A nine month streak fades, and, with any luck, a longer one begins. My apologies on missing the July post. It’s been hectic, to say the least. What with publishing my novel and preparing for a trip to New Zealand and Australia for the Women’s World Cup, things have been a bit busy. As to the first bit, the novel is fully available! I couldn’t be more pleased with the final paperback version I held in my hands prior to pressing the proverbial green button. It was published late June, so it’s been available going on two months now. In that time, it’s sold 56 copies, mostly through Amazon but around a dozen through orders at various indie bookstores. Considering my advertising to date has just been social media posts, talking with friends and family, and secretively placing QR code stickers on the backs of signposts and such as I’m walking about, I’ll take it. I’m hoping to build up some reviews from readers on the various outlets’ selling pages before going the paid advertisement route, while in the background sending copies of my novel to as many potential professional reviewers as possible. That second route may not see returns for some time, if at all. But if the process to date has taught me anything, it’s that taking pleasure in the journey is paramount, and success takes many forms. Undoubtedly the success I work for and dream of is living off what I write, but steps, each little successes of their own, must be taken. Mountains are climbed one stride at a time. Related to that, I recently got word that the Tattered Cover bookstore in Denver (on Colfax) has agreed to stock my novel in the local author section! It’s only one store, and not with the heavy hitters on the main floor, but I greatly appreciate it nonetheless. It has long been a dream to see a story of mine on a shelf, and now that dream has been, at least partially, fulfilled. One day something I write will make its way to the main floor. I’ll share a pic of where it’s stocked once I’m back in the states. And that is a nice segue way to the second point I mentioned above, that being preparing a trip to New Zealand and Australia for the Women’s World Cup.
I’m writing this in a B&B in Auckland, New Zealand, after having spent the day at the Hobbiton Movie Set. As someone who has the elvish word for friend as it appears on the Doors of Durin tattooed on my wrist, I can say it was well worth a visit. Truly a magical experience transporting to the shire, standing at the exact point where Frodo and Gandalf are first seen together in the films, and where Gandalf lit the fireworks off the back of his cart for the hobbit children. And of course Bag End. And the party tree. New Zealand is truly a breathtakingly beautiful country; it’s no wonder Peter Jackson found all he needed here. But of course, the trip wasn’t dedicated solely to all things Lord of the Rings, though that’s an entirely possible trip to make, what with the guidebook with directions to each and every shooting location readily available (I most definitely bought a copy for my partner and I’s inevitable return). Rather, the trip was multi-legged, starting in Queenstown for some skiing, a glowworm cave, and a trip to the absolutely stunning Milford Sound, among other things. That was followed up by the quarter finals of the Women’s World Cup in Auckland between Japan and Sweden. Then of course a side trip to Mordor, aka Tongariro National Park, and back to Auckland for the semi-finals match between Spain and Sweden. That second one was an absolutely incredible game to watch. And now I bid New Zealand farewell tomorrow, off to Sydney for a couple days in the hopes of snagging some tickets for the final. It’s been a fantastic vacation, and a much needed break. But of course, my brain being the oddity that it is, in the course of the trip planning, I kept coming back to a question: when it comes to video games, which do I prefer, a narrative railroad or a more choice driven open world? You might, very much understandably, wonder how that question relates to trip planning. To that I say, stay with me for a moment.
Have you ever been on a trip where you, or someone you know, planned out each and every minute of each and every day? Now how about a trip where all you booked was the flight there and perhaps some places to stay, with the rest to be figured out as you went along? Which did you prefer? I would say a video game that is more of a narrative railroad with nary a stop is akin to the first version of a trip, with the open world game more aligned with the second. As far as which I prefer, I would give the tried and true answer of one who is, according to many who know him, averse to definitive answers: it depends. It depends on the quality of the narrative, or on the quality of the itinerary to keep the metaphor going. As far as an itinerary, for me that means good food, breaks, and adventurous activities are a must. But as far as a narrative, if it is solid, as in well wrought and true to the characters involved, then sign me up for a ride. I have no qualms relinquishing control in such situations. I think Naughty Dog by and large does a great job with this on the Uncharted series and Last of Us Part 1 (I haven’t played part 2). I mean, I absolutely adore books, and what are books if not the ultimate narrative railroad? We’ll ignore the comparatively niche choose your own adventure novels for this one. But, sometimes the plot is less of the point, instead the environment, exploration, and creativity of the player more of the focus. Done well, as it is in the somewhat recently released The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, this can be incredibly compelling. I would argue that slapping a wooden plank to a wheel and zooming off in a random direction in the dark of the depths only to fall off an unseen cliff directly on to the head of an unsuspecting Bokoblin is hilarious and absurd and chaos at its best. This is what open world games can give, moments that shine all the brighter for their unchoreographed nature. It’s like comparing a professional dance crew to the general writhing and undulation of the masses at a club whose efforts are briefly aligned by the playing of a song they all know. Is that dance as good as the professionals? On a technical level, most likely not. But it still has a magic all its own. At the end of the day, whether a trip or a video game, I think the truth of the matter, the optimum as it were, lies, as it usually does, somewhere in between. It’s always best to leave a bit of room for a surprise.
All the best,
M. Weald
M. Weald 