Blogging, Blogging, more blogging!

I've been a super busy bee lately freelancing for SafetyWeb, a startup based in Denver. It's great, worthwhile work because they specialize in helping parents keep their children safe online. If you're a parent, you should definitely check 'em out!

Since cyberbullying and cyberstalking have been making headlines all over the country lately, there's no shortage of topics to blog about. Plus, I'm really exercising my journalism skills... which makes it all the more fun. In fact, I was thrilled that Valerie Strauss of The Washington Post actually linked to my story about the upcoming Phoebe Prince trial in an Answer Sheet column! (Seriously... that was awwwwwesome).

SafetyWeb recently flew me out to Denver to meet their crew. Here are some pics of their office (albiet taken with my horrible BlackBerry camera):

Okay... that last pic is actually the Stanley Hotel (The Shining hotel) which, admittedly, was a highlight of my trip.

Anywho, you can read all of my SafetyWeb tips and blog posts at http://blog.safetyweb.com/. Look for anything by yours truly!

Oregon Trail Makes IGN's Top 25 List...Again!

i realize that i keep talking about video games. i DO write other things. :-) but well, video games have been making a lot of news lately!

for example, a game i wrote last year called Oregon Trail (published by Gameloft) was just named one of The Top 25 iPhone Games of the Year by IGN for the 2nd year in a row! if you haven't checked it out yet, download it on your iphone or ipod touch now! it's fun, it's quirky and well, i'm pretty proud of the funny dialogue in it...especially samuel morse's! (little known fact: i'm a daughter of a ham radio operator and was taught morse code around the same time i learned the alphabet).

here's a colorful screenshot for you to enjoy:

why, oh why?

video games and bad writing.

they seem to go together like a big funky, crunchy, uber cheezy bowl of mac & cheese, right?

well, a friendly coworker of mine came across this video from The Escapist and it pretty much sums up the issues i go through while writing games. in fact, if you're in the video game business, this video should be, like, required viewing... or something. :-)

...And Now For Something Completely Different...

in addition to all of my other writing, i've been freelancing for several months for an extremely worthy start-up company called SafetyWeb which is based in denver, colorado. safetyweb is all about protecting kids online. they offer a subscription service to parents and will monitor their child's online activities, provide resource articles and tips, and they even have an iphone app!



i write their daily blog which covers news stories and parenting tips. it's super interesting material and it's really exciting to be a part of a start-up company with so many amazing people. i'm also working on their website revamp and a bunch of other content currently in the works.

go ahead and check out the blog here and if you know any parents- pass it on!

Life is a Popularity Contest!

and that's the object of my latest video game: high school hook ups!

admittedly, this goes against a lot of my morals. :-) when i was in high school, i was most certainly an outcast and pretty proud of it too. i didn't care about befriending the cheerleaders or the jocks, but this game makes all of that plus more fun- i swear! you even get to go to prom! also- the art is so cool in this game by a talented artist...really different from some of gameloft's previous ones. check out a few screenshots:

you get to play a male or female and you'll meet all kinds of characters that you need to try to impress...including the mean principal. it's a branching dialogue game with a ton of choices for the player, so you really have the chance to direct the outcome of the game!




*sigh* i heart teen angst.

high school hook ups was just launched today and is currently only available on sprint. in the next few days/weeks, it should be available on every u.s. and european carrier! stay tuned...

Chuckles for Shrek!

one of the iPhone games that i completed writing recently got released! very exciting! it's called shrek forever after and yes, it's based on the film. ign apparently reviewed the game in may, but i just noticed it today! journalist/reviewer, levi buchanan, gave the game a 6 out of 10 mainly due to technical issues, but he made a point to say this:

"The writing in Shrek is also good; there are many chuckles in here."

and that right there, folks, made my day. :-) it's pretty rare for writing to be mentioned in a mobile game review-- so i'm pleased as punch!

you can read the entire review here, or pick up the game in the app store and try it out for yourself!

Iron Man 2 Makes Top 5 Games on iPad!

my very first iPad game and it made jkOnTheRun's top 5 list! woo-hoo!

admittedly, i wish the game was better received by the press, but i'm well aware of all the production problems we went through (both in pre and post) and i'm just extremely proud to see it sell so well.



For the full story, click here.