Issue No. 8 | Reclaim Your Power
Writing updates, working title of my novel, horror recs, and a short horror film
From the Shadows
April showers bring May flowers. We can read that phrase and think about gardening, or brush it off as a cliché. On one hand, yes, it makes me think about my garden and how all the rain we’ve gotten has helped wake up my plant babies. But it also makes me think about life and how sometimes we have to go through the storms in order to grow.
At some point, we have to stop and ask ourselves, do we keep going through the motions, doing everything to please everyone else and keep the peace, betraying ourselves day after day? Or do we take our power back, instead of waiting until we snap like Carrie?
Because where your energy goes, your power follows.
I can be a very pessimistic person. I went years of my life focusing on all the negative things that have happened to me and what I thought would happen. I lived with a limited mindset, stuck in a bit of a victim mentality, seeing everything through a tinted lens. Everything felt muted, like I was only seeing life in shades of grey instead of color.
It wasn’t until I had a complete breakdown, aka a panic attack aka my carrie moment except without telekinetic powers, that I realized I needed a change. I needed to reclaim my power and take control of my life. I needed to become an active participant in my own life.
Over the past couple of years, I’ve done a lot of work to rewire my brain and finally start seeing the color again. But I’m not perfect, and recently I’ve found myself slipping back into old patterns. I realized it’s because I’ve been giving away my power. Letting others, and the internet, get me riled up and angry. Following negative energy instead of protecting my own.
And when that happens, everything else follows. I don’t sleep well, my anxiety lingers, and I’m just miserable.
So I’m here to remind you, and myself, that your energy goes where your focus is. Stop letting others pull you down with them. It’s time to take control of our lives, choose carefully who we allow into our circle, set boundaries, living authentically and not feel ashamed for being ambitious and wanting more for ourselves.
And for me, that means taking my power back and focusing it on what actually fills me up, like my family, my garden, and of course my writing.
The Monster Grows (Book Progress Update)
🩸 Progress so far: First draft complete (70,927 words)
🎃 Recent win: Seeing my book printed and bound for the first time
🕯️ Biggest challenge: Preparing mentally to dive back in for draft two
I don’t have any big updates to give this month. As you may or may not know, I decided to give myself another month away before diving into draft two. March was a rough month and I needed more time to wrap up some other things.
That said, not a day goes by that my book isn’t calling to me. I hear her in the middle of a workout, while I’m at my 9–5, gardening, reading, she’s always there. I realize a part of me is dying to live inside that world again, to let myself get fully immersed. But I’m also terrified of the revisions. I’m well aware that my first draft is a bit of a mess.
My plan of attack is to read through the entire book without editing anything. Then I’ll read it a second time and do a reverse outline. From there, I’ll figure out what big picture things need to be revised and/or rewritten. I will definitely take you along my revision process over the next few months.
One exciting thing about all this is that the first time I reread my book, it’ll be in an actual printed copy. I thought it’d be fun to get some of my drafts printed, like a visual tracker to show how far I’ve come. What’s funny is that I had no idea how to design a book cover, so I made a very basic one in Canva and it ended up off-centered. But hey, it’s all a part of the learning journey.
Oh yeah… one more thing. I decided on a title for the book. Well, a working title. The Blood We Swallowed. Ahh!! I can’t wait to dive back in.
A Bloom of Terror
Every month, I’ll plant a little horror here. Sometimes it will be a short fiction story, other times a personal essays.
The Haunted Shelf 📚🎬📺
This is where I’ll share book, movie, and show recommendations. I’d love to know what you’re reading and watching, so feel free to reply with your own favorites.
This month’s pick is all things Carrie. The book, the movie and the remake.
📚 The Book
Carrie was Stephen King’s debut novel and the first Stephen King book I’ve read. This book was a masterpiece. It reveals the story slowly, and then boom, everything explodes toward the end, figuratively and literally. I could not put this book down. It’s definitely up there with some of my favorite horror books (The Haunting of Hill House being my all time favorite).
For those who don’t know the story, it’s about a teenage girl, Carrie, who discovers she has telekinetic powers after her first period. She’s been bullied by her peers and repressed by her super religious mother. The story builds up to a prank at prom, and she snaps or should I say, takes her power back and gives everyone in her path hell.
I think the reason I resonated with this book so much is because it explores identity, trauma and personal transformation. We all want to be seen and belong, but at what cost? It also dives into power and what it looks like to reclaim it. If you haven’t read this book, run and add it to your TBR list. You won’t regret it.
🎬 The Movie
The 1976 film is a horror classic in my eyes. While the movie is very different from the book, it does a fantastic job of capturing the heart of the story. Sissy Spacek, who played Carrie, was phenomenal. She really brought the character to life. Piper Laurie, who played Carrie’s mother, was also great. Since this was made in the 70s, a lot of the supernatural elements from the book weren’t shown in the movie. Either way, this has moved up on my list of favorite horror films, and I highly recommend it.
🎬 The Remake
The 2013 Carrie remake was just okay. I watched it shortly after the original, and I’m sorry, but Sissy Spacek embodies the role of Carrie so well that it was hard for me to accept anyone else in that role. Don’t get me wrong, Chloë Grace Moretz is a great actress, she just didn’t do it for me in this movie. That being said, since it was made in the 2010s with more advanced technology, the film was able to show more of the supernatural elements that we didn’t get in the original. Overall, it was a good movie, and I enjoyed watching it.
📺 The Show-Coming Soon
Is anyone else excited for the Carrie mini series produced by none other than Mike Flanagan coming out in October?! I love his work and I’m really excited to see his adaptation of this story.
From My Creative Crypt
This is my little corner for fun extras.
This month I’m sharing a short horror film my husband Armando and son made a couple of years ago. The goal is to make another one this year with all three of us. My son wants to be a movie producer when he’s older, so who knows, maybe it’ll turn into a family affair. A girl can dream, right? 😜
Anyways, here’s a little peek into the creative minds of my family.
The Last Whisper
Thank you for making it all the way to the end of my haunted little newsletter. If you enjoyed it, I’d love if you replied back, shared it with a friend, or just let me know what you’re reading and watching. Your support means the world to me as I start this author journey.
Before I go, here is your reminder:
Let’s take some time to reflect on our lives and become aware of where we may be giving our power away. What situations or relationships are we overextending ourselves in? It might be time to set boundaries and limit those interactions.
This can also apply to social media. I know I have a toxic relationship with it at times and need to set strict boundaries around how much I consume. We have to stop letting the internet tell us how to think or make us feel bad about ourselves. The goal should always be to create more than we consume.
There may also be people in your life who aren’t rooting for you. People who try to control the narrative or influence how others perceive you. Be mindful of those relationships. Don’t engage and distance yourself if you can.
At the end of the day, we have to remind ourselves that other people’s opinions of us are none of our business. Because if we spend our days worrying about what others think, we’re giving them our energy, and our power.
That can also show up as constantly seeking external validation to determine our worth. But that power should come from within.
You are the main character of your life. You get to decide how you live it, how you express yourself, what brings you joy, and what you choose to pursue.
When you start putting yourself first, some people will see it as selfish, and that’s okay. Because honestly, I’d rather be the villain in someone else’s story than in my own.
Until next time,
Christina
