Terry Brooks Winner

The random number generator has done its thing, and the winner is one of my wonderful blogging buddies...

Michael Pierce!

Congrats, Michael! Michael selected Running with the Demon, which is a fantastic choice (not that there is a right or wrong choice with Terry Brooks, of course). Just email me your address, Michael, and I will send it off to you straightaway.

And for interest's sake, here is a synopsis of Running with the Demon from from Goodreads:

Nest Freemark has always been able to see feeders, creatures that feed on the darker side of human emotions. As a result, she has been enlisted to help guard the Sinissippi National Forest in Hopewell, Illinois, a place where magical creatures such as Pick, a sylvan, and Wraith, a ghost-wolf, still live. 

John Ross, a Knight of the Word, has sworn to serve the Lady, the voice of the Word, in the eternal battle against the forces of the Void. Every night, he dreams of what will become of the world if he should fail. John carries a staff that has the power to destroy demons and their ilk, but he is growing weary; he has spent his entire life fighting demons and doesn't have much to show for it. John's dreams send him to Hopewell, where he meets Nest. 

Unbeknownst to Nest, a demon also appears in Hopewell. His goal is the release an evil creature trapped in the forest. As the lives of these three characters entertwine, the fate of the world hangs in the balance. 

This novel, the first in Terry Brooks's Word and Void trilogy, combines our world with a world of demons and magic, and thrusts ordinary people into a fight as old as time itself.
 
Thanks to everyone who entered the contest!

Top 10 VG Countdown - #4: WARCRAFT III

No, I do not mean World of Warcraft, I mean the lesser known and much more awesome Warcraft III. Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos is a real-time strategy game released by Blizzard in 2002. An expansion, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, was released in 2003. It is probably my favourite game for LANing with friends, and because it is older, most computers and slower internets can handle it without lagging.

The game has four playable races, and they are each unique with their own strengths. They are human, orc, undead, and night elf. In multiplayer, you set up a base and pump out troops with the objective of destroying your enemy's army and base. You collect three resources to build your base and buy troops: gold, lumber, and food. You also hire heroes to lead your troops into battle, and each race has four unique heroes to choose from.

The fun thing about Warcraft is learning your race and what it can do. You can develop strategies according to your troops or hero abilities. What happens with me and my friends is that one of us will come up with a new strategy that will destroy the other, and then the defeated party will figure out a way to combat that strategy (sometimes by cheating and googling the solution), and it all begins again.

The campaign is also very fun with an interesting story that continues in Frozen Throne. It is a good place to start if you are just learning the game, because it teaches you how to use all four of the races slowly, so you won't be overwhelmed. The first couple levels introduce you to your hero and units, the next level will show you how to build a few basic buildings, and so on.

If you like real-time strategy games similar to Age of Empires or Starcraft, try this one out.

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There is also still time to enter my giveaway to win a book by Terry Brooks! I will be drawing the winner tonight. Enter by commenting on the post below.

Books on Writing

There are two types of writers who read books on writing: people who want to improve their work, and people who are procrastinating and want to do something, anything, associated with writing to make themselves feel better. I have read books on writing for both these reasons, and my advice is this: do not be the second type of person. Read books to improve your writing, to inspire you to write, to learn how professional authors write, but not in place of the act of writing. That being said, here is a list of five wonderful books that have inspired me and helped me to become a better writer.



On Writing by Stephen King

I am not a fan of Stephen King (I don't mean I dislike his writing; I mean I have never read any fiction by him), but this book is a fabulous compendium of writerly wisdom, tips, and life stories from an experienced author. Every writer I know who has read this book has loved it.







Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

Lamott has a refreshing way of encouraging writers through her stories and humour. I especially appreciate her advice on "Shitty First Drafts," and now I don't feel guilty when my writing sucks at first. It is nice to know professional authors have these problems too.

 The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White

Don't argue, just read this book if you haven't already. At about 100 pages, it is short and won't take you long. You won't regret it. This is a handy resource that I keep on my desk at all times as it concisely describes the elementary rules of usage, composition, and form that every writer should know.

Fiction Writer's Workshop by Joseph Novakovich

This is an excellent guide for writing fiction that includes advice on setting, character, plot, point of view, dialogue, voice, revision, and more. It also has exercises at the end of each chapter to help you practice the techniques discussed.







Sometimes the Magic Works by Terry Brooks

I like this one simply because Terry Brooks is my favourite author, so I am interested in learning more about him and how he writes. He tells about the lessons he learned with specific references to books he's written, and highlights the importance of outlining, showing instead of telling, and developing believable characters.






This post is part of the Insecure Writer's Support Group hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. We post the first Wednesday of every month. Check the link for some of the other blogs participating in this event! 

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There is also still time to enter my giveaway to win a book by Terry Brooks! Enter by commenting on the post below.

Terry Brooks Giveaway!

In honour of my blog reaching 100 followers and my placing third in Cherie Reich's Flash Fiction blogfest, I am hosting a giveaway! As Terry Brooks is one of my all time favourite authors, I have raved about him several times on this blog, so I thought it appropriate to give away a book written by him. So here's how it'll work: you can pick any book by Terry Brooks and I will send it to you right from Amazon. Leave a comment on this post telling me which book you would like to read, and I will randomly draw one winner on Friday, June 8. Open to US and Canada. One entry per person; no, you don't get extra entries if you blog or tweet about this giveaway or follow me, but I will consider you even more awesome if you do.

Check out my post on Terry Brooks to help you decide. Haven't read anything by Terry Brooks? You could start at the beginning with his first book, The Sword of Shannara, which is often compared to The Lord of the Rings because it is very similar. Or, you could start with my favourite of the original trilogy, The Elfstones of Shannara. Or, you could try my favourite series of all his Shannara books, The Voyage of Jerle Shannara, which starts with Ilse Witch. Not interested in epic fantasy? No problem--try Magic Kingdom for Sale--Sold!, which is a more lighthearted fantasy, or Running with the Demon, which is a darker urban fantasy. Wow, so many choices! What Terry Brooks book do you want to win?

Top 10 VG Countdown - #5: FINAL FANTASY IX

We have a guest poster visiting today to tell us about one of my favourite games, Final Fantasy IX (which is, incidentally, where my avatar comes from). Big welcome to Jeremy from Geeky Tendencies!

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Final Fantasy IX is a fantasy role-playing game, and the ninth game in the series. It was released in 2000, and was the third and last Final Fantasy game in the main series released for the PlayStation. This one is my favorite of the Final Fantasy games.

The main protagonist is Zidane Tribal; a thief, member of the Tantalus Theater Troupe, and womanizer. At the start of the game, the Tantalus group is hired to kidnap Princess Garnet til Alexandros XVII. Zidane, in charge of the kidnapping, finds that Princess Garnet is more than willing to go with the theater group. Garnet is worried about her mother, Queen Brahne, and the wicked changes the queen is going through, and seeks help from her "Uncle Cid," who hired the Tantalus Theater Troupe to kidnap her. During the operation, Vivi Orunitia and Adelbert Steiner become involved, much to Steiner's disdain.

When trying to escape, the Tantalus airship, the Prima Vista, is shot out of the sky and lands in the Evil Forest. This begins the group's quest to find out what is behind the Queen's changing personality, and to try to stop a full-out war.

Each character has a character class and a unique set of skills that can be learned. For instance, Vivi is a black mage and Freya is a dragoon. You can expand on their classes by equipping new objects to characters. Objects carry abilities, and equipping them makes the abilities accessible. By battling, you earn ability points (AP). If you earn enough AP while an object is equipped, the character masters the ability, and doesn't need the object anymore in order to use it.

I love this game because it was made to be a salute to the Final Fantasy series as a whole. The creators have included multiple references to past Final Fantasy games, and it was meant to have the Final Fantasy feel that the earlier games provided. It was also a delightful step back to the fantasy genre after the past two games had more of a sci-fi feel to them.

Although the art style and gameplay has reverted to that of earlier Final Fantasies, the storytelling has not. The plot explores many emotions and ideas such as fear, death, hope, and my favourite, the nature of existence.

Overall, I loved the storyline, the ability system, and the labyrinth-like dungeons. There is not much you can complain about in this game except for the graphics, but they were terrific for its time. Final Fantasy IX is a must play for any RPG fan.  

Jeremy is a science fiction and fantasy addict. If he is not nose deep in a book, you can usually find him playing video games or practicing juggling.

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Thanks for stopping by, Jeremy! Inspired to play some Final Fantasy now? I certainly am.

Top 10 VG Countdown - #6: DUNGEON DEFENDERS

If you are looking for an incredibly fun multiplayer game, look no further. Dungeon Defenders is a tower defense and action RPG released on October 19, 2011, by Trendy Entertainment. It was quite successful when it released, selling over 250,000 copies during the first two weeks. And I can see why. Some of my friends and I got a little bit obsessed with this game and played many, many hours of it because it is so addictive.

The game involves setting up towers and traps to defend against hordes of monsters that try to destroy a crystal you have to protect. Along with the towers, you also control a character that does melee or ranged damage, and can get armor, weapons, and familiars. There are originally four character classes (more were added later): the squire, who uses a sword and can set up barriers (don't ask me why he's not wearing pants. I really don't know); the apprentice, who uses a magic staff and sets up towers; the huntress, who lays down traps and uses a crossbow; and the monk, who puts down auras and uses a melee staff.

You can run through the campaign levels with a maximum of four players, and new maps and challenges have been added (like Capture the Flag!! Who can resist Capture the Flag?) that allow you to play with eight players. A neat feature of this game is that it is updated regularly, with new challenges, heroes, and downloadable content made available, which keeps it interesting. I used to play with the monk all the time, which I really enjoyed (he's really fast, and I like speed), but my new favourite hero is the Series EV, a robot that can lay down damaging beams and make a double of herself to attract and fool enemies.

Though my addicted craze over this game has faded now, it brought me hours of fun with friends and I still maintain it is a great game. Try it out with some buddies and you'll see what I mean.

Geek Pride Day and News

Jamie over at Mithril Wisdom has enlightened me about the importance of today: it is Geek Pride Day!! How did I not know about this? So go out, have a Star Wars marathon, watch Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, read a Terry Pratchett book, play a video game, have a round of Magic, or treat yourself to something geeky. I will not have time for anything major, but hopefully I will squeeze in a video game or something later tonight.

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I also made it as one of the six finalists in Cherie Reich's flash fiction blogfest! Woohoo! Thanks to Cherie for holding a wonderful blogfest and inspiring some terrific stories. I had tons of fun reading the other entries, and am honoured to have made it to the final round. Go and vote for your favourite!

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In other news, Rachel Morgan, a fabulous blogger and writer, has a new novelette out today, Traitor, third in the Creepy Hollow series. You can also get the first novelette of the series on Amazon for free on your Kindle this weekend, so check it out if you enjoy YA fantasy.