New Year’s Drabble

Photo by BoliviaInteligente on Unsplash

Hello,

As this is the beginning of a new year, I thought I’d try something different with this blog. So starting today, I’ll be posting a microblog of 200 to 500 words every day in addition to the standard Wednesday posts, which I’ve been neglecting to post for the last several months.

I want these drabbles, as I’m calling them, to be more conversational and not have a fixed topic so I can explore whatever’s on my mind that day.
Without further ado, I’ll get into today’s drabble.

A few months back I posted chapters of my debut novel Palingenesis, its sequel, and another novel I’m working on to a website geared toward my target audience. And while the comments have been helpful, I’ve noticed myself obsessing over the number of views and comments each chapter got.

As writers, we often don’t know if a project will succeed or fail till many months or years after we start, and often we seek validation from others as an ego boost.

However I’ve realized some things while revising my current WIP.

First, that I live for those moments when I get lost in my own stories and forget I’m the one writing it.

Second, I don’t need validation for my work;as long as I’m proud of it that’s enough.

Third, that while it would be nice to become famous and wealthy from my books, if that never happens I’ll still write because it gives me joy.

Despite what we’ve been conditioned to believe, not everything should be turned into a side hustle. Some things should be done for fun.

So while I’ll still promote my work and self publish it, I’m okay with not ever make any money from it as long as it continues bringing me joy.

I realize this isn’t everyone’s mindset, and I’m not knocking you,but I’m done chasing likes and views. I don’t have the time or energy to do so anymore and would rather focus my efforts on, ya know, writing and other things that bring me joy.

Well, that’s it for today’s drabble. Happy New Year!

Review: The Ultimate Horror Collection

This couldn’t have oversold itself more if it tried.


Since Halloween was coming up, I thought I’d check out this collection horror stories. However, to my horror many of the stories in this collection weren’t horror stories, and those that were, I found boringly tame.


Of the bunch I found, Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein my favorite. My biggest complaint is that most of this collection consisted of short stories and poems by Edgar Allan Poe, whose work I discovered I loathed. The other issue with this collection is it lacks any works by modern works or writers of color.


Overall, I was sorely disappointed in this audiobook set that touted itself as the ultimate horror collection. Don’t waste your money on this. I give The Ultimate Horror Collection 2.0 out of 5.0 stars.

Review: Witch vs. Witch

Witch vs. Witch by A.C. Merkel

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


An interesting premise marred by subpar writing and stale tropes

Witch vs Witch by A C Merkel is a female/female paranormal romance centering on witches Farrah and Sirena who fall instantly in love at first sight only to later discover they are on opposite sides an apocalyptic battle.

I wanted to love this story , but it was sorely lack in plot, characterization, and the prose.

First, due to this being a novella, there wasn’t enough time to develop the plot beyond save Adrick, save Sirena, save the world. And because of this the relationship between Sirena and Farrah wasn’t developed at all. They literally go from strangers to hooking up and being being madly in love with each other after only seeing each other three times.

Moreover, the world building was lackluster and not fleshed out at all, and the story dragged towards the end.

This was made worse by the utter lack of variety in syntax or any detailed descriptions.

And when I finally got to the end it was beyond cheesy.

While this was a quick read, I only finished it because it was so short. Otherwise, I would have DNF’d it were it 300-plus pages.

Honestly, this read more like a first or second draft than a finished manuscript and could use a ton of editing/rewriting.

While I did enjoy Farrah’s sense of humor and thought her plant magic was a cool concept; it, like the novella in general, lacked in execution.

Overall, I didn’t like this novella much and only give it 3 out of 5 stars.

Maybe this story will resonate with you but it’s a pass for me. Rent it or sang it when it’s on sale.




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Pills

image by Miguel Carro Pombo via scop.io

I take pills, 

So I know what’s real. 

Pills, so I won’t kill 

Myself.   

But these pills  

don’t let me feel 

Much. 

I take pills

So I don’t seize,  

So I don’t  sneeze, 

So my heart beats with ease, 

And I don’t keel 

Over. 

Pills to lower 

My cholesterol,  

To improve my mood overall. 

I take pills so my 

Blood sugar falls. 

Y’all, I’mma be real. 

I’m sick of pills. 

Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Lush prose, engaging characters, but did not live up to the hype.

A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses #1) by Sarah J Maas is a fantasy romance novel that follows 19-year-old Feyre, the youngest daughter of a wealthy family turned destitute, who accidentally kills a fearie while out hunting one day. She is then whisked away to the Spring Fearie Court, where she must adapt or perish.

While I enjoyed this book, it wasn’t without issues.

First, the beginning is very slow and info dumpy and I was tempted to DNF because of the glacial pace.

Second, the court intrigue, or the lack there of. I expected Game of Thrones level backstabbing and plotting, but there was barely any intrigue, court or otherwise. And what there was, I found underwhelming.

That said, I will read the next in the series with hopes the court intrigue intensifies.

I give A Court of Thorns and Roses 4.0 out of 5.0. If you go into it without super-high expectations, and you’ll love it.



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10 new Terms for the New year*

Image by Nichole Honeywill via scop.io

Introduction

Everyone is familiar with common euphemisms such as law enforcement officers, administrative assistants, and sanitation engineers. To further clarity and reduce offense, I have proposed a new series of such terms. Look them over and share your thoughts.

1. calorically challenged: As opposed to “fat,” “overweight,” and “obese” which carry negative connotations — especially for the latter, which sounds like a disease — this term reflects the reality that most people struggle with their weight due to issues with their caloric intake versus output.

2. coitus technician: “Prostitute” and “hooker” are such dirty words and belies the expertise and craftsmanship that’s involved in sex work. Also, because prostitution is legal in Nevada, this term reflects they are professionals like any other working person.

3. sexual explorer: “Slut” is a troublesome word because of the double standard attached to its use and the shaming that goes along with it. However, sexual explorer conjures up images of sophistication, liberated sexuality, and fun.

4. augmented reality specialist: Unlike “actor,” this term is gender neutral and describes the modern state of acting as more computer generated content replaces the need for people.

5. truth dilation and contraction management: While it’s often joked politicians are professional liars, especially in the post “alternative facts” era, this term better describes their behavior. All campaigns are about crafting a narrative for the candidate by exaggerating the positives and suppressing the negatives.

6. an aesthetically acquired taste: This is a much better term than “ugly” or “homely” and reflects that beauty is subjective and there’s someone out there who will like you for you.

7. financially marginalized: This term is much better than “poor” and encompasses the full spectrum of our economic strata.

8. job insecure: This doesn’t have the baggage of “unemployed” and sounds more pleasing to the ear. It’s also reflective of the often uncertain job landscape.

9. Technophobic: Much better than “Luddite” or “troglodyte” and accurately describes the fear many people have of embracing new technology.

10. non-melanated: This has none of the contentious history of “white,” is better descriptively, and centers BIPOC.

*Note: The above is satire.

The Gay Hate Agenda

Introduction

Over the last several years, violence against The LGBTQ community has been on the rise in America and abroad. Conservative groups such as A Million Moms, Moms For Liberty, The Proud Boys, and others have engaged in sustained efforts to disrupt and ban events like Drag Story Time and family-friendly drag shows.

Conservative groups and have also tried banning books containing LGBTQ+ characters or content under the tired and false claim that the LGBTQ+ community is trying to groom children and reading about/seeing queer people will “make kids gay.” And when local communities push back against these efforts, instead of conceding to the will of the people, these groups double down, increasingly showing up armed.

When libraries refuse to remove LGBTQ+ books or cancel Drag Story Time, they often face criticism from these groups and others, up to and including efforts to defund said libraries, as in Jamestown Township, a small community in the western part of Michigan, my home state.

But these groups haven’t acted alone. Politicians like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert have repeatedly said and tweeted anti LGBTQ+ things. And on the local level, politicians and council members have sought to limit or outright ban Drag Story Time and any book with LGBTQ+ content, claiming they violate obscenity and decency laws.

But they aren’t alone. The media gets in on this gay hate agenda too.

Conservative commenters like Tucker Carlson have gone on air spewing anti-trans lies about how liberals what sex ed taught to kindergarteners or want to take away parents’ rights regarding whether their trans children take hormone blockers or get gender confirmation surgery.

And when people like JK Rowling and Helena Bonham Carter or other celebrities say, do, or post transphobic things or boost anti-trans comments and voices, reporters often don’t point out the misinformation and lies.

 Instead, they frame the story as a debate.

The problem with this is it gives legitimacy to this gay hate agenda. When it comes to human rights—yes, trans rights are human rights—there is no debate when one side believes the other side shouldn’t exist.

All of this hate hurled toward the trans and queer communities reached a critical point last November when an assailant entered Club Q; the only LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs, CO; armed with an AR-15 and opened fire, killing five and injuring twenty-five.  

And more recently police arrested a man in Florida for threatening to kill 100 LGBTQ+ students at Florida State University. He claimed, “It was a joke.”

Running through all this is a unifying thread, the belief in the so-called gay agenda; that the LGBTQ+ community here and elsewhere want to “turn people queer,” by indoctrinating children, and grooming them for sexual assault.  

This is false.

Studies show 80-90% of all known child sex offenders are cis males. Child sex abuse statistics also show that almost one-third of  children are assaulted by a family member. For children under the age of six, 50% of the abusers are someone in the family. For victims aged 12 to 17 the percentage drops to 23%. Stats also point to no tangible link between homosexuality and pedophilia, despite some assertions (Darkness to Light).

So no, random LGBTQ+ folks aren’t the ones you need to look out for. It’s your friends and family. The simple fact is Carlson et al. are fear mongering and pushing their gay hate agenda.

Textbook Hypocrisy

First, learning about, reading and seeing LGBTQ+ people doesn’t sexualize children any more than learning about straight folks does. And the hypocrisy of A Million Moms et al. with this is appalling. They have no issue with depictions of straight couples in 99.999% of the media, but let there be a same-sex couple or a same-sex kiss on screen and they lose their minds.

Yet these are some of the same people who have no problem with things like child beauty pageants, or insinuating kindergarteners are in romantic relationships with each other, if said couple is straight. They are also the ones who often complain about having the gay agenda shoved down their throats, yet have no issues pushing their views on others re: religion, which brings me to my next point.

These people try to mask their bigotry behind religion, yet they pick and choose which parts of the Bible to follow. I’m reminded of the scene from West Wing where President Bartlet and conservative commenter Dr. Jenna Jacobs get into an argument about homosexuality and the Bible. President Bartlet points out all the other laws in Leviticus and elsewhere that Christians like Dr. Jacobs ignore while zeroing in on Lev 18:22 to further their gay hate agenda.

Such laws prohibit wearing clothes of blended fabrics; eating shellfish, pork, or any animal with cloven feet; or marking your body (Lev 19:19, Lev 1:1-47, Lev 19:28). The Bible also establishes the criteria for who you can enslave and for how long, such as selling your daughter into slavery (Exodus 21:7).

The excuse given for this is that Jesus changed things with his death and resurrection. However, Jesus is quoting multiple times throughout the News Testament saying Old Testament Law still applies (Matthew 5:17-20).

Yet, they completely ignore everything Jesus said about helping the stranger and, the least among you, not pushing your religion on others, the beatitudes, and being overly pious for show (Matthew 5-7).

But even if their interpretation of The Bible is right, it doesn’t matter.

 Because The US and most other Western countries are in fact secular nations, so no religion can force their views on non-believers.

We Are a Secular Nation

 “…Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”—The First Amendment.

The entire point of the 1st Amendment was to prohibit the government from telling its citizens what they could say, what they could write, who they associate with, and who and how they could worship. Thus, Madison et al. added the establishment clause, and why Jefferson wrote in a letter to the Danbury Baptists Association that:

“…Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.”

And it’s this fundamental misunderstanding of the 1st amendment regarding religion and free speech that is at the core of the gay hate agenda. They believe their interpretation of their religion should take precedence.

No.

 You have a right to your views, but you don’t have a right to force them on others. If you don’t want your children to read books with gay or trans characters, go to Drag Story Time, or a family-friendly drag shows, then don’t take them. But you don’t get to take that choice away from others, especially when these stories give many kids the representation they desperately need.

Representation Matters

Whether it’s politicians pushing bills to ban trans youth from using the bathroom that comports with their gender identity, or draconian laws that would ban trans athletes from participating in sports and subject them and others to inspections of their genitalia from adult strangers if someone suspects them of being trans, to the above efforts to ban books with LGBTQ+ content; at every turn, the adults claiming to care about the welfare of children are the same one demonizing them if they aren’t cis and heterosexual.

So many LGBTQ+ kids feel unseen and not worthy of love, respect, and dignity because their communities send them the message, they are wrong, confused, don’t know they’re LGBTQ+; and even if they do, their lives don’t matter.

Therefore, healthy, three-dimensional depictions of queer folks are important. Not just for queer kids and teens, but for everyone else.  

Facts and Figures

Studies have shown reading books increases empathy and emotional intelligence, and that reading about characters from marginalized communities increases empathy toward those communities.

Studies have also shown seeing positive depictions of LGBTQ+ people helps kids come to terms with their gender identity and sexuality sooner. This is the reason there appears to me more LGBTQ+ people now. Because they feel more comfortable coming out and doing it sooner because it’s less stigmatized now. And not because the queer community is “turning people gay.”

Per the Mayo Clinic’s website:

“Most children between ages 18 and 24 months can recognize and label gender groups. They may identify others as girls, women or feminine. Or they may label others as boys, men or masculine. Most also label their own gender by the time they reach age 3.

However, society tends to have a narrow view of gender. As a result, some children learn to behave in ways that may not reflect their gender identity. At age 5 or 6, most children are rigid about gender and preferences. These feelings tend to become more flexible with age.”

And per a medicinenet.com article:

“In a 2020 study of transgender adults, 73% of transgender women and 78% of transgender men reported that they first experienced gender dysphoria by age seven.”

And according to research conducted by Gilbert Herdt, PhD, Executive Director of the National Centers on Sexuality at San Francisco State University, and Martha K. McClintock, PhD, David Lee Shillinglaw Distinguished Service Professor in Psychology at the University of Chicago, stated in their study “The Magical Age of 10,” published in the Dec. 2000 issue of Archives of Sexual Behavior:

“Accumulating studies from the United States over the past decade suggest that the development of sexual attraction may commence in middle childhood and achieve individual subjective recognition sometime around the age of 10. As these studies have shown, first same-sex attraction for males and females typically occurs at the mean age of 9.6 for boys and between the ages of 10 and 10.5 for girls.”

My point being is people often know their LGBTQ+ as kids and therefore queer representation is so important as they are going through these formative years to know they aren’t wrong, aren’t an abomination for who they love or what gender they identity or express themselves as.

I know this from a personal standpoint as I came of age in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, when being LGBTQ+ was much less accepted than it is now and there were few positive portrayals of queer people in the media and even fewer of Black queer folks like me. And because of this, I struggled with coming to terms with my sexuality and often thought of suicide.

And I know I’m not alone.

A 2022 national survey of 34,00 youth between 13 and 24 by The Trevor Project found:

  • 45% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the last year
  • LGBTQ youth who felt high social support from their family reported attempting suicide at less than half the rate of those who felt low or moderate social support.
  • LGBTQ youth who found their school to be LGBTQ-affirming reported lower rates of attempting suicide.
  • LGBTQ youth who live in a community that is accepting of LGBTQ people reported significantly lower rates of attempting suicide than those who do not.
  • 60% of LGBTQ youth who wanted mental health care in the past year were not able to get it.
  • Fewer than 1 in 3 transgender and nonbinary youth found their home to be gender-affirming.
  • 14% of LGBTQ youth attempted suicide in the past year.

(Including nearly 1 in 5 transgender and nonbinary youth and 1 in 10 cisgender youth.)

The stats don’t lie. When LGBTQ+ kids feel safe and supported, their mental health improves and they’re less likely to harm themselves.  

 The proponents of the gay hate agenda believe the opposite. They believe I and other LGBTQ+ people are trying to groom their kids, trying to brainwash them into mutilating their genitals as part of some grand gay conspiracy to destroy the nuclear family and Western Civilization. They want us to regress under the guise of protecting the children, because they and others like them believe being LGBTQ+ is inherently sexual.

Spoiler alert: it’s not.

In fact, the queer community includes members who fall on the asexual spectrum and th experience sexual attraction to varying degrees.

Conclusion

Being LGBTQ+ is no more inherently sexual than being straight. And that these people automatically associate being queer with sex says more about them than it does us.

But as I’ve said many times, before folks are queer adults, they’re queer kids. And they deserve to live their best lives free from people who claim to care about them while steadily doing everything in their power to make their lives worse.

 Banning books and media with LGBTQ+ content and events like Drag Story Time isn’t going to suddenly make everyone straight and cis. It will only make more of the children you profess to care about harm themselves.

It also shows your stupidity and lack of humanity. No one can make you LGBTQ+, no more than you can turn a queer person straight. You either are or you aren’t. To believe otherwise is simply homophobia and transphobia.

Being a kid, especially an LGBTQ+ one, is hard enough without becoming the poster child for a movement that is antithetical to everything you are.

If you want to protect children, then don’t put outdated gender norms and roles on them. Let them be whoever they turn out to be. If you can’t do that, then you shouldn’t be a parent.

Period.

Review: Nathaniel by John Saul

An illustration of a farm at night with a tombstone in the foreground that reads, "Nathaniel," and a rundown barn in the background.



My rating: 2 of 5 stars


An interesting premise marred by one-dimensional characters, half-baked ideas, a lack of horror/suspense, and an ending that falls flat.

In John Saul’s Nathaniel, Janet Hill and her son Michael move to her husband’s farm town following his death.

Everyone is friendly, but Janet and Michael soon learn things aren’t as they seem.
Michael begins hearing the voice of Nathaniel, a local boogeyman, and Janet learns the women in her husband’s family have a disturbing number of stillbirths that they blame Nathaniel for.
Nathaniel then tells Michael his grandfather and Doctor Potter have been killing the babies.

Whether this is true, and if Nathaniel is real, drives the story. However, Saul stretches out these mysteries way too long and the ending doesn’t give a clear answer to either.

If this weren’t bad enough, the story moves at a glacial pace, doesn’t pick up until two-thirds in and lacks any sense of horror or suspense. I kept waiting for it to get scary and it never did.

I’ve read and enjoyed other books by John Saul, but this isn’t his best work. Nathaniel reads like a first or second draft. He doesn’t develop any of the characters at all and they are instantly forgettable.

As for the plot, what little there is, isn’t fleshed out.

Saul introduces ideas and plot points without fully developing them, and then drops them. Was Shadow, the stray dog Michael adopted, just a regular mutt, or was he supernatural? Did Michael wish Ames Hill, his grandfather, dead, or was it an ordinary heart attack? Was Nathaniel real, a ghost/demon, or a figment of Michael’s troubled mind? Did Ames Hill kill Janet’s husband and try to kill Michael, or were they accidents? Is Michael the new Nathaniel?

Your guess is as good as mine as Saul never tells the reader one way or another, which I found infuriating.

Overall, I didn’t enjoy this book and don’t recommend it. I give Nathaniel 2.0 out of 5.0 stars.






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Review: Irving Wishbutton and The Revision Ravine

Irving Wishbutton and the Revision Ravine by Brian Clopper

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Meh.

The second entry in Brian Clopper’s meta fantasy series finds Irving and zombie-turned-vampire Roon reaching Revision Ravine and learning more about Dean Harmstrike and the Questing Academy.

Let me start by saying I had low expectations going into this book as the first book failed to tie up many loose ends, but I gave it the benefit of the doubt. I shouldn’t have.

All the issues from the first book are present here and turned up to eleven. Irving and the other characters are never in any danger, as either Irving’s wish jacket or his author save the day.

Moreover, this book, like the first, failed to tell a self-contained story. Instead, what you get is an incomplete story and you come away feeling like you only got the second act of a book. The books don’t make sense narratively when separated as they are.

My other issue is with Irving himself; he’s the definition of mediocre and lacks any distinct personality and is little more than a plot device to experience the world. The other characters don’t fare much better. While Roon is slightly more developed than Irving, she’s still very generic. Knarl and his axe wife were so one note they were completely forgettable, and I felt the same about the denizens of Revision Ravine.

I could have forgiven all this had Clopper answered more questions than he raised in this book. Unfortunately, that is not the case. While we get a few more tidbits about Dean Harmstrike and the world of the Questing Academy, we’re left with far too many loose threads to justify slogging through the rest of the series.

I won’t bother with the other books in the series and will just look up the ending online.
I give Irving Wishbutton and the Revision Ravine 2.0 out of 5.0 stars and don’t recommend it. Either look up the ending online or skip it altogether.






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Review: Irving Wishbutton Book #1

Irving Wishbutton and the Questing Academy by Brian Clopper

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Irving Wishbutton and the Questing Academy is the first book in Brian Clopper’s meta fantasy series about the eponymous boy-hero and the anonymous writer drafting his book. The story alternates between the everyday life of the writer and his family, and Irving’s time at the Questing Academy.

I liked the concept of this book a lot and thought how Clopper depicted the often-mundane life of writers was spot on. I also loved the mystery about Dean Harmstrike and the other characters Irving encountered, especially cyborg Val and fairy Sarya. I equally loathed Gared, the arrogant pompous knight, and windbag villain Raggleswamp.

However, my major criticism of the book was how Irving was never in any danger as all his problems were fixed by the actions of his author. For example, Irving’s writer drafts a chapter where he gains a wish, that he then uses later in the Questing Academy plotline.

This happened repeatedly to the point I could predict how Irving would get out of tights spots and thus never feared for him. Not only did this rob the story of all narrative tension, but it made for boring reading, and I’d go as far as saying it bordered on Deus ex machina territory, in the sense the almighty hand of the author was always there to pull Irving out of danger.

I also didn’t like how the book ended on a massive cliff hanger, but that should have been expected given how often the “writer” in the story ended his chapters on cliffhangers.

I will say there were a lot of redundancies and clunky sentences throughout the book, and it could have stood a few more rounds of editing.

Overall, the book lacked polish and could have been executed better. I give Irving Wishbutton and the Questing Academy 3.0 out of 5.0 stars. I bought the next in the series, but I’m in no rush to read it.

I recommend you either rent this from your library or snag it when it’s on sale.




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Review: Weapon UwU Vol.1

Weapon UwU Vol 1: Godkillers by S.J. Whitby

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


So much wasted potential

Set between the events of Cute Mutants Vol. 4 & 5, Weapon UwU Vol. 1 follows Lou, Maddy, Gladdy, Ye Shou, Katie, and Skye as they set out to kill Heart of a Flower, then his children. However, it did not live up to the hype of its subtitle: God Killers.

Lou and company killed Heart of a Flower with ease and then persuaded his children to either stand down or join their side. And at no point did I fear for the characters’ safety, as they were never in any real danger.

While it was nice to see the other Cute Mutants interacting with each other, sans Dylan and their inner circle, Whitby dedicated so much of this book to the middle-school-level soap opera of who liked who, complete with the obligatory love triangle.

This wouldn’t have been such an issue had the characters in question not been in their late teens/early twenties and the extermination of mutantkind weren’t looming over everything. It just felt to me like everyone was acting so immature given the grave situation they were facing.

I also thought this book was very repetitive: Weapon UwU would learn about strange events somewhere in the world, go investigate, meet one of Heart’s offspring, fight minor enemies, then turn said offspring to their side or find some nonlethal way to neutralize them.

Overall, this was just an okay book. It was nothing special, and I suggest you either rent it or buy it when it’s on sale. I give Weapon UwU Vol. 1 3.0 out of 5.0 stars.





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30-Second Stories: What Political Ads Can Teach Us About Storytelling

image by Jeffrey Diehl via scop.io

Introduction

Welcome readers!

With primary season 2022 in full swing here in America, I thought it’d be a good idea to analyze political ads and what lessons they can teach us about storytelling. For those out of the loop, Americans vote for candidates in Congress every six years and the House of representatives every two years.

However, unlike in other countries where campaign spending is capped, in America candidates can spend unlimited funds on ads thanks to Citizens United, in which the Supreme court ruled corporations are people, money is free speech, and thus corporations can donate unlimited money to campaigns, political action committees (PAC) and superPACS. The former of which can donate directly to candidates and coordinate with them, while the latter can’t (but often do anyway).

As a result, in every election cycle, candidates flood Americans with emails asking for donations and bombard us with political ads.

Know Your Audience

But these campaigns don’t throw crap at the wall and see what sticks; they do their research and tailor each ad to a specific demo with a singular message that often boils down to their opponent is bad for X reasons but I’m good for Y reasons. And in recent years with the advent of social media, campaigns have been able to target their ads with laser precision to reach their intended audience, as seen in the 2016 when the Trump campaign used Facebook data harvested from Cambridge Analytica to target democratic voters disillusioned with Hillary Clinton and get them to vote third party.

 He also spoke to the feelings of disenfranchisement among older and working-class white people by harkening back to a simpler better time with his slogan, Make America Great Again, often shortened to MAGA.

 We also saw this in both Obama’s campaigns where he levied social media to connect with younger voters. In both cases, their ads spoke to their audience, admittedly in vastly different ways.

But how?

By speaking to their base, the hard-core fans who will go beyond voting for them to canvassing, calling, and taking people to the polls to vote.

How does this apply to writing?

 First, if you don’t find your base, your tribe, you may sell a few copies, but that’s where it stops. There will be little word of mouth, and few if any reviews. But by finding your base, you’ll have a crew of readers who will ride or die for you and your work and who won’t stop talking about you.

Second, if you don’t identify your base, any marketing and ads you do will fizzle out.

As I mentioned above, political campaigns may seem like they want everyone to vote for them, but they actually want higher voter turnout among their base than their opponents.’ This is because historically voter turnout has been low, especially in non-presidential elections, so while there may be more of them than you, it all boils down to getting out your base.

But how do you find your writing base?

You go where they go, frequent the websites they frequent, and connect with them. You find their likes and dislikes, their hobbies, their personalities, and their problems.

And you give them what they want/need.

Give Them What They Want

Political ads often prey upon people’s emotions, e.g. fear, anger, or uncertainty about the future. Again, going back to the Trump campaign’s 2016 run, they played on the fears and anger that white Americans and their values were being ignored and becoming irrelevant.

Likewise, in Lyndon B. Johnson’s famous daisy ad, which featured a little girl on a swing holding a daisy before it cuts to a picture of a mushroom cloud, only aired once. But the message was obvious: vote for Barry Goldwater and it’ll end with nuclear war with Russia.

In the infamous Willie Horton ad, which spawned a genre of attack ads based on racial fears, the 1984 George H. W. Bush campaign painted Dukakis as soft on crime by implying he would allow criminals like Horton on the loose to commit more crimes.

Horton, a Black man serving a life sentence for murder without prole, while on release on Massachusetts’ weekend furlong program, failed to return, and physically and sexually assaulted a white woman before a civilian later shot him.

 And more recently, Hillary Clinton’s 3AM ad with a red ringing phone, implied, then candidate Obama was ill prepared to handle the rigors of being president.

These quintessential attack ads did one thing: made people vote for the target’s opponent because they will stop the nightmare scenario from happening. They also created a us vs. them mentality, and if people are one thing, it’s tribal.

But how does this apply to writing?

Easy.

We all Want to matter

People want to be entertained. But more than that, they want stories that speak to them as a person. They want to be seen, to know they and their struggles matter, that they too can save the day and get a happily ever after.

The secret to giving readers what they want is to not try to please everyone.

 Instead, focus on one person, be that you or someone else, and write for them. Be specific and write from your experience. Write what scares you, what hurts, because if it resonates with you, it’ll resonate with others. Tell your truth, regardless of how ugly it may be or who may take offense, because your story demands to be told. Do this and you’ll find your audience and please them. But that’s not enough.

You must hook them and keep them hooked.

Hook The Audience Early

Because we live in a capitalist society, everything costs money, and political ads are no different. They, in fact, cost so much that they only have 30 seconds to hook audiences, keep them engaged, and tell their story.

Likewise, you only have a brief window to hook readers before they put your book down to do one of a hundred other things vying for their attention.

 One of the best ways to hook readers is by starting with a bang. While literal or metaphorical, you want your protagonists to be doing something when your readers meet them. One good way to insure this is by starting right in the middle of the action, aka in medias res.

Another way to hook readers early is by starting as close to inciting incident as possible, so they don’t have to slog through world building or character development that can come later.

Additionally, you could start at the end, then jump to the beginning, as masterfully done by Tarantino in Pulp Fiction.

You could also start by posing a question to the audience, such as in mysteries, and the quest to answer this question drives readers forward.

A similar technique is to add subplots with their own questions and move from one to another, answering one question as another arises to keep readers engaged and guessing what happens next.

But perhaps the best way to keep readers hooked is by making them care for your characters. They don’t have to like them, but they must feel something for them, and you do this by making your characters true to life.

We all have that one friend who reminds us of pretentious Holden Caulfield, bookish Hermione, or egotistical Victor Frankenstein; pull from your knowledge base and give your characters quirks and ticks of those you know. Make them act and sound like real people, complete with flaws and questionable morals.  

And once you’ve made readers care about your characters, send them on a journey that matters. Have them grow and change as the plot demands, not vice versa, and make them earn their endings.

But once the story ends, the actual work of getting reviews and further sales begins.   

Repetition, Repetition, Repetition

One reason political ads are often highly effective is a combination of superb storytelling and repetitions. During campaign season, you can’t escape ads; they flood the airwaves, internet, your email, phone (robocalls and texts), even video games are no longer safe as candidates have taken to appearing in games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, MLB Live 08, and Burn Out Paradise.

The point being, repetition is key to building and growing your reader base. Research has shown it can take seeing an ad 3 times or more before people buy a product, which means you must be your own hype man for marketing your book. Of course, don’t engage in spam or dishonesty to get sales, but plug your book and talk about your writing often sopeople know it’s out there.

Yes, this means marketing yourself and your book (I know. It sucks.).  

Go All In

 If you don’t believe in yourself and your book, no one else will. Put everything you have into it and promoting it. Engage in hash tag games and Facebook groups, reach out to bloggers and your local media, run ads, do what you must to get the word out.

Because no one will care as much about your book as you.

One thing we can learn from political ads is how to be evangelists for our books.

Don’t back be shy about saying how much you love your characters and their story, how excited you are for people to meet them, and how much you hope readers get what you’re trying to do.

This too, means having an elevator pitch on lock and ready to go when asked what your book’s about, and what your next project(s) are. It also means having some way to connect with readers, be it on social media or via a newsletter, and keeping them posted on your work and yourself.

You could have the best book in the world, but if no one knows about it, then what?

This goes triple if you’re a self-published/indie author. If need be, take a public speaking course if you’re not naturally extroverted, read a few books or watch a few videos on Amazon ads, social media marketing, and growing your followers.

Do whatever it takes to let people know how outstanding your book is.

Conclusion

If you’re American,whomever you vote for in the midterms, do it because you’ve investigated them and their platform. None of the above matters if there’s no substance behind the candidate and the book.

Write stories only you can and fuck the haters.

In closing, I want to leave you with this quote from Marianne Williamson I think is apropos:

“Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? Your playing small does not serve the world. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.”

Thank you for reading and let me know your thoughts in the comments. Also, share this post if it spoke to you, and you can sign up to my newsletter for updates on me and my work here.

Review: Queer As Hell

Queer as Hell by Justin F. Robinette

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Queer As Hell is a queer horror anthology by MTL.

However, it lacked in both the horror and queerness. Most of the stories only had a fantasy/paranormal element, and the queerness was rarely more than subtext. Also, many of the stories ended just as they were getting interesting, leaving you feeling cheated.

While there were a few stories I enjoyed, such as Attachments, by Justin F. Robinette, in which a ghost haunts his former lover who spurned him; and HUSAVGUD, by Bernardo Villella, in which a gay man must face his past to move ahead; most of the stories were forgettable.

Overall, I felt this anthology failed to deliver on both the horror and queer aspects and pulled a bait and switch. I give Queer As Hell 2.0 out of five stars and don’t recommend you read it.




View all my reviews

Mitten tales 3:Cumming of Age part 2

I’m Coming Out

After graduating high school, I didn’t really plan to go on to college, and spent a year bumming around, eventually getting in trouble for shoplifting and my dad gave me an ultimatum: either go to college or he’d kick me out. So, I started at Henry Ford Community College before transferring to Oakland University.

My freshman year, I tried joining a fraternity, and failing that, I joined the Gay Straight Alliance, where I met other IRL queer people for the first time and didn’t feel so alone. After that first year, I mustered up the courage to come out as gay to my mother and, eventually, my father. This was largely because I felt like I “had to pick a side” even though I liked girls too.

Like most college kids, I went out clubbing on the weekends and wound up losing my virginity to a girl one week, a guy the next, and hooked up with a prostitute a few weeks later.

Looking back, I needed my ass smacked, but yolo.

So, I spent the first half of my twenties hooking up with guys and trying to find a boyfriend. But the whole time, part of me was curious about relationships with women. However, due to internalized biphobia, I didn’t think bisexuality was real, especially not for guys, so I suppressed those feelings until me and my first boyfriend broke up.

I’m Coming Out Part Deux

Things ended between us badly. The relationship was toxic and emotionally abusive as fuck, and I should have broken up with him a lot sooner than I did. Anyway, after we broke up, I got depressed and ate my feelings for like three or four months, then I like snapped out of it and hit the gym, admittedly to extremes (6-7 days a week, 4-6 hours a day).

As I shed the pounds, my confidence rose, and I caught myself checking out the women at the gym and them checking me out.

I’m not proud of this next part, but here it is.

I got the asinine idea to make myself straight, so I got rid of all my gay porn, stopped visiting online gay erotica sites and went out to straight clubs intending to hook up with women.

Because I’m so shy I’d have a few drinks to loosened me up, but as time wore on, I had to drink more to get the same affect, which eventually led to me getting alcohol poisoning twice in six months, at which point I stopped drinking cold turkey.

I’m not gonna lie, I was an asshole to the women I interacted with and apologize for my fuckboy ways.

I wound up dating a few women and hooking up with them.

 But at the end of this idiotic quest, I realized I was still into guys, but liked girls, too. So, I came out again as bisexual and have been openly bi ever since. I also try to advocate for more bisexual visibility by writing stories featuring bi and pan characters of color like me.

 It’s my goal to fill the world with all the stories I wished were around when I was coming up, so other LGBTQ+ Black and brown kids know they aren’t alone, and they matter.

As for my love life?

I’ve been single for the last thirteen years and if Mr. or Ms. Right comes along, cool. But I’m fine being alone.

Conclusion

That’s my tale more or less. I have omitted some events for the sake of brevity and to protect the innocent/stupid.

What was it like for you growing up?

Let me know in the comments.

Mitten Tales 3: Cumming of Age Part 1

Introduction

Welcome!

Today’s post will explore my coming of age and sexual awakening. Unlike today where being LGBTQ+ is mostly accepted, back in the ‘90s and early 2000s, being gay was the worst thing imaginable, especially if you were Black. So much so it was the go-to insult on the schoolyard.

Growing up, all I heard was how awful and gross being LGBTQ+ was and what few depictions of them in the media weren’t flattering. So, as a young Black queer boy it was rough, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Confessions of a Pervy Kid

 To put it lightly, I’ve had a complicated relationship with sex and sexuality.

I was a toddler when I saw my first porno. The way my parents tell the story, they’d rented Pinocchio from the video store, but instead of the Disney classic, the store gave them the X-rated version, and it wasn’t until they came to check on me and the other kids because we were suspiciously quiet that they discovered the mistake.

Fast forward a bit and I was now two going on three and my parents had left me home alone, as they often did in those days.

I was a curious kid prone to exploring, and while searching in the closest I found a videotape. Thinking it was one of my cartoon tapes, I popped it into our VCR and on came a porno.

I still remember it to this day; the premise was a busty blonde didn’t know how to deep throat, so she employed a hung Black guy to teacher her how. There I was enthralled, lying on my stomach, feet kicked up in the air, watching them go at it, when my dad came home from work. He saw what I was watching and tore my ass up.

Thus began my perennial mission to seek out all things sex related.

You Show Me Yours I’ll Show You Mine

When I was a bit older, me and another boy from our apartment played you show me yours and I’ll show you mine. Recalling the event, it wasn’t sexually so much as out of curiosity.

 Jumping forward a bit, I was now five, and we’d moved to Detroit.

One day, a girl from up the street took me behind some bushes and flashed me her privates; I did the same, and that was the end of that.

TW: Child Sexual Abuse

Following this, my Uncle Pat’s girlfriend’s son, who was a few months younger than me, began molesting me and my brother.

 It started with I’ll show you mine if you show me yours. Then he taught us how to masturbate by rubbing ourselves against stuffed animals. Next, it progressed to oral sex and sitting on his penis. I didn’t know what to do because the only thing I’d been told regarding child sex abuse was the abuser was an adult stranger, not family.

I now know this type of abuse is common in the Black community, though rarely spoken of.

However, back then, I didn’t know how to process it. And as often happens, I abused others, namely a boy visiting one of our neighbors. I’ll spare you the details and just say it involved penetration.

Rightly so, his parents were livid and banded me from being around him, and I got the requisite ass whooping from my parents.

Jumping forward a bit, my family and I were now living with my dad’s mother in the house next to her old one while we waited for the land lady to transfer things over to my parents. I was snooping in my parents’ room when I found my mom’s playgirl magazine.

I was oblivious to everything as I thumbed through the pages and didn’t hear the door opening. Betty, my father’s mother, saw what I was reading and beat my ass with a wooden paddle so hard it broke. My dad being a huge mama’s boy, said nothing about this and I went on my way to explore the empty house next door.

I found my Uncle Pat’s massive collection of Playboy and Penthouse magazines. I spent a couple of hours perusing them, and when I came how my mom asked if I’d enjoyed looking at those porn mags. I acted like I didn’t know what she was talking about, as I didn’t want another whooping.

In hindsight, the clues I was bisexual were all over the place, but more on that later.

Shortly thereafter, I had my first case of Steven’s-Johnson syndrome, which you can read about here, and all thoughts of anything not hospital related left my mind until I hit puberty.

Cumming of Age

Over the years, it became a habit of mine to sus out my dad’s porn collection, only for him to discover this and beat my ass. My brother and Uncle pat’s girlfriend’s son got in the act too; at one point when I’d discovered a porno tape, one of them would stand guard for my mom while two of us watched the tape.

But in between that, I came of age.

 Due to all the steroids given to me to reduce the swelling in my airway from the allergic reaction I mentioned above, by eleven I could ejaculate and had tons of pubic hair, and it was around this time that I had my first inklings I wasn’t straight.

There was a teenage boy in our neighborhood who would play with us younger kids, and I remember being infatuated with him to the point I got hella jealous when he played with anyone but me.

 Looking back, I was totally crushing on him.

 It was also around this time I had my first serious crush on a girl. I was about twelve and she was in the grade below me, so we only got to see each other in the few classes we shared. I was super shy and never worked up the courage to confess my feelings to her. But the worst part was everyone knew how I felt and teased me about it. I think is partially why I have approach anxiety with asking people out.

A Whole New World

The summer I turned thirteen, a whole new world opened to me when I got a PC and internet access.

It was 1997, the days of dial up, AIM, and 56k modems. Like any horny teen, I promptly found my way to porn sites, but given the limitation of the technology at the time, I found it faster to read my porn than watch it.

It never crossed my mind that I was mainly reading gay erotica, or that there was anything wrong with that, until the guys in my age group all started talking about hooking up with girls.

 Now like then, I’m more attracted to men than women, but because of bi erasure and biphobia I thought I had to hide my attraction to guys.

But over the years, those stories I found online became a lifeline to me, and eventually inspired me to become a writer.

Time passed and I and one of my friends started messing around. Truthfully, it was purely sexual as had been all my attractions to guys up to then.

I’d only experienced romantic attractions to girls until the summer I turned fourteen.

The Day the World Changed

The summer between eighth and ninth grade marked many changes.

I had my first major depressive episode and lost interest in everything save my computer, video games, and Dragon Ball Z, all things D liked too. He was my brother’s friend originally, then we became friends over games of Rival Schools, Tekken, and other such PlayStation games. Because my brother had chosen that summer to start running the street, D would be at our house waiting for him.

This was before cell phone were ubiquitous, so it wasn’t like he could call or text him to see where he was at. With D being two grades below me, I was reluctant to give him the time of day, as I was about to be a high school guy.

But it turned out we had a lot of the same interests and the same pervy sense of humor. Over episodes of Dragon Ball Z we bonded, and without me even realizing it, I fell for him hard.

This hit me for a loop as one day we were just chilling and the next I’m wanting to kiss the dude. I hid my feelings and tried to act normal around, but it was torture. I crushed on him all throughout high school, but I never acted on my feelings.

 It’s a good thing too, as he’s straight, lol.   

Stay tuned next week for part 2.