Category Archives: FANGIRL FRIDAY

FANGIRL FRIDAY: For Your MCU Viewing Pleasure

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I’d been so busy with everything under the sun the last couple of months that I didn’t give the time and love that WandaVision so richly deserved. It’s okay, though, because it’s still within the spoiler zone, so a more in-depth discussion of how that story unfolded will come in a future Fangirl Friday post.

For now, without going too much into it, I want to share how excited I was to see Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan reprise their respective roles in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The long awaited first episode in this 6-episode run is ready to stream at the time of this writing on Disney+.

One thing I can freely discuss and praise is the diverse cast of characters in this premiere episode. I’m not just talking about ethnicity, but also the character traits, quirks, and flaws that each person brings to the story.

For those already anticipating the buddy-cop dynamic between Sam and Bucky, all I can say is that if the trailer was any indicator, we’re in for a real treat. Just the recall to their shared scenes in the movies were some much needed tension release from the heavier storylines.

I wish I could into further detail but I’d rather people watched it first so I don’t give anything away. As for the streaming platform, say what you will about the recent controversies with Disney, they’ve been putting out a lot of outstanding programming, of late, and I can only hope that it’ll keep getting better from here on out.

Be sure to catch The Falcon and the Winter Soldier each Friday, streaming today, March 19 with the final episode streaming on April 23. Before the year’s over (is that enough time to be out of the spoiler zone? lol), more discussions and story element breakdown to follow.

Stay creative, stay weird, be kind to yourself and others.

Until next time,

T out.

FANGIRL FRIDAY: Rewind, Remix, Recycle, Reuse, Reduce?

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I’ve been feeding my insomniac self by watching midnight movies and shows, rather than having a midnight snack. Despite ratings, despite warnings, depending on who’s talking, I watched Terminator: Dark Fate and Bad Boys For Life on back to back evenings. Then, I recently caught myself up on the final season of Lethal Weapon and saw a commercial for a new Punky Brewster series. This semi-FLASHBACK FANGIRL FRIDAY post maybe hit me with the nostalgia bug finding some connection to characters I knew and loved, but I started to wonder if that’s all there was anymore.

In a recent article about a possible Criminal Minds revival, it got me excited. I’d recently binged the final season and already miss the characters. The article explained that a revival involved original cast and crew members, though no actors had yet to be attached to the project at the time of announcement, whereas a reboot could have completely different characters or a redo of a previous iteration with new actors. Revivals, reboots, reunion specials, series based on the big screen, movies inspired by the small screen. Different versions. Different perspectives. Same enjoyment?

What keeps us coming back to these types of stories? Is it the formula? Is it the familiarity? Is the market so saturated that we go with what’s comfortable? As a writer, this is something I think about a lot and it scares me as much as it motivates me to want to share my stories with the world.

As for the fangirl in me, I do enjoy these types of shows and movies–when they work. There’s a fine line between beating a dead horse and realizing the horse ain’t dead and you need to let it live its best life. When it came to Terminator: Dark Fate I think I wanted more. I loved Terminator 2: Judgment Day and remembered watching it in the theatre (*sniff* remember movie theatres?) and leaving so empowered. Linda Hamilton‘s portrayal of Sarah Connor is iconic. This (final?) instalment that reunited her with Arnold Schwarzenegger should’ve been awesome, but it ended up being too campy and dare I say, felt like the production was banking on their names to lure us in. I mean, it worked. I was lured, but I didn’t end up enjoying it as much as I wanted to.

Bad Boys For Life, on the other hand, answered a question I’m sure every fan had asked. I wonder what Mike and Marcus are up to these days? Yes there were cheesy moments, but the chemistry between Will Smith and Martin Lawrence is undeniable that it’s like they fell right back in step with each other–or maybe they’ve been fighting crime on the streets of Miami this whole time. Who knows? Maybe it was the storyline in Dark Fate or what I perceived as forced acting between Hamilton and Schwarzenegger, but I didn’t feel as emotionally invested in their lives as I did our Boys from Miami.

Maybe that’s why I don’t want to always hedge my bets on these types of offerings. Expectations are too high and sometimes we’re left with disappointment. It’s also perhaps a good reason why I’m such a fan of shows like The Mandalorian and WandaVision. They’re expanding on storyverses that I’ve grown to love and are giving us new characters and storylines that can satisfy our late night binge watching hunger. You can be certain that I’m all in for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier when it comes out next month.

How about you? Are you into revivals, reboots, redos, and/or continuations, or are you a one and done type of viewer? Whatever it is, there’s definitely something for everyone. Enjoy your midnight visual snacking.

Stay creative, stay weird, be kind to yourself and others.

Until next time,

T out.

FANGIRL FRIDAY: We Interrupt This Research Session…

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a.k.a. Getting Nostalgic Down a Digital Rabbit Hole

I do solemnly and lovingly proclaim this to be the first of potentially many FLASHBACK FANGIRL FRIDAY posts. I had something previously planned for today’s post, but there was a slight detour while doing research for my impact x SKYDANCE submissions. Depending on the day, I might have something playing in the background while I work. Earlier this week, it was essentially a slew of John Mulaney videos on YouTube, because, why not? One particular vid was him chatting it up with Desus & Mero. While it was entertaining, in itself, there was a moment when John brought up the 1990s classic TV show, (in my humble opinion), Ghostwriter. They talked about it for a spell and even sang a bit of the theme song. It’s funny how a simple phrase can activate the recall sensors and I paused to reminisce about my personal enjoyment of the program.

A while later, I was reading up on story structure for a television series when it just so happened that the post’s author mentioned their time working on a show called, you guessed it, Ghostwriter. Was this the universe telling me something? I can say for certain that my posterior was telling me to take a break, so I got up, stretched for a bit, then decided to feed my curiosity. I was tickled to find that you can watch the entire original series run on the YouTube channel IBeGhostwriter. Yeah, I subscribed. Apparently there’s a reboot, but I haven’t seen it yet. This post is all about old school shows I enjoyed. Let the fond memories continue.

Of course, the White Rabbit was calling me, so down, down the rabbit hole I went. More nostalgic feels washed over me. It’s like the one recall opened the floodgates and I was trying to name as many shows as I could from my childhood. The next show that came to mind was The Edison Twins. I happened on a random episode on YouTube that featured a very young Corey Haim, later of Lucas and Lost Boys fame, among others. I enjoyed the grainy quality of the episode and I’m chuffed that the episodes of The Edison Twins can also be streamed on Amazon Prime Video.

Determined as I was, there was this one show title that I was stumped on. I tried google searches for “kids mystery shows” or “kids detective shows from the 80s-90s”, to no avail. A handful of hours, several lists, and dozens of cross-checks on YouTube for clips and/or theme music later (that was a fun trip down memory lane!), I found it. The moment I saw the title, I smiled, then it was confirmed when I watched the sometimes creepy opening credits. Friends, a show I loved to watch back in the day was called Read All About It!, that ran from 1979-1982. When I started watching it in the late 80s, it had already been in syndication for a few years. I’m so happy that the complete series is also wonderfully curated for your infotainment on YouTube. Yep. Subscribed to that, too.

Among the many shows that took me back decades, these three stood out. Campy? Yes. Dated? Sure. All around good fun? Definitely. All three had to do with kids trying to solve problems through investigation, experimentation, a lot of times using words, puzzles and critical thinking. Many years later, long after I’d watched the last of the episodes, I now realize these shows were the early foundations of my wanting to become a writer.

By the night’s end, I welcomed this sidetrack, of sorts. The premise behind these shows and the effect they had on me as a child has certainly informed the way I choose to tell stories in my fiction today. Perhaps these choices would emerge from the deep recesses of my subconscious, or maybe the pattern of storytelling that appealed to me over the years has been ingrained in me as I write. Either way, I’m grateful for shows like these. They were important for curious young minds and serve as a reminder that I have the opportunity to have the same positive impact on the next and all generations with the stories I share with the world.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some binge watching to do this weekend.

Nostalgia. Such a beautiful thing.

Stay creative, stay weird, be kind to yourself and others.

Until next time,

T out.

FANGIRL FRIDAY: “The Subscriber Cannot Be Reached”

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We’ve all been there. You’re on a website, they tell you to subscribe for more perks and features, you enter in your email address, and life goes on. I’ve been doing this for years. Newsletters, author websites, online stores. They have emails for everything these days. And it’s a good thing, too. Can you imagine if this information overload came in the old fashioned way?

Sheesh. Save a tree. Save the world.

I was alerted recently, yet again, that my email storage was almost full. I began with the Spam and Trash folders, of course, and foolishly believed emptying those out would be enough and I could return to my day, as super engaging and adventurous as it had been (Thanks, 2020. Not.). Alas, that was not to be. So, I went in and did my cursory scan of the various subfolders I’d created over the years, and commenced the purge.

Egads! I couldn’t believe just how much clutter had filled up my digital corner of the world. I didn’t know which was worse, how much email I had amassed and never deleted, how many places I subscribed to just to save a few bucks here and there, or the fact that the majority of the emails hadn’t even been opened yet.

When I think of the potentially important email I must’ve saved for reference back in 2012, I have to Marie Kondo myself and ask, does it bring me joy? I mean, I know I haven’t thought of it in years, so what gives? Well, I’ll tell you what doesn’t bring me joy, having to sift through a digital junkyard while thinking about my life choices.

So, what, pray tell, does this have to do with my writing life? Plenty. As plentiful as the emails that have been stuffed into my email account–by my own doing. I decided to finally open some of the pertinent ones, especially anything to do with writing tips, author information, and writing associations. What I realized–and this might be what can get me promoted higher than Captain Obvious–was that I’d been missing out on a treasure trove of resources that had been right there all along.

When I renewed my memberships to the my writing organizations, I took special care to read up on their newsletters, truly absorb the information and in just a matter of days, expanded my world after such a big face palm of wasted opportunities. With resources literally at my fingertips, I’ve been able to explore new writing competitions and submission calls, that, if I really had the drive for, I could’ve already been slaying since last year.

I totally get that life happens and there are circumstances beyond our control, but now that I’m back in the driver’s seat, it really feels good to see and appreciate what’s out there. I had a story idea and needed some input about the plausibility of a scenario. I asked the question across a few writing groups I was in and received dozens of replies within an hour. It didn’t matter where they were in the world, the writing tribe answered my call. It was so gratifying.

So, the purge continued. The many competitions and submission calls that had long since passed, I binned. I kept articles and links to invaluable writing tips and tricks. Anything older than my recollection of ever subscribing to them, I just deleted en masse.

I extended this decluttering to my web browser. It should come to no surprise that I have multiple tabs open at all times. It’s a physical manifestation of the frenzied activity that goes on in my cranium. I decided to streamline my viewing experience and create bookmark folders for easier reference. I’d had enough of the digital hoarding that I had thinly veiled as “research” and decided to take a more tactical approach with a cleaner canvas upon which to create, well, anything. It’s absolutely freeing and I know the concept is so simple. It’s mind boggling how easily I had boggled my mind over this. Go figure.

Yesterday, I’d discovered I’d missed a Flash Fiction prompt challenge that had started at the top of the month. Rather than overwhelming myself to catch up, I’ve decided to do this challenge for the month of March. There’s no need to go for gold in the Masochism Olympics when I’ve already got a full plate with the impact x SKYDANCE submissions, as well as my WIPs that have been restless, dying to be heard.

From now on, I’m going to be more mindful before I click subscribe. I need to be more active in how I consume my infotainment. After all, when people take the time to create content, we need to show our appreciation for their efforts. I’m not going to register to join a webinar, only to miss it then not even watch the replay. Again with the obviousness, but I can learn so much at a click of a button. I have to ask myself why there are so many unread emails and files. I need to start reading the ones that matter and deleting the ones that don’t.

Decluttering an email account has done more wonders than I’d initially realized. The task of streamlining my consumption, is helping me also keep focused on my goals and utilizing the resources that can help me attain them. And that, my friends, definitely brings me joy.

Stay creative, stay weird, be kind to yourself and others.

Until next time,

T out.

FANGIRL FRIDAY: WYSIWYG?

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a.k.a. Reading and Watching as a Writer

Do you try to lose yourself in a story only to find yourself noticing things like plot holes, inconsistencies, or inspiration for a story idea? Is it really what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG)? Once I’m in writer mode, I find it challenging to detach and just enjoy a story for what it is. The complete opposite was true when I had stopped writing for a while. I didn’t have the drive to write so my consumption of stories were more to pass the time than to actually study them. Is there a middle ground?

[Image Credits: Woman Watching Movie, Woman Reading Book]

As a visual learner, when I read a book, I’m also catching myself observing everything from word choice to syntax. I even look at the formatting and layout. The placement of words on a page, the punctuation, the font choices, they each have a specific intention and impact. So do typos or misprints. In movies, we have artistic choices of camera angles, lighting, marrying words and action together for the most impactful or meaningful scene. Each book, show, and movie you dive into is a masterclass in storytelling, the dos and the don’ts, or even the whys and the why the heck nots.

Are there really any rules in story creation? Sure, there are tried and true formulas that people swear by while others opt to break from convention. Just this week, the topic for specific story templates (rom-com, hero’s journey, etc.) were up for debate in one of my writing groups. I’m going to delve further into these and my WIPs on an upcoming Writerly Wednesday post.

While I don’t make definitive reading/viewing decisions based on ratings, it’s interesting to see what other people think prior to and after I experience the medium. I look at descriptions and (hopefully) spoiler-free reviews on sites such as Goodreads, IMDB, and Rotten Tomatoes. Since we’re not currently interfacing with friends and family like we used to, social media is where I go for in-depth discussion–or all-out word wars–on opinions and observations of the piece. I like watching YouTube videos that break down plot points or explore hidden meanings behind the various Easter eggs that are sprinkled throughout a movie or episode. When I’m left with more questions than answers, I like to find out what other people are thinking, too.

Much like previously mentioned in regards to music, each of us also see and appreciate books, tv, and film differently. So whether I’m seeing things as a writer or consumer, it makes for interesting discussions when I bring up something that intrigued me that someone else missed or vice versa. It’s also worthwhile to have those discussions how it might appear that we’re looking at the same thing and come away with very different interpretations.

Whether it’s on paper, device, or screen, it’s not necessarily a bad thing if your writer brain is permanently switched on. We should soak in every learning opportunity where we can. It makes us better writers. You can discover in real time what other people think of the book, show, or film. From that you can determine what not to do or how you’d tackle the same challenge differently. One thing is for certain, when I finish reading or seeing a great story unfold, I’m excited and inspired to make sure my stories are the best they can be so I can share them with the world, too.

Stay creative, stay weird, be kind to yourself and others.

Until next time,

T out.