Extra Life 2017

UPDATE: Thanks to your generous donations, I hit my initial goal of $200! I've created stretch goals that will help my team, the Extra Life Chicago guild, reach our team goals. Plus you get to make me do ridiculous things on my stream. See below for more details about how your donations make an impact, and what games we can play together on game day.

I'm participating in Extra Life this year! The tl;dr version is:

• Extra Life unites gamers to raise money that helps sick kids
• Tax-deductible donations made through me will benefit Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
• You can donate here
• I’ll be streaming my November 4th gaming marathon on Twitch at https://www.twitch.tv/rachelxstorm
• There will be solo games, games we can play together, book talks and recommendations
• Donate $15 and up and email me some info and I’ll give you personalized reading suggestions
• Donate $35 and up and you can pick a game I play during my marathon
• Follow me on Facebook or Twitter for updates and details
• See details below, and help spread the word!
  
  

For a few years now, I’ve wanted to participate in Extra Life, and I’ve decided 2017 is go time. If you’re not familiar, Extra Life benefits Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals by uniting gamers around the world to play games while raising money to help save sick children at the hospital of their choice. Every year they host a 24 hour fundraising and gaming marathon, and this year it falls on Saturday, November 4th.

I’ll be playing for Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, so your tax-deductible donations (which can be submitted here) will be helping local Chicagoland kids and families who really need it. Lurie is ranked as the top children’s hospital in Illinois, and the money raised through Extra Life will help support critical treatments, healthcare services, pediatric medical equipment and charitable care -- basically it will help them keep doing the amazing job they’ve been doing for Chicagoland families for 130+ years.

I never take on a charitable cause without having a personal reason -- and no, it’s not to have an excuse to play games for 24 hours. I could do that on my own for no reason at all. The gist is that for me, Extra Life is an opportunity to help local families and sick children by supporting Lurie’s efforts. I can’t begin to imagine what it’s like to have a sick child, but I absolutely know how expensive serious medical care can be and what a burden it is on top of the medical issue itself. If I can raise enough money to help even one family out a little bit, then it’s worth it.

So if you’re able to donate any amount of money to help the hospital, to help local families and their children, it would mean a lot. If you can’t, I know all too well how it is to be broke and unable to donate to a cause. You can still help by spreading the word wherever you can-- Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, your blog, anything and everything helps.

I’m planning to stream my marathon on Twitch, and if you’re free November 4th you can even play games with me. I will be playing and streaming on my Xbox One -- if you play Xbox too, my gamertag is Rachel Storm. If you want to be sure to play together on November 4th, add me, send me a message, and make sure you’re following me on Facebook or Twitter for updates on what I’m playing when.

Even if you don’t play Xbox, you can still play along! Saturday evening I’ll be playing a trivia game called Trivia Murder Party from Jackbox Party Pack 3, and anyone can play along on their computer, tablet or mobile phone by going to jackbox.tv and entering a room code that I’ll release on my Twitch channel as well as on Twitter.

In between the games I stream, I’ll be doing book talks. They will all be relatively new, and I’ll try to cover a variety of genres and formats: thrillers, historical fiction, contemporary fiction, YA, comics, and non-fiction. I’m a librarian, I’m going to play to my strengths.

I will also send personalized book recommendations for anyone who donates $15 or more and emails me the last book they read that they loved and why, and how they want the next book they read to make them feel. Happy? Awed? Creeped out? Surprised? Inspired? Amused? Sad? Get creative.

Anyone who donates $35 or more will have an opportunity to pick a game for me to play. It can be any game I can play on Xbox One that I either already have or can borrow from a library. You can click here to see a list of games I own and click here and here to see games that I can borrow from a library. If you’re not sure about the game, feel free to email or message me before you donate and I’ll check for you. Pick something ridiculous, pick something scary, pick something hard that I’ll suck at, or pick something we can play together. But pick it by October 28th so I can get it in time.

So far, these are the games I am definitely playing that day:

Dragon Age Inquisition Multiplayer
Dead By Daylight
Trivial Pursuit
Rocket League
Minecraft
Layers of Fear
Trivia Murder Party

This could change as we get closer to the date, and I’ll eventually post a schedule on my Extra Life profile as well as here on my blog, so keep an eye out for that if there’s a game you’d really like to watch or play with me.

Phew! If you made it this far, thank you! Now let’s get going and help improve these kids’ lives!

Haunting Reads

Earlier this year I had a rare opportunity to make some horror recommendations for a library user who likes creepy mysteries, horror, and ghost stories. What luck! I exploded with ideas. Since we're getting close to Halloween, I thought this would be the perfect time to pull out my choices for anyone looking for a last-minute haunting read.

 I’ve broken down my selections into classics, newer releases, and graphic novels, depending on what type of reading experience you’re looking for.

Book review: Doctor Sleep

It's sad, but I can count the number of Stephen King books I've read on one hand. THE SHINING, DUMA KEY and now, DOCTOR SLEEP. I've also read ON WRITING, I believe because it was required reading in a creative writing class I took in college. Deservedly so. If you're a writer and haven't read it yet, get on it right away.

And yet I wouldn't hesitate to say King is one of my favorite writers. I'm much more familiar with the film adaptations of his stories, but they are still his stories. So I'm a fan.

It is on my ever growing to-do list to read the original novels of stories like IT, CARRIE, THE STAND, PET SEMATARY, etc. but we all know how those lists tend to fare. I still haven't gotten to a bunch of Neil Gaiman books, like GOOD OMENS, AMERICAN GODS, and then of course, ANANSI BOYS. So King is in good company, I suppose.

I've missed a couple of his more recent novels, but I could not pass up DOCTOR SLEEP. It's the sequel to THE SHINING, which is one of my favorite horror novels, and in it King catches us up with how life has been treating Danny Torrance ever since he and his mother survived the insanity at the Overlook Hotel.

Book & Brew: Halloween Edition

During September my library featured a display I put together where I paired up books with beers based on a theme. We used it to help advertise an event we had in October on home brewing called You Can Brew It! I had a lot of fun coming up with the pairings and lists, and I'm sharing a handful of them each week here on the blog.

This is my last Book & Brew post, just in time for my favorite holiday. While I was developing a list of books and beers, I made a trip to my local liquor store to take advantage of their customizable six-pack in hopes that their selection would trigger some new ideas (plus... yes, I'd get to try some new beers.)

One of the selections I couldn't resist was New Holland Brewing Company's Ichabod Ale. It was an easy book reference, a pumpkin beer, and brand new to me.

(See the end of the entry for the thumbnail and link to the brewmark!)

Book & Brew: End of Days

During September my library is featuring a display I put together where I pair up books with beers based on a theme. We're using it to help advertise an event we're having in October on home brewing called You Can Brew It! I had a lot of fun coming up with the pairings and lists, and I'm sharing a handful of them each week here on the blog.

This week's topic is the source of some of my greatest nightmares: The Apocalypse. The End, Game Over, Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200, Go Straight to Hell. Whether it's zombies, robots, demons, nukes, or demon zombie-robots made of nukes, might as well have a drink cause The End Is Near.

(See the end of the entry for thumbnails and links to the brewmarks!)

Book & Brew: Hell's Bells

If you didn't catch last week's post on beers to go with the undead, during September my library is featuring a display I put together where I pair up books with beers based on a theme. We're using it to help advertise an event we're having in October on home brewing called You Can Brew It! Plus I had a lot of fun coming up with the pairings and lists.

This week, my second horror-themed brewmarks come straight out of hell.

(See the end of the entry for thumbnails and links to the brewmarks!)

Book & Brew: Zombies!

I've been on vacation for the past week or so, but before I took my time off I got to work on a fun project for a library display. I was pretty excited about the program lineup I'd worked on for Fall, which includes a lecture on home brewing called You Can Brew It! It gave me an idea to make a book display that would pair up books with craft beers, based around their theme. I had a lot of fun coming up with ideas- and I got plenty of help from my friends! On the display we'll have bookmarks I made that feature a book-beer pairing, or to suggest a list of books that matched a particular beer's theme. I've taken to calling them "brewmarks."

(See the end of the entry for thumbnails and links to the brewmarks!)

Book review: City of Bones

Young adult fiction isn't an area of expertise for me, but I've found myself enjoying some of the more popular sci-fi/fantasy series that have popped up over the last few years. I think the appeal for me is emotional, as there's an intensity to the protagonist that drives the story. Not that adult fiction can't be dramatic and emotional, but there's something about young adult fiction, some hook that you don't always find in adult novels. On the other hand, I also usually can't read one YA novel after another. I need a serious break from the teenage mind to read and think like an adult again. I'm currently rejoining the adult world with Richard Matheson's I AM LEGEND after blowing clear through Cassandra Clare's CITY OF BONES in a matter of days.

Book review: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Before I get into my review, I'd also like to highly recommend the blog entry from Amanda Palmer that I link to. Actually, you should just read anything she writes. It's a totally different experience from reading what her husband writes, but it's glorious all the same. I just enjoy very much what she wrote about her relationship with Neil in that specific entry. 

I have a bit of a relationship crush on Neil and Amanda. I will explain... 

Based on the Book

Since I hope to write about book-to-movie crossovers several more times in the coming months, I want to mention that I know it seems naive to expect anything but the cliched conclusion of: It wasn't as good as the book. I'm aware of this weakness of mine; the perpetual hope that the movie will recreate the feeling of the book it was based on. But it's not entirely baseless either, as there have been quite a few quality film adaptations that were faithful to the spirit of the book. 

Book review: Warm Bodies

As I write this, the film version of WARM BODIES is burning a hole in my dining room table. After reading the book, I'm both dying to watch it, and a little nervous. I'm worried that it will pale in comparison to the novel. I'm worried it will turn into a completely different type of story just based on the trailer I saw a while back. I'm worried it will lose everything that I loved about it.

Book review: The Lords of Salem

I'm a pretty lucky reader. I like almost all of the books I read in varying degrees, I rarely find a story so bad that I can't finish it, and I have never wished I could have the hours I spent reading a book back.

But after reading LORDS OF SALEM... well, I'm not saying I wish I had those hours back, but I wouldn't complain if some flying spaghetti monster god of fiction decided in his infinite mercy to grant them to me.

It was an interesting idea, and I liked parts of it, I just felt that there were so many things wrong with the approach, as well as the plot and character development. I say that as both a reader and a writer. And I don't like writing negative reviews, I like to give all creative works a chance; but I also have to be honest. And I honestly don't have a lot of positive things to say about my experience, but I will try to be constructive at the very least.

I'm going to stop here and say that there might be spoiler-ish information in my review, so if you're concerned about that you may want to skip this. My brief spoiler-free version is: If you're a big Rob Zombie film fan, have at it. It's gory, it's heavily influenced by past eras of horror, maybe you'll find it fun. If you're on the fence about his films, or outright don't like them, you may find this less fun. There are interesting, redeemable parts to the story, but the authors make a few wrong turns in terms of plot and character and leave you stranded in a bad part of town by the end.

Book review: The Demonologist

One of my more recent favorite books was "The Historian," by Elizabeth Kostova. It's not light reading, the tome weighs in at a hefty 642 pages. But every single page is worth it- so much so that I've read it twice, which is more than I can say for most of my favorite adult books published after, say, 1980. This Librarian of the Dead has so much stuff to read all of the time, that I took the time to read that TWICE. Think about it.

I loved the way "The Historian" mixed horror and supernatural themes with mystery, adventure, historical fiction, and a rich sense of setting. Specifically, the book explores the legends of vampires and Dracula in relation to the main characters. If any of this has made your inner reader perk up, I highly recommend the book. Don't be intimidated by the size, it moves quickly.

For those who just can't stomach 600+ pages, or have already read "The Historian" and enjoyed it, I would not hesitate to suggest Andrew Pyper's "The Demonologist."

Book review: Hemlock Grove

On April 19th, Netflix is launching another of their original series-- this time in the horror genre! HEMLOCK GROVE is based on the novel of the same name by Brian McGreevy, and the story is a modern gothic mix of horror, fantasy and mystery.

Comic review: Severed

As much as I love comics, I'm constantly behind on the latest and greatest because I don't read issue-by-issue. Even when I purchase part of a series, I tend to buy the trade paperback rather than each individual comic. Most of the time I borrow titles through the library, and they too purchase either trade paperbacks or hardcover collections. The fact is, issues are more difficult to keep current, more fragile, and would require a different sort of display space than most libraries have. Whether they should or not is a debate for another time.

Given these facts, I have not been able to jump on the SEVERED bandwagon as early as I would have liked. But I'm there now!

Moments from my Creepy Childhood

All together now, readers: "That explains a lot!"

I doubt it was my parents' intent to fill my childhood with creepy things, but as you can deduce from this blog, I gravitated towards them on my own.

This particular item is not just any book about ghosts, monsters and ghouls in a dank castle. This is a *pop-up book* about THE GHOSTS OF CREEPY CASTLE.

Fun With Keywords

As a blogger (ha ha ha! I'm a blogger.)
...Sorry. Some days it's just... weird to realize that. In an I'm-proud-of-it, it-makes-me-happy sort of way. It's like when I first moved out of my parents' house into my own apartment, some nights I'd lie there on the couch looking around thinking: "This is mine." I feel that way about this blog, too.

Anyways, where was I??

As a blogger, I like seeing what keywords bring people to my site. Once in a while they make me laugh, other times I have no clue. So just for fun, let's have a look. I'm pulling these from various time periods, since I've never done it before and I've missed out on some good ones-- maybe this can be a monthly thing from here on out, though.

Boing Boing interviews Faith Erin Hicks

I may have hit on a sustainable theme through my Women in Horror Comics blog series, at least as long as I keep stumbling upon interesting information about the female comic creators I discovered during that process.

Women in Horror Comics: Nancy A. Collins

This feature is part of my Women in Horror Comics series in honor of Women in Horror Month. For more info on WiHM visit www.womeninhorrormonth.com

This week’s Women in Horror Comics feature, author Nancy A. Collins, has not only written for a variety of horror comics, she is also a horror novelist best known for her Sonja Blue vampire series. The first book in the series, SUNGLASSES AFTER DARK, won a Bram Stoker award for Best First Novel. Unlike some other paranormal fiction, Nancy’s vampires are as they should be: vicious killers.

Book review: Fatale, Book 1

This first volume of FATALE collects issues #1-5, giving readers an introduction into the world of Josephine and the mysterious hold she has on man after man throughout the decades. Nicolas Lash meets "Jo" in the present day, and discovers that his godfather, recently deceased author Dominic Raines, had a secret manuscript which elaborated his own relationship with the same woman back in the 1950's.