I Know What I'm Getting for MY Birthday...

And ooooh, the writing will SUFFER tomorrow!



Hehehehehehe....

Okay, in case you didn't know, I'm a TOTAL Dragon Age junkie, both Origins and Rise to Power. Heck, I might just be a BioWare junkie, since I've done two playthrough's of Mass Effect 2 in a week (I romanced Thane both times, my alien assassin cutie... what can I say? I have a thing for assassins. See Zevran. Nomnomnom...) and several of NeverWinter Nights 2, Mask of the Betrayer (oh, Gann...)

BioWare does really good character-driven plots with plenty of romances for those of us who like to take that option, but it's by no means mandatory for those who don't. They make just the kind of video game I enjoy playing the most. In fact, during my Mass Effect 2 playthrough Dusty came in and was all "Holy crap! You're playing a first person shooter?!?" And I replied, "Nope. I'm playing Mass Effect because I'm into hot assassins. The fact that I get to use a sniper rifle to put a hurt on the bad guys is just a bonus."  For some reason that didn't bother him as much as I thought it would. Possibly because he has his own pixelated girlfriends (coughMERRILLcough) and I don't bother him about them. Heck, I've been known to give him pointers. "No, honey, don't destroy the tome of evil! Your bloodmage sweetie will totally kick you out of the bedroom if you do that!"

Aren't I a good wife?

So today, on my actual birthday, I'm going to do some edits and some writing, because tomorrow? I'm totally saving Thedas. Or at least Hawke's piece of it. Is anyone else as addicted to these games as I am?

P.S.: I prefer the PC versions of these games, because the romance mods rule.

P.P.S.: In all the above games, you can be male or female and pick your appearance, something I really appreciate since not all games do that.

Where a Door Closes Somewhere a Window Opens

Or at least it seems that way. My sci-fi story Stern Negotiations is flowing nicely, unlike my shifter story Cynful. I haven't had a single argument  from the main characters. Rabi and  Stern are getting along fabulously and are agreeing with almost everything I want to put them through. I'm not sure why this one is flowing so much better than Cynful but I'm not about to question it. I'm enjoying writing a different sort of character with Rabi. He's little more formal the most of the characters I usually write, and Stern is having a fun time trying to figure him out. She can sense the passion in him and longs to bring it out. Both of them have secrets they're keeping from the other for good reasons, and I've just reached the point where one of their secrets is about to be revealed.

(Those of you worried I won't be heading back to Cynful any time soon, don't be. This happens to me sometimes. Once I shake out whatever is bothering me about Julian and Cyn I'll be back to writing my shifters. Until then, I'll be working on Stern and Rabi.)

I almost forgot to make the banner for the scavenger hunt for Authors After Dark! So that was one of the first things I worked on today, and I think it turned out rather well. We'll have to see what the finished product looks like when it arrives. Also, the final schedule should be posted soon. Once I know exactly where I'll be at what time, I'll post it here and on my website. Remember, Authors After Dark is in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania August 11-14 at the Doubletree Hotel in Center City.


P.S.: My new bed arrived! I've never heard of anyone delivering on a Sunday, but these guys did. Last night was our first night on the new mattress and I have to say so far I like it. My back felt a little bit better today, but considering I could barely walk yesterday I'm not sure if that's saying much. We'll have to see how much of a difference it makes and if it does everything that's been promised. One thing I do know is that it's already better than sleeping on my chaise!

Time Flies By

When you're remodeling, especially when you're sleeping on the sofa.

Okay, that's a lie. It drags on like a week-long visit with a guest from hell. You know the kind of visit I mean, where you want to stab your own eyeballs out with a grapefruit spoon rather than spend one more minute with the person across the table from you?

It's sort of like that, but without the vast quantities of tequila needed to get through it.

Dusty and I had decided when we got back from Florida that we would replace our waterbed with a memory foam bed, with the bed frame that can raise and lower your back and knees. We've heard this would be good for my arthritis and has been something we've been planning on for a while. But we realized we couldn't use our current bed furniture with the new frame and mattress, and since it was one of those all-in-one types with built in end tables we realized we'd have to replace all the bedroom furniture. So we decided that while we were at it we would also replace the carpeting and paint.

What started out as a master bedroom remodel has become the master bedroom, oldest son's room, stairways and hallway remodel, complete with installing a new wall between the master bedroom and the master bath and a brand-new closet system.

Have I mentioned my children are home from school right now? Pass the tequila, please. Thanks.

So things have been hectic around Casa de Bell for the last few weeks. The bed furniture and the carpeting are in. The drywall job will be started next week as will the painting, and yes I know that's kinda backwards, but I trust the guy doing the drywall work and was willing to wait for when he was available. It's going to go from a black and white bedroom to a gray and periwinkle blue one. I'm looking forward to the change, but with all the comings and goings things have been going slow on the writing front. Add in the fact that Julian and Cyn have been arguing with me lately over the direction of their story, I decided to work on something else for a little while. My sci-fi story seems to be flowing a little bit better for me right now, so I am doing a little work on that while I work out what's wrong with Cynful. I'm going to have Dusty read what I've got so far. He might be able to show me where I'm going wrong. I have vague idea, but I can't quite figure out how to fix it and I want to see if he sees the same thing I do.

I'm getting more and more used to Dragon NaturallySpeaking, which means the words are starting to flow a little faster than they were before. That, too, was slowing me down. I'm not quite up to the speed I was when I was typing and my hand wasn't throbbing, but I'm slowly getting there. I still have to correct things by hand but not nearly as much as I did when I first started.

I'm looking forward to going to Authors After Dark in August, especially since it's going to be in my hometown. Just don't ask me whether I'm a fan of Pat's or Geno's. There's no way I'm getting in the middle of that war. We Philadelphians can get vicious when it comes to our cheese steaks.