Prolific Creative Bunnies (January 2020 in Hindsight)

A taste of Spring fills the Nebraska air as January draws to a close.  Perhaps the abnormally nice Winter weather is appropriate as I glance back at the first month of the new year.  My productivity level was almost the equivalent of bunnies boffing in the springtime bushes. 

Out with the old must have been my motto as I scrapped the nine chapters I completed of A STUDY IN ORANGE.  There was something wrong with the story, but I may have solved the problem.  In with the revised new must be my motto as I start over with Chapter One.  We shall see how this version goes.

In other news, I was about ready to close The FreakOptic Files when current events in Nebraska changed my mind.  One morning I was filming random scenes with an extremely vague idea in mind, figuring I would ultimately delete it all.  Then, upon reviewing the raw footage, the vague idea was forgotten and a new one solidified before my half-blind eyes.  DRONES OVER NEBRASKA! was born!  My love letter to communist paranoia flicks from the 1950's, with a nod to Ed Wood & David Lynch, garnered more views and responses than most of my FreakOptics videos.  I needed a win to keep me motivated and that goofy little video provided me with one.  (Watch it below, if you dare! 😉 ⤵️) 

Keeping up with the bunnies, I've blogged more than usual this month.  I'm pretty satisfied with the end results and hope to blog more about films, television, books and music in the months to come.  DON'T PANIC, I hopefully won't forget to blog about other random nonsense, such as the post you are currently  experiencing. 

On a personal note, I visited the local eye doc and my pools the color of dung continue to remain stable.  No change is a good thing. 

In conclusion, I need to keep these prolific creative bunnies in mind the next time I descend the emotional spiral staircase.  Yes, January 2020 has taught me that, even three years after the fact, I can still experience a meltdown in regard to my chunk of vision loss.  Can one ever fully recover from a traumatic event when one can see the results every single day?  A question for another time and post, perhaps. 

Thank you for reading or listening to my half-blind words. 

Freak Out, 

JLH 

P.S. An old post concerning a different type of bunnies...

https://freakboyzone.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-dust-bunnies-of-darkness.html 

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The Collective Eye for January was a short list...

https://thejlhcollective.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-collective-eye-january-2020_3.html 

...and this trend will continue in February.

2 0 1 9

I didn't live up to my self-designated theme song for 2019, "Wig in a Box" from Hedwig and the Angry Inch, but I initially tried.  Releasing VISION BENT (half-blind poems) was the best way that I've found to be the best you've ever seen.  Then being interviewed by a fellow blogger was like tasting a hint of fame or, at least, notoriety.  ( To experience my 15 minutes...http://www.mygayopinion.com/3178/john-l-harmons-vision-bent/ )   

I faltered through the remainder of the year.  I could blame life, but I throw the responsibility onto my own shoulders.  I allowed a negative perception of myself and my surroundings to eat away at me and what I accomplished early on this year.  It was a deep rabbit hole that I'm still crawling out of. 

Guess that's why I feel "The Jig is Up" by Jill Sobule is the song that ultimately sums up my year.  Especially the lyric...Maybe I'm just in a bad mood and I need to change my attitude.  The final lyric also speaks to me...The story needs another twist and I have had enough of this.  Hopefully any twists in 2020 will be positive or at least I will hopefully be able to find the elusive silver lining.

I'm not going to make a ginormous, insurmountable New Year's resolution for 2020.  I just want to go for more walks, listen to more e-books and focus more on writing, with concentrated effort on this blog and A STUDY IN ORANGE.  

Thank you for reading or listening to my half-blind words. 

I will see you next year...so to speak. 

Freak Out, 

John L. Harmon 

P.S. A post from this year that I'm kind of proud of because my words may have changed the minds of a few people...

https://freakboyzone.blogspot.com/2019/10/freakboy-on-film-childs-play-2019.html

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My books & blogs...

http://thejlhcollective.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-collective.html

A plop in the bucket...

I've never made a bucket list.  Partly because my morbid mind already thinks enough about my untimely demise.  Mostly because I never saw the point of writing out a list of experiences I'll never be able to afford to achieve unless some unknown rich relative kindly kicks the bucket and leaves me a fortune.  With my luck and German ancestry, I would probably discover that the fortune had been suspiciously amassed during World War II, leaving me racked with guilt.

Yet, here I am making a bucket list anyway.  A slightly realistic bucket list, which is why it's short.  I'm either in a masochistic mood or I'm just trying to fulfill one of my September writing goals. (Write at least one blogpost) 

a freakboy's bucket list 

1.  Finish writing A STUDY IN ORANGE  

To continue working on my lurid mystery-romance is another of my September writing goals, but finishing it may take a bit longer. 

2.  Finish watching DARK SHADOWS (1966-1971)

My sister and I recently started watching the original gothic soap opera from the very beginning.  She has seen it all before and I have seen a fair chunk.  With well over 1,000 episodes, this may take a little while. 

3.  Listen to the audiobook of AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY by Theodore Dreiser (1925)

I always meant to read this epic-length novel a second time, but fate has left me with this less than ideal option.  I'm pretty sure a copy is available to borrow from Nebraska Library Overdrive, so I just need to stop hesitating and take the plunge.

4.  See ROSEMARY'S BABY (1968) in the theater

To experience my favorite film on the big screen would be electric!  It would also require either time travel or for my local theater to suddenly start showing classic films.  In other words, this is the least realistic item here.

Thank you for reading or listening to my half-blind bucket list.

Freak Out, 

JLH 

P.S. Another of my September writing goals is to sell at least one book or ebook.  So, in case you've enjoyed this post and crave more of my words...

DARK EXCURSIONS

Post-Modern Gothic Soap Opera Romance-Drama 

DARKENING STURGEONS 

Modern take on 1950's science fiction/horror films 

VISION BENT 

Visually-impaired autobiographical poetry

viewAuthor.at/JohnLHarmon

Laundry Updating

I was doing laundry when I thought it was a good time for an update.  

My reverse engineering WIP is coming along nicely.  A STUDY IN ORANGE is taking me on a journey through a lurid cityscape of private dicks, hustlers, lounge singers and transgender nightclub owners.  I am loving these characters and I can't wait for the world to meet them!  

I will be participating later this month in The Second Great Hammer And Amicus Blogathon, hosted by Cinematic Catharsis & Realweegiemidget Reviews.  To add a personal overall theme to my part in this upcoming event, I plan to blog about 3 other films that share one specific aspect with my blogathon post!  

Also about this blog, I'm considering adding a couple of pages within The JLH Collective that will focus on specific posts.  Maybe a page with links to my short stories and one for freakboy on film!

Last, but not least, I am also working on a video or two for The FreakOptic Files, my sorely neglected video blog.  One video needs a brief music sting and the other needs a lot more work.  Plus, I may have written a potential fourth installment to my Laundry Day series! 

We shall half-see what I manage to accomplish and what is relegated to the vaults.  Either way, my mind is on a creative spin cycle and it feels good! 

Thank you for reading or listening to my half-blind words.

Freak Out, 

JLH 

P.S. June's Collective Eye is on art, blogs, books, films, music, poetry, short stories, tweets and videos...

https://thejlhcollective.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-collective-eye-june-2019.html 

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My books & blogs...

https://thejlhcollective.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-collective.html 

Reverse Engineering Inspiration

April was a shit month. 

I had to say goodbye to Mr. B, the sweetest, roughest ol' tomcat I've ever known.  He had been abandoned by his mother many years ago, and he adopted me & my sis.  It's a quieter home without him.  Then I was confronted by the failure of VISION BENT in finding library readers, which said a lot about how my small Nebraska town views this half-blind freakboy.  As insignificant.  As a failure.  As shit.  Yeah, I'm probably projecting my own insecurities onto the population of my town, but small American towns aren't all Andy Griffith and apple pie, if you know what I mean.  Oh, and there was also an abundance of Spring snow to bury any good mood threatening to bloom.

Yet, despite the negative vortex, I can honestly say not all of April was shit. 

I spent the first Saturday of the month with my Dark Excursions muse and her sister.  On the second Saturday, a cousin and I took a much needed road trip.  A good deal of fun was had on both Saturdays.  

At Penny's Diner in North Platte, NE.

Then, as the month drew to a close, a bit of inspiration blew in my general direction.  I jokingly mentioned that my next book would be a coffee table book of orange underwear pics.  The idea amused me so much that i snapped a photo of my orange underwear on the kitchen table.  Suddenly, a title popped into my head and I set about designing a cover for this ridiculous book. 

Once finished, I half-looked upon my visual creation and realized this was potentially more than a fake cover to a cheeky peek into my orange obsession.  This was a real cover to a book i had not yet written.  The gears in my head began to creak to life, blowing the dust and cobwebs out of my mindscape. 

Dropping, um...2020?  Maybe? 

Hopefully sooner. 

I studied the orange and brown cover of A STUDY IN ORANGE, zooming in and out while adjusting my Mad Scientist Glasses.  My initial impression was that I captured a 1950's dime store paperback vibe.  Then the sharp edges slicing through the cover, fracturing the image, made me think of a crime drama or mystery in a film noir vein.  Last but certainly not least, the orange underwear added a lurid romance angle to the mix.

So, writing a lurid mystery-romance is what I've been doing lately and it feels good.  The process is reminding me of writing Dark Excursions.  As the words spring from my fingertips, I want to get to know these characters better, learn what aspects to their personalities they are hiding from me.  I want to inhabit their tantalizing world and explore what's around each corner. 

I may have a basic idea of the plot, but my fictional writing process is like a flexible sponge, soaking up and incorporating random elements into the story.  I know how the book begins and I have a general idea of the ending, but there's a lot of uncharted territory in between.  I enjoy allowing the characters a certain amount of freedom to reveal themselves and potentially alter the plot. 

LITTLE KNOWN FACT 

I originally didn't intend for Crop to be romantically inclined to Dinkel in Dark Excursions.  It wasn't until I wrote Chapter 6 that I realized Crop had feelings beyond friendship for the one-armed gardener.  I can't even imagine how different DE would be without that romance at its core.  

I hope the cover for A STUDY IN ORANGE, which I think is my best fiction book cover to date, will keep me inspired and motivated.  I have a bad habit of losing interest in a project, but I hate the idea of letting the cover go to waste.  We shall half-see what happens, and I'll occasionally update you on my progress.

In conclusion, April may have generally been a shit month, but perhaps amazing things can grow from excrement. 💩

Thank you for reading or listening to my half-blind words. 

Freak Out, 

JLH 

P.S.  A video about my orange obsession...

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My books & blogs...so far.😉

https://thejlhcollective.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-collective.html