Monthly Archives: June 2012

Jun
14

Thursday Posts & Updates

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Okay – I’m at a few places today, although there’s a bit of rehash, so YMMV as far as what you’re interested in. Of course Fox & Willow has a new page up, so go check that out for sure. 😀 (Next week’s pages are going to be fun. *grin*) Otherwise, I’m over at Word Whores today – if you want to know more about how I was taloned by a red-tailed hawk, today’s your lucky day.  *ahem* Or you could go to The League of Reluctant Adults and see my stuffed vampire maggot and get a look at the cover flats for A Trace of Moonlight. And don’t forget my flash fiction contest for said cover flat (I even ran out and bought a silver sharpie for occasion, simply because I’m that awesome…)… Read more
Jun
13

Writing Prompt Wednesday

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Looking for something fun to do today to shake off some of the negativity of the last few posts, so I’m going to do a flash-fiction writing prompt. I don’t normally do them, but they can be fun, and hey, prizes. Or *a* prize, I guess. I’ll mail a random winner a cover flat of A Trace of Moonlight (or any other cover flat/swag thing user wants). So here’s the picture: Post 500 words or less in the comments below. You’ve got until some random time on Friday or Saturday to get it done and I’ll draw on Sunday. 🙂 Incidentally, the title of the picture is called “Waiting” by Donato Giancola. (Check out the gallery for a ton of additional artwork – lots of familiar book covers in there.) What is she waiting for? Death? A lover? Alien Bears? Only YOU can say.… Read more
Jun
12

More Gaming WTFkery

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Just a few updates on some of things I ranted blogged about the other day. (Women in VG tropes and the violent portrayals of women posts…) And I apologize to my readers if you couldn’t care less about these things, but they are fairly important topics to me, so I’m going to continue talking about them. So first up is the Lara Croft thing – another interview with the creators came out on Kotaku the other day – some of it was rehashed from the Penny Arcade interview where they noted how they were turning Lara into a cornered animal, breaking her down etc. But in this latest interview, something really irritated me: And executive producer Ron Rosenberg says you’ll want to keep her safe. “When people play Lara, they don’t really project themselves into the character,” Rosenberg told me at E3 last week when I asked if it was difficult… Read more
Jun
11

When To End a Series

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I was asked over Twitter this past weekend if A Trace of Moonlight is going to be the last Abby book. The short answer is: I don’t know.  The long answer is that Abby’s story arc ends with this third book. Does that mean it’s the end of her story completely? I hope not, but there are always a number of factors at play. There’s publisher requirements and those sorts of mundane topics…but it’s also about if there’s *room* for another story. Does it make sense to continue? Maybe. Maybe not. I had a conversation with a voice actor via Facebook a while back – and I had mentioned that I had no real idea what life was like for actors, but that I imagined it’s a lot like musicians or any sort of artist really – and that you’re only as good as your next gig, or book, or… Read more
Jun
8

Making the Point for Us: Tropes vs Women In Video Games WTFKery

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I almost didn’t get around to posting today – after all, copy edits needed to be handed in and the Guild Wars 2 Beta is live and that’s what I’ll be running off to do in a bit. However, I did want to mention the Kickstarter project by Anita Sarkeesian: Tropes vs Women in Video Games. The idea is fairly broad and fascinating – but simply put, she plans on doing a series of videos based on the way women are portrayed in video games. (Which I ranted about a bit earlier this week.) I love playing video games but I’m regularly disappointed in the limited and limiting ways women are represented.  This video project will explore, analyze and deconstruct some of the most common tropes and stereotypes of female characters in games.  The series will highlight the larger reoccurring patterns and conventions used within the gaming industry rather than just… Read more