A good day at Borders

Today was my first signing for Blood Blade and it went really well! I showed up at Borders and there was no table or chair set up for me, which didn't bode well. There were plenty of books, however, which was a good sign. It was no time at all before I was set up and good to go. Not long after that, there were even people there wanting me to sign their books. I know that was the whole purpose for my visit, but I've had signings for other series where Megan had to sit there and keep me company the entire time.

To be honest, I was hoping to sell just a few books and praying that SOMEone would show up. I got my wish because plenty of people showed and they made the day a great one for me. I sincerely thank everyone who came out to chat and pick up a copy of the book. It was great meeting you. I also got to catch up with some old friends I haven't seen for years. My high school Creative Writing teacher even showed up! How cool is that?

Writers don't get into the business to be in a spotlight (or they shouldn't, because it's a lot of sitting in front of a keyboard and scribbling on note pads), but it is really nice to get a day in the sun like this. This is the sort of thing I can look back on during the quiet days when I'm wondering if anyone out there is actually going to see what I do for a living. And, to top it off, Webmaster Steve and I took our families out for some Class A lunch at Chicago Dawg House. For those of you not in the neighborhood, you'll read about that place in Skinners Book 2. My arteries aren't happy about eating there, but the rest of me is in heaven.

Thanks again to everyone who paid me a visit and thanks to Borders for being such a good host. Free Iced Coffee tastes the sweetest!

Could be worse...

I've been seeing a bunch of online reviews for Blood Blade popping up here and there. Mostly, they've been really good. Some were not-so-great and others were mostly good with a dash of bad thrown in. Considering that some of the reviewers were obviously fans of much more romantic urban fantasy, those critiques turned out a lot better than I would have expected.

That's the cool thing about this genre. Readers and reviewers alike have gotten past the rigid set of guidelines that make something "horror" or "fantasy". People are finding my book whether it's in the horror section, fantasy section, sometimes sci-fi, top shelf, front table, whatever, and they're not wrapped up in comparing it to other series. It's getting praised or bashed on its own merits and I can live with that.

It also helps that I've been watching the new seasons of Hell's Kitchen and American Idol. I may be in the sights of some critics, but at least it's not as bad as what the poor schmucks on those shows get from Simon and Chef Ramsey. Then again, my scallops aren't burnt on both sides and raw in the middle. I mean, what the hell was THAT about???

For fun or Achievements?

That last post got me thinking about Achievements. Not real-world accomplishments, but those little flickering doggie treats you get from your XBox 360 when you do something in a game. If you've got a 360, you know what I mean. If not. . .well that's pretty much what they are. Very simple, but very addictive. Sometimes I feel empty when playing another system because there's no chance of getting an Achievement. More than likely, this was exactly what the Microsoft marketing team had in mind. In that case, good job MS. But this has seeped into the entire gaming experience for me. Case in point: Fallout 3.

I finally got a chance to catch up on some Fallout last night and I love that game. I played it for hours and finally got a rare Achievement. Considering how much I've played that game, I don't have many points to show for it. This is a lot like Oblivion, which was another gloriously life-draining game. I played Oblivion for well over 20 hours and barely scratched the surface of its potential. In fact, I barely took a nibble from the main quest which means I don't have many Achievements from that game. I often feel like I need to explain myself where this is concerned:

"So," someone will say, "you've got Oblivion / Fallout 3. Those are pretty cool games, huh?"
"Yes," I reply. "I've actually played a lot even though it doesn't look like it. I do a lot of wandering around, finding random places. You know, just exploring."
"Yes I know. It's / They're cool game(s)."
"Seriously," I emphasize. "I've played them a lot. I just haven't gotten into the main story. It's like I don't want them to be over."
"Ok," the poor person says, rather uncomfortably. "I get it. The game is fun. Relax."
"It IS fun! I just only have 45 out of 1000 points to show for all my time."
"Maybe you need to breathe or just get the hell away from me."

At least these games aren't like some of the earlier ones where designers were still figuring out Achievements. Like Quake 4 or Call of Duty 2. I played through the entire campaign of Quake 4 and earned under 200 out of 1000 points for the whole damn thing! COD 2 is an awesome game, but I earned TWO Achievements for it: Completed Training and Won The War. That's it.

I realize the whole Achievement thing is old news, but it's always with me.
Always.
They taunt me.

ba-DINK

Yayyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!

Kick-Ass Family Night

I went over to a friend's house the other night to watch the UFC. I don't know what number it was, but BJ Penn fought Georges St. Pierre and it was great. Lots of pummelling, but not a lot of knock-outs. Actually, it was great despite that last bit. The best part of the night was playing some Rock Band with my friend and his three daughters. They range from about 4 to 12 years in age and are a lot of fun. Something about hearing a sweet little 9 year-old sing Enter Sandman just warms my heart.

Thanks to my hours of practice at home, I was able to hold my own on guitar and drums. I even sang Highway Star. My music game domination stopped short of accepting a challenge to Dance Dance Revolution. I want those girls to think of me as their cool Uncle Marcus, not some spastic who blew out his knee slipping on a plastic sensor mat.

Salsa Bowl Postgame Show

Wow! What a game. I expected it to be a good one, but it turned out to be one of the best kinds of games to watch. There were awesome plays on both sides. There were agonizing missteps taken that could have swung it either way. The Steelers put together some phenomenal moments and the Cardinals mounted one hell of a comeback. In the end, I would have been glad to see either team win.

I didn't see my Watchmen trailer, but I did see the trailers for GI Joe (wasn't expecting that one at all), Transformers 2 (even with the huge unicycle-tron, it looks pretty cool), and Land of the Lost (Will Ferrell and dinosaurs? Could be funny, could be reeeeally bad). I have to say PepGruber ran away with the funny commercial award, but there were some great runners-up.

As for the real action, I started the 1st quarter with a habernero-lime chili cheese dip and then rang in the 2nd with a more traditional Buffalo hot wing-esque chili cheese delight. The 3rd quarter saw another citrus variant with a spicy orange sauce I cracked open today for the first time. It was, of course, in chili cheese dip. I gotta say the habernero lime was my favorite. I ran out of steam in the fourth quarter, since I was too busy cheering at the game and eating jalapeno poppers. What's this? I just got a letter from my stomach lining. It says, "Give me a f---ing break and LAY OFF THE SPICY FOODS MORON!!!"
Oh well. We all make sacrifices for the big game.

Salsa Bowl Sunday

Like most everyone else in America this Sunday, I'll be watching Arizona go against Pittsburgh or at least waiting for some cool commercials. My prediction for the game is for Arizona to come out ahead in the first half, but the Steelers will snap out of it and pull out a win late in the 4th quarter. Whether that holds up or not, I'm pretty sure it'll be a great game to watch.

Commercial wise, I'll be looking for a new Watchmen trailer and expecting plenty of stupid laughs. What more could you want from huge commercials during a football game? Models in bikinis, you say? I'm sure there'll be plenty of those too.

My own personal highlight for the game is my "plethora of chili cheese" extravaganza. See, Megan will cook up some of her awesome chili cheese dip and I'll dish it out in small bowls. Each bowl will be spiced with one of many different hot sauces ranging from super-spicy habernero lime to a fairly mild jalapeno pecante. Each bowl will have a different zing to it and I'm topping it all off by using a corn chip that promises me a "taste of jalapeno" in every bite. Should be an amazing, chili-cheese-tastic, spiceriffic Sunday!