A Non-Writing Post

While I’ve been trying to get writing done, of course (see earlier post about reporting word counts, or the widget to the side), I must admit to having been somewhat distracted by other things lately. Of course summer comes with their fill of them: sunshine, and camping, and trips to the lake aside, there are also the very real responsibilities of children and gardens and anything else that is best accomplished while the sun shines.

Which is probably why I’ve also been developing a guilty little pleasure that is completely contrary to those things: Valheim.

What is that, you ask? It’s an open world Viking simulator, for lack of a better term (or perhaps Norse-mythology-inspired simulator would be more accurate, if not quite as poetic), where you harvest resources, build houses, raise pigs, and sail on the oceans.

Oh, and fight skeletons. And Trolls. and drakes. And trolls. And goblins. And trolls…

Also, sailing those oceans is somewhat plagued by man-eating sea serpents. But still, quite a fun game.

I haven’t been doing much in the game, even. I haven’t ventured far from the starting area, or fought any of the games bosses. Instead I’ve just been building houses, and hunting deer, and walking through misty forests as the rising sun dapples the trees.

It’s been nice.

I suppose I’ve also been doing a fair bit of reading too. Managed to cross a few books off my ever growing list. Probably not going to make much progress this week as I do the final readthrough of episode 5 before posting it on Amazon. But maybe after that I’ll get a chance to lounge by a pool and fully revel in a world that isn’t of my own creation.

  1. Beneath a Brass Sky by Eli Steele
  2. Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson
  3. A Star-Reckoner’s Lot by Darrel Drake
  4. Blood and Steel by Seymour Zeynalli (DNF)
  5. Six-Gun Tarot by RS Belcher (DNF)
  6. Volsyng by Set Sytes
  7. Dispel Illusion by Mark Lawrence
  8. Gunmetal Gods by Zamil Akhter
  9. The Brightest Shadow by Sarah Lin
  10. A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham
  11. The Lost Dawn by Dan Neil
  12. Cowboy Necromancer by Harmon Cooper
  13. Tower Climber by Jacob Tanner
  14. Godchosen by TS Snow
  15. Conquerer’s Blood by Zamil Akhter
  16. A Bad Rune at Angel’s Deep by Anthony Lowe
  17. Street Cultivation 2 by Sarah Lin
  18. Holy Sister by Mark Lawrence
  19. The Broken Heart of Arelium by Alex Robins
  20. Untolled by JP Valentine
  21. The Black Shriving by Phil Tucker