I will be posting a review for Etrian Odyssey II on Tuesday. It's already written and such, but I want to sit on it for a day or two. In the meantime, here's the preview: the game is really neat for hardcore RPG fans.
Seriously, if you like old school RPGs, you owe it to yourself to check out the game. I hope that you'll read my full review when it goes live and that some of you will buy the game. It definitely isn't for everyone, but I think a lot of you would really enjoy it.
In other news, I had planned tonight to work on my fiction some more. That didn't happen. Instead I played a lot of Etrian Odyssey II (as I have been for weeks now) and finally wrote the review. This is a lighter week for 'real' work, so maybe I'll get some fiction written. On the other hand, I have some games I need to play through and reveiw (as always), so time will tell how I budget my time.
Oh, and I need to do more reading on the Agatha Christie books I checked out at the library. I'm going to check out fewer at a time once I finish this batch. I've now read a fair bit over half her bibliography and I'm still enjoying myself, but gaming has been consuming a lot of my time lately plus the current one of hers that I'm reading is a historical mystery novel set in Egypt. It's interesting and all, but not something that compels me to zip through it in only a night or two.
wolfqueen001 Jul 28, 2008
That all sounds pretty cool, in any case. I started work on a novel ages ago... but stopped about two years ago because I got stuck and found myself busier and not having as much fun with it as I used to (because I'm stuck, naturally >_>).
honestgamer Blogger Jul 28, 2008
I write fantasy and science fiction, which has been a big part of my life for years and would probably have evolved into something truly impressive by now if I didn't instead spend so much time with games and this web site.
Back when Del Rey Books ran the Online Writing Workshop for Science Fiction and Fantasy, one of my submissions was runner-up for the month (editors looked through the top submissions) and my writing on the current iteration of the workshop always places favorably.
Though I've certainly tried my hand at fan fiction, I have a hard time taking it seriously enough to produce anything worthwhile. I prefer to write novel-length stuff where the world and characters are truly my own. Defiant Light, a novel available through vanity publisher Xlibris, is the result of one such effort.
I've been in various writing groups, including the Sock Monkey Parade that consisted of other writers including Charles Coleman Finlay (now published regularly in Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine and with a trilogy of novels coming from Del Rey Books), Keri Arthur (her last book ranked 17 on the New York Times Bestseller list), Steve Nagy and others, plus I was in a critique group that included Karin Lowachee (she kindly mentions me in the acknowledgements at the front of her novel "Warchild") and Jim Butcher read and liked my fiction back in the dark ages before his books got huge and he got the television show on Sci-Fi Channel and such.
In short, my fiction has allowed me to rub elbows with a lot of fantastic writers and to learn a lot about the craft, and I hate squandering that too terribly much. I plan to continue to devote time to my fiction in the months and years ahead, as I always have, though perhaps at an accelerated rate that brings things closer to the pace I maintained around ten years ago (two or three novel-length manuscripts a year). I finished a pretty good draft I'm happy with about two years ago and I've written the start of several novels since, so I figure pretty soon I can have three or four completed, polished manuscripts around--if I just keep writing as time permits--and maybe make a run at justifying my association with those other talented authors.
My problem--as always--is that I'm interested and obessive about too many things at once. I love the site and the opportunities it has provided me and continue to pour my heart and soul into it, but I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't put at least some effort into my fiction.
True Jul 29, 2008
And my part of our deal will be complete. Now you just have to hold to your end of the bargain.
wolfqueen001 Jul 30, 2008
So at least you have that.
I honestly hope you can continue with it as you say you're going to; it's definitely a fulfilling experience, or at least it was for me when I was doing it. Maybe I'll look for your book sometime. Fantasy (and sci-fi to some extent) are my favorite genres, so it should be interesting.