Writing Again (and I'm done with themed anthologies)

Following a minor bout of cancer (featuring surgeries and 6 months of chemotherapy), I'm writing again! Having spent some time reviewing my writing career to date, I note with a degree of dismay that while I've had some material published, I'm not super happy with all of it. In the past I've pandered to the whims of the industry in order to get stories out. Well, I'm done with that. Now I'm writing what I want to write. No more < 5,000 word stories about "blue aliens on exoplanets", simply because a publisher somewhere decided that's what they wanted for their next anthology. I know it may seem a little hypocritical, given that I helped come up with the theme of A Hand of Knaves (and I stand by it), but I'm allowed to be hypocritical if the mood takes me. And the mood does take me.  From now on I'm writing whatever the hell I want. It might not get published, but it'll be mine and I think I'll be a lot happier with that.  Let...
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Assassin's Creed Black Flag - Best Game Ever!

Assassin's Creed Black Flag has easily surpassed my previous favourite game (Mass Effect 2) and then some. Anyone with a sense of adventure, anyone who likes a hearty sea shanty before bed time, anyone who yearns for a good old-fashioned sea duel and a bit of looting along the Spanish Main should play this game.

You can almost feel the salty spray on your face, or the shudder of your ship as enemy cannon balls crash through it (in fact you can actually feel that through the hand controller). And I guarantee you'll raise a hearty cheer the first time you swing onto the rigging of a Brig and air assassinate its captain.

"But I'm waiting to get it on my next gen console..." I hear you whimper.
"Arrr, those be mighty soft words for a pirate!" I reply (as one of my crew mates did to me only last night).

I got the PS3 version, which also contained a voucher to download the PS4 version for $14.99 extra. Awesome value and I can play it NOW. And I have been. In almost every spare minute. Everything about this game is done with gusto, yet the mechanics of the gameplay are amazingly finessed.

Almost the perfect game. Ten out of ten hearty pirate cheers, downed with a flagon of rum!


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March 19, 2020 at 3:39 AM
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