Author: grasshopper

The Grasshopper Lies Heavy

Posted on by in High Castle

Anyone who knows me and/or follows me on Twitter and Instagram knows what a huge fan of Amazon’s the Man in the High Castle I am.

Season Two will be here December 16th, and I am hyped! I haven’t been this excited for the sequel of something since…well, since I can remember! All of the clips and sneak peaks they’ve released give me high hopes that Season Two will be just as awesome as Season One.

Come December 16th, I’ll be tip toeing around the Internet and avoiding spoilers like the plague. Oh, I’ll be watching the first episode that night for sure! I’m not one to binge watch something in one sitting. I just need ten spoiler-free days, and that’s it!

I’ll spare you the info dump on my avoid TMITHC spoilers plan and drop some doodles and things I’ve done since Season One!

Who else is excited for season two?

Win & Win

Posted on by in NaNoWriMo, Sisters

Just look at that little word count! NaNo who?

I’m going back to the original writing strategy I had for Sisters. There’s no way I can reach NaNo’s goal of 50K at this point. The initial plan was to write three chapters, pause and revise, visit the outline and note any changes in plot, and write three more chapters.

Rinse and repeat!

Anyone who has ever had to edit can tell you what a tedious, short-attention-span producing task it is. Imagine saving ALL of it for later and going back to several hundred pages of it. No thanks!

This is something I’ve never done before. I’ll still have to go back after I finish writing and reread it all, but the goal is to make the dreaded revision task a little easier.

Because nobody asked, here’s my two cents on current events…

Has it made working on Sisters harder? Yes. Did I vote for him? No. Am I going to move on and keep living my life? Yes.

I just want to say one thing, and then I’ll shut up because the last thing I want to turn this blog into is a political stomping ground.

I’m going to talk about Internet rants because, good Lord…There are right ways to express your anger and there are obnoxious ways.

Throwing tantrums online, labeling every single person who voted a certain way a [insert buzzword here], and declaring that you’re unfriending every last person who voted differently than you does one thing, and one thing only.

It alienates people, even those who share your views.

“Your crazy Internet rant really opened my eyes!” said no one ever.

Want to win people over to your side? 

Hilarious memes & rationality

It’s that simple.

Post Apocalyptic Election Writing Freeze

Posted on by in NaNoWriMo, Sisters

Watch my NaNoWriMo count stall out!

Last week was a wild one, wasn’t it? I’ll be frank: I didn’t even consider the possibility that our current president-elect would be the president-elect. It didn’t even cross my mind for a second that he even had a remote chance of winning.

I was in the “I hate them both” crowd, but fully expected Clinton to win and to be irritated yet secretly relieved over it because putting a bland, run of the mill politician in the White House would have made everything go back to normal, and that’s all anyone wants, right?

So what does this have anything to do with writing and NaNoWriMo? I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Sisters started out as a what if scenario. This year’s crazy election fueled my Sisters frenzy. What if someone similar to Trump really did win?

Needless to say, I was shocked to the core when I woke up, checked my phone, and saw the words “Donald Trump won the presidential election.”

I didn’t know what to think. I certainly didn’t know what to write. I was in a state of bewildered shock for several days (just look at my NaNoWriMo stats!).

Worry not, friends! I managed to gather the confused pieces and am already at it. I probably have a shot in hell at making 50K by the end of the month, but that’s not going to stop me from finishing it. I’m actually a few words shy of 20K, but since I started it before NaNo, I didn’t count anything before November 1st.

And so, I’ll leave you with a few Sisters themed images.

National Novel Writing Month

Posted on by in NaNoWriMo, Sisters

I feel like the timing of this is all too convenient!


Sisters is officially a GO! 

I’ve written the first three chapters to get the setting down and a feel for the characters. Once I did that, I paused to create an outline for the rest of the novel.

It just so happens that we’re a few days shy of November (well, at the time I’m writing this, anyway). I couldn’t ask for better timing!

Hello, NaNoWriMo! It’s been a long time. I’ve got a novel brewing for you that I’m all too excited to start. It’s going to be made of feels. Such feels.

For those who aren’t familiar with NaNoWriMo, they challenge writers to write 50K words in one month (the month of November).

If you love to write, take the NaNo challenge! See if you can hit 50K. You can sign up at nanowrimo.org/

I’ll be posting about my progress. Just look out for #Sisters422.

I know NaNoWriMo suggests that you just write, write, write, and ignore grammar, but I’m not going to do that this year. Going back to edit something like that is:


WHERE R TEH GRAMMARZ POLICE?

SITREP Oops

Posted on by

A military story

Back when I was in Okinawa, I had gotten my line number for Staff Sergeant, and off to Airmen Leadership School (ALS) I went. ALS = the special leadership training you have to go through before you become an NCO.

One day we had a special guest instructor. Our desks consisted of three long tables set in a U shape so that the instructor could walk around and interact with us as he taught. If there was one thing to be said about ALS, it was that they were fair with breaks so that we could use the facilities or grab a bite from the vending machines. They did not care if you ate a snack during class so long as you weren’t disruptive.

My story begins when we came back from a break.

I had grabbed myself a small bag of M&Ms because I needed something to hold me over until lunch. I sat in my spot as everyone filed back into the room. The instructor proceeded to go over a serious topic (unfortunately, I’ve forgotten the actual topic, but let’s pretend he was talking about something as sensitive as what to do if one of your subordinates is showing signs of depression).

Once we were all seated, he started his lecture. I quietly grabbed my M&Ms and figured a quick tear to the corner would do the trick. I tugged at the plastic, but nope! It made a hair raising wrinkling sound, so I set them in my lap and tried again–Before I continue, yes, this story is going exactly where you think it is.

The tiny bag refused to open.

No matter what I did, the darned plastic would not tear. I put them back on the table and decided to try again later. I took notes as any dutiful student would and tried again.

I picked up the bag, pulled at the little flap in the back, and

POP!

M&Ms flew everywhere. It was a shock and awe of colorful chocolate candies raining down on the table, thundering like an F15 down the flight-line. I froze, my face transfixed into an expression of utter horror. Not only had my precious snack rained all over the table, but one of the M&Ms smacked the instructor in the chest.

He looked at me, his face a serene picture of calmness. All eyes were on me. Silence clung to the air. He looked down at his feet, bent over, picked up the culprit, and ate it.

He walked over to me and picked a few off the table and ate them.

I sat, with my mouth gaping open. I couldn’t form words or utter an apology because how do you come back from such a disaster?

“You going to clean those up, or do I have to eat them all?” he asked. He stepped back and laughter erupted from his form, and soon, we were all laughing.

Yes, this really happened! Leave it to me to be the one to open a bag of candy for the classic candy explosion!