I did it. A few weeks ago I saw an article talking about Disney+, the next big streaming service that was coming out. I had heard rumors of it for quite a while, but figured I’d wait and see if anything actually came of all the noise. Something DID come of all the noise, and when I looked at the absolutely massive offering from all the things Disney now owns I had to check it out.
The article sent me to a link, the link made an offer. It was one I couldn’t refuse.
What a collection, just on the front images, right?
I actually paid for 2 years up front to receive some kind of crazy discount thing. I did it. Anyone that’s read here for some time will realize that I’m not usually an early adopter of this sort of thing. In this case, I couldn’t resist.
I’m hopeful that it will be worth the investment for more than just the collection of things I’ve seen before, but given my past experiences with Disney if there’s one thing they DO know how to do it’s entertain.
I will be attending Philcon again this year as a guest. I am always grateful to be asked to participate. Schedules were recently announced. A number of my friends have posted their schedules already, but I held off just a little. I’m still adjusting to the idea of what I signed up to do…
Fri 6:00 PM in Plaza II (Two) (1 hour) INTRO TO URBAN FANTASY (3632)
[Panelists: Vikki Ciaffone (mod), Eric Hardenbrook, Elektra Hammond, Bruce Dykes, Michael Hanson]
Contemporary Fantasy, Portal Fiction, and yes, Paranormal Romance- what makes this genre distinct from other kinds of fantasy? What books make the best entry point into the various subgenres
Fri 10:00 PM in Plaza III (Three) (1 hour) CROSSING THE STREAMS (3619)
[Panelists: Aaron Feldman (mod), Eric Hardenbrook, Joseph Haughey]
The old policy of fan artists and writers carefully avoiding any contact with The Powers That Be is becoming untenable in the age of Social Media, where actors routinely retweet fanfic and fanart of their characters and more professional authors are going public about their history as fanfic writers. But some boundaries are still useful to maintain. How can fans and professionals coexist in this new status quo
Sat 11:00 AM in Crystal Ballroom Three (1 hour) HOW DOES A READER DISCOVER NEW AUTHORS? (3492)
[Panelists: Elektra Hammond (mod), Timothy Pratt, Elyse Rosenstein, Mary Spila, Eric Hardenbrook, Phil Giunta]
In a world where people are more likely to order new releases by their favorites off of Amazon than drive to a bookstore and browse, how do readers find authors they hadn’t previously heard of
Sun 10:00 AM in Crystal Ballroom Two (1 hour) ROSIE OR THE ROOMBA? (3678)
[Panelists: Eric Hardenbrook (mod)]
Modern science fiction frequently depicts advances for the spaces we live in as dependent on the technology inside of them. What are some advances in the technology of the actual buildings around us today?
It’s the last one that caused me to hesitate. You read it right – that panel is all me. I have the hour all to myself. IF it all goes wrong, it’s all on me. So I’m going to start digging in and getting my program ready.
This review was originally published in Watch The Skies – October 2019 issue.
The
Bodhana Group is a nonprofit organization that advocates the use of
tabletop gaming as a directed therapeutic and clinical practice that
can benefit personal growth as well as enhance social and educational
services to individuals and families.
Over the weekend of October 11 through 13th
they also ran their annual convention “Save Against Fear”. IF
you’re in the Central Pennsylvania area and enjoy playing games, I
would highly recommend putting this event on your calendar.
This
year was the ninth year for the event and the third time I had
attended. I was not alone. The con this year brought in about 450
people from all across the area and nearby states. The convention
took over a large space in a local mall and used it all. There were
literally dozens of games running at any given time all weekend long.
Role playing games, computer simulation games, board games, card
games – even beta test games. There were at least six game design
groups set up and showing off their latest creations. Massive
miniatures displays and games took up the rear section of the game
floor covering everything from the Civil War to Star Wars. The
miniatures on display were painted in myriad colors and stood out
against all sorts of terrain. Some folks took the opportunity to
learn how to paint the minis and add spectacular bases to them. In
short, if you like to game this was the place to be.
Registration
was right up front. It was fast, clearly marked and a breeze to get
through. In fact, all the aspects of the convention were super
smooth. There was a bake sale if you needed a snack. Vendors took
over a section of the floor and brought a wide variety of items in
for sale, from art to books to the next set of dice that you clearly
need.
The game designers had a lot of interesting things to play test and
just have plain fun with.
The
single biggest part of the con was the game library. It’s massive. It
was overwhelming. When I say those thing it feels a bit like
hyperbole, but there were hundreds of games to chose from. The games
were all laid out along a huge set of tables and roughly divided into
sections based on how long it would take to play the game. If you can
name the game, I’d wager it was there. I know there are some skeptics
out there but when I saw Gnip Gnop, Payday, and Canasta next to the
Mork and Mindy board game I began to have trouble choosing what to
play. If there’s any criticism of the con it would be that. The game
selection was too much if you were even a tiny bit unsure what to
play. The best part would be the fine folks working all the tables.
All the people working were gamers and fans of the work they do. They
were happy to come up with a recommendation based on what you were
thinking and even an explanation of how to play if somebody in your
crowd didn’t know how to play.
The
convention had easy parking, easy access via the mall and was just
down from the food court. The staff was fantastic, the games and
programs were smooth as could be. I know I’m missing some of the
things that were going on (Oh yeah! There were raffles and a silent
auction too) but I think that’s what’s going to recommend this con
the most. There was a ton to do all weekend long. If you’re in the
area next October I would highly recommend you make your way there. I
know I’m looking forward to it already.
There’s a hole in my blog. We’re going to call that hole August and September.
Most people have the overwhelming urge
to apologize for not posting. There will be excuses and statements
declaring passion and a list of things that are going to show how the
blog has not faded and will be moving forward at a great pace!
That’s not me.
Yes, I probably could have been on here and working at keeping this up. Probably. Maybe not. Sometimes other things get in the way. Life happens. The day job stomps in and grabs up all your time like it was lunch money and you were the kid on the wrong end of the deal.
Sometimes depression sneaks in and
strangles your creativity. It uses stress to open the door and before
you know what’s happened you’re sitting and staring at reruns because
they don’t challenge you and it’s nice to laugh sometimes… right?
I have never actually been diagnosed with depression or anything so official. It certainly felt that way. I didn’t read. I didn’t write. I didn’t paint or draw or create in any way. It was rotten and miserable. I really was busy and the day job was crushing. Lots of things to adjust to in my life added up to me just not having the drive or motivation to do anything but sit and stare. More than once my declared intention was to get home and stare at the wall.
The good news is that seems to be
getting better. I’m still crazy busy but certain aspects of things
seem to be getting better. Sometimes hanging in there is all you can
do. I was hanging and not falling – and that’s the part that really
counts.
So – no apologies or grand plans. The hole in the blog remains. I’m starting to work again and we’ll see how that turns out on here together.
I have read and reviewed at least one book by author Marko Kloos in the past. I remember it only in vague terms. I DO very much remember that he wrote my favorite story from Love Death + Robots on Netflix. I was distinctly in the category of MEH when I saw a new book coming out from him. Then I read his words in “The Big Idea” and I was sold. This has the potential to be a very cool book indeed.
To blatantly self promote along with this ~ IF you like military science fiction there is another work out right now that you can get and it even has one of my stories in it! There is a plan in motion to make an appearance at Shore Leave this Friday to celebrate the new book. Feel free to come on out and see us!
Hop on over to a new tab and order up your copy of DTF: In Harm’s Way!
The family and I went to see Far From Home on this opening weekend. I’m going to hit potential spoiler stuff in here. I’ll try to avoid it, but if you don’t want spoilers you should see the movie before you read my review.
Going to see this movie felt different than other super hero movies since Endgame did what it did. This movie had a lot of ground to cover that wasn’t about Spiderman at all. In the end, it did exactly what it needed to do in that department. There was an explanation of why after 5 years these kids were still in school. There was (albeit brief) discussion of what happened when people “blipped” and found the world they returned to completely changed. It was a good thing to see these questions addressed.
It was also interesting to see the film makers continue to use “what people will believe” in the story line. It maintains all the crazy that has gone before and uses that to advantage in pushing this story forward.
Not being someone who read the comics or watched a great deal of preview stuff worked to my advantage on this film. I didn’t know Mysterio or anything about that character other than a vague recollection of a cartoon involving him in the distant past. I was able to take what was given and just enjoy the ride. I didn’t think too hard about it, and was able to be surprised at little turns the film took.
The biggest thing I can’t say I enjoyed landed right at the end in the first post credits scene. The bad guy pulls something off that did NOT sit well with me. It’s exactly the sort of thing that shows how well a character is written ~ because I loathed that it happened and wrecked the happy ending. I like heroic movies with happy endings and this dug under my skin. I could have done without it at all and been much happier.
IF you’re invested in the MCU, this movie definitely continues that work. IF you’re not, this is still a decent Spiderman movie, but you’ll miss a huge amount of the emotional impact without some background. I hope they get as many of these movies filmed as they can before Tom Holland moves on. I’m now impatiently waiting for the next one…
I posted this review to my Goodreads account first. There was something in the book that didn’t make it into that review that I think is worth considering. I want to note it here because there’s a better than fair chance that I’ll forget by the time we get to discuss this book at Watch The Skies.
The acknowledgements at the end of the book talk about the coincidental timing of the book title vs. the current political climate in the United States. I think it’s noteworthy that the author claims no planned connection. I also believe that however ‘futuristic’ a work of science fiction is, it can not ever be taken apart from the time when it was written. Science fiction is inherently commentary on the time and culture when it was written. While not planned, I don’t think this book is an exception to that.
I got this book as a free download from the publisher. I have read some Scalzi before and had a level of expectation going into reading this book.
This book was a little difficult to get into at first, but it became a quick and easy read within the first couple of chapters.
This book was a far reaching scope and still managed to pull it off. I found myself hoping that good things would come about for the Emporox and go badly for those looking to disrupt her. It took me a while to appreciate Lady Kiva, but in the end I could work around the constant “F” bombs.
I like that the story threads wrapped up in this book, but there is enough world building to make me interested in what comes next. I suspect I will be looking the next book up when it comes out.
It’s always tempting to start with excuses about not blog posting, but I would rather tell you that something new is out there!
My latest story is available now! E-spec books is now selling In Harm’s Way (Defending The Future Book 8). This features my story Sympathetic is in there!
You should pop over to wherever you get books from and get a copy. Then you should get a copy that you can give to a friend. Then you should tell others to go and get one too!
I picked this particular book up for two main reasons. One – it’s a cozy mystery and that’s one of the categories on teh “Read Harder” challenge this year. Two – the author is local and a supporter of my favorite book store.
Three stars is a little low. It’s honestly 3.5 stars. Reading cozy mysteries is outside where I normally go for entertainment, so please don’t let my review put you off. This book had a consistent pace and solid characters. The writing was easy to read and went really quickly for me. I can say I hadn’t picked out the killer by the end when the revelation happened, so that was decent too.
If cozy mysteries are a thing for you, this is a title worth checking out.
Music plays a significant role in getting me through my
days. I am fascinated by it, but it is something that is opaque to me. I am
terrible at musical things. I can’t keep a beat. I can’t hear all the parts I’m
supposed to and I tend to like things that others tell me sound terrible. I
have talents (admittedly small) in myriad other areas, but when it comes to
music there’s only one way to put it. I suck. I can’t sing, I can’t play any instrument,
nor can I dance to any of it.
I’m still hooked. I won’t say all kinds of music because
that’s not true. There are some types of music that simply do not appeal to me.
That’s OK because it gives the things I do like a frame of reference. The
second blog post I ever made had a link to two different musical bits. I’ve
been listening to what makes me happy for a long time.
I have a pair of wireless headphones that I use every day in
the office. I have an almost constant stream of music rolling. While the music
has changed and grown over the years it is something that has been constant for
me. Don’t get me wrong – I’m no Henry Rollins, traveling the globe to hunt down
music festivals in Timbuktu – but I listen. I prefer recorded stuff these days.
I don’t want to go to music festivals or stadium shows anymore.
I’ve been told that I should listen to music for the sake of
listening to music. I can and have, but on a day to day basis I *use* it. Music
becomes the thing that keeps me focused while I’m struggling with something OR
conversely it becomes the escape when I hit some problem that makes me need to
let my mind wander.
Internet streaming services have made this infinitely more
interesting and viable. It’s fantastic for finding new stuff or reviving old
stuff I haven’t heard in an age.
When I started writing this I’m certain I had a link in mind
for sharing the musical bit that inspired this… and now I’ve cycled through a
bunch of other stuff and appear to have lost it.
