Dribs, Drabs, and Newslings

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Phew! Coming off a very intense “get thine house in order” weekend. My plants are complaining a bit. My dryer busted, too. Feh. It’s too hot and my greenery, save the jalapeno plant, is not liking the humidity. See also: I think my carrots are ready to be pulled up, but I have NO idea if that’s true or not. My endive is looking fairly pathetic, like a scribbly-scrawny green mutation. I’m thrilled my mini rose bush is doing well, but then again… Not sure what to do *next* with it. Will it survive through the fall? I do not know, though I would like to get some purple flowers to off-set the yellow and orange I have — because pink is too girly. [Insert nerdy rant about how pink used to be a boy’s color and it changed for marketing-related purposes.] Where’s Captain Planet when you need him?

Anywho, it’s been wands a-flying there this morning. I’ve added some panels for my Geek*Kon schedule and am starting to prepare for my GenCon events, including a reading, panels at the GenCon Writer’s Symposium, and signings at the Margaret Weis Productions booth. I’m really excited about the release of the Exclusive and am happy to see a lot of speculation about it. We posted a sneak peek last week and that’s gotten some interesting commentary. After that, it’s wrangling all the details for my trip to WorldCon in October.

We’re experiencing an unnatural (as in: hot enough to fry eggs on a sidewalk) heatwave, which means I’ll continue to hide in my house. I wither and shrivel up like the Wicked Witch of the West when it’s too hot. Cold’s more my thing. Well, the Fall — provided we get a “true” sweatshirt-and-shorts season. With hiding, comes the inevitable movie catch-up. I saw Anna Karenina which was a stunning, underrated film. This was spectacular.

And then I saw Upside Down. It was awful. Just… It wasn’t just the non-existent science bits, the romance wasn’t believable, because the starring pair were never not in love. They were separated by memory loss and obstacles, but there was nothing internal that they each had to overcome. Love at first sight made this movie impossible to pull off, because when two characters are already at that starting point and are then separated (but don’t necessarily feel the pain of that) when they get back together, there’s nothing gluing them to the viewer. There’s no tension, no conflict. It’s just: “Meh.” And don’t get me started on the gravity of the… Um… smexx0rs.

In other drabbles, there are many fine games which were nominated for a 2013 ENnie Award. Those announcements went live today and Rimward, which is a game I contributed to, was one of them. Congrats to all!

I’ve also had an update on my first comic. (Yep, that’s not going to get old… Is it?) Last Man Zombie Standing will debut as a stand-alone release from Red Stylo Media. I’ll get the specifics on the date soon. But… Yeah, no pressure. NO PRESSURE. GAH!

That’s all from me today. I’ve got to get back to the dread. office. cleaning. [Insert Booooooooos here.] I need a clutter-free space because a waterfall of words is coming on. When I get like this, you can set me up with a caffeine IV and forgive me for muttering around the house to myself. It’s time to kick all my creative projects into overdrive. Boo-yah.

    Mood: Gorramn it. I hate being trapped inside my house because it’s TOO hot.
    Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: Not enough. (Rectifying quickly.)
    Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Select, Start
    In My Ears: I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor. Changing the channel in 3… 2… 1…
    Game Last Played: *coughs* Candy Crush. Otherwise known as the time-sucker.
    Book Last Read: Shadow something or other. It’s a re-read. Studying, yo.
    Movie Last Viewed: The Arrival. Yep, it’s Charlie Sheen on normal.
    Latest Artistic Project: *Still* *still* *still* need to take pictures…
    Latest Release: “The Button” We Are Dust anthology and for gaming, a fun Scion: Extras (Supplemental Yet Can Be Somewhat Useful On Occasion Scions)




Monica Valentinelli is an author, artist, and narrative designer who writes about magic, mystery, and mayhem. Her portfolio includes stories, games, comics, essays, and pop culture books.

In addition to her own worlds, she has worked on a number of different properties including Vampire: the Masquerade, Shadowrun, Hunter: the Vigil, Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn, and Robert E. Howard’s Conan.

Looking for Monica’s books and games that are still in print? Visit Monica Valentinelli on Amazon’s Author Central or a bookstore near you.

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