Weekly writing progress:
My read through of the rough draft of book 3 is done. I already stated this last week, but I will just reiterate that the third book will be taking a bit longer. I have at least two chapters I want to add along with a whole host of other changes. I'm still hopeful I'll have it done and out by the end of the year.
The cover for the short story, The Princess, is almost done! So make sure you sign up for the email list at mjlindemann.com if you haven't in order to make sure you can get a copy :)
No other news on the writing front!
What I've been up to:
TV
We've been watching Bad Batch on disney this last week and loving it. The Star Wars animated series have never failed to impress me. Crosshair's character progression from amoral loyalist to this sort of surly, begrudging father figure has been really cool to see. To say nothing of all the other characters, including Omega. Another home run for the Star Wars franchise in my opinion. I'm excited to watch the rest of the series (we've got about 6 episodes left)
Hell's Paradise continues to be a fun, gorey, island adventure of an anime. Lots of sword fights and weird plant magic that reminds me a lot of Jeff VanderMeer's writing. Not thematically, but the surreal/weird plant life from the show is very similar to how I imagine Jeff's Area X from the Southern Reach trilogy.
Movies
We watched Poor Things this last weekend. It was sort of breathtaking. Yorgos Lanthimos had such a unique aesthetic for the movie that with every other scene my jaw was just on the floor with the visuals. I will say that the movie isn't the most accessible thing in the world. The soundtrack is bizarre, the amount of nudity and sex could be off putting, and the plot comes in fits and starts... but if you want a lovingly crafted, beautiful, expertly acted movie with a strong point of view. This could be right up your alley. I *need* to watch more of his films now.
Books
The Fires of Heaven - I'm a little over 80% through the book and something big just happened (IYKYK). I'll try to be vague enough to avoid major spoilers. I gotta say, this continues to be the absolute best book in the series. I'll have to eat my words about a critique I had regarding Rand knowing too much. Robert Jordan (RJ) definitely made it very explicit that his knowledge/intelligence is being heavily influenced by his past lives. I'm still annoyed by the sheer amount of sexism from every character, but I'm granting it some grace for the time period (in real life) that these were written in. I'm sure this was all quite progressive to someone like RJ at the time. The big thing that just happened worries me, though. This was easily my favorite character, so we'll see how the books carry on without them. On one hand I'm kind of excited to see, and on the other hand I'm annoyed this individual didn't have more "screen time" before their exit - though who's to say they'll be gone forever?
Games
Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth - Nothing too much to say about it, other than that I am very impressed they've managed to expand so much on the story and it still doesn't "feel" like they added too much filler. It feels like the FF7 from my childhood only gave me impressions of the characters whereas these games are giving me a full picture. The voice acting has been absolutely amazing with some genuine laugh out loud moments that would NOT have been possible with a less talented cast.
Want to chat? Comment here or email me at mjlindemann@mjlindemann.com. I try to respond to everyone :)
No comments:
Post a Comment