Watching Movies

Hello you. I’m back once more for the weekly update.

So of course I’ve edited a bit, but I’ve also started on a new project when I had a bit of free time. This doesn’t mean we are finished editing, just that I’ve caught up with the co-author and I didn’t want to change things while they worked out what they were reviewing.

I’ve explained a bit of the new project to some friends, and they seemed excited for the premise. I still have some things I need to work out, but so far I’m happy with what I’ve put down. Of course I think I can make it better later, but it seems readable so far. Perhaps I’ll work on an outline for it, as so far I only have the main premise, and a bit of the story worked out.

The other thing I did over the weekend was watch a couple of movies. First I watched Ant-Man and the Wasp, and I really enjoyed it. It was exactly the type of fun movie I was in the mood for, and it was all around amusing. I’m not sure why people aren’t excited about his movies, but I enjoyed the first one as well. Perhaps because while it connects to the MCU, it isn’t hugely influential. Though I think we’ll be seeing more of Ant-Man for the next Avengers movie.

So being in such a good mood, I felt I could try to watch the Solo movie that everyone said wasn’t so good. Now I don’t know if it was because the movie right before it had me in such a good mood, or some other reason, but the Star Wars Solo movie was actually quite good. Perhaps not the best movie I’ve ever seen, but quite well done. Good universe building, and all that, and I enjoyed the characters. Yes, I can see that taking away some of the mystery of Han being not so great, but it felt true to the character. That could be in part to them lifting lines Han says from the original trilogy, but it didn’t feel completely out of place. So I’m not entirely sure why it garnered so much hate. Perhaps I liked it more than others because I was prepared to hate it, and was pleasantly surprised. Disney may be an evil corporate machine(I’m just quoting others here), but they can still make a decent movie. But I will say I really wasn’t a fan of The Last Jedi… at least half the film. But we’ll see what the future holds.

I also watched The Incredibles 2. It was fine. Simply a movie, and well animated, but it felt slow in some places. I didn’t hate it, but I think the first one was better. At least it didn’t ruin the universe, and perhaps another film can be milked out, hopefully better than this one. But even if it isn’t, it’ll probably be okay. I still say that first film is the best Fantastic Four movie out there, though I’m quite a fan of the 1994 version, even if it was on a shoe-string budget. It had some of the best lines and delivery out of all the other Fantastic Four movies I’ve seen.

And that’s really it. I wasn’t feeling great over the weekend, and perhaps because of that I didn’t do much, but I’ll be feeling better soon. So I hope you have a great week. I’ll talk to you next time.

What I’ve published

Walk On

click here for a link to the book

Outsider Trilogy

Click here for a link to the book

Poetry

Link to my author page on Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Steven-Oaks/e/B00MEGSEZ6

Link to the Deathship book in the CreateSpace store – https://www.createspace.com/5023771

Or you can help me out on Patreon. Again, thank you. https://www.patreon.com/StevenOaks

Update TLDR: Edited a bit, exercised a bit, watched some movies.

– Steven Oaks

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I Read Aloud the First Chapter

Hello world. I’m back again with the weekly update.

So, what have I been up to this time? Not too much really. I went into work for a few hours to train another employee, but what little they didn’t already have down they learned quickly. But it did allow me to get in a bit more walking than usual.

As for my exercise, it was a little lighter than most of my recent weekends. I went in during the day-shift, so my sleep schedule was off. This all means I wasn’t able to get in my regular chopping up blocks to music. So I’ll probably double up tonight with two hours of heart pumping action in Beat Saber.

Also, since I knew my schedule was going to be messed up, I hopped online to chat with a few of my old internet buddies. They were all playing games, and since I’m on Linux, and I didn’t want to invest either time or money into getting something to work, I just sat there chatting with them. In the end, after there were only a few people left, in my boredom, and my sense of trolling, I decided I’d start reading aloud the first chapter of my latest book.

I thought they’d all shout me down. In fact I planned on it. I just wanted to get a reaction out of them. Instead they encouraged me to continue, so I read the whole first chapter to them. It’s basically done, so I wasn’t concerned that I was reading a flawed product, but I didn’t think they’d want to “waste” their time on listening to me. Turns out I was wrong, and they all said they liked it, and tried to get me to read more.

They also said I should do an audiobook version of it, reading it myself. Whoo boy. I dunno about that. Every time I read aloud a book, and think of all the editing needed, let alone the retakes required for it to sound professional, I appreciate the work that the readers and audio engineers put into the audiobooks I’ve listened to in the past. I’m not sure if I’m up to the challenge, even though I do like reading books to people. I’ll think about it I suppose, but I’ll want to talk to the co-author about it.

There’s so much I want to do, but only so much time. I’ve wanted to re-start my podcast. I want to do a livestream where I read my books to people. I want to finish all these books I’m partway through. I want to write another book with the co-author, and I want to finish this book. It just never feels like there’s enough time, nor does it feel like I have enough energy to do all these things. It takes everything out of me when I write or edit, and I need to do something else to recharge. Perhaps I can work out a schedule that lets me do it, but I’ve not discovered it yet.

As for editing, the co-author continues, as do I. I’m not sure if we’re being perfectionists, but I think the product will show the effort we’re putting into it. I’m already back up to chapter 14 again, and it’s flowing nicely. We’ve talked about it, and I think we’ve cut all the slow pieces that were there in the beginning, and have worked mightily hard on the wording. I’m quite proud of what we have, and can’t wait to show you all.

Well, I think that’s it for now. I hope you all have a great week. TTFN

What I’ve published

Walk On

click here for a link to the book

Outsider Trilogy

Click here for a link to the book

Poetry

Link to my author page on Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Steven-Oaks/e/B00MEGSEZ6

Link to the Deathship book in the CreateSpace store – https://www.createspace.com/5023771

Or you can help me out on Patreon. Again, thank you. https://www.patreon.com/StevenOaks

Update TLDR: Edited a bit, exercised a bit, watched some shows.

– Steven Oaks

Follow me on the things below.

Oakcast Episode 1

Oakcast Episode 1 – Listen Now!

In this episode I read the first part of my book Walk On.

Intro and Outro music – Walking Duvet by Plaid

Subscribe to the RSS feed

Oakcast Episode 0

Oakcast Episode 0 – Listen Now!

In this episode I introduce myself, and give a brief outline of what this podcast will be about.

Intro and Outro music – Walking Duvet by Plaid

Subscribe to the RSS feed

Research, and Reading

Whew, a long day of writing. Doing research on past cultures, and trying to make sense of all the information the internet has on subjects takes a lot of time. And it’s not like I was writing a historical piece, it was only for a scene, or an explanation of things in the past.

I think it’s my favorite part of writing though. When I can intertwine reality with the fiction I’m writing I think it makes what I write come alive. I could easily just write a completely fictitious universe, such as fantasy does at times, but I think it makes it difficult to empathize with the characters at times.

Other writers do wonderful jobs at making us feel what the characters do, but it’s easier when you have a point of reference. At times the only reference you have is that they are people, and then you have to build up a large universe, and then explain it, just so you understand a characters point of view. That is a lot of effort, and I applaud anyone who writes like that.

Speaking of which, I just got done reading Uprooted by Naomi Novik. A completely fictional world, and you find easily that you care about the main character, you even sympathise with the villain at the end. I don’t think I’ll say much more about it, but it has made me want to read other books written by her. In fact I started His Majesty’s Dragon last night, and I’m probably half way through it. I stayed up almost until 2am because I couldn’t put it down. I had to force myself to get some sleep. Once you meet the dragon, there’s no going back, and I’m itching to start reading again. If the whole series is like this I’ll probably have it all read by the end of next month. All eight books!

It has been awhile since I’ve really sat down and read, mostly I listen to audiobooks while I do other things, but I’m really enjoying the written word. The voices you give to each character makes it more personal then having it read by someone else. The only exception in my opinion is when the author reads it. They may not have the best voices for doing so, but you can hear more meanings in the words they meant to have than you can get from anyone else reading it. Mind you when it comes to audiobooks, there is no better pair than those who read the Wheel of time series, and then that wonderful man who has read all of the Song of Ice and Fire series(Game of Thrones). They made those worlds alive, and the tears I shed when I realized they wouldn’t be reading any more of the Wheel of Time as the last words of the last book came from their lips, that was sad. Then again they read at least The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, and it was almost like coming home to hear them again.

Alright, I’ll end here today. Apparently I’m passionate about books. I hope you find good ones to read. Maybe one of them will be mine.

What I’ve published

Outsider Trilogy

Click here for a link to the book

Poetry

Link to my author page on Amazon – hhttp://www.amazon.com/Steven-Oaks/e/B00MEGSEZ6

Link to the Deathship book in the CreateSpace store – https://www.createspace.com/5023771

Or you can help me out on Patreon. Again, thank you. https://www.patreon.com/StevenOaks

Update: 1,106 words written for the latest book. RESEARCH.

“You’d be amazed how much research you can get done when you have no life whatsoever.”
― Ernest Cline

– Steven Oaks

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Day 10

First up I should say that I need to start using different means for labeling these posts. Already the 10th day and I’m still numbering. That being said what shall I discuss today? I’m unsure, I’m just too excited. You see it is finally warm enough for me to venture outdoors once more. And what might you ask will I be doing out there? Why I shall be venturing forth on my bicycle. I always find it a freeing experience, and I get to listen to podcasts, audiobooks, and music while doing so. Certainly I could enjoy the silence that the trail in my town posses, but why not multitask? So I shall simply leave you with an update.

Update: 2,000 words written fast, but still thorough.

I’ll see you guys later, the trail calls to me.

-Steven Oaks