One Day More

I just read on the Weather Channel that although we (as in all of North Texas) are under a freezing rain advisory until tomorrow at 6 PM (yay), the following days should be all sun and highs in the upper sixties!

I can not even begin to tell you how much I hope that that’s true.  With Texas weather, you can never really know.  I’ve seen days where Texas decided we needed tornadoes in December.  No, Texas.  No one ever needs tornadoes.  Especially in December.

However, I would be lying if I said I didn’t prefer thunderstorms to whatever the heck we’ve had for the past week.  It’s been gray and foggy and drizzly and COLD every single day, and as much as I don’t want to admit it, it’s getting to me.  I’m not sure I’d go all the way to say I have Seasonal Affective Disorder, but it did used to bring me down a lot.  Now, I’m older (and on anti-anxiety medication), so maybe that’s helping a little.

But even if it’s not affecting me mentally, it’s starting to get to me physically.  I’ve had almost no energy this past week, and although I’ve been keeping up with the new book, somehow forcing myself to punch out words on this blog has been a nightmare!  That’s not to say I don’t love you!  I do!  That’s why I want to keep writing here as often as I can!

There have been times in the last few days I honestly thought I was getting sick, and part of me almost wanted to.  That at least would have explained the no energy and the overall feeling of yuckiness.  Last week, I was convinced I was getting sick because of how achey I felt and because of all the pressure in my sinuses.  But you know what?  I think I’m as healthy as a horse.  I really think it’s just the weather.  I got a text from my best friend yesterday.  She’s an accountant and she’s right in the middle of busy season.  She told me the all the stress combined with the weather was about to put her over the edge.  Now, being an author is not NEARLY as stressful as being an accountant (not yet, at least…), but I could totally empathize.  I told her I wasn’t sad or stressed, but I just felt sick.

I guess thinking about it, it could be a mental thing.  Just because it’s not affecting my mood, doesn’t mean my brain can’t send out some weird signal to the rest of my body saying, “Okay, you’re not sad or grouchy.  But you need to react to this weather somehow.  I know.  I’ll make you feel like crap.”  The brain is a really fascinating thing.

And now for some other things that have been on my mind recently but I haven’t mentioned because I’ve been too busy griping about how cold and gray it is even though we actually really don’t have it all that bad down here.

1) I really wish people of the world would STOP posting their injuries on Facebook.  It’s gross.  I’m sorry you busted up your knee skiing and I’m sorry you were stupid and you accidentally sliced your finger open on a wine bottle, but I really do not need to see pictures.  Just stop.  Please, stop.

2) You know what musical I really hate?  Annie.  Seriously, it is the worst musical ever.  The Disney remake is only tolerable because of it’s adult cast (Kathy Bates, Victor Garber, Audra McDonald, Kristen Chenowith).  The reason I’m bringing this up is because for some reason, people around the office where I work have decided they need to start singing “The sun’ll come out… tomorrow…” like, pretty much every day since the cold and gray first started.  It’s not bad enough that I have to endure this awful weather, now I have to suck it up while you sing one of the most annoying songs in musical theater history?

3) I mentioned before that my sister and I had a pretty good chuckle over JK Rowling announcing that she regrets Ron and Hermione ending up together.  I guess the reason it was funny to us was because we never really cared all that much about if they got together or no.  To be honest, I was still too sad after JK killed off all my favorite characters to care about who got married in the end.  Still, I knew a lot of people were really upset about it.  A few of my friends, in fact, were just beside themselves.  I really didn’t get it.  Then, completely out of the blue, my sister texts me, “Oh my gosh.  Do you know what I just saw on Twitter?  Someone just wrote, ‘For those of you who don’t understand why we’re all upset about Ron and Hermione, imagine what it would be like if Suzanne Collins suddenly said she regretted having Katniss and Peeta end up together?'”  Oh boy, that did it.  That would not be funny at all.  I think I’d be heartbroken.  I wouldn’t know what to believe in anymore.  I love Katniss and Peeta!!!  So, to all you Ron and Hermione fans out there, I, as an Everlark fan, apologize from the bottom of my heart.  I can’t imagine what that might feel like.  The good news is that they’re still canon and unless JK wants to write us more books, there’s nothing she can do about it.

Honestly though, I want more books about the Four Founders or the Marauders or the Weasleys.  Or all of the above.

4) 93 people have either reviewed or marked Cemetery Tours as to-read on GoodReads!  My goal for the end of February is to get that number up to 100!    https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18470430-cemetery-tours

5) I finished Chapter 25 of the sequel last night.  I’m loving it, guys.  I really hope readers love it also.  Cemetery Tours is 28 chapters long, but I know that the sequel will be a little longer.  However, the sequel is just at 60,000 words and CT was something like 78,000.  We’ll see, though.

Again, stay warm.  Find a good book.  Light a fire.

The Monday Report: Take Two

Monday, we meet again.  So far, you’ve actually been pretty okay to me.  I hope you don’t make me regret saying that.

Before I really begin this post, I do want to take a moment to honor the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman.  As I’m sure most of you know by now, he passed away yesterday from an apparent drug overdose.  That just kills me.  My sister and I always said that he was one of the good ones.  I mean really good.  He could take any part, no matter how small, and turn it into a brilliant performance, impossible to forget.  I remember finding out that he would be playing Plutarch Heavensbee in Catching Fire.  I was thrilled, not only because I love the character, but because every role automatically became ten times better whenever he was cast.  I try to make you all think I’m nice and happy here on this blog, but in reality, I can be a pretty harsh critic.  I’m a fangirl and I become addicted to certain franchises easily, but I can also be very difficult to impress.  Philip Seymour Hoffman always impressed me.  Always.  And I’m absolutely devastated that such a bright, brilliant, and promising life has been cut so tragically short.  Rest in Peace, Philip, May Light Perpetual Shine Upon You, and May the Odds be Ever in Your Favor.

In other news, I hear the Seahawks won the Super Bowl.  I’m not much of a football fan (much to my small-town, big-time college football jock Dad’s dismay).  Besides, I was too busy fretting over the current Ron-Hermione-Harry situation to really care what was happening on television.

Actually, that’s kind of a lie.  I wasn’t fretting.  My sister and I were laughing and making a lot of mean joke’s at poor Ron’s expense. I know to some fans, it’s not funny at all that JK announced that she regretted pairing Ron and Hermione up, but that poor guy!  Even his own author thinks he’s a loser!  That’s just so sad, you really don’t have a choice but to laugh about it!  To quote my sister, “Least loved by the mother who craved a daughter. Least loved by the girl who prefers your friend. Least loved NOW BY JK ROWLING.”

Poor Ron.  He really did get the short end of the stick in pretty much EVERY situation.  I do agree with JK though that Hermione could have done a lot better.  But a part of me does like them together, especially in the eighth movie when Ron runs after Malfoy and his lackeys and screams, “THAT’S MY GIRLFRIEND, YOU NUMPTIES!”  So romantic.  And basically the only point in the entire series that I like in the movie better than in the book.

Speaking of movies vs. books, I’ve finally begun reading the Percy Jackson series.  I’ve only read the first two, but so far, I’m really enjoying them.  I’m a huge Greek Mythology nerd.  In fact, I’ve always said if I wasn’t a Christian, I’d be an Ancient Greek Mythologist because it’s just so cool. Anyway, the books are great.  The movies?  Well, there are parts of them that I like.  For example, I loved Tyson in the second one.  He was just off-the-charts adorable.  I also loved how they designed the hippocampus. I’m not sure I want a hippocampus quite as much as I want a dragon, but it’s definitely close!

Unfortunately overall, both movies were a bit of a disappointment, especially the second one.  One of my favorite things about the book was how often it paralleled The Odyssey.  Not the case in the movie.  They took out almost all references, including but not limited to Grover making and then unmaking his wedding train, Nobody, and the Sirens.

HELLO.  HOW COULD YOU LEAVE OUT THE SIRENS?!  They were one of the coolest parts of the entire book!  You’re killin’ me, Hollywood!

Luckily for the show, it did have one redeeming quality (besides Tyson and the hippocampus): Nathan Fillion as Hermes.  Granted, he was only in one scene, but his performance, as expected, was a show-stealer.  They even threw in a Firefly joke, and even though I don’t watch Firefly, I cracked up.

After seeing Mr. Fillion as Hermes (and recalling his hysterical role as Captain Hammer in Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog), I realized something.  He would make a perfect Luke Rainer (one of the main characters from Cemetery Tours for those who haven’t read it yet).  I know that I’ve said that Jensen Ackles was my ideal Luke Rainer, and physically, he still is.  But Nathan Fillion, although a little older than I intended Luke to be, has it all.  That cheeky, smarmy, almost-douchebag yet somehow still lovable character that he plays so well is Luke.  Plus, he’s totally handsome enough to be Luke Rainer: Spectral Sex Symbol, The Ghost Prince of Primetime.

The weirdest part is that my sister was texting me earlier and I told her about watching Percy Jackson and she goes, “You know… Nathan Fillion kind of reminds me of an older Luke Rainer.”  I was FLOORED. I was like, “DUDE.  I just thought the same thing LAST NIGHT.  I’m going to write a blog about it later!” So ensued the typical sisterly “OMG”-fest when the two of you share a similar thought even though you hadn’t mentioned it to the other. Of course, if you prefer Jensen Ackles, then feel free to still imagine him as Luke.  He is still incredibly handsome.  Or you can picture Nathan.  Or you can create your own casting.  Don’t go by what I say.

One of my favorite things I learned in my writing classes in college (make that one of the ONLY things I learned) was that when you write a book, you’re actually writing three books. You write the physical copy, you write the book the way you see it, and you write the book that others see.  My interpretation of every book I’ve ever read is different than the way you imagine it, and I love that.  It’s so fascinating that we can all experience the same thing in a way that is completely and totally unique. This post is actually turning out to be much longer than usual.  I’ll try to wrap it up here. Cemetery Tours got another great review from someone who stopped by and liked my blog, so thank you, not only for reading, but for your kind words!  They are so greatly appreciated. Man, everyone loves Brink!  I’m really glad I added him more into the sequel. I hope everyone has a pleasant Monday.  It’s cold and gray here, so I will be spending the rest of the day writing and trying to stay warm. Cheerio!