Another short one this week.
1) Me, when I was a kid:
“Gold is something that’s worth a lot of money. When I grow up, I’ll get as much gold as I can!”
Me, during the pandemic:
“Okay, I found a place that’s selling toilet paper by the case. I need someone to ride with me in to help fight off looters.”
Me, in 2025:
“Don’t drop those eggs! You know how much they cost?!”
2) What I’m watching and reading:
Not much reading this week, as I’m working on a new novel, and also going through my first published novel, BLAKE TWENTY-THREE. I have plans to re-release it with a new cover (never really happy with the original one), and decided to go through it and…
Well, not revise it, but I wanted to clean up any typos and any bits that feel dated. I had thought the book was pretty perfect as it was, and 95% of it stayed the same.
What surprised me was the number of missed quotation marks and punctuation, and the handful of mistakes I found. I had thought the book’s original publisher performed a good job of line edits, but I guess not. Or maybe the book was in terrible shape to begin with.
I’ll be re-releasing it as an “Author’s Preferred Edition.” And a new cover!
As far as watching stuff…
Saw THUNDERBOLTS* this week. Best Marvel movie in what seems like a good while. Hope they keep the run going for a bit.
Yeah, sure, the movie had some plot holes and some story issues, but it’s hard to name a big budget action film (let alone a superhero movie) that doesn’t. Arguably, the MCU’s best received superhero movie (CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER) has a few holes in it if you look closely enough… But why nitpick something that’s supposed to be fun?
Anyway…
Also watched an older Sandra Bullock movie called PREMONITION, about a woman jumping back and forth through time, between her husband’s death in a car accident and the days leading up to it. Bullock’s character spends too much time trying to figure out what’s happening, and also morally debates with herself about whether she should prevent the death she knows is coming.
The movie falls into a lot of the time travel story issues I have, which is: “I don’t like what’s going to happen, so I’ll spend time arguing whether I can or should prevent it, all while doing all of the same things that will lead to the inevitable outcome.”
What would have made this a great movie is if we see her memorizing six numbers in the present day, then when she time jumps back to the previous week, she buys a lottery ticket. Movie ends with her and the kids living in a mansion. The end.
That’s your Dispatch for the week.
Slade Grayson is a writer who relies on the kindness of strangers. And readers. And sometimes strange readers. You can buy his books here, or buy him a coffee here.