Monthly HapPENings: December + 2019 Writing Goals

Well, hello, 2019! My, how swiftly you've arrived. I suppose that, before we delve too deep into what you have to offer, we should take one last look back at the previous year.

Life was busy in December. I started off with celebrating my birthday (hooray for being older!), and then having to attend a family gathering the next day. The following weekend, I was emceeing one of the kids' classes at church with Tracey, and they had their Christmas performance that day. (Definitely had that song stuck in my head for a while after.) Then the weekend after came with another family gathering (which went surprisingly well). Finally, after all those things plus working full-time, I got my Christmas break for five days, worked two, then got a four-day New Year's break.

Christmastime was very relaxing and refreshing for me. It was so good to spend quality time with my family. There was lots of love and laughter in our home, something I always appreciate. I got some great gifts, such as one from my friends in New Zealand (which had some unexpected and very precious items inside), and my biggest LEGO set to date from my parents. All-in-all, it was a grand time, one that I look forward to every year.

Bookish HapPENings

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I loved the Alex Rider series when I read it a few years ago. Only early in 2018 did I find out that another title had come out, and I finally got around to reading it. Man, did it induce some serious nostalgia. It was like I was reliving my teen spy (mild) obsession/fantasy. I mean, who doesn't want to be a secret agent, fighting heinous criminals and saving the world?

And while this book was thoroughly entertaining, I did have a couple minor issues with it. There seemed to be a number of conveniences that happened for Alex, which probably happened in the other books and I just never noticed them. I'm also not sure how I feel about this book basically undoing one of the plot points from the previous installment. It makes things happier for Alex, but was it necessary? I dunno. At the end of the day, this is another fun, action-packed read for the series, and I'd recommend it if you enjoy the secret agent genre.

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Okay, this is epic. (Meme intended.) Never did I ever think I'd see one of my favorite authors of all-time, Eoin (pronounced Owen) Colfer, write a book for Marvel. But he did, and I knew the instant I saw it and its amazing cover that I had to buy it. It had everything I wanted, from Eoin's great sense of humor to dialogue that I could read in Robert Downey, Jr.'s voice. There were some great twists, the action had me on the edge of my seat, and the characters were all fleshed-out, from the ones pulled from the comics to the OCs. The plot and its structure, which felt quite different from most books, also had me intrigued.

My sole complaint was the fact that the death of a character, who had next to no "screen time" and was only mentioned, but never shown. Her suicide was implied to be very heavy for Tony, and when it came up later at a crucial moment close to the end of the story, I had to figure out why this was so important when it had barely been talked about. A couple minutes of research told me that she was from the comics, and thus, Marvel comic fans would know more about her. As I'm not a comic buff, I do wish this had been elaborated on a little more for my sake and the sake of others like me.

In the grand scheme of things, I'd say it's quite a mild issue, and I say you absolutely must read it. It's a fantastic novel, and I'd venture to say it's one of the best I've read this year.

HapPENings on the Screen

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I'd heard that The Incredibles 2 was just as good, if not better, than the original, and I'd have to agree! Pixar has done a phenomenal job on their sequels. Considering that the first one came out over a decade ago, I think this film excels at embracing both the old and the new. There were nods to the first, from the animation style to the very opening with the Underminer (wish we'd seen more of him) to the soundtrack itself, while giving it a new spark like they have with recent films. Every action piece was well-thought-out, and they had some good breathers in between. The film's message was heartwarming, and the characters were developed excellently. I know some people have complained about Screenslaver, but honestly, I think the villain was one of the best parts. This is definitely a five-star film in my books.

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This movie, on the other hand, was a little more mediocre. I still have yet to understand why the Harry Potter films are so well-loved. I mean, they're decent enough, but they have a tendency to ramble. I was only interested in the plot during the last third of the movie or so. While there were some interesting scenes and characters, there just wasn't enough to fully capture my attention. Also, it was a good thing that the Dementors froze things as they approached; otherwise, they'd just be a conglomeration of Ringwraiths, time wraiths from The Flash, and that one wraith in Once Upon a Time. I hope the other films become better than the ones I've seen so far.

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We rewatched this movie on New Year's Eve, with one of my grandmas, who hadn't ever seen it. It's funny how, after so many years of not seeing it, I still remember most--if not all--of the dialogue and scenes. I was also watching it from a writer's perspective and appreciating the opening scene, the character arcs, the pacing, and all that other wonderful stuff. It also made me sadder than it did when I was younger, something I was both surprised and not surprised about. Such a good, classic film . . . even most of the animation still holds up today, which is amazing. Go treat yourself and see it again.

I've been watching more of Trollhunters, and it's rapidly becoming one of my favorite shows. It's entertaining and action-packed, with characters I'm invested in and creepy villains. Seriously, the evil troll, Bular (shown on the above picture), makes some threats that caught me off-guard. He's talked about drinking Jim's blood from his skull, ripping off his skin, etc. And then it's implied that he ate a poor museum guard. Seriously, this is a cool show, and if you enjoy other stuff DreamWorks has done, like How to Train Your Dragon, you'll probably love this too.

I've also watched one episode from my other shows (Avatar, The Flash, and Ninjago), but I opted not to include all those pictures here.

Gaming HapPENings

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So I'm replaying this Mario & Luigi game because I hadn't played it in forever, and I got stuck at the final bosses without the proper items available. I also told myself that before I can play Dream Team, I have to finish Partners in Time. Now, I used to say that this was my least favorite installment in the franchise, but I think my mind is being changed. It's a very fun game, and now I'm not coming at with my initial expectations. It's still not my favorite, but I think I'm enjoying it more than I did the first time--which is a rare, but very welcome, thing.

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I'm also replaying Skyward Sword in Hero Mode, and I can already tell it's going to be a challenge. I haven't even gotten to the first temple, and there's already been at least one instance where I came so close to death. But I'm remembering why I absolutely love this game so much, and I honestly wish I had started replaying it sooner. I just hope I don't die too often. (Fingers crossed!)

Writerly HapPENings

Well, Shattered didn't get a higher word count in December. Whoopsie. I will forgive myself, since I was busy and also just came off of my first NaNo. 2019's going to be much better in that regard.

Speaking of which, I suppose I should look over my writing goals for last year and make some new ones. On January of 2018, I set out to:

• Reread A Totally Epic Pirate Story in January and decide if I want to finish it or not
• Finish The Tournament of Convicts by the end of May
• Choose between finishing Maelstrom or starting to novelize Darkened Slumber and do that for the rest of the year
• write more of An Old Face, a New Game and The Darkest Dawn (a coauthored story) on the side

Oh my goodness . . . what was I thinking?! I mean, yeah, if I'd actually put some effort in, I probably could've accomplished at least a couple of those goals, but all four? Seems to be stretching it a little. The only thing I did was start novelizing Darkened Slumber, and that was hardly anything. So this year, I have one goal:

• Write Shattered consistently

Truth be told, I have no idea how long it'll take for me to finish writing that novel. But as long as I'm making steady progress, I don't think the deadline matters too much at this point. If I feel the need to adapt that aspect into the goal later on, then I will. But for now, I just want to write my heart out, and have fun doing it.

That was my December. Tell me, what was yours like? How was your Christmas? Got any plans or goals for 2019? Any book/movie/TV show/game recommendations for me from this past year? Do tell all!