Not Sure Anymore

     I've been working on this blog for quite some time and while I do enjoy doing it, it's been a work in itself and one that I'm not sure where to go or what to do with it from here. I found that I don't like posting Silver Mane here, I'd rather post it on other sites where it would makes more sense. Places where you won't have to click a ton of buttons to go through the whole series. But what really to do with this. I've been here for years and I feel like it's gotten me no where. I haven't made any connections and most days recently it's been feeling like a waste of my time. Time that I could dedicate to writing more books. I just don't know right now what I want to do with this blog anymore.

Hi, My Name is Skadia and I'm a Lesbian

     This isn't how the world works, when someone introduces themselves. It is however, how the world judges. I wanted to talk a bit about how I've been seen differently as a lesbian in just every day normal life. Some of my friends can't believe when I tell them things like this, but when they see it, they all seem to understand a bit more.

     "I don't want a dyke to touch my food." So my day job when I'm not writing is working at a movie theater. I really do love my job and the company is the most accepting that I have ever worked for. Being a lesbian doesn't matter to them. They are even super cool with Trans and just about anything else short of illegal activities. I have honestly had guests waiting in line, only that when I call them they wave me off or ignore me. Only to go to someone's register next to me and gripe 'under their breath' that they cannot imagine why anyone would let 'people like that serve food'. I've even had co-workers hear people talking about the 'stupid dyke who wouldn't -insert whatever rule I followed here-' It happens, a lot more than people realize.

     "You people should all just go die." Again another extreme thing, but I've heard it more than once.

     "Fucking dykes!" This gem is generally yelled out of car windows most often while I am walking with my girlfriend just holding her hand and talking. Or playing pokemon go. Sitting too close will also get the came reaction. I've even had some homeless guy harass me just because my hair is short and for once I actually 'looked gay'. That was a long bus ride.

     I could honestly go on and on about what other's have said or done to me all over the simple fact that I love someone, but I won't. That's not the message I want to send. It's not about hate, it's about love. It's about not being alone in this world. I wanted to share these with you all because you are not alone. Don't let their words control you. Rise up. It sadly won't be going away, you will have to deal with it, so don't let words bother you. They truly don't matter. I mean come on, these people aren't paying your bills, their opinion shouldn't matter one bit. Sure, it can still hurt, but don't take these things personally. You're better than that.

     ~Skadia, the writing panther, who just happens to be gay.

Witchling Review

Witchling by Yasmine Galenorn.

     Today I want to share with you all the first book in a series that I have very much enjoyed. I sadly have not kept up with the series due to moving and lack of book stores, but I will one day catch up. -looks over at my pile of unread books- One day.

     I really enjoyed how the author made the series revolve around strong female leads. As a girl growing up, those types of books were hard to find. She also is an author who isn’t afraid to show her characters faults. I know a few series that try to idolize them or just ignore that concept. Yasmine embraces them. She lets them struggle with themselves and I personally love it. She created a well rounded world that’s believable. She’s also put many hours into the research of magic and the creatures that surround the characters as well. I know that had to have taken a lot of time.

Three magical kick-ass sisters are faced with an unexplainable murder. They have their hunches that it has something to do with Shadow Wing, the leader of the Subterranean Realms. His plan is to raze human kind to the ground, making it into his own personal playground. The D’Artigo sisters are the only ones willing to step up and stop him, or at least try to.

Some characters to watch:

Camille- A wicked-good witch who’s magic sometimes goes a little astray when she least expects it.

Delilah- A shape-shifter who shifts into a tabby cat whenever she’s under a lot of stress.

Menolly- A newly turned vampire who is still trying to get the hang of her new life.

[Click here to get yourself a copy!]

Daughter of the Bright Moon Review

Daughter of the Bright Moon by Lynn Abbey

This novel was published in 1979, and Lynn Abbey’s first published work. It was also nominated for the “Locus Award” for Best Fantasy Novel.

In a world where men rule and women are expected to be just that, ladies, Rifkind won her freedom, her war-horse, and her own sword. She is a healer who has been graced by the power of her moon goddess. Her destiny well decided for her, she must travel, with her only trusted friend Turin her war-horse, to a new world were and evil sorcerer controls the land.

I’ll try to keep my actual review on this short. It will as always have minimal spoilers if any at all and will be one hundred percent my own opinions. To start off, I will say that I greatly enjoyed this book. It took me about a week to finish and I enjoyed every moment of it. Even to the point where I was sneaking in a few pages even while on the bus on my way to my day job.

I’m going to start off with my biggest gripes about the book, and while I do so, I must keep in mind how old this one is. Yeah sure forty years doesn’t sound like a long time, but it is for a book, and how they have evolved sense then. Some of the writing was a bit confusing, lacking some words that would have been in newer books. A few places where I found myself going back to get the full picture of things and set ups. The battle’s were especially this way for me. I also felt it lacking a bit more background information that I would have personally preferred. It speaks of events that were normal for this woman’s tribe but yet they meant little to be because I felt like I was missing why they were important to her.

Now let’s move on to the things I enjoyed about it, and why you should really read this one. First off, the leading lady is amazing. Far from flawless but to headstrong to need any man. Speaking of, a bit of a spoiler here, I was so happy to see the two main characters stay friends and not hook up. Truly that in itself is an amazing point. Another aspect that truly made me enjoy this book was the research put into the main secondary character, Turin, the War-horse. Lynn made a world that was so well thought out that you understood how the powers worked within it. I always appreciate that.

While it may be a bit harder to find, for sure snag yourself a copy. Great Characters, kick ass woman who can hold her own, and a beautiful world to set it all in.  

Wonder Woman Review

    So yesterday I went for the second time to see Wonder Woman, and I still stand by my original thoughts. To put it simply, this isn’t a revolutionary movie, it isn’t perfect, but it is a damn good one. It’s also very empowering to a lot of little girls, and some older ones too. That seems like a win win to me. I promise I will not give any spoilers in this review. I’m going to look at a few key elements. Things like what I personally liked, and didn’t. The quality of the animation and story. As well as a few other key points that I feel like they are worth mentioning.

     Let’s just start off with the bad and get all that muck out of the way. I overall really enjoyed the movie, again it wasn’t flawless and I’m not claiming it was the greatest movie ever. By far DC studios greatest, but that’s not the main focus here. There was one part that really killed the entire vibe for me, as a story teller mostly. Again, I won’t give away spoilers, but I am going to describe the situation and why it bothered me so much. There was a part near the end that was a turning point for the entire movie, maybe just within the last fifteen minutes. So as a story teller, I’m expecting things to wrap up. Our main characters have their final moment, and it’s done in such a tasteful way I love it. It left things open for personal interpretation. After all, what is art supposed to do! Anyway, the film moved on from that moment only to return and repeat it. The entire scene. But wait! It didn’t just flashback to something that happened only a few moments ago, it forced something down the viewers throats. Again, prior to this each viewer could take it however they wanted to. As DC however, showed it again, with ‘new’ information to the viewer, we were then forced to all make the same conclusion. That moment, killed it all for me. We are in the biggest fight of the movie (that’s not a spoiler, it’s a super hero movie, you knew it was going to be there) and they decide to stuff character development down our throats.

     Other than that, I can’t really say that anything else ‘broke’ the movie for me. After seeing DC’s prior films, I really had some low expectations. Did it have a bit too much CG effects? Oh yeah. Did they look cheesy? Sure did. But again, this is a super hero movie. She’s an amazon running around with a shield and glowing lasso of truth. I didn’t expect it to look hyper realistic. It actually became a feature that I enjoyed. It seemed to pull her out of the world and bring back fond memories of what super hero’s meant to me when I was younger. The only other small thing that bothered me to any extent, and it bothered my girlfriend more so than me, was the sound clips. They must have spent their budget on other things because some of the sound effects were just so ‘basic horse sound #1’ kinda vibe. However, I think DC could have done far worse on this one. They at least didn’t use monster roars for wolves. Looking at you Disney. (If you haven’t seen the new remake of Beauty and the Beast, I don’t recommend you do so, just watch the original.)

     Alright, now that all that mess is out of the way let me get down to some of my personal likes from this movie. While the story was reminiscence of “Captain America” from Marvel, I only could see that in the fact that it took place during WWI. And there was a motorcycle in one scene. It didn’t feel however, like I was watching Captain America. I honestly thought that movie was beyond boring. Not bad, just not my taste, I’m also not fond of him as a character either. Princess Diana. She on the other hand rang of strength and faults. I love a character with faults. Her actress Gal Gadot played the part beautifully.

     Gal Gadot for those of you who do not know, is an Isralle actress and model. She has been in The Fast and the Furious franchise before taking up her roll as Wonder Woman.

     I also really enjoyed all the trow backs and nods to the old TV series and comics. Even some of her classic music has been updated to fit this new, wonderful, Wonder Woman. As far as the actual story line goes, there are a few moments that left me having a ‘what the heck?’ kind of moment. But those feelings normally didn’t last too long as the action kept me moving forward. The camera shots. OH MY GODS! Let me just take a moment and tip my hat to the director who made some amazing choices. Blending speeds and angles to get some really awesome kick ass scenes. Oh it made my heart melt. They did an amazing job mixing things up and really bringing you to where the action was, even if it was a little comic type extreme at times.

     DC really pushed a lot of lines with this movie. I was so happy to see many different cultures represented in this one. They night not have been massive or in depth, but they were there, each with their own skill set. I personally, like to think that it mattered. Even on the Amazon island, they had people of color and different races on their little home.

     Now one final thing I want to talk about is sex. We all know that sex sells and as a woman, I see it all the time in media. So much so that I have come to expect it. I shouldn’t, but I do. The list of the examples is way to long to even being, so I won’t. With this movie, I expected no less honestly, and I was oddly surprised. There wasn’t a single ‘money shot’. Now what could I mean by that. We all know it. That one shot that they take where it makes the female character look like a slut, an item, like nothing but eye candy. Again, we come to expect that. I was happily disappointed. They didn’t make Princess Diana sexy. She was beautiful don’t get me wrong. She was strong and powerful, and sexy, but for those reasons alone. Not because they made her. Even in some fights you could catch the ‘plush’ (I doubt it’s fat, but muscle isn’t known to move hence the term here) of her legs jiggle upon landing. In our society that’s never seen. Ever! They kept those female curves and weren’t afraid to show them. It gave a normal feel to it. It showed every little girl out there that curves are okay. Heck even as an adult I felt better about myself walking out of it.

     My final conclusion. Go see it. Give the movie a chance, it’s by far the best thing I’ve seen come from DC. It’s empowering. It’s a fun movie. Go see it, go take the kids. Let them see how strong women can be. Even if they aren’t Diana, princess of the Amazons, daughter of Hippolyta, they can be strong, they can make a difference. They too were molded from clay and brought to life by Zeus.   

Day of Remembering

     I want to step back and take a moment to talk about something. I didn't even realize we were at the one year mark of the Orlando Pulse shooting. I still remember seeing it. I remember reading the stories about the EMT's showing up and the only sound being cell phones ringing. It still brings tears to my eyes. One year ago, someone decided to take lives just because he didn't agree with how they lived. It still hurts. This month is LGBTQ Pride month, and I cannot be more proud to stand up for the rights that we have fought for. We have come so far, but we also have a long ways to go.

     Be brave, I know it's scary, and events like what happened at Pulse really drive it home on how hard some of us fight. But we can do it. Together. With love. Don't forget, you are never alone. Reach out, talk to friends, family, call a help line if you need too. I know I'm always here to talk to if you need to vent, or cry. Hit me up on Twitter or even message me on Facebook. You are loved, and you matter. Never forget.

All my love
~Skadia

Sorry

     I know that this one single word doesn't really mean much, nor does it fix anything. But you all deserve an apology. I haven't posted anything for quite some time now. And that's not fair to you all. I will however explain what has been going on that has brought my writing to a screeching halt.

     Life in general this year has been pretty rough. Early this year the love of my life walked out. She left her business, her stuff, even her cat with me. It left me pretty torn up. I've sense been dealing with it and working on getting my own life together. I realized that I lived my life for someone else, and that in the end, didn't make me happy. So on top of dealing with that mess, I have been keeping my job and working very hard towards moving up in my company. So while that's not bad news, it does keep me busy. I've also been tasked with finishing all of the commissions sense "I was the one who was paid for them". Most have been paid for well over a year or two but that's all besides the point. So I'm working my normal job away from home and trying to get those done on my days off.

     I was doing very well on writing every single day, at least one thousand words, but even that fell apart. I woke up late one morning, had an event early the next after a late night shift and it all just went downhill from there.

     In short, it seems like my life is just falling apart. I don't always have access to internet so that doesn't help with posting things. It's just crazy. I do however hope to get back on track soon. Today being a day where I'm actually writing. So I'm trying. Little steps.