I used to do this posts every month to chat about what I’m reading, watching, playing, or otherwise enjoying and I stopped somewhere along the way. I think life got a bit chaotic, and I didn’t feel like I had the time. But it’s important for me to document and chat about the things I’m enjoying in life so I’ve decided to bring this back. Let’s start with the reading…

WHAT AM I READING?

Because I already love the urban fantasy works of C. E. Murphy (aka Catie) and I love a good cozy mystery, I’ve been reading Catie Murphy’s cozy mystery series about a limo driver in Ireland, also known as the Death Driver. I’d already enjoyed books 1-4 and more recently read Death of an Irish Druid and Death by Irish Whiskey. Definitely a fun series and one with plenty of queer representation. <3

On that note, I also checked out Real Queer America, which is a nonfiction memoir that about queer folks living and thriving in the south. As someone who grew up in the south, I was really curious about this book, especially since it had such critical acclaim. It was also the first book I’ve marked DNF (aka did not finish) in a VERY long time.

I should have figured from the title that this would be a hella-judgy book, but I didn’t catch that this author, a trans writer who took a journey through the southern USA, had a chip on their shoulder. From the get-go, it’s made clear that “real” queer people stay (stay in the south). They don’t “flee” to more liberal cities in the north or on the coast. The attitude and judgement I felt reading this was hard. If you’ve read my memoir, you know why Molli and I left Texas.

I know that it’s important for people to stay and fight, to resist oppression, but sometimes, some people have to leave for their own safety. Staying amidst abuse isn’t always possible. It was very hard for Molli and I to leave our home but it was a necessary choice for many, many reasons. Leaving the south doesn’t make us any less queer, and I’ll have words with anyone who says otherwise.

I don’t normally rate or post reviews for books I didn’t enjoy but because this book was so judgmental and full of privilege, I felt I had to say something. There are some beautiful stories in this book that were shared with the author, stories from queer families all across the USA, but it gets marred by the author’s judgement of people who don’t live in the south. :/

I also read Storm Waters again by Kat Richardson. I always love Kat’s work and I got to read this story before it was published back when Kat was shopping it around (aka trying to find a publisher home for the story). It was nice to read the finished version. I’m always a fan of urban fantasy noir and this book didn’t disappoint!

WHAT AM I WATCHING?

Because long COVID sucks and some days I have fewer spoons than others, I’ve watched a bit more TV than usual. It’s also a great way to decompress with all the stress of the world right now.

If you know anything about me, you know that I’m a huge fan of the TV show Leverage. Recently, I discovered a similar show called The Equalizer, starring the amazing Queen Latifah. It’s like Leverage x Woke. The writing gets a bit muddy in spots but the message is so good. I absolutely love this show.

Besides The Equalizer, I’ve also watched The Irrational, which is a show about a behavioral scientist who helps the Feds solve crimes. It’s fairly cheesy, but I like Jesse L. Martin (and have since his Law & Order days), so it was a fun watch.

We tried watching a show called Found and stopped after three episodes. The premise was strong, as was the first ten minutes of Episode 1, but the writing is horrible. So much is not believable and we just couldn’t.

WHAT AM I PLAYING?

I’ve not been board gaming at all since the pandemic kicked up, but I have been playing a fun video game on the Switch called Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX. I’ve been a fan of the mystery dungeon series since the Chocobo’s Dungeon game. Toss in some Pokémon and I’m sold. I love building a dungeon crawling team made up on Pokémon and exploring various dungeons while gathering loot.

It’s neat because Molli’s playing the game too and if either of us dies in a dungeon, we can rescue each other. I’m always a fan of multi-player games.

Speaking of, I’ve been considering playing Minecraft again. I know our friend Elise has been considering it. Molli found out there’s a huge mod for the game that inserts Pokémon into the world and I’m so there for that!

WHAT AM I PAINTING?

Trying not to give anything away but I’m painting a bunch of works from the world of Boahim. Get ready! 😉

WHAT AM I WRITING?

What am I not writing?

I’m still working on final revisions and edits for Amaskan’s Honor. I’m sorry this is taking so long. Long COVID sucks.

I’ve got revisions to do on Inocen Lost, The Eldest Silence, and Ear to Ear. I’ve also got a special project I’m working on as well.

This post is a little longer than usual but I had a lot to catch up on. See anything you’d like to…read? watch? play? Let me know what you think after checking it out!