Hello there!
Welcome to the new folks who joined last month!
50.
I have leveled-up, as they say in video game parlance. I celebrated my 50th birthday this past week with a group of friends at our home. Like others will tell you, it feels no different to be 50 than 49.
Here’s what’s been going on.
I spent the summer working on some music, specifically electronic trip-hop influenced tracks. I found vocal samples that I liked, and built tracks from those and playing around with various loops and writing my own parts. If you’re a fan of trip-hop like Hooverphonic, Morcheeba, Zero 7, Groove Armada, you might dig it. It’s on all the streaming services as well as Bandcamp.
I also created a video for the track “Cheating Game.”
On the writing front, I’ve been writing/rewriting/editing JANET off and on daily. Some days I’ll get in 1,000 words, other day 100. As long as something is happening, I’m happy. I’ve sketched out a very loose outline so I know where I’m going. It’s obvious to me now I’m not a pantser when it comes to writing. I need an outline, even a rough one, to get momentum going.
RECENT DIG ME OUT
Here are the August episodes of the 90s Rock and 80s Metal Dig Me Out Podcasts
Poster Children - RTFM
Massive Attack - Mezzanine
Faithless - Sunday 8 PM
Nu Metal in the 90s Roundtable
Blake Smith and Rick Ness of Fig Dish Interview
Spread Eagle - Spread Eagle
Tigertailz - Bezerk
RECENT READS
The Restaurant at the end of the Universe by Douglas Adams
I read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy many years ago, and never realized there were more books in the series until long after that. I finally got around to picking up The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy which collects all the books into one big volume. Rarely do I reread books, but I’ve reread Hitchhiker’s a few times. I was prepared to be disappointed as I started The Restaurant at the end of the Universe, as the original is such a unique piece of work, but luckily my fear quickly subsided. I should have trusted Douglas Adams, as this picks up the story and takes it new and exciting places.
RECENT TV/MOVIES
DUNE 2 (Max)
EVERYTHING AND NOTHING: THE AMAZING SCIENCE OF EMPTY SPACE (Amazon Prime)
INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY (Disney+)
NIKKI GLASER: SOMEDAY YOU’LL DIE (HBO)
AMERICA’S SWEETHEARTS: DALLAS COWBOYS CHEERLEADERS (Netflix)
THE BOYS, Season 4 (Amazon Prime)
DANCING FOR THE DEVIL: THE 7M TIKTOK CULT (Netflix)
REACHER, Season 2 (Amazon Prime)
GIRLS5EVA, Season 1 (Netflix)
RECENT MUSIC
Ahem - Avoider (2024)
A few reminders before you go:
Help spread the word - leave a book review at Amazon or GoodReads!
All previous newsletters are archived. Lots of stuff to check out including a link to the original 2011 screenplay of THE BLACK SKY, hints and helps to get started on the real work easter egg hunt teased at the back of the book, and more
Spotify Playlists! I made them for when I was writing THE BLACK SKY, THE RED SKY, and there is also a special one for “The Dank” bar that is in THE BLACK SKY.
If you like instrumental electronic music, I have soundtracks for THE BLACK SKY and THE RED SKY available at most streaming services, along with several other releases.
Stay Safe!
Tim