Gloria Oliver's Blog, page 12

Virtual Tourist - Yakuza 0 6/16/19

First off, Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there!


Mini Movie Review

Men In Black: International - They are back! With more attitude, bigger weapons, and the usual chaos! :P  The original theme music is back, so the film had a nostalgic vibe to it. There's even a painting in High T's office of J and K saving the world. :P  There's a recurring theme in the film they pound into you hard - the universe always puts you where you need to be when you need to be there. They stretch this out a bit much! And while some explanations on why things have happened are shown, there are others you have to infer from what's been presented. (For example: Why H changed so much in 3 years. And no, it's not the girlfriend. Though if you don't put it together yourself, it's gone :P) Cool effects, fast pace, overall a good ride! Rating: 3.5 out of 4 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission.)

Yakuza 0This is another Japanese console game that has been converted for PC. For the most part, they've done a good change over, though I have run into one issue on a keybinding that drove me nuts as it trapped me on a fighting style tutorial. Ugh.

It's 1988 in Kamurocho, a fictional small town/district in Japan. You're Kazuma Kiryu, one of two orphan boys who joined the local yakuza when they became of age. Kiryu is a straight shooter, who's gets set up for murder so the shame can be used against his boss in a tangled political power play.

In the middle of the serious storyline, there are substories to get involved in and mini-games (karaoke, pocket racers, baseball batting, etc.). Some of those are far from serious. Watching Kyriu pose with his pocket racer and doing his "I win!" bit are hilarious. Geek fun abounds!


One of the streets in Kamurocho at night. Loads of clubs and adult entertainment. Following my friend Majima to do some drinking.


The opposite side of the same street. Video stores, pachinko, and more.


Majima and Kiryu. Both orphans raised at the Sunflower Orphanage. It's financed by their boss, Kazama, which is why they both decided to join the yakuza. (He did try to dissuade them, but these two are stubborn.) (I love Kyriu's sideburns!!!!!!!!)


Look at the gorgeous woodwork! Upper floor on the Dojima HQ. (Dojima is the main Yakuza family in the zone.)


Kuze - one of the three top lieutenants in the Dojima family. He's willing to do anything to get a shot at being captain. A position currently held by Kazama, Kyriu's boss, who is currently in jail. (That ceiling is rad!)


Kuze's Yakuza tattoo - the King of Hell (Underworld). Heh heh.


Kyriu's yakuza tattoo - work in progress. He's currently pretty low in the ranks.


I really liked this image — the view from a top floor of one of the buildings in Kamurocho. Tachibana of Tachibana Realty is the man reflected in the window. A non-yakuza group who is also vying for control of the "Empty Lot."

Of course, I forgot to take a shot of the login screen. Fighting skill tree pic is also probably in order. DOH!

Have a great week!

Cover Reveals - Cross-eyed Dragon Troubles and Inner Demons

I am super excited to share the final covers for the second edition of "Cross-eyed Dragon Troubles" and "Inner Demons."

Both are the impressive work of Charles Bernard!

Check 'em out!



The books are still working through the sales channels to become active.

Currently, the Kindle versions of both are live, and the trade paperback for Inner Demons is out there as well. (Some issues with the generated cover template keep holding Crossed back. But it should be available soon!)

Both the trade paperback with Amazon are also part of the Kindle Matchbook campaign where if you buy the trade paperback version you get the Kindle version free. As a reader, I have been thrilled by this feature as it means I can start reading the book before it's made it to my door! Lol.

Here are some links for the ones that have gone live:

Cross-eyed Dragon Troubles Kindle

Inner Demons Trade Paperback

Inner Demons Kindle

The books will also soon be available through Ingram and in a jillion formats at Smashwords.

I still need to fix the web pages. So much to do! (And the day job is super full with the merger and system migration! Ugh!)


No rest for the wicked! Lol.

Mini Movie Reviews 5/26/19

Morning, all!

Pressed for time, so no Virtual Tourist this week. Instead, we have two Mini Movie Reviews and some news!


Aladdin This is a live-action remake of the animated 1992 Disney film with Robin Williams (uncredited at the time). They kept the flavor and fun found in the original animated version. Almost all the original songs were included (they left out Jafar's twisted rendition of Prince Ali. One of my favorites! Wah!), and some had minor lyric changes. (At the time the original was released, there was a lot of push back, so I guess they decided to be politically correct?) There is one new song for Jasmine. There are minor changes in plot, but they wove them in nicely, mainly having to do with Jasmine.

All the characters are represented, and they did a great job with the non-human ones.  Abu, Rajah, Iago (Since parrots can speak, he still does!), and carpet (carpet was awesome!). The special effects were great! Costumes were made to resemble those in the animated film. Will Smith did great as the genie. There were also bits of homage to the original thrown in as well.

Overall, they did an excellent job. Should be fun for the entire family. Rating: 3.75 out of 4 (I think I messed up my rating scale a few months ago. Ugh.) Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price to See Again.)



John Wick: Chapter 3 - ParabellumWhile Chapter 2 was a disappointment, Chapter 3 makes up for a lot of it. This chapter starts minutes after the end of Chapter 2. The High Table is taking steps to erase John from the world as well as anyone who showed him any mercy or favors. The fact it was one of their own who warped their rules to get his seat, is never admitted to and they want to crush it all away.

The action hardly ever slows — lots of inventive fighting scenes and weird locations. The fight in the stables got extra kudos as Keanu showed horse knowledge - watch John closely in that section, he always lets the horses know he is there. This is a basic bit of horse knowledge that will keep you from startling them and getting kicked! :) They even added a couple of western movie horse trick moments we've not seen in years! Nice.

I was super thrilled to see Mark Dacascos - he does an excellent job as Zero. Half fanboy, half ninja assassin. He was a riot! (The song playing at the sushi place is "Ninja Re Bang Bang" a super adorable song. Hubby knew what it was on the first few notes! lol) Some higher graphic violence in a couple of places. Halle Berry as Sofia was fun as well. Her dogs are awesome! Also quite nasty! Guys, you will cringe at what they do. Lol.

Betrayals, alliances, rule-breaking, this film will fill up your action quotient quickly! Left open for Chapter 4! Rating: 3.75 out of 4 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price to See Again!)
News! Re-edits on "Inner Demons" and "Cross-eyed Dragon Troubles" are complete! New covers by Charles Bernard are being converted to cover flats, and I will be sharing those with you soon - can't wait! They are awesome!

Virtual Tourist - Subnautica 5/12/19

(Looks like I didn't put last week's post in here. You can find it at www.gloriaoliver.com - Sorry!)

Mini Movie Review

Pokemon Detective Pikachu - This movie was so cute! It was awesome seeing all the pokemon with actual fur, feathers, etc. The story is more complex than expected. There are lots of red herrings to keep the audience guessing. All the weird stuff, like Pikachu being understood by Tim, all have explanations. This was a fun little film. I just wish they'd given Jigglypuff more camera time! Lol.  Rating: 3.75 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price to See Again!)Subnautica
This freaked me out. You could hear moaning through the water, but seeing it was such a surprise!

There are six or more of them, all different ages. You can tell by looking at the top carapace. This specimen is an older one. He has all sorts of plant life, coral and even some minerals on his shell.

A picture of the beast's underbelly. They are truly fascinating.

Sunset on the alien world. There is a lot of beauty here.

Glowing life form. Quite beautiful. The fauna and flora changes depending on what zone you find yourself in.

Drooping Stinger - gorgeous but don't get too close. They pack a bit of a punch. So be careful. (I also got carried away and let my oxygen get too low. Time to panic! lol.)

The still burning Aurora and the reddish moon. 

There is more than just water everywhere! Here's some dry land. Rescue is imminent. A passing spaceship picked up Aurora's distress signal.

We are not alone! A building of alien origin. Might there be alien lifeforms here as well? 
I did want to wish all the Mom's out there a fabulous and well deserved "Happy Mother's Day!"

Virtual Tourist - Tales of Berseria 4/7/19

Morning!
Mini Movie ReviewShazam - I will admit, though I love Zachary Levi, I wasn't too sure how this film was going to turn out. Luckily, it more than met expectations. The kids were fantastic! Plus the film had other elements they did not touch in the previews, which made for some unexpected surprises. The movie has a lot of levity, but it also shows there's darkness. Evil doesn't just come from monsters. Rating: 3.75 out of 5. (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price to See Again.)

Tales of BerseriaThis is a Japanese console game that has been converted for PC. You have the option of both English and Japanese for the voice-overs, which is nice. Unlike some games out there that have been brought to PC, they did an excellent revamp on this one.
I've not played this type of game before, where you have multiple characters that fight in a group, and you switch and maintain all of them. But the learning curve hasn't been too bad. :P
This is Velvet. The start screen goes through a small sequence, and she walks towards you as the game loads.
There is a demon blight that has spread across the land. One that turns people into monsters. Monsters that attack everyone around them.
This is Velvet's village. She lives here with her brother-in-law and her younger brother.
This is the forest just outside her village. The graphics are lovely. The little figure on the lower right means there's a dialogue sequence you can start by pressing 'T.'
A set of ruins past the forest. They sit atop a cliff overlooking the ocean. It is here that bad things will happen and alter Velvet forever.
Velvet's home at the village. Places you can enter have the blue dotted ring at the entrance.
Inside Velvet's home. That's her younger brother, Laphiset. He's a little sickly, but very bright. Velvet is rather overprotective of him.
Lovely view, no? Laphiset wants to see the world! Velvet just wants him safe.
A touching moment with her brother.
That night, however, is when everything changed...

Have an awesome week!

The Inevitability of Change 2019

2019 is proving to be a challenging year full of chaos and change. Change is not something we can always control. Sometimes it can lead to better things, and at others, not so much.Two major items hit in the last month related to the author side of my life. ConDFW
The first change, which was back in February (though I didn't realize it until this week), was that one of my favorite conventions put on their last round this year. After 17 years ConDFW will be no more. I had no idea this was their last year, and I wasn't able to attend this year and be part of the final event due to health reasons.
They went out with a bang! Which was wonderful. But I regret not having been there.This convention meant a lot to me. Back in the day, it was the first literary fantasy/science fiction convention I ever attended. It was the year I realized I had no choice but to get out there and network if I wanted any chance at a writing career. (I tend to be something of a wallflower and quite shy.) It was at that first convention that I first met Selina Rosen, Melanie Fletcher, and Jeff Turner. Meetings that had significant impacts on my life as they led me to Yard Dog Press and Zumaya Publications and my first publishing contracts.
I wish Dan Robb and all the other wonderful people who've worked so hard to put such a fun convention together many thanks for all the years of hard work. Kudos guys!

Start writing or type / to choose a blockMundania Press
The second change to hit this month was the closing of Mundania Press and their subsidiaries.
For the last couple of years or more, changes by Amazon to make the most of their self-publishing services, weird algorithms, the economy, and a ton of other factors have dried up revenue streams and forced many to go out of business. Mundania having to close has orphaned two of my novels - "Cross-eyed Dragon Troubles" and "Inner Demons." While all rights have reverted to me, it also means I need to find new homes for these two books.
I'm looking into several solutions to see which way (or ways) I want to use to bring them back in print. So do not despair! But it was definitely a shock to hear of the closing.
My fellow authors and the writing and publishing community are awesome, and several people have reached out to me with suggestions and even possible new homes for the two orphaned novels. It will mean a ton of work, research, and patience, but it's time to look forward rather than back.



I will keep you all updated on what direction I end up taking. It could even end up being one of the best things that could have happened, even if it doesn't feel like it at the moment. Wish me luck!

Virtual Tourist - GRIS 3/10/19

Well, between the health stuff, company merger, and daylight's savings time, my plans today were put in peril. But I will persevere!  Start writing or type / to choose a blockMini Movie ReviewCaptain Marvel - Depending on who you are and how deep you are in comic book fandom will make a HUGE difference on what you'll think about this film. It's a popcorn flick, entertaining with a lot of cute moments. As long as you don't look below the surface, it's enjoyable. Seeing a young Coulson totally did it for me. :P I thought Brie Larson did a great job. There's been a lot of flack about her not being able to act, but I didn't see that. If anything, I have to give her kudos for not just acting with words and expressions but her whole body. Carol Danvers' confident and easy attitude screams from the character just by how she walks down a corridor after the first escape.  While the errors regarding canon are many and various, some of the other problems were just lazy. For example, the Skrull Talos spoke like some punk out of the '80s and '90s when, if you take into account the timeline as presented, he had not yet spent much if any time on Earth. (If he had, there would have been several critical bits of information he would have already known about and therefore made the movie moot!). Another big one was with regards to the Kree. All Kree have blue skin, and all the movies and TV shows have presented them that way. The only exception is sometimes some have patches of pure white skin (which makes them looked down on). Rather than try to come up with a plausible reason to tell Carol why her skin was different, they just turned half the Kree population Caucasian. Lazy. If you can ignore stuff like that, you should enjoy the film. It had a nice pace, cool effects, excellent combat sequences, and Goose. I did love that they let the Skrulls have their super funky chins. Rating: 3.25 out of 4 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission.)  
Start writing or type / to choose a blockVirtual Tourist - GRISThe gardens are a wonderful area. It is also where you pick up the ability to SING! Singing affects things and is also visual. The rings you see here are from her voice. It also makes flowers bloom! Love the luscious colors. The unknown. Look a the gorgeous pastels!An underwater hallway in the gardens. You can't sing as a fish. The bush is made of water so I can swim in it. The yellow line flips the gravity. Gliding past the top drops you up to the floor/ceiling of the other side. Lol. I love the colors, the implied textures, even the depths.A half inverted area and major singing spot.The star path to the meeting the tortured self.It is just darn pretty!Hope you've been staying warm out there. Winter is still trying to hang on, but it is a losing battle. :P 
Start writing or type / to choose a block

Virtual Tourist - Witcher 3 2/17/19

My apologies for anyone who went/is at ConDFW looking for ChibiChains and myself and did not find us there. Unfortunately, I'm still having the issues that cropped up after surgery in November. I'd hoped the last set of meds would let me go to the con, but alas, it was not to be. I can go out for a bit, but sitting up straight for 8+ hours and the driving itself would have taken too much out of me. I'd thought about doing it anyway, but my family talked me out of it. I can't wait for them to figure out what is causing the mess and they get rid of it! Witcher 3One of the comic book style sections. Citri and her Elven protector.Geralt and one of his sorceress friends, following Citri's trail. They are about to enter deeper into a set of caves used by her elven protector. Pre-recorded message for Citri from the mysterious elf.The pictures of the Swallow are the crumbs to follow. This one, however, appeared to be a dead end. In reality, it was a magic portal. (And yes, that is one ugly piece of armor Geralt is wearing. lol.) The elf left some security measures in place. The earth elemental on the floor was cool looking and nasty! I brightened the image as much as I could. This is one of the members of the Wild Hunt. One of the elves searching for Citri for her elder blood. Magic flames. Nothing bad could happen here. Right? :PExit from the mysterious elf's cave. Citri was not there, but we learned a thing or two.He sure is pretty! :PHope you had a good weekend!

Virtual Tourist - GRIS 2/3/19

I am still recuperating. There's some inflammation the doctor is not sure why I have, so I get to do a couple of weeks of steroids. I hope this does the trick. So tired of not feeling normal. :P
GRISThe bird is a recurring entity. Currently helpful, though later it gets hostile.
Here I am hitching a ride on the bird to go to a new area.
We have arrived at the color Blue.
This is the forest in Blue. They do some really neat things in this zone as they merge wood and water elements.
This is a waterfall tree. The shrub areas are made of water, though you can stand on them as if they were solid. It gets trippy as the cloak now has the power of turning us into a fish. You can swim up the thicker waterfall sections into the cube sections.
That's me in the middle. Take a look at the scary shadow in the back! Eek!
The girl statues are a major element and what the voyage is about.
Isn't that a cool visual?
Now we are in Green. The farther we go the more complex things appear.
Red, blue, yellow and now all sorts of colors appear. This section is gorgeous. Once we get the power to sing, we will make it even more so.




Have a gorgeous Sunday!

Virtual Tourist - GRIS 1/27/19

 Greetings!It feels like forever since I've done a post. To say 2019 has so far been an insane roller coaster ride is an understatement. Between gallbladder surgery, year-end/ at work, the audit, some medical scares with hubby, and more, my tray has been more than filled. I am ready for things to slow down!I did get a steam card for Christmas, so I bought several games to keep me occupied. GRIS is a platform game in 2D with lovely visuals, many giving a 3D impressions. It's filled with puzzles and colorful changing vistas and no words. One neat thing about the game (aside from its evil imagination and lovely presentation) is how things that are a hindrance in some sections you end up having to use to help you finish puzzles! GRIS You begin the game just as you see above. No explanations. You wander through a desolate landscape.Loads of interesting fauna and flora.Once you find some stars and are able to follow the path, you will discover the color red. You find yourself in a harsh and angry land. Yet one still filled with beauty.Neat formations can be found everywhere. The one constant in all the lands are the various statues of a woman crying. Neat images like this one abound. Emotionally moving images abound.Once you discover Green, the more colorful the world becomes. Each color discovered adds new depths to the surroundings. This large bird recurs many times and is one of the giant animals spurring the girl forward. It isn't always friendly.The music in the game is also lovely. It enhances the mood and even hints at coming changes. A super imaginative game, leaving you stumbling around much as the main character is, yet with discovery and wonder around every corner.I hope 2019 is treating you well!