Sephera's World Blog: 2022

Thursday, November 10, 2022

New Review for Dearly Departed!

The first review for Dearly Departed is in!

Check it out here! Review for Dearly Departed

I love the pictures he used to illustrate the review! They suit the book perfectly!

Thursday, October 20, 2022

Halloween Happenings and a New Book!

Today our book hovered between second and third place in New Releases in Canada!

Andrew Robertson and Sephera Giron launched a collection of thirteen horror stories just in time for Halloween. Print version is now available on Amazon, soon to be followed by e-book.

Dearly Departed is published by The Great Lakes Horror Company.

Dearly Departed…

…we are gathered here today to witness zombie drag queens terrorize small-town gay bars, oversexed Jackalopes challenge sanity, skin dealers sell satiety, vampiric lesbians cure what ails them, possessed Ouija boards and evil puppets haunt fans of the occult, and cult-creating club kids teach the children that anyone can be beautiful, but it takes real talent to be truly sickening.

In this 13-tale collection of dark fiction spanning a decade, Sèphera Girón and Andrew Robertson have selected their favourite frights, including new, previously published and alternate versions of their gravest hits.

Wednesday, October 12, 2022

Halloween Happenings!

Sunday, October 2, 2022

Amazing Times!

My year of turning sixty continues on with great joy.

Tonight I get to see my favourite rock band, The Who, here in Toronto! I’ve seen them many times, and they never disappoint.

I’ve been working hard editing a client’s book so he can get it out for Halloween. Almost finished, perhaps one more day, it’s a big one!

I have a few more appearances this year.

Word-Up in Barrie on October 13, 2022

Frightmare in the Falls, October 28 and 29

World Fantasy Convention, New Orleans, November 3 – 6

This caps off an amazing year where I’ve done so much! I’ll do a recap closer to the end of the year.

Of course, there have been sad times with family and friends; illnesses and deaths.

I’m super grateful to continue to be healthy though I need to work much harder with my weight.

I’m super grateful to have amazing friends and family I can count on.

I’m grateful to my patrons on Patreon who definitely help my morale and, of course, bank account.

Okay, more later, must get back to editing!

Thursday, June 23, 2022

Hello There!

OBI-WAN SPOILERS

Hello there…

Two words that have me bursting into tears for two days now.

I was one who never asked for an Obi-Wan series and approached it with caution and bated breath.

Over the past few years, Disney has brought us The Mandalorian, Boba Fett and now Obi-Wan Kenobi. And I’ve enjoyed the hell out of each and every one, though I never thought I’d watch any of them.

The Star Wars properties empire is mostly referred to as space opera or science fiction but certainly has its roots firmly grounded in horror (among other genres such as Westerns) and that’s likely one of the universal appeals of the franchise. And perhaps that’s why I’ve been a fan since I was a teen watching the first one simply called Star Wars on opening day.

The mini-series Obi-Wan currently playing on DisneyPlus is very much a horror story, especially the finale, and it’s great to wallow around in.

The Obi-Wan series had a lot of what some would call fan service but when you’re dealing with a prequel full of dearly loved characters, you really need to stay with the script. We saw what happened with the final trilogy of the main movies and what a mess they were as each director/writer attempted something new when something old would have worked far better. The mere existence of the series Obi-Wan Kenobi is fan service, so haters can go hate somewhere else.

The Obi-Wan Kenobi series stuck to something old. We have Luke and Leia and their requisite adopted parents, we have Anakin/Darth Vader, we have the Emperor, and so on.

We also can finally figure out how everyone aged forty years in ten years; life on Tatooine is rough if you ever doubted it before! There was even a joke about aging fast in the final episode. Ewan McGregor is up on what the fans are saying!

And how many damn light sabers are buried in that desert planet!

In the first episode, I felt like we were going through the Boba Fett depression all over again, but luckily the story soon turned to adventure. Yes, all these guys have some serious PTSD from all the shit they’ve been through, but we tune into Star Wars for fun and games, not therapy.

I watched the show week by week so had lots of time to think about it, unlike when I binge-watch things. For the first few episodes, I was on board with what they were doing but a little frustrated it was turning into another Lone Wolf and Cub adventure that we just went through with Mandalorian.

However, little Leia (Vivien Lyra Blair) was great and so I didn’t mind. We had a few storylines going which is always appreciated. Little Luke (Grant Feely) did a great job as well. Both children had huge boots to fill and both did so with flying colours!

Is Carrie Fisher channeling Leia into Vivien? It was uncanny how much they were one and the same.

I absolutely loved the character of Third Sister, Reva (Moses Ingram). She rocked. I loved her parkour scene in one of the early episodes. So badass! Her story was amazing and was pretty much what I had expected but that didn’t take my joy away. Moses Ingram did a fantastic job of playing conflicted Reva, especially as we hurtled towards the end of season one. Hate and revenge had her survive that death blow and her character arc worked really well. There’s a rumour she’ll get her own show and I hope so.

The scene where Darth is unmasked like the Phantom of the Opera or Phantom of the Paradise in the final battle with Obi-Wan was both poignant and horrific. We can see Hayden Christiensen in there which is why I’m sure they made sure to unmask him a bit. After all, why bother bringing him back if we never actually see him as James Earl Jones is still voicing Vader. But we got to see and hear Hayden as Darth for a few minutes and that was very cool. That was one of my favourite scenes, how he was Vader and Anakin, his voice changing, his face changing, the lighting changing as Anakin somewhat forgives Obi-Wan (or at least relieves Obi-Wan of Obi-Wan's guilt) and embraces Darth Vader. That’s how I see it, anyway.

Obi-Wan is set free from ten years of angst by Anakin Vader’s revelations. Much like a parent who finally realizes their child is their own person and will not always make the choices we had hoped for them.

The flashback duel in the fifth episode was great as we got to see Hayden playing younger Anakin which was worth bringing him back for. I always liked him and never got the hate for him at all, but of course, I thought he was cute, even when or maybe especially when he was evil, but that’s my horror writer heart speaking again.

How cool was it to see Darth Vader kicking ass all over the place and pulling down that Star Destroyer?

And we finally learned why Jedis are always learning how to lift rocks! It sure comes in handy to know how to lift them, now doesn't it?

How cool was that fight scene?

There were lots of touches, fan service, easter eggs, whatever you want to call them. Lots for fans to delight in but a simple enough story that new people could enter the franchise and not be lost.

Of course, let’s not forget the music. Real Star Wars music for the finale with some of our favourite official John Williams themes in just the right places to make us all sob like babies.

There were a couple of timeline/wtf issues fixed and by the end of it all, I don’t think there were any plot hole issues going into A New Hope and yet, room for another season as well with the addition of Qui-Gon Jinn.

I’m keeping this short as I’m fighting deadlines but had to chime in on this. It’s been well over a day since I watched the finale but I’m still super emotional about it all.

Which is funny because I never ever thought I’d be emotional about this show. And especially after I got to see Luke being badass in The Mandalorian, I felt I could die complete. But I’m glad I’m not dead yet and can continue to enjoy these little Star Wars shows that I had always hoped for back when I was fourteen!

Sure, there are flaws and blahblahblah but who cares? This show delivered much more than I ever dreamed and I’m thankful Ewan McGregor put so much love and care into it as both an actor and a producer.

Thank you, Obi-Wan Ewan, you have brought us all so much hope!

Sunday, June 19, 2022

Sephera Giron reads Horror on June 21, 2022 at 9 pm EST

On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 9 pm EST, I'll be reading from one of my books for about half an hour.

This live horror event is sponsored by The Canada Council for the Arts for the National Reading Program by The Writers Union of Canada.

Please join me for this live event!

Tell your horror-loving friends!

It all takes place on my Twitch channel. You don't have to join Twitch to watch but if you want to ask questions, you have to make a free account.

Thank you all for your support! I truly appreciate it!

Twitch: http://twitch.tv/sephera666

Monday, June 6, 2022

Amber Heard's $22,000 a month house

I've been trying really hard not to have many controversial opinions online these days, I save them for my Patreon.

If you want my trial thoughts etc. you can go hear them there.

But I really need to chime in on this whole Amber Heard rental house bru-ha-ha without wading into trial stuff.

Okay, folks, let's get real here.

Once you settle down from hearing the number "$22,000" as one month's rent for a very cool house, stop and think for a second.

Or rather, I'll give you my thoughts.

I'm far from rich. Barely scraping by most times, to be honest, as a working writer. Good months, bad months. But I've found a nice co-op that isn't too expensive and therefore since I'm not working just to pay my rent most of the time anymore, I can go to a writer's conference now and again.

Last month, I stayed at a hotel in Denver Colorado for one of them. The discount convention rate for one regular room with two beds was $175.00US plus various taxes, tips, and so on per night. That's for one average regular person with no extras, no room service or luxuries, no little couch, no tables or closets. One small bar fridge, one safe, one hairdryer. No bathtub. I paid about a grand US for a five-night stay.

So, let's say, I wanted a room with more amenities and perhaps an adjoining room for my baby. For that hotel, it would be several hundred per night.

When you're pointing fingers at Amber Heard for spending $22,000 per month at a mansion near the trial, do the math!

It was way cheaper for her to rent that house, and more comfortable for the baby and nanny than to stay in some luxury hotel somewhere.

I don't know who all she has living with her, but I would venture to say she had the baby, at least one nanny, Whitney at the minimum living there. That assortment of people in let's say three rooms would be at my writer convention rate would be $600 US a night. Multiply that by 30 nights. That's $18,000 if they had three little hotel rooms similar to the one I had in Denver.

And you know that they would likely need at least ten grand a night at a hotel for all the staff and security.

So to rent out a house for $22,000 that has at the minimum three rooms of people in it and more likely there were way more people than Amber, Whitney, baby and nanny in the house. There would have been security. Did she bring her own hair and makeup people or did local people come in? Did other people stay? Personal assistants? Chef? Girlfriend? Boyfriend?

Regardless of what I think about the case, this hubbub about her house rental is a bit much. People just want to look for issues where there are none. She was saving money with that house considering the lifestyle that she's used to living, and really, $40,000 or so for accommodations during one of the biggest celebrity trials ever, isn't that much for a big celebrity. She did make millions from Aquaman, and her beauty endorsements. It's a different world than most of us live in. She came from nothing to get there and shouldn't have anyone tell her how to spend her money if she's not hurting anyone. (Yes, I know she owes the divorce money but right now, she has/had a trial to fight and an entourage including her baby to keep comfortable in the lifestyle they are all accustomed.) When she rented the place, she likely thought she would win. Hell, I thought she would win! Ah, how young we all were back then...before the trial began...

Are there a ton of houses to rent for six weeks in the area that she had to choose from and went for the most expensive? Maybe there were no two grand a month homes for rent in that time block for only six weeks. Some cities have a housing crisis, like we have here in Toronto. Maybe there were only a couple of houses and some were too small for however many people and even though that mansion is huge, there might not have been much in-between for that specific slot of time, for rent. I don't really know how it rolls in the world of the wealthy when it comes to property rentals.

At any rate, getting all up about that house rental is just ridiculous.

Thank you for letting me get that off my chest!