The Awards Are Now Open
And please read The Sleepwalkers by Scarlett Thomas
Another quick newsletter this week, friends, while I wait for the Camp Elementa books to arrive! It has been a heck of a week in my household, as we finally narrow down what’s been making my eldest kid so sick. We’re suspecting mono, which would also explain why fasting this Ramadan had been kicking our family’s butts! Hopefully, we get test results soon, and get healthier soonest!
I’ve been waffling over whether to submit anything to The Awards this year. The committee is now accepting submissions for the best independent role-playing games published between June 1st 2023 and May 31 2024. If you have something that qualifies, take this as your sign to go for it! They’re also looking for judges, so if you like reading and trying out games, this is a great opportunity for you.
In addition to the daily Connections game my friends peer pressured me into, I got to enjoy another night of D&D 5E’s Wild Beyond The Witchlight and finally hit Level 3! I’m thinking of going Arcane Trickster, as that would entirely fit Gwynedd’s wizard school dropout background, and would love any advice and suggestions, especially pertaining to spells. I’ll likely take Booming Blade but am not yet married to anything else, honestly. Message, maybe? Keep in mind that Gwynedd is a con artist with a penchant for violence — my entire table keeps forgetting that she’s not a bard, lol — not a sneak thief, tho she definitely has that in her bag of tricks.
I’ve also been playing all the One Days in Learned League, regardless of my actual knowledge level on each quiz’s subject. So far I’ve been pleased to finish in at least one Top 50th percentile each day. Perhaps that was what gave me the confidence to finally try out for Jeopardy! again. I did the Anytime Jeopardy Test online, and felt significantly more stupid than the last time I’d done it, lol. They did give me a cute graphic at the end tho:
And finally in interesting game news, Spencer Beebe’s excellent card deck puzzle game Lost In The Shuffle is back in stock! I had such a blast soloing this: it’s smart, funny and wildly entertaining. Highly recommended.
Oh, there has been one other game my eldest and I have been playing while he’s stuck at home sick. It’s a variant on the jumpscare/Nerf war, where we catch each other’s eye (important,) tap a finger to our own lips twice, then trace down each side of our jawline in turn, in a form of mewing. Whoever does it first wins. We then have a cooldown period of a minute before we can try again. It is a deeply stupid Gen Alpha thing that amuses us both to no end.
I also read a bunch of really great books this week. Swan Songs was written by W Maxwell Prince and illustrated by seven different artists, and is just about the best comics anthology I’ve read in recent memory. Each of the six stories in the collection is an examination of a kind of ending, and together form a truly mind-blowing experience. I adored Mr Prince’s Art Brut Vol I, but didn’t realize exactly how much versatility and depth he had till this excellent collection.
Another book that really blew me away this week was Scarlett Thomas’ The Sleepwalkers, which is the kind of inventive postmodern literature I want pumped straight into my veins. It’s ostensibly the story of a rich couple whose honeymoon on a remote Greek island goes horribly awry — very White Lotus vibes, but treated here with the eye of an impeccable writer and thinker. The author and novel are happy to stretch the limits of what great fiction can do. Highly, highly recommended.
Alright, I need to try to get a good night’s sleep ahead of a big weekend, friends. See you in sev— oh, shoot, the clock just rounded midnight as I finished edits. See you in six!
Currently Playing (Music): Beethoven’s Symphony #1; Adagio from Louise Farrenc’s Clarinet Trio in E Flat Major; Vivaldi’s Concerto #7; Mozart’s String Quartet #1; my Declan Rice playlist; Tyla’s Water; Usher’s Good Kisser; Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter.
Currently Playing (Games): The Light In The Mist puzzletale, Ephemera by Messana, Enigmas by David Kwong & Co, The Wild Beyond The Witchlight, Metazooa by Trainwreck Labs, Learned League trivia.
Currently Reading/Writing (Games): Camp Elementa by me! Ghosts Of Saltmarsh.
Currently Reading or Just Read (Books): Walkin’ The Dog by Chris Lynch; Deep Fried Death by Maddie Day; The Sleepwalkers by Scarlett Thomas; Here Comes Charlie Brown! A Peanuts Pop-Up by Charles M. Schulz & Gene Kannenberg Jr.; A Killing On The Hill by Robert Dugoni; Bless Your Heart by Lindy Ryan; Swan Songs by W Maxwell Prince and assorted artists.