Club High Castle Pre-Pandemic

Let me tell you how amazing Season 2 of The Man in the High Castle was. I originally wanted to write an in-depth review that covered every single aspect of the new season right after I saw it, but I know it would take ages and be twice as long! I knew I’d enjoy it, but what I didn’t anticipate was how much I would love it and how emotional I’d get as I followed the characters along in their different journeys. I just want to say that I feel like THIS is the show I’ve been waiting for my entire life! I know that sounds a bit overboard, but I’m being honest. It truly is a masterpiece. I’ll just breach the surface on a few things and drop a huge spoiler alert . If you haven’t seen it yet and want to avoid spoilers, don’t read any further. The writers nailed everything that makes an excellent story, three dimensional characters and what I call ‘beautiful tragedies’ (just to name a few things they got right). You find yourself rooting for characters you’d never appreciate othe...

Anyone who knows me and/or follows me on Twitter and Instagram knows what a huge fan of Amazon’s the Man in the High Castle I am. Season Two will be here December 16th, and I am hyped! I haven’t been this excited for the sequel of something since…well, since I can remember! All of the clips and sneak peaks they’ve released give me high hopes that Season Two will be just as awesome as Season One. Come December 16th, I’ll be tip toeing around the Internet and avoiding spoilers like the plague. Oh, I’ll be watching the first episode that night for sure! I’m not one to binge watch something in one sitting. I just need ten spoiler-free days, and that’s it! I’ll spare you the info dump on my avoid TMITHC spoilers plan and drop some doodles and things I’ve done since Season One! Who else is excited for season two?

Just look at that little word count! NaNo who? I’m going back to the original writing strategy I had for Sisters. There’s no way I can reach NaNo’s goal of 50K at this point. The initial plan was to write three chapters, pause and revise, visit the outline and note any changes in plot, and write three more chapters. Rinse and repeat! Anyone who has ever had to edit can tell you what a tedious, short-attention-span producing task it is. Imagine saving ALL of it for later and going back to several hundred pages of it. No thanks! This is something I've never done before. I’ll still have to go back after I finish writing and reread it all, but the goal is to make the dreaded revision task a little easier. Because nobody asked, here’s my two cents on current events... Has it made working on Sisters harder? Yes. Did I vote for him? No. Am I going to move on and keep living my life? Yes. I just want to say one thing, and then I’ll shut up because the last thing I wan...

Watch my NaNoWriMo count stall out! Last week was a wild one, wasn’t it? I’ll be frank: I didn’t even consider the possibility that our current president-elect would be the president-elect. It didn’t even cross my mind for a second that he even had a remote chance of winning. I was in the “I hate them both” crowd, but fully expected Clinton to win and to be irritated yet secretly relieved over it because putting a bland, run of the mill politician in the White House would have made everything go back to normal, and that’s all anyone wants, right? So what does this have anything to do with writing and NaNoWriMo? I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Sisters started out as a what if scenario. This year’s crazy election fueled my Sisters frenzy. What if someone similar to Trump really did win? Needless to say, I was shocked to the core when I woke up, checked my phone, and saw the words “Donald Trump won the presidential election.” I didn’t know what to think. I certai...

I feel like the timing of this is all too convenient! Sisters is officially a GO!  I’ve written the first three chapters to get the setting down and a feel for the characters. Once I did that, I paused to create an outline for the rest of the novel. It just so happens that we’re a few days shy of November (well, at the time I’m writing this, anyway). I couldn't ask for better timing! Hello, NaNoWriMo! It’s been a long time. I’ve got a novel brewing for you that I'm all too excited to start. It's going to be made of feels. Such feels. For those who aren’t familiar with NaNoWriMo, they challenge writers to write 50K words in one month (the month of November). If you love to write, take the NaNo challenge! See if you can hit 50K. You can sign up at nanowrimo.org/ I’ll be posting about my progress. Just look out for #Sisters422 . I know NaNoWriMo suggests that you just write, write, write, and ignore grammar, but I'm not going to do that this year. Goin...

A military story Back when I was in Okinawa, I had gotten my line number for Staff Sergeant, and off to Airmen Leadership School (ALS) I went. ALS = the special leadership training you have to go through before you become an NCO. One day we had a special guest instructor. Our desks consisted of three long tables set in a U shape so that the instructor could walk around and interact with us as he taught. If there was one thing to be said about ALS, it was that they were fair with breaks so that we could use the facilities or grab a bite from the vending machines. They did not care if you ate a snack during class so long as you weren’t disruptive. My story begins when we came back from a break. I had grabbed myself a small bag of M&Ms because I needed something to hold me over until lunch. I sat in my spot as everyone filed back into the room. The instructor proceeded to go over a serious topic (unfortunately, I’ve forgotten the actual topic, but let’s pretend he was talk...

It’s finally here, and to celebrate the release of The Emperor’s Archives (TEA), I’m doing a giveaway! Two lucky winners will receive a $5.00 Amazon gift card and a PDF copy of The Emperor’s Archives! How to Enter: Leave a comment on The Command Deck’s Facebook page by Friday, 14 October. Winners will be drawn from a pool of names and announced on Sunday, 16 October! Rules: You must be 18 years of age You must have a valid email address International entrees are accepted! If you’re an international contestant and win, you’ll have to provide me with your country’s Amazon page in order to receive a gift card (ex: Amazon.ca, Amazon.uk, and etc).  News I am so happy that TEA is finally complete! You can read more about TEA on my website here ! I’ve been wanting to tap into the chaos that spiraled from the events of The Year is Now for a long time. If anyone wants to skip to the stories that deal with it, they are Find me, Follow me, and Beneath the Red Lamp ...

WAREHOUSE 422 IS HERE! Give Warehouse 422 a spin at www.mlcrabb.com ! After months of hard work, it's finally here! Happy surfing!

T-Minus 3 Days and counting! My website will launch and take off into the Interwebs on the first day of my favorite month of the year, October!   I've added a countdown to this blog because I'm excited! You should be too! I'll be doing a giveaway to celebrate the release of The Emperor's Archives (formerly known as Beneath the Red Lamp and Other Tales). Don't tell the emperor, but one of the prizes is an Amazon gift card. All systems are running on high octane as I complete the final stage of getting The Emperor's Archives ready. I'm on the dreaded copy editing phase. I won't have a release date until I finish copy editing. This is because I don't like giving out solid dates when I'm still in the process of doing something huge. As soon as I finish this monster task, I will announce a date and open the giveaway!

Workaholic Est. 0422, making and creating! I sort of dropped off the face of social media lately (how people manage to do ten million things and still have energy to tweet up a storm on Twitter is beyond me, and I will forever admire them for that ability!). Here's the scoop I've been working on several exciting projects that I'm thrilled and pumped about! Believe me when I say that I've been working non-stop on these projects for the past few weeks! Beneath the Red Lamp & Other Tales The short sequel to The Year is Now (TYIN) will FINALLY see the light of day. I'm working on an ebook of short stories set in the empire before and after the events of TYIN. Beneath the Red Lamp explores what becomes of Elly after the Battle of Pluto. Details on when this will be released will be coming soon. I don't like to give out dates like candy. I need to make sure that thing is polished before I let it join the dating scene ;) *This is not the final ...

This writing short is for my fellow females. Enjoy! :) 2116  The aerial tram zipped past columns of sky gardens, their iridescent domes glimmering in the sunlight as we sped away. I winced when a sudden wave of pain stung my abdomen. I bit my lower lip, fighting off the urge to curl into the fetal position. A perpetual anger tingled my senses, burning every last ounce of blood within me. I closed my eyes and thought of 2016. Here I was exactly one hundred years in the future—that is another story in itself. It won't be long, I told myself. And I'll never have to suffer through the monthly b.s. that comes with being female ever again . There was no way they didn't have remedies that actually worked. Hell, maybe they even had some sort of cure for the entire business—maybe one simple operation, and my body would release its damned eggs some other way. At that thought, I tried to smile, but pain exploded in my abdomen as the tram slowed to a stop. I looked up. T...

Special character guest, RIA Agent John Smith, talks about his latest assignment. Being a secret agent is not all glam, guns, and action. Exhibit G.305: Clyde Butterworth I don't know why I always get tossed the weird, odd-ball missions. Maybe Director Rollins hates me, I don't know. Last week I had to track down a lunatic wearing a baseball cap wrapped in foil. Yes. I had to follow this weirdo all over town (and no, he couldn't make it easy for me and live in the city). This nutjob lived in a dumpster by the A.D. railroad tracks of a small town up in the mountains. What did I learn? Clyde Butterworth spent his afternoons singing incoherent songs with a voice that made you want to smack your own face with a frying pan. When he wasn't singing, he was glued to a dented flask of empire-knows-what or collecting pine cones. And so, this “threat” to national security made last week a living hell. Honestly, what unknown atrocity did I commit to get stuck with suc...

~ A military story Back in 2003 (gosh, has it really been thirteen years?), I was deployed to South Korea for military games. They packed us into a plane, and off we went. We landed around midnight (naturally, I mean you never arrived at your destination during normal person hours). They bused us to Tent City, and we rushed to form an unspoken assembly line to unload all of our bags. An example of a standard Tent City.  The image is in public domain and can be found here Once the logistics were taken care of, we were assigned tents, and off to bed we went to be at work by 0800 (I honestly don't remember being tired or pissed about not getting enough sleep. Maybe that was because I was 22, and at that age I could live off of Pepsi, candy bars, and 2 hours of sleep). The next morning I was up and ready with the two other gals I'd be working with. We made it to our squadron in time to play war, but this isn't the point of this story. I just had to give you all...

This one goes out to all the writers! One of the “joys” of writing is going back to that first draft for an edit, getting a great pace going, and suddenly stumbling upon an "innocent" little note you left yourself. I mean, you're busy writing and blazing through that first draft. An idea pops into your head,  you're stuck on a scene, or you can't figure out how to get to the next one, so you drop a note you'll hate yourself for and move on. I dug out the first draft of The Year is Now (TYIN) and pulled a few from the story I'm editing now (SEN) just for laughs and facepalms. I've added some commentary for humor ;) [ needs moar glue ] SKIP SKIP SKIP ENDING I didn't want to write the scene when I was writing, and I don't feel like writing it now. Thanks, Self. [ skipping because I need to rewrite this chapter. Insert rest of the battle here! ] From TYIN. I'm pretty sure I hated myself when I got to that gem. Writing battles...

I normally don't comment on politics, but I'm tired of scrolling through what feels like a million posts ordering me* to vote for [ person ] or our horrible future is my* fault. * Me/you/anyone who isn't voting for their candidate or is considering voting 3rd party I can sum this post up in four words: your vote, your choice. That's the bottom line. ★ ★ ★ ★ In light of recent events, third parties are getting a lot of hate this time around. I've seen a lot of online tantrums on the subject--how dare people vote outside the red and blue box! If you vote third party, this crazy horrible future that hasn't even happened yet is all your fault! If you don't vote for my preeeeeciousssssss, [insert insult here]! This isn't some sort of creepy dystopia. This is America, and I am free to vote for the person I feel is best qualified to be president. Ranting and raving about politics is like arguing over football. No one is going to jump to yo...

His only crime was being born a century too early. For those of you who follow me on Instagram and Twitter, you've probably noticed that I've been posting art of two characters and about "the Berlin story" I've been working on. Check out some pictures here and here ! After months of hard work, The Berlin Disclosure is finally here! The ebook will be available on Amazon and the iBookstore in a few weeks, but if you want to get a head start, feel free to hop on over to lulu.com . This is one of those stories that I loved every single second of writing and plotting out. If you decide to jump into Y.E. 419, I hope that you'll enjoy it just as much as I did! The Berlin Disclosure He is hailed for his fierce loyalty, but it comes at a price. Special Agent John Smith is thrown into a mission that forces him to question his very own existence. The emperor's secretive Lafayette Guard entrusts him with the impossible. When things are not what the...

So you've made this awesome thing--you've followed all the Ps, went through the grueling revision stage, and are pouring through the feedback you got. This is the final post in my series on the creative process!   Intro |   Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five Now what? You're probably asking yourself, “How will I know when it's ready?” We have a tendency to get so caught up in the revision process, that we start making too many little tweaks. How do you figure out when your project is polished and ready? I'm going to briefly touch on what to do after feedback before jumping into that. After Feedback The great thing about getting feedback from trusted sources (see Part Four ), is that you'll see a trend. When I sent The Year is Now to several beta readers, they all had similar things to say without even knowing each other existed! Common themes I received: 1. I used the word armpit too much (lolz?). They all said tha...

If your an artist, writer, or [ insert your awesome hobby of choice here!], at one point or another, you will be asked to give someone feedback. They could post their project on a forum for all to review or contact you directly; whatever the case, you will end up critiquing someone's project.  Here are some tips on how to give someone constructive feedback without ripping them a new one. You may be asking yourself: why is it important to be tactful anyway? I mean they are asking for it, aren't they? Using tact is harder than being blunt, I admit that, but you have to remember that we are all human. There is no faster way to kill someone's motivation than telling them things like "there is nothing of value whatsoever here," "Did you just slap that together in five minutes?," or "It all just sucks." You could HATE their work with a burning passion and swear up and down there's nothing good in it-- Just remember, what looks like ...

Animate yourself or immortalize your favorite character! Get a full color caricature portrait for just $15!   See the samples below: Details: A full color bust or profile with a fun background and caption Dimensions: 1000 x 1000 pixels Accepted Payment Method: Paypal - Payments are accepted upfront. I can take up to five commissions at a time. Email me at thecommanddeck@outlook.com with the following information: Subject: Summer Commission Who: Who do you want me to draw? Description: Tell me a little bit about the character and where they're from. Details: What do you want him/her to wear? What color scheme and caption do you want?  List any additional specifics here! Please attach one or two reference photos of the character or the person you want me to draw. *Please note that the only building available at this time is the White House (I drew it to use in other images, sort of like my own stock picture).  Want something el...

Watch out! You are about to discover the reason why I decided to post this short series on the creative process. Part four of my series on the creative process!  Missed the previous posts? Here they are:  Intro  |  Part One  |  Part Two  | Part Three I experienced a cold, harsh awakening last month. I might as well have shoved a knife into an electric socket. Ouch. What happened? What moved me enough to devote several blog posts to it? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I posted a first draft of a graphic design piece and asked for feedback. I was damned proud of what I made. I thought it was frakkin' awesome. Shoot, it was the next best thing since the bacon cheeseburger! I spent hours on it. I loved the picture so much that I skipped the three Ps and dropped that thing into a forum. I asked for feedback in hopes of making it even more awesome. Let's just say that I left that place with my tail tucked between my legs and my ego stripped bare. Lesson very ...