Hi everyone! As you see we have author Michelle Beattie visiting with us today! She’s another author here because of twitter! Yay!

Let the Games Begin

Hello. My name is Michelle Beattie and I’m a gamer. Not video games, though I do kick butt in Mario Kart for the Wii, but board games, card games, action games. Growing up in the pre-video system decade (well, some of my friends had a Nintendo 64 and we played ‘Burger Time’ when I visited) and living in the country with a party line and only 3 channels to choose from, we had limited entertainment.

Okay, that’s not entirely true. We skated on the sloughs, rode snowmobiles, built massive snow forts in the ditches (we had more snow then) and built impressive treehouses in the summer. However, on cold winter nights or rainy summer days, we occupied our time with games.

We played Sorry, Pay Day, Gambler, Clue, Bonkers, Michigan Rummy and Ratrace. I remember when Trivial Pursuit first came out and only my dad could answer the geography questions. My dad taught me Cribbage and to this day my brothers and sister and I still enjoy it. Christmases and family get-togethers were spent playing Barouche, a French card game of suits. As teenagers we played spoons (lots of skin shed on that one) and Asshole (a card game of social status). My sister and I played Speed, Double Solitaire, Crazy Eights. Some Sundays we’d go to town, stock up on Mojo’s, penny candies and one chocolate bar, often a Cherry Blossom. Then we’d go home and play Bingo. The Cherry Blossom was the bonanza.

There’s no doubt our childhood influences our adult life and I still enjoy games today. I’m a competitive person, but while I like to win, it’s the process I enjoy, the gathering around and laughing that usually accompanies this.

Thankfully my daughters and my mother in law (who lives nearby) also like games and we spend many hours playing and ribbing each other. We’ve added some new favorites to the oldies but goodies in my game closet. Two new ones came this summer thanks to friends in Australia: Perpetual Commotion (a high-flying, very fast paced card game) and What (kinda like Balderdash, a real hoot to play with a bigger crowd as you try to guess who said what).

Of course I haven’t even mentioned playing lawn darts (the real ones not the ones they sell today), pool, bowling, shuffleboard, curling, golf. And the list goes on.

I’d much rather play a board game than a video game and am always looking for new, exciting and fun games. Do you have a favorite or one you’ve recently discovered? I’d love to hear about it.

Ms. Beattie has also very kindly offered up two prizes. One person will win an e-copy of Another Chance and another lucky commenter will win an e-copy of Love by Accident. You can find out more about the books (and their blurbs) here. And of course you don’t have to leave a comment solely with winning in mind. 😉 So go on and get chatty!