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?

Blurring the lines between genders... Persona 4 Arena review

If you've been watching my tweets, I've been playing Persona 4 Arena with my husband. Okay.. he's been playing the video game, I've been nursing a really bad cat scratch. (Only click those links if you are not squeamish) but part of the scratch got infected and now I'm wearing a cling wrap over a medicated pad. (ouch.)

Anyway, watching this game (which I highly recommend) has been a joy! I loved it, revisiting all the characters and even some new ones. In Persona 4, there was a beloved character named Naoto Shirogane, a pint-sized ace detective who carried on the family name by training for the police force.

Naoto blurred the line between genders and not just because she worked with the police. Born a girl with big shoes to fill as she carried on the family name in the detective business, she blurs the gender lines passing for a boy. And the town bad boy Kanji Tatsumi is attracted to Naoto, which confuses him and opens up his own deep-seated doubts about his personality and sexuality.

We don't get to see enough of them in Persona 4 and Persona 4 Arena is just another taste of these multifaceted characters. So anyway, this game is highly recommended by me! :)

Odin Sphere

I enjoyed doing the review on the video game so much last time, here I go again!


Odin Sphere
Console played on: PS2
Consoles available on: PS2
Rating: T
Play time: 80+ hrs.
Genre: Side Scroller

First off, this game is old school hard. Like bang your head on concrete 'til bloody hard. Beyond that, this game is fun and addictive. Like bite my husband when he tries to take my controller away so he can play another game.

Basically, the premise of this game is a war between nations as a demon lord Odin battles for supremacy. You play as several characters, leveling them up to their final battle to save the world. Some battle to save their true love or save their kingdom.

While I never got to finish this game, I lost my save in the big bad PS3 crash of 2009, I'm going to play the game all the way through again. I enjoyed it that much. The only complaint I had was the screen slowing during gameplay due to the processor being unable to process all that is going on in the game, which happens to everyone from what I've heard. Just be patient with it and let it unlock. Honestly, it gave me time to plan and it gave me an unfair advantage.

I highly recommend this game to gamers of all ages. Just be warned, the fairy queen is, as my husband said so perfectly, "badly in need of a pair of pants" and so on. Still, a gorgeous game all the way around and I love it! Enjoy!

Hi all! I've decided to blog about something I know pretty well and that's video games! My husband and I play them on a regular basis and for some of your gamers out there, I do some shout-outs in my books about them.

I'm also available for questions about video games, if you want to include them in your story or if you'd like advisement if it's suitable for children.

I have a long list of games to review that we've played already but I'll start off with one my husband just finished:

Mass Effect 2
Console played on: PS3
Consoles available on: XBOX 360, PC
Rating: M
Play time: 80+
Genre: RPG/Shooter

First off, I want to say this game's story line is gripping. I've seen some story lines where I get lost very easily since I tend to bounce around a lot between work and writing. On this one, there were a lot of sub plots (missions) that were quick and I could get a quick update on what was going on in the story.

Another great option (especially since I'm definitely an equal opportunity gamer) is you can play as a girl. In the game, you are named Shepard (your last name) so the fact you are female doesn't come into play except for dating options.

Oddly enough, one of the most enjoyable and challenging parts of the game was the mining part. You have to travel to planets in the Milky Way and mine them. On each planet, you can pull mineral deposits off in four categories that are needed supplies. Warning to people who are OCD, this is ADDICTING! :D

A couple of the sub-plots are racy in their undertones. You seduce a female, only to draw her back to her apartment for your team to kill. On top of it, the person you kill is your teammate's daughter. So this game's M rating is definitely deserved.

All in all, this game was enjoyable if you like a shooter/action game with elements of a RPG. You don't have to play the first Mass Effect game, which is nice. This one has a mini movie at the beginning to bring you up to speed on the plot line (ETA: You have to purchase the game new to see that). With well fleshed out characters, we are definitely looking forward to playing Mass Effect 3 when it comes out.

Questions? Please leave a comment :)