Weekend Review: Netflix's Death Note [[SPOILERS]]

To say I’m a fan of Death Note may be an understatement (I’ve even named my dogs after two of the characters who are missing in the American adaptation). I’ve seen most of the Death Note media that I could find, so I feel like I’m in a good position to write this review. I wish I could say that I enjoyed this adaption, but I’m going to be joining the pretty much every other reviewer on the internet in hating it. I’ve read somewhere that this adaption of Death Note is supposed to focus more on the notebook and less on the characters so I will start there. The notebook is barely used. It is shown that there are a ton of rules, most of which don’t exist in the anime, but no one ever goes into detail about any of them. Light is shown reading the rules but he doesn’t bother to explain anything (even when he tells Mia that there are a lot of rules). In the anime there is a scene where Light explains that he wrote his own rules in the notebook to benefit him when the police obtained it, but nothing of that nature happened here. In fact, some of the original rules were ignored, like the cause of death not being written became ‘dealer’s choice’. There were entries from past owners, and the more I watched the more I wished that I was watching some of their stories instead. Now I will move on to the rest of what I had issues with. First, Light had to be forced to use the Death Note. Why was he given a Death Note in the first place? It was clear that he was only using it to please Mia. He also decided that he wanted to be called Kira, and that’s why he drew police attention. No one gave a second thought to his crimes before he used the name Kira. That’s another problem I had with the movie, no one figured things out the way they were supposed to. L seemed to figure out that Light was the killer after doing almost no research. The characters weren’t believable and did not behave in ways they should have, like L exposing himself to Light as soon as he met him, Mia got in a relationship with Light because he used to stare at her creepily when she was at cheerleader practice, etc. Ryuk may have only been on screen for a total of five minutes, which annoyed me. He told Light that he wasn’t like his dog, which was practically the only thing similar to the anime. Ryuk wasn’t Light’s friend, he wasn’t there to help him, and he was only along for the ride. This time he didn’t seem to have a notebook of his own and barely anything was explained about him. There was a scene where Light was looking at a book that had a picture of Ryuk, but he closed it without letting us learn anything about him. L was also a big problem for me. He acted more like an emotional breakdown than a character. He was always let his feelings guide him, even if it meant putting himself/his job in danger. He wasn’t the intelligent character for the anime, and it was hard to watch him eat candy. The movie basically ignored everything about Death Note and tried to make something similar to the Suicide Squad. The closest thing this resembles is the Death Note tv series, but even that isn’t close to what this mess is.   

I'm a writer...in progress

I'm an author, a writer, a person who sits at the keyboard and bleeds words all over a document. It feels so good to admit it, but haven't I always admitted it? I have a blog where I write about my adventures in self publishing. I share my many set backs and my accomplishments. I have a book for sale on amazon (Zombie Bite) and I'm about to have another book available soon, but I don't introduce myself to others as an author. I don't hand out my business cards, or do anything to bring attention to me. It's almost like I'm ashamed to admit that I'm a writer. Why? Do I feel like people will judge me or my work? Well, yes, I do feel like that. Whenever I tell people that I'm a writer I feel like I have to live up to a certain standard. I feel like I can't make mistakes and even my blog has to be 100 percent error free. At work I throw away papers that I've written on if I feel like I may have misspelled a word or that the word doesn't look right written out. I hold myself to such a high standard that I end up hiding this part of myself. Why do I do that? Is it because I get negative comments about the amount of money authors make? Maybe because I had a coworker tell me that there were plenty of writers and there was no way that I could stand out and make a living. Maybe it's because the ex that I thought I would marry showed no interest in my writing. He never once asked to read my writing, and he also never encouraged me (even after I said we should write children's books together based on my dogs). It could also be because I don't think Zombie Bite is very good. I wrote everything but the opening when I was in a dark place. I had just been through a break up and wanted to get it out there because I needed to be successful at something. I regret the way I ended Zombie Bite, but that doesn't mean that I regret writing it. I need to own the fact that I'm a writer, an author, and push myself outside of my comfort zone. I need to pass out business cards in my spare time and promote my books on social media. There will always be people who don't like me or my writing, but that doesn't change the fact that I am a writer and a published author.

What Charmed has taught me about storytelling

I want to start by saying that I have a love/hate relationship with the show Charmed. I never watched it when it was in its original run, but I caught reruns on TNT when waiting for Supernatural to come on. I remember thinking that the show was cool at first and then quickly growing bored with it. I can even remember a conversation that I had with one of my coworkers about it. They asked me why I didn't like the show and I thought it was more of a 'monster of the episode' show where the same thing happens every episode. It was one of those shows that were just entertaining enough for me to watch on a day when I didn't feel like thinking about much. I always wanted to like the show (since it clearly wanted to showcase strong women). I recently saw that Charmed was on netflix and thought to myself 'what the heck, I'll give it another chance'. I'm kind of glad that I did give it another chance because it taught me a lot about storytelling. One of the things I struggled with while writing Zombie Bite was character development and just development over time. Charmed has development, witches struggling to balance their personal wants and needs with what is expected of them. In almost every episode one of the sisters gets a new power or something happens to them that they have to explore. I really enjoyed seeing how that was handled. It wasn't like 'Prue got a new power and suddenly she knows what to do with it', it was more like Prue got a new power and she's struggling to control it. Anyway, Charmed has taught me a lot more than I would have thought it would upon the second viewing.

Internet trolls and Zombie Bite conclusion

My last post was about an internet troll who attacked my novel: Zombie Bite. I will admit that Zombie Bite was not my best work. I wrote it when I was dealing with a lot of different things, and I think it suffered as a result. I decided to write a short conclusion to the story (which I will be posting here, divided into two parts). So here's the first part, in all its unedited glory:

I forced my heavy eyelids open, taking in harsh lab lights. I tried to sit up, but something was across my chest, restraining me. Pain suddenly flooded my body, causing a single tear to escape my eye. Where the hell was I, and what had happened to me? I looked down to find that my arms and legs where covered in mud, and I remembered that I had been shot and left to die in the mud.

I heard a door open and close and suddenly the room was filled with sound. I couldn’t escape it. A chair slid across the room, a woman was gossiping about another doctor, and someone was chewing gum loudly. Every sound felt as if someone were playing the drums inside of my ears.

“Who are you people?” I asked.

Everything seemed to stop. It was like they hadn’t expected me to speak. I heard the loud clicking of heels as someone walked over to me, but my vision was too blurry to make out who it was. “I’m sorry for your loss,” said a female voice.

“My loss….” My voice trailed off as I realized she meant Eli. Eli had been everything to me and now he was gone. I wanted to feel something, but I just felt numb and exhausted. Maybe it was because I knew what Eli and I had was over long before he’d been infected. Did I even love him anymore? I thought I did, but I had left him when he needed me.

Suddenly, the table I was lying on moved forward. “Where are we going?” I asked as shapes and forms moved past me in such a hurry that I couldn’t make out what any of them where.

“We weren’t sure you were going to wake up so we had you in the morgue, but now I think it’s more appropriate for you to be in a guest room,” she said, her words echoing in my ears.

“I’m not your guest. I want to leave,” I said, as if it would do me any good. I knew I was at her mercy, but what did she want from me? Was she working for Dr. Haines, the woman who claimed to have a cure for ‘zombie’ infections or was she working of her own accord?

There was a loud buzzing sound and then everything became clear. I could see the pretty brunette woman who was pushing my bed into a large elevator. “What is this place?” I asked her as she pressed one of the buttons.

“It was an old women’s hospital. We’ve turned it into a medical center to help those taken by the late Dr. Haines,” she said the last few words with a smug smile.

“If you wanted to help me you wouldn’t have tied me to this table,” I said, nodding towards the thick ropes that bond me to the table.

“The ropes are for your own protection. We weren’t sure how you would react to being here,” she said.

The elevator doors opened with a low humming sound that seemed to crawl inside my ears. Everything was loud again, it was as if voices and sounds were magnified. I heard everything, from the whispers of a nurse, to a chair scraping the floor in the cafeteria. I barely had time to wonder what was wrong with me as people rushed past us in lab coats and scrubs, it was as if I were in a real hospital. Was there such a thing as a real hospital anymore? I thought the world had ended three years ago when the dead stopped being dead and started eating the living.

A young man wearing a lab coat joined us. “I’m glad to see you’re awake. May I ask your name?” He said as he flipped through some papers on a clipboard.

“Zoey.”

I felt the ropes that bound me go limp and I realized that he had cut them away. I sat up, but the room seemed to spin. I was dizzy and I felt nausea overtake me. I struggled to regain my composer as I was wheeled into a quiet room. The young man closed the door behind us, just as my surroundings settled. I wanted to stand, but I knew that I wasn’t well enough. “What the hell is wrong with me?” I asked.

“I’ve never seen anything like it, but you’re healing,” he said, pointing to my arm.

There was a bandage on my arm, right over where my bite mark had been. I slowly pulled the cloth from my arm, surprised to find undamaged skin beneath it. What did that mean? Was the wound killing me, or was it actually healing me?

Writing Couples

Happy Valentine's Day! Today is the day that a lot of people will be bringing their loved ones out for dinner, or surprising them with jewelry and oversized teddy bears. Valentine's day is a day where I normally think about couples, and today I'm thinking of couples in books. I'm currently editing Hair Of The Wolf, an urban fantasy with an element of romance. The main character, Anyssa, is still recovering from an abusive relationship (inspired by the one I was in). Writing Anyssa was hard because it sometimes brought up memories or things that I was struggling with (such as the idea of dating after being in such a relationship). Anyssa has a love interest, which may or may not turn into a relationship, and I found myself writing that plot line with care. He knew about what happened to Anyssa, but some elements were the same as writing the start of a new relationship. I don't think I'll ever write about an abusive relationship again, but I'm sure that I will write about the start of new relationships again. With the character of Anyssa it made sense for her to go through that and come out as the person she is in the book.

Art in Writing

I remember when I went to elementary school and I took an art class. It was a lot of fun, but one thing the teacher told us has always stuck with me. She said that every artist puts a little bit of themselves in every project. I found myself thinking about that recently and it hasn't ever been more true for me than it is now. I find myself relating to the characters that I write more than ever. I wrote one who worked in a shoe store at the time that I was working in a shoe store with the same inner thoughts as I had. I also just started writing about a character who distances herself from most people, someone I find that we can all relate to. No, I don't think the average person is anti social and ignores others, but I think we've all faced times where we've felt alone. The character that I am writing now is a werewolf named Anyssa, she's someone that I find myself relating to more than I've ever related to any of my other characters. She's been through a bad relationship and does her best to avoid getting into a new one, but sometimes things just happen. Although it's not a romance, it has elements in there like a love interest. A good story is more complex than just going from point A to point B. The reader has to enjoy the ride or they won't pick up anything else that you've written. In a way, your reader knows you better than anyone. They are reading something you put time and effort into, something some people might say is part of you.

Why I decided to write about one of the worst things that ever happened to me

I came across an article recently asking for personal essays that involved any stage of romance, and since I am not doing so well financially, I decided to write an essay. I sat for awhile, just staring at a black screen. Anyone who's written anything in their life can relate to that, and also how annoyed they get writing the first sentence and deleting it over and over. I usually write fiction since my life isn't that interesting. Finally I thought of something, but I wasn't sure that I wanted to go there. I wasn't sure if I was healed enough to write that particular article. Would anyone even want to read what I had to say, or would they think that I was just trying to shame my ex? I thought about some of my favorite authors and started to write the article. In the past I had cried whenever I thought about the event, but this time I didn't. This time I flew through writing the article, even finding things to add when I was finished. When I was completely done I sat there, staring at my computer and thinking about what I had written. Should I submit it under a pen name?After some debating I decided to submit it under my name. While I hated what he had done to me, I knew that he had only made me stronger. I'm not sure if the magazine will publish me or reject me, but I really hope that it publishes me. If it doesn't I plan to revise the article and try again.

What's after Zombie Bite?

I'm not going to do a weekend review this weekend. I've only played video games and that's not fair for the people who come here to read what I have to say about writing (or read book reviews), so I thought that I would share something that's been on my mind for a little while. I have been working on Zombie Bite, getting it ready to publish and wondering what book bloggers to send it to when it's finally done. I decided to add a short story that I originally wasn't going to include. A very short story, which was going to be a chapter in the next book. The survivors in Zombie Bite live in a hotel and I was thinking of writing a series about them, each one told from someone else's point of view. At this moment I am not sure if I still plan to do so. I am working on getting a kindle, nook, and physical copy of Zombie Bite so that everyone can enjoy it. I also have been thinking about my next writing project a lot, and I think it's time for me to go back to something I was planning to release a long time ago. I posted a lot when I first started this blog about a novel I was writing called Hair Of The Wolf, at the time I even posted a writing sample. I gave up on it after awhile because I didn't feel my main character had the right voice. I wanted her to be emotionally scarred, and I wrote a character based on one of my ex-boyfriends. That ex-boyfriend had just been a jerk and wouldn't have caused her to have some of the reactions that she had throughout the book. I have since been in a relationship that could only be described as abusive (I have a lot to say about abusive relationships and may write a blog post on it later on). I want to rewrite parts of that novel to give her a relationship similar to mine so that she can be scarred enough to get to the place she needs to be in the book. It will take awhile to whip the book into shape, but I know that I can do it.

Weekend Review: The Walking Dead season 2 video game

First I would just like to shamelessly self promote my YouTube channel, which I am still trying to figure out. I play video games on it. You can view my walking dead playlist by clicking here.

I have a YouTube channel where I play games, and that means I get to try out a lot of games that I haven't before. I haven't really been working too hard on the gaming channel, but I plan to change that soon. I just need to set aside some time to do so. I also have been busy with school, which is why I didn't read a book this week for the weekend review (I am honestly thinking of doing one day with a game review and the other book review). Anyway, I am really getting into the walking dead season 2, just like I did with season 1, but I do find some actions a little...unnecessary. When Clementine was patching up her arm it seemed to take forever, and you also need to click on every single thing, which drives me a bit crazy. Everything else has me interested, the story is great, the 'combat' is the same as the first game. It's a great game. I can't wait to play more of it.

Your dreams won't come true unless you push yourself

I am about to publish my zombie novel, the one that I had shared an unedited first draft chapter a few months or so ago, and I couldn't be happier about finally wrapping that up and putting it out there. I feel like I've worked harder on that than I have anything else. I plan on working on some other old novels that I have on here after that. I know that I wouldn't have gotten that far if I hadn't pushed myself, but there was a time that I wasn't pushing myself. In 2015 I had just about given up on writing. I got to do it every now and then, but my ex made it clear that my free time belonged to him. He was a person who didn't push himself. He wanted to be an artist, but it seemed to me like he only wanted to sell his art to his friends and family (people who were safe and wouldn't say that his art sucked). I often pushed him, even saying that we should write a children's book together where he could draw and I could write. There came a point where I gave up on motivating him because nothing that I said stuck with him. I became kind of mean towards him, but that's a story for another day if at all. One thing that I have not been pushing myself towards is the let's play channel that I made. I plan to do more with that soon. I'm considering playing the second season of the walking dead, since I haven't yet. The let's play channel isn't my dream though, it's just something fun to do. I already like playing games and it's fun to record myself playing them. Anyway, the point of this blog is that you can not be successful unless you push yourself to be. You need to put in the effort, work towards your goals.

Weekend Review: Awkward.

I recently posted about this show and I honestly didn't think that I would again. Maybe I have a lot to say because I've been in Jenna's shoes recently. I hoped the writers of this show would decide that it was time for Jenna to grow past the love triangles and her undying love for Matty, but they haven't. I'm actually not here to talk about Jenna and Matty in the romantic sense though. The thing that's been bugging me lately is Jenna has an unpaid internship at a place called Idea bin, basically she's writing articles for a website. On the last episode she wrote an article that ended up on the front page of Idea bin, but that article also hurt Matty. I mostly write fiction, but sometimes I write nonfiction in my blog. Anytime you write your version of the truth someone will get their feelings hurt, I know this from experience. Some of the blogs that I wrote about my ex hurt them, but at the same time every word was true to me. He may have thought that he was fighting for us to stay together and be happy, but it couldn't have been my truth because I wasn't living it. I'm kind of on the fence about the article itself. I haven't taken down the articles about my ex, even though I know it hurt him. The articles may have hurt him, but they also helped me to grow as a writer. I may take them down in the future, but I'm not sure. I didn't write the articles with the intention to hurt anyone, the articles were the truth as I saw it at the time that I saw it. I don't even think he reads my blog anymore, although he claimed to read every new entry in the past (after we parted ways). Sometimes you don't like seeing the negative impact that you have on other people, but at the same time you should use the experience to grow into a better person. I honestly don't think she should have gotten her article taken down.

My Dream Office

Last night I had this really amazing dream that I was at a video game and comic book store with a friend of mine. For some reason I dream about video game stores and dvd rental places a lot. Anyway, in this dream the video games were all older games and they were displayed on the most beautiful set of shelves that I had ever seen. One of my dreams as an author has always been that I could get my own office with a beautiful bookshelf, where I could display not only my books but also the books that I love to read. I also would love one of those cool ink pens with a crown on the top, and some super nice work space for my desk. I would have a dry erase board in the office. I love dry erase boards, they help me when I am working on a novel. I would also have assorted artwork. I have never really owned any artwork, or had any artwork that I was in love with displayed in any of my homes. I guess that my dragons could count as artwork that I loved, but I also want artwork done by other people. It amazes me what other people can come up with and I have always been an art lover. I would also have some things in there which display my nerdy side. I love funko pop vinyls and had started to collect them. I had four of them Stitch from Lilo and Stitch was my first and Raphael from TMNT was my second and they would go in there for sure (the other two were the TMNT van with Mikey driving and Leo from TMNT, but I gave them back to my ex so I would have to rebuy them). I would want a few disney ones as well and some comic book related pop vinyls. I would get the ones from Supernatural and the Walking Dead as well. I would also make sure the office was very colorful. I love colorful things, they fuel my creativity. I would have at least one dog bed in my office because my dogs like to go wherever I am and I am sure they would want to be in the office with me. The dog bed would probably be pink because my dogs are girls and I also really like the color pink.

Weekend Review: Pokemon Yellow

I remember playing Pokemon yellow when I was younger. I was hooked to my game boy color until I beat the game and caught the legendary Pokemon. I was so excited when I heard that yellow, red, and blue were going to be available for the ds. I knew that I had to get yellow. I love Pikachu, and every pokemon game has had me hooked for days or weeks. I thought they would remake the game and improve the graphics, but it is just the same game from the gameboy color. Gameplay is the same, since it's the same game. I love playing the old game, and had forgotten how hard it was compared to the newer ones. It's the same game that I fell in love with, I just wish they had at least upgraded the graphics. Despite that, the game still looks good, just not as good as the newer pokemon games. I may purchase red as well, but I am undecided. I would give pokemon yellow a 9.5 out of 10.

Changes

I feel part of writing a successful novel is to have the characters go through changes. To be able to write about changes you have to go through them yourself. Right now I'm going through a lot of changes. Like I said in a past post, my last relationship taught me a lot about life, myself, and what I'm actually looking for. I don't want to dwell on that relationship any longer, but it did make me start changing myself for the better. In many ways that relationship changed me for the worst. Before I started dating him I was very into foreign movies and learning about different cultures, something he was not into. I also really liked video games, but I felt that I couldn't play them with him because he always felt that he had to be the best (he would also rage quit Halo). I always felt the point of playing a game was to enjoy it. I didn't care about winning or beating the game. I just wanted to play something fun. I wanted to have fun with him as well, but I was afraid he wouldn't be happy if I wasn't good at the game. I sat out playing the latest Batman game because of it. I also didn't go back and do all the missions that I wanted on Dead Rising because of it. I also stopped going to school and the gym while with him, things that I should never have done. I'm doing those things again, and rediscovering who I am and learning new things about myself. I'm trying to change in good ways this time, and I'm learning a lot about change and myself along the way.

Why having a back up plan is important

Writing professionally has been my dream for as long as I can remember. While I know writing is what I want to do, and what I aim to do, I also know that I may not sell a single book. I, like everyone else with a dream, need to go after that dream while also working on a back up plan. I want to be able to support myself, even if I can't do it as a writer. I will also be happy writing even if I can't support myself. I will always write, even if it's just for me. In reality, most writers don't make enough to support themselves. It takes a lot of hard work to get your books out there and get reviews and sales. I'm truly happy for the people who have gone after their dream and do make enough to support themselves and are able to write full time, but that is not the average person.

Steps I'm taking to become more organized

I know that I need to get more organized so that I can get my writing out in a timely manner. I also need to pay more attention to my blog, which I also plan to do. I am using a empty notebook that I found to write down ideas for my blog, and notes for book reviews. I bought a planner, where I plan to map out my day and also plan my blogs. I want to use the planner to set writing related goals for myself. I also need to go through the files on my computer and see what has potential and what I can throw away. I think doing this may help me get things done on time.

What do I see in my old writing?

I recently came across some things that I had written when I was younger. I was probably in my late teens or early twenties when I wrote them, and I couldn't help seeing how much I'd grown as a writer. I notice the early flaws that I made, for example, I never thought my plot through, and there were often grammar and spelling errors throughout, but my characters were well thought out. The story line that was there could be usable in future works.

Does life experince equal writing experience?

Today I am tasked with applying for jobs online. I have recently gone through some major changes, and I can't help but wonder how they are affecting my writing. One of the characters in a story that I am currently working on works in a shoe store. I used to work in a shoe store. I was the manager of said shoe store, so do I find myself drawing from my own experiences? Yes, I do. That doesn't mean that I think you have to work in a shoe store to write about working in a shoe store. I do think there are some things you need to experience for yourself before writing about. I would feel uncomfortable writing about an emotion if I had never experienced it for myself. I'm not sure if I would have given this character a job working in a shoe store if I had not had the job working in a shoe store myself. With other characters, other professions make sense. I find myself having to use google a lot. I would actually like to find people in a few of those professions and ask them for more details about their jobs. There are some things you won't know unless you've been in their position. I find that it is easier to write things that I know, but I also love learning about new things and writing what I've learned. 

How I portray myself vs. how I should portray myself

For the past few weeks I've been looking at my blog and thinking about how it portrays me. Would I want to buy a book from this author if I happened to stumble across this blog? No, I wouldn't. It's not the design of the blog itself that's been bothering me lately. I know that needs improvement. I need a few days to just sit down with the blog and give it a face lift. It's a small bit better than it used to be, but still not where I need it to be. What's been bothering me the most about my blog is the posts that I've been making lately. I've been writing short posts that aren't very well thought out. It doesn't make me attractive as a writer. As I noted before, I wouldn't want to buy a book from someone who doesn't take the time to work on the actual posts in their blog. It would make me wonder if the book was going to have similar content. I've worked really hard on my actual novel, but when you're self published, or planning to be, you are your own marketing team. You have to pay attention to what you put out there. Every blog post, facebook status, and twitter update is a chance to reach more people.

What if no one reads it?

I'm sure the question that's crossing my mind right now is the same question that's crossed almost every writer's mind. What if no one reads it? I haven't even published anything yet, but the question has been weighing heavily on my mind. Maybe it's the reason I haven't finished editing. Maybe I'm not sure of myself. How much would it bother me if no one reads the work of fiction I've been working on? Maybe it'll bother me a lot, maybe it wouldn't bother me at all. Even if no one reads my book, it won't take away from my accomplishment. I would have written a book, promoted it, and tried my hardest to sell it.