Reflection

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Recently, I attended a local festival in which I had purchased a booth to sell my first book. As I am preparing to go to another very soon, I am now reflecting on the experiences of the first one. For starters, I managed to make my money back on the booth rental and some extra. That was five books sales in total, and I was glad for each one of them. Overall, I was happy with the amount we sold. Unfortunately, no one I had met that day has followed through with an online purchase. They didn’t have to of course, but it is a bit discouraging.
What was encouraging were the people who bought my book. There was a man wearing an Invader Zim shirt, who was interested and eventually came back around to pick one up. There was an older gentleman, who at first didn’t seem like the type to be interested, but when he approached the booth I saw his Star Wars arm tattoos and then he bought one. The most memorable customer was a nine year old boy who saw my book and ran up and said, “Is this like Power Rangers? Cool!” Being that Power Rangers/Super Sentai was a big influence on my book, it was a heartwarming affirmation to hear that. I also had the pleasure of meeting a potential professional editor for my next book.
The main takeaway from the event was that I am on the right track. It may be a slow track, but I think I’ll get to where I want to be one day. This next event will be at Springtime Ellaville on May 13, 2023, so if you’re in the area stop by, say hi, and grab a book for yourself or for someone you know!

Muse

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I thought it would be interesting to discuss what exactly inspired me to write this kind of story. I have to thank Power Rangers and Transformers for giving me a love for giant robots. I still remember when I was a kid, watching five robot dinosaurs turn into a big humanoid robot every Sunday before church. It was by far my favorite part of Power Rangers. Over the years, I discovered that the show was actually season sixteen of the long running show Super Sentai from Japan. That grew into becoming an overall fan of the mecha genre as a whole, though what always grabbed my attention the most was the Super Robot sub genre. Super robot combiners are basically non-existent in western media and many that do originate from Japan, so I wanted to make one that would be western made, but still faithful to its eastern born inspirations.

Super robots, like the Megazord and Voltron, always had an air of absolute power about them. When they showed up, you could bet that the bad guys were about to have a very bad day. They always attacked with crazy and flashy attacks with equally crazy and flashy names. The shows also had the absolute and objectively best theme songs ever. Power Rangers, God Mars, and GaoGaiGar all have theme songs that just hype you up to see some nonsensical giant robot action! Speaking of theme songs…

The last major influence is known world wide for its theme song and its a mecha show as well…well kind of. That show is Neon Genesis Evangelion. This show inspired the more human aspect of my story, specifically the personal struggles of the characters with both themselves and others. Evangelion’s characters are seeped in psychological issues, and their struggles to stay intact while the world falls apart around them is something special. A very weird and difficult show to watch at times, but one that has stuck with me all the same. Even if you aren’t familiar with these shows or the genre, I hope you’ll enjoy my book all the same.

All You Want to do is Dance

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Music is, as with all art, poetic. What does make it poetic though?

The music, lyrics, or both? Well, obviously both as they often compliment each other and the music often acts as the emotional amplifier for the lyrics. Metal and punk is often loud and angry sounding because many songs are about something that makes them angry. “Tornado of Souls” by Megadeth is a song about about frontman Dave Mustaine’s feelings following his divorce. The song is sweeping and ever changing, mimicking the unpredictable and brutal nature of storms. Of course, you wouldn’t know that if you didn’t listen to the lyrics.

OutKast’s soul pop song, “Hey Ya!,” address that idea directly by creating an upbeat song clashing against lyrics about loveless relationships and whether to stay together or not. The singing is upbeat as well in an experiment to see who in the audience is really paying attention and who just wants to dance. The song shines a light on the problem with modern pop music in general. Pop has become meticulously designed to be enjoyable to the largest demographic possible in the least amount of time. There is nothing about these heavily manufactured songs to make them stand the test of time. Most modern pop music is definitely not poetic. That can betrue for any genre though, but pop reigns supreme at being mindless music.

The most poetic genre in my eyes has to be metal. Not only does this genre really dig down into someone’s soul and unabashedly looks at the truly ugly side of it (like Korn), but its roots are directly connected to classical music. Beethoven and Metallica share a lot more music theory than you’d think. Just check out Metallica’s album S&M to see how well a metal band and an orchestra can blend together.