids. Rachel sighed at the thought of her sister, she’d been killed when they were twelve; ripped to shreds by something.

Allison had run up to their room saying she’d made a new friend. Rachel assumed it was another imaginary creature and told her to grow up. It was the last thing she’d told her sister. She’d been studying everything she could about monsters and now she was going to find them and make them pay.

“Why so glum, sexy?” Ronnie asked, his crooked smile and appraising gaze made her tingle and blush.

“Your sister says I’m not allowed to flirt with you,” Rachel said coyly as she walked away from him.

His footsteps behind her told her he was following. “Somehow that makes you even sexier.”

“You just want me to make your sister angry?” She smiled at him.

What was she doing? Sure he was handsome, but he was a bloodsucking monster that could rip her apart with one hand.

“Naw that’s just icing on an already tasty cake.”

Spinning around, she tried to mimic the girls she’d seen in high school by jutting one hip out and bending the opposite knee. She put both hands on her hips and gave him a scathing look. “Really? Comparing me to food, and not even something interesting, am I just fluffy tasty calories to you?”

For the first time she saw a crack in his tough jock veneer and he said, “Sa-sa-s- sorry. I wasn’t trying to say that I wanted to e-e-eat you.” She was both ashamed and surprised by his stutter.

Walking towards him, she kissed him on the cheek. She kept her body right next to his, letting him feel her heat. Going on her tip-toes, she whispered in his ear, “Its ok. I just don’t like being compared to food.” She blew lightly on his ear and felt him shiver. “I do like the idea of being covered in icing, though.”

Walking away, she risked a look behind her and saw that he hadn’t moved and his mouth was gaping. She winked at him and saw a smile cross his face.

Through the frantic beating of her heart, she wondered what she was doing, flirting with a vampire. She wasn’t some self-deprecating bland love interest. She turned the corner between two houses and rested her back on the wall of one of the fraternities. She could tell it was a fraternity from its smell, a combination of musk, garbage, and disrepair.

“Good to know that men are pigs no matter what race they are,” she whispered.

“We’re not all that bad,” whispered back a deep voice beside her and she jumped back pulling out a knife.

From the shadows between the two houses she could make out the shape of a man. He lifted his right arm into the air and said, “Whoa, slayer. I’m not looking for trouble.” He stepped out of the shadows and she could see that he had only one arm. He looked human in every way possible except for the fact that he had six fingers.

“Who and what are you?” she asked.

As she looked at him he disappeared and reappeared behind her. “Aren’t you both jumpy and rude. My name’s Dowan and I’m Mannegishi, if you must know.”

Turning quickly she had her knife on his throat before he finished.

“Mannegishi are Tricksters and I thought you were supposed to be tiny?”

“You’re getting us confused with Memegwesi. Common mistake for your people,” he said smiling. He seemed to be enjoying it. His strong chin and high cheekbones made him seem supernaturally handsome.

“My people?” she asked, worried he knew that she was human.

“White kids. You all think you know everything. Just because the Greek myths go at it with anything that moves doesn’t mean the rest of us don’t exist.”

Taking her knife away from his throat, she sighed with relief. “You just scared the crap out of me and then expect me to remember every possible monster?”

Smiling again he waved his hand and said, “Fine. I’m sorry for startling you but it was fun. And don’t think I haven’t noticed that you haven’t told me who you are.”

“Dowan you bastard I’m going to kill you,” said a tall one eyed man who was flanked by three others.

“Ah Al. How have you been?” Dowan asked taking a step back.

“You think you can swindle me and get away with it?” The Cyclops and his friends were easily nine feet tall and muscled like professional wrestlers.

“Yup!” Dowan said and disappeared.

“I guess we’ll just have to teach his friend a lesson than. Aren’t you a pretty little thing,” The Cyclops glowered at her and it made her heart beat quicker, but not in the same way as Ronnie.

She had been walking backwards and found that she was now in the road and there was a crowd around them. There was no way this was going to be a private fight. “I haven’t been called little since I eleven and got a growth spurt,” she replied. It wasn’t witty but it was the best she could do, she didn’t do well with an audience.

For good measure she added, “Leave now and I won’t have to kill you.”

The Cyclops called Al picked up a smart car and tossed it at her.

Read Next

Thank You for a Great Weekend

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Hello my imaginary friends,

I hope you’re having a great week. Mine’s been awesome!

ComicCon

This past weekend was Ottawa ComicCon. Roughly 40,000 people crammed into the convention centre and enjoyed all things geeky. It was amazing.

Jen and I had a booth. This meant that the past month has been spent preparing and stressing. Our house looks like a mini Godzilla has passed through and deposited yarn, button pieces, and coffee all over the place.

All our preparation was well worth it. I nearly sold out of coffee and Jen’s stock was at least halved. (She hasn’t been this low since we started selling.) We did really well, yay!

We also met all kinds of awesome people. Thank you for stopping by and talking with us, it was great to share my passion for coffee with so many others.

Important links

We talked about a lot of things. If you’re trying to find something specific, check here:

Awesome Kickstarter

A Match Made in Austen is a new Kickstarter for a card game based off the world of Jane Austen’s novels. If you’ve always wanted to see how Darcy and Emma would get along (probably terribly), this is the game for you.

The base game is $25 and you get a free ebook with it. You can’t beat that price.

Go check out the Kickstarter.

A Match Made in Austin

My Reading Quest

I’ve been going through my extensive library and reading the first in a bunch of series. The goal is to find out what I am keeping and what I’m getting rid of.

I read Tempest by Julie Cross and loved it. Here’s my review:

A rare book that doesn’t spend to much time on the mechanics of time travel. I love that the author is able to show us the same person in different stages of their lives and makes it believable. I look forward to reading the sequels.

I give it a 75%

 

What are you excited for right now?

Éric

HTTYD

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Gobber, Astrid and Stormfly obligingly posed for this great picture. Astrid was disappointed the TARDIS didn’t actually open.

We had a blast at Ottawa Comic Con 2015 and are looking forward to next year! If you see a picture of yourself, please send us an email to request the original. jenericdesigns@gmail.com