* Merry Christmas * Happy New Year *

Christmas break.

I thought I’d officially and forever lost the magical privilege of two weeks off when I graduated from university.  Corporate America doesn’t believe in it the way schools and colleges do.  Corporate America believes in opening its doors at midnight or 3:00 AM.  Even if some poor sod gets trampled in the mad rush for incentivized buying and dies, well…at least the retailer met goal.

Thankfully, I’m out of that environment.  Game studios tend to shut down over the holidays — since we’re just kids with scruffy faces who want to play the games we got from Santa.  We pretty much give corporate America the finger.

It’s been great.  I’ve been working on the second book, a direct sequel to “The Last Page”.  And I’ve been incredibly productive, breaking through several walls, connecting up several threads and arriving within sight of the book’s conclusion.  I’m very excited and should have this draft finished up quite soon.  (I’ve still got four days left of break!)

Once the draft is done, I’ll spend a month or two re-reading, editing and polishing.  Then, maybe in March, I hope to have a round of feedback from some trusted readers.

Over break I’ve read a book one of my friends hopes to publish.  It’s Southern Gothic and it’s good.  Once he gets it polished up and feels comfortable I’ll probably say more.

I hope to see one or two more movies before break is over but I did manage “Avatar” right away.  Saw it at the Austin Drafthouse which always enhances the experience.

Clearly there are parallels with the idea and title of this movie that gamers immediately understand.  But that’s just peripheral.  This movie is fantastic.  I read some reviews that the dialogue was throw away blah blah.  Well, most movies have at least a few lines that grate and I might have winced once or twice…but really?  This is an experience and a story that’s just damn amazing.

All stories are derivative.  This one is fairly transparent and mostly predictable.  But I’d argue that what matters in this case is how the thing is told.  And that’s why Avatar shines.  Without spoilers I can say that the world and most of the character motivations have been more than lovingly crafted.  It really is a stunning movie-going ride.