No Wonder We've Never Heard Of This Popular Author

She's popular for being bad. Check out this link:

http://booksandpals.blogspot.com/2011/03/greek-seaman-jacqueline-howett.html

Read at least a quarter of the comments and you'll know what I mean. I love how everyone jumped to the blogger's defense.

As a writer, I used to be terrified of all the rejections I'm sure to get when I finally try to publish my work, but I'm not anymore. This has taught me that rejections are good. Self-publishing authors don't get the experience that comes with a rejection, so I guess they're more likely to respond like Miss Howett -- childishly.

This is also why it's important to find as many different critics as possible while you're still in the writing phase, and make sure at least a few of them are blatantly honest about their thoughts. Don't give your work to your mom or your best friend who never reads. Find someone who knows what they're doing and isn't afraid to do. Find a lot of those someones.

But at least Miss Howett's given us some form of entertainment (and certainly got the blog more attention)! Maybe this fiasco will teach her a thing or two about professionalism and manners.

--Persy

I Would Totally Buy That Audiobook, And I Don't Even Like Books On Tape.

So if you know me at all, you know I'm what you'd call a "Twilight-Hater". This, however, is not true. I like Twilight. I don't like the Twilight saga. New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn are just awful. Terrible. Not fit for print. Gag. Okay, so New Moon and Eclipse weren't THAT bad, but Breaking Dawn was just the last straw. If Twilight had just ended with Bella getting vampified, things would've been fabulous, and they wouldn't have had to worry about the werewolves, the evil vampires, or the horrifying mutant baby with an equally atrocious name.

But I digress.

Anyway, I like Twilight, but I also love to hate it and like to make fun of it. Hence, my immense enjoyment of the Alex Reads Twilight videos on YouTube.

Alex Day is a British vlogger, also a musician, most well known (in my opinion) for Chameleon Circuit, his trock band (trock = rock + Doctor Who/TARDIS). Coincidentally, Chameleon Circuit just released a new album that you should go listen to as soon as you watch all of the Alex Reads Twilight Videos.

The Alex Reads Twilight videos are just what they say they are: Alex reading Twilight. He decides to read Twilight, and he makes a video for every chapter, sometimes reading directly from the book. It is awesome. Here's the link to the first video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L253VLwH3w

Once you finish that (and once you've listened to Chameleon Circuit's new album), make sure to check out his other videos, plus the ones of his friends (and Chameleon Circuit's other band members) Liam (littleradge on YouTube) and Charlie (charlieissocool on YouTube). It's good stuff.

--Persy

Game Review -- Escape from the Underworld

Escape from the Underworld, created by game creator Banov, is an exploration platformer centered around a fallen angel who fights to return to the sky. Pure awesome in other words.

Seriously, this is one of the best exploration platformers I've ever played, and I've played quite a few. But this one has got it all.

The gameplay isn't so complicated and clumsy that it's irritating, but it's not so simple that it makes the game easy. You have to be careful you don't accidentally slip off a ledge and onto treacherous spikes, but you don't have to worry about skidding five feet before you come to a complete stop. Also, can I mention the pure awesomeness of flying? 'Cause that is pure awesomeness. The controls for flying and fighting (with your epic sword) are easy to use as well and pretty straightforward.

You start out with barely any abilities at all. You can't even jump, and you've been stripped of your wings. Your first dilemma is avoiding a rain of fire that comes from the one channel back to the sky. I was pretty confused when first playing this part, because I couldn't really figure out what to do. But just get through the fire storm, and you'll be granted the ability to jump, and life'll become a little easier.

In the beginning, you start out with only one little ball of life (so you can only get hit once by an enemy and you die), but you can find more of the little health units the more you explore, until it takes a lot to make you actually die. There are various checkpoints in different parts of the underworld that will replenish your health and save your game in case you do end up dead (which you probably will more than a few times). You'll also come across other little balls of energy that aren't immediately explained. There's also a map that you can access at any time, but it'll only show the areas of the underworld that you've already explored.

The soundtrack is also brilliant. I listen to it even when I'm not playing the game. It fits the game so perfectly and just adds to the awesomeness. Icing on the cake.

And then there's just the basic plot of the whole thing. It's brilliant. I've got a thing for angels, I admit it, and one that is cast down into the underworld and then climbs back up to the sky is just cool.

So in case you hadn't gotten the picture, here it is nice and simple: I love this game. Everyone should play it, and I'm definitely looking into Banov's other games.

You can download Escape from the Underworld here (for free of course):

http://gamejolt.com/freeware/games/adventure/escape-from-the-underworld/3816/

But also be sure to check out Banov's own blog, The Amazing Spectacular World of Banov (I love the title):

http://banov.blogspot.com/

Unfortunately, I don't think there's a version for Mac (sorry, guys, but surely you knew what you were getting into?), but I can assure Windows users that it runs fine on Windows 7, and came virus clean.

Helpful Hint: If you find yourself stuck behind a shimmering white wall and you've gone everywhere else (meaning you have a sword and all the energy balls), try holding down the attack button and seeing what happens. This part left me stumped for a long time, I'm ashamed to admit.

--Persy

Introduction

Hello and welcome! The name's Persy, and this is where you'll find all sorts of groovy goodies to help you put off that homework, that paperwork, that laundry, and anything and everything else you want to avoid. That's right, computer games.

Everyone indulges in a game of solitaire or freecell (never got freecell, personally), but sometimes you need something more. Sometimes you just want to lose yourself in an epic point and click game, or go on an indie adventure as a little robot, or blast a bunch of aliens into pieces. Pick your poison, because I plan on tackling them all.

Every Thursday I'll review a game. It could be an online game, or a free download (all download games I have downloaded and played myself, so I'm reasonably assured that they're safe). It could be an action packed shooter game, or it might just be a web toy. Who knows. But no matter what it is, the main goal is to just have fun (and, of course, put off the rest of the world for an hour or two). So let's have fun.

At random points throughout the rest of the week, I might post something different, like a funny story, cool picture, interesting tidbit, etcetera. Anything that'll help you avoid your chores! So stay tuned.

--Persy