aspiring author

Reliving Borderlands’ Pandora [Video Games]

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Next to being a writer, I love playing video games. Since the announcement of Borderlands 3, I have taken it upon myself to try and get all the achievements in the Borderlands series, but I wanted to share my experience with the games.

Borderlands has always been one or my favorite video game series. I first played Borderlands way back in the day on Xbox 360. My first character was Brick, the tanky explosion punch-you-in-the-face kind of character. Not exactly my kind of playstyle, but I enjoyed what little time I was able to put into it.

Fast forward, I finally have a gaming computer and decide to play Borderlands 2. I had learned the story of the first one, so I felt comfortable playing the sequel. I was yearning to play Maya, the siren of BL2, because she had a support skill tree and I love playing healer/support in anything. But the problem was, I had no one to play with and I wasnt comfortable online match making. So I played through with melee Zer0, the assassin character.

I am also a huge fan of stealth games, and playing Zer0 in that manner was a fun experience. I was told by a friend to switch to his middle skill tree because it was more efficient DPS-wise. I did so and promptly killed the Warrior in less than a few seconds by throwing all the kunai at him. Needless to say, I was kind of sad how easy it was.

Now I know there are “new game plus” features like True Vault Hunter Mode and Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode after that, but I felt I wanted another challenge in the game. So I played Axton, the soldier class with his trusty turret. Playing Axton definitely made the game completely different. It felt more challenging because I couldnt simply disappear whenever I wanted to like Zer0 could. Battling the Warrior felt like an actual battle.

Then came Borderlands the Pre-Sequel. I knew that Claptrap had a support skill tree, but again, I was a solo player at the time. So I chose Nisha, the gunslinger character. I had a blast using her pistol focused skill tree.

In my next post, I’ll talk more about coming back to the series with the Handsome Collection on console, where I was finally able to play support. Are you a fan of Borderlands? Has the new announcement made you get into the series or start playing it again? Would love to know which game and character everyone is playing on the road to Borderlands 3.

Cloudy Days

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Today is overcast. I love cloudy days. oddly enough, I feel energized during them. Not a huge fan of the hot sunny days.

It’s the cloudy days that remind me how much I love to write. I don’t know about other writers, but cloudy days are the best days for me to write on. Something about the possible drizzle, or flurry, that inspires me. There’s a gray tone to everything.

I may not be writing as a career yet, but days like this that inspire me, I can only smile with the idea of reaching that goal someday.

It’s only two days after NaNo, where I finished my 5th manuscript. This is a new beginning for me. My first four were a series I self-published due to my impatience. With this 5th one, it can stand on its own and hopefully help me become the full time author I want to be.

NaNo Struggles

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So I’ve been writing my 5th novel during this year’s National Novel Writing Month. The goal for NaNoWriMo, NaNo for short, is to write 50,000 words in 30 days. That comes out to 1667 per day.

I wrote my entire 4th novel in one month during the 2015 NaNo. It’s a long and hard process of learning to get a routine, trying to squeeze words into any free time you get. This year is no different.

I’m a student, I have a job, and I also have a hobby of playing video games, so writing time is far in few. I also like to read when I can, as every writer should.

I’m actually almost done with my 5th novel with this NaNo. There were a few times when I was able to write a lot in one sitting. There were few days, though, where it was hard to even write more than a sentence.

My advice to those writing, or perhaps planning on writing next year, is don’t get stressed about word count. Write whenever you can, even if it’s one word.

Take part in write-ins, local events to gather several NaNo writers to write together. The change in scenery helps. Plus you can meet some awesome people.

Find some writing music that connects with your novel and/or character(s). I can’t admit enough how much Alesana helped with my second novel, Elements of Blood. Last year for NaNo, it was mostly Owl City. This year, it’s been a mix of Poets of the Fall and Ninja Sex Party.

Take part in forums. NaNo has many that are for those who need inspiration and support to meet the word count.

Lastly, just keep writing. Even when I’m not writing, I’ve been thinking about what to write next. So even when I’m not at my keyboard, I’m support till processing and refining the next sections of my novel.

9 more days till NaNo is over, so I wish anyone participating good luck. To another writers and aspiring NaNoers, I hope to see you next year.

NaNo 2015 Winner and Progress Update

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So in October I had just finished my 3rd novel, Element of Sight and its first edits. Then along came November, where I remembered it was National Novel Writing Month.

In my determination to finally participate, I immediately began my 4th novel to the Shattered Soul series, Elements of Light. On the 28th, I completed NaNo’s 50k word goal and my 4th novel. *applause* *cheers*

So now at the beginning of December, I’m back to the final edits of Elements of Sight. Hoping my 3rd fantasy novel will be out by the end of the year. The edits to Elements of Light will soon follow, and hopefully I will have that out by the end of January or February at least.

Seeing that it is possible to write a novel in a month’s time, I have never felt more like a writer. I have several more books planned for 2016, including a possible second series in the same universe as the Shattered Soul series, with brand new Elements and characters.

As a self published author and a college student (working a day job), I feel I need to use my free time to bump out more than just 1 or two books a year, like I have been doing. Elements of Lightning came out January of 2014 and Elements of Blood came out in December that same year. My 3rd book took until October because I was still unsure if I should continue my series as a self published writer and try to write something that I could send to agents/publishers. Maybe I’m impatient or read too many articles that are “pro-selfpublishing,” but I decided against it and began to finish EoS.

So now I have completed a book series. Not originally as planned (I was maybe aiming for 6 or 7 books), but it needed to be finished. It feels good to have more than just one or two now. Hoping the more I write, the more chance I’ll finally get the readers I dream for.