Camp Elementa Pre-Order Store Is Open!
And how I persuaded my eldest to play Magic The Gathering with me
I keep forgetting to announce that the Camp Elementa Pre-Order Store is open! If you missed out on the campaign but still want to order a copy, you can snag one at the link. I was reminded today because we’ve hit the 80% mark of surveys completed, so I’ll likely be starting shipping next week!
Life has actually been rather frantic since my co-parent went to Japan for work this past Saturday. I’ve been taking care of our three kids by myself since then and feel rather run off my feet trying to keep them fed, clothed and sufficiently educated and enriched while also keeping up with the day job. As such, I haven’t had a chance to play any of the solo journaling games I promised myself as a reward once I got the Backerkit off the ground, tho I did tell my eldest that if he beat me in a game of Magic The Gathering, I’d buy him the Blox Fruits Minifig pack that he wanted.
Anyway, we went 2-1 with the Bloomburrow starter kit and my nerd parent heart has never been happier. We have since struck a bargain that every time he beats me in a game of Magic, I’ll put USD5 to a Blox Fruit toy + code for him. I just hope I’m not creating a monster here.
As you can likely guess, I haven’t had a chance to play anything that either doesn’t actively involve my kids or requires more than five minutes in front of the computer. Aside: if you’re interested in a referral to the very fun Learned League trivia game, let me know!
Despite the fact that I haven’t been able to make any progress in either Koriko or the copy of Seven Murders Till Midnight that I unearthed while cleaning my desk the other night, I caved and backed the So You’ve Met A Thousand Year Old Vampire solo RPG campaign, signing up for the main book plus extras. In my defense, I have had the original A Thousand Year Old Vampire game on my To-Buy list for ages, so this seemed like a terrific opportunity to grab a few Tim Hutchings books at one great price. I might actually be most excited for his drawing game, A Collection Of Improving Exercises. I haven’t had the time to do much art either lately, and after reading Zoje Stage’s Dear Hanna and Iain McCaig’s Smalltown Tales (both excellent books!) I really want to get back into at least sketching again.
Dear Hanna is actually one of the books I want to feature in the newsletter this week. I haven’t read the bestselling Baby Teeth, which is the first book that introduced us to “bad seed” Hanna. In this sequel, Hanna is in her early twenties and working as a phlebotomist when she meets a widower with a 12 year-old daughter. She and Jacob start dating and quickly marry, and for the first four years everything is fine. But the prospect of a new baby in the house makes her start to spiral and go back to her disturbing, dangerous ways. I know a lot of people are going to read this book and go “ooh, what a sociopath” but I felt a lot of empathy for a young woman who spent the first decade of her life not being met where she is — as a clearly neurodivergent kid incapable of expressing what she needed — who was instead treated like a bad person for not being “normal”. My heart ached for Hanna. Ms Stage also knows how to write a suspenseful scene: the bit where Hanna’s idiot husband opens the door had me on tenterhooks! I almost don’t know whether I want to read Baby Teeth now, but I’m super looking forward to getting a copy of My UnderSlumberBumble Beast, the children’s book that carries so much meaning for Hanna, in December.
Gosh, I read so many great books this week that I don’t know which one to spotlight next! After some reflection, Charlotte Shane’s An Honest Woman: A Memoir Of Love And Sex Work is probably the other book I most want to talk about. Ms Shane was an escort for the 1%, and talks candidly of her time not only in that position, but also of the adolescence and experiences with academia that preceded her journey into sex work. It is, ofc, a deeply feminist book that touches on many topics that any thoughtful non-sex-worker-exclusionary feminist will have already pondered on, particularly the role of marriage in a patriarchal structure and how the concepts of sex and fidelity are tied to that. It’s also a surprisingly moving book, as she talks about some of the most important relationships she’s had with the men in her life here, too. Full review at the link, if you’re interested in hearing more about my thoughts on this memoir.
One last thing before I close out this week’s newsletter: Tussie Mussie: The Complete Collection is now available in Barnes & Noble! This is one of my favorite quick two-player card games, with an I Split, You Pick drafting mechanic. It’s designed by Elizabeth Hargrave of Wingspan fame, and I originally bought it from Button Shy in wallet-form. The boxed set at B&N does not come with wallets but does include a scoresheet, which I very much covet!
Alright, I need to go write yet another draft tonight in order to keep up with my absurd work load. See you in seven, friends!
Currently Playing (Music): Vivaldi’s Concerto #7; Mozart’s String Quartet #1; Corelli’s Christmas Concerto; Vitamin String Quartet’s Bad Guy; Duomo’s Wildest Dreams; my Declan Rice playlist; Sabrina Carpenter’s Short N’ Sweet; Isabel LaRosa’s Favorite; Grammy 2024 playlist.
Currently Playing (Games): The Light In The Mist puzzletale, Enigmas by David Kwong & Co, The Wild Beyond The Witchlight, Metazooa by Trainwreck Labs, Learned League trivia, NYT Connections, Magic The Gathering: Puzzle Quest, Arena and CCG.
Currently Reading/Writing (Games): Ghosts Of Saltmarsh.
Currently Reading or Just Read (Books): A Very Woodsy Murder by Ellen Byron; Under The Surface by Diana Urban; An Honest Woman: A Memoir Of Love And Sex Work by Charlotte Shane; Through The Midnight Door by Katrina Monroe; Red Tundra by Mike Pohjola; Dear Hanna by Zoje Stage; Smalltown Tales by Iain McCaig; Laozi’s Dao De Jing by Ken Liu.