If Google would update their Blogger app, I would update this blog more often. After a year of productive reading and writing, the rewriting of history, crazy politicians, and falling in love with a new show, I have a lot to talk about. However, I'm rarely on my laptop while at home. I do most of my work on my tablet and log on to my PC about once a week. You can imagine all the updates I have to endure. As it is, I'm averaging around thirteen posts a year when I began 2017 intending to blog on a regular basis.
So for a quick summary since my last entry, as I mentioned, it's been a productive year of reading. My primary reading material has been nonfiction with a goal of working through my book piles. That effort was toppled when, on a whim, I downloaded The Battle of Hastings by Marc Morris while it was on sale. The book is well written as well as vivid and engaging thanks to the author's ability to keep the action and events moving forward. And the hooks--oh my. I had a difficult time putting it down. I literally told my husband (a pastor) I couldn't leave for evening service because Godwine had returned.
Not only did the book fascinate me, it immersed me in medieval England. I've read several books on various people and events from that time period since, to the point I had to cut myself off--after I downloaded one more book by Marc Morris. I'll go into detail about all that in another post.
Feeding my mind and muse with high quality vocabulary and writing had (and is having) a positive impact on my writing. I'd reached the point of hating it and the time I spent doing it, and had taken several months off to focus on other creative outlets (you should see the number of knitting projects I've completed and the techniques I've learned. More on that later.) When creativity once again struck, I suddenly saw places in my work I could improve. I've been going through each of my stories in the past month doing just that. It's been a joy. Finally.
I'll pass on addressing the rewriting of history and crazy politicians for now. We're inundated with those stories enough as it is, which leads me to my final topic of the day: The Orville.
We looked forward to the release of the new scifi show with some trepidation because Seth McFarland was the creator. If anyone from his camp sees this, I mean no offense. We just have different taste in some areas. I'm not a fan of Family Guy, and I expected The Orville to be a live action version of the type of material that show provides. While there is some innuendo (and on occasion, flat out crude jokes) overall it's an excellent show with serious plots laced with humor. My favorite of the season so far is "Majority Rules," which addressed the abuse and the ludicrous nature social media has taken on. It so impacted me, I scaled back my use of social media and the strangers with whom I'm connected. Everyone should see it.
And McFarland's timing was brilliant. He not only provided hardcore Star Trek fans with a show they would enjoy, he released it when Star Trek's new series, Discovery, was released on CBS All Access. He took this project seriously, and for that, I thank him. Actually, I think I actually did thank him on Twitter as he was live tweeting the show. It's one of the only shows my husband and I settle in for the evening to watch.
That's it for now. I don't intend for a few months to pass until my next post, but we'll see.