Brief Thoughts in Between Grading Papers

Summer’s over, and I’m back to teaching ninth grade ELA. I love my job, but it leaves little time for writing, especially this year, now that I’m teaching the Pre-AP students. But I wanted to share a few quick thoughts.

• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was brilliant. No spoilers, but it was a really fun story. I wish it would’ve been a novel, but I get it — J.K. Rowling is busy. I will say that the story introduces a new character that I really wish we could have more stories to explore. Rowling says Potter is finished, but she’s said that before. We shall see.
• Rogue One looks amazing. Everyone that knows me knows I’m a huge Star Wars fan. In fact, my classroom is completely decked out in Star Wars wall decor. I can’t wait to see Rogue One. I was disappointed when I found out they were pushing back Episode VIII until next December, but Rogue One looks like the kind of movie that makes waiting worth it.
• Fear the Walking Dead is an embarrassment to The Walking Dead franchise. What are the writers thinking with this show? It’s some of the worst writing I’ve ever encountered in a television show. My wife and I started watching it from the beginning because we love TWD, but I don’t know how much longer we can subject ourselves to it. If this would’ve been the original story Robert Kirkman wanted to tell with The Walking Dead, I’m thinking it would’ve never seen the light of day. I could write a better zombie story than this. In fact, I am. 🙂 Check it out.
• Star Wars: Bloodline by Claudia Gray was a fun novel exploring the origins of the First Order and how the secret of Princess Leia’s ancestry affected her and others in the New Republic. Though I’ve always been a Star Wars fan, Bloodline made me a Princess Leia fan. I highly recommend this novel.
• I’m currently reading Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane. I’m about halfway through, and this is the first Gaiman novel I’ve read other than the graphic novel Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? So far, so good.
• Todd Hannula, Ned Hoste, and the rest of the crew are creating something curiously profound over at dacunha. Check it out, subscribe, and help them pay the creators.
• I miss writing. I haven’t written in weeks. The last thing I finished was my pilot script for The Hunger, and with school starting, I haven’t even had time to think of writing, let alone actually doing it. Hoping things slow down soon, so I can jump back into it.