Raven Oak's Blog, page 59
May 1, 2015
Flashforward Friday: Carbon Nanotubes
I’m happy to have author, Stuart Thaman, here again for a guest post on carbon nanotubes and how his own experiences with prosthetic limbs shaped the future of his writing.
While I haven’t written much futuristic as far as novels go, I’ve been in love with sci-fi ever since I read Dune in high school. My first novel, Vatican Massacre, often gets categorized as futuristic sci-fi for a few reasons. Let me say here that it is indeed set in present...
April 30, 2015
Z is for Zelda
In today’s continuation of the A-Z Challenge, I give you:
Z is for ZeldaWhile not the first video game I ever played, The Legend of Zelda (1986) is the first non-platform video game I ever played.
I sucked at it.
But then, I sucked at most video games as a kid. What I enjoyed most about it was traveling on an adventure to not just collect rupees, but to defeat monsters and find treasure.
By the time The Ocarina of Time (1998) came out, I was well and truly hooked. The Legend of Zelda wove a stor...
Book Cover Throwback: First Book of Swords
This week’s Book Cover Throwback: The First Book of Swords by Fred Saberhagen.
What I Love about This Cover: The cover drew me in as a kid because there was a picture inside the hilt of the sword. I thought that was such a cool concept!
What I Don’t Love about This Cover: I hate that they called it a “fantasy epic” rather than a new “epic fantasy.” Semantics but it still bugs me.
Click here to view other Book Cover Throwbacks.
The post Book Cover Throwback: First Book of Swords appeared first on...
April 29, 2015
Y is for Yoshitaka Amano
In today’s continuation of the A-Z Challenge, I give you:
Y is for Yoshitaka Amano
I swear I wasn’t aiming to put all the artists at the end of the A-Z Challenge, but that’s where they ended up. If you’re a fan of the Final Fantasy video game series, you already recognize the name (or should!) as Yoshitaka Amano has done the concept art for the series since the beginning. (You should also check out F is for Final Fantasy and U is for Uematsu.)
Yoshitaka Amanois an amazing artist and not just be...
April 28, 2015
X is for eXperiment
In today’s continuation of the A-Z Challenge, I give you:
X is for eXperimentI tried to find a synonym for experiment(al) that began with X, even in other languages, but I failed in this task. Hence, I’m cheating on the X like most other folks doing the A-Z Challenge.
Most of my childhood was comprised of instability, so it’s not a surprise to those who know me that I’m a Type-A control freak. Doing things spur of the moment or taking risks isn’t one of my strengths, yet writing Class-M Exile...
Portrayal of Victims in SF/F
This post is a bit different from my normal posts as I’m tackling a serious topic that isn’t discussed enough in geekdom–the portrayal of victims in SF/F.
Great Aunt Dott, Grandma Lanoe, & Me
My grandmother, a retired teacher, taught me to read and write a pinch before I was three. I read through the typical Dr. Seuss and by six, graduated on to books like Howliday Inn and Tales of the Fourth Grade Nothing. I devoured my fair share of Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys, plus a little Shakespeare and...
April 27, 2015
What I’m…updates
I’m a little late as I’ve been very busy this month, but I updated the What I’m Reading, What I’m Watching, and What I’m Playing pages. Lots of beta-reading for Kat Richardson & critiquing for Gayle Clemans, watching Daredevil, and playing some new Pokemon 3DS games in my free time.
(FYI–Those pages are under the ABOUT RAVEN tab.)The post What I’m…updates appeared first on Raven Oak.
W is for Whelan
In today’s continuation of the A-Z Challenge, I give you:
W is for WhelanWhen I do my weekly Book Cover Throwback Thursdays, it’s difficult not to fill post after post with art from Michael Whelan, mostly because he’s incredibly prolific and has created cover art for over 350 science fiction/fantasy novels.
He’s painted book/magazine covers for Stephen King, Anne McCaffrey,Piers Anthony, Edgar Rice Burroughs,Melanie Rawn,Michael Moorcock, C. J. Cherryh,Robert A. Heinlein, and Tad Williams. He’...
Monday Night Gaming: Ascension
Publisher:
Stone Blade Entertainment
# of Players: 1-4 players* (yes, you can play with yourself)
Best with: 2 players
# of Expansions: 7 (as of 2015)
# of Parts: 1 board, 50 beads, 200 cards in the base set.
This game takes everything I love about Dominion and adds in the element of a center row. My first exposure to this game was via the iPhone App, but I enjoyed it enough to jump in on the physical deck builder.
General Mechanics: Like other deck builde...
April 25, 2015
V is for Van Gogh
In today’s continuation of the A-Z Challenge, I give you:
V is for Van GoghArt has always weaseled its way into my world–either through my own creations or my love of nature, symmetry, and lines.
When I was a child, I was picky about art. Abstract art went over my head, but paintings with literal interpretations often bored me. My tastes and preferences changed as I aged, though it wasn’t until a particular episode of Doctor Who that I felt a connection to Van Gogh.
Before that, I thought he wa...
