Heart is available to listen to on Youtube and Instagram! The artwork for this project was created by my lovely sister @nuggiedraws. You can find her on Instagram!
There are three songs in total: Heart, Artist and Juliet’s Song.
I wrote Heart and Juliet’s Song back when I was in the 10th Grade.
I wrote Juliet’s Song for an animated project I made for my English class at the time. Initially it was played on the piano and yes, it is based on the play Romeo and Juliet. I re-recorded and used the song again in university for one of my Shakespeare course finals…and then decided to return to it again to create an acoustic version on the guitar.
Heart, the title track I wrote the same year. If I’m being honest, it isn’t the most emo song I’ve ever written. It’s pretty sad though. It was one of the first songs I wrote with my guitar. The song kept resurfacing over the years at different points in my life. At times I wish the song were longer, but at the same time I don’t think it needs to be. It always just felt right. It’s definitely the most personal song I’ve released. I actually shared the song when I entered the Zepeto Idol competition on Instagram a while back.
Artist I wrote initially as a poem this year and ended up putting music to it on a whim. I actually wrote the song while procrastinating a chapter edit for my debut. Whenever I get stuck on a scene, I try writing something else, like a poem to inspire me. In this case it worked but then I ended up with this recording hanging out on my laptop…and then, I decided that for once I’d actually share the music I’d written versus a cover song.
I hope you enjoy listening to Heart and that you’ll check out @nuggiedraws (I have her gif on my blogs homepage! Cute right?)
After my last post I decided to challenge myself by finding some BIPOC manga and comicbooks to read. I know of some in the works that I’ve been following on Instagram but as for other’s I truthfully never thought to look for more. When I come across them I read them but actively hunting isn’t something I do. I’m the type of reader that likes to wander.
I know a few Middle Grade comics with BIPOC character’s, but I couldn’t think of any for YA or Adult off the top of my head. If you asked me about say, character’s in the DC universe through series I’ve watched I’d have more to list. As for Middle Grade I seen/read Fake Blood, Spider-verse, New Kid and a few others with BIPOC.
I came across a couple of lists, the first being: 10 Manga’s Featuring Black Character’s. Of that list I decided to check out Adorned by Chi. I thought it sounded interesting. I like magical girl stories…which is why I constantly use Sailormoon gifs and memes haha.
I also found a really cute one called Princess Love Pon. I’ve started reading it already. It’s incredibly adorable. Yep. It’s adorable. I hope I can read more of it while I’m on break at work!
Tephlon Funk is a manga I’ve been following through Instagram for a while. I love the art style. It’s not in the kawaii, cutesy magical girl style…so if that’s not your thing, then maybe Tephlon Funk is for you? What drew me to this series was the art. I don’t know what it was about it that just made me go “Wow I wanna read this!” but something clicked. All the characters have so much personality in each individual frame, and the hair! I love hair. I love drawing it so I really admire when other people do a great job drawing it. I can tell how much detail they put into it. I recommend checking it out!
There’s another called Love! Love! Fighting! which looks like a really cute shojo. I’m definitely going to read more about it. The artwork almost gives me a 90s manga vibe.
I know I’ve posted a lot lately haha. I’ve just been trying to update all of my stuff. I’m really proud of this recording because I’ve been trying really hard to get better at singing and playing the guitar at the same time (multitasking can be hard sometimes!).
I think my guitar teacher would be proud! I miss going to guitar classes…and recording things in person but physical distancing means keeping the people in my life safe and healthy.
I think I was about twelve or thirteen when I first heard this song. It was originally performed by The Clique Girlz. I don’t know what it was about their music, maybe it was that they were around the same age as me, but I connected with them. This song especially. Although I don’t mind babysitting. I’m pretty crafty and I already watch cartoons.
Anyway, I recorded a bunch of original music that I’m really excited to share with you in the near future. I’m also extremely excited because my sister @nuggiedraws is letting me use her artwork for the tracks! You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
For tonight’s special we have roast beef served with a broccoli salad, Yorkshire pudding, potatoes and of course peas. Remember, you must eat the same amount of vegetables for how old you are. If you don’t, you won’t be able to enjoy the lovely dessert. Served in a pretty little dish, Blanc Mange! A delicious treat, especially as the months grow colder.
Haha! I had fun with this one. It was hard picking the right photos though. It’s also made me a tad hungry…but alas I’m off to bed.
Here’s my latest drawing. It’s for an earlier prompt that I decided to redo. I like it much better.
Question 1: Where is your favourite place to be alone and why?
My favourite place to be alone? I’m not sure I even like being alone–wait! My bed. My bed is my favourite place to be alone. Sleep is precious and shouldn’t be interrupted…but mine is. Constantly. I just want to sleep in till noon. I haven’t been able to do that in forever.
Question 2: What is your favourite holiday?
All Holiday’s that include large meals. Especially if I get desert. It’s important to have a good meal. I wish there was a holiday where all you had to do was eat.
Question 3: Describe your family in 8 words.
Eight? You’re kidding me right? That’s way too many. Okay! Fine, I’ll answer. Um…can I do it per relative? Certain words I reserve for certain people and I’d rather not accidentally associate them with undeserving people. What? I am not complicating this…okay I might be just a little.
Rose, Caspian and Julius are funny, smart and tiring…comforting but I seriously can’t keep up with them anymore. I hate getting older.
Lawrence is imaginative and insane. Mostly insane but in a good way.
My parents? I can’t really use those words here…their not family friendly. How about stiff and strict? That’s all you get. I prefer not to speak to ill of my mother. I haven’t been the easiest…person to deal with. Next question.
Question 4: What is something that people make fun of you for?
A few things. My niece thinks I’m boring…which I’m not. I’m definitely the most interesting person alive. Haha…she’s probably right. I don’t get out much, nor do I want to these days.
I’m also banned from the local pub for a poorly made decision that I’d prefer to never mention aloud…as I barely remember doing this. Okay I do remember. I just don’t want to tell you. Fair?
Question 5: What is the most memorable untrue rumour that has ever been spread about you?
You should hear some of them! Some little girl said I stabbed my parents to death in our parlour. I made sure to let her know that my mother is alive, and that my father wasn’t stabbed he was shot. Next question?
Question 6: Do you have any nicknames? If so which is your favourite and which ones do you hate?
My best friend started calling me Rolly after he had dinner with my family and I and heard my brother say it. I don’t hate it. I prefer that than when he calls me an idiot. We both know I’m the smartest between the two of us. I’m a bad liar…we’re both stupid and impulsive. That’s why we’re friends.
My other nicknames are murderer, handsome devil and a few others I again can’t say with children present.
Oh and my father just called me “boy” all the time. I don’t think he really cared what my name was? I’m named after him too…prick.
Question 7: What are 3 things that you would never do?
Give up sugar, leave Peter in charge of my children for more than an hour, kill people.
No one ever believes the last one…so I don’t blame you if you want to end this interview early. You don’t? Oh. Well okay but I have somewhere to be in about twenty-minutes so let’s keep this short.
Question 8: What’s been on your mind lately?
Money. See, I’m broke and I really don’t know how I’m going to be able to afford buying all of these clothes and toys and books and things for the kids. I just realized that I called the kids, my children earlier…I’m not a parent. I’m their uncle. They’re basically mine…but I don’t–I’m single. So if you don’t mind a family of four, living with a rumoured murderer and have some cash on hand to lend me, I’d be willing to change my relationship status.
No really, do you have $30? I want to buy this hat I saw in the window of the dress shop. It’s got a ribbon in the back and I think Rose would like it.
Question 9: What is your favourite season and why?
I used to like Summer. I didn’t have to stay indoors all the time. My friends and I had bonfires by the lake and I’d bring my guitar with me. I’m a lot better at piano but guitars are portable.
Dianna used to try to get me to go swimming…but I don’t know how. I almost drowned as a kid and my parents never let me back in the water.
Nowadays, I surprisingly like the Fall. Food tastes better in the Fall and I love the rain. I hate getting caught in it but there’s just something pretty about colourful leaves against a grey sky.
Question 10: What do you want to be remembered for?
What’s the sense in being remembered for anything? We die and are forgotten after a few generations. Do you honestly think I give a damn about those dead people we learned about in school? If I had to choose I’d rather not be remembered. I can’t think of one reason why anyone would want to remember me….
Well actually…it would be nice to be remembered for something. I just don’t want to be remembered as a jerk or a murderer or as stubborn but people only remember the things they think are interesting about you and honestly I’m not that interesting.
Doing this interview was fun but also very difficult. Roland doesn’t cooperate well when he’s hungry or tired…and I think he’s both today. Today I’m going to be drawing him and his best friend. I try to record my drawing process and post that to my Instagram story. If you ever miss a day, I save the stories to my drawing highlights.
Anyway, I hope you liked meeting Roland. I debated interviewing him first but I answer most of the Twitter character questions with him so it made the most sense.
If you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen the following tweets:
I just realized I could get a series I absolutely loved in high school…but I already have books on my wishlist that I plan on buying this month 😭 But like…IT'S NANA! I neeeed it…or…well…gah…why isn't it always my birthday? pic.twitter.com/2R1skhoyJm
On top of this spontaneous haul, I’ve been trying to catch up on my TBR pile, one that has been accumulating over the span of about 3 years now. In university my sister and I would go buy new books just about every other weekend…just to get out of the house. At the time I also was blessed with many, many gift cards from my family members so that I could indulge in this ever growing obsession.
If not, it is my pleasure to announce that I went on a bit of a book binge…and the books I purchased had not initially been on my wishlist. My ever growing wishlist.
Sadly some books I purchased during my studies I never got around to because I was busy reading for school.
One thing they don’t tell you about studying literature is that it can make you hate reading. At least periodically….
What happens is you’re no loner reading for fun or being allowed to choose what you want to read…you have to read whatever is on the syllabus and some of it is the absolutely most boring, drab, dull pieces of literature in the entire existence of the written word.
Wow…that was really shady of me…but it’s honest.
My friends and I all expressed our disdain usually near midterms or examination periods for reading. Trying to force yourself to read books you absolutely hate can be just as stressful as writing essays on said books for your final.
My solution however wasn’t to stop reading altogether. I adore books. I adore reading. I used to spend hours in books stores browsing…which really annoyed my family but as I’ve gotten older I’ve become the “designated book person” where I basically buy books for them that I think they’ll enjoy or help them find ones that they’ve had their eye on.
I’m also the one who picks books to give my niece for her birthday and Christmas gifts. I always go for something I think she’ll actually get a kick out of. She likes books with a lot of crazy shenanigans so I actually have a lot of fun choosing them for her. It also gives me an excuse to randomly read children’s and MG fiction again (and honestly a lot of them are brilliant!)
Sorry I got a bit off topic there…but basically my solution was to read comics and manga for fun and read the novels I had to read for school. Thus my comic and manga collection grew immensely and in turn rekindled my love for reading.
This form of literature reads a lot faster, so I had time to read them between completing my assigned readings for class. On top of that, because of the artwork they were barely boring (even in some where the plot got a bit dry at times).
Anyway, I’ve been desperately trying to catch up on these books during quarantine and as a result I reached my 2020 reading goal very quickly…and decided to increase it. Which I’ll probably do again because I just bought a bunch of books and have a lot more I’m planning on reading.
As you saw from my Tweet I bought the first three books from the series Nana. I also bought Paradise Kiss (I got the 20th anniversary edition!) and the first book to a manwha I read in high school called Chocolat.
However on top of those I have several books on my wishlist that I’m planning on getting in the very near future:
The first being Love in Focus Books 2 and 3. As mentioned in my review of book 1 I’m really looking forward to continuing this series. I instantly felt drawn to the characters!
I’m also looking forward to reading A Song of Wraiths and Ruin. So many people have recommended this book to me and the reviews have been fantastic. I’m really excited about it.
I also have Mexican Gothic on my wishlist along with The War Widow. Some of my favourite reads in university were in the American Southern Gothic genre (I’m Canadian). So Mexican Gothic got me very excited by the synopsis. I really want to read this book. I haven’t heard any reviews on it yet either…so I’m extremely curious!
I plan on reviewing all of them, which seems a bit ambitious at the moment since I’m currently reading 4 books and am planning on starting several others later this week.
What I’m Reading Right Now:
Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Takane and Hana Vol.2
Papillon Vol. 3
The Girl From the Other Side Vol. 2
I just finished reading Monster Vol. 3 and I plan on starting Second Best, Anna Blue off the Record and A Girl on the Shore as well. So…yah. I’m basically going to have to force myself not to binge buy anything on my wishlist else until I’ve completed my current TBR list. To have so many unread books accumulate like that…at least in my opinion is a bit silly. I try my best to be responsible when buying books, since I know I tend to buy a bunch at one time…but last month I actually managed to only get what I needed. I bought I think 3 in total back in July. August I’ve purchased 5 thus far…and have others I’d like to get, but I’m going to wait and save up for them. I try to limit my book budget to around $40 at a time…but as one of the greats said:
“Everybody makes mistakes, everybody has those days.”
Follow for follows is a very popular social media “game” where people claim that they will follow whoever follows them…but does it really help build an engaged audience?
Much of the time, follow for follows lead to a user having a bunch of random followers that follow and then unfollow immediately after. It also leads to having a large number of followers with little to no engagement. Neither of these are productive.
Growing your platform isn’t just about how many numbers appear on your followers list, but how many of those followers actually engage with your content. A successful platform has an engaged audience, with people who genuinely care about the content being produced.
Personally, I’ve never liked these follow games…and I don’t find things like “writer’s lifts” on Twitter, to be useful. Do I want to grow my platform? Of course, but I value actual engagement with my audience much more. I prefer having discussions with fellow members of the writing community. I also have no problem re-sharing someones work, if I’m interested in it, but I find having my feed flooded with “writers lifts” very frustrating. Especially with users who seem to do them every day of the week. If this were happening once a month, I don’t think it would be as bad. It would be nicer if it were set up in the same way that #PitMad or related hashtags were, where say…on the 1st of every month, people use #writerslift to help smaller creators grow their audience.
Personally, I find the BookTube twitter community much more…relaxed in these types of Tweets. The smaller creators that I follow grow their audience by engaging with readers, authors and other BookTuber’s. This is something that I think everyone in the writing community should be doing.
Yes, you don’t grow your platform as quickly, but from experience, participating in follow for follows and writers lifts results in a lot more unfollows, than followers that actually care about what you have to say.
Do you grow slower? Yes, but no.
Recently I’ve found that because I have made and shared more “political” tweets (although I don’t believe valuing human life is “political”), that I have had a decrease in followers over the last two weeks. Despite this, I have had new, actively engaged followers find my platform who not only are members of the same communities as I am (reading, writing and voice over), but also people who felt strongly about the Black Lives Matter movement.
I don’t think those who unfollowed me are “racist.” In fact, I assume that they were people who already didn’t engage with my content, and only followed me because I was a writer. They had no intention of engaging in my content to begin with, and simply hoped I would blindly follow back if they followed me.
In other cases, I assume it was because they were upset by some of the things I was posting, and that is okay. My feelings aren’t at all hurt. If you need to unfollow someone in order to either guard your heart, or because their posts are negatively having an effect on your mental health, then do so. Following someone whose content constantly upsets you is like…mental torture. Please don’t do that!
Have I unfollowed people during these past few weeks because of Tweets they made? Yes. I did so before as well. If I’m uninterested in someone else’s content, or they say something that I disagree with, like making “All Lives Matter” statements I will unfollow. On Instagram, I have unfollowed certain artists in the past who continuously complained and made excuses for their poor behaviour on their platform. I don’t think it’s mean. I just feel like I would rather unfollow someone then get into a heated argument with them because I disagree with their viewpoints. I also think that when you blindly follow people in these follow games, that you end up with a bunch of people you WOULD NEVER consider following on a regular basis.
I’m curious, what are your thoughts on follow games and writers lifts?
Do you find them helpful?
What has been your experience with them if you’ve participated in them?
Ardin Patterson 