When Reading About Different Experiences in Familiar Places

There’s a novel I’ve been reading this week called There There by Tommy Orange.  It’s the debut novel by this author and it just came out this year. I’ve been on the wait list for it at the library I use for over a month before I finally got my hands on it, and technically, it happened before I even got off the wait list. After I picked up another book I had on hold, I saw it on one of the display shelves as I was heading out, and was quick to pick it up. Why wait around any longer than I already have when it was right there in front of you?

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What Did I Miss? (May 20th-26th)

Published Works

From Homemade Beginnings to a Vengeful Return: 15 Years of LUMPIA – For YOMYOMF, I interview director Patricio Ginelsa Jr. on the making of his debut film, and how that same spirit continues on in its upcoming sequel.

Director Alex Bocchieri on Commemorating the 442nd Infantry Regiment in New Feature Film – For YOMYOMF, I interview the director of “Go For Broke: An Origin Story” on how he got involved in this project, making the transition from directing documentaries to a narrative, and how the state and community of Hawaii helped make this film happen.

Appearances

YOMYOMF Blockbuster Showdown: SOLO, A STAR WARS STORY – The Offenders and I discuss our thoughts on the second “Star Wars” standalone film. SPOILER ALERT for those who have not seen it yet.

Thoughts About Actually Telling a Story in Another Person’s Universe

I previously did a post about what it might be like to tell stories set in the universe of another person’s creation. Now originally, I had considered the ever-growing “Star Wars” universe as a rare example of an ongoing narrative effort from several different storytellers. What I hadn’t considered at the time is how it actually can be a common practice to write for another person’s universe; especially in the world of TV writing.

Thoughts About Writing Outside of Your Element

There is no one true “master” at writing, for it is a practice where one is, or at least should be, constantly learning, growing, and improving. One way of doing so is by testing the boundaries and see if you’re able to overcome them, as a mental and creative exercise for yourself. In other words, writing outside of your element is a key methodology to becoming stronger and better as a writer.

What do I mean by writing outside of your element exactly? Well, in my mind, this can be interpreted in several ways.

Thoughts About Script Writing

If there’s one thing that I didn’t expect going into this year is that I would begin to broaden my scope as a storyteller and as a writer, as I’ve merged into the world of script writing. While it hasn’t been a whole lot, it’s at a scale already where what I write in that medium is already seeing results. I’ve done some occasional script writing growing up, and up until this year, the most recent credit to my name without ever having to lift a finger was an adaptation a family friend did of one of my chapters from A Moment’s Worth. This is a path that I’ve had every intent on taking down the line, and I’m so glad I’m already getting on that.

Looking Back on the Life and Times of Anne Frank

A thread on Twitter that a friend of mine retweeted got me realizing something that my younger self would have been very disappointed with me for forgetting. This year, specifically this summer, marks a number of anniversaries for Anne Frank; the young Netherlands-based writer who perished in the Holocaust, and whose voice would go on to speak volumes to the rest of the world and across generations.

Loving Day and Busy Days (and a Surprise)

I’m not proud of the circumstance surrounding the development of this particular blog post, for I feel in this case scenario that I’m just putting something out there for the sake of putting something out there. However, I’m writing this to not only keep to my streak, but that there actually is something that I want to briefly touch upon.

First, let me clear the air when I say that even though it’s Saturday, I’m writing this a few days in advance. The past few days have been unbearably busy with reading “Raisin in the Sun,” work on a script, preparing material for my weekend tutoring job, work on a secret project, and waiting in between time for posthumous tunes to drop. Oh, and I have my first little sale going on for An Absolute Mind, in honor of Loving Day.

Reflection: 6 Months of “An Absolute Mind” and My First Reading as an Author

This is not the world I had anticipated my second novel to be released in, but for several reasons, I am glad that it is in existence in this time that we are in now. I can’t believe it’s been just over six months since the publication of An Absolute Mind. The speed of time is something that I will never be able to digest properly, for it really feels like last week – if not yesterday – since I released this second work out into the world.

Wisdom from a Nerd of Color: Recommended Readings

With “The Geek Show” premiering in less than a week and other shenanigans happening as of recently, I regret that I have been unable to conjure up a proper topic for this week. Nonetheless, I don’t want to leave any readers that are out there hanging, and am instead making this post as my monthly Recommended Analyzing post.

Progress in Collaborations

At the end of last year, I had done a post about how I really want to push myself into doing more creative collaborations this year. Well, we are now a quarter into 2017 (shocking, I know), and to my surprise, I’ve found myself in quite a few collaborations already. While I won’t go into specifics as to what they are (especially since a number of them are still works-in-progress), I can attest to what I’ve gained and learned from them so far.