Monica Valentinelli's Blog: booksofm.com, page 7

Save the Date! Learn Campaign Planning with Gaming Veteran Valentinelli

Did you know the elements of campaign planning are rooted in narrative design? In this workshop, gaming veteran Monica Valentinelli introduces her “Spiderweb Method” for campaign planning and walks you through how to use it for longer story arcs. Also included is a list of tips and tricks to help manage your players to avoid railroading, give them what they want, but keep your story on track.

This workshop is appropriate for first-time or veteran GMs. Fans of Monica’s work will be familiar with the concept introduced in the Kobold Guide to Game Mastering.

Classes through the Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers are taught online and require a reliable Internet connection, although in the past participants have logged on from coffee shops, cafes, and even an airplane; a webcam is suggested but not required.

Date: Next class date is Saturday, December 12, 2020, 9:30-11:30 AM Pacific Time.

Cost: $99 ($79 for returning students and Patreon supporters, which includes classes/workshops with the Cat Rambo Academy in other venues, such as conference or convention workshops and mentoring sessions).

To sign up for this class, visit: Planning Your Tabletop RPG Campaign with Monica Valentinelli. Your email will be sent to the class administrator, Cat Rambo.

The post Save the Date! Learn Campaign Planning with Gaming Veteran Valentinelli first appeared on Monica Valentinelli.

You’re all invited to our #EXTRALIFE benefit #DnD game!

Hello everyone,

On Saturday, November 7th I’ll be raising money for sick kids by playing Dungeons and Dragons with a stellar group of players that includes Wesley Chu, Brent Weeks, Kevin Hearne, and myself during virtual GameHole Con. Join DM Amy Vorpahl as she runs our group through an amazing three-hour adventure! You can watch our game on Twitch. Just visit: twitch.tv/GameHoleCon at 7:00 p.m. CST on Saturday, November 7th.

If you’re stressed and worried about chipping in, please know there will be a LOT of silliness in our game and opportunities to donate. Here’s my page on ExtraLife if you haven’t already checked it out, too. If you can’t—that’s okay! I hope our game brings you a little joy.

Hope to see you virtually on Saturday!

The post You're all invited to our #EXTRALIFE benefit #DnD game! first appeared on Monica Valentinelli.

Newsletter Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes and Music Monday!

Hiya everyone,

I wanted to let you know I’ve migrated my newsletter to Substack, called it Monica’s Marvelous Musings*, and kicked off a new weekly newsletter about music**. Each week, I pick a song and write about it! You’ll see a few brief promotional updates when I have news to share, but… my heart’s not really in PR PR PR anymore. I’d rather write TO you than AT you.

I’m two weeks into the new series and I’m having a blast! Sharing these links with you, so you check out the newsletter.

“Good Morning Girl” by Journey
“Help Me Lord” by White Witch

* Literally, I picked all those words and topics because my website is “booksofm.com”. I’m many things, but a diva isn’t one of them. HAH!

** We’ll see what happens as this continues. I might even cover a few of the songs. Anything can happen!

The post Newsletter Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes and Music Monday! first appeared on Monica Valentinelli.

Preview for my Upcoming Horror in Games Class

Hello! I’ve published my first booksofm.com newsletter using Substack. As I mentioned in that post, I wanted to try something different and more personal. This week’s theme is a little treat–a writing exercise I’m discussing in my upcoming “Horror in Gaming” class.

Check out my very first booksofm.com newsletter on Substack!

The post Preview for my Upcoming Horror in Games Class first appeared on Monica Valentinelli.

Take My Horror in Games Class!

Popping in to share a brief message. I’ve got a fun class coming up!

Class: Horror in Games

Class Date: Saturday, October 24, 2020, 9:30-11:30 AM Pacific Time.

In gaming, the answer to “Is horror a mood or a genre?” is “YES!” In this workshop, gaming veteran Monica Valentinelli addresses how to include horror in your non-horror games, how to write horror game material without leaning on problematic tropes, and how safety tools can enhance your horror game’s experience. You’ll also learn a few off-page techniques that help facilitate that feeling of dread from start to finish.

Classes are taught online and require a reliable Internet connection, although in the past participants have logged on from coffee shops, cafes, and even an airplane; a webcam is suggested but not required.

This class will have downloadable slides. It will be appropriate for game writers and for DMs, too! Scholarships are available.

To sign up, visit: Horror in Games at the Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers. You will be signing up for the class with our fearless administer Cat Rambo!

The post Take My Horror in Games Class! first appeared on Monica Valentinelli.

A Listicle for COVID-19/Flu Supply Planning

Heya,

I threw this list together for a friend of mine. We were talking about a reasonable plan to stock up in anticipation of shipping disruptions and price jacking. Hope this helps!

Here’s what I used when I got sick:

1. Menthol/Vicks Vapor Rub: Opens the chest and allows the bronchial tubes to breathe. It’s an external application, which really helps.

2. Diffuser: COVID-19 dries you out. Hot water on the stove can, too, but I would add bath crystals or a homemade oil. You do have to be careful because there’s some oils that will harm your pets. I’d do a little research just to make sure.

3. Cough drops (variety): The best ones I used were Cepacol, but you do have to limit how many you have per day.

4. Supplements: Zinc tablets, Vitamin D, and a good multivitamin

5. Gatorade and/or Pedialyte: COVID-19 dehydrates the eff out of you, and you’ll need to drink water constantly. Having Gatorade/Pedialyte, even if it’s low sugar, will give you more mileage out of your fluids.

6. Bland prepared food: Canned chicken soup and saltines are a good option, but you might get sick of it. Some frozen foods would be good here, too. I’d stay away from spicy, but YMMV.

7. Painkillers/Fever Reducers: Definitely check your supply of acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and aspirin.

8. Digital Thermometer: Always a good idea. There’s some you can get that have extra covers, too. I did see a pulse oximeter on the prep list as well, and we just got ours.

9. Handkerchiefs: They’re reusable, cost-effective, and environmentally-friendly.

10. Laundry/Dish Detergent: Washing towels/sheets/dishes/hankies in hot water is essential. I absolutely recommend making sure you have extra detergent on hand.

11. Cold Medicine/Prescription meds: Goes without saying, but adding it to the list for due diligence.

12. Compression sleeves/socks: If it’s cold enough and you can stand it, they’ll help with your circulation.

13. Hand sanitizer/Lysol wipes: Tons of places are running low or are completely out; I’d keep an eye on this. If you haven’t tried your local office supply store, do check them out. In place of this, you can convert makeup/baby wipes or make your own. I’d strongly recommend getting decent paper towel if you do; otherwise they fall apart.

14. Reusable ice packs: Really good if you have a fever.

15. Brain turn-y/off-y entertainment: It SUCKS getting sick and self-care can be really hard. If you have movies/TV shows you’d like to watch on repeat, I’d absolutely make sure you have those accessible. It’s hard to go looking for things when you’re not feeling well.

Now Available! Coffee Mugs at Raven and Toad Studio

Hiya! Wanted to give you a quick update that I’ve added some fun, colorful coffee mugs and tumblers to Raven and Toad Studio. The designs are 8-bit and were inspired by my beadweaving patterns. There’ll be more of those soon enough!

Here’s one of the mugs. It’s called “Boos and Hexes” and is filled with spooky ghosts, pumpkins, a bubbling cauldron, and a witch’s broom. Yay!

I’m updating the store weekly, so if beads and 8-bit fun are your jam, do me a favor and heart the shop? Thank you so much!

Post Clarion Write-A-Thon Update!

Hiya!

I am so pleased to mention there were 550+ authors participating in the Clarion Write-A-Thon, and together we raised over $22,000! Thank you so much for sponsoring me and for helping fund this workshop! The Clarion Write-A-Thon is over, but the workshop offers donations year-round. I encourage you to support Clarion West!

My goal was six Italian fairy tale retellings and I was able to write four on top of regular freelancing. I had a great time with the workshop; I managed to revisit my productivity style and goals. What I’ve learned is that I need to go back to word count as my primary metric. I was going by project, but that doesn’t work for me anymore. Sometimes, I’ll write a small thing and call it a day if I have revisions to do, too–and right now I’m focused on productivity. I can’t sleep my way through this pandemic, because I can’t afford to. Instead, I’m going to focus on raw word count on top of whatever revisions I’m going through during the day, too.

Part of my challenge has been: “How do I keep up with blogging and writing?” I don’t know the answer to this right now, but I’ve set a goal of two posts per week–including this one.

I’m dealing with a lot of unknowns right now. The only certainty is my To Do list and whatever form that takes. I have decided to complete the Italian fairy tale retelling project on my own schedule and did add that to the list. So, on to the next To Do!

Other Clarion Write-A-Thon Posts

Week Zero: Outlining the Project
Week One: Brainstorming and Selection
Week One: More on Catarina the Wise
Week Two: Getting More Out of Habitica
Week Two: Draft Done! On to Liombruno

Week Three: The Fine Greenbird

About this Post: In exchange for sponsor support, I promised to highlight how I’m processing my identity as an Italian-American and daughter of an immigrant through brainstorming, story selection, and first drafts. If you’re keen on following my progress, warts and all, I encourage you to sign up for my newsletter. Clarion will be taking donations even though the Write-A-Thon has ended.

Announcing Raven and Toad Studio

Hello everyone!

Today, I am pleased to mention that I have opened up an Etsy store called Raven and Toad Studio. My plans for this store, including commissions, have been delayed due to COVID-19, so to start I am focusing on digital downloads for beadweaving patterns where I don’t have to ship you anything directly. I will have more uploaded soon! Most of my patterns will require knowledge of the basic stitch, but I’ll keep you posted as the store develops.

This is an example of a pattern you can purchase for a peyote-stitched beaded ring:

To start, I have some fun patterns. My philosophy is that you should be able to find adjustments regardless of your measurements. I do scale bigger for my patterns and include instructions to size up and down. There’s a few more elaborate designs I’m working on, too, that I think you’ll really enjoy. Exciting!

Clarion Write-a-Thon: Week 3 The Fine Greenbird

A short progress report this week!

I recently watched The Alienist and that series touches upon some of the issues I mentioned previously with respect to the historical treatment of Italian-Americans. (We’re now watching Doom Patrol. It’s VERY different!) Also: I miss sitting at a coffee shop to write. I stumbled across Coffitivity.com which gives me the benefit of “sounding” like I’m sitting there. Huzzah! I’m also slowly taking Italian again, and that’s been super fun.

Yep, it’s Thursday and I’m still noodling over how I want to retell “Liombruno.” It’s a traditional fairy tale that has two components to present a hero who’s worthy of being saved. My gut is telling me to “get weird” and I’m cuing off of the region’s mountains, forests, and streams. I could imagine a villager telling this story while gesturing to a grand palace atop the mountains.

I picked a new short story for week three. It’s called: “The Fine Greenbird” and it’s from Florenza, the capital of the Tuscany region in central Italy. This is a folktale with a strong theme of jealousy; it also resonates with the number three: three sisters, three offspring, three quests, and three judged. One aspect that stood out to me was the outdated belief that women have control over our bodies to determine the sex of a child. Mind you, the children are characters themselves, so I’ll have to mull over how I want to tackle this harmful and antiquated notion after retelling “Liombruno.”

Other Clarion Write-A-Thon Posts

Week Zero: Outlining the Project
Week One: Brainstorming and Selection
Week One: More on Catarina the Wise
Week Two: Getting More Out of Habitica
Week Two: Draft Done! On to Liombruno

About this Post: In exchange for sponsor support, I promised to highlight how I’m processing my identity as an Italian-American and daughter of an immigrant through brainstorming, story selection, and first drafts. If you’re keen on following my progress, warts and all, I encourage you to become my sponsor and sign up for my newsletter.