Weekly Update - 2/19/25

So I'm not immune to writer's block, as much as I wish that I was. It's just a pitfall you learn to deal with as a professional creator, but there's no easy way out of it, not even for those of us who've dealt with it on and off for decades. Typically, when that happens, I go clean, and I cleaned up the mess that is my desk area over the last few days while trying to hen peck at getting chapters into a state that I liked. That said, I felt like every bit of cleaning I did was pulling away at blockage. I took an entire box of plastic bags in to drop off for recycling, cleared away about a hundred sheets of paper dating back almost five years that I didn't need and pitched out a bunch of things I'm not even really sure why I was holding onto.

Once all that was done, I sat down and wrote 2.5k words in about an hour. So, I will finally get the next chapter of QT: Unbroken Mold off to its commissioner tomorrow and then I'll start in on... something else. Hopefully now that I've shaken off the block, things will keep flowing. No guarantees, because this block sort of dropped in out of nowhere and you never can tell when it's going to hit, but I'm feeling good. I haven't coughed since last week, I've been getting sleep, and Coke put Orange Cream Coke on the market. It's not quite Mezzo Mix (which, if you've never had, go to a Cost Plus World Market and get yourself some on import - but chill that can like a sumbitch, because it's best when it's just above freezing) but it'll do. When Orange Vanilla Coke got taken off the market in 2023, I was annoyed as hell. But we're here now, so, y'know, life moves on.

I did go see the new Captain America movie, and it was better than I expected, even if it wasn't great. It was good, but man, that film is serving a whole lot of masters, and it would've been a much better film if they hadn't, y'know, blown one of the third act twists with literally every bit of marketing about the movie. Anthony Mackie's doing a great job, but this script has 'version twelve' written all over it, and all the various influence fingers are muddying up what could've been a great thriller. I am definitely looking forward to both Thunderbolts* and Fantastic Four, for entirely different reasons. (Honestly, if you haven't watched the Hawkeye show on Disney+ and you have Disney+, go watch it. Florence Pugh as Yelena is so insanely charming in her time in that show that I just want Yelena in everything.)

It's not a great time for movies, though. I think the next thing I'm going to see in cinemas is A Working Man, with Jason Statham. (The friend of mine who's the basis for QT's Phil, he and I make it a point to go see every Jason Statham movie in theaters together, even if they're not good. We still aren't sure what we thought of The Beekeeper.) I'll probably go see The Accountant 2 in April, and definitely both Thunderbolts* and Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning in May. And then Actual Phil and I will go see Ballerina in June, because we've also seen all the John Wick films in theaters together. What can I say? We love great action flicks. I'm still very torn about Tron: Ares, because I don't often care for Jared Leto as an actor, but Nine Inch Nails is doing the soundtrack, and honestly? Whenever Trent's on a project, I'm there.

Anyway, it's late and I don't have a whole lot to talk about this week. Here's the list of what's coming publicly: 2/22 - NS 9; 3/1 - A Pack Of His Own 14; 3/8 - Before The Storm 13; 3/15 - CARP 10; 3/22 - QT2:29; 3/29 - QT:UM 4.

Take care of yourselves. Back as soon as I can with more content.