Oh I guess this is one I can mention! At a couple of points during its development, I gave a wee bit of feedback to this sweet and important game about nonverbal kids. I'm so happy to see it released and get the love it deserves! It's FREE so share it with families and kids and schools!

My Doom-loving 4 year old got so tired of being misgendered because of his long pretty hair that he decided to cut it. We've been talking about it for months, preparing him, reassuring him. He loves that his short hair doesn't go in his face and chose to wear a lavender tshirt with a unicorn on it

I know that lately I've just been posting about CHILDREN, but that's largely because they've been 90% of my life these days. HOWEVER there are a couple of other (games/writing) things going on that I'll be happy to share more about soon!

When your child is tall and skinny, they complain that they don't feel like themselves in pants that fit and are slightly too long

4 year old has developed a knack for love declarations. He says them to friends, sends them to me in voice messages, and also uses voice to text to write things like, "I love you so much, I burst out of my heart. I burst out of my heart with fire. It's burning!"

My 4 year old (who had a Doom The Dark Ages themed 4th birthday party) just pitched the idea of a puppet show featuring Doom Guy and Daisy

I keep thinking about how I could collect all the mums I know and use their diverse skills and aptitudes to make a game company

A Boomer gave us the answer to life, the universe, and everything. Gen Alpha give the question as their answer to every question

Every so often I revert back to being the 19 year old me who was studying Multimedia Design and Theatre and just geek out over some expensive but beautiful book. I just discovered Rian Hughes. I do not need a spiral bound book of custom typography from the 20s and 30s ...do I?

You know you're a crunchy mum when you tell your child "this is an adult drink" but it's just iced tea cordial and you're worried about refunded sugar and trace amounts of caffeine

"Stay At Home Mum Era" ads are being served to me and I'm like... No thanks I'd prefer "Part Time Work From Home Mum Era"

I wish I had the energy to be one of those Baking Mums but oh gosh I managed better making purees with my first but somehow with #2 it's a whole lot harder. Now #1 is going to school I'm just thinking: what soft no-sugar muffins etc can be both lunchbox snacks and finger food?

Bringing in some passionate energy for the weekend 💃🙌 Our friends at Camp Pals are showing us how it’s done!

Breaking news: not being completely sleep deprived from a needy infant actually makes you feel lucid and gives some amount of emotional stability!

The Women-Led Games Steam Festival just started! store.steampowered.com/curator/4376... It features games where at least 50% team members are women/nb :) The Abbess Garden's demo is in there :) And a lot more cozy games! #indiegames #indiedev #cozygame

I'm at the point where postpartum hairloss has turned into regrowth and I would be wise to deliberately cut myself a fringe before one grows in by itself

I have two sons and they have been such different babies that I advise everyone to ignore any sort of advice from parents of one child who aren't handing on advice from people who have advised on many babies

My 6mo smiles in his sleep. Once, he burst out laughing, mid-nap

Why are they trying to make GenAI better at creating art (all forms); why aren't they making automated systems which will unstack and put away dishes, and hang up, fold, and put away clothes? (Why isn't the robot vacuum with a scutter arm so prohibitively expensive?)

I wish I was cool but I'm probably tepid

Iconic www.bbc.com/culture/arti...

A new reason to hate daylight savings... Previously it was: 1. International work meeting timezone renegotiation sucks 2. I'm confused by the amount of light in the evenings And now I add: 3. It's the worst with small kids who rely on body clock more than our constructed times

His Preschool class at Daycare had an, "All Colours are for Everyone" learning session yesterday! I'm SO happy that they responded positively. It's strange how insidious peer culture can be, though. All it takes is one kid coming in with some BS that their parent, sibling or family friend said...

I feel like we need a category between "acquaintances" and "friends," where you're firm friends BUT you don't talk much or see much of each other. Or maybe this is just a "friend" and what I'm thinking of as "friend" is more like "close/best friend"?

I'm the mother of two young boys and love colour theory, and I am advocating for "Pink is for everyone. Pink is just a colour, and all colours are for everyone." My 4yo got shamed for wearing pink and purple, and told me he can't wear them anymore because "pink and purple are for girls."

"The Look" is coming to other eReaders on November 19th! ☕ This means that it will no longer be available as part of Kindle Unlimited (but still can be purchased for Kindle of course). If you're keen to read for free, there are often introductory deals for KU so take a look! amzn.asia/d/6FgkTzT

Funny trend I've noticed: people are mistaking emails with a detached, professional tone as being generated by AI. They show it to me, someone anal about phrasing and punctuation, and I point out that it clearly is not. AI does not skip commas or words. People CAN use a polite, professional tone.

Me: Did you know... I SUMMONED you? My three month old: 😄 *wiggle*

After a year of being exclusively available for Kindle, THE LOOK is coming soon to other eReaders! Exact details tbc… to stay in the loop, subscribe to “Storytime with Ellen Jurik”! open.substack.com/pub/ellenjur...

So I've seen awards from debut authors under 30, and now for debut authors over 50. So there's a 20 year period when it's just... Am average, normal, banal, non-noteworthy thing to do?

You know you're a daggy middle aged Mum when you buy yourself a "treat" of a pair of slippers to replace your current ones that are falling apart and they make you the happiest person in the world (They have inbuilt orthotics, have an adjustable width strap, and are machine washable/tumble dryable)

With Book Week coming up, I have decided I have a goal for the coming year: write a children's book so that my son can dress up as a character of his own invention for the next one

Today on the way to a Frozen themed birthday party, I described a Prince as a "boy Princess"

I'm honoured to be part of this project, and can't wait to see our characters and scenarios come to life with Jacaranda Productions! if.com.au/new-canvas-t...

I hate the newborn phase, thank goodness we're out!! I have a more smiley baby that sleeps slightly longer in a stretch (this one has been a terror cluster feeder) I say "more smiley" but really he's got an epic smirk. First born had a massive goofy smile, this one has a too cool smirk.

One day, my first born will be in one of those "girl or metalhead" Instagram videos and while right now he'd fall under "metal head" (he hears the Doom music and says, "That's my song!"), I don't mind which one it is in future. That's why I'm making sure he learns how to take care of his hair now

My GCAP 2024 Talk, "Building a Culture of Collaboration" is now available to watch and share on YouTube! This talk is based on my experience as a Game Producer and Narrative Director/Team Lead, but is built on my experiences studying Human Centred Design and Acting. youtube.com/watch?v=vDFG...

My baby is 7 weeks old and I am becoming more lucid yet often nap trapped, so my will to resist engaging in online drama is wanting

EXCUSE ME someone made a real scutter!!? Smegging hell... global.roborock.com/pages/roboro...

I just realised I forgot to share a recent Substack post! This one is on the use of Speculative Fiction to create distance from the audience's day-to-day experience and how that can make your thematic arguments more widely appealing. open.substack.com/pub/ellenjur...

This week's post is a little more abstract, but something I feel passionate about: punctuation as a stylistic choice, but also a way to communicate meaning and improve comprehension. Enjoy! open.substack.com/pub/ellenjur...

Having both developed myself and mentored, managed, and professionally developed others both inside and outside my areas of expertise, I have come up with a framework classifying different approaches to Professional or Craft Self-Improvement. Enjoy! open.substack.com/pub/ellenjur...

Even though it's been 6 months since I self-published my novel, I am now going and posting copies to reviewers. Ha. Never too late... right???

This week, I answered a question about Production/Project Managment: if I were to take over a live project that always ran late and missed its release date, what would I do? open.substack.com/pub/ellenjur...

Learning how to make tartare sauce out of things I always have in my fridge feels like discovering the power I desired was within me all along

This week's Substack is based on a part of the lecture I gave last week at AFTRS. The foundation of writing for any interactive medium is thinking about active audiences and responsive stories! Enjoy! open.substack.com/pub/ellenjur...

I didn't get a chance to share this properly this week, as I was afk as a guest lecturer at AFTRS. This is just a video - not my own content - but Producers, especially: please watch this talk by Mark Cerny from 2002! open.substack.com/pub/ellenjur...

I feel like this article is perfect fodder for writers working on Interactive Fiction or games! www.upworthy.com/small-talk-g...

This week's Substack has a narrative worldbuilding focus: asking your reader to take one leap of faith of suspending their disbelief when it comes to your storyworld. Enjoy! open.substack.com/pub/ellenjur...

Another post about Game Production! This time, explaining Forward-Backward planning and its role in getting to game launch and releasing updates. If you find these useful or interesting, please share or subscribe to get alerts about these posts sent to your inbox! open.substack.com/pub/ellenjur...