The Year of Magic. Time for Injustice Year 3- Vol 1

I’ve always been attracted to magic; in all its forms and incarnations. Imagine my delight when its finally given the chance to stretch its muscle into the DC Injustice storyline.

Fresh from the onslaught of the sentient Green Lantern planet named Mogo and the rest of the Green Lantern Corps (Year 2, Vol 2), casualties are abounding and humanity is left to deal with the damage. Be they humans, metas or magical folk, someone has lost someone in the aftermath of the war against Superman, as waged by Batman who recognizes that the Man of Steel has become the opposite of what he stood for; a dictator who is willing to pay the price just to impose and enforce his "kind" of peace. Since the previous issue, a lot of things have happened. Superman broke Batman's back. Oliver Queen, aka. The Green Arrow has died as well as Black Canary; but not before filming her own demise and Superman's magical confession and broadcasting it out into the world for all to see. Along with that, Superman has received a Yellow Ring from the master of Fear, Sinestro, who has taken sides with Superman. I take it that he is living vicariously thru Kal-El as the events remind him of his own reign as sole ruler of his home planet of Korugar. Add to this list of changes, Wonder Woman is also out of commission due to some magical maneuvering on the part of one man who orchestrated the battle at this stage of the game. 

One such person is John Constantine. Yes the radical Mage whose unorthodox methods border on the Machiavellian. He comes to aid Batman in his crusade to stop Superman while uncovering answers on his own. And since Superman has a weakness to magic, this was the perfect element to bring to the battle to ensure victory. And to do that certain things must come into play. First, Raven, needs to be taken out. Second, other magical users like Dr. Fate, Zatanna, Klarion, Jason Blood, Phantom Stranger needed also to be brought into the fold so that magic can have their day in the battle and tip the scales in Batmans favor. Third, Superman needs to be disabled with the use of magic.

Like in previous issues Tom Taylor has once again given us a fun and action filled read that collects the first 7 issues of Year 3. Constantine is his ever manipulative self and would go head to head with Batman as to who is calling the shots. (Yes, can’t have two manipulative folk in the same room) And a con man, pretty much like a leopard, never changes its spots so our charming but selfish mage, wields and deceives until he has quenched his thirst for revenge against Superman for brining the war to Earth, which claimed the life of Constantine’s wife.

Wait, what? John’s married? 

Okay, I give you permission to scratch your head. And he has a kid named Rose, who may or may not have some magical gifts herself. I sincerely hope that they explore this further. For now, I’m just gonna leave it here and because Constantine orchestrated this whole magical element into the fray, expect some twists and turns and no easy way to the the end goal. And any goal that is worth fighting for, is worth gunning for. Like this collected volume, its worth reading. 

Better yet, its worth keeping. I did.

Anne Rice and Westeros

My fave author, Anne Rice, referenced Game of Thrones in the recent LA talks with her son Christopher, during the promotion of her latest book in the Vampire Chronicles, Prince Lestat. In the talk, she replied to Christopher's question that generally books like Harry Potter, Vampire Chronicles, the Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larssen, tap into some general struggle or journey and that without it, there is not much "meat" for the story to latch on to and thus not make it engaging for readers. Anne said that generally that is true but Game of Thrones broke the mold for having a singular hero undergoing a journey. She said that because the hero whom we thought to be in Book 1/Season 1 was apparently not. I wonder though, if Ned Stark, is George RR Martin's statement on idealism? That it's risky to be seeing life through rose colored glasses in this cynical and practical and at times, user-friendly world that we live in.

Truly Ned for all his faults as a king, was honorable and perhaps even faultless in the eyes of his supporters. And that whatever information he withheld or altered to suit the need for secrecy concerning Jon Snow's true lineage is definitely something he needed to do. I wonder too if in this day and age, Idealism is dead. Has everyone started to become jaded about everything and everyone else. And anyone who holds that kind of thinking or viewpoint will ultimately be sacrificed and thrown into the fire, because for the sole reason that what the majority wants and deems right and proper, matter. That the majority always would rule. And anyone who is not conforming to that should be silenced or learn to keep their views to themselves. Anything else is fodder.

What do you think? 

Sharing the video clip of that talk too here. Enjoy and keep writing.

Writing Streak 2014

As you can see in my past posts, its certainly been a long time since I had one here. Not to make any excuses but life certainly got in the way of writing and the influx of ideas. And even if there were ideas coming in, it was most certainly easier to talk about it and make an outline from it rather than incorporating those ideas in full on paper, as part of a working novel. But luckily for me this August, I somehow allowed myself to be opened once more and inspired and just be all sponge-like and take in in inspiration from wherever and whenever I can. I always reference people to my earlier Prologue post whenever I talk about the current writing endeavor that is currently taking my time and focus. But a prologue as it is, is just that. Nothing beats the full finished work and sent off to an agent in the hopes that it be published. And in order to do that, I must write and carry out the task into full completion. Recently I've added to my current writing task, a side-story that is most certainly more adult and not the regular YA fare that I initially set out to do.

Currently I am on the 15k word mark and if I keep at it, it would most certainly be classified as a Short story and one that I envision to be made available as an e-book. For those who know me, the world of Estelle and the Sentinels have gripped me for quite some time, but I have only recently entertained the possibility of side stories within that world and it is these side stories that have caught my attention and imagination and hence the productivity to show for. The side stories take place in my fictitious magical place called the "Dark District" and it is the stories of the people who live there, been there or continue to come back that have haunted me and propelled me to write once more and connect them to the main story. That is all I have to say for now about it and I do want to be brief about it as well. But to give you an idea what it is, here's a snapshot of my laptop screen. Enjoy and will write again soon.

Pisces horoscope for Friday, June 8, 2012

Pisces horoscope for Friday, June 8, 2012: Fantasy plays a very significant role in your life and your dreams might overflow

Clearly another to keep writing and not to lose drive nor focus.... Thank you God and Goddess and my Muses for this sign...Blessed Be!

Ray Bradbury Gives 12 Pieces of Writing Advice to Young Authors (2001)

Ray Bradbury Gives 12 Pieces of Writing Advice to Young Authors (2001)

The crux of the matter is this...Just Write! :)

Sample Prologue for Current Writing...

1st writer Post

Been toying with the idea of sharing my writings or a sample of it with fellow readers and writers for a while now but up until meeting a new young adult writer on Twitter, did she rekindle again the idea for it and so the first post on this blog would be just taking the first step to go back and be more disciplined with my own writing in order to finish the work and eventually share the dream. :)