Birdbox Review

Holiday Shopping in Sèphera's World

Happy Holidays!

I guess I was busier this year than I thought. 

I've been very busy and thought I'd put some of my recent projects all in one spot and I guess there are a few now!

Books, courses, Patreon, and tarot card readings!

Of course, there is the parade of YouTube videos as well that offer astrology, Star Wars theories and Writers Behaving Badly.

First up, what most of you come here for, my writing!

I wrote many stories over the past couple of years which is why I've not had a book out in a while. The stories are slowly being published.

This year saw the publication of the short stories:

Beach Comber

My Type

Gilda and the Prince

Looking for Mrs. Peepers

I republished my novella A Penny Saved with a new cover!

All of these books come in a print version so you can grab them as gifts for friends. The e-book versions are on all platforms so you don't have to feel obligated to the Zon. 

I also have Witch Upon a Star witch series at Riverdale Avenue Books and everywhere else you can get ebooks and print books. 

Amazing Monster Tales on Kindle

My story, "Beach Comber" is about a girl who finds mysterious eggs on the beach in Puerto Rico. 

Dark Rainbow

My story, "His Type" explores how we all have a type.

Gilda and the Prince eBook

Gilda and the Prince Print Book

Gilda's brand new robot sex doll has finally arrived! What happens next?

Group Hex 1

Group Hex 2

Abandon Anthology

My story, "Looking for Mrs. Peepers" involves magicians and ventriloquist dolls.

A Penny Saved eBook

A Penny Saved Print Book

Captured Souls Print and eBook

This year, I began to create courses for Udemy! I'm going to create even more as I really enjoy teaching online. Here are the courses I've created so far. These links are coupons for deep discounts but they are limited in number so first come, first serve. 

I'll be continuously updating my courses. Once you register for a course, you have lifetime access to it including all updates. 

So You Want to Be a Horror Writer?  - I present information on how to write a horror novel and a bit about the different subgenres.

Background Performer Course Coupon - I've been on over twenty TV shows and movies this year as a paid background performer. Here I share some of my tips.

Learn to Read Tarot Cards - You too can learn how to read tarot cards for fun and profit. Read for yourself for insight, read for your friends for fun, and read for strangers for money! I show you how!

Write a Short Story Using Tarot Cards - If you've ever had writer's block, you know sometimes to get out of it, often you just need a nudge in a new direction. You don't have to know anything about tarot cards nor do you have to own a deck to take this course. Expand your mind with new ideas for your plots, create interesting characters for your stories!


If you'd like to see my stories and books as they're being written, if you like to see the drafts, if you like to hear about what movies and TV shows I'm in, and more, consider supporting me on Patreon. You'll also be thanked in future published books and in my self-published work.

If you want a tarot card reading or if you want to buy a tarot card reading, astrology report or more, consider ordering from me on Tarotpaths  or Fiverr

If you are in the Toronto area, I can read for you in person one-on-one or at parties any time of year!

Star Wars Rumours: Episode Nine Title Leaks

We'll find out soon enough what the official title for Episode Nine of Star Wars will be.

Speculation is fun!

There is some speculation that there will be a Star Wars trailer before Mary Poppins Returns. Nothing big, just something dramatic. I hope it's Luke alive holding a lightsaber! 

There are a lot of commercials for Darth Vader's castle recently. I wonder if Darth Vader's castle will be in Episode Nine?

Will Kylo Ren live in Darth Vader's castle? Will Kylo Ren be visited by Ghost Anakin?

Will Finn be exposed as a Force User and the child of one of the legacy characters?

Will Luke be brought back from the dead? Will it go all Monkey's Paw?

It will be a year before we know anything but in the meantime, it's fun to speculate!

Star Wars Rumours: The New Trailer and Kylo Ren's Helmet

Rumours are rumours. 

Some may turn out to be true.

But no one will know until we go to the show next year.

In the meantime, let the speculation begin!

Horror Reads!

'Tis the Season to be Creepy!

Get your boos on with these two horror books from Sèphera Girón!

A Penny Saved - ebook link

A Penny Saved Universal Link

Available in Print!

Gilda and the Prince Universal ebook Link

Gilda and the Prince Amazon ebook link

Available in Print!

American Horror Story: Apocalypse and Am I Cautiously Optimistic So Far?

SPOILERS

SPOILERS

SPOILERS

SPOILERS

Don't look at this if you've not watched American

 Horror Story: Apocalypse. There are a million spoilers in here. 

As usual, just disjointed thoughts, observations and a bit of recap. I could ramble for hours so I have to stop at some point.

I ended up watching two episodes in a row this week on Wednesday as the previous week, I was in a TV show myself. And then, Rogers never put that AHS:A Episode Three On Demand. Actually, it was there for a couple of days. I watched part of it but there was something wrong with the sound and the picture was a bit hazy. I thought it was my TV or maybe a special effect that I didn't "get". Then it disappeared off the menu, never to return. Luckily, FX always plays the previous week's episode before the current week's so I was able to finally catch up.

Some people made these pictures of Cody Fern as David Marsden in The Assassination of Gianni Versace and the little boy from Murder House playing baby Michael Langdon, whom Cody Fern plays at various ages in Apocalypse. Cool beans, eh?! I love it when Murphy crosses his work over like that.

I thought it might be that I'd watched two episodes in a row that didn't suck so I became a bit hopeful. However, I looked quickly at some reviews, and other reviewers appear hopeful as well. Hopeful that this season won't suck!

However, we've been here before. It's always fucking amazing until around Episode Six although a couple of seasons barely made it that far in my own interest. Some people on Facebook hate this season already. I'm finding it very good. 

Great Cast

Anyway, a lot of my joy with this season is due to the great acting and casting. Everyone is perfect. Ryan Murphy usually does very well with casting. There's only been a couple of times I've wondered about his choices. 

I'm not in love with Jessica Lange as so many others are, nothing against her at all. I just don't really care about the characters she plays for some reason. I find it refreshing that the past couple seasons didn't revolve around the same elderly lady with a jaded view on life in charge of it all. Although we know that is how this one will go for sure, we got a little break from it all in recent years. We know she's coming back and she'll be the Super Deluxe Dream Weaver Demon Voodoo Haunted Supreme Puppet Master Burrito with Extra Spice.

Now What's Going On

I liked the apocalypse. It happened quickly and we were drawn right in. We got to know all the survivors in quick little thumbnails and it worked. 

So far, the story is staying focused even though it's drawing in other seasons. 

The mysterious Michael Langdon is choosing people for another Outpost. It's supposedly a better place than where they are now. Everyone wants to go. We all realize that he's not looking for goody-two-shoes type people. It takes a bit to get past the Tom Cruise Interview with a Vampire stuff but Michael Langdon is far more interesting than a vampire and Cody is far more dangerously sensual and leering than Tom Cruise was as LeStat. 

When Michael's interviewing people to determine their worth at the beginning of the episode, he was downright chilling. I wouldn't know how to answer him either. Cody Fern played an excellent victim in Versace. Now he's playing an excellent psychopath demon creature. I could watch him all day.

He's Rosemary's Baby. He's a demon. Son of Satan. Perhaps Satan. A Witch. A Warlock. A Shape-Shifter. We're not quite sure yet but he's a demon of some sort if not the Anti-Christ himself. 

And what's cool is that if you're into Star Wars, you can see how he's Kylo Ren and Billie Lourd's Mallory is Rey (Billie actually auditioned for the part of Rey) or compare Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker. They need to balance the Force. Michael and Mallory are opposites, but not of good and evil. It's all bad, I'm pretty sure. And I don't doubt one will try to entice the other their way is the Supreme Way.

Billie Lourd as Mallory

Billie Lourd is doing a fantastic job this season. Her acting has come a long way since her days in Scream Queens. She really honed her chops last season in Cult. Now she's someone completely different again and doing a great job. 

And boy doesn't she look like her mom here and there?

I love how she's/Ryan Murphy is continuing her crazy hair days, a nod to mom Carrie Fisher. 

Her force awakens when she meets Michael. They have a demon head-to-head and it's pretty cool. They will be battling for Supreme Taco of the Magiverse. 

Kathy Bates

Once again, Kathy Bates has a unique role. She's a robot! 

We see her trick-or-treating as a human kid dressed up like Rosie the Robot. Then we learn it's just a false memory planted there for whatever reasons. 

The robot carries along the theme of dolls and puppets that are in every season of Amercian Horror Story, some more in the forefront than others. Remember Dandy making puppets out of corpses? The Doll Collector? Frankenteen? and more?

 So Kathy Bates is a robot companion and we assume to be programmed to Sarah Paulson, but is she?

When You're a Jet

The plot has now become about a battle between The Sharks and the Jets, or rather, Witches and Warlocks. 

I wish they'd named the covens instead of saying Witches and Warlocks. Not everyone believes there's a difference between a witch and a warlock. Many witches are males. But at any rate, here we are. The apocalypse involves the end of the world and a final showdown between surviving witches and warlocks. 

"Witches (always female) have always been more powerful than Warlocks (always male) because they don't have testosterone," this particular theory apparently espouses. Alrighty, then.

I wish there wasn't a battle of the sexes theme but it's not a new theme for AHS, which was way ahead of the #MeToo movement in examining sex roles and wars. With the current onslaught of news, everywhere, it would be nice to escape into entertainment. Just have two battling covens and give them funky names. But the show is shot months in advance, they don't know what will be in the headlines. 

The warlocks believe that Michael is more powerful than the current Grand Burrito Supreme, Sarah Paulson reprising Cordelia. But Cordelia shuts it down, no Seven Wonders ritual exam for Michael. She may or may not know or expect to meet the Antichrist or whatever Michael is. Not an angel, that's for sure. Or is he? So we're not sure why she shuts it down except for the obvious reason, she doesn't want to NOT be Grand Supreme.

Cody Fern Rocks!

Michael, skyclad, called upon the dark spirits while smearing himself and the floor with his own blood. That was a great scene and I think it was in Episode Three. I can't remember, I was too hypnotized.

There were a lot of great scenes in those two episodes. 

At some point near the end of Episode Four, Michael wants to show he's King Bee so he goes to the Hotel Cortez to find Queenie. Cordelia's biggest regret as Supreme Burrito was that she couldn't release Queenie from eternity in the Cortez. But Michael leads Queenie out, with Mr. March's blessing. Evan Peters plays March as magnificently as he did in Hotel. Queenie has been playing chess with March for eternity. But now Michael has swooped in like an angel and saved her from damnation. 

Emma Roberts

I'm so happy to see Emma Roberts back as her nasty-ass self. I don't know if she's that much of a bitch in real life (and wouldn't blame her if she was as her dad is hunky bad boy Eric Roberts who's not exactly a shrinking violet).  But she's a damn fine bitch. I loved her being in hell at Walmart or wherever it is. Hilarious and perfect for rich bitch superstar Madison. 

Michael saves Madison after Queenie.  The three of them go to gloat at Cordelia and the rest.  

No doubt the next episode is all a double-triple-cross but we'll see.

The Coven of Warlocks was a mighty fine group of very handsome men where the brooding Cheyenne Jackson is chomping at the bit for ultimate power. He's a scary warlock for sure. I couldn't find a picture to do him justice but I'll keep looking!

They are like Hogwart's but aren't, of course.

Tons of other stuff happened as well. I could have done without all the puking, but hey, it's a horror series. I just kept looking away until they were done. I can deal with spraying blood, but not puke. UGH. 

The Last Horror Show

I'm sure where there are witches and warlocks, there are others who have also survived the Apocalypse! I bet there are soldiers and others who are going to show up and more chaos will ensue. And are these the only witches and warlocks? Or only the ones in California or Nevada? Wherever they are, I've forgotten. We already know that there ARE other survivors and not just in Outposts but they are all likely dying from radiation or each other.

I'm still hoping for aliens as well!

I really hope Finn Wittrock shows up but I doubt it. 

What parts did you like?

What parts did you think were stupid?

Are you excited to see what happens next?

Newsletter Has Gone Out!

I finally sent out the first newsletter for those of you who signed up for my mailing list. You can sign up either by putting your address in the spot on the right-hand column or on the pop-up if you get the pop-up when you come to this site.

Now that I've sent out the first newsletter, there will be monthly ones to follow.

The first newsletter was mostly a hello. They will become more informative as time goes on!

Thank you for subscribing to the newsletter.

As well, if you want to keep up with everything that I'm doing, consider joining my Patreon. For as little as $1 a month, you get access to work in progress, blogs, photos, and other behind the scenes stuff.

https://www.patreon.com/sephera

American Horror Story: Apocalypse Episode One The End

A couple of nights ago, American Horror Story: Apocalypse premiered. I was excited for the season to finally begin but was also very cautious about falling in love too fast and getting my heart shattered into a million pieces later on. So I'm trying to rein my enthusiasm to protect myself from inevitable disappointment. 

There will be spoilers in here, but I’ll try to dance around a bit.

First of all, I really enjoyed it but of course, I’m a disaster movie lover from way back. So the impending apocalypse as reported by cell phone alerts and all the drama associated with the last minutes before a bomb hits worked for me. There was the scrambling for safe zones, the destruction of the innocence, the entitled rich people finding a way, or at least, most of them.

We met a few characters, but we can’t count on any of them sticking around for long or maybe a couple will ride out the season. Who knows? It’s American Horror Story, the show about diversion and killing off your favourite storylines. My bets are on Joan Collins and Sarah Paulson lasting until the last episode and then turning on each other in a cunning act of triple cross betrayal. Of course, it might boil down to Jessica Lange against Joan Collins.

I’m not enough of an AHS nerd to recognize all the motifs threading back to other seasons but I did spot a few. And there will be more obvious ones, I’m sure, when the Coven arrives, or maybe they are another Outpost or however they are going to portray the NOLA witches.

Plot Stuff

The premise is that some nuclear bombs were dropped and the world as we know it is finished.

Some people were lucky enough to be in airplanes when the actual bomb hit so were spared the explosion.

There were others in various scenarios.

Ultimately, we’re following the tale of a group of survivors in a bomb shelter called “Outpost 3.”  It used to be a boy’s school. (Like Hogwarts?)

There’s a perceived hierarchy that could be a house of lies.

There are “purples” and “greys” which Is reminiscent of UFO-speak. There have been aliens and UFOs in AHS before.

Some we know are there because they have a special genetic situation that is mysterious for now. I suspect aliens.

Most people are there because they paid millions however it seems more like a jail where everyone Is trapped. Which they are.

There are other “Outposts.”

The horny teens and everyone else are told to not have sex. They are in that place for nearly two years. I thought at first there was a caution against sex because who is going to deliver a baby or raise it in that place? Then I thought, maybe since the teens have special genetics, they might be brother and sister. Incest is best! Or maybe any of those people mating would create a mutant!

Characters

Sarah Paulson started her role strong, in fact, I didn’t recognize her at first, then she slowly slid back into Sarah Paulson playing a character. Sigh. At least she wasn’t sobbing and screaming this time.

Kathy Bates character is totally cool and reminiscent of Madame LaRue and The Butcher and is no doubt related to both.

Evan Peters is always a delight. I’ve loved watching him grow up, and still wish they had done more with him when he was a teenage Frankenstein monster. I hate his hair. I’m sure there’s a reason, he’s had that colour hair a few times, Andy Warhol comes to mind. However, he’s playing a hairdresser so did he have tons of bleach, like years worth to keep his hair that white? Oh, the questions already!

And he’s the hairdresser to a rich bitch whose hair seems to go to hell as the show goes on or rather just gets weirder as does Lourd’s so why isn’t he still styling it or is he over styling it on purpose? 

Cos he’s not getting paid? Cos he’s depressed? The questions! The questions!

I was pleased to see Billy Lourd still sporting ridiculous hairdos, as has been her tradition since Scream Queens, in homage to her deceased mom and Princess Leia.

Cody Fern is in there looking like the Vampire Lestat and maybe he is. He’s the grown-up baby from Murder House, the “Rosemary’s Baby, baby” I believe. It’s only the first episode. I fell in love with Cody Fern like the rest of you did during his heart-breaking stint on The Assassination of Gianni Versace. Oh, boy, that man can act. And he’s very nice on the eyes, oh yeah!

Cody Fern in Versace. I hope he gets an award of some sort!

Speaking of nice on the eyes, I hope Finn Wittrock shows up, AS DANDY!!!!!!!, and surprises us. I’ve not heard he’s coming back. Maybe the witches will Ouija board him back to life to get at his fortune and use him as a tool for some bad shit! Isn’t Madison his heir? I can’t wait for Emma Roberts as nastyass bitch Madison to return. She would totally Ouiji board him to get at some secret money or whatever. He can follow her around as a Force Ghost in his tidy whities, whining and bitching and slaughtering. Ha!

Finn Wittrock as "Dandy" The Kylo Ren of the AHS franchise!

Music

The song, “Calling Occupants” was playing on an endless loop. I love that song. It was huge on the radio when I was a teen by a band called Klaatu. I had all their albums. They were concept albums and “Calling Occupants” is on the 3:47 EST. I used to listen to Klaatu for hours on end back in the day. I dreamed of spaceships and other planets.

When Klaatu was first heard on the radio, people thought they were the Beatles. When I was around twenty, I saw them in London, Ontario at a mid-sized bar. It was so very cool. Since I loved the albums so much, I had a brief by letter correspondence with Terry Draper who had actually talked to me after the show which nearly gave me a heart attack!

It’s hard to believe that a Canadian band created “Calling Occupants” which Karen Carpenter heard and covered a year or so later!

So it was cool to hear that song on AHS the other night. Definitely telling us there’s a spaceship, that there are aliens and so on.

Then they played, “There’s Gotta Be a Morning After” again Karen Carpenter and this time from the movie, “The Poseidon Adventure.” Is this important? Are they on a sinking ship and don’t know it? Flying in a mother ship and don’t know it? Are they upside down?

Are there clues in the music? Do the songs play forever because they weren’t getting the message. “Calling Occupants” finally changed to “Morning After” but then they didn’t get it to change again.

Conclusion

You can see how I was trying not to give spoilers. I am engaged in the story. There’s no real character who interests me or want to follow except Michael Landon who is played by Cody Fern so far. We’ll see. Hopefully is will continue to be quirky, engaging, funny, grim, and won’t fall off the tracks!

 Here are some Klaatu links for you to enjoy!

Calling Occupants

Klaatau

We're Off You Know

The Loneliest of Creatures

Knee Deep in Love

Hope

The Hope Album

Madman



Did you like the first episode of the new season?

Where do you think Apocalypse is going to go, storywise?


In the meantime, you can catch me on Twitch for Lunch Time Tarot Card Readings!

This week, the time might be moved to mid-afternoon as I might have to work over the lunch hour every day. The best way to find out is to follow me on Twitch, I'm Sephera666 and you'll get dinged when I come on. I give everyone a one card reading and we also talk about all kinds of things. Maybe we'll talk about AHS this week! It's up to you!

Have you checked your horoscope this week?

Don't forget to check your horoscope every week at http://www.romancedailynews.com

Writers Behaving Badly Video: Share Her Journey Rally, Horror Writers, Allergies and Kylo Ren

I made a video about the latest scuttlebutt in the Horror field.

I had just come from the Share Her Journey Rally so was feeling a bit pumped up!

I also talk a bit about how my stupid allergies are ruining my life, or at least embarrassing me everywhere I go!

I know a couple of Kylo Rens probably thought I was crying for them. I get excited to see Kylo Rens, especially ones that really look like Kylo Ren without the mask, but I don't cry! ha! I'm an Aquarius, it takes a lot to make my cold, dark little heart cry!

I know the cute dude at the Koodo booth thought I was crazy with my crying eyes.

My fellow rally participants at Share Her Journey likely thought I was so moved I was crying at all the speakers!

I also keep waking up with a giant pig face and then my eyes are red and leaky all day and it's so frigging embarrassing. I've not looked like me in a couple of weeks.

I've now switched over to Benadryl which seems to work better than Claritin but I keep passing out on my keyboard so how is that good?

Onward and upward!

In the meantime, enjoy the video!

Kylo Ren and Me at Fan Expo 2018

Henry J. Bartsch from the 501st Canadian Garrison as The Last Jedi version of Kylo Ren humouring me.

There were Kylo Rens at Fan Expo 2018! Adult Kylo Rens! Men Kylo Rens! I took pictures with a couple of them. I didn't nab all of them, either because they didn't come close enough to my booth to reel them in, or my phone was charging, or they were little kids, or whatever my problem was. Sometimes I actually get shy about asking to take pictures.

Yes, big scary horror writer gets shy around people in cosplay!

Laugh all you want!

But the ones I made pose with me were very good sports about it.

Thank you, Kylo Ren Ben Solo!

Space witches ruling the Galaxy!

I was gifted my very own little Kylo mask by my son!

"Hey, Kylo! I bet I can make you forget your sister, Mary Sue, uh, I mean, Rey!"

"Okay, if she's not your sister or half-sister then she's your cousin! Search your feelings, you know it's true!"

"I'll show you the Dark Side, Kylo..."

(I believe Kylo Ren and Obi-Wan are both from the 501st Canadian Garrison as well.)

More pics from Fan Expo 2018. I didn't take a lot as I was working. I wasn't on any panels this year nor did I attend any. It was a different experience for me this year but I did well at my booth and I always enjoy watching the cosplayers wander by. Especially Star Wars and Dinosaurs. I didn't see any Planet of the Apes this year.