Howdy, folks! How are we all doing tonight?

I’ve finished working through this draft of Penal Earth 2, and there’s a lot I’ve got to work on with it. There’s a storyline that’s not really fitting in, but I think I can repurpose it into either a short story or novella. Most of the work will be on the ending. It needs a lot more planning than I’ve put into it so far. Going into it with a vague idea hasn’t worked so I need to go back and rewrite it.

I have finished a short story that’s also set in the Penal Earth setting. This ones a little lighter in tone, it doesn’t deal with the larger storyline of the main thread. I’m looking at doing a collection of short stories set in this playground, I’ve got a few written already and I’m going to try and write a few more. The shorter fiction is kind of like a small fix, a quick way to get that buzz of finishing a tale which you don’t get when working on a longer story.

The last couple of nights I’ve watched two movies I hadn’t seen before. The first one was called Bug and is set in a motel in Oklahoma. A woman whose abusive ex is harassing her by calling her and then not saying anything. She meets an army veteran who she bonds with and invites him to stay with her. Things then descend as an infestation of bugs take hold of their motel. It’s a really interesting look into how the mind works and can be affected. Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon absolutely knock it out of the park with their performances. We all know both have a lot of talent, and they showcase it here. Well worth a watch.

The second film is called Triggered. It’s about a group of friends from school who go camping and after a mixed night of drinking, reminiscing, and old wounds being opened, new ones being made they all wake up with suicide vests on. A man from their past gives little to no explanation as to why he’d done this, but tells them it will test their friendship. This is a decent look at what people will do to survive, whether its them or their friends who have to die. I liked the concept, the execution was well done and although I guessed who would survive it was still a good film.

Book wise I finished the audiobook of Found You by the epic Mary SanGiovanni. This is a satisfying sequel to her novel The Hollower and damn she can craft a novel and construct some amazing sentences. After that I’ve started listening to The Hidden Truth but Armand Rosamilia and Jay Wilburn. So far this is really good. Its not what I was expecting but stone me it’s a lot of fun so far.

Although I’ve not been writing as much as I’d have liked I’ve been able to be somewhat consistent and getting a few minutes a day done.