Monthly Archives: September 2018

September 27, 2018

I’m moving just up the block on Twitter

By Zoe_E_W

Tuesday I did something I’ve been contemplating for a long time now, going back to the point that I deleted all my old posts on this blog to start over. I started a new Twitter account, in effect rebooting my social self. Unlike the blog, I did not delete my old account just yet. That will happen in January, and in the meantime, I’m posting notices every day that I’m moving addresses. That way if someone wants to follow me over, they can.

The reason why it took me so long to reach a decision on this is due in most part to my follower count, which at present is 1,947. But lately I’ve come to realize that maybe half of that count is marketing accounts. They started off with people behind them, but then one day the owner of the account decided to use a bot to post ads for their stuff, and they never came back. They don’t engage with anyone, they just toss out the same 5 or 6 tweets every few hours to keep their stuff in the stream. (And by stuff, I mean books, music, and marketing services.) So really, what’s the point of keeping 1,000 followers if they never read what I’m saying day to day?

There’s also a very compelling reason for me to start fresh. More and more often, I see on blogs and in comments that Twitter is regarded as one of the most toxic social sites these days. I think it’s no more or less toxic than, say Facebook or Tumblr, but Twitter stands out more because it’s where so many people go to just rant about everything that’s bugging them. It’s a micro-journal, but I think lots of people end up getting tunnel vision, only using Twitter to air their anger without giving their positive side an equal chance to to be shown. People reading their streams get triggered by that negativity and go on the attack, and soon, it’s all just one big fight that no one can possibly win. Continue reading

Leave a comment | posted in personal projects, random mental floss

September 25, 2018

Book excerpt from Wolf in the Headlights

By Zoe_E_W

This is the first of several excerpts I’ll be posting over the next few weeks for Wolf in the Headlights (Alice the Wolf 4), as has become my custom when I release new books. This time, I’m offering at peek a part of chapter 6, following immediately after a big fight. (Wouldn’t want to give away all the best bits, right?)
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The gauntlet is breaking down as most of our opponents divide to run left or right up the halls to deal with the larger packs of dogs led by the Prestons. At this point, I have trouble finding anyone to hit because one member or the other from my pack is mauling them before I get within range.

I get to the corner where the counselor’s office is, and I’m thinking this is way, way too easy. Aisha and Regina have a huge army at their disposal, so why are there so few skilled fighters involved in this attack? The only conclusion I can come to is that this is a diversion.

Maybe Aisha will humor me with an answer.

I open the door and walk inside. Aisha has Monica tied to a chair with duct tape, and she has a knife to Monica’s throat. Monica’s mouth is covered in more tape, a move I almost understand given Monica’s typical bluntness. Continue reading

Leave a comment | posted in Book, my writing

September 21, 2018

New Release! Wolf in the Headlights

By Zoe_E_W

This has been a long, long time coming, but at long last, I have a new book out. (Hard to believe that when I started writing, I was able to put out a book every three months.) Here, finally, is the cover and blurb for Wolf in the Headlights (Alice the Wolf 4):

Life as a pack alpha hasn’t been easy for Alice. She’s lost loved ones, struggled with raising a child on her own, battled an army intent on slaughtering her and her allies, and barely survived a deadly disease that’s left her scarred and weakened. A quiet life seems even more impossible with the looming threat of war against Regina Burke and Aisha Warner and their combined forces.

But her enemies have come up with a new plan to publicly expose her as a lycanthrope. Alice is forced to play along, polishing her public image while at the same time building her pack into an army of her own. As if that weren’t enough to keep her nerves frayed, she has to take responsibility for a packmate fleeing from a bad home, avoid a band of determined assassins, and still find time for homework. It’s a tall order even for Alice the unflappable.

Could life get any more complicated? Unfortunately, yes.

Wolf in the Headlights is $4.99 and can be found at Amazon, Kobo, Nook, and on the blog bookstore. (Keep in mind the price will be different if you live outside the US.)

Leave a comment | posted in Book, my writing

September 16, 2018

Game review: Dead Cells for PC

By Zoe_E_W

You probably expected this review to come out sooner, and to be honest, I did too. I’d purchased Dead Cells when it was still in early access. If you know me on Twitter, you know from my rants that I hate early access and refuse to pay to beta test for most companies. But after watching multiple Let’s Play videos and seeing how smooth the game play was, I decided to take a risk and pick the game up early. Before I even get to the proper review, I would like to offer kudos to the developer for releasing an early access product that was fantastically stable. In the thirty hours I played before moving to the full release, I never once had a crash or any kind of glitch. You can’t even see that in many triple A games after their obligatory day one patch.

Once the game went gold, I got a notification in-game that I should start a new game to experience “the full story,” and I did so with much trepidation for reasons I will explain later. From that point forward, I put another seventy-seven hours into the game, for a grand total of 107. So, know this review is coming after much kicking of the virtual tires, and that despite what I’m going to say, I will continue playing the game for a long time after this is published.

So….Dead Cells is a game I’d really like to hate. I can’t because it’s stable, it’s got gorgeous graphics, and fantastic music and sound effects. But I want to hate it because of the controls and because of the absolute pain it was to gather the main tools of movement within the game, runes. I want to hate it because much like Binding of Isaac, success or failure often comes down to the tools randomly doled out to me in the course of a run. I want to hate it because much like Binding of Isaac, so much of my time is spent groaning over bullshit created by RNGesus that it dilutes the times where I am actually enjoying the game.

Don’t get me wrong, on a good run with fun weapons and skills, this is mostly a joy to play. But a bad run will often be followed by another, and another, and given that a run to the last boss takes me around an hour and thirty minutes, those bad runs can often make me feel like I’ve wasted my time for nothing. (Y’all speed runners are probably snickering over my run time, and y’all can bite me.) Continue reading

Leave a comment | posted in other peoples' stuff, video game