New Year Update - Part 2

Shocker of all shockers I'm actually posting more than once in a month!! As promised I'm continuing to update you all on all the new and fabulous things that are happening in my life this year. I'm cranking up the Lady Antebellum on my iPod and busting out my 2nd update for the year.

My most exciting news for the New Year is having been asked to write for The Married Gamers. When I left Sarcastic Gamer a few months ago I really thought my time in the gaming industry had come to an end. After nearly three years and over 100 episodes of doing the SGPink podcast my life had become too hectic to keep up with gaming and I was unable to feel like I had anything worthy to contribute. Once my classes ended in December and the holidays went away I was left feeling like something was missing.

I left Sarcastic Gamer, claiming I didn't feel like I belonged without a podcast, and that I didn't think I was a "writer". But the more I thought about it, the more I missed writing. I just didn't like having a "quota" to meet each week. Quota to me causes stress, the feeling that if I don't do what is expected of me that I'd be letting someone down. So I bowed out and found myself really missing writing little blurbs here and there about gaming stuff that interests me.

I participated as a host in an Xbox Live Community Playdate not too long ago with The Married Gamers and had a blast. Kelly (the wifey of The Married Gamers) and I met a few years ago at PAX Prime and have been talking on the phone on and off since then. She can be a bit long winded in her conversations, but I love talking to her and her excitement and energy for gaming always gives me a boost. For some odd reason every time I talk to her, Hailey poops too, which is odd...I'm not saying I dread her calls, but it's uncanny how that works. But I've gotten off the point of this blog....

Kelly had a great idea for a new podcast for her site that included me. Long story short, the podcast idea fell through, but she still wanted me on as a writer. To say I was insanely flattered is putting it VERY mildly. So once again, I had to stop and think...am I a writer? I wrote for SG because it was mandatory pretty much. I've never considered myself a writer, or an industry personality for that matter. Harley asking me to be on our podcast and being a part of SG was my very first experience with being a part of something like this. But somehow being asked to write and be part of a site outside of SG made me stop and think that maybe, just maybe I really do belong in the crazy world of gaming.

Most people only know me as "Jax". I created and overplayed that personality as any actress would playing a role. Jax was a personality for Sarcastic Gamer. Being new to all of this I might have overplayed her role a bit too much. So when I mentioned to my husband that I wanted to get back into the gaming stuff he kindly asked me to show them my other side, and to leave behind all the Jax craziness. Initially I was offended a bit, but he had a point. There is so much more to me than that personality I was milking too much for SG. I am a great mom, great wife, and gaming is a HUGE part of our family. So joining a site like The Married Gamers is the perfect fit for me. I look forward to working my experiences with my kids into my articles, taking them to events, and possibly even having them help me do some reviews.

I'm more than a "Drunken Gamer", and while I have no plans to change my blog name I do hope to show all of you the other side of me in 2012. There are people out there who hate me viciously, and sadly enough those people don't know me. I'd love to buy you a drink sometime and have a chat with you. The ones that do know that I'm really a pretty great and caring person. I don't claim to know everything in the world about gaming, but it is something I love and it is a very large part of my life and something I love sharing with my kids and my husband.

My first article on The Married Gamers went up today, it's not amazing, but it is a start and helped me shake the cobwebs off of my writing fingers :) You can check it out here. And pretty please if you do read it, leave a comment on the site. One thing that has always killed me is that no matter how many page views my articles get, if no one leaves a comment I don't feel like my article was ever read. Just the same as this blog. Just say hi, or something, because otherwise I feel like I've wasted my time. It's like someone writing a book, and everyone loving it but no one ever saying they did so they stop writing.

Someone please tell me you want to hear more from me...please?