Distractions 2020

The cards for the game I invented arrived!

I should explain…

When I first became a writer for the video game team Soltorch Games, I felt out of my league. Someone recommended to me “Slay the Dragon” (by Robert Denton Bryant), a book about writing for video games.

One of the exercises the book suggests is creating a (simple) board game, to learn about how game mechanics work.

I decided to go with a card game instead, and… well… I turned a simple exercise into a chance to stretch myself creatively.

It couldn’t take that long to invent a card game, right?

After several months of play-testing with family, adjusting the mechanics, designing and re-designing the cards in Canva, I ordered my deck through Make Playing Cards. And they look amazing! “The Bug Zoo Game” now feels like an official card game!

So… what did I learn about making video games through this exercise?

Well, honestly… I guess I learned that, if you want to write for a video game, you should probably spend more time writing, and less time turning a simple exercise into a months-long project.

But it was lots of fun!

I’m not sure I’ll be creating another card game anytime soon, though I’m glad I gave this one a try. Between this project and the designs I’ve been doing lately, maybe I haven’t been spending as much time on writing as I could. But I think I needed the break, to try something new.

Art Contest 2 Winners

Thank you to all who participated in the art contest! I enjoyed each of the entries! But of course, there can only be two winners: Author’s Pick and Best Representing the Book!

For Author’s Pick: Daysha showed the concept of Exploration with a photo of Katia out exploring the woods.

And for Best Representing the Book: Ethan made a picture with the concept of Conversation, recreating a conversation between Tyzak and Black Night (from The Loss).

Congratulations to the winners! Prizes will be handed out in a week or two.

Again, thank you to all who participated! This was a fun contest to host!

Art Contest Take 2

How about another art contest? This time, we’re going to do things a little differently!

One, art pieces should represent a CONCEPT from Tales of the Diversity. Sailing, exploration, discovery, cultural diversity… or whatever you pick out from reading the books!

Two, I’m looking for PICTURES. Paintings, drawings, posed photos of toys: as long as the final art piece is an image of some kind!

You can submit as many pictures as you like between TODAY and JUNE 15th, to author@karlissaj.com. No crude content please.

Two winners this time: Author’s Pick and Best Representing the Book (i.e. using characters or a scene from The Quest or The Loss to illustrate the concept).

Contest winners (and possibly runners-up) will be shared on my blog. (Click here to see the winners from the last contest!) Winners will also receive a $10 Coles gift card.

This time around, I’LL be submitting an art piece or two myself! Though obviously I can’t win, I can share with you my images during the contest, and a little on why I chose to represent those concepts.

I’m looking forward to seeing what you create!

2020 Art Contest Winners

Time to announce the winners of the Tales of the Diversity art contest!

First of all, thank you to everyone that participated! I enjoyed getting to see all the unique art pieces and takes on the characters in “The Quest.”

But I could only pick three winners… so here they are!

For Author’s Favourite:

An adorable take on Katia hanging out on the mast, by Daniel!

For Most Accurate to Book:

An incredible model of Reto from Josiah!

And for Most Unique Style:

A fun little craft of Black Night from Ethan!

Again, thank you to everyone who participated, and great job on your art pieces! I’ll aim to get prizes delivered within the next few weeks!

Moths 101

After lots of designing, photographing, and even some butterfly-catching, I’ve finished it: the newest version of my brochure, “Butterflies and Moths of Fort St John” - and I’m so excited, I had to post about it!

Moths are diverse, often overlooked critters that are about 400 species strong in British Columbia. Obviously, my one-page brochure can’t cover all the species in our area; but it gives a starting point to work with.

Scientists classify both butterflies and moths as Lepidoptera. Both have the same life cycle, wings with tiny scales, and a curling proboscis for sipping liquids (except the moths that don’t eat, which often don’t even have mouths!).

So: what is the difference between a butterfly and a moth, anyways?

After some mutterings about colour, time of wakefulness, antennae shape, and little apperati on the wings - all rules broken by some moth or butterfly somewhere - entomologists appear to throw up their hands and conclude, “It’s just a linguistic difference.” In other words, butterflies and moths are different in the way that locusts and grasshoppers are different. It’s just a fancy name change.

You can read more about my work with moths by clicking here!

I will be having the design professionally printed, hopefully before the month is over.