Facing my fears... in many ways: Halloween Horror Nights 2012

So if you've seen me on Twitter, you'll know I've been wringing my hands about going to Halloween Horror Nights. And if you read my blog, you'll know I'm a huge gaming fan so when Silent Hill came to Universal for Halloween Horror Nights, I had a quandary. I'm deathly afraid of Zombies. Hence the reason I've never been to HHN.

OMG, what to do? Well, I had to face my fears. I've gone through a lot this year and I'm not about to live the rest of my life being scared of zombies. Let's face it, I don't really think zombies are going to walk the streets and take over.

But it wasn't just going to the scare houses and wandering about being scared out of my mind. It was being severely open to infection and getting a cold or flu from being around people. So it was time to don my Mario magic mushroom shirt and head the Universal for a RIP Tour. :D

So I went armed with my flu shot and a bottle of hand sanitizer to make this happen. In the pouring rain. &%$#. Okay, so I'm happy I brought my hat, my knit cap made by the very talented Amy Lane. This would protect me from zombies too.

I could do this. I could totally make this happen!

And I did! Last night I went to Halloween Horror Nights and used a whole bottle of hand sanitizer but I made it through while screaming. My throat is kinda sore today from screaming in the rain but I'm okay. I almost lost my cap in the middle of chainsaw people but they didn't really bother me, except for the gas smell and fog.

Did I mention I have asthma related fog? Luckily because of the rain, there wasn't much.

*Sigh* In book related news....

And now for my books! I got my paperback copies of The Long Con. Woo! So excited. Because these are so damn sexy, I now have to make sure the sequel Dangerous Submission is novel length so it goes to print. :D

And they will be at GRL too so pick up a copy and I'll sign it! :)

(Thanks to Man Oh Man Reviews for a lovely review and quote!)

Are you a zero?

Recently I blogged about the latest release in the Persona series, Persona 4 Arena, which is a cool combat game. I've been madly in love with this series since I picked up Persona 3, which was so awesome. I highly recommend all the games, put out by Atlas because they are so well thought out, game engine wise and story wise too.

They recently released the Persona 4 Animation series and of course the story line is condensed from the game but at the beginning they explain the basis of the whole story, which centers around the tarot deck.

Each character in the game as well as the anime has a "Persona" that fights on their behalf in battle and they represent one of the cards in the major arcana. From the Magician to the Star, they fight with their Personas alongside you.

But you are special. You are a Zero, the Fool Arcana. You see, the Major Arcana starts not at 1 but at zero, the Fool Arcana. It is full of possibilities, the beginning of a journey. It ends at the World, with every card along the way a part of the journey.

So far, the anime is awesome, almost as good as the game. But these games always make me think about my life and become introspective. I started writing again, needing an outlet after I played Persona 4. I started on a new journey.

People use "zero" as an insult but zero is void of limits, a blank slate and a new beginning. I'm proud to say I'm a zero. Are you?

Rediscovering my love of reading.

While I've been feeling not quite up-to-snuff, I've been lucky to have an old friend nearby.  That would be a book, anything I can get my hands on to read and enjoy and get my mind off feeling yuck. I started methotrexate and that has been making me feel terrible, but it looks like I'm on the mend.

Books have always been my escape. And I have been really lucky to find some awesome books recently! I just finished No Flowers Required by Cari Quinn, which I really enjoyed and reviewed it here. Also a hot romance is Kele Moon's StarCrossed, which I read as she wrote it.

For M/M fans, I read Ellis Carrington's Feeling Neighborly which came on a solid recommendation from Mary Calmes. I really enjoyed the story and of course I'll be reading Three Fates Anthology and Steamroller but only after I finish Dangerous Submission.

Re-reading books is like visiting old friends :)