I suck. I'm Sorry.

 

Dear Blog Visitor,

I haven't visited many of your blogs in a very long time.

That is why I suck and why I am sorry.

Since I started my full-time job last June, I've found it harder and harder to visit other blogs.

I work, I go home, I try to write as much as I can as long as I have the energy and motivation, I go to bed, and repeat. Come the weekend, I'm trying to recuperate from the work week and write, write, write. I haven't even had time to read a graphic novel. *sigh*

(This work/life routine may be the same with you, and you still may be able to visit blogs and comment on them, but I urge you to remember that we all have different capacities for things. I am a spoonie and suffer from a lot of chronic pain, more than I did at the start of last year, so that takes it out of me, too.)

At work, there's been times when I could create blog posts (like now), but for some reason, I'm not able to log in to comment on other people's blogs or even to reply back to comments on my own posts, which is less than ideal. I have to do that on my iPad, which is also less than ideal. 

I forget all the time to use one of my own devices to reply back to comments on my own posts, which is sad.

So, I want to say to those of you who visit my blog but maybe don't comment, THANK YOU! I may not see a visible sign that you're here, but I SEE YOU, and I appreciate your visit.

To those of you who visit and leave a comment (there's a few of you who I consider my faithful commenters), I THANK YOU for continuing to visit my blog and to grace me with your thoughts when I haven't done the same for you in a long time.

I am going to do my best to visit more of your blogs, and I really mean that.

For now, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! And I am sorry for not reciprocating as much as I should've. I’ll get better at it. I promise.

Take care,

Chrys Fey

How Did the Movie Matrix: Reloaded Inspire Me?

In my Thursday 13 blog post titled Movie Lists Fun (Childhood Favorites, Comfort Movies, All-Time Favs), I shared lists of movies, including my all-time favorite movies. Next to several of those movie titles there had been an asterisk, indicating that those films had inspired/influenced me as a writer. 

The Movies:

Pitch Black 

UltraViolet

Matrix: Reloaded

Van Helsing

Gothika

Once a month, I am going to highlight one of those movies and reveal how it inspired/influenced me.

This month's movie is...

Matrix: Reloaded

How did it inspire me?

1) When Neo says, "Trinity, I know you can hear me. I'm not letting go. I can't. I love you too damn much."

2) Trinity's pose when she lands after jumping off her motorcycle AND her scorpion kick.

3) The Title

Take a Peak into My Enemies-with-Benefits Story

 

NOTE: If you're a subscriber to my museletter (aka newsletter) this may look familiar, as I took it from the June issue, but you received many more exclusive perks, such as:

Exclusive Only to Museletter Subscribers:

New Pen Name Reveal

Series Title Reveal

An Excerpt for when Paisley and Case Meet

Image Inspo for Case (which I had to black out in a photo below)

The Playlist

Clues as to what's next...

If you'd like these exclusive perks, sign up for my museletter here.

Are you ready for Paisley and Case?

Genre: Paranormal Erotic Romance

Meet Paisley:

Paisley is half-vampire, half-fairy. Because of that, she's been called a freak all her life. That's why she doesn't reveal her wings to anyone. After hearing them described as an abomination and worse, she keeps her wings hidden within her body. Being the only hybrid in existence is not easy. She has struggles that no one will ever be able to understand, including a secret that only her best friend, Aster, knows.

Following the murder of her parents, the former vampire king and fairy queen, Paisley becomes queen for both factions. The day after she is crowned, a mountain of dead bats is left on her lawn next to the daemon faction’s brand. The threat pits her up against Lord Case, an infuriating demon who looks fine as hell in a suit and claims he wants her the first time they meet. And damn if she doesn’t want him, too. Except, he’s the vampyre faction’s greatest enemy.

Paisley's hair is a bit darker than this, a purple-black, but the vibes are here. Even the lip color is pretty close to her favorite shade. Just remove the piercings, and this is pretty much Paisley.

Meet Case:

How Did the Movie UltraViolet Inspire Me?

In my Thursday 13 blog post titled Movie Lists Fun (Childhood Favorites, Comfort Movies, All-Time Favs), I shared lists of movies, including my all-time favorite movies. Next to several of those movie titles there had been an asterisk, indicating that those films had inspired/influenced me as a writer. 

The Movies:

Pitch Black 

UltraViolet

Matrix: Reloaded

Van Helsing

Gothika

Once a month, I am going to highlight one of those movies and reveal how it inspired/influenced me.

This month's movie is...

UltraViolet

How did it inspire me?

1) Her kick-ass fighting techniques.

2) "Watch me."

3) Her beauty.

Chrys' Top 13 Blog Post Picks / Thursday 13

 

This is another contribution to the Thursday 13 blog hop in which participants create a post with some kind of list of 13 things they want to share. The skies the limit.

Last month, I shared the 13 most-viewed posts of all-time on my blog. It's always interesting to see which posts take off, and which posts don't. It's just like with other forms of social media. We may love a picture we share on Instagram, but because of the algorithms, that day's traffic, planet alignment, you name it, the post you love may not get any love.

That's why I'm sharing 13 of my personal favorite blog posts of all-time. BTW, I've been blogging since 2013. It was nostalgic (sometimes bittersweet) to look back at the posts on this blog.

My Top 13 Blog Post Picks:

1. Honoring the Victims of the Salem Witch Trials (2022)

2. How to Respect and Support Indigenous Peoples (2021)

3. Homeless Care Packages (2022)

4. NOT INADEQUATE / A Post about Self-Defense and Abuse (2020)

5. Writer’s Burnout Part 1 (Speak) (2018)

6. 10 Things All Authors Should Know (2021)

7. Florida & Seminole History (2021)

8. Writers. Should. NOT. Tell. Other. Writers. What. Tense. Or. POV. To. Use. It's. NOT. Your. Choice. (2020)

9. Don't Shame Readers for What They Read (or Writers for What They Write) (2021)

10. Bullying Awareness Project (2015)

11. Body Literacy Book Recommendations (2022)

12. Traditional Publishing - Pros and Cons (2021)

13. Writing About: A Wound (2013)

It was not easy narrowing this list down to 13. I had maybe 5 others posts I collected while making this list that did not make it.

NOTE: Comments are closed to these posts, as is the case for all of my older posts. I close the comments to every post about a month after they go live to prevent spam attacks.

How Did the Movie Pitch Black Inspire me?

 

In my Thursday 13 blog post titled Movie Lists Fun (Childhood Favorites, Comfort Movies, All-Time Favs), I shared lists of movies, including my all-time favorite movies. Next to several of those movie titles there had been an asterisk, indicating that those films had inspired/influenced me as a writer. 

The Movies:

Pitch Black

UltraViolet

Matrix: Reloaded

Van Helsing

Gothika

Once a month, I am going to highlight one of those movies and reveal how it inspired/influenced me.

This month's movie is...

PITCH BLACK

How did it inspire me?

Two words...his eyes.

The male main character in my Secret Book Baby Series has eyes that glow silver when he's angry or when he's using his powers. In my mind, I picture Riddick's metallic silver eyes.

So, that's how the movie inspired me as a writer.

As for why it's one of my all-time favorite movies...Riddick is a fascinating (and sexy) character. The movie is dark and gritty, scary with the eerie monsters lurking in the dark, gory at times but not excessively gory, and a nail-bitter with action sequences. The world building is great, the characters are easy to hate or root for and are memorable, and Riddick has great lines. It's a truly great and EPIC dark sci-fi movie that I've watched more times than I can tell you. When it first came out, I probably watched it like ten times that year alone.

Take a Peek into My Work-in-Progress: Find Ivy

I realized recently that I never talk about my works-in-progress on my blog.

I want to change that!

Usually, I share details about my WIPs in my museletter (aka newsletter) and on other forms of social media (Instagram and Facebook). But now I want to start doing that here, too. It may be repeated content (if you follow me elsewhere), but I'll try to find something different to share here, too.

With that said, museletter subscribers will always get content first, like exclusive content months in advance or that I won't share elsewhere (until the book is published). For example: In the April issue, I provided an excerpt for when these characters meet. I will not be sharing that anywhere else. So, that's an incentive to sign up for my museletter. 😘 

For being one of my blog followers/visitors, I will give you this heads-up: my next museletter for June will be a look into The Line Between, my enemies-with-benefits paranormal erotic romance. Don't worry, though, the issue will be safe for all reader sensitivities.

Okay, now for Ivy and Ethan...

NOTE: If you're a subscriber to my museletter this may look familiar as I took it from the March issue, but access to Ivy's playlist and the excerpt are perks that only you have. 😍

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Meet Ivy:

Ivy is a curly-haired goddess. Okay, so not a real goddess, but to Ethan she's up there. She is a hair and makeup stylist. Oh, and a psychic, too. Ever since she was a child, she's had visions during her nightly dreams, and they always come true.

When her best friend is kidnapped, she starts to have nightmares about her best friend running through the woods, fleeing her kidnapper. Since local authorities have been unable to find her best friend, Ivy takes it upon herself to hunt down the culprit. She does that by turning herself into bait. It's a good thing then that when she straightens her hair and applies a bit of clever makeup contouring that she looks exactly like her bestie. Her goal is to rattle the kidnapper and make him come after her.

Meet Ethan: