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So, last night I was watching a video about one of my favorite horror movies. John Carpenter’s The Thing which is loosely based upon the short story Who Goes There? I’ve not read that story, it’s always been on my to-do list, and last night I found out there was a Kickstarter to get the notes and whatever that was Who Goes There by John W. Campbell turned into the whole novel Frozen Hell. But the author of the video pointed something out that made me decide not to invest in it. And the current times and quick ability for authors to get their words out there, for good or ill, is making me realize. When I was originally thinking of this I had better, more witty ways to say this. But I’ve slept and so this is the post you get. Guess I should have struck while the iron was hot. Oh well. So, John W. Campbell was racist, I say that because he’s deceased. But he’s not the only author who has tanked their product with views that the rest of the world doesn’t get along with. For instance, I love Altered Carbon. The idea and everything about it. But like J. K. Rawling he’s come out as Anti-Trans. And boy oh boy is Rawlings really wrecking her brand by continuing to keep yapping. Orson Scott Card nearly tanked Ender’s Games and had to go on numerous shows and say that he had little to do with the movie and maybe you should forget he’s horribly homophobic and give the brutal oppression of children in space a chance. Lovecraft is a pretty well known horrible individual, but it could be argued that was the time. What excuse do these current folks have? The thing is, once you open your trap and start spewing shit, it sticks around. And I know my stuff doesn’t stink, but I’ve never said anything that I view that controversial. But then I’m a nobody and no one cares what I think. My thoughts on taxing billionaires out of existence, and healthcare for everyone and a future that’s better for everyone is only in content with those who are, generally, horrible people. I’ve seen plenty of people who feel bad about buying Rawling’s books in the past, or watching the movies, and then feeling bad when she keeps shooting off her mouth repeating TERF talking points and recently something about non binary. Frankly I don’t pay attention to the bigot because I have far more important things to focus on. But it’s meant that I won’t ever support anything she’s done. That revenue stream isn’t going to impact her big picture at all. But here’s the thing, if you bought it and liked it before the author became a whack job, that’s great. Keep enjoying the work, but think long and hard about continuing to support them. I’m a huge fan of Persons of Interest, and I knew Jim Caviezel was right wing. I mean, he’s played Jesus in something more than once. And there is nothing wrong with being proud of your religion and acting on it. That’s why we have Battlefield Earth with John Travolta. But when I started to hear that he as an actor was rough with the dog, to the point where they had to cut scenes with him and Bear I was a bit disappointed, but chocked it up to him being maybe one of those guys who doesn’t really interact with animals much so he’s not as gentle as he could be. Then he started strumping for Trump and stating he’s the next messiah not to mention his love of QAnon. And well… I’d already bought all of the Persons of Interest and there was no point getting rid of a perfectly good series cause the dude was a fuckwit. But his latest movie Sound of Freedom, something I was actually interested in, gets a hard pass. I live in a capitalist society. So there’s only two ways I can really protest something. Vote against it in the voting booth, or close my wallet. And that’s something I don’t think a lot of author’s realize. Is that when you start spouting stuff you should take a good hard look at what you stand for and if you’re ok with those people supporting you. I know if I published a novel and suddenly white supremacists or racists started using me as a talking point I’d not be comfortable with that. I know it sounds stupid when I say, “I have some black friends,” but it’s true. I have 2 good African American friends I still talk to. One would probably be my best man if I hadn’t transitioned. I grew up in a mostly white suburb, so my interactions with people of color was minor. But regardless I made friends with others outside my immediate circle and I’m glad for it. And in the case of my Hispanic friend, she’s an extravert, and being an introvert, she basically adopted me into her friend circle. I guess I’m just trying to say, don’t be an asshole. Think before you speak, because you will be judged by others. And while I don’t want to be loved by everyone, I’m more than happy burning some bridges, I do want to at least be something of a role model. Someone that a young kid could pick up my books and say “I get this, I relate.” And when they go to do research on me find that the worst thing I did was litter or that I jaywalked. That I wasn’t advocating for ripping babies from their mothers arms to throw into a fire to power some infernal capitalist machine that made some sort of drink. Now, for those of you who don’t like litterbugs or jaywalkers, I profusely apologize for my inability to obey traffic signals and signs about staying off the grass. Incorrigibly yours, J.E. Flint

Prolific Writers My brother reads more than I do, which is rather humorous. He's an artist who has a nine to five job where he has to go somewhere to do physically demanding work. So on his breaks and on his lunch he reads books on his phone. And an author he reads a lot is Brandon Sanderson. I have nothing against the guy, I haven't read it. But my brother was mentioning that in COVID he had created four or five novels. Sanderson is, by all rights, a prolific writer. Just a quick glance through his Wikipedia page shows he's got at least 18 novels. Not counting the work he did for Wheel of Time and others. Publishing Beyond Death And this brought up the topic of legacy of a writer. Many years ago I worked with a guy who had roomed with one of Stephen King's nephews or nieces, I don't recall which, and he said that King was so prolific that he had books locked in a vault not to be released until his death. Because he didn't think they were up to his current quality. So like Tupac, King will be releasing best sellers for years after his death. In theory Sanderson has something similar. Apparently he has full outlines for his works that his chosen protégé can pick up and run with. Which is both fascinating and disturbing. Outline Approaches I outline a little, not a lot, because I tend to wing a lot of what I'm doing. I do world building and character backgrounds and soundtracks but I'm not sure someone could pick up my outline for say Tormented By A Goddess and get it across the finish line. It has the key beats but I feel like planning outlines too far out into the future you're likely to start straying from it when you finally get there. If you're super detailed and specific you certainly make it easier for someone to come and pick up your work. But if it's just the barest of outlines, hitting the high points, you can lose something in the translation. So it makes me wonder what Sanderson is doing. Does he script everything to be super tight and they can just be picked up and chunked out? Or has he just hit the high notes and he's hoping to get there while still alive? Writing Longevity The life expectancy of humans is supposed to be going up, and in theory, as long as your brain is still working you can write, or dictate, for a novel to be written. But I know in the case of the mockingbird author, Harper Lee, there are rumors they kept writing even with dementia. But short of some sort of mental inability to, a writer can write well into their twilight years. And it's not uncommon for a son/daughter to continue the legacy. Take Dune for instance. Famous Unfinished Works So, if Sanderson dies unexpectedly we can still expect to see that his name or at least his ideas will continue for awhile. Now, the true question is… What about George R. R. Martin? What's his backup plans for his Game of Thrones series? He's been taking longer and longer to get his work finished so I wouldn't be surprised to see that he's going to have to pass the torch on to someone else. As for me? Well I'm a nobody, so let's see if I ever get published instead of self-published before we start wondering who is going to take my silly ideas and run with them. ________________________________________ Incorrigibly yours, J.E. Flint

The Great AI Debate I'm a no one, freely admitted. There is no reason to follow me or even listen to my words. But I will say that I have watched a very spirited debate in the reddit writing communities about the latest tool in our arsenal. That's right. I'm talking about AI. There are folks who view this as akin to selling your soul to the devil for even daring to think about using this. And there are others who argue that it's not evil and is to be used and turned into a tool for your use. I, gentle user, am of the opinion that why should a tool not be used when it's needed? The False Arguments Against Tools Some folks, myself included, write while listening to music. I can't tell you how often I've seen an article that has stated that if you need a playlist you're not serious about writing and not to waste anyone's time. I present you another argument. "If you use an Agent to get published you're not serious about this." Absurd right? Anyone who knows the industry knows that if you don't have an agent you're not likely to get anywhere. Sure we have outliers like Stephenie Meyer who can submit an entire book and get luckily picked. Most of us aren't that lucky. The industry is generally against the independent. The Value of Tools in Writing So why would you throw a tool away? A good editor is 50+ dollars an hour and you have to tell them specifically what you want from them. Be it mechanics, be it plot, be it syntax. And the editor focuses on specific things and if you want them to look at something not in their wheelhouse then you're going to get charged for it or you're going to be out of luck. My first novel didn't get an editor and it shows. A Goddess's Gifts and Altered Realities got editors and they're much better books for it. I still haven't broken even at the time of writing this for either of those works. Should I discard the editor as a tool? Of course not. AI as Another Writing Tool AI in most of its applications is a godsend for us. Is it wrong to have it produce a 50,000 word youth novel? I believe so. Is it wrong to be an alpha reader? No. Is it wrong for it to help you with your grammar? No. I was using Grammarly for several years for my writing; it's gotten noticeably crappier now that it's more AI dominated. AI will not replace your fundamentals. If you don't have creativity then it's going to be a pretty lackluster story. How I Use AI Anymore I use AI for help with plotting stuff out. I throw out a question to it, and because it's 2 or 3 in the morning and I know no sane person would be up to answer me, it can. I pay for it. And I know that in some cases I'm training the program for others. This isn't necessarily a problem. I've tried a number of AI writing programs. My favorite is SudoWriter. More because I can throw all my stuff into an organized "folder" and it's there. It's essentially a backup for my Google Drive. The Limitations of AI AI from what I've seen is a thirsty creature, it loves to write smut. But it's not good at it. I like to think I know a thing or two about smut since I wrote two novels where that was pretty heavy in it. That's probably because the people who are using it are writing fan fictions and self-insert stories. I tried using NovelAI to rewrite a Ranma 1/2 lemon I did from my youth. And let me tell you, it took a lot to keep it on task. It would forget within a paragraph that something had happened to Akane and have her show up in scenes that were between say Shampoo and Uchan. The Bottom Line AI isn't going to take your creative job if you don't let it. The people who are churning out AI stories to flood the market are the same type of people who rush a Direct to DVD movie of something that sounds similar to the movie you want to watch. For instance when Transformers came out I saw a ton of stuff for Transmorphers. Just be smart about using the tool at hand. A hammer is a hammer. AI is a tool, it's not to the point that they are perfectly capable of mimicking human emotions. At least that's what I should say as a human who is clearly writing this and not having a program do it for me. Incorrigibly yours, J. E. Flint

The Blogging Struggle I always make the excuse I'm bad at blogging and social media. It just requires me to be more consistent about it. I can set schedules on my phone to remind me that I should publish a blog every week. That's what I'm going to have to do. I've been learning Spanish and Japanese with a refresher in German on Duolingo for the past 100 days, and it's become a healthy habit. They say it's 30 days to make something a habit, but my brain is not wired to work that way. I only do the Duolingo thing because it pops up on my phone at 7am every morning. I expect that at any time, I'm going to just swipe away the Duolingo thing and go about my day. There have been a few times where I've come close, but instead, I hit remind me later. Learning for Learning's Sake And what does that say if the only reason I started on a task to better myself, learning Spanish and Japanese, was to give my brain some much-needed learning? No one forced me; I recently added French into the mix, and I can't wait to upset multiple people with how bad my French, Spanish, and Japanese are. It's not like I'm going to use them in my day-to-day life. I only know one person who speaks fluent Spanish, and we do not talk on a daily basis. I don't know anyone who speaks French. I took German in college and high school and just want a refresher. As for Japanese, I have a friend who's learning it with me, but we don't really speak Japanese to each other. Just silly stuff like "Nani?". You know, typical anime crap. The Learning Habit I like to learn, and that might be the only habit that's stuck in my childhood. From documentaries on serial killers, true crime, and lore drops on Warhammer 40k. I watch videos about finance and crypto markets. But none of that will really ever go into my writing; at least, I don't think it will. Oh, and leveling up in video games. Just sitting there grinding Albinaurics in Palace Overlook in Elden Ring for an hour or two while I talk to friends on Discord. It's not like I need to kill those frog people things... and they're only dropping like 6,000 runes. I just do it. I certainly didn't need to be level 333 to beat Elden Ring for the third time, but I was. I was 111 for the Ranni achievement and 222 for the Frenzied Flame achievement, and I only did the normal one because that was all that stopped me from playing a game. Redirecting Habits to Writing I could have put that time into Editing, a task I don't like. It's way more fun to write. But again, that's a habit I have to get into. So, the habits I've got to improve on are Social Media engagement, Blogging, and Editing. In some of those, I have tools to help. For social media, I use Buffer to post to the vast majority of my feeds with a single click. It makes it so much easier to go to one site, write it up, and then push a button to schedule them all. For Editing, I primarily use Grammarly to catch mistakes. I've been working on my latest of many novels, I Am Not a Kobold, and editing them chapter by chapter after I finish the next chapter. For instance, I just finished chapter 9, and I have been going back through chapters 1 through 5 so far. Reviewing what's going on, expanding in areas, clarifying in others. There are tons of AI tools I could be using to help with my grammar, I'm sure. Gods know there's tons of AI for writing. I've tried more than a few of them, and they all have certain flaws in them. I only use Grammarly to avoid the 50 dollars an hour for a professional. I'm not made of money. I wish I was, but I have a nine-to-five job to pay for my house, and that takes precedence. The Stream of Consciousness I don't really know what this blog post was supposed to be. It just goes to show I'm not a professional writer who can look at a blank page and say, "This is my blog." I originally was going to talk about Elden Ring and its lore, but then I was like, I can talk about mental help. So, just expect weird blog posts until I have an idea of what is going on. It's like the Livejournal era all over again. Incorrigibly yours, J. E. Flint

Setting Expectations Like a lot of people I went to see Age of Ultron opening weekend. I'm not going to be blasting the film, but I will put out there point blank that one of the best movies I've ever seen was Iron Man and I only gave it four out of five stars. I'm a notoriously harsh critic, just ask my friends. And this post is probably not going to earn me any cred with most people because I'm going to bash icons in it, and I won't give away spoilers while doing so. The Villain Problem First off, from a fangirl perspective Ultron was the wrong choice to have for a 2nd movie villain. I wish that in the marvel movies they'd sat down and planned and made better use of their villains. A few devious lines of dialogue some nearly off camera shots of Kang the Conqueror would have been a true treat for those fans who know about the avengers and set us up for Avengers 3. Now that said Ultron is a big villain in the Avengers continuity and has been fought multiple times. The image I'm using for this is part of the Annihilation Conquest, it's a cool picture. But he's certainly not the baddest villain they could be fighting. On an aside I'm honestly going to be disappointed when Thanos gets taken apart by the Guardians of the Galaxy, which I have issues with the portrayal of those characters in the movie to begin with. I honestly don't know who I would have picked for a follow up villain and I'm glad it wasn't Loki. I don't want them going back to the well too often with him. Ultron's Character Misstep The reason I don't believe Ultron should have been the second villain is simple, build up. He comes out of left field in this and just sorta acts like a wrecking ball with a snarky attitude. I instantly began to dislike Ultron in the movie when he started to be jokey. You pull me out of the movie when a character who is normally pretty straight laced becomes a jokester. What has happened to Hollywood where the smooth sophisticated villain is now seen as being unworthy of their time? My only complaint about Daredevil is Kingpin and how he stutters through his lines and generally acts like he doesn't want to be there. Just my opinion but the only thing the Kingpin teaches me as he is now is dude has an impressive temper and he's somewhat capable of planning. Ultron who should be this force to be reckoned with comes off as half cocked and perhaps a little bit insane. Which kudos for making him seem insane, insanity is a very hard thing to hit for bad guys. You either get lame attempts like Heath Ledger's Joker, deal with it he was a terrible Joker and only got vaulted into super stardom because he died, or you get jokes like when Gollum had his heart to heart. Plot Predictability All in all the movie isn't terrible. It's perhaps pretty tight, except that it suffers from the fact that because Marvel has announced which sequels are coming out you know whose not dying. Oh no they killed someone within five minutes of the movie and over the top foreshadowed that someone's going to die, but it's not that person!, that it's sort of laughable. RDJ and Evans are coming back for respective movies, Thor's going to have a new movie. The only characters not mentioned in having direct movies are Widow, Hawkeye and Hulk. And thank god we're not getting another hulk movie. It's the friggin' Hulk. He's a boring character with little to no character growth nine times out of ten. Let him sit on the back of the bus like he did in this movie and lets give more time to… I don't… the guy who was playing Galaga. In my heart I'm calling that guy Eric O'Grady for he shall always be an irredeemable ant-man to me. So why should we care that Ultron's going to destroy everything we've built in the previous movies? Good question, I can't answer that because I know even before going to the movie that Ultron is going to be defeated. I don't have to give you spoilers. If you're paying attention to the marvel release schedule you already know Ultron is a stop gap. The best you can hope for is that he's a good villain. Style Over Substance? And AoU doesn't really let most people down on that. His styling is cool, his voice is awesome but for me he's not as menacing as he could be. He's like Cobra Commander. You know he's trying, but you're just not expecting much out of him. I mean he is a world class buffoon, Destro told me so and how do you argue with a man whose face is metal? Without giving any spoilers away the Age of Ultron is a good popcorn movie, and for the casual marvel fan it's good. But for the fangirl in me it's not quite there yet. Now don't get me wrong. I loved Loki in the first Avengers. But Loki has always been a character about mischief and I expect a certain amount of levity. Whedon's terrible on the whole for story development, but credit where credit is due, man is great at snappy one liners. I could be wrong, it's been known to happen. But I keep expecting the Marvel Cinematic Universe to unravel. The Comic Book Movie Challenge Comic books can make great movies but they have to be done just right. And I suspect we're about to watch DC try this and flop because they're not approaching it as what you need to do to make these series work. Same with Sony and spider-man. When you've got a comic book you have to walk that fine balancing line of movie and comic book story. For instance everyone was clamoring for Venom in the 3rd spider-man movie. Less is more. Dropout Sandman, tease the black Venom suit. Make James Franco, so good, into the movie villain. Have him use the power of media, his money and his supervillain go get'em attitude to really put the screws to Petey. Pete kills Harry in his new emo suit and then in the 4th movie… and only then when this new black suited spider-man has gone too far do you reveal that Pete's no longer in control. You make the entire fourth movie about Venom. Final Verdict Now back to AoU. It's a good movie, you should see it. But it's only a good movie. It's not great its story doesn't really do anything but move from point A to point B. Heck there's a number of fights I couldn't watch because it was just left right left right drop the mike, of course that could have been because I had some idiot teens trying and failing to MST3k the movie, and it's off to the next scene. On the whole I don't believe you'll be disappointed. As for me, I'll probably see it again if my friends ask to go see it again but I won't go out of my way to rewatch it. So at best it's a solid 3. At worst it's a 2.5 out of five. Incorrigibly yours, J.E. Flint

Setting the Mood A good writer can tug at your heart strings, can make you laugh, grow angry at actions or even dread what's coming up in that character's future. But not me. I'm not very connected to my emotions. So I use playlists to get me into a general mind set for certain writing. Which is why if you go to my YouTube or Spotify profile you'll see playlists like Brooke Amira which is several hundred angry metal songs, or Rose Dandy-Ba who is mostly techno. The Professional Debate The idea of relying on music to get you in a mood is seen as a bad thing by professional writers. That you're not serious about your craft. And there's probably some truth to that. But I counter. With the advent of powerful super computers that fit in my pocket or purse, the fact there's always an internet connection and headphones. Unless you're one of those jerks blasting music without headphones in a public place. And if you're one of those people we look at you and we judge. We've got our eye on you, mister. But in all seriousness, with the advent of technology, most people are always on their phone or laptop in the coffee shop, on campus, in the library. And they most likely have earbuds or headphones. Wearing headphones is generally the universal sign of go away I'm busy. So with this miracle of science, why wouldn't I be listening to music? Different Brains, Different Methods Now, my brother and I have a difference of how our brains work. And we've talked about this, he can listen to podcasts and keep drawing. I can't. If I hear people talking I want to pay attention to them. But music, I can just turn that on and it's drowning out noise. He can't do that while he's working on his art. Music as a Writing Tool Am I any less serious about my craft when I listen to music? I'd argue no. Am I using my music for a crutch? Eh, maybe. I do like to list the playlist I was using to write the novel. But in the case of Brooke Amira's Unfinished Tales and Esper Fade: An Old Man's War those play lists, OMW is over 200 songs of various types that I felt applied to the setting and the character in general. I remember reading Adam Warren's run on The Dirty Pair listening to The Mortal Kombat soundtrack and Juke Joint Jezebel just spoke to me while reading it. And I want some fan to read a novel and they're listening to it with their favorite album and they're just like "Pulp Fiction" works great with this. Only don't, cause I don't know if I could ever match Misirlou's energy. Don't do that to me, I'm only a rookie author. Emotional Translation Will my using certain music make me a great writer to try and recapture or push a sob story to someone who's reading it? No. Probably not, but at least I know what the scene is supposed to be while I'm listening to Soul Asylum's Runaway Train. And then when I get to the editing process I can tell the editor, I can remind myself, something to say "Oh yeah, this is supposed to be a sad part" and adjust accordingly. Knowing my strengths allows me to write something, which isn't necessarily bad. But the more I write, the more I think about the emotions and trying to connect them to what I was thinking. The pain of the INTJ, trying to understand the emotions and describe them. But, hey, gotta start somewhere right? Incorrigibly yours, J. E. Flint

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The Unexpected Icon I've never understood the appeal of the masses had with Cthulhu. I really don't see how he became such a popular icon for nerds and horror types. I fell into reading H.P. Lovecraft by sheer accident. I picked up the Robert E Howard Conan novels and backed my way into H.P. Lovecraft that way. Ancient Terrors of the Deep The thought of an ancient, powerful sleeping monsters in the depth has been around for centuries like the Kraken, Leviathan, The Bloop or cuttlefish. Supposedly scientists known more about what's going on in space than what's happening in our own oceans. Personally I think we know the same amount on both sea and space. NOAA says 95% of the sea is unexplored. And frankly we only have theories and conjectures on space. Which is important to note when dealing with Cthulhu. Cosmic Horror and Incomprehension H.P. Lovecraft says that Cthulhu is a priest for dark gods (Great Old Ones) who are from a time and place outside our comprehension. Which in a horror story is always a nice creepy element. The unknown is what scares people. And there's a lot to be scared of under the sea. The problem with Cthulhu is that his very presence will drive people insane. And there's only so much insanity that you can read before you have to just shrug your shoulders and move on. Lovecraft's Complex Legacy Don't get me wrong, I like reading H.P. Lovecraft and a few of the stories really did send a shiver down my spine. The language is hard to read, for me at times because of its blatant racism, but sadly that was the time. And that aside it's best to ignore it. But the work of fiction is large and it's loved by people and it keeps growing. Personally I'm more of a fan of Dagon and when I've traveled I've come across places where I get that "outsider vibe" as soon as you step in. Of course that could just be because of who I am and I always feel like I'm an outsider. The Sleeping Threat So anyway, Cthulhu sits beneath the waves in a continent that may or may not be the city of Atlantis since it's located in the pole of inaccessibility it's hard to tell. And it's not like there would be any cause for anyone to go looking for anything in that location, except for being a fan, so when Cthulhu does rise from his slumber he'll wreck havoc on Coney Island. So problem solved right? Just keep Coney Island around until you can get him struck by lighting. Or just make sure never to raise Cthulhu from his sleep. I'm still not sure why Cthulhu has become pop culture icon that he is. I really don't understand how things get popular. But this is one instance where I'm not terribly upset to see one of my favorite authors getting credit for his creation… Even if he happens to have died almost 80 years ago at this point. Urban Fantasy Origins Just keep telling the story over and over, adding in new features and new ideas. I personally believe that The Call of Cthulhu is one of the major influences into the Urban Fantasy genre. Since it's dealing with "modern" times and the supernatural. True it has a horror element and is told in a deliberately spooky manner but the idea of Urban Fantasy is a fantasy novel that is set in an urban setting and just because it's now almost 100 years after the roaring 20's when Lovecraft's books took place it is still very much an urban setting. The Unknown Still Exists And there's a lot of unexplained items out there. And you don't have to be a skeptic about it but you don't have to be a hard core believer that we've not found everything on our planet. We discover new species all the time. Whose to say that the bloop wasn't Cthulhu? And I for one Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn when I Cthulhu. Incorrigibly yours, J. E. Flint