November update

November 01, 2021

It’s been awhile since I’ve sent out this newsletter, and a lot of things have happened since then! Let’s get right down to it.

First, I’m participating in #NaNoWriMo for the first time. For those of you who have no idea what that is, November is National Novel Writing Month, and the official goal is to write a whole book in one month. My goal, however, is to just make some progress on an idea I’ve been developing (near-future science fiction!) and see if it actually can go anywhere, maybe get a few words down. I have no expectations, which takes a lot of the pressure off. So far, I’ve written about 750 words and have names for my main characters, which feels like a good start.

I’m also recapping Star Trek: Prodigy, the new animated show, for StarTrek.com. You’ll find my recaps over there every Friday morning. I’m really enjoying this show both for what it is and the potential it has to draw a new generation into the franchise. If you’re wondering how young is too young for Prodigy, the premiere episode deals with some heavy themes, like slavery, and has action and explosions, but if you’re comfortable with discussing this kind of stuff with your kid then I’d give it a go. Here’s the link to my recap of the first and second episodes.

I’m still over at Wired with my video game column Casual Gamer. Last week, I discussed how it can be intimidating to play a game everyone else loves (sorry, Dragonage fans)! I’ve also tackled how much of a pain grinding to level up can be, why I probably won’t ever finishThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and why Mass Effect: Andromeda was actually a really good game.