Saturday Update: The Intern, Salman Rushdie, Crimson Peak, and more.

I need a name for these posts. If you have an idea, shoot me one. You know, I’m really enjoying this whole Saturday update thing, even though this is only the second one. It’s rather fun discussing movies and books and everything else in the world with everyone. This one also might be a little longer. I couldn’t fit everything I wanted to in the last one, so I snuck them in this one. Feel free to tell me what you’re doing!

What I’m Writing:

Honestly, I haven’t had any time to write this week. I’m transitioning to a night shift, and it’s killing me. Any time I tried to write, it was a mess, but I did figure out a section in chapter six that was bothering me, so I am going to go back and rewrite it, and then I will move forward in Take Me Yesterday.

What I’m Publishing:

This is also on the not-so-productive side. As much as I want to publish November Snow next, I’m starting to believe it won’t happen. It’s difficult to explain, but basically, November Snow is a standalone, and my publisher specializes in series, so I might just skip on ahead to submitting The Tomo Trilogy. It’s rather a tough thing to accept, especially since I’ve spent so much time rewriting November Snow (and I know many of you have been looking forward to it), but these things happen. I was rather looking forward to going with a standalone for a bit before jumping into another trilogy, but alas, we don’t always get to choose how our paths are affected. We will see.

What I’m Reading:

Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights by Salman Rushdie: I actually won this novel from Random House during a Goodreads Giveaway, so yeah, those work! The first 50 pages were rather painful, but definitely worth the whole set up for all of the satire and philosophy involved later. Loving it so far!

What I’m Listening To:

Lana Del Ray’s Honeymoon album. I like it more than her Ultraviolence album but not quite as much as her Born to Die album, but I haven’t had a chance to listen to it enough to make a call yet. And getting caught singing “all I wanna do is get high on beach” can be quite the compromising position…so I listened to London Grammar, who then took me to Agnes Odel, and I enjoyed both of them a lot, but I’m honestly searching REALLY hard for the PERFECT music for this extremely delicate scene in Take Me Yesterday I need major help with, and I’m just not finding it. All suggestions are helpful.

What I’m Watching:

I went to the movies and saw The Intern because A) my friend wanted me to, B) I needed to get out of the house/office, and C) I love Robert De Niro. It was humorous, adorable, definitely charming, and a fun, sometimes cringe-worthy depiction of modern relationships.

I also got really sick this week, so I watched A LOT of movies. Scream was a new one for me. (Don’t judge.) I loved it. I also had to watch one of my all-time favorites, Domino. Spanglish fit itself somewhere in there too, and the only other new movie I saw was The Tailor of Panama. Not my favorite, even though it had a lot of Casablanca references. I do love Geoffrey Rush though, and I was surprised to see Jamie Lee Curtis do a naked scene. Pierce Brosnan was probably the main James Bond I grew up seeing, so it was kind of weird to see him playing someone else.

What I’m Baking, Making, and Drinking:

One-Pot Cajun Pasta: This is an awesome recipe from Tasty and super easy to make. That being said, I always alter recipes. I used 4 parts chicken broth, 1 part beef broth. (Beef broth always adds a richer flavor.) I added one yellow pepper as well. At the end, I used aged gouda instead of parmesan.

Another dinner recipe I tried out was stuffed French bread. It’s pretty simple to make, especially if you’re not making the bread yourself, but I think it would’ve paired well with onion soup. Speaking of which, I also made crock-pot potato, broccoli, and cheese soup…which was awesome, but it was accidentally left in the crockpot, so burnt cheese everywhere! Took forever to clean up. I’d probably make it in just a pot next time instead of the slow cooker.

For drinks, I made Portuguese Mazagran, which is a lemon/coffee drink. Here is the recipe from Cooking with Alia. I used WAY less lemon though, and I can’t imagine using more than the one lemon I did use. It’s very refreshing!

What I’m Wearing:

My giant fur blanket. I know it’s not clothes. But I’ve been living in it. It’s not even that cold right now, but, but, but, but…I’M SO COMFY.

What I’m Wanting:

Guillermo del Toro’s new movie, Crimson Peak, to be out right MEOW. In other movie news, I would like to hear more about the movie adaptation of The Forest of Hands and Teeth, my personal favorite book when it comes to zombies. Plus, Game of Thrones’ Maisie Williams is playing the protagonist. (I mean, COME ON. That should’ve been made into a movie a decade ago.)

Sailor Moon Crystal is also going up for a third season! I mean, this might be the best news ever. Everyone kept saying they were never coming back, and I had only a little hope left when I saw the announcement. Because of this, everyone is sending me awesome Sailor Moon stuff. I WANT IT ALL. I cannot wait to see Hotaru come to life again.

What I’m Dreaming Of:

I was in a plane. It started to crash. It crashed. I died. I came back to life—in the same plane—and it crashed, again, but in a different way, and this repeated about six times before someone was trying to shoot me, and then, it jolted me awake. (Yes. I am one of those people who can actually die in their dreams and not wake up. No idea why.) It’s been a particularly violent week of dreams.

I also had a dream I was a Sailor Scout, probably because I’m obsessing over Sailor Moon Crystal returning. But unlike my favorite manga, there were three/four male sailors (as well as fellow female sailors), and all of us lived in this giant castle in the sky. (Not on the moon, but in the sky—where no one could see us for some reason.) The dream took a turn when I found myself alone in this castle. Home alone, right? That’s means I threw a dance party for myself. It was pretty cool. Not going to lie. (And before anyone mentions the Sailor Starlights are men…go read the manga. Anime is definitely not the same.)

What Else Is Going On:

My home life is going back to a night shift, so expect me to be online in the afternoon and in the middle of the night a lot more. I know I used to be this way, and I basically disappeared since January for a 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift. Now, I’ll probably be online between noon and 3 a.m. So…yeah! If things work out, I’m off to travel to Hannibal, Missouri soon. I’m really looking forward to it. If I do, I’ll be sure to share some photos.

~SAT

Announcements:

If you follow me on Twitter, take note that my handle changed to @AuthorSAT this week. 

The paperback of Death Before Daylight releases on October 19! Two days later, on October 21, you can come see me at Headrush Coffee and Tea Roasters in Kansas City, Missouri for a paranormal talk and book signing.

Minutes Before Sunset: book 1

Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Goodreads

Seconds Before Sunrise: book 2

Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Goodreads

Death Before Daylight: book 3

Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Goodreads