The Matrix - As I See It

Hello. My name is Olivia (aka O. J.), and I finally GET The Matrix.

Seriously.

I saw it way back when. But I didn't get it. Nor did I get it the countless times I've tried to watch it since—on DVD, cable, streaming, whatever. So I haven't seen the sequels, either.

But occasionally, I get this nagging feeling whenever The Matrix comes up in a thread on Twitter or some other conversation. I should get it. I should care about this movie, this premise, this franchise that took the world by storm.

Now, The Matrix Resurrections is out in theaters and streaming on HBOMax. I wanna watch it, dammit.

So I decided to try again.

Luckily, HBOMax has been streaming the first three for a while now. This time, I decided to do something different and not try to figure anything out. To just sit with whatever was happening onscreen and let it wash over me.

So I did.

And guess what.

I GOT IT.

And, y'all. It ain't rocket science.

Truth is, I'd pretty much understood it all along. But I got lost in the fight scenes. These have little to do with anything (other than to sell movies, yuck!). And when I fast-forward through them, I am left with the story.

That is about humanity under the thumb of AI/machines. And the humans don't even know it—except for a select few, including their leader, Morpheus, played by Laurence Fishburne. Morpheus discovers the "one" (Neo) and wakes him. Now it's up to Keanu Reeves (Neo) to save humanity.

But first, he must outdo Hugo Weaving's Agent Smith, a badass agent for the Matrix tasked with keeping humans in their place - as fuel to run the machines. Or something to that effect.

I'm gonna tell you right now - there be layers to this tale.

I'm guessing most of them still went over my head. Apparently, there are red pills and blue pills and somesuch nonsense that I totally missed. So I'll likely revisit The Matrix soon.

I also watched The Matrix Reloaded, the second in the franchise, and I'll be honest. I fast-forwarded through quite a lot of the movie - all those friggin' fight scenes and chase scenes - but it's basically more of the same.

Credit: bit.ly/3HtpUVR

One thing I did notice—the premise of The Matrix Reloaded reminded me a LOT of the Loki series storyline. And I had thought that so revolutionary... Hmm.

Over the next couple of weeks, I will watch the third installment, The Matrix Revolutions. And once that's ingested, I'll tackle the most recent, The Matrix Resurrections. Unfortunately, that one is only streaming until the 21st of January, so I have three more weeks to "git 'er dun".

"SO WHAT?" you ask.

"Exactly," I say.

The "so what" is (li'l ol' genius) me admitting that I didn't/don't get/understand a movie franchise that is widely recognized as a big deal. And deciding to do something about that instead of continuing to be the one holdout that says, "DUHHH, I don't get it."

This is my second such undertaking. The first was around Thanksgiving when I watched The Princess Bride all the way through for the first time. No, I'm not joining the "best movie ever" club, not by a long shot. But it is a fun film, I will give it that.

Now, once I learn all I can (or care to) about The Matrix films, maybe I can summon the courage to watch another iconic movie I have avoided—Fight Club. You see, I don't "do" violence—not in life, not in books, nor in films. But I learned in The Matrix that I can fast-forward through the fight scenes. But like The Matrix Reloaded, will there be any story left after removing those? Time will tell.

Are you doing anything to broaden your horizons? Or to understand that which has eluded you? If so, tell us about it in the comments below.

Happy Last Day of 2021! May each of you have a magnificent ending to 2021 and a fantabulous beginning to 2022.

I will be working on goal-setting for 2022, and outlining the final chapters for Awen Tide and The Awen Trilogy so that I can bang those out in January and February and bring you the finished version in May 2022!

Y'all keep reading, and I'll keep writing!

That Rebel, Olivia J. Herrell, writing as O. J. Barré

O. J. Barré is the author of the Awen Trilogy, a pre-apocalyptic urban fantasy set in 2042 Atlanta. Steeped in current, ancient, and future history twists, Book One, Awen Rising, debuted July 2019. Book Two, Awen Storm, released May 2020. Book Three, Awen Tide, is on preorder and will release in 2022. All are (or will be) available in both paperback and ebook, and the hardback versions will be available in 2022.

O. J.'s Awen Prequel novelette, The Druids of Marduk, Part I, is available as an ebook for purchase on Amazon (or free by signing up for her newsletter). The second installment, The Druids of Marduk, Part II: UnderEarth, is an ebook novella also available on Amazon. Part III: AboveEarth, is scheduled for a 2022 release.

The Winds They Are a-Changin'

 My last post was in desperation. I could no longer continue beating my head against a brick wall—trying to promote my books with success.

Yes, I garnered seventy-eight reviews with an average rating of 4.40/5 for Awen Rising. That is no small feat and an excellent rating, especially for a new and unknown author. I am proud of that. But the sales have not followed.

My Amazon KDP free promos were modestly successful. But only if I poured money into ads to get the promo in front of prospective readers. Even coupling that with discounting Awen Storm to $.99 during the same periods, I nowhere near recouped my expenses.

Not even once.

Photo by Stefan Keller

As an entrepreneur, I know that every new business takes time and money to get off the ground. But I've been spending so much time on marketing and promos, learning Amazon ads, building a platform, creating a website and a newsletter, keeping up with social media... it's exhausting!

So much so that there is little time and energy left to do what I love most—WRITE! And I've been told by the experts that the best way to sell books is to write more books. I have a trilogy to complete. A prequel to finish. And many, many, MANY more stories to write.

Lately, the universe has been telling me that "the grey clouds covering my life are about to be sent away by a warm and vibrant spiritual wind." 

I believe it has arrived.

Yesterday, after seeing patients and attending our office holiday luncheon, I sat down with my laptop to once again research book promotion companies. Lo and behold, I found mine.

Photo by Stefan Keller

Through their (modern and up-to-date) website, I "chatted" with a fellow named Michael in Dallas, Texas. For two hours, we talked, me asking questions, him answering. He sent me Amazon links to current clients' books, links to videos the company had created for their books, newspaper and online articles they'd garnered for books they were promoting, and more.

I perused the links, including the TrustPilot one with positive reviews for the company. I watched the excellent book trailer videos they created. I researched their authors on KDP Rocket and found that a couple are bestsellers in my genre. And I kept going back to that guaranteed ROI (return on investment) which states that if my results do not meet the guarantee, I get my money back.

That clinched the deal. I pulled the trigger. I invested heavily in my business.

Photo by Enrique Mesequer

Now it's time to sit back and let a team of WAAAAAY more qualified people manage my book SELLING business so that I can get back into the book WRITING business.

My marketing strategy meeting with an assigned project leader will be sometime on Tuesday. After that, I'm not sure of the timeline. But I should start seeing resulting sales within the month. 

And that is something, isn't it?

Y'all keep reading, and I'll keep writing!

That Rebel, Olivia J. Herrell, writing as O. J. Barré

O. J. Barré is the author of the Awen Trilogy, a pre-apocalyptic urban fantasy set in 2042 Atlanta. Steeped in current, ancient, and future history twists, Book One, Awen Rising, debuted July 2019. Book Two, Awen Storm, released May 2020. Book Three, Awen Tide, is on preorder and will be released in 2022. All are (or will be) available in both paperback and ebook.

O. J.'s Awen Prequel novelette, The Druids of Marduk, Part I, is available as an ebook for purchase on Amazon (or free by signing up for her newsletter). The second installment, The Druids of Marduk, Part II: UnderEarth, is an ebook novella also available on Amazon. Part III: AboveEarth, is scheduled for a 2022 release.