Maya's Musings: My Favorite... Video Game? with @Jinxie

Inspiration in Its Many Forms

First, I’d like to thank Maya for being such a gracious hostess and inviting me here today. She’s pretty awesome.

Good storytelling will always inspire me in some way, be it in the form of a book, a song, a movie, or even a video game. Yes, I said video game, so let’s talk about that for a moment. I like playing video games: the Tomb Raider, Assassin’s Creed, and Dragon Age series. I was playing Shadow of Mordor, but it’s pissing me the ever-loving hell off, though it is quite challenging for frustratingly specific reasons. I’ve put it on the back burner for a bit. Skyrim is in the lineup of games-to-play, but after spending over 180 hours playing Dragon Age: Inquisition, I know that one is going to be much longer. I don’t game on a regular basis, though it might sound otherwise. It’s all or nothing with me, as in not at all or 16 hours straight several days in a row. In fact, I hadn’t turned on my Xbox in weeks until last Sunday when I decided to start Tomb Raider. It’s the 2013 Game of the Year edition, which was nothing but a damn roller coaster ride for seven hours straight right off the bat. Holy crap!

And yes, it all started with Pong.

I point all of this out so you understand the level of gamer I am when I tell you that Assassin’s Creed first pulled me into its story that is so incredibly interwoven with actual history that I was in awe of not only the storytelling and depth of the characters, but also the amazing accuracy of the maps, the detail of the architecture of cities during the Renaissance, the early settlements of North America, and the oceans and islands of the Caribbean. It’s like historical fiction, and it blew my mind. And it made me really, REALLY want to write for one of these gaming companies. Future goal set. This particular series had me actually gaming regularly for a while too. The key here is that the games foster all kinds of ideas, so I have to have a notebook nearby when one strikes. My imagination goes into hyper-drive when I’m playing, the worlds are so intensely built. The games remind me to explore the possibilities of my stories because there are so many options with RPGs, so many different directions to take. Not so much with Tomb Raider; it’s a pretty straight shot. But when presented with a choice, every decision has a specific consequence, and I believe that’s important for the characters in our stories as well. That they understand and see the possibility of their decisions, or not, and suffer the consequences.

Similarly, specific authors and their books inspire me to write. J.R. Ward with her Black Dagger Brotherhood series is always inspirational when it’s not heart wrenching like the last one I read, The Shadows. The wounds are still raw enough on that one that I can’t write the review yet, and it’s been a few weeks since I finished it. Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series is another that inspires. The history Briggs includes in this series is amazing, and I’m not just talking about American history. She pulled out the old tales when it comes to the Fae—the not-Disney ones; the stories that were intended to frighten little children to behave. But that’s not all. Briggs’ writing challenges me to be a better writer because when I read her, I am so incredibly humbled, and maybe a lot intimidated. But I don’t give up writing because it is that important to me, to tell my stories to the world. And I keep writing and getting better because that’s how it works with everything: practice makes perfect, makes you a master at your skill. Mastery doesn’t just happen. You make it happen. I’ve never really been a master at anything. I’m more of a Jill of all trades because I like to learn, and I learn what I need to know and move on. I decided recently that I need to master in at least one thing and I’m working on making that happen.

The inspiration for my upcoming book Dusk of Death was an art piece by Joana Contreras. It was originally written as an essay for a college English class, which I share at the end of the book, but after sharing it online all those years ago, I was challenged by a friend to expand on the idea and it turned into a novel, much to my delight. Armen’s voice broke through and I wrote a chapter every night back then, finishing in just over a month.

In my family, creativity comes in all of its forms. We are writers, musicians, actors, artists, and dancers. Sometimes in more than one; most times in no less than three. Creativity is a part of my being. I could never imagine not being this way.

Whether or not you’re a creative person, what inspires you to do what you do?

Demons, detectives, and a forensic scientist who has fallen from Hell. Hell wants her back. Let the demon hunt begin.
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When Armen Leza fell from Hell, demon hunting was the last thing on her mind, but when all Hell breaks loose, this Fallen is humankind’s only hope for salvation.

Armen feels alone in her flesh. She can hear things unheard by humans, scent out the gut-churning stench of evil, and see the shades that lurk in the shadows, but if there is one thing she knows for certain, it’s that demons lie.

When her past keeps rearing its ugly head, Armen and Phoenix P.D. Detective Terry Armstrong must face an apocalyptic event that will throw this world into the Darkness forever, leaving the fate of all humanity in the hands of the malevolent. Getting the truth out of demons can be murder, and Armen must do so before they succeed in extinguishing the Light.

View a sample chapter for Dusk of Death here. You may pre-order Dusk of Death here.

NL “Jinxie” Gervasio is a creator and destroyer of worlds as both editor and author, and has discovered she’s quite good at the romance thing—writing it, that is. Jinxie reviews books in her spare time, of which she rarely has any, and spends most of her time—when not working in the IT industry—chained to her laptop writing, editing, gaming, or watching movies. But mostly editing.

Born on Friday the 13th, her dad wanted to call her Jinx; her mom said no. After 34 years, she discovered the nickname, and she's grown quite attached to it, thereby choosing the moniker as her interwebz handle. She lives in Tempe, Arizona with Umi (her mother), whom she cares for. She enjoys riding her beach cruiser “The Betty” around downtown Tempe when it isn’t being used as a clothing rack, loves a good pub crawl on occasion, and has had the pleasure and the heartache of experiencing a love far greater than she could have ever imagined.

She welcomes you to her worlds.

Jinxie is the author of the Kick-Ass Girls Club series book Nemesis, and the Prophecy series books The Dracove and Gods & Vampyres, as well as co-author in anthologies The 434 Revolution, Into the Darkness and Undead Uncensored.

You can find Jinxie wandering through cyberspace: