A College Update, Derek Landy’s New Series, “Mr. Holmes,” & The Academic Bowl

Hi, everyone! Today there are four things I’d like to talk to you about… read on to find out what they are.

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So, I think a quick school update is in order. There’s not much to say about my dual-credit (AKA college-level) Spanish 202 class because… because, I don’t know, now we’re basically just working on boring technical stuff. Subjunctive and indicative tenses and stuff like that.

My communications class (also dual-credit), though, is more interesting, so I’ll tell you about that. My first major assignment was a commemorative speech, which I gave several weeks ago. I talked about my grandpa and it was a success, as I’m sure many of you saw from my post on Facebook.

My next assignment is an informative speech. My teacher said we could use papers written for other classes and just adapt them to the occasion, so that’s what I’ll be doing! A few years ago I took English 101 over the summer and wrote a paper about modern-day swords… which I then turned into a blog post that you can read here.

So in my speech, I’ll be discussing first the production of modern-day swords and then what they’re used for: Fencing, historical reenactments, and fantasy films. Pretty fun stuff, no? I love swords. And I love that I WON’T HAVE TO DO ANY RESEARCH FOR THIS SPEECH AT ALL because I did it all for the paper a few years ago. I have more sources than I need, in fact, so really the only thing I’ll need are visual aids. I’m thinking probably some photos of fencing épées and maybe a short video of a swordfighting scene in Game of Thrones?

P.S. And then the speech after that is a persuasive speech, so I’m going to talk about… why you should read graphic novels and comic books! THIS IS SUCH A FUN CLASS AND I LOVE IT. I love being able to talk about pretty much whatever it is that interests me.

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Have you ever heard of Derek Landy? ‘Cause if not, you should. THAT MAN IS AMAZING AND I FREAKING LOVE HIS BOOKS. I’ve been recommending his Skulduggery Pleasant series to everyone I know because they’re. Just. That. Good.

And now he’s publishing a new book! The final Skulduggery Pleasant novel was released only last fall, but he’s already writing a new story. I don’t know why that news surprised me so much, because Landy writes like the wind: The first Skulduggery Pleasant book was published in 2007, so this new story will be his twelfth in just eight short years. Wow. (And he doesn’t write short books, either!)

Anyway, yesterday he posted a video where he announced the title of his new book/series. Or skip to the section below, where I’ve included the blurb and plenty of fangirling!

(And if, for some reason, the video doesn’t work, you should be able to play it directly on his blog.)

Derek Landy’s new series is a trilogy titled Demon Road, and the first book will share that name. It will be released on August 27th, 2015, and its sequels will be published in six-month intervals after that. (Oh my GOD. Yay yay yay!)

Here’s what Goodreads has to say about the first book:

Full of Landy’s trademark wit, action and razor sharp dialogue, Demon Road kicks off with a shocking opener and never lets up the pace in an epic road-trip across the supernatural landscape of America. Killer cars, vampires, undead serial killers: they’re all here. And the demons? Well, that’s where Amber comes in… Sixteen years old, smart and spirited, she’s just a normal American teenager until the lies are torn away and the demons reveal themselves.

Forced to go on the run, she hurtles from one threat to another, revealing a tapestry of terror woven into the very fabric of her life. Her only chance rests with her fellow travelers, who are not at all what they appear to be…

I AM SO EXCITED YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW EXCITED I AM OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD WOW. THANKS, DEREK LANDY. And honestly… I’m not surprised that this new series is set in America. I’m currently reading the last Skulduggery Pleasant book (yes, still) and by now most of the action is happening in America. So it doesn’t surprise me that Landy’s continuing to explore magical/supernatural stories in America.

AAAAAAH I’M SO EXCITED.

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I’m also excited because yesterday the teaser trailer for Mr. Holmes was released! The movie is based on a… well, I don’t know exactly how to describe it, but it’s based on the novel A Slight Trick of the Mind by Mitch Cullin – so it’s a Sherlock Holmes story NOT written by Arthur Conan Doyle. It’s a spin-off story, basically, about Holmes as an old man.

I love the original stories, and I love some of their adaptations, too – Elementary is by FAR my favorite version. So I’m really excited for THIS new take of Sherlock Holmes! Check out the trailer below:

Oh, and did I mention that Ian McKellen is in it? IAN MCKELLEN IS IN IT. Oh my god, yes. He’s one of my favorite actors – you may recognize him from Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, X-Men, et cetera.

Ian McKellen plus Sherlock Holmes? Two of my favorite things combined in one package in theaters this summer? I AM EXCITED.

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Usually I’m not on campus this late, but tonight is the academic superbowl and it’s held at the college where I attend dual-credit classes. So I’m hiding in a computer lab adjacent to the cafeteria right now. Hiding from what, you ask?

MY TEAMMATES. Ugh. This is my fourth and final year participating in the superbowl, and it’s… definitely not my favorite year. I don’t know. I’m on the English, Social Studies, and Interdisciplinary teams, and enjoy the latter two. English, though? Nah, not really. My teammates there are all, like, freshmen. And it’s not that I have a problem with freshmen, because I talk to plenty of them (as well as kids younger than that) here online.

My problem is that these kids are just so obnoxious. You guys are funny and smart and I can hold interesting conversations with you. I’d rather be on a team with you. Oh, well. Basically, I’m not going to write a special separate post about the academic superbowl sometime later – although I have in years past – because I’m just not that enthused. Let’s just start the English round, already, and get this over with.

I do like this year’s superbowl theme, though. We studied ancient Rome! So that’s fun, at least. Lots of weird names to memorize, and cool architecture to look at, and whatnot.

And the English round starts in less than twenty minutes, so I should probably go sit with my teammates now and stop being antisocial.

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So, tell me: What’s going on in your life? What’s happening with your studies? What are you currently fangirling over? I’d love to know!