This is my favorite mini from my favorite game. If you like miniature board games and haven’t tried Super Dungeon Explore, you are missing out. Also, the minis are fantastic. We just finished painting up our whole set, though we have to fight over who gets to paint what. Mostly I give the best minis to Drew, but I held firm about this Reaper.
I’m running an IK RPG which will feature Everblight as central antagonists. So I needed a Carnivean and his shredder friends.
Sara Zarr is awesome. I read all her books a few years ago, which at that time meant three. This weekend I caught up on the two she published thereafter–How to Save a Life, and The Lucy Variations. I enjoyed them so much that I now count her among my favorite authors.
It’s a rare thing for me to read two books in a row by the same person, and an even rarer thing to love every book an author puts out with the same ferocity. I’ve finished each one and decided it’s my favorite, so take this with a grain of salt: The Lucy Variations is my favorite.
Lucy is a decorated pianist, or she was, before she quit suddenly from severe burnout. Her journey to discovering what she wants to do with her life is beautiful and nuanced; I’d recommend this book to every writer whose ever suffered from burnout–Lucy’s experience dovetails eerily with my own.
But really, if you love contemporary YA and you aren’t reading Sara Zarr, you’re missing out on one of the best authors in the genre. I’d say her books keep getting better, but I’m pretty sure if I went back to read Story of a Girl again, it would be my favorite.
That’s a problem I’m happy to have.
For the next three days I’ll be at the Life, the Universe, and Everything Symposium in Provo, UT. If you’re local, please come. This conference is always fantastic, and gets bigger and better every year. I’m thrilled to be on programming this year. Here’s my schedule if you want to come say hi.
Thursday @ 3:00
Gamer Girls: Why you need one in every campaign
Thursday at 7:00
Reclaiming the Vampire
Friday @ 10:00
Writing the First Few Pages
Friday @ 1:00
Young Adult Writing Panel
Saturday @ 3:00
Wrapping Things Up
Saturday @ 4:00
Reading. I’ll be reading from books I have coming out this year, so come if you’d like a preview!
See you there!
Sometimes, I read a book, and I wish I could write like that. When I read Anna and the French Kiss, I wished that so much that I read it three times, trying to figure out how the author achieved such charming and intense romance.
Then I read the sequel, and it was even better. (Maybe because the love interest in this one is more geeky, and therefore more to my taste. But I actually think it’s because Lola’s voice is so. much. fun.)
If you haven’t read these books yet, you should. The voices and the banter are top notch. And there’s a third one coming soon, for which I cannot wait.
Meanwhile, I’m going to work on pumping up the intensity of my romantic subplots. Thanks, Stephanie, for the inspiration.
