I’m leading into the last month of my tenth grader’s school year and I have to say…I’m learning more this year than last year. I have learned more about Realism and the origins of Science Fiction. But the magical realism lesson stuck with me the most, mainly because I can finally put a name to it.
writing
A writer is someone who has taught his mind to misbehave.” – Oscar Wilde
Yes, indeed, that is a fact. Being a writer has allowed me to forgo the rules, break from the norms, and challenge the minds. In this day and age, it’s practically a requirement. A writer must be able to understand the rules of life to represent it in their writing. More importantly, they must understand life’s rules to point out societal problems.
I still always have a lot of work to do in my three main worlds: grad school, teacher, and author. This is the norm for me – my comfort zone. Still, life is slowing down for me. It happens now and again, and I handle myself accordingly. How? I accept and appreciate it.
Thank you so much to everybody who has read my blog over the years. 2023 has been a transformative year for me and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for me in 2024.
First and foremost, I’m finally going to be able to release the Arabic version of my Sinful Tales of Wicked Vile Delights. This also means that I need a new banner for my Twitter Page. Still, I have more milestones to obtain.
I want to finish my Master’s this year while saving for Spain. I want to ensure I am ready to teach Creative Writing to European high school and university students when I’m done with China.
I also want to finish the script of my friends’ comic series that we are going to star in. We are pretty excited about that. I already have a six-part arc planned that my friends are beyond impressed; they’re also not surprised at all.
Finally, while I’m in China, I want to get Act 1 and part of Act 2 of my LGBTQ+ Crimeverse done. I’ve realized that I want to take advantage of the LGBTQ+ conventions and book clubs to market and advertise them properly.
Oh! I still have to makeover my website to accommodate the growing trend of book trailers and teasers. I’m still researching great minds in videography and photography to bring them to life as well as a YouTube page. Oh, yeah, 2024 is going to be a good year for me. I hope it will be for all of you, too. Happy New Year!!
Today is a good day for many reasons. I just finished my last paper for my Literary Theory and now I can return to my actual writing (I was only doing about 25%). I will admit that this class was something fierce and gave me a newfound respect for literary theorists. I mean, the amount of analytical thinking involved with this type of narrative nonfiction is quite something. It’s something else entirely and I know hands-down that I’m not going anywhere near it after I finish this class.
Let me be the first to admit this openly: I don’t have much of an analytical bone. When I read books, I notice things and can examine the surface meaning and themes of the books. However, I can’t say I can apply criticism/lenses to them. You know…psychoanalytical, feminist, Marxist, deconstructionist, and such. And, it’s because of this that I’m having a difficult time in my current class.
Well, since the first novel of my crimeverse was typed up and put away for a while, I’m now tasked with hiring models the professional and lengthy way. Yes! It will be my first time utilizing a professional website/service. Yes! It will be my first time being the only one who will be picking the models. Yes! I understand that the models have to be sexy and closely resemble the characters in my story. Yes! I’m fully aware that, if I pick wrong, the characters will not pop and my book series will be dead on arrival. Yes! I am clearly in a panic right now, but the book isn’t the only reason.
This day has become a special one for me. Despite all the chaos I had endured, I finished creating my midterms for my eighth graders, measuring the English Room, editing my students’ research paper projects, and decorating the board for the school’s Reading Month. Most of all, I finished typing out the first installment of my LGBTQ+ Crimeverse, and my chest is swollen with pride now!
Grad Student. Teacher. Author. Nerd. It’s a good thing I always have a weekend to myself because I would have broken down a long time ago. Well…actually I did suffer a fatigue snap during my first year in China but, again, thank God for weekends/days off. Seriously, I do need my day of unplugging and winding down. Now! On to some good news…