Tag: music

What’s Jotham Checking Out July-August 2023

Books:

I read six since the last time I checked in (not including the six books I read for the CWA BOTY contest). I read in a few genres: from Horror (Cynthia’s reimagining of the Pied Piper). Speculative and Science fiction (cloning and space drama). A great film study of one of my favorite movies, The Thing. A thrilling story about a diver that gets swallowed by a whale, and Seth Godin (marketing, leadership and living a creative life). These were some great reads to take my mind off the tasks at hand.

  1. The Dip: A little book that teaches you when to quit: (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6547148) Seth Godin (Non-Fiction leadership)
  2. Never Let Me Go(https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6334): Kazuo Ishiguro (Speculative Fiction)
  3. The Thing (BFI Film Classic) (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1200879): Anne Billson (Film Study)
  4. Children of Chicago (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55878030): Cynthia Pelayo (Horror)
  5. Whalefall (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62919162): Daniel Kraus (Thriller)
  6. Fractal Noise (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62711641): Christopher Paolini (Science-Fiction)

Comics/Graphic Novels:

I read two graphic novel/comic series. I mentioned last time I went to CAKE (Chicago’s Alternative Comics Expo) with Georgia last month and one of the artist/writer I met was Megan, and her Lady Eudora book was a great fun read about a proper woman exploring the world of BDSM. I also read Big Sex Criminal (it’s been in my TBR pile for a year or so)—A couple can stops time when they have an orgasm and decide to rob a bank…

  1. The Lady Eudora Henley (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52740645): Megan Rose Gerdis (Erotic, BDSM)
  2. Big Hard Sex Criminal Vol 1-6 (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24484259): Writer: Matt Fraction, Illustrator: Chip Zdarsky (Sci-Fi)

You can follow me on Goodreads to see what I’m reading next: 

Jotham’s Goodreads

What’s Jotham Listening to:

Music:

Just been digging some algorithmic curated apple playlists.

Podcasts:

Here are the four top podcasts I’ve been finding time for (Yes, this is the same list as before, but what can I say these are awesome): 

  1. Creative Peptalk by Andy J Pizza (A companion for your creative journey)
  2. Story Nerd: Melanie Hill and Valerie Francis (Story theory and how to use)
  3. The Shit No One Tells You About Writing: Bianca Marais, CeCe Lyra and Carly Waters (Behind the scenes look at publishing industry)

Okay, that’s where I’m at. I’ll try to update y’all every month on books, comics, and music (podcasts) that I’ve been digging! Maybe I need to add shows and movies??? What have y’all been digging? 

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Find your next favorite book or author with these newsletter giveaways (Reader Magnets), new books, or virtual book-fairs:

Reader Magnet: The Earth is gone. Can the colonists of Mars forge a new society for humanity to survive?
Book: Only 0.99 cents until September 10th: A future society about to collapse. A reluctant hero alone in the world. When he suspects sabotage, will he abandon his newfound friend to save humanity?
Book: When the FBI can’ t help, an unassuming banker takes matters into his own hands to bring his son home
Reader Magnet: Three Prequel stories to The Dragon Eater

What’s been happening May-July 2023

What’s Jotham Reading?

Books:

I’m not sure how I did it, but I read 8 books since the last time I checked in. As you know I didn’t write a couple newsletters, so that’s where the extra time went. LOL. I read in a few genres: from Horror (cordyceps fungus zombies and supernatural revenge), literary fiction, and a healthy dose of Seth Godin (marketing, leadership and living a creative life). These were some great reads to take my mind off the tasks at hand.

  1. M. R. Carey: The Girl With All The Gifts(zombies)
  2. M. R. Carey: The Boy On The Bridge (zombies)
  3. Elizabeth Wetmore: Valentine (literary fiction: CWA 2020 Book Of The Year)
  4. Seth Godin: Purple Cow- Transform Your Business By Being Remarkable (marketing)
  5. Seth Godin: The Practice: Shipping Creative Work (creative life)
  6. Seth Godin: The Icarus Deception: How High Will You Fly (leadership)
  7. Seth Godin: Linchpin: Are You Indispensable(leadership)
  8. Stephen Graham Jones: The Only Good Indians(supernatural horror)

Comics/Graphic Novels:

Not only did I spend the past three months away from y’all reading novels, I also read 6 graphic novels. Everything from Manga horror, coming of age and a banned book. I also went to CAKE (Chicago’s Alternative Comics Expo with Georgia last month (I’ll be sharing finds from that next newsletter).

  1. Charles Forsman: I’m Not Okay With This(Coming of age; Netflix series)
  2. Maia Kobabe Gender Queer: A Memoir(autobiographical gender identity: Most challenged/ banned book)
  3. Junji Ito: Tomie
  4. Junji Ito: No Longer Human
  5. Junji Ito: Shiver
  6. Junji Ito: Deserter

You can follow me on Goodreads to see what I’m reading next: 

Jotham’s Goodreads

What’s Jotham Listening to:

Music:

I was still digging my monthly subscription to Vinyl Moon. It’s like a mix-tape on vinyl, except they create an experience combining the curated eclectic mix of songs with story telling and artwork. It’s pretty cool and I’m excited to get more editions. ‘

I did do some record digging at a record shop recently, and I’ll share those gems next month.

Podcasts:

Here are the four top podcasts I’ve been finding time for: 

  1. Creative Peptalk by Andy J Pizza (A companion for your creative journey)
  2. Akimbo: Seth Godin (a podcast about culture and our place in it)
  3. Story Nerd: Melanie Hill and Valerie Francis (Story theory and how to use)
  4. The Shit No One Tells You About Writing: Bianca Marais, CeCe Lyra and Carly Waters (Behind the scenes look at publishing industry)

Okay, that’s where I’m at. I’ll try to update y’all every month on books, comics, and music (podcasts) that I’ve been digging! Maybe I need to add shows and movies??? What have y’all been digging? 

Leave a comment

What am I Reading and Listening to

07 January 2023

Comics, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Music/Podcasts

Comics:

The Jet Saga:
Row Sky

I was at a John Streetz Alliance Comic and Craft event at Soundgrowler Brewery in December 2022 and I met Row Sky, among other creators I’ll be taking about over this year.

Row introduced me to the world he is creating through his words and comics. A world where superhero’s are just being discovered and exploited.

Here is what The Jet Saga is all about in Row’s words:

“Kevin is trying to find his self-worth in a world where heroes are now just becoming a thing. While a nation is being divided by inescapable change, Kevin is desperately trying to provoke change within himself.”

Go learn more about Row Sky and his comic at his website (there are trailers and art work).


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Fiction / Indie-Fiction:

The Deep:
Rivers Solomon, Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, Jonathan Snipes:

This was the first book I’ve read in 2023, and it was incredible. And the process and transformation of the idea and themes in the book cross several creative disciplines, Music, Writing, and Art.

The book has its roots in the Music of Drexciya, a Detroit based Techno duo. The story reimagines the horror of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade by posing the question, “What if the descendants of pregnant mothers thrown overboard created an underwater society?”
This theme was picked up by Daveed Diggs and his rap group Clipping. The idea was further explored and expanded by author Rivers Solomon in the book, ‘The Deep.” And to keep the idea and world building expanding, Abdul Qadim Haqq created a graphic novel: The Book Of Drexciya Volume One and Two

Back copy excerpt for ‘The Deep’:

“The water-breathing descendants of African slave women tossed overboard have built their own underwater society—and must reclaim the memories of their past to shape their future in this brilliantly imaginative novella inspired by the Hugo Award nominated song “The Deep” from Daveed Diggs’ rap group Clipping.

Yetu holds the memories for her people—water-dwelling descendants of pregnant African slave women thrown overboard by slave owners—who live idyllic lives in the deep. Their past, too traumatic to be remembered regularly, is forgotten by everyone, save one—the historian. This demanding role has been bestowed on Yetu.

Yetu remembers for everyone, and the memories, painful and wonderful, traumatic and terrible and miraculous, are destroying her. And so, she flees to the surface, escaping the memories, the expectations, and the responsibilities—and discovers a world her people left behind long ago.

Yetu will learn more than she ever expected to about her own past—and about the future of her people. If they are all to survive, they’ll need to reclaim the memories, reclaim their identity—and own who they really are.

Inspired by a song produced by the rap group Clipping for the This American Life episode “We Are In The Future,” The Deep is vividly original and uniquely affecting.

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Non-Fiction:

Robert McKee

Dialogue: The Art of Verbal Action for Page, Stage, and Screen

I am continuing my journey and deep dive into the theory of story, and after focusing on structure, I am moving to dialogue.

Backcopy:
”Now, in Dialogue, McKee offers the same in-depth analysis for how characters speak on the screen, on the stage, and on the page in believable and engaging ways. From Macbeth to Breaking Bad, McKee deconstructs key scenes to illustrate the strategies and techniques of dialogue. Dialogue applies a framework of incisive thinking to instruct the prospective writer on how to craft artful, impactful speech.”

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Music/Podcasts:

No new Podcast to report: Still catching up on them all!

But on the Music Front, there have been several mentions in this post already, Drexciya, and Clipping, but I was gifted a subscription to Vinyl Moon by my lovely wife Georgia (atomicnumber14). And I did some organizing.

Vinyl Moon is like a mix tape on vinyl, but they create a multimedia experience, Art, Story and Music. I am excited to get new additions every month.

Also, I spent organizing my vinyl collection. I used my woodworking skill and laser engraver to make dividers for my LPs. I will do the same for the hundreds of 45s that I have. Maybe I need to get a jukebox.

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Okay, that’s where I’m at. I’ll try to update y’all every month on books, comics, and music (podcasts) that I’ve been digging! I’ll try to add some indie author reads!

Email me and let me know what you’ve been into and what I should check out! Or follow me online for more realtime updates: Jotham’s Social Links

What I’m digging in July 2022

Comics:

The Fist by

Brandon Bitros

I first saw The Fist on Kickstarter from Blackstone comics and creator Brandon Bitros. I had to support this comic and excited to read, becasue it is set in my birth city and home for many years, Philadelphia! Also, the premise was interesting and the artwork and writing was awesome. Go check it out!

Set in 1919 Philadelphia, The Fist is the tale of Riley Reece, a working stiff with a broken marriage and an affection for drunken vigilante justice.

Back Copy excerpt:

“Riley Reece may not look like much, just another working-class boozer with a broken family from the slums of Philadelphia. But Riley Reece isn’t just a drunk — he’s a drunk with a scret. After late night benders of agonizing self-destruction, Riley’s guilty conscience prompts him to sport a black hood and become Philly’s most feared vigilante.

Fiction:

Everfair by
Nisi Shawl

 

Nisi’s debut novel Everfair, was a finalist for the 2016 Nebula Award. This book has been on my TBR list for some time and I’m finally getting to it. 

Back copy except:

“Everfair is a wonderful Neo-Victorian alternate history novel that explores the question of what might have come of Belgium’s disastrous colonization of the Congo if the native populations had learned about steam technology a bit earlier. Fabian Socialists from Great Britain join forces with African-American missionaries to purchase land from the Belgian Congo’s “owner,” King Leopold II. This land, named Everfair, is set aside as a safe haven, an imaginary Utopia for native populations of the Congo as well as escaped slaves returning from America and other places where African natives were being mistreated.”

Go check out all the rave reviews and an excerpt here then add it to your TBR-list!

Indie-Fiction:

Sour Roots by

Shawn Burgess

 

My fellow writer/friend Shawn Burgess has a new prequel novella coming out. You don’t need to have read his debut novel, “The Tear Collector”, to enjoy this story (but you’ll probably pick it up to enjoy more of his writing and the horror).

I had the pleasure of reading a beta-copy, and I think fans of Jonathan Maberry’s ‘Ghost Road Blues, will enjoy Shawn’s fast paced horror prequel to ‘The Tear Collector’.

Look for this one on Shawn’s website, or sign up for his newsletter so you don’t miss this release.

Back copy excerpt:

“Roger and Gertrude Davis enjoy an idyllic existence in the small Appalachian town of Harper Pass. With vast land holdings, a successful business, and love for the family they’ve built, they’ve avoided the suffering The Great Depression has wrought on the area until it all comes crashing down on a sweltering summer day in 1932.

With the twin daughters they dote on gone missing and ominous signs of foul play evident, a suspect quickly emerges. But not everything is always what it seems. Amidst the murder, madness, and mayhem, they soon learn there’s blood to pay when the past comes calling.”

Music/Podcasts:

No new Music to report, but I have been listening some new Podcasts:

Story Nerd
Melanie Hill and Valerie Francis

As my writing career progresses I have continued to study the craft of writing (the scientist in me like to break things down and figure out why they work), and in doing so hopefully write/tell better stories. Listening to the first few episodes have been enlightening.

Podcast Description:

 

“The Story Nerd Podcast demystifies story theory so writers spend less time studying and more time writing. Literary editors and writers, Valerie Francis and Melanie Hill, analyze a film a week as an example of a storytelling principle. The show focuses on concepts common to all stories across film, television, novels and screenplays.”

Okay, that’s where I’m at. I’ll try to update y’all every month on books, comics, and music (podcasts) that I’ve been digging! I’ll try to add some indie author reads!

Email me and let me know what you’ve been into and what I should check out! Or follow me online for more realtime updates: Jotham’s Social Links