#writeblrlifeweeks

This one is hard. 

I have read a lot about this. And tried almost everything. 

What helps a lot is managing things in smaller chunks. 

I know I want to write my book. And I want to see this published. Sometimes this things are motivation enough. 

Sometimes they are not. 

Dan Brown said something like “print a dust cover of your book” one of those that hardcovers have, and put it on a hardcover that you already have and think, “this is how it’s going to look like.” 

I have not done that. 

But I like to go to bookstores and see the best sellers and this gets me motivated in two ways. “This thing is a bestseller???” and I think, yes my book will be taking one spot instead of this trash. 

I live in Mexico, and I am a bit ashamed to see that, having a very low literacy and reading rate, a lot of what is sold is, well, garbage, most teen best sellers are reality star-youtubers, literature is relegated to bad minecraft/dbz fanfiction. Don’t get me wrong, there is good fanfiction. This bestsellers are not. 

So I get back to work and write. I know I can write something better than that. 

But then there is the problem. How to sit down and write. 

First get rid of distraction, set the phone aside and lock it with an app like Forest, use a page blocker in the computer. Leave mail, facebook and whatever you’re reading for a different moment. 

I  have talked about the magical journal thing to get rid of the blank page. 

And sometimes I play lo-fi on the background since the semi-looping beats help with the writing process. It is no longer dead silent that way and the girl with the infinite journal on the screen is a nice companion. 

Depending on how I feel I pick a different kind of the drink. 

If feeling restless, there is a cup of lavender tea by my side. 

If feeling uncreative, there is a glass of some kind of wine. 

If the act becomes a dredge where I cannot get myself to write. 

Coffee. 

Coffee always helps. 

Weeeell... except at night. Which is when there is more quiet at home and hence the best time to write. 

In those cases it’s better to have something to snack handy, I said before that a plate of olive, ham, cheese and strawberries is my go-to when I sit down, since more sugary things will end up making me feel restless and more easily distracted. Buuut... sometimes cupcakes and chocolates or donuts are not bad...even if I end up regretting them later, they do tend to help with a dopamine rush. 

A change of pace helps at times, take a walk to get inspired, to get out of the routine get to a new cafe or a park or a library. But make sure you get to do the thing, otherwise you are just procrastinating. 

It is hard to get down to write. 

But no one else will write this story. So make it fun, make it manageable, and with things to help along the way. 

writeblr life weeks: about me

okay so this is just a little bit late, but in my defense i first heard about this today! (and by heard about it i mean i saw @5schemes​ posting for this so shout out to him xoxo.) right, so a little bit of a description, or an explanation for each image...

top row:

left: venturing into the great unknown, going on adventures. middle: writing! i’ve been writing most of my life. right: fog in a forest gives off such a fantasy vibe to me.

middle row: 

left: yarn! i have an impression yarn collection that my mom hates. middle: explore. i’m not an outdoorsy person but exploring? my jam. right: more yarn, and specifically crochet! i’ve been crocheting for almost a year now.

bottom row: 

Favorite Life

One of my favorites is the first time we meet Vamp, a traveling escort, that for the time is residing in Paris, Homer is pissed because Virgil just got them mugged. Amidst his rage he still can process Vamp’s lovelyness...

Lady Vamp, a Lady of the Night... Her long lashes could whip any man (or woman) into submission with a single glance. An enigmatic and playful smile never left her full lips, painted in black. She was lovely...Beyond lovely.

“Please, do not make the same mistake as this young fella’” she pointed to Virgil, even though she looked much younger than him, “you can be sincere and speak your heart out, but, please, call me Vamp... once you snap out of your rage,” she remarked with a wink, her voice a gentle threat. 

I like this because of the eyelashes description. Vamp stays a secondary character most of the story line, but she is one of the major ones in the second arc of the series, she has a strong personality and can “whip” people into submission, literally and figuratively, and many times not in a playful way. 

After they leave her place and try to find something to help them get their possessions back, Virgil drags Homer into a bar...

“GOOD NIGHT PARIS!!!” Virgil yelled at the crowd as he opened the door and almost made me slam into the waitress. 

“How do you even plan to pay for our drinks?” I said as quietly as I could over the noise, I felt my head beginning to burn up. “We don’t have any Data.”

“Fret not my friend, the Virgil works in mysterious ways.” He winked and walked through the brimming establishment.

 It seemed like a sort of joke, two guys walk into a bar, one is getting angry again and about to kill the second one, while the first guy approaches a busty, scarcely dressed barmaid and whispers some lines into her ears, then she comes back with two pints of beer. I have never been good with jokes. 

But it was funny, at least for me. Funny in the sense that Virgil has a talent to make me go from angry to relaxed and back to madness in just three strides

I like that one because:“The Virgil works in mysterious ways,” is really how Virgil wants to be seen, and it works, even his best friend gets really pissed because he appears to be behaving irresponsibly in the middle of the work, but it all turns out in the end... and still... Virgil uses his own facade, to hide his own problems and fears, and he doesn’t want anyone, specially Homer, to find out.

Thanks to @owl-writes for creating the event. Sorry for always being late....

Call me a dreamer, for it is what and who I am. 

I believe in the power of words to seduce, to evoke feeling, to change the world. 

The greatest weapon that has send more people to death and a tool that ha saved millions of lives. Words are the one thing that make us all humans. 

Stories help us learn, communicate, grow. 

And as such I would like my words, my stories, to resonate with people and truly inspire them some day, like many others inspired me before. 

I dream of winning a Nebula, a Hugo, an Eisner.  If possible all three would be the best thing ever. 

I want to write as much as Terry Pratchett did. And who knows... maybe become a knight as well? I know it is a bit delusional. But the idea is nice. 

To collaborate with great artists for comics and graphic novels, or great writers (maybe some of them from here from tumblr) and write an anthology. 

But most of all. I want to see my characters loved by people other than me, and see the world I created inhabited by more characters and people than I ever did. 

To see fanarts, illustrations. Comics with my fans take on my work.

I think that is what I would call success. 

There is a lot of things that have come to make what I am writing. 

From Anime, to Videogames, to films, comics, series, and obviously books. 

But mostly. Everything can be traced back to...Get Backers, Fate Stay Night, Trigun and Static Shock. 

Dr Jackal is and always will be one of my favorite characters. A chaotic neutral in the vein of Hisoka but with a lot more style...And Knives. 

Speaking of Knives. It was that single frame when they introduced the antagonist to Vash the Stampede, Knives. It was so powerful and potent. A grafity of a tombstone in blood. 

I thought to myself. That there, is a story of its own. 

On the other side, I watched and loved-hated Fate Stay Night. Such great concept, animation. Amazing story. And yet. 

It always felt lacking. Like it was somehow wrong. It felt incomplete. The series have evolved and continued over the years, and yet it is still kind of the same problems with the pacing and the story. But man, how much did I love watching Lancer do the unlimited bladeworks, and even better, he was brown skinned!!! 

I have always loved anime because of that, I have found more representation on something from the other side of the world where there are less black and brown skinned people than closer to home. 

Static Shock was one of the best cartoons ever. A black kid with electromagnetic powers that could slide over powerlines and had a best friend who was a genius and later became his sidekick. who got his powers from inhaling a weird mist. That show was great. It even eventually crossed over with batman beyond. 

I have talked about the bioshock before. I like the philosophy. in a way. And there are a lot of elements that are incredibly cool about it. 

Sandman is one of the best things I have read, and one of the things that have influenced me the most, much like other works by Mr. Gaiman, like American Gods and many of his short stories. 

Dresden Files by Jim Butcher is one of my favorite book series. A wizard detective in Chicago. It got me deep into the detective genre and urban fantasy. Harry Dresden is one of the characters that most influenced Homer’s Voice. 

As for series... Game of thrones triggered something with me and my friends, watching how it developed that first season so many years back. 

All of this culminated in a world too big for me to tell, and yet in the end one only I am left to do so. It was so big that I became overwhelmed and confused by the elements, storylines, timelines and characters. 

Now this is the sh*t!

I love my characters so much and I wish I could do them justice with this post. 

For Cannibals Ball we have on this corner...The protagonists!

Homer: Short on height, yet far-sighted detective. A refugee that was adopted in London by the Families. He is a self-proclaimed cynic that doesn’t like to spend more than is necessary, loves beer, black coffee and hoarding all the knowledge he can gets his hands on. Black hair, dark brooding eyes. He as a strong sense of justice and is obsessed with finding the truth. 

Virgil: The happy/extrovert side of Homer. Easygoing, suave, relaxed. Picture...David Tennant’s Crowley, but bright shirt and a bit more dark skinned. He likes, men, women... people! He knows how to party and always knows where the party is. But don’t be fooled by his Happy Go Lucky facade. He is as cynic as Homer if not more, the only person he trusts is Homer and is foolishly in love with his fianceé, Angelina. He accepted his role in the Families to achieve his goals. And has very poor coping mechanisms that border on addiction. 

Cybelle: A dream girl. Literally. Try not to get lost in her color changing eyes. A mystery to be solved by the pair of detectives. (spoilers)

Vamp: A traveling lady of the night. Not a vampire, but she definitely got her nickname for a good reason. She decided to travel the world along with Rosa, a long time friend of hers, sometimes lover, sometimes rival. Because of her line of work she has encountered Virgil more times than she would like to remember. 

Christine: A forensic doctor and on-and-off lover of Homer. She likes heavy classical music (heavy metal) and into decrypting data and hoarding it as much as Homer. She loves Homer’s tiny dancing cactus.  

Chejov (maybe Anton? I haven’t decided yet): Has a gun. Homer hates him. Virgil’s partner in fighting crime and most times in partying. 

On the other corner we have the Antagonists:

Amelia: A woman of mystery. Member of the Parisian Families. She is very private and is not happy to welcome the pair of detectives in her turf. 

Cyrano: Head of the Parisian Families. 

Tertium: Young Hunter investigating privately the case for a third party. Very much into Virgil. He is good handling sticks. 

Fifth: Young Hunter investigating privately the case for a third party. Very skilled. a silent troll. He is good with hatchets. 

And that's just the first book. 

A bit of spoiler for the Next one. Cult of Fire.

The resonants are split in three factions. 

We have the Guardians. People coming from a Families program where they gather kids with abilities to experiment on, train and create soulless bodyguards for the Family heads. Most have energy or metal based abilities.

The kids. Resonants that are awaiting to become Guardians or are awakening to their abilities. 

The Cult of Fire: People from the wildlands. Gathered from tribes beyond the wall following Vesta, the fire woman. Most have fire related powers. 

Vesta: The leader of the cult. She is a red haired woman who has burn scars in her body that glow and ache when she uses her powers. But she is certain that her way will protect those that live in the wildlands. 

Debris Becket. Mad scientist. Very driven. Very smart. Very twisted. Obsessive. Really likes her lab coat and her 

Elmer. Homer’s Family head. Same with this guy. It’s complicated. 

And even further down the line....

The Hunters. A group dedicated to exterminating anomalies.

The Valkyries. But that’s still far away. They are the Thorny Rose hit team.

The raiders on the colonies. Jean used to be a clone but he didn’t agree with her cloner.