Trips Down the Rabbit Hole: Recommended Reading

If there’s one film I’m in high anticipation for this holiday season, it’s “The Matrix Resurrections.” It is the first film from the “Matrix” franchise to come out in 18 years, and from the looks of the trailers, clips, and marketing campaign for it, it’s already setting itself up to be something to look forward to.

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Playwright’s Commentary: “Infinite Range”

This year is my second consecutive year of having a one-act play I’ve written be featured in “Stories High;” Bindlestiff Studio’s annual showcase of new works being performed, by way of writing, acting, and directing workshops coming together.

“Infinite Range” is the name of my play, and at the time of writing this blog post, I’ve yet to see it in its final form. Much like I’ve done in the past, today I want to go  over the inspiration, the conception, and the creation of this script.

A Handy Guide to My Novels for the Wandering Millennial Reader

I found out through the most recent episode of the KollabCast podcast that while Millennials are blamed for supposedly “ruining” every other industry, an industry that my generation has helped grow in these trying times is the library industry. After doing a quick search on the subject matter, reports made within the past year confirm this reality.

Special Tuesday Post: Coming July 11th…

If you’ve been following me either on social media or this blog, then you may recall how I’ve been working on a secret project the past few months. Well, to liven up what feels like, at least to me, a very off-feeling Independence Day here in the United States, and also the fact that I will be releasing it in one week, today I’m announcing just what this secret project of mine is. It’s not a large project, but it’s an important one; not only to me, but hopefully to others, as it brings the current political climate into the center of attention, via a short story. Yes that’s right: a short story; something I haven’t released on my own since 2014 when I released “The Shadows.” Next week, on July 11th, I’m releasing a short story called “46.”

Embrace ALL the Arts

The arts matter. I’m just going to put that out there right away. Anyone who argues otherwise clearly does not understand the value of the arts and how they shape and define a culture. It’s been highly preached that we need them now more than ever, in the aftermath of the election of a buffoon of a man for president (that is, unless the electoral college has the brains to change that in the coming week). That’s why it was a huge loss for the arts community when the lives of 36 artists were taken away in a local fire two weeks ago.

The arts matter, but I feel that for some people, there’s a limit as to just how much of the arts they are open-minded enough to embrace. There’s a mental capacity as to just how much they are willing to consume, depending on what form the art takes. To put it even more bluntly, based upon my experiences, the emphasis on the importance of arts are strongly preached, so long as the art is easy enough to consume.

Special Tuesday Post: “An Absolute Mind” is NOW AVAILABLE!

After over two years in the works, and over fours years after the idea was first conceived, I’m happy to finally announce that An Absolute Mind is now available for purchase! It’s been a long time in the making, and so I’m happy to see it now out in the world for people to read.

Thoughts About Rejections

How do you deal with a rejection? What effect does it have on you emotionally and how do you go about with proceeding forward from it? This is a topic that I’ve been meaning to discuss for a while, and after the events that have happened in my life over the past few days, now feels like the right time to finally touch on the subject. Rejection comes in several forms, and it’s something that can never be truly avoided by  anyone, but for the sake of the matter, I want to focus in on the rejections received as a creative person… and/or as a Millennial; for these are the rejections that follow along the “make or break” kind of deal.

Forging Paths (Journey Alone Pt. II)

It’s the beginning of a new year and I am looking forward to various happy happenings that are to go underway over the course of the next 12 months. I plan to release my second book this year, there are other writing projects of mine that hope to finally see the light of day, much more blog posts are to come your way on this blog as well as the others I write for, and more.

As much as 2015 sucked, I can’t ignore the fact that the past five years have held a number of unique experiences for me; more than I ever would have expected when I was 18. I’ve gotten to interview a number of interesting people (some of whom I could not believe I was in the position of speaking to), I’ve gotten involved in two amazing non-profit organizations, and of course I launched my career as an author by releasing my first novel.

Thoughts About New Adult Fiction

(I think this is definitely a first, where I purposely retract something I previously said on my blog.  However, in my mind, I consider that to be quite alright and normal, for that just shows I’m growing and evolving as a person and a thinker.)

About a year ago, I made my argument regarding how reading too much young adult fiction post-adolescence can be worrisome, in response to an article author John Green had written for the Cosmopolitan.  Ultimately, it led to me saying that my first novel, A Moment’s Worth, would considerably be a young adult novel despite it all, even though none of the characters are within range of being in high school, let alone the themes and subject matter as well.  Not to mention that since I had said that the youngest appropriate age to read my book would be 16- an opinion I still stick by to this day- it’s since bothered me why I called my novel YA in the first place.

It’s with that that I’d like to take this time and retract that statement, which also brings me to my subject for this week’s post.  While A Moment’s Worth may infuse contemporary, fantasy, and science fiction into one cohesive piece, age range-wise, I do not consider it to be a young adult novel.  If anything, I would consider A Moment’s Worth to be a new adult novel.

Special Thursday Post: A Big Hand for Wong Fu

Today is the first day of the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival and for their opening night feature, they shall be screening the world premiere of the first feature-length film from Wong Fu Productions; “Everything Before Us.”

In a world where all relationship activity is documented by a DMV-style agency called the Department of Emotional Integrity, two couples must deal with their conflicts and differences under their surveillance; a young high school couple who are about to attend separate colleges, and an older, former couple who must come together to settle a score from their previous relationship.

Here’s the trailer for “Everything Before Us”: