The Map Shop

Welcome, travelers, to the Map Shop. Today, I decided to try my hand at something a little different. A movie "review." This is going to be more of a quick summery and my thoughts of this movie, so there will be some spoilers. This week, my co-worker and I were discussing horror movies and he suggested I try The Witch. From his description, it's a slow build horror film with a focus on historical accuracy and cinematographic artistry. Everything from the language being lifted from actual reports and diaries to the natural light only that is used throughout the film to the color pallet that supposedly matches some period dutch paintings. It's artistic, it's not a gore and jump-scare horror, and it takes great care to be true to the source material. All of this sounds amazing to me. I like the feeling of suspense and waiting to see what's going to happen, and I have random knowledge of the American witch trials, so  I was interested to see how it was pulled...

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway was published by Scibner in 1926. It is based on Hemingway's friends and real events that he or they experienced. It is considered a modernist novel and some claim it is Hemingway's "best work." The Sun Also Rises follows a group of friends, American and British, as they live in Paris and decide to go to Spain for the Festival of San Fermin. There's Robert Cohn, who is described as a pacifist who is also a boxer and who everyone refers to as "the Jew." Jake is the narrator and main character, working as a writer in Paris and the observer and voice of reason in the friend group. Bill is Jake's friend who tends to drink too much. Michael is a British ex-solder who is an alcoholic and bankrupt and is engaged to Brett, the British woman that Jake, Robert, and Michael are all in love with. Brett does not commit to one person for long and openly goes into relationships with the knowledge that she'll grow bore...

Welcome travelers! Camp Nanowrimo approaches! For those who don't know, Camp Nanowrimo occurs twice a year, once in April and once in July. It's similar to the typical NaNoWriMo in November except you as the writer get to set your own word goals for the month. If you don't think you can do 50K in a month, you can do 10K or 20K or, if your overly ambitious, even 100K. The challenge is all up to you. So. This year I plan on doing April. I'm going to be working on a vampire urban fantasy. For the most of my life, I've been a pantser, but in resent years, I've tried to get more organized and started doing some more planning. I wouldn't say I'm a full planer at this point, but it's far from what I used to do. Anyway, here's a quick view of how I prep my story for Camp. 1) I settle on one or two story ideas that I've been kicking around. I spend a lot of time just thinking about my ideas before I actually commit anything to paper, even as ...

Dear Travelers, As an apology for missing last week's regular post (I was sick and couldn't bring myself to write anything), I thought I'd do a double post today. The first is this freebie short story that I wrote while in college and then published with Z Publishing House in 2019. This is based on a few lines in Beowulf. I've fictionalized some of the characters and events for the sake of this story (so any Beowulf fans can calm down. I know it's not all accurate to the original story.) I hope you enjoy! Peace-Weaver By Kayla Nelson The trees whispered of the end. The attacks started the night the ships left and they were due to return within the week. The Heorot would fill with feasting, drink, and song and Freawaru would leave with the enemy. If all went well, she may see her family in a year or two-- likely with a child on her hip and another on the way. It was her duty. Her father had decided for her. Assuming, of course, the monster didn’t ea...