Emma C. Ellinson
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Emma Visits Brussels

6/3/2018

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I've launched a new YouTube channel called "Emma Visits". This is the first video filmed outside of the UK. Jack and I visited Brussels and I filmed a bunch of it. Enjoy!
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Zelda: Breath of the Wild has Towers and That's More Than Okay.

3/12/2017

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When Watch Dogs 2 came out it was big news that there were no “Ubisoft Towers” in it. Thank god, no more arbitrary climbing to open up side-quests. The entire world was open to exploration from the beginning and side quests revealed themselves over time either as a result of story progression or by searching through Marcus’ array of apps.

The thing is, other than finding that bit next to the Golden gate bridge I went to on holiday, there wasn’t much to encourage me to explore. Maybe I had a look around the Noodle headquarters or went to see the seals at the harbor. But exploration was never the aim of the game.

I’ve always been a fan of Ubisoft games and climbing the towers in Assassin’s Creed games used to be something of an addiction. In fact I would have just done them all in one go if I hadn’t purposefully paced myself. However on a recent replay of AC2, courtesy of the Ezio collection, that old buzz was very much gone. This could have been down to it being a replay of old content, the fact I’m a bit older and have less time for side missions or maybe it was just down to open-world fatigue.

When you break down Zelda: Breath of the Wild it shares quite a few elements with Ubisoft and other modern open-world games. Climb a tower, reveal a bit of the map, open fast travel points and repeat. There are side quests and shops and even a place to dye your clothes like you could in Assassin’s Creed. (Although you’re mad if you want to fuck up the colour scheme of the Hylian outfit).

If it really was open-world fatigue, why then was I feeling the same need to go over there, climb that tower and keep revealing chunks of the map? The answer is simple. It’s a more enjoyable world to explore than most open-world games of the last few years.

Back when Assassin’s Creed 2 came out, Florence and Venice were places worth exploring. They were pretty and the architecture made it fun to run and jump across roof-tops. The inability to recreate to a 1:1 scale actively worked in the game’s favour. It meant a tightly packed environment that didn’t get boring.

Lately that desire to explore has faded because crafting 1:1 replica of Paris and London doesn't actually make for an interesting world unless you make it that way. Especially when they're set in a time before most of the iconic buildings even existed. Ubisoft probably knew this which why we got those weird mini sections with the Eiffel tower. Because if you're playing a game set in Paris you want to see the Eiffel tower not the flat area of nothing where the tower would eventually be built.

In contrast Breath of the Wild offers a seemingly endless supply of landscapes to gawp at, interesting characters to talk to and surprises to discover. If you run off in any direction for long enough your journey will be rewarded.

One of my favourite moments so far happened when I was heading towards a tower at the other side of a bridge. The area didn't seem to offer much in the way of fantastic views or enemies. It was just normal fields and ordinary bokoblins. I fought my way to the bridge and once I was there was amazed by an incredible sight, a giant creature I just hadn't expected to see. **minor spoiler** It was a giant chinese-style dragon slowly gliding and curving through the air. **spoiler ends**

Was this things dangerous? A friendly beast? I still don't know yet and that mystery is just one of many things that will drive me forwards in Breath of the Wild.

The towers themselves at the most basic level are a small goal to attain, a reason to move forwards, just as they are in other games. Sometimes they are also a puzzle or a challenge. Some are surrounded by thorns or high-level enemies, which presents an interesting puzzle as you debate how to approach it.

The towers also open up the map, providing helpful geographical information. This is nothing new but what what they don't do is present you with a dozen or so markers and icons telling you where the side-quests all are. You have to do this yourself by using your Sheikah slate as a pair of binoculars and placing the markers on your map. You might not even be able to place it accurately meaning there could be some running around once you get there.

The lack of markers is a relatively minor feature but it's the difference between a game that presents you with an intimidating to-do list and one that presents you with a rich world that begs to be discovered and gradually unveils itself over time
​
Zelda: Breath of the Wild is proof that the open-world genre still has a lot to offer and as a fan of Ubisoft (or Ubisoft trash some might say) I'm optimistic that these lessons will be learned (or copied) to make new worlds that are full of more intrigue and fewer checklists.
 

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The Worst Morning Ever...

5/30/2016

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RAYS OF SUNLIGHT shone through the tent, giving it a red glow and a warmth that Alken was grateful for. In his sleepy state he stretched an arm out and grabbed folds of cloth, pulling them back to him. He quickly realised that something was missing.
Chryssie had vanished and his heart panged a little that she hadn’t said a word. But it did little to diminish the warm feelings he had within his chest at that moment or to lessen the memory of the night before. What came next however, was certain to do just that.
The flap to his tent was whipped open. A gauntleted hand grabbed his ankle and yanked him in to the daylight. In his panic Alken grabbed at the sheets to try and cover his smooth skin. Soon hands were on his shoulders, arms and legs to pin him to the ground.
As Alken’s eyes adjusted he was aware of someone opening a scroll of paper by his left ear and heard the words “Definitely him.” The men holding him down were dressed in uniforms of leather and minimal brass plating’s. “Grab his things."

​This is just a little taste of what I'm working on. I'm editing the first "Powers of Ishgam" book and it's my main project right now. I've taken a couple of little "breaks" to write other things but my main goal is definitely to get a first edit of this done and then share it with a friend of mine for some feedback.

A lot of people assume I've gone straight into writing book 2 of "Tales of the Key". A fair assumption, but behind the scenes my writing is never as simple as book 1, then 2 then 3 etc. I have so many ideas and projects at different stages. This was especially so when DS wasn't out yet. I even had a debate on whether to abandon DS in favour of the first Ishgam book. (So glad I didn't).

Long story short, the first draft of this was already finished long before editing on DS was finished.
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Working with...

5/28/2016

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A Book Cover Illustrator
Working on a book is long stretches of being a lonely loner followed by a sudden realisation that, oh crap, now you have to work with actual, living people!

For the independent author there are a few choices when it comes to getting a book cover, including making something yourself in something like Canva. But if you can afford to save up the cash you can work with an illustrator or graphic designer. I won't go into the details of finding someone, partly because I already knew who I wanted and partly because that feels like a topic all of its own.

​The relationship between a writer and artist is always going to be different. But I can talk through how it worked for us and what I did to try and make things easier for Rachel my cover artist. The first step was to just establish the kind of things I was a fan of. I sent Rachel a few of my favourite book covers, with the reasons why I liked them.
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Designing the cover to Darwin Solution

5/26/2016

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It felt like an old promise was finally fulfilled when Rachel George started working on the cover for The Darwin Solution for me. I've had the joy of seeing her work just get better and better (and she was pretty damn good to start with) and I am so happy that her artwork is the first thing you see when you pick up my book.

But enough gooey sentiments! Rachel George has written about the experience of designing the cover. In fact she wrote it a month ago and I'm a terrible person for taking so long to sharing it here. If you want to read that then click the image below or this link right here.
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The Rose and The Vine

4/10/2016

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My good friends Laura and Rachael have released their first book on Kindle! It's set in a medieval fantasy world where vampires rule all and have amazing elemental powers.
This is a setting I had never seen vampires in before and there are so many great ideas crammed into this story.
If you're a romance fan you'll definitely love it so I encourage you all to give it a look.

​You can find it on Amazon right here.
"The Outwoods and The Glass Throne have been at war for centuries - not surprising given that they are both ruled by vampires. Pride starts a lot of wars when you live this long. But this is not the story of how The War began. This is the story of how it ended."
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Justice League Assemble

4/10/2016

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​It's been a while since I did the whole opinion piece thing. Since leaving MCM Buzz I've definitely missed writing about movies but after watching Batman v Superman, it seemed like the perfect time to write about an argument that comes up time and time again.

After Warner Bros and DC plotted and planned after the release of Man of Steel, a decision was made along the way to throw Batman in there and see if they could get the whole Justice League thing started. And everyone said the same thing. "Marvel spent 4 years building up a universe before they did Avengers, to jump from Man of Steel to something called Dawn of Justice is rushing it."

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The Darwin Solution is FREE on Kindle this weekend

7/5/2015

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Remember that book I wrote? Well now you can get it on Kindle for FREE!*

Want to give it a try but you spent the last of your money on important things like food and Netflix subscriptions? No worries, it’s FREE!*

Not really interested but think the cover would look cool on your virtual bookshelf? Go for it, it’s FREE!*

Amazon US

Amazon UK

“Interesting misfit group of protagonists? Check.
Adorable Werewolf loosing control? Check.
A Dash of Cthulhu monstrosities and demons? Awesome!” - fiannawolf​

There’s a dead demon at the centre of a terrible incident and a man is about to be executed for getting too close to government secrets. Langdon and Freya are working hard to get to the bottom of both mysteries. But after being driven from their home and sent on the run will they be able to even stay alive? 

An intriguing tale set in a dystopian England where hospitals are closed and doctors are illegal. Mages Langdon and Freya must survive werewolf police, vampire pirates and the threat of demons to get to the truth. With the help of Liz their resident IT genius and Matt, a werewolf who is rapidly losing control.


*Free for this weekend only. Offer ends at end of day 5th July 2015.

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Gender flipped Darwin Solution.

4/19/2015

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​I got into a discussion with someone recently about changing genders in writing and it made me want to try an exercise. What if the main cast of The Darwin Solution were the opposite gender?

Freya. Without going into spoilers, Freya is a physically and emotionally strong person. In fact she's the strongest of the group leading her to be the first to fight and feeling as if it's up to her to defend others.
If you change her to a man, then Freya is closer to the tired trope of the male hero. You try and think of the "strong male hero" and you'll come up with thousands of references. You try the opposite and that number goes down drastically.

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Waiting for proof...

3/22/2015

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My proof copy of Darwin Solution arrived and it looks very nice indeed. However there were some minor changes to make to the cover wrap and the interior.

With the book having already been through a proof read, the things I'm looking at this stage are mainly formatting errors. For example one section of text was the wrong font size and the spacing in a few places wasn't quite right. And for the wrap the blurb need to move over a little bit so it wasn't overlapping the crease.

Proof copy no. 2 is already on the way and hopefully I can check that for errors and then press the big OK button that means I can finally start selling the print version.


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