Chaturday Morning Post – 7

on Gadda Bisby completed, listening to Baby Metal, and more

Hello, my reading friends.

This week I posted the final chapter of Gadda Bisby’s Grail. Click here to go to the chapter list.

All of the place names in the book are real. Burnt Corn, Alabama. Murder Creek. I grew up near these places, so it was a lot of fun to incorporate them into a horror story. A horror story that grew in the telling and now has a lot more depth, voice, creepiness and fun.

I’m a much better writer now than when I first wrote the story many years ago, and it shows. Before, so much of the story was scant in detail and summarized, and the voice of the story, which should have been strong, was weak.

It felt good to revisit, rework, and expand an old short story into a novelette (from 3,800 words to over 12,000). My creativity was blocked for a long time, and this was a great opportunity to get my brain going again.

Also, there’s a poll at the end of the last chapter, and a reward.

Books

While I am still focused primarily on reading my own material to get back into the groove, I did start reading Robert Ludlum’s The Prometheus Deception. I haven’t gotten far enough in yet to make any comment about the story itself. The writing, however, is engaging.

Music

I love music, and I often listen while writing. The volume level varies based on the type of work I’m doing. If I’m planning or drafting chapters, it might be reasonably loud. When I’m reading a chapter aloud as part of my final editing process, it gets much quieter.

All this week I listened to Baby Metal’s latest album The Other One on repeat, along with their new single featuring Tom Morello on guitar — while writing, exercising, and doing publishing work. I think The Other One is their best album so far. There’s more refinement and confidence in their composition.

I usually listen to music themed to what I’m working on. Ambient Worlds Lord of the Rings albums for fantasy themed writing or life in general. Ambient Worlds Mandalorian for science fiction. Blues instrumentals while I worked on Gadda Bisby.

I grew up around music and enjoy almost every genre. I don’t like modern country that tries to sound like pop music, only with a southern twang and accent (sometimes fake to my ears). If you like it, all power to you. I do listen to other country music, though, modern and classic. (Check out Muscadine Bloodline.) I don’t like modern hip-hop much. I stick to the classics there. I do enjoy MF Doom’s work, but then it has a sort of classic feel to it. I can’t listen to hip-hop while writing, though.

Movies

I watched Knock at the Cabin, M. Night Shyalaman’s latest film. The cinematography was outstanding and Dave Bautista’s performance was fantastic. He has really come along as an actor. I love the premise of the movie. As for where the story ultimately goes… not so much. I have not read the novel it is based on, and I don’t have any plans to.

Next Week

This upcoming week we will see the usual Storm Phase chapter on Wednesday, and on Thursday, I will post a short example of how I plan stories. This example is pulled from a Mitsuki Reel story I’m writing, so it will be short so as not to reveal too much.

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