 I frequent the local Goodwill store. The journey of the thrift hunt brings joy. And sometimes, another person’s junk becomes a small treasure. One of those small treasures landed in my hands, a book titled A Year of Positive Thinking. There is an excerpt for every day of the year.
Today’s reads: Nurture Relationships of Integrity “You do not need to have the same interests or personalities as those you surround yourself with. What matters is that you connect from your heart and that you value the integrity of your connection equally. Sustain relationships that take you outside your comfort zone; they will support your growth. Foster these friendships and they will bring you more joy, love, and connection than you ever knew possible. Relationships built of integrity will carry you through both the best and the worst of times. Always create space for them.” It wasn’t until I moved across the country, born and raised in the west coast and then packing up and moving to the east coast in 2020, that this concept of nurturing relationships of integrity really began to matter. I guess loneliness will do that. I am grateful for the new friendships that have been planted in my life and continue to grow. The people I choose to surround myself with on a weekly basis all inspire me to be the best version of myself. The people I choose to surround myself with, continue to teach me other perspectives, motivate me to be the artist that I am, and look to the future of what we are to become. As you reflect on today’s positive thinking excerpt above, written by Cyndie Spiegel, ask yourself, who do you choose to surround yourself with? Why are you grateful for those relationships and what do they continue to teach you? On a last note, never discount the joy of thrifting. -Sterp
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 Have you ever imagined leaving your home? What is home? Is it a physical location? I always thought my home was in the Bay Area. Home is where we are born and raised, right?
It’s where I had my first kiss, in the driveway across the street from my house, behind our neighbor’s truck with a boy named Jesse. He had a bowl cut. It’s where I slammed pogs onto the concrete sidewalk while kids rode by on their BMX bikes hauling friends on their pegs. Home was mom and dad. Until it wasn’t. Home was the place I ran away from as a teenager, trying to discover who I was but only to find myself more lost than before. It was where I broke hearts and where I endured the most heartache. It’s where my family and I made ourselves, only to become the place where it all fell apart. Home was mom and dad, and then it wasn’t. Then it became just me. Just mom. Just dad. Home was where I started using. It’s where I battled me and only me over and over, and when I thought the battle was done… It’s where I was rushed to emergency. Twice. It’s where I had to save myself because no one else was going to do it for me. Home was where I met the person who would be my forever. It’s where I learned it’s not always all about me. It’s where I learned compassion and forgiveness. It’s where I learned to receive it back. Home was where my daughter was born. Home was where I began to think, where is home? In 2020, my family and I moved from the west coast to the east coast. We moved away from family and friends. We left to build a comfortable life for ourselves. We left “home” for a new home. I have come to realize that home resides deep within and I’m reminded by Ernest Hemingway, “You can’t get away from yourself by moving from one place to another.” Home is where you cannot and will not escape yourself. It’s deep within and therefore can be anywhere and nowhere. It’s where we choose to love, to make peace. So the next time you miss home, look within yourself because you’ve been there all along. Thanks for tuning in dear reader, -Sterp  I am writing this seconds after finishing the short story If God Were a Wound by Eric LaRocca, recently published in the horror anthology Shattered and Splintered.
There aren’t many short story first liners that grab you by the face demanding your attention. They’re few and far between. Sometimes, I feel terrible when I attempt to read a short story and just can’t get past the first few lines because if that’s the case, I am throwing in the towel and moving on. If God Were a Wound didn’t just grab my face, it punched me in the gut and forced me to read on with pleasure. And the first line is, “If God were a wound, I think more people might be inclined to believe in Him.” Whether or not you believe in God is besides the point. This short story doesn’t just have something to say, it needs the world to hear it and makes the world want to hear it. As a writer myself, the crafting of a short story is as difficult to formulate as a full blown novel. I was mesmerized by LaRocca’s poetic prose, story arc (yes, there are arcs in shorts,) twists, build up, and ultimately an end that makes the reader ponder afterward for quite some time. I could feel LaRocca’s vulnerability and when a writer accomplishes that, well I’d say they have accomplished as a writer. This story is the type that should be read in classrooms, analyzed and discussed. So, dear reader, I will leave you with this excerpt from If God Were a Wound: *** “Bad news?” he asks. I don’t know how to answer. It’s not necessarily bad news. At least, not in the way most people might consider bad news, or take it for that matter. Instead, it seems more appropriate to classify it as “strange news.” *** Believe me, you’ll want to find out what this “strange news” is, so help me God.
 Do you love 1970s and 80s horror cinema? Or maybe you enjoy soft porn horror films (yes, it’s totally a thing!) Hear me out for a minute, as a horror fanatic myself, I was shocked that I had never heard of the Final Guys YouTube channel, a podcast dedicated to all things horror (reviewing horror cinema, games, books, etc.) But here’s the thing, this isn’t just any podcast, these guys and gals are our fellow indie horror authors! Your amazing hosts are Hunter Shea, Jack Campisi, and Jason Brant with guests like Chad Lutzke, Laurel Hightower-Wells, and more! If you’re hearing the faint calling of crickets right now, do yourself a favor and go read some of these authors’ books. ASAP. Here’s the good news, Final Guys is LIVE on YT every Tuesday at 8pm ET. I’m going to do you a favor and highlight some of the best moments from last night’s Final Guys YT Live, which was my first, popping my cherry with horror soft porn (we’ll get to that in a bit.) Be prepared for drinking games, horror reviews, they got jokes, and amazing attendee chat! I’m going to break out of this paragraph format and dive into a list of highlights. Enjoy! Best Moments from The Innocents Review - Final Guys Horror Show #272 Watch on-demand here.
Check out all the movie posters below because you know we all judge a movie by its cover!        
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