5 Favorites for January 2024

5 Favorites is a new feature here at Pixelvania Publishing. On the last Friday of every month, I’ll be posting 5 FAVORITE THINGS I’ve recently (or not-so-recently) enjoyed, in case you’re looking for something neat to experience.

The Proclamations of Progress will still be posted Februaries and Septembers. 🙂

With that, here’s my latest 5 Favorites!

📻 MANHATTAN SKYLINE by A-Ha

First, I saw this meme about Aphex Twin (which is another artist I like)

Which is originally from THIS meme

Which is referencing this song and it’s a TRUE BANGER!!!! I didn’t know A-HA went this hard!

🎮 TUNIC (Game: Switch, Steam, and other systems)

I ADORE this game. To give you an idea of how much I adore it, I had it for exactly two weeks in 2023 and it became my Game of the Year. GOTY. Yes.

Don’t be fooled by the isometric perspective: It’s the spiritual successor to HOLLOW KNIGHT, rewarding you for nosing around every nook and cranny, rocking your face off with an amazing chill soundtrack, exploring a world full of light and darkness…It’s absolutely terrific. I went in blind and was glad I did, so I don’t want to say much more–except I love that the game rewards you for using items…with more items! Otherwise I would just hoard bombs until the end sceen.

📖 Race the Sands by Sarah Beth Durst

A really magical book full of great characters, based around racing dangerous monsters, but about way more than that.  It’s the kind of book I’d love to write some day, and I’m super glad I got to read it!!! I give this MY VERY HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION, if you’re an epic fantasy fan.

▶️ ONE HIT WONDERLAND: “Macarena” by Los del Rio

A twenty-five minute documentary about the Macarena. You’re welcome.

🍿 Jerry and Marge Go Large (Movie, Paramount+)

A heartwarming, feel-good movie starring Bryan Cranston, based on a true story of a retired couple who found a loophole in the lottery and helped out their town. Don’t know if you need to know much more than that!

A musical short story turns 5

On this day five years ago, I released dreamy short story Day of Silence, Day of Sound. In this story, a woman living in a post-apocalyptic outpost discovers that sound is disappearing from the world. There is also a white shepherd dog, which is kinda neat.

I’d like to redo the cover sometime, but I’m not entirely sure what to put on it, to be honest with you. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Cover for DAY OF SILENCE, DAY OF SOUND: An old-fashioned radio sits alone on a vintage chair in a blurry field of tall grasses, in hues ofwhite and icy blue.

Find out more

A stellar sci-fi book turns 4 today (Plus: a thrilling announcement!)

Wow! Today is the 4th birthday of my epic sci-fi novel Steel City, Veiled Kingdom! (Better known round these parts by its nickname, SCVK.) Hoo, BOY that went fast. Seems like I just released it yesterday!

This is one of my most popular books. If you like your sci-fi novels heavy on the wonder with a little horror stirred in and peppered with humor, you might like it, too! Click the cover to find out more.

Cover for STEEL CITY, VEILED KINGDOM: THE COMPLETE EDITION - A man in a labcoat holding a rabbit on a strange device, with a monster in the background.

Find out more about SCVK

But what’s even MORE exciting is that this book’s little brother is on the way! That’s right, SCVK’s sequel is launching soon! It’s a stormy sci-fi drama called The Guests of Crooked Neck. It’ll be releasing first to Kickstarter in 2024. Check out the cover!

Cover for THE GUESTS OF CROOKED NECK

The Guests Of Crooked Neck is a moving science fantasy about grief, pride, and being seen. This standalone novel set in the Worlds of Everlush universe takes place soon after the events of Steel City, Veiled Kingdom–but you can read it as a standalone novel just fine.

As a story, Crooked Neck is the inverse of SCVK: where SCVK was an epic adventure spanning a few in-story years, exploring all corners of the galaxy through the eyes of a single character, Crooked Neck is an intimate drama switching between three main characters that stays put in one small town for a single weekend. But both books contain colorful characters and engrossing worlds.

If that sounds like it’s up your alley, I hope you’ll click the button below and join me on the journey of launching the second Worlds of Everlush novel!

Click here to be notified when The Guests of Crooked Neck launches!