Cyber Monday Boxed Set Bonanza
It’s Cyber Monday, and it’s also Kurtherian Endgame week (WOOT!), so what better time to have a one-day flash sale on the Kurtherian Gambit series.
You can grab each of the Kurtherian Gambit boxed sets on this Cyber Monday for just $.99 each.
Here’s what’s included in each boxed set:
The Kurtherian Gambit Omnibus 1 (Death Becomes Her – Queen Bitch – Love Lost)
The Kurtherian Gambit Omnibus 2 (Bite This – Never Forsaken – Under My Heel)
The Kurtherian Gambit Omnibus 3 (Kneel Or Die – We Will Build – It’s Hell To Choose)
The Kurtherian Gambit Omnibus 4 (Release The Dogs of War – Sued For Peace – We Have Contact)
The Kurtherian Gambit Omnibus 5 (My Ride is a Bitch – Don’t Cross This Line – Never Submit)
The Kurtherian Gambit Omnibus 6 (Never Surrender – Forever Defend – Might Makes Right)
The Kurtherian Gambit Omnibus 7 (Ahead Full – Capture Death – Life Goes On)
Grab your copies and complete your library today!
Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica Review
Starting in October of 2005, the world-spanning city of Ravnica has been a favorite setting for players of Magic: the Gathering, playing host to seven expansion sets: Ravnica: City of Guilds, Guildpact, Dissension, Return to Ravnica, Gatecrash, Dragon’s Maze, and Guilds of Ravnica, as well as the next two sets for the upcoming year, Ravnica Allegiance and a heretofore unnamed third set. With nearly two thousand cards based on Ravnica and it being the first not Dominaria world to be visited three times, it’s clearly a fan favorite, so it’s no wonder that the people at Wizards of the Coast wanted to bridge the gap between their two very popular brands, Magic: the Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons, in this sourcebook that allows players of the latter to explore the rich cityscape and unique setting in Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica.
First thing off the bat, this book is beautiful, it mixes art from the cards with new fresh art on its 256 pages. The cover features the most amazing piece of art, a black human woman, with natural hair, in the regalia of the super intelligent (sometimes too much for their own good) magical scientists of the Izzet League conducting an experiment before her guildmaster Niv-Mizzet, the firemind and dracogenius. As a person of color myself, it is so inspiring to see someone who looks like people in my family, like me, in a position of prominence when the world of tabletop gaming is still pretty white and male.
There is a plethora of new content for Dungeons and Dragons players on Ravnica, include new races, like the elephantine Loxodons and mutated Simic Hybrids, two new class options in the enchantment focused Order Domain cleric and necromantic Circle of Spores druid, as well as dozens of items and monster stat blocks. In the 5E rules, guild membership comes in the form of a background, rather than the standard urchin, soldier, or merchant. In that way, being a member of the Boros Legion comes with a suite read more…
Temple of Satan Sues Sabrina over use of Baphomet statue
Since it’s release on October 26th, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina has been yet another massively popular addition to Netflix’s already powerful coven of shows. However, it would appear that the Temple of Satan is not a fan, having filed a $150 million dollar lawsuit against the streaming service and Warner Bros., claiming in the United States District Court in Manhattan, New York City, that they had copied several unique features of the Temple’s depiction of the occult deity in the statue featured in the show.
In Sabrina, the statue resides in the main area of the Academy of Unseen Arts, a magical school read more…
EC020: Holi’s Savior, a Tale From The Kurtherian Universe – Part Two
[powerpress]
This week we bring you the conclusion of Holi’s Savior, by N.D. Roberts, the first story in the first volume of Fans Write For the Fans, Tales From The Kurtherian Universe.
Fans Write For the Fans Facebook links: Kurtherian Universe, and Oriceran Universe.
Here is the blurb for Renegade from Tales From The Kurtherian Universe, Book One.
Holi’s Savior, by ND Roberts
On the alien world Castellegia, brave young Holi fights for the survival of her ragged band of orphans. Who will save them from the green-eyed mutants who stalk the night? Justice calls upon Castellegia at the moment all is lost for Holi.
A story of strength, determination, and the softer side of everybody’s favorite benevolent dictator.
Each of the Fan’s Write books can be purchased at Amazon.
Links:
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Subscribe via Apple Podcast here
A Simple Way To Prepare A Table Top Game
Game nights are great fun. Seeing your friends get together to quest and take down evil and play through your story of your own making can be a great way to escape real life, and we all know how badly that’s needed. That being said, all Game/Dungeon Masters or Storytellers know that running a game is not just fun, but is work as well. It is upon you, chiefly, to ensure the fun and entertainment of the group, and that can be a heavy burden to bear, even before you consider having to remember and adjudicate the rules. I know it sounds daunting. It scared me before I got started, but worry not! Here are some tips to remember to make your game day prep easier.
How to proceed
The fabled Prussian Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke the Elder said it best: “no plan of operations extends with any certainty beyond the first contact with the main hostile force” which is to say, whatever you plan, assume your players are going to figure out a way to do something you didn’t prepare for. Here are three ways to try to handle this situation:
- Overwrite: You could write out every possible outcome you can think of for the situations you put the players in.
- All roads lead to Rome: make it so it ultimately doesn’t matter what your players choose, the result will be the same.
- Underwrite: Have only a bare outline of what will happen and improvise the rest.
When I began DM’ing, I did the former, spending hours writing every permutation of the events of the session, which is not advisable, believe read more…
Fans Pricing Saturday for November 10, 2018
Here are the links for today’s (11/10/18) fan’s priced books.
(Note: We request the price changes from Amazon on Friday evenings. Unfortunately, they don’t change all of the prices at one time. As of right now, two of the books have not yet been price changed to fan’s pricing.)
Star Trek Discovery: A Science-Fiction Review
Star Trek is any science-fiction junkie’s go to for feeling the beauty of our natural universe. Not only did Gene Roddenberry aim to bring a spark of intelligence to the final frontier, he sought to bring creativity.
The newest attempt at a classic has been brought to us by Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman, and what an attempt they’ve made. Thankfully they both had experiences working on various Star Trek projects like Voyager and the J.J. Abrams movies.
Their experience really shows in how they approach this new series.
Does The Story Hold True To The Star Trek Standard?
Yes, and no. It’s pretty complicated so strap in.
We follow Michael Burnham, a science specialist turned mutineer as she becomes dragged into the affairs of the USS Discovery’s Captain Gabriel Lorca.
When you begin this intellectual and emotional roller coaster ride you hardly know what to expect. Humans and Klingons at war? Sounds like a recipe for a more action-packed Star Trek than previous read more…
EC019: Holi’s Savior, a Tale From The Kurtherian Universe – Part One
[powerpress]
This week we bring you Part One of Holi’s Savior, by N.D. Roberts. As you’ll hear during the open, we intended to have Nat on as our guest host this week, but the lengthy trip from the UK to Arizona put her a little under the weather. If all goes well, she’ll be with us next week.
Rhapsody For The Tempest
During the introduction, I mentioned that Rhapsody for the Tempest, book three in The Braintrust series was just released as an audiobook. You can grab your copy here if you don’t already have it in your audible queue.
Fans Write For the Fans Facebook links: Kurtherian Universe, and Oriceran Universe.
Here is the blurb for Renegade from Tales From The Kurtherian Universe, Book One.
Holi’s Savior, by ND Roberts
On the alien world Castellegia, brave young Holi fights for the survival of her ragged band of orphans. Who will save them from the green-eyed mutants who stalk the night? Justice calls upon Castellegia at the moment all is lost for Holi.
A story of strength, determination, and the softer side of everybody’s favorite benevolent dictator.
Each of the Fan’s Write books can be purchased at Amazon. read more…
The Death of Rick Grimes and What It Means for Zombies
Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes – The Walking Dead _ Season 9, Episode 5 – Photo Credit: Jackson Lee Davis/AMC
Spoiler Alert!
One of the greatest shows of all time just lost perhaps the best characters of all time. You see, the character Rick Grimes died on a recent episode of AMC’s The Walking Dead. He had what many consider to be a lackluster death by falling off a horse and encountering competing walkers.
What many fail to understand, is that his ordinary humanity and ability to die just like everyone else is exactly what people love about Andrew Lincoln’s fantastic character.
See, Rick Grimes falls repeatedly but gets back up. That’s why everyone loves him. The entire zombie genre is, in itself, asking the question of how much can a person take before giving up. That’s what’s lacking in a lot of modern television (Insert my jibe at reality television here) and why Rick Grimes will live on amongst one of the greatest characters of all time.
Think of Rick Grimes like Star Trek. Many don’t realize that the first Star Trek voyage only lasted three seasons. That’s because the characters of Spock and Captain Kirk were so counter-intuitive, that we as humans loved watching them.
I still get asked when making a logical judgment if I could add a little Kirk and not be so Spockish. That’s because each and every one of us has both characters living inside us. What makes the character of Rick Grimes so impressive is that one character can and does encompass both the good and bad of a person.
In that very first episode of The Walking Dead Rick Grimes was recovering from an injury incurred while working as a police officer. He could have stayed in bed and not encountered his first Walker. Well, he didn’t. He led the charge and was the hero we all want. He single-handedly saved humanity.
Many are asking what will happen to The Walking Dead now that Grimes is gone? I hate to break this all to you, but The Walking Dead was at its end anyway.
You could try Eli Roth’s new show that showcases horror, but it won’t be the same. Your best bet is to stay tuned for the new Wheel of Time series coming to Amazon https://lmbpn.com/the-streaming-of-wheel-of-time/. We will have the latest as this series goes into production.
Yes, Grimes is now in the history books.
Yes, audiences will need to find a new show to watch.
Yes, The Walking Dead will not be the same without Andrew Lincoln.
Not only did the production team of The Walking Dead do zombies, but they did them well. So well, in fact, that this series will live on as one of the greatest shows ever made. Take that Game of Thrones! I love Game of Thrones nearly as much as The Walking Dead and I know the last season of Game of Thrones is coming like winter.
See, zombies have been around as long as people have told stories. They have had many faces but the object has always been the same: they want to destroy humanity and despite their mission, a hero will save us.
Rick Grimes was the hero we all have living inside us that we all long to truly be. He wasn’t just an anti-hero, he was a hero we loved and ultimately lost. Still, Lincoln’s magnificent character will soon be known as one of the greatest heroes in history. We all had a chance to see the magnificent way he was written and the stellar way Andrew Lincoln portrayed him. The Walking Dead will live on and not like zombies. It will live on as a masterful drama, not a den of brain eaters.
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Tammy Marshall is an award-winning journalist with more than 20 years of writing. If you really want to get her on a subject, bring up Star Trek. She loves talking about traveling through space and what Gene Roddenberry’s vision did for science. When she’s not plotting interstellar travel, she’s digging in the dirt. Her vegetables are legendary and her chickens have won awards. When her hands aren’t in the garden, she’s traveling to conventions around the country hoping to inspire the next person willing to go to Mars and aid Elon Musk on his mission. https://www.amazon.com/Tammy-Marshall/e/B06XTT6DL6
I Sort of Want to Axe Past Sarah
When Michael and Steve had the idea that I’d narrate the audio for Everyone in LA is an Asshole, I was a bit nervous. However, I implicitly trust their business judgments and agreed that it made a lot of sense, since I’m the author.
In the past, I’ve always hired professional narrators who could do accents and articulate words smoothly. I don’t consider myself a voice actress in the least, but I didn’t think that narrating would be so hard. Well, guess what? Reading is fucking hard.
I think I took for granted the work that goes into narrating a book. All of a sudden, I had to worry about my breathing. You don’t want to breathe too much or in the wrong places or it makes the reading choppy. And don’t forget to breathe period or you’ll pass out!
I was only about ten percent into recording the book when I realized I wanted to go back and kill my past self, who wrote the book. There were several places where I talk about all these names and words I can’t pronounce. When I got to these places, I was like, “Are you fucking kidding me, Sarah?”
And so, karma is a bitch. I sat in the studio for an hour, forced to learn how to pronounce a series of words which I’d picked out and put into the book because they were impossible to say. This was doubly hard for me since phonetics is not my strong suit. Hooked on Phonics didn’t work for me, so there.
When I’m talking to my friends, I can easily slip into an accent, making fun of Valley girls or my kinfolk from Texas. However, with the microphone sitting in front of me, I for some reason, couldn’t do any accents. I’d practice. Get it all good. Hit record and then sound like a drunk southern who was half Australian. The pressure of that red recording button was too much for me.
I’m a writer for a reason, I realize now. Performing is tough. It’s nice to hide behind my written words. However, I also found the experience to be incredibly rewarding. Reading what I wrote, brought me closer to the book, and right in time before the release. I had written all the words, but when I was given the opportunity to perform the voices, I felt instantly more bonded to the work.
All in all, the experience was positive. It gave me a new appreciation for voice actors and actresses. It gave me an appreciation for my book, bringing it to life in a new way. And it challenged me on a whole new level. Now as I go onto write the second book in the series, I’m careful to use only words that I know how to say and none of those damn tongue twisters I put in book one. Seriously, saying the phrase, “roasted lamb neck shawarma and foie gras halva” nearly broke me.
The audio is in post-production now, but I look forward to sharing it with you all. Thanks for the support. You all make this more fun!
Grab your copy of Sarah’s book Everyone In LA Is An Asshole today at Amazon.