Raven Oak's Blog, page 64
March 24, 2015
A-Z Challenge & Theme
Yes, yes, my writing buddy Leetah Begallie managed to rope me into the A-Z Challenge for April (as if I didn’t have enough on my plate!). I figure I could use a little reflection amidst the chaos.
For my A-Z Challenge, you can expect a Hodge-Podge of Influences & Wayward Treks through the Fantastical.
In other words, what:
makes me me as a writerinfluences me in profound waysis beautiful in my worlddrives me crazyI’m not going to list my entire A-Z list here, but some of what you can expect to s...
What I’m…Update
I recently updated the What I’m… pages, so if you’re curious, check out:
What are you currently up to?
The post What I’m…Update appeared first on Raven Oak.
March 23, 2015
Monday Night Gaming: Dragons of Tarkir
This week’s Monday Night Gaming: Dragons of Tarkir‘s release. This past weekend was the Magic: the Gathering Dragons of Tarkir Pre-Release. Due to my having a book event this weekend, I didn’t have time to play in the pre-release tournament, but we went for a short time to get the pre-release box.
Couple this with Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund and my Dragon Tempest card and… :D
Back before this set was announced, I was already planning a 5-color EDH/Commander dragon deck. This release and that befor...
Book Event Wrap-Up
Here’s the Book Event Wrap-Up for those that missed it. If you missed the live Amaskan’s Blood event this past Saturday, you can watch the stream on YouTube. The event went fairly well, with the exception of a few networking issues because my 7-year-old laptop sucks. We had one glitch and one network drop, but I’ve edited the video and cut out the gaps. Sorry about that. (Buy more books so I can get my new laptop sooner?)
Some folks couldn’t figure out the Q&A portion, so if you had a question...
March 22, 2015
The Transition of Art
I didn’t notice cover artist K. E. Clausen sneak this in on her Tumblr account, but she’s got an interesting bit of discussion on the evolution of Amaskan’s Blood‘s cover art from its drawn infancy to the final digit form. The transition of art is always fascinating to me!
She also talks more about it here.
The post The Transition of Art appeared first on Raven Oak.
March 21, 2015
Book Event Reminder!
Just a reminder about today’s book event!WHO: Ooo! I know this one! Me! Me!
WHAT: It’s a virtual book event for those that couldn’t make the one in Seattle. I’ll be reading from my Amazon bestselling fantasy, Amaskan’s Blood, and my upcoming sci-fi novella, Class-M Exile. I will also do a Q&A so ready those questions!
WHEN: Saturday, March 21st at 6 PM PST
WHERE: Google+ and YouTube
More information is on the event page at:
https://plus.google.com/events/cm3ahtjoofor6cgqroub31ur0k8
Click one to vi...
March 20, 2015
Flashback Friday: Three Men
For this week’s Flashback Friday post, I’m happy to have fantasy author, Django Wexler, here for a guest post on how Isaac Asmiov, David Brin, and Neil Gaiman influenced him as a writer.
I started reading in the pre-Potter world, before J.K. Rowling‘s juggernaut convinced the publishing industry that kid’s books could be deep and fun at the same time and created modern YA. I like to joke that all I had growing up were Goosebumps and Newbery Award-winning books about dead dogs. While it’s not q...
March 19, 2015
Book Cover Throwback: Small Gods
This week’s Book Cover Throwback: Small Gods by Sir Terry Pratchett.
What I Love about this Cover: I came late to the Discworld party, so I didn’t read this as a child. Despite that, I love the old covers for these because there is so much detail to them.
What I Don’t Love about this Cover: I wish Sir Pratchett was still alive to give us another 70 books with awesome covers. 
Click here to view other Book Cover Throwbacks.
The post Book Cover Throwback: Small Gods appeared first on Raven Oak.
March 18, 2015
Review of Cracked!
This past week I read Cracked! A Magic iPhone Story by Janine Southard, which is a bit of magic set in Seattle, WA.
In Cracked!, there are three main characters: Morena, who’s obsessed with an iPhone sent to her by her ex-boyfriend; Suzyn, who’s addicted to cocaine and Morena’s roommate; and Magic Guy, a near-immortal magical being who enjoys tabletop gaming with the two women.
At first glance, the book appears to be about a magic iPhone, but in reality, the story is really about three people a...
Review of My Sister’s Grave
A few weeks ago, I decided to give author Robert Dugoni’s books another go and picked up his newest, My Sister’s Grave. I’d previously read The Conviction, which was a decent enough read, but it wasn’t my cup of tea.However, My Sister’s Grave was nothing like The Conviction.
The main character, Tracy Crosswhite, is a cop. When she was a teen, her sister disappeared. Edmund House was tried for her murder, but even twenty years later, Tracy doesn’t believe he was the murderer. The evidence doesn...
