So the past month has been a total whirlwind. Between my birthday, the start of baseball season, my 10K, and a surprise trip to New York City, I had a fantastic, memorable month.
One of the biggest highlights was getting a chance to meet fellow blogger Simpleek while I was in New York, as she’s someone I’ve known online for years now and who I consider a friend. It’s always fun to meet in person and be able to talk, for real (instead of comment and tweet!). She was also nice enough to introduce me to the Shake Shack, the Forbidden Planet comic store, and the Strand bookstore. If you haven’t already, you can check out her blog here! =)
I also went to an exhibit showcasing many of the iconic costumes from the Star Wars movies. That was the nerdiest thing I did in New York and definitely enlightening!
Now that May is here, I’m really looking forward to dialing down the pace for a bit. I had high hopes of writing 25,000 words of my sci-fi novel in April for Camp NaNoWriMo, but that did not happen. I just did not make the time for it in the midst of all the craziness going on, which included working overtime a little bit and just feeling burned out some days. In May, I’d like to make up for it by carving out a little time every day to write, whether it’s a few minutes or a few hours.
As for video games, I’m still in the process of wrapping up Dragon Age: Inquisition, and I’d like to replay Dishonored before the follow-up comes out. (I actually had a dream about Dishonored last night, so clearly it’s a game that’s on my mind!) I’m also playing Quantum Break, which is an innovative game with a cool story, despite some sticky gameplay.
What are you guys up to this month? Any games you’re looking forward to?
— Ashley
Robo♥beat 
I accidentally found myself in Strand for the first time last summer and was floored. I could probably live there and be content. Dishonored is also on my pile… though it has been there since December, along with The Witcher 3 and Diablo III, so we shall see. I just received word that I won Uncharted 4 from Amazon, so I’m thinking it’s about time I actually played Uncharted 1, 2, and 3…
Haha I agree about Strand! It was amazing. There are some cool used bookstores in SF now, but they’re pretty small in comparison. I also know what you mean about having quite a backlog of games. Dishonored is pretty short, though — well, like 10 hours? I’m hoping to tear through it in a week sometime this month! We’ll see… Congrats on winning Uncharted 4!!
I expect the first week or two of the month shall be hectic from a gaming perspective. I’m playing the free trial of Black Desert Online (not very impressive thus far, but it looks pretty), and then SW:TOR is having some double XP events, and there’s the Overwatch open beta. Not sure what I’ll be doing after that.
Also got lots to read this month. Still got a Warcraft novel, another J.K. Rowling mystery novel, and an H.G. Wells book to get through from my last trip to the bookstore, and this month will see the release of the Warcraft movie’s tie-in novel (Christie Golden FTW), and the long-awaited release of the first installment of Ian Irvine’s “Gates of Good and Evil” trilogy, which I could not be more excited about.
Oh yeah, I’ve seen pictures of Black Desert Online, it does look very pretty. Have you tried Overwatch yet then? I’m not sure about that one, I might give it a try sometime to see what I think. That’s cool you read Warcraft novels. Not having played it, I haven’t read any novels there, but I’ve read some of the Mass Effect and Dragon Age books and loved them!
Yeah, I was also invited to the last Overwatch beta weekend. Did a post on it over on my blog — I think you even read it. Says you “liked” it, anyway: https://superior-realities.com/2016/04/18/overwatch-beta-impressions/ If’n you want to try it, now would be the time. Open beta is freely available to all, but after that it’ll cost you $40 to play.
I’ve occasionally been tempted to check out the Mass Effect novels, but so much of the appeal of Bioware games is the personal investment and player choice, and absent that, I’m not sure how much appeal it’d really have for me. Don’t care enough about Dragon Age lore to be much interested in its books.
Oh I did read your post! Sorry, I just spaced on that! Definitely interesting to hear the pros and cons. Sounds like Paragon in terms of the awesome character variety, though if it’s really that hard, I’ll probably be put off a bit.
Yeah, I see what you mean about the Bioware games and focus on choice and personal investment. Let’s say while I enjoyed the Mass Effect novels a lot, I wouldn’t compare them to the games!
I love dishonored. Such a great game. Can’t wait for the sequel
Me too! I had so much fun playing it the first time around. Though I remember going into it thinking, I will not kill anyone! And then at the end of the first mission, I saw that I had killed two people, so I gave that up fast. I have no determination there! :p
The murdering everyone plan is so much more satisfying than the passive plan
Finally meeting you in person was definitely the highlight of April for me, aside from my birthday of course! :) Glad I was able to show you my own personal New York when you were here. Good luck with your novel! I’m definitely going to make my late spring and summer about working on the book and not slacking off this time.
Hehe that’s so great! I’m so glad you were able to show me around that area to some local spots. Also, Rob and I went to Shake Shack two more times after that! haha We got addicted. Anyway, I agree about the book writing. I want writing to be a big focus in my life, not something I just do on the side, when I have time. It is so rewarding and fun when you get going with it! Good luck with your writing, let’s keep each other updated on how it’s going so we can motivate each other. :)
Haha, I’m so glad you both liked Shake Shack that much you had to go back twice! :) Looks like we both have the same goal of finishing the first draft of our respective novels. Let’s definitely keep at it and accomplish it together! It’s always great to have a personal cheerleader to help motivate us. I agree on us being that for each other. Happy writing!