What I learned from the Kpop Demon Hunters

Plus some announcements on big recent projects

If you’ve been anywhere in the US the past couple of months, you’ve probably heard these lines from the KPop Demon Hunters movie:

We're goin' up, up, up, it's our moment
You know together we're glowing
Gonna be, gonna be golden
Oh, up, up, up with our voices
영원히 깨질 수 없는
Gonna be, gonna be golden

Oh, I'm done hidin' now I'm shinin' like I'm born to be
Oh, our time, no fears, no lies
That's who we're born to be

The song is Golden, and it’s just one of many catchy tunes from the movie. I didn’t want to like it, but the songs are genuinely good. Listen for yourself here:

And like any good art, Golden’s chorus speaks to me (and i assume many others) beyond the plot of the movie. Some random thoughts and quotes that have been floating around my headspace or notecards on my desk recently:

• I didn’t come this far to play small.

• Not everyone gets it. That’s the point.

• No more apologizing for ambition.

• Butterflies, dragonflies, cicadas: metamorphosis is not only a change in the body, but a whole new world to explore.

In the past two weeks, I have announced the opening of a boutique digital agency called overQualified with my business partner marc fuson. I sent out my first query letter for my novel. I have been working toward both of these goals for so long, that I’m excited that they’ve happened. But I also forget to actually mention it, because it’s everyday life for me.

And both of these projects are ongoing.

We’ve just launched the agency! It’s a promise (or at least a hope) of lots of more work to come!

I sent my first query, which is a big step in itself, but this is a LONG process.

Both of these projects have pulled me out of my comfort zone. I have long held a fear of other people reading my fiction, because what if they hate it? But I like it, and that’s the point.

The same is true for the marketing work marc and I are doing. Not everyone likes our style, and that’s perfectly fine. Go find something else. It doesn’t make me angry or sad or afraid I won’t be able to pay the bills. Not everyone has to like what I do.

Recommended Reading

If you purchase through these links, I may receive affiliate cash. Go ahead, if you’re going to buy a book, you might as well support me and your local bookstore while doing it! Do it. Click!

Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty

The latest from the author of Big Little Lies and a bunch of other thrillers. This book has multiple perspectives, multiple story lines, and is a bit of a brain-bender. Please note that this one is about how a woman predicts the deaths of every person on a plane, so there is a lot of death predicted, which made me visualize the predictions. If those sorts of things upset you, maybe skip this one.

Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez

Cute, slow-burn romance set in Michigan. Does anyone else feel like everyone’s talking about Michigan lately? Love the turn in this one where the female main character is the one with the complicated relationship with commitment.

None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell

A podcaster is approached by her birthday twin, who has an incredible tale to tell about her life. Our podcaster has to fight between getting that good story, understanding the truth, and keeping herself safe from a birthday twin who wants to insert herself into her life. Thrilling! TW: CSA, grooming.

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