Writing: Getting Back In The Game

It’s been a while since I sat down to work on a new piece of fiction or edit or finish an old piece. I could list a dozen or two reasons why I haven’t, but they would sound like excuses. Some of my reasons are valid. For example, when I’m in a deep depression, my creative brain is turned off for awhile.

My current problem: I need to shock it back to life.

While I feel a lot better than I have in…well, all year, that creative side of me is still kind of numb and shut off. And doesn’t that just suck?

Some writers have writers block. Others put writing off for one reason or another. And some writers sit every damn day and create something. (If you are that person, I think you are awesome and I hate you, just a tad. But mostly I think you are awesome).

I have been coming up with a game plan. One that will hopefully get the creative juices flowing. Maybe my game plan will help you get through your own writing slump or help you keep the wheels good and greased.

Get Crafty. Or garden. Or paint. Whatever works for you. Luckily for me, with the wedding next year I have a lot to do. I have always loved being creative, and when I am active in one area, it helps me in another.

Get Rid of Clutter. Cleaning your desk or creating your own little writing space can help you focus. No clutter means no distractions. My desk has a lot of distractions that need to be purged.

Be Realistic. If I sit down and decide to write 3000 words a day, I am going to fail. Like, crash and burn. Then I will feel like shit and like I can’t do anything. Boo. With anything, you need to be realistic with your goals. Start small and build on from there.

Remind Yourself Why You Write.  I need to start fresh. I need to do what I did when I was ten years old. Creating odd and wonderful worlds and not caring what anyone thought because this was MY creation. Because I LOVED doing it.

Talk To Your Writing Buddies. Maybe you have one friend who lives in another part of the country that writes. Maybe there is a local writers group nearby. If you have someone,  go for coffee or send them a message. Fellow writers are a great way to gain inspiration. My writers group is fab at giving me a kick in the pants. If you don’t know any writers, then check out online writers groups or ask your local library. (That’s where I found out about The Story Forge, the group I have been going to for the last twelve years).

It might not sound like much of a game plan, but the idea is to keep it simple. Have you ever been in a writing slump? What helped you to get past it?

Mail Call From Across The Globe

Imagine my surprise when I dropped into my post office this afternoon to find this waiting for me.

A massive package from Australia and a fab letter from Quebec.

I have been pen pals with my girl Jess for….longer than I can remember.

And whenever we are able, we send each other Christmas and birthday gifts. Sometimes, like this year, we are late with our exchange. But nothing like getting a nice surprise in June!

This right here means the world to me. These words say it all. My best friend is on the other side of the world but that doesn’t matter to us. (Sucks sometimes though!)

Even though we live far apart, we have a fantastic friendship. It is amazing how close you can become with someone when distance is a factor.

We have gotten to know each other very well. And she knows all my loves and obsessions, including my massive and unnatural love for Halloween. 😉

Halloween cupcake tray, candles, and a wooden sign.

I also received a fab letter from a Canadian pal of mine. 🙂 I love the mail art and as a bonus she sent me geeky business cards for my collection!

Letter and business cards.

I love getting mail and this was more then I ever expected! Very grateful for the friendships I have. 🙂

Geeky mail call

Awhile back me and this lovely lady decided to do a Geeky themed swap. I had loads of fun looking for bits and pieces to send her, I meant to take pics of my goodies for her and my creative envelope. (Hey, what’s a geeky swap without a zombie slayer and a superhero on the package???)

The simple joys of life

About a month ago, Kerry A.K.A The Geeky Book Lady and I decided to do a Geeky themed swap. The idea was, we would each send the other a list of some of our top  fandoms and then put together a little packaged based off that!

While I’m still waiting for some online orders to come in for my swap, Kerry had her part all done and sent it to me early last week. Have a peek! 🙂

Pretty sure my mail lady is either  jealous, or judges me XP

Dr Who!

Inside the lovely package was an array of cool stuff such as notebooks, bookmarks, pens and pins, as well as a bracelet and the cutest little keychain made to look like a mini version of the book The Hobbit!! ❤

Missing from the picture is a leather bracelet stamped with the phrase ”Bow ties are cool”. Guess which…

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Fandom Friday: Rocket Raccoon

My day started off with checking in on Facebook while my brain took a few minutes to wake up. I read a post my nephew made. It was one of those posts about saturating FB with an image since there are so many negative posts and videos on there. This one was about superheroes. So, of coarse I clicked ‘like’. Not long after, he gave me mine. Rocket Raccoon. I was more then happy with finding pics and posting them.

When I came home from work, I went to my mail that Mr. C put on the table for me. (He’s now home after a long time away- yay!). I was thrilled to open up the top envelope.

Bradley Cooper signed not one, but two photos that I sent him. And since my fave role of his is this feisty raccoon, both pics are of Rocket.

The second 4×6 photo I sent to Bradley Cooper.

I am very happy with the newest additions to my collection.

I also spent the night with Mr. C catching up on ‘Arrow’ and ‘The Flash.’ All I can say is Oh. My. God!!!!

Your Input Wanted!

Recently I did an interview with my friend Cruellatrix. Before I conducted the interview, I did what anyone would do: brainstormed. And, I reached out to some geeky friends of mine on Facebook, to see what they would ask. Some of their question were the same as mine, some I didn’t use (simply for the fact she would have had a list of thirty questions if I didn’t cut it off!), and others I added to my ever growing list.

I will be doing an interview again in the future. This time with a pretty fab author!! I have already started brainstorming. And this is where YOU come in. This time I wanted to reach out to all of you lovely people! 🙂

If you could an author anything, what would it be?

Your question(s) just may end up on in my official interview! 🙂

The Seventh Crow

I’m just about to pop over to Kickstarter, and back the latest novel by my friend and talented writer, Sherry D. Ramsey.

“The Seventh Crow” is a YA fantasy adventure, a book that I can’t wait to get into my hands. I read the first chapter of it a few years ago, and I have been waiting for the moment where I could read it in its entirety.

Want to know what the gist of the book is? I found this blurb over on Kickstarter.

“A talking crow, a forgotten world and a young girl’s quest to regain her memory, her power and protect the people she cares for.”

What’s not to love??

If you are interest and want to get your own copy, check it out here and watch the video.

Added bonus: Not only do you pre-order your book but there are various and cool perks to each pledge level! 🙂 New stretch goals have also been added!

Rainy Saturday

I was going to write up a proper post but between the rain sucking out my energy and the newest season of Orange Is The New Black, I haven’t moved very far. Just taking a quick break from the TV while I wait for my take out to arrive and then watching the last episode. (Ugh, I wish it was longer!)

Anyway I had intended to read today. I love curling up and listening to the rain while I read. It’s been awhile since I’ve read any Harlequin Romance, so I took one off the shelf the other day.

My cat, Missy, keeping my book safe until I’m ready. 😉

Anyway, I’m off to snuggle my cat, watch some great TV and enjoy some good grub! Poutine is what I’m craving tonight!

Happy Saturday!!! 🙂

Book Haul

Over the last few days my book collection has grown a tad. A couple of weeks ago, I entered a giveaway on Tumblr. (Yes, The Geeky Book Lady is over there! Come find me and say hi! 😉 ) I follow a lot of book and geeky blogs over there. Every so often when I see a book blog do a give away, I follow, and never expect to win.

BUT this time I did! Freckles-and-books,whose blog is called ‘The Girl With The Book Addiction’, ran a give away for TWO ‘Ms. Marvel’ comics and I won! Woot!!! They arrived today! 😀

I love the smell of a new book. Or any book, for that matter.

Over the weekend I went to Value Village with my sister. Not a place I hit often but when I do, I go straight to the book section. I bought the first book in the ‘Sisterhood of The Travelling Pants’ series (so now I have all of them, yay!) and three trashy romances. I love a good romance, trashy or ooey-gooey lovey. It’s all good to me! 😉 Got the four books for about three bucks. Not bad! (I found out too late I could have gotten another for free. 😦 )

Have any of you added to your book shelves lately? If so, what did you get!? 🙂

Half Book Review, Half Rant

So this past weekend I finished reading “The King” by J.R Ward. It is the 12th book in the Blackdagger Brotherhood series.
Now, anyone who knows me (or have read some of my reviews of the series), knows that I LOVE these books. In fact, I am obsessed over them and I have claimed Rhage as my book boyfriend.

I usually devour these books quickly. While I have had issues with a couple of the books in the past (with so many books, not every one of them will be your favorite), but this book…this book took me ages to read.

Like, over a month. I just couldn’t get into it.

When I heard about ‘The King’, I was very excited. I had loved Wrath’s book (Dark Lover, #1 in the series) and I was very much looking forward to reading his next book.

But what I hoped for and what I got was two different things.

For starters, I found the book was diluted down with too many side stories. (I swear if this happens with Rhage’s book next year- The Beast- I will be one unhappy girl.)

For instance, I think that Sola and Assail would have been much better off in another book entirely. I found their scenes in ‘Lover At Last’ felt as if they were just randomly thrown in there. I pretty much skipped those scenes since I wanted to get back to the ‘real’ story.

I loved Wrath’s parents, seeing them and learning more about what happened to them. I loved JM’s scenes and wished there had been more of them. And of coarse given the fact someone wants the throne, I knew the villain would come into play but sadly his PoV was less often then I thought it would be. I really didn’t like how he tried to take the throne on a political way with the glymera. Not that I wanted him to succeed in his mission, but I found this to be boring.

Also, I was irked from the get go with Beth. Which is why I think I had a hard time getting into the book.

Wrath’s shellen is a strong, independent character. What she pulled off in the beginning annoyed me to no end. She basically did the vampire version of trying to trick her man into getting her pregnant. Which I think is dirty pool, even for humans. Beth tried to kick start her needing by spending time with another female vamp, while Wrath was dead set against having a child.

The book also included Trez’s Pov which sets things up for the next book called “The Shadows.” I’ll be honest, I skipped a lot of these parts too. Trez grew as a character throughout the novel, but that’s all about all I liked. Well, aside from his brother iAm, who I think is the better of the two brothers.

There was lots that I loved about this book too. Seeing Wrath become a dad and what it did to him was fantastic. I felt heartsick for him when Beth began to bleed and having to call Doc Jane. Being blind, the only thing he could do aside from panic was hold her hand and rely on others to tell him what was going on.

And of coarse seeing bits of the Brotherhood, like when Wrath and Beth had a human wedding. There were parts that had me laughing out loud which makes me excited for the new Legacy series, where we will see more of them and the slices of life we don’t get to see so much anymore.

All in all, I give this a 4 out of 5. I did love every minute of Wrath and most of Beth. (I got over being pissed off, and for good reason.) Had it included more of them and less of others, it would have been a better read.

So, have you read ‘The King’? What did you think? Am I the only one who felt like they needed to rant while reading it?

Cosplay: My Interview With Laura

Two years ago I had the most absolute pleasure of meeting Laura Hamilton (aka Cruellatrix). I was at Toronto Fan Expo and in line to meet Dean Cain when I began talking to a spunky and sweet girl, wearing a Superman tee and Superman themed skirt. I loved my fellow geekette right away. We struck up a conversation (along with another fab lady!) and we became fast friends.

Laura loves to dress up and recently began to “semi seriously” get into cosplay.  I love seeing her newest creations and outfits.

Laura as Harley Quinn. This is my fave photo, it perfectly captures her sweet and spunky personality. (Photo taken at Niagara Comic Con by Ron from Rebel Shotz.)

I asked her if she would let me interview her, and she happily agreed!

Hi Laura, thanks so much for taking the time for this little interview!

Hi Kerry! No problem it’s a pleasure to have a chance to geek out with a fellow geekette!

You recently attended the Niagara Comic Con. How was it?

It was fantastic! Niagara Falls Comic Con will always be a special one for me as it was the first Comic Con I ever attended back in 2013 and sadly I missed it last year so it was great to go back to where it all started. It was a spectacular show this year with some great guests and just the general floor plan of the whole event was great which made it a comfortable atmosphere to be in. This year it was particularly special as not only was I returning to my first ever Comic Con it was the first year I’ve “semi-seriously” looked at Cosplaying at an event.

I’m so glad you had a great time! I wish I could have been there!  So, tell us a bit about yourself? What sort of things are you up to when not putting outfits together?

*Laughs* I’m pretty boring actually! Real life work takes up a lot of time being a Manager for a Tim Hortons in Oakville means a lot of long days, a lot of commitment and the odd phone call or text even when I’m not working so it can be a little difficult to switch off from work mode some days but I’m sure I’ll get there! When I do get a chance to relax though I’m very much a geekette/nerdette and I’m either binge watching my favourite anime One Piece (I think I’m only 160 or so episodes in and there’s over 600), reading comics (I am a big DC Comics fan but am starting to slowly bleed into Marvel Comics) or I’m playing games, everything from EverQuest 2 to Diablo 3 to The Witcher 3. Super excited for FallOut 4 that’s just been announced! I have dabbled with Twitch streaming/YouTubing my gaming adventures but my household is often quite busy to be able to do any justice with a good commentary while playing.

Geeking out is always a good way to spend your free time. 😉 So when did you start cosplaying?

More seriously since about 5pm June 7th 2015! But I’ve always had an interest in dressing up, Halloween has always been my favorite time of year because I could dress up never dreaming that there was such a thing as Cosplay. It’s not a particularly big thing back in the UK, or at least, never in the spotlight or widely known about unlike here in Canada where it’s fairly well grounded and there are so many different conventions throughout the year. In the UK that I ever knew about were London Comic Con and Cardiff Comic Con and I believe those are only a few years old compared to the likes of Fan Expo which is celebrating 21 years whereas London Comic Con I believe has only been running for 8 years. I’ve attended a few cons since I landed in Canada 3 years ago in various degrees of costume, even wore my first handmade, from scratch Wonder Woman costume to Fan Expo last year but as it was a first attempt I wasn’t particularly pleased with it and don’t have any pictures of me in it. I’ll fix it up soon but haven’t yet!

Trying on her Wonder Woman tiara.

I remember that costume! For your first handmade attempt, I thought it was pretty good! I should have taken a pic of us with you dressed up. So your alter ego name is Cruellatrix. May I ask how you came up with that name?

Actually it was a name my Mum came up with one night when I was playing EverQuest 2. I’d finished making a Dark Elf Necromancer and I just couldn’t think of a name. Everything I tried was taken, didn’t get past their copyright/profanity filter or just didn’t suit her as a character. Being that this was some 9/10 years ago I was playing on the computer that was in my Mum’s room and of course it’s a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game and being 11 playing a game with total strangers had to play it where I wouldn’t get myself into trouble! So Mum pipes up “Why not Cruellatrix? Kinda like Cruella De Ville from 101 Dalmations and Bellatrix Lestrange from Harry Potter” and since then that name has stuck and I’ve used it again and again for other games or Twitch, YouTube and now my Cosplay adventure.

That’s cool! So what made you decide to kick the cosplaying up a notch? (Check out her Facebook page, Cruellatrix Cosplay!) 

Yes, it was an unusually ballsy move but it feels good to have done it, even if I am still shaking! I think this really all starts back in November 2013 when I was diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer. Being 20 years old and being told I have cancer was really a shock and it took the wind out of my sails for the longest time. It’s “the best cancer to have” as it’s easy to deal with as it’s “just surgery” to remove it in most cases and as long as it hasn’t spread to the surrounding lymph nodes you should be fine. I’ve been told that as I had it quite young that I may get a recurrence later on in life but I refuse to focus on that right now. Throughout that whole period is when I discovered Cosplay. I found a TV series called “Heroes of Cosplay” and it follows the journeys of variously skilled cosplayers and how they make costumes, their progress and participating in competitions. I was amazed! There was a whole community out there that I never knew about, that really enjoyed crafting costumes and doing Halloween everyday at these huge conventions where it was okay to be a geek or a nerd and be surrounded by everything you fandomed over. It was then I had hope and a focus. I then went to Fan Expo 2014 and got to meet one of the professional cosplayers from the tv show, the amazingly talented Yaya Han. I told her my story and she encouraged me to keep going. I bought a print and she signed it “To Laura, keep kicking cancers ass! Love Yaya Han”.

Laura’s autograph. We are all so glad you kicked cancer’s ass!! xo

That really gave me the confidence I needed so the next day I wore my first cosplay project which was Wonder Woman. It was god awful but I was proud of it and I’m sure I’ll fix it but it was the first project where I’d experimented with Worbla and even sewed leggings and a tank top for underneath. It also taught me to be patient because sadly I’m one of those people that love to see a finished project and want to rush through it to see it finished and then it just gets messy!

Real life got in the way for a while so it’s been about 6-8 months since I last thought of doing anything with cosplaying so I knew I had to step it up a notch for the first Comic Con I’ve been to this year and that was Niagara Falls. I’d been gathering bits and pieces together for a Harley Quinn costume, I wasn’t able to make any of this myself as I wanted to make sure I was comfortable cosplaying in costume and not worried about how crap my workmanship was first. So Saturday rolls around and suddenly I’m sexy Harley Quinn and I love it! Driving down to Niagara Falls in two different types of corsets was certainly an experience but it was worth it! It felt wonderful to have people stop me and ask for photos or compliment me on how good I looked and it’s a feeling I don’t want to pass up. Then another snap decision prods me further on my adventure. I sign up for the Cosplay Contest. I knew from watching Heroes of Cosplay that most competitions won’t let you sign up unless you make everything yourself but I was in luck and I could participate just extra points are given if you make your costume which I was expecting anyway but at least I could experience being part of the competition and see how I feel about getting in front of a room full of people.

To fill up the time between the competition there was a booth right next to sign up that was posted “Cosplay for a Cure” which for a $10 donation to Canada’s Breast Cancer Society I could have a professional photo shoot done and have a 10 picture disk done. I thought why not! It’s for charity, it’s for cancer and for a little while I can feel good and experience a professional photo shoot. Triple win! It was an amazing experience and Ron from Rebel Shotz Photography was great! His energy and passion for his photography really made me feel great and feel sexy and goddamn he took great photos! I ended up with 14 photos all together so I hope that means I was a good subject to shoot!

One of the professional pics done by Ron. Lookin sexy!! 

Snap back to the contest an hour or so later I was the last but one person to stand up and show of my costume. I felt pretty bad because there were some amazing costumes that were all hand made to insane levels of detail and here I was in mostly shop bought/commission crafted stuff, nothing really made by me, so when the judges asked I told them my story. I told them that this year I didn’t make anything but I was only just beginning my journey and depending on the reception I got during this contest would either encourage me to continue or stop me there and cosplay was my escape from my cancer. The overwhelming sense of support I had from the room was incredible and I knew I just had to continue. I even had a few cosplayers stop me and tell me how moved they were by my story and gave me their own words of encouragement. So my mind was set. Let the adventure begin!

As for where next, even if I can’t make it big as a professional cosplayer, I can still be a part of the community and if I can raise awareness for cancer then that’s mission accomplished for me.

That’s great you had your first comp under your belt and that you had fun with it. Those professional pics are amazing! And I am so glad you are healthy and well now. What’s been the most challenging thing when it comes to making costumes?

I think sewing for sure. I have never been able to sew in a straight line and when using a sewing machine it’s just far too tempting to go fast to finish what you’re doing and then you end up with wonky lines. Working with Worbla has been pretty fun and it’s pretty forgiving as you can keep heating it and reshaping it so that’s been great to work with.

Do you have any projects planned or have you already started making your next costume?

Yes I have two planned out already! I’d like to do Belle’s blue provincial dress from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. It’s my all time favourite Disney movie and I’ve had the materials in my basement for a while. The other is an armor set from EverQuest 2 that my High Elf Mystic wears, I plan for it to be a nice combination of Worbla and more cloth materials so that’ll be a big learning curve but I really enjoyed working with Worbla so I’d like to try again. The challenge as always is I’m starting completely from scratch. I have to learn how to use a sewing machine and how to draft my own patterns. It’s going to take me forever but I’ve got to start somewhere!

Sounds great! I know a lot of women unfortunately face disrespect and have inappropriate comments made while cosplaying. Has anything like this ever happened to you or have they been pretty respectful? 

So far it hasn’t been too bad. I know I was asked to go to the Sci-Fi Speed Dating at the Comic Con over the weekend which in a weird way was flattering! It was mostly just adolescent/teenage boys that spoiled it a little. To get between the main hall and some of the rooms for panels I had to pass underneath a balcony and of course wearing a corset if you’re at the right angle (like above) you can see right down my top. So whilst walking underneath the balcony some young boys were blatantly staring down my top and trying to throw little bits of paper or candy wrappers down there which was a little annoying.

Well I certainly hope you don’t get anything thrown at you again! What’s the best part about cosplaying for you? 

So far it’s been the very supportive community. Everyone knows we’re gathered to nerd out and geek out and there’s no judgement. There’s just a wonderful feeling of truly knowing you’ve found your most comfortable self and are able to share that with others.

What has been your favorite character to cosplay so far? And do you role play that character?

For me it has and always will be Harley Quinn and even more so now that she has been my “breakout” character. Even though she wasn’t born in the comics and only introduced into the cartoon series, she always represented the fun side of danger and in a way I’ve been able to relate it back to Beauty and the Beast because she obviously loved The Joker even though he is such a monster she loves him and I’ve always been charmed into that whole “people may see a monster but you see a real person and you love them”.

For the most part I do like to role play the character especially if I’m stopped for a photo I’ll try and play up the character.

A Harley Quinn sandwich 😉 I’m jealous, Laura! 😉

Are you a member of any cosplay circles? If not do you plan to join one?

I’ve joined a few Facebook groups to get my page out there and I have a local friend, Harlee Sinn Cosplay, that also lives in Hamilton and she sometimes runs a Cosplay round table that I need to attend at some point but real life gets in the way!

Do you have a favorite/funny story from attending a con while in cosplay?

The funniest so far really has been where I was asked to go to the Sci-Fi Speed Dating. Bless. The guy was so friendly and was trying to be flattering and sweet but then kind of ended the conversation with “it’s free for the ladies. Join us please?”

Any words of advice or wisdom for anyone thinking about wanting to cosplay?

Have fun! It’s as cliche as it sounds but that’s the bottom line. It’s a wonderful community and I highly recommend it and everyone I’ve spoken to so far is always willing to lend a helping hand. I’m only just beginning but if I wasn’t as comfortable as I am then I wouldn’t be doing it. I hope I can inspire more people to join this growing and rewarding community. I look forward to seeing everyone’s progress as much as I look forward to sharing mine!

That’s great advice! Thank you so much again, love. It was a pleasure, as always, chatting with you! 🙂

Laura has more great pics on her FB page, Cruellatrix Cosplay!  Be sure to check her out! I am very much looking forward to seeing what she has in store! 😀