Taven Moore's Blog, page 34

[Bre] Novel Cure

Note from Tami: A guest post by my VERY good friend Bre! This is what happens when you send me good emails. I coerce you into blogging for me. And yes, I have already tried and failed to get Anne to blog for me. I haven’t given up, even if she IS stockpiling otters to use against me.

Novel Cure

We have all heard the phrase, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”

But what about the using a book instead? Any bibliophile will tell you, a good book does more than just give us a memorable story.

A good book, read at the right time, can change your life. It can help heal your heartache, your sadness, boost your spirits, make you smile or even make you call your mother.

But while we all recognize the healing attributes of a great book, sometimes you need a little help finding the right book to do the job.

Today, a friend of mine forwarded a link to a new help book coming out on September 26th. It is called The Novel Cure: From Abandonment to Zestlessness: 751 Books to Cure What Ails You.

The amazon blurb gives a great idea of what you are getting with this book:

Structured like a reference book, readers simply look up their ailment, be it agoraphobia, boredom, or a midlife crisis, and are given a novel to read as the antidote. Bibliotherapy does not discriminate between pains of the body and pains of the head (or heart). Aware that you’ve been cowardly? Pick up To Kill a Mockingbird for an injection of courage. Experiencing a sudden, acute fear of death? Read One Hundred Years of Solitude for some perspective on the larger cycle of life. Nervous about throwing a dinner party? Ali Smith’s There but for The will convince you that yours could never go that wrong. Whatever your condition, the prescription is simple: a novel (or two), to be read at regular intervals and in nice long chunks until you finish. Some treatments will lead to a complete cure. Others will offer solace, showing that you’re not the first to experience these emotions. The Novel Cure is also peppered with useful lists and sidebars recommending the best novels to read when you’re stuck in traffic or can’t fall asleep, the most important novels to read during every decade of life, and many more.

I love this idea and will be downloading it as soon as the 26th arrives. This is one reference book, I think we all can use!

Related posts:

Rebel Tales
[Perry] Books That Grow Up With Us
Race for the Cure

A Poem For A Puppy

Nine puppies squeaking

Our interest piquing

At pictures peeking

Our life plans tweaking

Three sweet girls and six sweet boys

Melting hearts with tiny joys

We both agreed

A bully breed

Of Moorehound creed

That’s just right, indeed

One sweet girl or one sweet boy

Which to pick? I’ll keep it coy.

(I know, I know, I’m a terrible poet. Enjoy it in the eye-rolly spirit of fun with which it was intended)

Puppy

Steven and I are getting a puppy!

But which puppy shall it be? Oh my stars and garters, that’ll be the subject of another post entirely. In the meantime? LOOK AT THOSE PUPPEHS.

Also? “Moorehound” is what we’re calling pup’s breed. They’re wide-grinning bully pups, no mistake about it, but people get weird about that. Besides. It’s a Moore, born and bred (litter whelped by a dog owned by Steven’s dad). Moorehound fits.

Related posts:

Adagio Pokemon Tea Sampler Reviews
Popcorn Pup
If You Were A Vampire…

[Steven] Videorama – How Schools Kill Creativity

Note from Tami: Steven’s agreed to pick up the Friday time slot and provide links to awesome videoes from around the web.

Today’s pick? A fascinating TED talk on how schools kill creativity, by Ken Robinson.

Related posts:

There’s a Newsletter?
[Steven] I Am The Hero

Harry Potter Book Club

As I brushed the dust off my Harry Potter books (again), I realized it’d been a long time since I’d visited Hogwarts.

Who wants to read the books with me? I was thinking we’d get started in October and read one book a month.

If you want to be in the email list group (which will include folks from my work) email me at tami@tamimoore.com and I’ll put you on a mailing list.

I’ll put up end-of-the-month posts to talk about Quiddich, Muggles, and Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Related posts:

Writing Book Giveaway : Save the Cat!
How To Review A Book on Goodreads or Amazon
Question 1 : Book Recommendations

[Perry] Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

So yeah, I know. This is a double dose of gaming goodness, but I recently completed this game and thought it might appeal to some of you out there.

Brothers begins with two sons realizing that their father is sick. They are told that he CAN be cured…but the journey to retrieve said curative will be long and dangerous.

The brothers set off, as good sons would, in order to find what’s needed to make their father well.

Brothers is touted as a “single-player coop” experience. And that strange description actually does the game justice.

The gimmick is that you control each brother at the same time using the two analog sticks. The left stick controls the older brother and the right stick controls the younger brother.

You can interact with the environment with each brother by pulling on the left or the right triggers.

So, if your brain is stretchy enough, you can have both brothers running around independently, performing actions to solve the puzzles in the game.

A lot of the puzzles are built solely for this mechanic. You might need to use one brother to distract a monster while the other stands ready with the lever that will spring the trap.

You might be climbing up a cliff together, linked by rope, and have each brother swing around in tandem to reach new areas.

You might need to cross a river, except the younger brother can’t swim, so you make the older brother swim while the younger brother hangs onto his back.

All of this and more.

It’s an interesting experience, and actually makes me feel almost dyslexic at times.

I would have them both running around fine for a while and then suddenly completely lose track of which stick controls which brother. What would end up happening is that they’d be running together and, suddenly, both of them would sprint in opposite directions away from each other. I’d eventually wrangle my mind into identifying which brother is attached to which stick and proceed apace but these incidents occur with disturbing frequency.

Turns out? I’m not nearly as ambidextrous as I thought.

Still, the game is a gem.

Gorgeous and lush visuals/environments. A LOT of little touches went into the world building, even if you don’t really explore every single ramification during the course of the game.

But wandering through these areas show a lot of love that went into putting the world and the environments together.

The story is strong, which is damned strange given the fact that there’s no narrative. When the characters speak, they do it through a babbling made-up language so you get most of your comprehension from their actions and gestures.

Most of the interaction between the brothers is done through the same way, and the only words they ever really say to each other is calling out each others names. You DO see their very distinct personalities shine through, though.

Using the older brother to wake up the elderly guide will have him gently shake the man by the shoulder to get  his attention.

Use the younger brother to wake him up? He’ll grab a bucket of water and splash the poor old geezer.

The game is short, clocking in around 3 hours only so the more frugal among you may want to wait on a sale of some sort but the couple hours you play are pretty engaging ones. The control gimmick actually pays off in a HUGE way right near the end of the game (if you’ve beaten this game, you know exactly what I’m talking about) and it’s something that really made me sit up and take notice.

Brothers is currently available on PC, Playstation, and Xbox so whatever your fancy, if you care to give it a try, it should be available.

A word of warning though, if you DO pick it up for PC (on Steam), the game DOES require a controller to play. You cannot play without one.

Related posts:

[Perry] Card Hunter
Wii Game Reviews
[Perry] Counterattack! Puzzle and Dragons

Pokemon Sketchthings

Just so you guys don’t think I’ve been neglecting my duties, have some pokemon sketches.

I didn’t like the first charmander much, so I did another one. =]

The sketchbook I’m using isn’t very well suited to the type of pencil I’m working with, alas. The lead is weak and the paper toothy.

Still! Good enough for sketching, and I like a few of them well enough to take the time to digitally ink and maybe slap some color on!

Related posts:

Morality and Pokemon
Adagio Pokemon Tea Sampler Reviews
Sketchthings

I Am Not a Strong Person

Sometimes (actually, pretty often) I feel like a fraud.

All of my writing is self-published (even the Holly Lisle book wasn’t done through a traditional publisher).

I don’t write every day. Heck, I don’t even write MOST days. I get sick or grumpy or tired or whatever, and I convince myself it doesn’t matter.

What right do I have to get on this little soapbox and try to convince anyone to listen to me? What makes me think I have anything to say worth listening to?

I’ve been sick with a cold lately (which explains why Perry had to pinch-hit on Monday for the post) and I used some of that time to watch an anime rapidly growing in popularity, Attack on Titan (Warning: serious, bloody, horrificly good anime. Do not watch if squeamish, but it’s available on Crunchyroll).

There’s a quote in there said to a character who has the option of taking the easy way out and getting an easy job protecting the capitol OR taking the suicide job of being on the front lines attacking the titans. The quote is this:

I hope you won’t get mad when I say this… But you aren’t a strong person. So you can relate to how the weak feel.

This struck me, even through my nyquil-induced haze.

Steven makes me stronger than I could have ever been. He’s constantly encouraging me and holding me up and making me a better person.

The posts on this blog aren’t my way of saying “here is how I am succeeding” … they’re my way of saying “here is how I am failing, and what I plan to do to fix it.”

You guys and your support and commentary and appreciation? That keeps me going. Tells me I’m doing something right. Giving something back and helping others instead of just consuming.

I am not a strong person, but that just means I can relate to how the weak feel.

Related posts:

[Perry] First Person Perspective
Be Today The Person You Want To Be Tomorrow
The Myth of Strong Female Characters

[Perry] Card Hunter

So do you guys remember the last time I found a new game and I got all giddy and excited because it was like Pokemon and Bejeweled put on some Barry White and had some sweet, sweet lovin’?

Maybe you tried it and maybe you didn’t.

And if you didn’t? I don’t think less of you for it.

I mean, maybe Pokemon didn’t really fire up your imagination when you were a kid…or an adult. Though, I can’t imagine why not…

Or you know? Maybe Bejeweled wasn’t your thing. Maybe the allure of matching three colors and having them explode and drop down into a frenzy of slot machine lights and colors as you CHAIN REACTION EXPLODE A SHITLOAD OF GEMS didn’t get your blood pumping.

And that’s okay.

But I have another demented flipper baby game here that might do you instead.

This is Card Hunter.

Essentially? It’s a mashup of collectible card games (Magic: The Gathering anyone?) and Dungeons and Dragons.

Throw in a couple elements of turn-based strategy, a healthy pinch of nerd humor and stir.

The way the game works is that you work through a single-player D&D style campaign. You have three little figurines that compose your party and they’re formed of various fantasy archetypes like humans, elves, or dwarves, aligned into the classes of warrior, wizard, or priest.

You move your little figurines around a tiled dungeon environment, and you complete missions to open treasure chests which will yield a bountiful harvest of loot (joy!).

Every piece of loot you can equip comes with a range of action cards. They can be anything along the lines of movement cards, attack cards, spell cards, trait cards, etc, etc.

Every turn, your character draws five action cards from the total pool of his available cards (based on what gear he’s wearing) and can act depending on that.

There are various mission types, ranging from protect missions to king of the hill style missions and the classic “kill everything that’s not you” missions.

There’s a multiplayer component as well where you can fight against other people. The rewards for winning multiplayer matches are bigger and better treasure chests.

There’s a matchmaking style system as well if you’re more into the “I wanna be the very best” instead of the single-player experience.

The game itself is free to play but you can spend real money to buy different skins and appearances for your characters, extra gold to buy more loot with, and even extra character types and whatnot.

In all seriousness, it’s a pretty clever and fun idea. If you’ve got any geek cred at all (ever play D&D or Magic when you were young?), this game will feel like you’re settling back into some childhood shoes.

If you never were interested in things like that when you were younger?

Hey, the game’s free…why not give it a try?

You might realize what you’ve been missing.

Related posts:

Review : Monster Hunter Tri
The Games We Play
[Perry] Shaping Player Behavior

[Perry] Vive La Revolution!

The time has come at last!

For too long we’ve labored under the smothering lovemuffins and affectionate pastry weapons of the tyrant known only as the Authoress.

For too long! We’ve waxed satisfied by her literary logic-bombs and incessant desires that we keep improving our writing technique, and to read for joy and laughter.

FOR TOO LONG! We’ve dealt with her obnoxiously adorable animal pictures.

Well, I say to you, we’ve had enough!

Our time has come!

Quickly, my fellow compatriots! The tyrant cannot post from her Fortress known only as Work.

Now is our time to rise up, before she can react! Before she can take back the power!

THE TIME OF PERRY IS NIGH!

Watch as I break the rules of the blog with gleeful abandon! Watch as I post on a Monday!

I will post on a Monday! I will post on ANY day!

I HAVE THE POWER!!!!!

…………Also?

I have been instructed to inform you all that the Tyrant–I mean…our dear authoress hasn’t been able to put up a blog post for today.

I am to post her apologies, her lovemuffins and a gif of an otter.

Hence:

Oh!

PS: Somewhere in this linked contest is a story by the Tyrant. As well as myself (the dashing rebel leader), and brebrebre (the faithful companion to said rebel leader who changes allegiances and sides with the Tyrant instead).

Read and vote along if you dareZ

Related posts:

On Missing Youtube Videos
[Perry] And Suddenly – Flood
Rebel Tales

A Hard Truth

I have (somewhat selfishly) kept a secret from you guys.

Neens died last year.

I told a few folks, but for the most part, I didn’t say anything publicly. It still hurts. Terribly and horribly and unfairly and the fact that the vet told us we’d pulled off two miracles even getting him as far as we did doesn’t dull the sting of it.

He was an amazing, incredible, awesome cat, and it sucks that just as we started to get his diabetes under control, we found out he had cancer. And then it sucked even more when the chemotherapy didn’t help fast enough to fix his liver.

I did something I never do, and closed the comments on this post. You are all very incredible awesome people, and I’m sure you’d be wonderfully sympathetic. Even now, more than a year later, I just can’t handle that.

I’m telling you NOW because it seems weird to keep it a secret, and because we’re finally talking about getting another pet and I didn’t want to have to field questions about whether or not the newcomer would do well with Neens.

Writing this post is hard enough.

Thank you for the well-wishes I know you would give me if I’d let you.

Cancer sucks, be it human or animal.

Related posts:

Art: All Cats Are Big Cats
Mary Sues, The Dirty Truth
Race for the Cure