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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Ari's LiveJournal:

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    Thursday, November 19th, 2009
    11:53 am
    Cough, cough
    What he said. :-)

    Current Mood: amused
    Monday, November 16th, 2009
    9:26 pm
    Speak to me...
    ...of Fringe.

    I realize that I'm a bit late, but I just watched the very first episode. I liked it enough to keep watching, but... I need to know what the show's frustration quotient is. I gave up on X-Files around season 5, and I was bitter about it. I don't mind ongoing mysteries/plotlines, but only if they're tied up within a reasonable amount of time. On Babylon 5, Straczynski had a policy: Any given question would never take more than a year or so to be answered. Granted, each answer might raise other questions, but each question was answered.

    Also, B5 clearly knew where it was going, whereas it became very apparent that Chris Carter didn't know where he was taking X-Files.

    So, where does this fall?

    Current Mood: curious
    1:38 pm
    Blackmoor
    It's come to my attention that CMP has announced the ending of the Blackmoor license. It has also come to my attention that they're saying some negative things about the people who worked for them, and blaming us for the fact that the Age of the Wolf book isn't going to see release.

    I feel that I need to say something--but I don't think it'd do much good to get into a war of words with them, and I don't think it'd be professional to make specific accusations in a public forum. So let me just say that there are definitely two sides to what happened, and that the problems that led to this did not originate with the freelancers.

    I'm sorry that the fans are the ones ending up disappointed, but we could not, in good conscience, continue to work for CMP. (The fact that almost the entire freelance team--writers, artists, art director, and cartographer, some of whom had never even spoken to one another before the shit hit the fan--agreed on this course of action should be indication enough that there were problems coming down from above.)

    I don't feel it appropriate to say anything else, except that I hope that, in all my years of working in this field, I've earned enough of a positive reputation for people not to assume the worst about me, or my fellows on the creative team, in this unfortunate situation.

    Current Mood: disappointed
    Sunday, November 15th, 2009
    2:02 pm
    Fans? You mean, like, the things that spin on the ceiling?
    For anyone who cares, I've got a fan-page up on Facebook. If you're on the FB as well as the LJ, feel free to swing by for a gander. (Or a goose, if you ask nicely.)

    http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/pages/Ari-Mouseferatu-Marmell/181576062390?v=info&ref=ts

    Current Mood: hungry
    11:03 am
    My own horn. Hear me toot it.
    For those of you who might've been waiting, Agents of Artifice is now available in paperback. :-)

    Amazon

    Barnes & Noble

    Borders

    Powell's

    A Magic: the Gathering novel, AoA is the start of the new "Planeswalker" series of books, and was written specifically to provide a jumping-on point for new readers while still appealing to existing fans. You should require no real familiarity with the Magic setting to enjoy the book. :-)

    Current Mood: accomplished
    Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
    1:52 am
    Can't... breathe...
    I just watched last week's episode of Supernatural.

    I think I may actually have split something open internally from laughing so hard.

    Current Mood: ded
    Sunday, November 8th, 2009
    2:44 pm
    Last night's gaming session...
    ...included such lines as:

    "I'm going to create an illusion of a dining room table, and make it flicker in and out. Nothing works better to capture elementals than a periodic table."

    (When faced with a choice of whether to stand and face a trio of demons or flee through a semi-animate forest) "I'd rather face the living trees. Their bark is worse than their bite."

    "Mmm, magic sex. It's finger-Wiccan good."

    Last night's game was weird... ;-)

    (And no, not all of those lines were even mine, though two of them were.)

    Current Mood: amused
    Friday, November 6th, 2009
    10:35 pm
    Or, in plain English, D&D tomorrow
    As the morrow finds us engaged in endeavors of the role-assumption variety, I must forthwith endeavor to assume a mindset appropriate to one Cornelius Magpie, scion of a noble family and far more thoroughly learned than in is the norm in these tumultuous times.

    Current Mood: loquacious
    Wednesday, November 4th, 2009
    1:24 pm
    Maine
    Steve Kenson said it perfectly, so I'll just point you that way.

    I'll say this, though: This fight isn't over. It will never be over until people realize that civil rights are not supposed to be up for majority vote in this country. But it's a fight we should never have had to wage.

    Current Mood: determined
    Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
    4:27 am
    When I'm rich and famous...
    ...I'm going to find an actor who is very popular with the teenage girls swooning over "Twilight," and I'm going to cast said actor in the bloodiest, most gruesome, most evil, most bestial vampire movie I can come up with. Then I am going to drink of their tears, and they will be as sweet ambrosia to me.

    Current Mood: insomniac
    Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
    4:08 pm
    Quick plug
    If any of you were waiting for the paperback to buy Agents of Artifice, the paperback is now available for preorder, and should be shipping/on shelves in a week or so. :-)

    So go. Buy. Enjoy a good novel. Pay my bills. ;-)

    http://www.amazon.com/Agents-Artifice-Planeswalker-Novel-Planeswalkers/dp/0786952407/ref=ed_oe_p

    Current Mood: hungry
    Sunday, October 25th, 2009
    10:50 pm
    A note to horror movie-makers
    Here's a hint, free of charge.. "Look! The one surviving character got away! Oops, no, he didn't. Roll credits." That's not an ending.

    Your movies don't have to have happy endings, but they have to have endings, and that's not one. What it is is you admitting "I got to the end of the script and didn't have a clue how to do something interesting."

    Current Mood: annoyed
    Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
    4:45 pm
    Once more into, etc., etc.
    My agent's just sent out another novel to prospective publishers. Wish us luck. :-)

    Current Mood: nervous
    Friday, October 16th, 2009
    12:23 pm
    You know, it's very simple.
    If you're a JP, part of your job is to marry people, regardless of race. If you're a pharmacist, part of your job is to fill people's prescriptions, whether or not you approve of the drugs. If you have moral objections to your job duties, quit. But asking you to do your freakin' job is neither unreasonable nor any form of oppression.

    EtA: There's apparently some confusion as to my meaning, though I thought the phrase "moral objection" was pretty clear. I'm not suggesting that pharmacists should dispense drugs that are unsafe, or would react poorly with the patient's other meds (at least not without an in-depth consult with the doctor). I'm talking about pharmacists refusing to dispense things like birth control or "morning after" pills, that sort of thing.

    And no, the fact that they might believe life begins at conception does not excuse them from providing such services. If it goes against their morals, they have every right to seek employment in another field, or in a pharmacy that specifically caters to that particular religious/moral belief. (There are some out there.) But if I walk into Walgreens or HEB with a legal prescription, the person behind the counter better sell it to me, or be prepared to get fired.

    Current Mood: irritated
    Wednesday, October 14th, 2009
    2:35 am
    Just a quick word...
    ...to the people throwing a fit in California right now.

    The number of children who will be "turned gay" by the observation of Harvey Milk Day in California schools will be absolutely identical to the number of children who were "turned black" by the observation of MLK Day.

    Current Mood: hungry
    Sunday, October 11th, 2009
    2:11 am
    Such a short life...
    ...even for a D&D character.

    Farewell and RIP, Henge. We hardly knew ye.

    RIP, in this case, meaning "rest in pieces." Henge was my warforged warden in my current D&D campaign. His death today was unfortunate--I was really getting into the character--but as it saved my wife from having her character killed, and she hates making new characters, it was more than worth it.

    In his place, I would like to introduce Cornelius Magpie, errant explorer, esteemed enchanter, and epicure of eldritch eccentricities, at your service.

    (And slack-jawed, wide-eyed kudos to WotC for actually making bards both fun and effective in the new edition. Less than one full game session in, and I love the class. And I'm not even usually a fan of leader-role classes.)

    Current Mood: tired
    Wednesday, October 7th, 2009
    8:04 pm
    To Tide you over
    Ever since Disney announced that the subtitle of the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie was "On Stranger Tides," some people have speculated as to whether it was based on the Tim Powers' novel of the same name.

    Apparently, it is, at least in part. Disney has, indeed, optioned Powers' novel.

    No telling what they'll keep and what they'll ditch, but it should be interesting.

    Current Mood: hungry
    Monday, October 5th, 2009
    1:54 am
    Can someone explain to me...
    Why am I suddenly coming up with all sorts of ideas for books for which my writing style/preferences are ill-suited?

    Current Mood: listless
    Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
    10:42 am
    Alien-ated
    The more I read about the upcoming John Carter of Mars movie, the more concerned I'm getting. It reads like they're trying to squeeze the entire initial trilogy into a single film. :-/

    Current Mood: tired
    Monday, September 21st, 2009
    11:49 pm
    Castle
    If any of you watched the season premier of "Castle," I have a question for you. Please don't provide any details other than to answer the question, as I haven't watched the episode yet, and probably won't be able to for a while.

    Specifically, when they ended last season, it was with Castle about to reveal some stunning revelation about the murder of Beckett's mother. And I've read that this episode is (partly) about him trying to patch up their relationship, after she gets pissed that he was digging into it.

    My fear is that, when they skip over the intervening time, they're also going to skip over the revelation of whatever it was that he told her. And that would seriously piss me off. (You don't do a cliffhanger and then not resolve it.)

    So, I don't want to know what he told her. I just want confirmation that the episode reveals what he told her, rather than artificially trying to drag out the suspense/mystery.

    Current Mood: tired
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