So, how was journey?

So. I went to a Journey concert the other day.

It's official: my concert virginity is gone. I have officially been indoctrinated into the world of live-shows and sweaty crowds and overpriced booze.

What did the Journey concert look like? Well, picture this: me, chubby, sweaty, sandwhiched between my mother - a short Greek woman with long black hair and glasses, who looks like she could be a kindly witch - and my father - a tall, scrawny man-child with ape hands and Angus Young hair - clutching onto my overpriced concert beer for dear life while, in the forefront, a band that was supposed to be Journey but was most decidedly not tried -and mostly failed- to engage the crowd of ten-thousand that sprawled before them.

It was a hot damn mess. In case you didn't know, several of the original members of Journey have come and gone, and the band that was once fantastic and catchy is mostly, well, incoherent... Maybe it was the heat, or the five and a half beers, or the shitty acoustics, but I could hardly understand a word of a single song.

I sat between my mother and father - and later, when my brother and mother switched places - my father and my brother, watching in a mixture of shock, boredom, and disappointment as the band in front of us butchered a legacy that most of us didn't even realize could be toppled. My brother leaned into me at one point, his shoulder nudging mine and snapping me out of a drunken trance in which I stared at the wild lights on stage, so that he could whisper "Now I see why you didn't want to come."

The two women in front of us stood  - the only two to do so in the massive sea of bodies swarming the upper levels - and began to wave their arms to a song we could not even begin to comprehend the lyrics to through the gargling of the mic, and my brother and I promptly glanced at each other, glanced back at the women - and burst out laughing.

While my father and I abandoned the show in the search for more of those tiny $6 dollar a piece beers, we met two celebrity look-alikes in the bar line: the poor-mans version of Idina Menzel, staggerting drunkenly against her friends while they snapped selfies, and a slightly drunker, but much less famous version, of Matthew McConaughey, who spent his time in the line dancing dramatically to the bass rocking through the Moncton Coliseum - and my chest- while he waited for his booze.

My most clear memories of this concert are fragments, snapshots, of a night that was both disappointing and some of the most fun I've ever had: beer staining my fingers, the salt of the popcorn from the canteen, the puppy-dog eyes of Arnel Pineda staring out at the crowed as he bounced around on stage - surprisingly light on his feet for a 47 year-old (although he looks about 23), the bass pounding through my head and my chest,  nausea sweeping through me as I almost barfed up all the beer-foam, the stadium spinning around me as I staggered to the dingy bathrooms, and, perhaps the best part of the entire night - the lights. All of those colours sweeping out over the crowed were tripping me the hell out, and it put me into the best kind of trance.

The only song I really wanted to hear was Any Way You Want It, but they didn't play it - or, if they did, we didn't stick around long enough to see it. That's right. We cut out about fifteen or twenty minutes before the end of the concert. We crowded into my brother's truck and drove to the nearest Irving/Diner/Subway and bought a couple of six-inches and some chocolate milk. It was there, drunkenly smiling at the matriarch of the native family at the table next to us while I crammed a cold-cut on whole wheat down my throat with all the grace of an anaconda swallowing a live goat, that we started to discuss highlights - or lowlights, depending on how you wanna look at it - of the night we'd had.

My father's favourite part was when the band started playing the Canadian anthem. Or, more importantly, the fact that I didn't even recognize our own anthem because it was so unrecognisable and botched. Don't get my wrong - I got it eventually! - but for the first minute or so of the anthem, I had no idea what it was, or why my dad had dragged me to my feet to stand with the rest of the audience. I slapped him on the arm and tried to ask what the hell was going on, but then gave up and ended up resigning myself to standing for no apparent reason, and started drinking again.

My brother's was the bit where he caught the girl who was sitting in our row doing hard drugs -we think it was e- during the intermission after the opening act, and watching her trance the fuck out during the rest of the show. I actually didn't notice this going on, and didn't know it had happened until after we left, but I do hope the chick was okay and didn't overheat or anything.

My own personal favourite was a nice piano melody the keyboardist of the band did - the only piece of the night I truly liked - while my mother's seemed to simply be the wild antics of those two arm-waving women in front of us...

By this time the concert had let out, and bodies were beginning to pile into the subway around us, so it was time to hit the road again. Upon getting in the car, I realized two very scary things; my ipod had fallen under the seat into an abyss of blackness, and, even worse, I was beginning to sober up.

Since there was a distinct and offensive lack of booze in my brother's truck, I was in desperate need to get home - namely so I could get at the last bit of the pot I had hidden in my bedside drawer. And so, later that night, sitting in my bathroom with the door locked, fan on and water running, I took the last few puffs from my pipe and exhaled through the window screen, and thought back on my first concert experience.

How was it? Well. Loud. Confusing. Hot. Slightly boring. Bright. And blurry - either from all the drinks or the scratches on my glasses, I don't know. Would I do it again? Probably.

I got free drinks, I got free subway. What else is there? I also got to spend a night with my family - which was nice, until it wasn't, because when Greeks argue, WE ARGUE. But all in all, the night was one I won't soon forget. It was smoke absorbing into the air, foam spilling over sticky fingers, an ache in my back from that hard plastic chair, the screaming of ten thousand Canadians frantic to make some noise.

It was a hot damn mess. But then, so am I, really, so I guess it was the best first-concert experience I could hope for.

Big Lilac News, and a new series!

So, remember how the last few days I've been teasing you guys about some new Lilac news? Well, I'm finally ready to share!

THERE'S A FOURTH LILAC STORY COMING OUT!

It’s been one year since Lilac Xia Jones defeated the goddess Allora and reclaimed the Sapphire Blade. And one year since the ghost of her great grandmother vanished without a trace.

The now seventeen year-old Lilac is beginning to wonder. About why the paranormal has always been drawn to the women of her family... About what could have made a spirit as strong as Jingfei vanish without a trace...

As Lilac attempts to distance herself from her increasingly complicated personal life by searching for Jingfei’s spirit, she begins to realize that she’s never been as safe in the world of the supernatural as she thought she was, and that a dark entity may be watching her every move. And now, unless Lilac can help it, the darkness might begin to claim the ones she loves, too.

Set in the year between the end of The Lilac Jones Adventures and the beginning of the spin-off series, A Darkness So Divine, How I Broke Us follows Lilac’s transition from the light-hearted sixteen year-old she was and into the hardened and haunted young woman we meet in The Diamond Society.

How I Broke us is set a year after the end of Curse of the Sword, and a year before the start of The Diamond Society...which is the first book in the spin-off series, A Darkness So Divine.

How I Broke us is the story that bridges the gap between the two series. Going forward, the Lilac stories will only be available in the Omnibus collection - they won't be published individually - because it's easier for me and for the readers to have them all in one place, easily accessible. And, what's more, they're going to be free! The omnibus is available on Wattpad right now, here:

https://www.wattpad.com/story/44349890-the-lilac-jones-adventures-books-1-4

So, the Lilac stories are basically a prequel to the A Darkness so Divine series, which you can learn more about by reading the bonus material in the omnibus, which you'll also find on the wattpad version. So in short, click the above link to read the entire series, free, along with getting more info about it's creation and the upcoming novella trilogy starring Lilac!

Also, OMNIBUS!

So I know I teased you guys and said you would have to wait until next week for the omnibus cover and for some news, but hey, GOOD NEWS EVERYONE:

You actually only have to wait for the news. The cover was finished early and is literally, BEAUTIFUL, so since I love sharing pretty pictures and don't want to wait, HERE is the new cover for the omnibus of TLJA!

AHHH

Lilac is legit look goals, is she not? So there you have it: omnibus cover! As for the news, which is very, very, very exciting - you still have to wait. See you in a few days!

As Good A Time As Any...

Well. It's officially two am. I swear, I thought it was like, 11:30. That was like, two minutes ago! How is it two in the morning already? I don't know. But I do know that this happens to me way too often...

I have a lot of bad habits. You know, I'm constantly telling myself to do things better, like Oliver, don't drink soda, drink water - soda will just give you heartburn and a breakout, you know it will. Or, Ok, Ollie. Today, you need to write at least four thousand words. Walk in the park, no big deal, you just have to stay fo- wait. What are you doing? OLIVER. PUT DOWN THE CONTROLLER. OLIVER DO NOT OPEN NETFLIX YOU NEED TO WRI- well. Too late now...

I literally know that I'm going to regret doing something, but I do it anyway. I'm a lazy slug. And tomorrow, when I have to drag myself out of bed and write thousands of words, and then shower and make coffee and join the world as a functioning human being, I will regret staying up this late. As it is right now, though, I'm feeling pretty good.

Well, except for the ache in my shoulder...

I went camping this weekend. Yeah. Me: Mr, I hate the outdoors, I need wifi, I need electricity, I need constant connection for christ's sake! I honestly wasn't going to go, because I didn't have a ride...but then my friend offered me one, and I didn't want to back out, so I took her up on the offer and started packing. And you know, this funny thing happened: she told me to pack my sketchbook, so I did. She told me to pack a flashlight, so I did. She did not tell me to pack blankets or a pillow, so I didn't. Guess who ended up sleeping on the tent floor/the ground? This guy, right here:

(Camping Selfies Are Not Optional...)

So now I'm sore. I should add that this pain in my back had just gone away after sleeping on my bedroom floor so Dea (aforementioned friend) could have the bed during her like, 7 day long visit. So that's like 7 days of sleeping on a floor, and 1 night of sleeping on the ground, all in the pursuit of hanging out with Dea. But it's all good, because in the morning we went up to the cabin (where above selfies were taken over breakfast) and her mom made me fried eggs and bacon on toast, and we ate with a perfect view of the massive lake... which we spent the entire day swimming in!

There were a bunch of ducks in that lake, and although I don't trust ducks (see: Cassandra Clare's Shadowhunters Saga for a myriad of reasons to distrust ducks) we spent hours chasing them around the water and tossing them breadcrumbs. Sometime around mid-morning we walked to two separate Gas Stations in pursuit of a lighter, which was a damn hard mission.

In the city they just, y'know, sell you a lighter. In the country, they ask your age. I don't know why. When I'm in the city I've never seen a clerk ask someone's age to sell them a lighter - and I mean, why should they? It's a freaking lighter! Why would you need to be the legal drinking age (19) in order to have access to fire? People are camping out here! We need flames! This is the wilderness. But alas, although I actually am nineteen, I have no ID yet, and the woman at the first store wouldn't sell me a lighter. I guess the woman at the second one thought I actually looked my age, because she sold me the lighter. Thanks, random woman! After that we had a barbecue and I ate around like, a million burgers and hot dogs.

The sun had been baking into us for hours at that point, and eventually I decided to high-tail it home. Walking. The walk from our camp-site to my house (which are both in the middle of nowhere) was like an hour and forty minute walk, according to google. I wouldn't know since halfway through my brother passed me on the side of the road and stopped to give me a lift.

And in other outing news, I also went into the city for a day last week or so. I had some royalty money saved up and I wanted to hit up the used bookstore and grab a coffee, so I met up with Dea and our friend Mac to walk around all day. I ended up buying:

• Immortal Beloved, by Cate Tiernan (loved it so much I have the second book coming in the mail)
• Forever by Maggie Stiefvater (already read it but needed a physical copy) and
• The Reckoning by Kelly Armstrong (also already read it and needed a copy)

We got coffee, junk food, and hung out on the docks and in the park before walking around checking out stores and restaurants. And I ended the day by coming home to my mom cooking an entire Turkey Dinner in the middle of July, which was a plus.

Summer is looking good, so far... I'm really hoping for more food, more fun, and more fortune, before it ends, though!

The Journey to Journey

So... I'm going to a Journey concert!

I just found out the other day that my Dad won Journey tickets in the sand sculpture competition he won this week, so when the Journey concert in Moncton arrives, we're gonna be there! I'm really nervous, since I've never been to a concert before, but also very excited that for the rest of my life I'll be able to tell anyone who asks that I lost my concert virginity to Journey.

So, yeah. That's kind of amazing.

Lilac Reborn

So, today I have some Apollo Blake news!

What has my illustrious alter ego been up to lately, you ask? Well, he/I redesigned the covers for the Lilac Jones Adventures! The new designs show Lilac herself in all her glory, and I'm sooo in love with them! The new ebook editions will go live on Amazon in a few days, once the stories themselves get a new round of edits (mostly just corrected italics, formatting mistakes, and another round of line edits) although the omnibus cover won't be revealed until next week, and ditto for that going live itself!

I'll have some more Lilac news then, but for now, just have some beautiful covers!

AHHH! Aren't they great? I love the purple and the illustrations that accompany each story, and I'm more than excited to re-release the stories with these new designs. I'll be back tomorrow with a more regular, rant-y, in-the-life kind of post, and then I'll be posting the new omnibus cover along with a surprising bit of series news for Lilac, so check back then!

-Oliver

Gimme Them Gold Coins

Today's - post title from Off To The Races by Lana Del Rey*

So, I'm working on a bunch of new stuff right now, and I don't want to say too much about it because it's all in the early stages, but the two things I can talk about are Blood of Midnight and Shadows.

Blood of Midnight is the first novel in a duology about vampires, called the Evernight Falling Duet, and right now I'm working on the first rounds of edits. It's tough, because I have to add in not just several new scenes but several new chapters, and there's a good chunk near the end of the novel that needs to be rewritten entirely as well.

Shadows is a New Adult novella, and it's the first in a series about witches called Charmers living in Seattle. It's dark and gritty and I'm just drafting it right now, but I love it.

The problem is, my brother has been coming home a lot lately, and since his room is right below mine I can't stay up all night or I'll keep him awake, and he needs to sleep so he can get up for work. But I work best at night. So as a compromise, I've been coming down to the basement every night to work for a few hours. It's really dingy and dismal and cold down here - it's all concrete floors and walls, and a half-finished wood stove (the stove is installed and works, but the stone wall behind it isn't finished. there's a couch and three tables from my brothers old apartment, and my dad's drumset under a big clear tarp. The dogs live down here, so they're hanging out with me as well, and there's a bunch of random stuff around, along with the recycling bins and a bunch of shelves full of spray paint and tools.

Some of my favourite weird things down here include:

• A painting my uncle did years ago of an eye, which has real dragonfly corpses glued to the canvas.
• An old black and gold locker from a closed down school.
• A giant transparent drape for Halloween that has pictures of grim reapers embossed on it and takes up an entire wall.
• An antique red siren light that no longer works, and isn't (hopefully) attached to an alarm/siren system anymore.
• A porcelain statue of a female cherub with a pearl strung flower crown on, holding a bouquet.
• A cardboard cutout taller than me from when The Avengers was in theatres.
• A giant green plastic chalice that says 'lucky' in big rhinestone letters on the side.

So yeah, it's a big haven of weird mismatched things that somehow works. We've got stuff from my Grandma's apartment we took after she died, boxes of my aunts stuff that she has no room for at her place, boxes of stuff from my brother's apartment, old art my uncle left here, junk my dad has collected...

I've been writing about 2000 words a night, which isn't as much as I'd like, but I got drunk at my brother's birthday party last week, fell over, and really hurt my wrist, so that's all I can take without the pain getting too bad/annoying. And you know, I think I might quit drinking. I used to self medicate with alcohol before I was even legally old enough to drink, but it always just makes my depression worse in the days after. I  lose interest in the things I care about and get stuck in that state of pure, all-consuming apathy where you just can't bring yourself to feel anything or care about anything. I used to smoke a lot of weed too, but it actually made me feel good and relaxed, and it never affected me that way alcohol does, so yeah, I think I'll probably stop drinking.

The past few weeks have been pretty wild. My best friend and my cousin came out. My friend was here for like two weeks, and my cousin was only out for two days, but we all had fun. We walked down to the river and spent a couple hours swimming, and then we all sat down and worked on some outlining for a collaboration novel we might do. We spent days on days filling ourselves up with fried steak and rice and grilled cheese and just eating a bunch of comfort foods and coffee. We ended up watching Scooby Doo zombie island, which we all know is the best Scooby Doo film ever made...right? We also watched a lot of Bojack Horseman, which is half incredible and half heartbreaking.

Anyway, I've been spending the last week thinking about nothing but Scream the TV show and rewatching the episodes to try and figure out who the killer is, but mostly I'm just sad they killed off Riley. That said, I can see how it was necessary considering she was the only character anyone liked enough for her death to have an emotional impact. I think either Brooke or one of the guys will die next, but who knows - maybe it could be reporter chick instead.

I also just finished reading my ARC of Crystal Kingdom by Amanda Hocking, and I really can't believe the Kanin Chronicles is already over. I cried like three separate times while reading this book, guys. I feel personally victimized by Amanda Hocking.

So yeah, all in all, that's what I've been up to. Trying to enjoy my summer and getting way too caught up in pop culture. I got paid my royalties from Amazon recently, so I ordered Zoe Marriott's Name of the Blade trilogy, and I'm thinking I might go into the city tomorrow for some Chinese food and book shopping in the morning.

I'm gonna have some news about new stories and releases in the near future so keep checking back for new posts if that interests you! I have a new project coming up after Shadows that I'm really excited about, but it's still in the early stages right now so I can't say too much yet!

-Oliver

You Answer to Our Hungry Eyes

Title from the song 'God?' by the Dodos.

I can't believe it's been more than half a year without me posting on this blog. I always say I'll post more and then I never do. I'm problematic like that. I do post everyday on Tumblr though, so follow me there to keep up with me.

So much has changed in the past few months it's hard to know where to start...

Firstly, it's summer now. Summer is my least favourite season, but that isn't to say I don't love it. I miss the snow drifts and the world of green and white winter brings, ice clinging to the evergreens in a world of silence... but summer has its own magic. The stream behind the house is gurgling, rushing over the rocks, and wild flowers have sprouted everywhere. Wild strawberries are growing behind the double garage, and they're so sweet they're sour. They burst into juice on my tongue and the strength of the flavour makes me wince even as I reach to pick another. I can feel the energy of the sun baked into my skin long after I've come inside, and the browning of my arms and face hints at my Greek ancestry, making me wish I could visit my great grandfather's homeland and stand underneath the same sky he once did.

Every day, I walk down to the river, where the water is deepest underneath the bridge, and tiny, tiny fish dart between my legs as I wade out. A thick rope and buoy hang from the underside of the graffiti marked structure, and in the shade I swim for hours, water and sand soaking into me. The sun blasts me on the walk home, but it's a good sort of exhaustion. Grasshoppers and toads croak and cry from the ditches and the long grass that lines the roads here, and it's a refreshing song. It feels right.

I've started a new program with my school, where I pick up packages of assignments and do them on my own time whenever I like, at home. No more daily commute or the stress of an over-crowded classroom. I hope to graduate by the end of the upcoming semester, and then my real adventures can begin.

Anyway, I'm mostly spending my days emerged in water, the taste of bug spray and green tea on my lips. I shaved my head and I'm waiting for this scruff to grow back into actual hair. I've been reading a bunch, and I just got the good news that St. Martins Griffin is sending my an ARC of Crystal Kingdom, by Amanda Hocking, in the mail soon. Right now I'm reading The Night Itself by Zoe Marriott and loving it.

I watched Insurgent for the first time last night, and I liked it. I didn't like that they cut many of Tori's scenes from the plot and ignored Tris' trauma around guns after the first film, but hey, it is just an adaption. What I'm really excited for is Fallen based on the book by Lauren Kate. I really hated the book, but I'm excited for the film. I love the visual aspect of film, and I love paranormal romance movies so much.

Right now I'm working on an urban fantasy called Shadows, about gay witches called Charmers, set in Seattle. It's a novella, and I have it all plotted out, along with an idea for at least one sequel. It's really gritty and action-oriented, and the main character is an abuse survivor trying to reconcile himself with his past while learning about the paranormal world he's been dragged into. So there's that.

Anyway, I'll have more posts up soon and I plan on keeping this blog more active in the future, so check back soon for more rambling about pop culture and my daily life and such!