Niche market websites

I have been silent for the last few weeks working hard (ha!) on my end of semester assignments. It is an interesting experience writing for the online marketplace, before I have been forced to write for a more traditional media, this means less use of first person, less direct engagement with the reader and no hyper-linking. It has to be one of the more important advancements to journalism, you can now leave the footage of the scene you describe, something not possible 20 years ago. 15 years ago even.
I give for your consideration two pieces I have written for a niche gaming website Ausgamers.

Review:
Section 8: Prejudice
Opinion Piece:
Indie Gaming
(password eosqn)

It was an interesting experience actually putting into words the gameplay and the mechanics for a review. I have always found opinion pieces slightly easier to write, if a little harder to wrap up properly and this one was no exception.

I hope you all enjoy.

.Xander

Working Title: The Glow Slowly Fades

Wrote this a while ago, I think it was around the time i was rereading the Wheel of Time (book 11 probably). Starting trying to capture what it would look like as a serious of portraits, as a person lost themselves. This is what came out.

Let me know what you think.

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The glow eventually dies in his face, his features harden and he starts to feel less. His once funny jokes become rarities and the once mysterious smile fades and fades, till the only hint remaining is the barest twitch of his lips that offsets his usual impassive face.

The lack of emotion in his face reveals how troubled he is inside, he can't bare to face the problems that he is going through so he forces them away, locking himself in a cage, that gets smaller and smaller as more and more things start causing pain and suffering.

His conscience cries out, its voice getting weaker and weaker as he dismisses more and more of his emotions, first his joy sent away. then his vulnerability he hides it away, never letting it reach the surface, humour is the next to go, banished. Finally his love is cornered off, in a misguided attempt to preserve it. It sends flickering static memories up, rarities that for a second remind him of good times, the occasional flicker of emotion steals across his features then as he struggles to push the memories away.

Delays

Apologises for my lack of updates, currently in final week of uni, for this semester. I will update shortly.

Also follow my interesting life on twitter.com/Eosqn enjoy people

Musing at the Tram stop.

I was waiting for the tram at midnight the other night. (work finishes late for me most nights) and I wrote up this little thing, thought I would share it with you.

"He steps off the tram, the chill May air biting at his exposed skin. He takes a swig of his coffee both hands wrapped around it for warmth. He turns and walks down the narrow path between the tram and the railing, a figure in a pink baby doll shirt leans against it, facing the tram, the slender body blocking his path, he slows as he approaches his feet hesitant as his fingers tighten on the steam cup of coffee. The figure moves it's legs and straightens up, letting him pass. He takes one then two steps around the stranger. His body draws level with the figure. A sudden sound causes him to turn his head, his nose crumpling in as he faces the fist of the pink baby doll figure. His head slams into the tram, a spiderweb of cracks in the glass appearing around his head. His hands still clasped around the coffee he swings them up knocking the next blow up from the centre of his face to graze his forehead before smashing through the already weakened glass, shards fly and the support that was afforded his head vanishes sending the bruised back of his head into the jagged pieces of glass still standing, blood starts to flow and he still hasn't let go of the coffee. He stumbles forward as another fist drives itself into his gut. Coffee finally spills over the brim of the mug, pouring down the side, lapping over his intertwined fingers. A small snarl escapes his lips as the coffee touches his skin, red streaks shine through the rapidly cooling remains of the boiling coffee."

Enjoy. :) 

Biannual write up. Rjurik Davidson

Ok folks, if you haven't noticed I have yet to post another article on this blog. I do apologise, I have been completely swamped by study, and video games.

A few weeks back I interviewed Rjurik Davidson for my 'Writing for Online Media' class, I worked with him for a couple of days while on placement last year at Overland. I caught up with him again, along with Sophie, and we spoke about his new book coming out in 2012 'Unwrapped Sky' and the challenges of being a Science Fiction writer in Australia.

Rjurik started out, as most writers do, as a writer of short stories. His works like 'The Interminable Suffering of Mr. Wu' and 'The Passing of the Minotaurs' garnered him critical fame, leading to his first book being published,  'The Library of Forgotten Book' a series of short stories set in a number of worlds that exist inside Rjurik's head.

His first novel is based on the world of Caeli-Amur and it has been revealed that at least one of the characters is from 'The Passing of the Minotaurs'.

You can find the full interview here (note it is still being worked on so it wont be up for a while.)

Something New

Where to start.

I am doing this blog for a class at VU, Writing for Online Media, which is actually a lot more fun than it sounds. I know I know.

To be honest though I am a little unclear on what I am meant to be doing in the class right now so I thought I would write about it in here instead.

I have always been notoriously bad at keeping a blog up and running, even when they were linked to other community places like RvB, man I haven't even been on there in ages. I should go check it out. I hear they have thriving pockets of people still contributing to the place...

Anywho I should go back to listening to what the Tutor is saying.

Latz!