This post will discuss Hi no Pueriel, one of the most sacred Torin holidays. It falls on October 31 of our calendar and in the middle of Avis’s summer rainy season. It’s a day set aside to honor Lukarus and Pueriel, The Golden Child.
According to Torin legend a plague befell their people, and nothing they did stopped it, So one day the chief’s son, Yahiko (|yah| |he| |ko|), which means “summer child”, fell ill. The chief cried out for help and Lukarus (|loo| |car| |us|) appeared to him and healed Yahiko and the others. In exchange the chief was to rename Yahiko “Pueriel”(|pure| |ee| |el|), The Golden Child, and forevermore pay tribute to Lukarus on that day.
Hi no Pueriel is celebrated by lighting three candles symbolizing Lukarus, Pueriel, and the First Emperor of Avis who it is claimed was a descendant of Puerile. Children are told the Tale of the Golden Child, given small gifts, and encouraged to confess their wrong doings in the hopes Lukarus will bless them.
Once the candles have burnt out, a feast is held, then everyone sings songs praising Lukarus before the festivities are called to a close with the ceremonial marking of foreheads with ash in the shape of Pueriel’s symbol, which looks like an ankh.
Conclusion
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Reign of the Unfortunate, by Daniel Aegan, is a villain punk novel set in Pristine City and follows five supervillains’ attempt to kill Cricket Man and the aftermath once they succeed.
The five supervillains are dubbed the Unfortunate Five by the media and are led by Dr. Everything, whose biomechanical tentacles reminded me a lot of Dr. Octopus’s. This is a recurring theme, as Aegan mentioned in the afterword that this story began as fan fiction, which isn’t a bad thing, if you like comics/superhero movies.
The other Unfortunate five members are Kilowatt, who manipulates electricity; Osprey, who has no powers but is a technical genius and was lovers with Dr. Everything; Bad Juju, a dark magician whose illusions are real; and Glam Gargoyle, a demoness who controls hell fire.
One thing I loved about this book is that each of the Unfortunate Five got page time, so you could get into their heads. I also loved how this book reminded me of the animated series and comics I read in the ‘90s during the height of the “Death of Superman” story arc. I also loved how Aegan handled romance in the book. It was there, but it didn’t take over the story like in so many books.
As self-published books go, this was one of the better ones. While there were typos and clunky sentences, it wasn’t to the point the book was unreadable. However, it could have undergone another round of edits to catch the things I mention above. I also thought the book went off the rails toward the end. While Aegan managed to get things back on track and wrap things up brilliantly, I felt the plot twist was only added because once the Unfortunate Five gained control of the world, there was no more tension/conflict.
That said, I did love this book and recommend you pick it up if you like comics/superhero movies. I give Reign of the Unfortunate 4.0 out of 5 stars.
Today’s post will discuss the role music has played in my life and how it’s shaped the creation of Palingenesis. Music has been a part of my life since before I was born. When my mother was pregnant with me, she would play Atomic Dog by George Clinton, a fact I learned when I heard the song on the radio for the first time and my mother asked me if I liked it.
Music has always been there for me when I was sad, angry, or just needed to chill. Were it not, I might not be here today.
Millennial Mix Tape
I was bullied a lot as kid and there were days I’d come home and lock myself in the bathroom with my music turned up so loud no one could hear me sobbing. I’m not gonna lie. There were days I wanted to kill myself and days I wanted to kill my bullies. I was a big old ball of rage and hurt.
But music was there to sooth me.
As a kid I listened to Motown, R&B, rap, and soul like everyone else in my neighborhood did. But things changed at eleven when I heard Nirvana perform Smells Like Teen Spirit on MTV—back when they played music instead of infinity reality shows. Eleven-year-old me connected with the undercurrent of rage in that song and other grunge bands. And as time moved on, I discovered classic rock bands like Zeppelin, the Stones, and CCR. And when Nu metal hit, I devoured bands like Disturbed, Linkin Park, and Limp Bizkit.
Their angry lyrics and guitar riffs spoke to me like nothing had before, and I’d spend hours in my room listening to them and daydreaming about how I was strong and powerful. And little by little, that was how the Idea for Palingenesis formed.
Songs as Story Fodder
When I turned sixteen, we got a cable modem, which allowed me to surf the internet at much faster speeds than dial up. Aside from all the porn I looked at, I stumbled into the world of AMV’s (animated music videos), where people made music videos of their favorite shows set to a song and later slash videos, that is AMV’s that focused on same-gender relationships.
I was, and still am, struck by the ability to tell stories by piecing together video clips set to a song. And throughout the course of writing my book, I’ve tried to make it a cinematic experience by having music play a role in the story such as when Travis and Josh bond over listening to music. Or Travis’s ability to recall in perfect detail anything he’s heard and how he uses this to help him learn various human and allien languages.
Moreover, when I don’t know how to write a scene or am stuck, I listen to music and write what I see in my head. My go to songs for fight scenes are anything by Disturbed or Linkin Park’s first two albums. And when I’m having trouble with romantic scenes, I cue up songs by Savage Garden, Ben Folds, and Trading Yesterday. I’ve also listened to certain songs to set the tone. For example I listen to I Will Not Bow by Breaking Benjamin whenever I write a fight scene between Travis and Oblivion, latter of whom is evil incarnate.
And when I’m not feeling in the mood to write I cue up Not Afraid by Eminem or Get Up by Shinedown. In fact, I have a whole playlist of songs I listen to when I’m down. If you’d like the link for this playlist let me know.
There are also certain songs like Lux Aeterna, Rise by League of Legends featuring The World Alive, and Heart of Courage by Two Steps from Hell that put me in the mood to write something epic.
On the whole, music has been a panacea to me and I hope you enjoy the influence it’s had on my work.
Conclusion
Music at its core is about the human condition and when combined with an artist’s touch, the experience can be nothing short of sublime. Below is a link to the playlist I created specifically for Palingenesis. I’d love to hear what you think of it. Also, be sure to share this post with your friends on social media and join my mailing list.
Todays posts is another character prolife; this time focusing on josh’s friend Brianna.
Description
Brianna Bernadette Burgos is 14, four feet and eleven inches tall, weighs 105 pounds, and has black wavy hair and brown eyes with dark brown skin. She is Puerto Rican and black, allo cis, het and wears her great grandmother’s St. Mary pendent everywhere.
Personality
She’s a bit of a tomboy, has a temper, and can be stubborn, but loves her friends and will die protecting them. She’s the heart of the Josh’s friend group and tries to keep the peace.
Likes
She likes rap, salsa, dancing, painting, computers, animals, the environment, and has a crush on Josh.
Dislikes
She hates video games, meat, fuck boys, wearing anything too girly, getting her hair wet, and anyone who tries to hurt her friends.
Goals
Her main goal is going to college and getting a high-paying job so she can bring her extended family from Puerto Rico. Second, she wants to start her own line of vegan cosmetics geared toward the Latinx community. Third, she wants to be a singer/songwriter.
Desires
Her greatest desire is to be close to her friends and family. She also desires to be popular and rich, so her parents don’t have to work so hard.
Fears
Her greatest fear is the Squad breaking up, followed by Josh not being into her, and roaches.
Morality/Religious Beliefs
She is deeply Catholic and takes her faith seriously, going to service several times a week and confessional twice a week. Morally she is chaotic good, doing what she believes is right regardless of what the law or society says.
Political Alignment
Politically she is very progressive and would proudly describe herself as a social justice warrior
Conclusion
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Today’s post will deal with moral guardians and how writers shouldn’t censor topics deemed controversial for young readers to handle.
First, let me say right now that yes, children should read age-appropriate books, but it’s up to their parents/guardians to determine that.
Furthermore, it isn’t the job of writers to shield them from the harsh realities of life; bad things happen to good people, good doesn’t always win, people aren’t always nice, and they say bad words.
There have always been those who, like Holden Caulfield, try to erase all the “fucks” in the world. “Think of the children!” they cry in their best impersonation of Helen Lovejoy. It’s not enough for their kids not to read these “obscene” books. No, everyone’s child must be spared such a loss of innocence and hence why said books need to be banned.
As I alluded above, The Catcher in the Rye is a perennial favorite on banned book lists. Others include The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Diary of Anne Frank.
Moreover, in recent years books featuring LGBTQ+ characters—such as And Tango Makes Three, about two gay penguins who raise an orphaned penguin chick—or that deal with race justice issue, such as The Hate U Give have also been banned. And right now, there has been a push to ban any book that talks about race and America’s racist past and present, under the guise of preventing the teaching of critical race theory; something which no public school teaches and is only available at law schools as an esoteric elective course.
This is problematic for several reason. First, there is nothing wrong with kids reading age-appropriate books about these topics. Second, banning these books doesn’t make these topics go away. Third, in the case of books like Huckleberry Finn and To Kill a Mockingbird, hiding America’s racist past isn’t helping anyone.
If we as a nation are to address our racism problem, then it means we can’t whitewash history, nor the current reality of racism in America. But this is often the case in YA.
Racism and Race
When race and racism are addressed in YA they are often sanitized so as not to offend white readers. Case in point, in Yes No Maybe So, by Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed, Maya’s being a Pakistani-American, Muslim girl comes off as an afterthought. She says a few lines about how hard it is being a woman of color, but this topic isn’t fully explored, even though a pivotal plot point hinges on the republican candidate for her district’s special election wanting to pass a law banning the wearing of hijabs in places like banks and the DMV. Moreover, the racism is contained to people putting a bumper-sticker of a poodle with a teacup and “88” on the cars of the democratic candidate.
In reality, racism is more than bumper stickers; it’s financial redlining, the school-to-prison pipeline, racial profiling, and worrying whether your name will be added to the list of those murdered by police.
It’s the trivialization of the issue that I object to. Kids should learn about racism in all its gory details, so they know where we’ve been, where we are and where we’re going. We’re doing a disservice to them by keeping them blind to these facts.
Yet, books on antiracism and race have been challenged when educators have tried to teach them. So, what then is the solution?
You can’t count on schools to do this, so it must be up to parents and guardians to teach their children about race and racism. But don’t patronize them. Kids are smarter than you think. I know this as I was a precocious kid and picked up on things fast.
I get that certain topic like sex and sexual orientation can be embarrassing to discus, but that doesn’t mean we ignored them and pretend they don’t exist.
Sex and Sexual Orientations
It has become an industry cliché in YA that sex, if it happens, it happens off screen. This is ridiculous; sex is a natural, normal part of being human and growing. I’m not saying it should be full-on porn, but don’t act like teens aren’t having sex, and that if they aren’t that they aren’t thinking about it.
Sex shaming does no one any good, lest of all young teens who are already hyper aware of themselves and their bodies.
The last thing we want to do is make them more self-conscious, especially about a natural bodily function. Yet The Diary of Anne Frank has been challenged and banned because of passages that mentioned sex and masturbation and prostitution.
This leads me to my next point
LGBTQ+ YA
Books dealing with LQBT+ themes are also often challenged and banned simply for having queer characters. The refrain from moral guardians is usually something along the lines of, “Learning about LGBTQ+ people will turn kids LGBTQ+.”
First, if that were the case everyone would be heterosexual since we’re flooded with media depicting straight couples from birth.
Second, no one can make you LGBTQ+. You either are or you aren’t.
Third, before people are LGBTQ+ adults they’re LGBTQ+ kids. Having representation of people like you in the media is crucial to being comfortable with your sexual orientation. So, by trying to expunge any queer character from children’s books you’re just hurting queer kids.
But having LGBTQ+ characters isn’t enough, especially if those depictions are hetwashed. They may be in relationships but rarely are they shown doing anything beyond kissing. Likewise, these stories almost always feature allo, cis, white characters whose primary goals are coming out and falling in love.
Don’t get me wrong. I like a good romance, but there’s more to being LGBTQ+ than coming out and relationships. LGBTQ+ kids need stories where that show them that they can do anything they want, including saving the day.
But it’s not only characters that fall prey to censors. Their words do, too.
Obscene Language
The irony of The Catcher in the Rye is Holden Caulfield appoints himself the moral guardian of young children, yet as I mentioned above it is frequently banned for obscene language. Likewise, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is also banned in many schools because of its use of the N-word. The objection to them is that such language isn’t appropriate for kids and will stunt their vocabulary.
To that I say bullshit.
First, what stunts vocabularies is banning words and phrases. Second, even if you could ban all offensive language, who decides what is and isn’t on the list? Third, telling kids they can’t do or say something only makes them want to do it more.
Instead, works like Huck Finn and Catcher should be explained in the context in which they were written, and that such language while common then isn’t appropriate now. Anyone offended can opt to read another school-approved book.
However, that might be easier said than done as politics is often involved in which books are banned and which aren’t. Which leads me to my next point.
Politics and Social Justice Issues
Regardless of an author’s politics, they will often get criticized for “indoctrinating kids” if they include politics in their work. The problem with this is writing, like all art, is inherently political.
Moreover, millennials came of age in the post 9/11 world, and Gen Z has lived most of their lives in a world where the US has not been at peace. Furthermore, they themselves are political; they took to the streets protesting police brutality, global warming, and the last president
So to have books devoid of politics is not a reflection of reality. However, when politics have been included in YA books, it’s often reductionist. For example, the core theme of The Hunger Games is down with the oligarchs and up with the proletariats.
Likewise, the themes of several dystopian YA novels can be boiled down to anyone over thirty can’t be trusted. The problem with such stories is that it teaches kids to see the world in binaries. Instead, we should have stories that show there is nuance to politics and life. Kids can handle the facts without us dumbing things down for them.
Conclusion
The truth is kids can handle any subject, when it’s presented to them in the right manner, be that the origin of our species or death. And we’re doing a disservice to them by not keeping it real. The world isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, and the sooner they learn this the sooner and better equipped they will be to function in the reality of our world.
This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to hold onto their innocence, just not forever.
Call to Action
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This post will deal with faux-gressism and how being politically correct has been coopted by the media and corporations to seem woke without doing anything substantive to advance the progressive causes they claim to care about.
In the current political climate saying or doing the wrong thing could cost you your career, so often you’ll see people on social media spouting buzz words like inclusion, diversity or saying that Black Lives Matter or trans right s are human rights.
Faux-Gressives
Now while some of them are genuine with their beliefs in these causes and movements, others have realized they can make bank by hopping on the band wagon of whatever cause is trending. And still others will virtue signal in an attempt to seem progressive when all they care about is gaining internet clout and woke points.
An example of both was how the summer following the murder of George Floyd, many people put #BLM in their bios, and in the case of many white editors they opened their DM’s to Black and brown writers. Yet, months later when people had moved on many of those same white editors ghosted the Black writers who queried them. An here we are over two years later and the publishing has all but forgotten about The movement for black lives and resumed publishing the same white authors and their whitewashed stories.
A similar thing happened with Asian and Pacific Islander writers in the aftermath of the Atlanta spa shootings last March. In both cases the response wasn’t authentic and done to seem like “one of the good ones.”
This is problematic for several reasons.
First, it tells communities of color they only matter when it’s politically convenient, something which we already know and are sick of.
Second, it shows us how little Faux-gressives think of us. We aren’t stupid and see your actions as the performative allyship that it is.
Third, it proves like we’ve been saying all along that the publishing industry could have been giving us priority but chose not to until doing so would get them likes and retweets. Moreover, it shows us how little Publishing values us and our work. Repeatedly Black writers have called out Publishing’s race problems, only to be met with charges that we’re blowing things out of proportion or to be told that we’re being the stereotypical angry Black person.
If publishers and others who claim to care about Black lives, trans rights, and violence against the Asian and Pacific Islander community actually did, then they’d be implementing permanent policies to address these issues.
Instead, they post a few tweets and call it a day. Don’t open your DM’s to marginalized folks when doing so is trending, do it year-round. Moreover, don’t just tweet, donate to these causes and advocate for them because people’s lives are at stake. We aren’t statistics or a demo to be pandered to. We are whole people and deserve to be treated as such.
Walk the walk and don’t just talk a good game. Which brings me to my next point.
PC Police
Second to the faxu-gressives who are all about hollow actions, the pc police are all about words. They monitor others’ language and actions for anything that might be offensive, then rile up the internet hate mob. As with faux-gressives, they don’t do anything of substance to improve the conditions of the peoples whom they claim to be acting on the behalf of
. Instead, what happens is people dogpile on the offender, who then either doubles down, apologizes or is bullied off social media. This results in people becoming more polarized, marginalized folks getting more harassment from the other side attacking in response, and nothing changes.
This is bad enough, but there have been several cases of popular progressive YouTubers who’ve policed others language and behavior to hide their bad behavior.
You have Onision who is alleged to have been grooming underage girls. Then there’s Shawn Dawson who is alleged to have asked several underage girls to make twerking videos for him. You also have Shawn Dawson’s friend James Charles who is also accused of grooming girls. Yet, because they are “progressive” they’ve been given a pass.
I don’t think I need to go into detail why this is a problem. There is no excuse for the above behavior. Instead of making echo chambers where criminals can hide, we need to focus on actionable ways to help progressive causes flourish. And that starts by allowing for dissenting opinions and open debate based on facts. However, this doesn’t mean entertaining Nazis, transphobes or anyone else who believes marginalized folks don’t have a right to exist or have the same rights as everyone else.
But as I will explore next, even sincere movements have been coopted by corporate America seeking to make a quick buck.
Woke Capitalism
Anyone who’s paid attention over the last decade has seen a shift in how businesses market depending on the time of year. In February, they play up caring about the Black community by showing ads that predominantly feature us. Then they go back to ignoring us once March First hits. Then in June they turn their logos rainbow-color in honor of Pride Month. In November they go pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In each case, these half-assed attempts are heralded as though they’re doing the most, when they’re doing the least. This is performative allyship at best and pandering at the worst.
Most of these companies couldn’t care less about these causes and communities as you only need look at their donation history to see that many of them support politicians who are trying to strip the LGBTQ+ community, communities of color, and women of their rights. They also have horrible histories when it comes to hiring from the marginalized communities they claim to support.
Furthermore, in recent years there have been multiple reports of how companies like Meta (formerly Facebook), Apple, Google, and other large corporations have engaged in less than stellar behavior while pretending to be progressive.
In the case of Meta, they actively pushed misinformation and inflammatory posts to their users because their algorithms said those would get the most engagement, something which continues today. And when it comes to Instagram and teens, the higher ups at Meta knew that the app was detrimental to the mental health of their young users but continued promoting it to them. They in fact were planning a version of Instagram for children 10 and under. And they only reason they haven’t released it yet is because of the backlash they receive following the announcement of this app.
In the case of Apple, they make their products in countries where workers are paid slave wages and treated horribly.
As for companies like Google and Disney, they actively censor their products and media for totalitarian countries like China and Saudi Arabia, which have a long history of human rights violations.
Repeatedly we see Big Tech and large corporations willing to do and say anything to make money, even if people suffer for it.
Conclusion
And it’s this commercialization that I take issues with. People’s lives and existence aren’t something to be packaged and sold. “Black Lives <atter” isn’t a slogan to slap on a shirt and sell at the swap meet for $20. There are people behind those words, and they demand to be respected. Our elders fought and died for the right to exist, the right to vote, the right to not be gunned down in the streets like a rabid animal.
And how do we repay that struggle?
By turning it into a cutesy key chain or tote bag.
We need to do better.
We can’t depend on corporations to do the right thing; we can’t wait for superman to save us. We have to be the ones we’ve been waiting for. It’s up to us to be the change we want to see. And that means voting with our wallets and supporting causes we care about, because as long as we live in a capitalist society, money rules the realm.
Call to Action
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. If you liked this post, please share it with your friends on social media and join my mailing list (link in menu).
Also check out Palingenesis, my debut YA novel about a Bullied Black boy who learns he’s evil’s chosen one and must fight the devil to protect the boy and world he loves.
This week’s post is a character profile of Matthew Mitchells, a member of Josh’s friend group, the Squad.
Description
Matthew Richard Mitchells is fifteen, five-foot-eleven, and 235lb with black hair and brown eyes. He’s allo, cis, het, and white.
Personality
Matthew is a jerkass with a heart of gold. He can be a bit of bully and takes things too far sometimes. He’s also rude and crude. But he’s there when his friends and family need him. Most of the time.
Likes
He likes grossing people out and offending them to see where the line is. He also loves working out and going four wheeling and mudding up north. He loves country music, whisky, and southern food.
Dislikes
He hates people who can’t take a joke and who are too pc. He hates cleaning his room and anything that involves him thinking too much, like reading and math.
Goals
His main goal is to bench 1000lb. Second, he wants to join the wrestling team and dominate like a boss. Third, he wants to go into business with hid best friend Henry Huntington selling health drinks.
Desires
He desires to be strong, respected, popular, and for girls to sleep with him. Also, he wants to make tons of money.
Fears
He fears being a nobody, needles, and losing his bros Lance and Henry.
Morality/Religious Beliefs
Morally he’s lawful evil and exploits all the loopholes in the system to get what he wants without regard for others, save his family and friends. Religiously, he’s Roman Catholic but only goes along with it for the sake of his grandmother.
Political Alignment
He’s an anarcho-capitalist and leans heavily libertarian.
Conclusion
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Next week’s post will be on the commercialization of being progressive and woke.
It seems whenever the news isn’t trying to scare us with something, they’re trying to divide us, and one of the ways they often do this is by pitting generations against each other. Baby Boomers are entitled brats who wrecked the economy. Gen X are largely ignored while Gen Y(millennials) and Gen Z are painted as kids who don’t know anything and are constantly on their phones.
In fact, Gen Y and Gen Z often get lumped together and viewed as the same amorphous blob of people.
This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Older Millennials, such as I, didn’t get our first cell phone until college and we didn’t get the internet until our late teens. Whereas younger millennials like my cousins and Gen Z’ers have had this technology since birth.
For instance, my brother Christian is seventeen years younger than me and is quite different from me. He grew up with DVDs, tablets, computers, and the internet since he was a toddler and spends most of his time online when not gaming. Whereas I didn’t get my first PC until I was thirteen and the PlayStation One was the height of gaming technology.
Moreover, when I was growing up, we played outside and only came home when the streetlights came on. Unlike my brother, who prefers socializing with his friends online.
Gen Z and Y often get confused with each other because younger Gen Y’ers share many similarities with Gen Z such as their affinity for technology, plastering their whole lives on social media, and a penchant for slacktivism.
However, despite how old we younger generations get, we’re seen as perpetual children.
The Kids Are All Right
The dominant image of millennials is that of the broke college kid who spends all their time with their face buried in their phones, but this isn’t true. Older millennials like myself are pushing forty, own our homes, and many of us have families and kids of our own.
Sure, we’re addicted to our phones, but so is everyone else.
Moreover, younger Gen Y and older Gen Z have been adults and in the workforce for a while now. So, this picture the media has of us being entitled kids who don’t know how to hold down a job or manage our money because we blow it on lattes, avocado toast, and expensive gadgets isn’t true. Yeah, there are some of us like that, but that’s true of people of any age.
Furthermore, Younger Gen Y and Gen Z often get criticized for not being politically active, yet they’ve been at the forefront of many of the recent political movements. It’s Gen Z’ers like Greta Thunberg and Xiuhtezcatl Martinez who’ve been leading the push for climate change reform. Likewise, it was Gen Z and Gen Y who showed up in force at Black Lives Matter protests and who used their social media skills to raise awareness about George Floyd and put pressure on the DA until they brought charges against the officers involved in his murder.
Moreover, during the height of the pandemic, it was teens who stepped up to make mask and other PPE using 3-D printers and created websites tracking the spread of the virus and later websites to coordinates getting vaccines. All of this while the supposed adults in charge were too incompetent to do anything right.
So, this notion that the younger generations are naïve crybabies who only know how to complain about things without offering any solutions is false. We have our issues, but what generation doesn’t.
Gen Y, Gen Z, Gen Whatever
All that is to say the whole debate over which generation is better or who had it better/worse is a ploy used by the media to keep us separated. The science behind cohort groups is flimsy at best and was created by demographers so that corporations could use this data to targets products at consumers.
It also plays into our egos.
No one likes to hear they’re getting old and no longer relevant, so when the media or a corporation comes along and tells you the younger generations are awful and nothing like your “good” generation you’re primed to respond to it. But the truth is no generation is perfect.
Conclusion
Whatever your generation, it doesn’t matter. We all have our struggles and triumphs. We all have things about other generations we don’t like or understand. And eventually we all become that gif of the old man yelling at clouds. But growing old is a natural part of life. Just because Gen Y and Z are younger than you, doesn’t make us kids. Respects us and we’ll respect you.
Call To Action
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As we move into the new year, I thought I’d take this time to go over how 2021 panned out for me.
Spring/Summer 20201
I spent most of the spring rewriting Palingenesis, and the summer getting ready for its release and trying to build buzz for it. I put a ton of pressure on myself and learned a lot of what to do better next time.
First, I’d invest the time into reaching out to beta readers and book reviewers in advance, so I’d have reviews ready on launch day. I’d also have a longer preorder campaign and offer exclusive swag to entice buyers.
Second, I’d lower my expectations. I thought I’d sell way more copies than I did, and I was depressed when I only sold a few books. I’ve since learned likes on social media rarely translate into sales and that I must market myself and my work better going forward, which means getting out of my comfort zone and over my fear of public speaking and talking on the phone.
Third, I’d use the time leading up to my book launch better. Instead of worrying about every minor detail and whether my book will sell, I’ll spend that time outlining and drafting the next one.
Fall 2021
Due to lower-than-expected book sales, I spent most of fall questioning my worth as a writer and a person. I slipped into a deep depression and for my mental health, I went on hiatus from Twitter and other social media sites and from writing.
The time away from my WIP gave me clarity and showed me that I can’t tie my self-worth and identity to writing. My hiatus also taught me that I can and should do other things than writing.
Since taking a break at the end of September, I’ve rediscovered my love of gaming, drawing, and reading manga/webcomics. This experience has taught me that I can’t give 110% 24/7 and need breaks, so from now on, I’ll take the last three months of the year off. I’ve planned my writing schedule for the next few years and have factored these hiatuses/vacations into them, so there shouldn’t be any major interruptions in book releases (knock on wood).
Winter 2021
Like many people, I packed on the pandemic pounds, so I plan to spend the rest of this winter and the coming year getting in shape and eating healthier. I’ve been on the big side since I was a kid, but these last two years I’ve done a bunch of stress eating and am now close to 300 pounds, so I need to make a course correction.
I’m also going to get a part-time to help with my bills, which will mean less time to write, so I’m pushing back the release date of Pandemonium (Phoenix Diaries #2) to 2024. I’ll keep you posted if things change.
Conclusion
While things haven’t gone as I’d expected, I’m grateful to everyone who has bought a copy of Palingenesis. I’ll implement all the lessons I’ve learned this year and try to do better next time.
I’m not going to lie. It sucks that I’m not a best-selling author, but I’ve only just begun.
Stay safe and may you have nothing but luck, love, and success in 2022.
Welcome back readers. Well, with the Holiday season upon us, I thought this would be a good opportunity to explore how various characters from my novel Palingenesis spend this time of the year. But before I get to that, if you celebrate, what do you do? Do spend time with your extended family, or are you more the type to visit your parents and call it a night? Let me know in the comments.
I also know this time of year can be lonely and hard for those of us who can’t go home because of our sexual orientation or gender identity. I want you to know you are loved and valid every day of the year and that family is more than who you share DNA with.
Without further preamble, let’s dive right in.
Travis
Whenever he can, Travis spends Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years at his grandmother’s. She makes all the all the food from scratch and lets him eat his fill without any comments on his weight, unlike his family. Then they spend time listening to old music on her phonograph, while she regals him with stories of her youth. And on New Year’s Eve she lets him stay up late and sip from her flute of champagne.
When he has to stay home, Travis spends the time locked in his room gaming or reading so he doesn’t have to deal with his family.
Josh
Josh spends most of his holidays with his friends when his parents aren’t home. For Christmas and Easter, he always goes to Midnight mass with Jason. Then it’s either back to the Jason’ s house or the house of one of his other friends.
When his parents are home, they have their meals catered and do a White Elephant gift exchange, which usually ends with him being stuck with the crappy gifts because his mother throws a fit if she doesn’t get what she wants. Then his father locks himself in his study and smokes cigars and drinks whisky until he passes out.
Jenny
When she has them off, Jenny spends the holidays making cookies and other baked goods for her friends. She donates the leftovers to soup kitchens. She spends Christmas day volunteering at a free clinic. As for New Year’s Eve, she watches the ball drop on TV while rereading Twilight.
Agent Anderson
When he can get the time off, Agent Anderson spends Thanksgiving with his large family, where his older brothers make him feel like a kid again. He spends Christmas at the Nursery, the holding facility for metahumans (kids with superpowers a la the X-men), and passes out gifts he bought with his own money. He feels it’s the least he can do since many of the kids there haven’t seen their family in years.
Jason
After Christmas Midnight Mass, Jason goes right to bed and sleeps in the next day. After dinner with his family, he hits up his social medias trolling for hook ups. When Josh stays with them, Jason is on his best behavior. They exchange gifts and game awhile before bed, and all the next day Jason tries to make Josh feel like he’s wanted and loved.
He spends most New Year’s Eves at parties with David getting hammered and trying to pick up guys and girls to varying degrees of success.
David
David celebrates Chanukah with his immediate and extended family, who fly in from all over the country. They have a big family dinner on the last night of Chanukah, then exchange gifts.
After his extended family leaves, David will have a small Christmas celebration with Jason and Josh, where they give gifts, mostly videogames or gift cards, and pig out on junk food as they have marathon gaming sessions.
Oblivion
As evil incarnate, Oblivion spends the holidays whispering to people to give in to their baser instincts. He delights in causing strife between family members and considers it a monumental victory when he can push someone into dying by suicide.
Grams
As mentioned above, Grams loves spoiling Travis when he comes to stay with her. But when he can’t, she spends the time knitting sweaters and socks for the homeless and puts her cooking skills to work making a feast for the less fortunate in her community. She also throws a charity auction for New Year’s, with all proceeds going to UNICEF. She and her friends also get together to exchange gifts and reminisce about old times.
Rachel
Most holidays, Rachel is busy working at her family’s restaurant. When she can sneak away, she and her friends have a party at Josh’s house and sneak drinks from his parents’ liquor cabinet. Afterward, she helps her grandmother take plates of food to the elderly and poor in their community.
Once the restaurant is closed and cleaned, they got back to their house and feast on all her favorite Chinese and southern dishes that have been warming on the stove and in the oven.
Brianna
Brianna’s relatives drive in, and the kids spend the holidays laughing, singing, and playing games. The women help in the kitchen while the men drink and watch football.
She and her cousins dish on the boys they’ve hooked up with and the family gossip of who’s going broke, who’s cheating on who and with who, and who’s failing school. Unlike the rest of her family, they don’t make fun of her for not being fluent in Spanish or having darker skin.
Matthew
Matthew’s family alternates between going to his uncle’s house and his uncle’s family coming to their house. When at his uncle’s house, he and his cousins will sneak shots of Jim Bean, then load up on their ATV’s and go hunting for whatever they can find and eat what they kill. If they don’t bag anything, they’ll eat the meal their moms cook, which takes all day as they have so many people to feed.
When they have Christmas at Matthews’s house, he’ll sneak Henry over, and they and his cousins will have a game of football outside, even if there’s a foot of snow. By the end of the game, everyone’s tired, hungry, and a mess, so they take turns showering, then join their dads watching the football game on the big screen in the living room. When their moms aren’t looking their dads let them have a beer each. After eating all the men have to wash the dishes and clean the kitchen.
Henry
Thanksgiving and Christmas are the only times Henry breaks his strict diet. Knowing this, his parents go all out cooking his favorites—double-fried chicken, biscuits and gravy, baked macaroni and cheese, turkey with mashed potatoes and gravy, and pecan pie with homemade vanilla ice cream.
To work off all those calories, Henry hits his weight set, then plays two-hand-touch football with his cousins. This devolves into pick ‘em up mess ‘em up, and a fight or two breaks out until their dads tell them to knock it off and come inside.
At that point their Uncle Scott is drunk and ragging about the illuminati and Israel, so Henry and his dad have to drive him back to his house because he’s the only one Uncle Scott listens to when he gets like that.
Conclusion
Thanks for reading and happy holidays, however you celebrate.
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“My eyes traced over his pale white features: the hard square of his jaw, the softer curve of his full lips—twisted up into a smile now, the straight line of his nose. The sharp angle of his cheekbones, the smooth marbles expanse of his forehead . . .” –Bella, New Moon.
Sorry for torturing you like that, but my point is the characters in YA novels, especially the love interests, are often not just attractive, but modelesque.
Raise your hand if you’ve read YA novels where the teenage characters never have to deal with acne, bad breath, being under or overweight and it not being played for laughs.
Moreover, raise your hand if you ever felt like you were reading a personal ad the way some of these characters are described in such excruciating details. Sure, everyone enjoys some eye candy, but by making all or most of the cast attractive it teaches young readers the wrong lessons, which I’ll discuss in turn.
The Plain Jane
Photo by
Ramsés Moreno
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Scopio
This first body type is the most common in YA and are usually the main female character and their basic descriptor is being average looking; some famous examples include Bella Swan form Twilight, Hermione Granger fromThe Harry Potter series, Clary Frayfrom The Mortal Instruments series, and Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger games. The problem with this body type is that it teaches girls not to be okay with their looks. Often in these stories the message is, “OMG! that super cute guy likes me despite my plain looks.”
Instead, we should teach girls to find a partner who values them because of who there are, not despite it.
The Plain Jane also trains girls to view girls more attractive than them as enemies, and that paradoxically looks do matter.
Mr. Perfect
Topless man in blue denim jeans with yellow flower on his chest
Likewise, the male love interests are almost always some Adonis who knows exact what to do or say to sweep the female protagonist off her feet.
This teaches girls to objectives male bodies and and gives them unrealistic expectations when it comes to relationships, especially when said male love interests are physically, emotionally, or psychologically abusive.
YA novels need to have a more diverse spectrum of beauty standards for everyone and stop romanticizing abusive and toxic behavior like stalking.
Sadly, this is not the case, as I will show next.
Model Land
In these stories everyone is attractive, they can eat whatever they want, never work out, and still be in perfect shape. They never have to face the issues we mere mortals do. These characters’ defining trait is their attractiveness and they often fall victim to the designated love interest, and in the worst offenders, such as Tyra Banks’ (yes, that Tyra Banks) Modelland, they are literal models.
The problem with this is many-fold.
First, it teaches young readers to be superficial and that if they don’t meet society’s and the media’s expectations of beauty, then they don’t matter. That they have to strive for perfection in their appearance or no one will like them.
Second, it contributes to negative body image issues and issues with disordered eating. Young readers, girls in particular, are constantly being bombard with the message they have to be hot or they won’t find love and happiness.
Third, it’s unrealistic. People come in all shapes, yet rarely do you see protagonists who aren’t attractive, in shape, and sexually appealing and this needs to change.
We need to see more diversity across the board, not only in appearance but in race too.
But not too Black: Colorism, Featurism, and Eurocentrism
Man and woman smiling
Anyone who’s followed this blog for a while now knows the lack of diversity in the media is a pet peeve of mind.
As I wrote here, YA and publishing in general has a race problem. Namely, they value whiteness above everything, and the result is European features are prized above those of people of color.
This Eurocentrism result is colorism, which is where Black and brown people with lighter skin are seen as more attractive. This manifests in YA by having the love interest of color be either mixed raced or very light-skinned, sometimes to the point of getting mistaken for being white.
The problem with this should be self-evident: proximity to whiteness has no bearing on attractiveness and arguing otherwise is just racist.
This in turn results in featurism, wherein certain features such as straight hair, fair skin, and light-colored eyes are considered more appealing than those of Black and brown people.
The message readers of color get when they don’t find people like them in these stories is that 1) they don’t matter, and 2) they can’t have their happily ever after if they’re too dark or don’t have “good” hair.
The solution to this issue is simple: have more Black and brown people of every shade in your stories and call out writers when they engage in any of the above isms.
I wish race and appearances weren’t the only issues, but there’s more.
You Must be This Tall to Ride
Height discrimination is also rampant in these stories. Short people are often played for laughs and deemed unattractive—if they’re there at all. The issue here is that young readers are often themselves short, so having stories that exclude them, or worse make fun of them for something they can’t control, is bad form.
The solution is to not have a character’s height matter to the story. Why must every story be about the stereotypical tall, dark, and handsome guy?
Short guys are hot too.
Similarly, stop with the stories that make fun of girls for being taller than guys, when girls mature faster than boys. Tall girls rock!
As I previously mentioned, another body type that often gets mocked is bigger people.
No Fats (Sizeism and Fatphobia)
Photo by
Vanessa Vasquez
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Scopio
In book after book, the fat best friend is relegated to the sidelines while their thin, attractive friend goes after their equally thin and attractive love interest. Moreover, fat characters wanting to pursue anyone smaller in weight than them is seen as comedic, again this is if they’re included at all. This is problematic for several reasons.
First, many teens and young adults struggle with weight issues, so to trivialize and reduce the problem to their not eating right and getting enough exercise is complete bs.
Growing up stories were one of the only safe places I had. But I was quick to notice that people like me, Black and fat, were either absent or made fun of.
The truth is no one likes to be picked on, so stop with the fat jokes, fat-shaming, and fat phobia.
Conclusion
As cliché as it is to say, it’s true: beauty is in the eye of the beholder. No one should feel excluded or less than because they aren’t a ten or even a five. Everyone is worthy of love regardless of their looks, height, or weight, and it is incumbent upon us to make sure everyone knows this.
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Set a year after “Darius the Great Is Not Okay,” “Darius the Great Deserves Better,” by Adibe Khorram, finds Darius Kellner on his school’s soccer team with new friends, an internship at his dream tea shop, and a beautiful boyfriend.
But all is not well: Darius’s parents are struggling to make ends meet following their trip to Iran, his sister is the target of racist bullies at school, his father is going through a depressive episode, and his boyfriend is pressuring him to have sex.
Also, he’s become best friends with Chip Cusumano and is attracted to him.
I loved the first book and wanted to love this one, but it just wasn’t as good. The plot was a hot mess and I felt Khorram tried to cover too much at once, resulting in book that lacked focus.
The magic in book one was missing in this one as Darius all but forget about Sohrab, only contacting him when he needed someone to vent to.
As for Darius’s grandmothers, Oma and Grandma, they were so underdeveloped it was hard to distinguish one from the other, which was also the case for most of Darius’s friends from the soccer team.
Moreover, the relationships between Darius and Landon and Darius and Chip lacked any chemistry, and by the end I didn’t care who he ended up with.
And speaking of endings, this one sucked. Things were building up to a climax and then the story ended without resolving most of the plot lines.
So many of the conflicts in this book could have been easily solved had Darius and the other characters just talked to each other.
I also thought the bi rep was awful as Landon, who’s bi, was depicted as only caring about sex.
However, I did like the mental health rep in this book. I also connected with Darius’s struggles with his weight and body image issues and liked that Khorram didn’t magically make him a ripped Adonis.
Overall, I didn’t like this book and only recommend you rent it from the library.
I give “Darius the Great Deserves Better” 2.8 out of 5 stars.
“Darius the Great Is Not Okay,” by Adib Khorram, is a YA coming of age novel about Iranian American teen Darius Kellner. But unlike his namesake, Darius is far from great. He’s bullied at school, his father is always disappointed in him, and he deals with chronic depression, feelings of isolation, alienation, and suicidal ideation.
Most of the novel deals with Darius’s struggles to fit in and his budding friendship with Sohrab, a local boy he meets while his family is visiting his mother’s parents in Iran, following the news her father is dying from a brain tumor.
At first, I found Darius’s speech pattern and mannerism loquacious and pretentious, but it grew on me, as did his geeky, poetic personality. I really connected with Darius’s struggles, as I dealt with chronic depression, suicidal ideation and being bullied too. And as a fellow biracial guy (Black and white), I know what it’s like trying to find where you fit in.
Darius reminded me a lot of Charlie from “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” which I also loved. He was both sensitive and geeky while being realistic, funny, and relatable.
Sohrab was the perfect counterbalance to Darius’s shyness and introspectiveness, and I loved how he was able to bring Darius out of his shell and show him that he is worthy of love and would be missed if he weren’t around anymore.
Though it’s not explicitly stated in the text, my interpretation is that Darius and Sohrab are gay and in love with each other. But you could also interpret their relationship as purely platonic. Either way, it was a joy to see such a great example of positive masculinity.
If I had one criticism, it’s that the ending was a bit too Disney for me; one argument/conversation couldn’t magically fix everything between Darius and his father, given that Darius has harbored years’ worth of resentment against his father and believes his parents purposely conceived his sister Laleh to replace him.
But aside from this minor issue, I loved the book and give it five out of five stars. I highly recommend you read it.
“Last Gamer Standing,” by Katie Zhao is a middle grade RPG Lit novel about Reyna Cheng, a 12-year-old Chinese American girl who plays Dayhold, a virtual reality battle royale game set in a world inspired by various Asian cultures and folklore.
Reyna’s mother is sick with breast cancer, so she works her butt off to get a scholarship to Dayhold’s summer camp, so she can win their junior tournament and the $10,000 grand prize to help with her mother’s medical bills.
However, due to the misogynistic and racist harassment she’s received in the past, Reyna elects to play under an alternate account, TheRuiNar, using a male avatar. Things go well for her until another player reveals they know TheRuiNar is Reyna and threatens to dox her if she doesn’t drop out of the tournament.
Overall, I loved this book; it was funny, action-packed, and a quick read. Reyna was adorkable and I felt for her, having to hide who she was for fear of reprisals from white gamer guys. I also liked her friends, especially Nell who was TheRuiNar’s biggest fan and hype man.
I don’t usually read middle grade novels, but I loved this book form start to finish. Though, I did think the identity of Reyna’s black mailer was too obvious a choice. I also felt things got repeated a lot.
That said, I give “Last Gamer Standing” 5 out of 5 stars.
“Your First 1000 Copies,” by Tim Grahl is a nonfiction book that claims to teach you a step-by-step guide to building a system for marking your books.
However, most of the information is out of date, superficial, and geared towards nonfiction writers.
Grahl often repeats the same information multiple times in lieu of giving in depth details, and the book reads more like an extended blogpost.
Overall, this book didn’t keep its promise of teaching me how to market my work, as most of the information wasn’t relevant to me, or things I already knew from free resources online.
If you’re looking for a book on marketing your novels, then this isn’t the one for you.
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