Weekly Roundup for April 9, 2022

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Weekly Roundup 2

Hello, you!

To everyone new here to the blog: Welcome! Every Saturday, l post links to some of the things I shared on social media over the past week that I thought were interesting. I’ll also include book news, cover reveals, and more goodies.

Not too much going on this week at Roger Central. I’m still plowing away on the edits for my hockey novel which I hope to have out within the next month. Then it’ll be on to finishing up my novel about the magicians. Oh, I didn’t tell you that I was writing a novel about magicians? Well, I am. I’ll chat more about that in an upcoming post.

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to share it with your friends, and family. I would really appreciate it.

Okay, on to this week’s roundup!

Weekly Round-Up – Some Things I Thought Were Worth Sharing

  1. How to Write a Children’s Book: The Ultimate Guide to Writing a Successful Book for Young Readers. There was also this: How to Write a Book When You’ve Got Writer’s Block. And if you’re looking for tips on how to write “sexy”, Here are Some Fundamental Principles for Writing Great Sex
  2. Looking forward to this — I loved the book: Neil Gaiman’s Anansi Boys Welcomes Whoopi Goldberg as the God of Birds. I’m also looking forward to this! Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness trailer
  3. I found these really interesting: Things About The USA That Other Countries Find Really Bizarre. Also: I love ‘overheard conversations’ threads: Here are Some Of The Funniest Conversations People Have Overheard In Los Angeles.
  4. Privacy Watch: The 10 Best Chat Apps for Privacy and Security (2022)
  5. ‘I Just Want Something That’s Gay and Happy’: L.G.B.T.Q. Romance Is Booming. Also in this article: How 2021 Became a Tipping Point for Queer Actors Telling Their Stories.
  6. There are some good ones in this list: Amazon Prime Video New Releases: April 2022. Netflix fan? Here’s what’s new in Netflix.
  7. Don’t be surprised if your favorite Etsy shop is closed in April — Etsy sellers will go on strike in April and want customers to boycott.
  8. Eye-Candy (some of these are amazing!): 25 Lovely Winning Photos Of FdB Wedding Photography Awards.
  9. Game of Thrones fans may find this of interest: ‘Game of Thrones’ prequel ‘House of the Dragon’ to debut in August on HBO.
  10. For my writer friends: 23 Essential Ernest Hemingway Quotes About Writing
  11. Thoughtful post about why blogs are still relevant
  12. Jack Dorsey regrets his role in creating a centralized internet | I remember those days before centralization fondly.
  13. Little late to the game but okay….Barnes & Noble is finally offering an audiobook service.
  14. What Can Superhero Stories Do For Us In 2022? Peter Kalu on the Origins Stories That Made Him Who He Is.
  15. This is fun: Here’s an “Anti-Bucket” lists where People Share Their “Anti-Bucket” List Of Things They Would Never Do Again

Oh, and in case you missed it, Watchdog Group Publishes Encyclopedia of All the Nasty Things Big Tech Has Done.

From the Blog

  1. Paper Journaling vs Digital Journaling
  2. On Customer Churn
  3. 10 Great Books I Read in 2021
  4. My Struggles to Become a Morning Person
  5. Wordless Wednesday – Walking up a Mountain

🐺Are you looking for an exciting adventure? A new magical world filled with hunky werewolves and an epic quest?

Then Norian’s Gamble may be the paranormal novel you’re looking for!

Norian Cover

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Paper Journaling vs. Digital Journaling

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Shutterstock 1841407654

I’ve been keeping a journal regularly since 1980, and I still journal today. But, though I’ve journaled regularly, I haven’t always journaled consistently. And by consistently, I’m talking about paper vs. digital.

I can type a hell of a faster than I can write, so at several points during my life, I’ve decided to move my journaling into a digital journaling app. The one I use currently is DayOne though I used a couple of different ones in the past.

Below are some reasons why I like both mediums.

I liked the idea of digital journaling because:

  1. I can type a lot faster than I can write and can get my words down quicker. It can take me around 45 minutes to write an entry, whereas I can do it in fifteen with a digital journal.
  2. Easy to organize — all entries are organized by date, making specific entries quick to find.
  3. Easier on the wrists – I’ve had troubles with wrists pain for years, and it primarily acts up after long handwriting sessions.
  4. Shorter journaling sessions – more time to do other things.
  5. Searchable – I can find what I’m looking for more easily than searching through stacks of filled journal books.
  6. Easy to include images.
  7. Cloud Backups – my digital journals are backed up to the cloud, so I never have to worry about losing years’ worth of data.
  8. Flexibility – I love that I can type in my journal entries into my phone, iPad, or laptop. I don’t need to worry about lugging a book with me wherever I go.
  9. Privacy – I don’t have to worry about someone snooping through my entries because my DayOne journal is password-protected, encrypted, and stored in the cloud. In contrast, anyone with access to my drawers at home can rifle through or even steal my paper journals. I also don’t have to worry about losing my journals to a natural disaster such as a house fire.
  10. Easy to read — I have to admit that my handwriting is atrocious, and sometimes even I can’t make out what I’ve written.
  11. Editing is easier — If I make typos or write a bad sentence, I can quickly correct it. I’m not stuck with a misspelled word in perpetuity.
  12. Sharable – it’s easy to share a digital journal entry with others with the click of the mouse. I don’t tend to do this, but I’m aware it’s an essential feature for others.

But the thing with digital journals is that I tend to lose interest in them after a while and find myself returning back to paper.

I like the paper journaling because:

  1. I love the tactile feel of paper. Maybe it’s because I’ve been doing it for so many years, but paper feels right to me.
  2. Enjoying the process — because it takes longer to get words on the page, this causes you to slow down and enjoy what you’re doing.
  3. More thoughtful posts — Slowing down also causes me to think more about what I’m writing.
  4. Entry quality – when rereading my entries, I find that my handwritten ones are more descriptive and evocative. I also tend to write about more personal things when using paper for some reason.
  5. Retention — It is said that a person retains information better from long-hand writing than typing and that what you write sticks in your memory better.
  6. Feels more personal. Because I spend all day at the screen staring at my impersonal computer, I look forward to the time when I can spend with my paper journal — it’s like sitting down with a friend for a cup of coffee. It’s also nice to give my eyes a break from the screen.
  7. Fees more natural — The screen also feels impersonal and unnatural to me. Paper feels good in my hands as compared to a keyboard.
  8. Ascetically pleasing – I love buying and writing in beautiful paper journals. Right now, I’m using a Paperblanks old leather journal.
  9. I don’t need to worry about finding a power source or my batteries running out of juice. I can use a paper journal anywhere (well, maybe except for the bathtub).
  10. Can doodle, draw and make art more easily in your entries. It’s a lot easier to draw on paper than on a screen. Though there are apps that allow you to draw, it would take many steps to get it into your digital journal. That being said, drawing enables you to beautify your entries any way you like.

Man writing in a notebook

So which one?

So I should choose one and stick with it, right? I wish! For years, I have gone back and forth between paper journals and digital journals. At one point, I started transcribing some of my paper journals into my digital app but gave it up after a while as it was too enormous of a task to undertake when my life was so busy. I may get back to it at some point.

So as it stands, I find myself seesawing back and forth every few months. After a few months of writing out long-hand entries, I’ll decide that it’s taking too much time to do it by hand and return to the computer for efficiency. Then, after a few months of typing out my entries, I’ll decide that I’m sick of staring at a screen all the time and return to my paper entries. This is results in quite an inconsistent system of journaling, with half of my entries in paper books and half in DayOne. If anyone ever tries to pull together my journals, they’ll have one hell of a confusing time of it.

But given that I don’t intend my journals to be read by others, I suppose it doesn’t matter that they’re scattered all over the place, though I still think I’d like to have everything in one journaling app one day. So maybe transcribing my journals into DayOne might be a good retirement activity down the road. Hopefully, voice-to-text software will have improved by then.

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On Customer Churn

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Couple Watching TV

I read an interesting report about a topic I’ve written about a couple of times on the blog, especially in regards to cutting down the number of streaming services to which I’m subscribed. And that is: Customer Churn. I didn’t even know there was a name for this.

Customer Churn is when people subscribe to a streaming service such as Netflix, AppleTV+, or Hulu, watch the content they want to see, and then, when they’re done, ditch the service and move on to the next service. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’m guilty of doing this. When there are several shows I want to see on a service, I’ll subscribe to that service for a month or two, binge-watch the shows and then cancel my subscription. In fact, I just canceled my Disney+ subscription because I’d finished the show/films I wanted to see there for the time being.

Apparently, the streaming companies loathe this practice, especially given that in the United States, customer churn rate is about 37%, which is a lot higher than I thought. I found it also interesting that half of Gen Z and Millennials report that they had switched streaming services over the past six months.

From what I could gather, people who are more comfortable with technology are more apt to engage in churn — this is to say, people who are tech-savvy enough to hop online, log in to their account, and cancel their subscription as compared to someone who is elderly or non-tech savvy and may find that whole process too daunting.

man looking at receipt

Another reason for churn is cost, which is certainly the case for me. I couldn’t afford to subscribe to every streaming service out there and pay their sometimes rather high monthly fee. The high monthly payment is the reason I dumped cable so long ago. It also makes little sense for me to watch a series for a month or two while paying for other streaming services that I’m not watching.

Streamer services are desperate to keep customers on their books while more and more customers are engaging in churning. The companies may just have to get used to the fact that people are going to watch a show and then, when finished, cancel their subscription until a new show or new season arrives. I suppose an alternative would be to stop offering monthly subscriptions and only provide yearly ones. If this ever happened with any of my streaming services, I would probably just cancel them entirely. Then, if there were anything I really wanted/needed to watch, I’d simply rent it on AppleTV or Amazon Prime Video.

I think if the streaming services want to minimize churn, they’ll have to put out regular, more engaging content to keep people engaged. For example, one service I tend to keep all year long (at least for the moment) is HBO Max. This is because they’ve been featuring a steady flow of new films and shows each month. For a while, they even showed first-run movies at the same time they were hitting the theaters. So I’ll probably be sticking with them for the time being.

So if you’ve decided to engage in this customer churning practice, know that you probably won’t be seen favorably by the streaming service. But perhaps they just have to get used to the fact that people are no longer happy paying for a year-round subscription, especially if they’re only watching content for a month or two.

How about you? Are you a “churner”?

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10 Great Books I Read in 2021

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I was looking through the list of books I read last year and thought I’d share some of my favorites ones. These are the books that jumped out at me when I was perusing the list. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find your next great read.

  1. Last Night at the Telegraph Club
    Malinda Lo
    Last Night at the Telegraph Club

This historical novel takes place in Chinatown in 1954 and follows two young women, Lily and Kath who fall in love with each other.” The Telegraph Club is a Lesbian bar and it’s where a few pivotal events in the novel occur. This is a dangerous time for the young women to fall in love, with Red-Scare paranoia threatening their existence, especially for Lilly who is Chinese-American. I thought this was a delightful story focusing on lesbian culture and the coming of age of a young Chinese-American woman. I enjoyed the discussions of race, culture, immigration and sexuality in the story and this book stayed in my mind weeks after having read it.

  1. Malibu Rising
    Taylor Jenkins Reid
    Malibu Rising Cover
    Four famous Riva siblings throw an epic end of the summer party. This year’s party, however, is unlike those of the previous years, as each of the secrets that the siblings have been hiding comes to light. Additionally, a few unexpected guests manage to further fuel the fire that’s been brewing. As the party gets insanely out of control (kind of like a freight train running off the rails!) due to excessive drugs, copious amounts of alcohol, and disappearing inhibitions, the underlying drama escalates — resulting in quite an explosive conclusion, so much so that none of the Riva’s lives will ever be the same afterward.
  2. The Outsider
    Stephen King
    The Outsider book coverWhen the body of an eleven-year-old boy is found in a town park, eyewitnesses and fingerprints point unmistakably to one of Flint City’s most popular citizens. However, things are not as they seem, especially in this story. I was shocked (in a good way) when this book turned out to be completely different from what I thought it was. It starts out as a murder mystery but ends up being so much more, once doubts and alternative evidence make the police question everything. Another hit for me by Stephen King. It’s also peppered with amazingly quirky secondary characters.
  3. The Echo Wife
    Sarah Gailey
    The Echo Wife
    I’ve read a couple of other books by this author: Magic for Liars and When We Were Magic and enjoyed both of them. But I’d say that this book is my favorite one of the three. I’m not sure if it’s really a thriller…it’s kind of a mixture of sci-fi, suspense and domestic drama. The story takes place in the not-so-distant future and follows a brilliant and driven award-winning scientist named Evelyn Caldwell whose work involves Clone technology, Unbenownst to Evelyn, her husband Nathan has stolen her research and created a genetic clone of her and named it Martine. Things get really crazy when the husband ends up dead in Martine’s kitchen and the two “Mrs. Caldwells” end up having to work together to fix the mess.
  4. We Begin at the End
    Chris Whittaker
    We Begin at the End Book Cover
    I actually won this book in a Goodreads Drawing and boy what a pleasant surprise. This was a gripping character-driven saga of a family in small town America and deals with topics such as loyalty, loss, tragedy and murder. This crime fiction/murder mystery was one of those heart-wrenching books that sticks with you for a long time. The relentless plot kept me guessing until the surprising ending.
  5. Every Last Fear
    Alex Finlay
    Every Last Fear book cover
    “They found the bodies on a Tuesday. Two days after the family had missed their flight home. Six days after all texts and social media had gone dark.” Thus begins Every Last Fear, by Alex Findley, a spine-chilling, tension-packed gripper of a story. The story hurtles along at breakneck speed, never giving you the opportunity to catch your breath, with each scene ratcheting up the tension page by nerve-wracking page. Really, the suspense is pretty much unrelenting, almost to the very end.
  6. One Last Stop
    Casey McQuiston
    One Last Stop book cover
    I fell deeply in love with this story. McQuiston is the same author who wrote “Red, White and Royal Blue,” another favorite of mine. The story follows twenty-three-year-old August who has just moved to New York City. One day, she meets a gorgeous young woman named Jane on the subway and pretty soon falls head over heels for here. There’s only one problem however: Jane has been stuck on the subway since the 1970s and cannot leave it. Unable to resist a mystery, she and her roommates, try to help August and save her from the subway.
  7. Under the Whispering Door
    TJ Klune
    Under the Whispering Door Cover
    This might be my favorite book of the year. This is an endearing tale that follows Wallace Price who has just died. A reaper appears and takes Wallace to a small teashop in a village where he has to learn a few important lessons before being allowed to enter the afterlife. Things get really interesting when the Manager, an enigmatic and and powerful being arrives at the tea shop and gives Wallace only one week before he cross over. Thus, Wallace sets about living an entire lifetime in seven days. A heartwarming, whimsical story about love, life and second chances. This one really wormed its way into my heart.
  1. Razorblade Tears
    S.A. Cosby
    Razorblade Tears Cover
    Though this was a tough book to read, it also was an amazing one. It’s a tragic story that follows two ex cons who gay sons are both murdered so they take it upon themselves to avenge the murders. It’s an action-packed, intense, heartbreaking book that looks at violence, racism, shame, guilt and regret. But it’s also a hopeful one about family, relationships, and friendship. Be warned however: it is a tad brutal in places, given that violence, sadness and grief are major themes in the story. Yet, it is ultimately a hopeful tale with incredible storytelling and larger-than-life characters.
  2. Anxious People
    Fredrick Backman
    Anxious People cover
    I reread this for my bookclub and I enjoyed it even more the second time. This was not only thought-provoking but laugh-out-loud funny. It’s a heartwarming novel populated with zany characters stuck in a ridiculous situation and I thought this was so much fun. If you enjoyed the humor in A Man Called Ove, you should enjoy this.

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My struggles to become a morning person

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Man sleeping holding alarm

“Early to bed, early to rise,”… yada, yada, yada.

How many times have you heard this adage, or have had someone tell you that you should wake up earlier in the morning in order to be more productive? People describe getting up early as this glorious, almost spiritual experience where the world conspires with them to get as much done as possible. I’ve heard people say that early risers are more motivated, more productive, healthier, and even more intelligent.

Thus began my struggles to become a morning person. I wasn’t an early-to-rise person. I worked in the food service industry for years as a waiter, where I didn’t get off work until close to midnight. This was my schedule during most of my 20s. Even during my college years, I made a point of only taking afternoon and evening classes so I could sleep in. Heck, there was even a short stint where I worked third shift, which I didn’t enjoy at all.

Then I entered the corporate world, and they expected me to be at work by 8:00 or 8:30 every weekday, which to me was a nightmare. Good gods! But I did it and convinced myself that I would finally be a morning person.

Have you ever heard of people saying they wake up at 6:00 am every day, without an alarm, refreshed and ready to face their day? Yeah, that was so not me. That was never me. Every morning, getting out of bed was a battle. I’d lie there until the last possible moment, hitting the snooze button over and over—basically torturing myself each and every day. This routine never relented. As long as I worked first shift, the mornings were a battleground with me trying to get out of bed.

When I started working for myself, I figured I could wake up whenever I wanted to. But unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Instead, I soon discovered that people began calling promptly at 9:00 to place orders or get their questions answered. So the struggle continued.

What I noticed over the years is that if I don’t set my alarm, I don’t get up early. Rather than automatically waking up at my usual time, my body shifts to a second shift schedule, no matter what time I go to bed. So if I don’t set an alarm, I’ll wake up at ten or eleven o’clock in the morning. Then when it’s time to return to awaking early, the struggle returns worse than before.

These days, I choose to get up at 7:00, though it’s still a struggle. But I’m doing better. I have three alarms that go off every four minutes. Thus, the irritation factor eventually outweighs my desire to snooze, and grumbly, I get out of bed shortly after 7:00. I arise at the same time, even on the weekends, because if I don’t, then my schedule is destroyed, and it will be that much more of a struggle come Monday.

I no longer have to be up early to answer customer calls, but I still choose to be at my desk a little after 7:00 am. Though I don’t enjoy waking up in the mornings, I do enjoy the beauty, quiet, and solitude of the mornings, and I do believe that I accomplish more during the day when I wake up early. Additionally, being an amateur photographer, the best time for photoshoots is right around sunrise, so there is that motivation for me as well. But every now and then, I briefly consider shifting back to more of a second shift schedule, which is more in tune with my body’s natural rhythm. It would be nice to wake up during the day without the endless and agonizing morning battle with the snooze alarm. Perhaps during my dotage, I’ll finally get to enjoy sleeping in.

I’ve heard people say time and again that anyone can be a morning person and that people who sleep in are lazy. I wholeheartedly disagree. For decades, I have been trying to “become” a morning person, and even though I still get up early (though there are many who don’t consider 7:00 early), it’s never gotten easy. I genuinely believe that some people simply are not morning people, and it’s something you can’t ever force. The struggle is real, folks. Believe me.

Norian Cover

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Weekly Roundup – April 2, 2022

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Weekly Roundup

Welcome to my Weekly Roundup where on Saturday, I post links to things I shared on social media throughout the week that I thought were interesting. I’ll also include book news, cover reveals, and more goodies.

This week, I’m announcing some major changes with the newsletter and with the blog. These days, all of us are inundated with the numerous emails and newsletters that clog up our inbox, with more appearing all the time. I have had some people comment that a weekly newsletter is a bit too much and they’d prefer to receive mail from me only when I release a new book or have other book-related announcements.

I’ve taken your comments to heart and from this point forward, I will no longer send out a weekly newsletter. Instead, those of you who are subscribed will only hear from me about once a month or so, unless I have a new release or a book cover reveal to share. As for the Weekly Roundup, it will be returning back to the blog on Saturdays. That is to say, each Saturday I will share links to some of the interesting articles I came across during the week, as well as any book news.

Speaking of book news, I recently released the fifth book in my Ghost Oracle series entitled “Camping with a Ghost”. You can learn more about it HERE. After that, I’ve planed one more book in the series which you should hopefully see within the next few months.

Camping with a ghost

But next up, I’ll be releasing a gay young adult contemporary novel the takes place at a hockey academy. Editing is coming along nicely.

So on to the roundup.

Some Things I Thought Were Worth Sharing

  1. Just for fun: Artist Made These 40 Hilariously Absurd Comics With Ridiculously Unexpected Twists. Also, this thought-provoking thread: ‘Workers Strike Back’: Times When People Realized That Modern Capitalism Is Starting To Look Ridiculous
  2. One of my favorite things to do on vacation is to buy books: Why used books make the best travel souvenirs. If you’re a sci-fi/fantasy fan, here are 37 New Sci-Fi and Fantasy Book Releasing April 2022.
  3. I’m looking forward to this as I love witchy stories: You Won’t Be Alone Horror Director Interview Goran Stolevski. I’m also intrigued by the release of this film, as I loved the book: Where The Crawdads Sing – Trailer. Lastly, I read the book (Dear Edward) and it was an excellent story so I’m looking forward to see what Apple does with it: Upcoming Apple TV show ‘Dear Edward’ adds 11 to its cast
  4. Book Lovers may enjoy this: Folks Online List 30 Books That Blew Their Minds And Changed Their Lives
  5. Compelling article about forgiveness in our modern society: Is there room for forgiveness in today’s “cancel culture” era? I also enjoyed this opinion piece about our changing times: What You’re Feeling Isn’t A Vibe Shift. It’s Permanent Change.
  6. “A novel is also a thing you make, like any other craft, by doing it wrong a bunch of times first.”: Telling the Story of (the Real) Greenwich Village
  7. Article about How to Turn Casual Connections into Close Friendships
  8. Jamie Todd Rubin answers the question: What It Means to Read a Book
  9. For my writer friends: Everything You Need to Know about Your Author Website
  10. Hmm..I didn’t know this was a thing: Winchesters Casting: Supernatural The CW Prequel Casts Parents
  11. Are Matt Bomer and Bradley Cooper about to become a couple? Onscreen, that is.
  12. Interesting reading: Are we doomed? Why we keep turning to social media for the answer — and ways to cope – Doomsday, probability of nuclear war, and WWIII: A guide to surviving the online apocalypse
  13. Writing Lessons from Author-Seductress Extraordinaire Catherine Tramell
  14. For the aspiring photographer: 10 Best Photography Books You Should Read in 2022
  15. Want your book to be a movie? ‘The Last Duel’ author tells how his book got optioned for film (opinion)

Oh, and in case you missed it, Instagram’s chronological feed is back — but it’s not on by default.

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