Community Spotlight : BlueInkAlchemist

[Nasrin]

Community Spotlight : BlueInkAlchemist

The Community Spotlight is back, this time featuring your favorite people, reviews, threads and user groups.

Have you ever wondered where a particular community member got their name? Do you find yourself speculating about what's going in the site's more secretive user groups? Perhaps you just want a chance to read a thoughtful community made thread or user review without having to find it yourself. If so, then we humbly invite you to check out our Community Spotlight: You nominate them, we highlight them.

This week The Escapist would like to highlight an active forum reviewer, [user]BlueInkAlchemist[/user]. Called "Josh" by some, Blue is a thirty-three and two-thirds year old writer of long-form fiction, ranging from flash pieces of about 1000 words to novellas and novels. He's also a pretty active gamer, a sucker for travel to new places, an erstwhile musician, and occasionally tries new foods and cocktails made from scratch.

If you've peeked your head into the User Review forum lately, you've probably seen his name around. here.

We had the opportunity to ask him a few questions, and here's how he answered:

What inspired your username?

The ancient practice of alchemy (changing one thing to another) plus the medium of blue ink (the color in my Waterman fountain pen). The idea is that through writing, I turn that ink into gold. Or at the very least, cash money.

Describe your perfect breakfast.

Waffles with strawberry compote, biscuits and gravy, bacon that's slightly crispy but not burnt, and a mug of milky tea.

How long have you been a member of The Escapist, and what brought you here?

I've been a member since 2008. I was originally brought (as were many) by Zero Punctuation, and found a decent community and an outlet to present some of my non-fiction writings.

What is your favorite aspect of The Escapist Community?

There's a good deal of honesty among those I normally speak with. That counts for a lot.

What is your favorite color?

While I have heard red is objectively the best color, I'm going to have to go with blue.

What was the last game you played?

I most recently played a few rounds of Tribes: Ascend. I also tried to get farther in Amnesia so I can finally review it but that game scares the shit out of me.

How long have you been writing reviews, and what inspired you to begin?

I've been writing reviews for about 3 years. I wanted to express opinions on storytelling in various mediums and reviews seemed a good way to do that. Additional readers coming by to check out my words never hurts, either.

In your opinion, what's the best review you've written up to date?

It's not strictly a review, but the open letter I wrote to Confused Matthew about The Departed is probably my best critical work to date.

If there was a movie made of your life, who would you want to play the lead role?

Stanley Tucci or Jason Schwartzman.

Spoiler: Click here to see more BlueInkAlchemist reviews.

Fallout 3 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.162959] * Mass Effect [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.164517] * Daybreakers (Film) [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.168877] * Brutal Legend [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.169379] * BioShock [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.174422] * Dragon Age: Origins [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.176099] * BioShock 2 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.176493] * Zelda II The Adventure of Link [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.177811] * Mass Effect 2 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.178213]Assassin's Creed II [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.193157] * Wing Commander: Privateer [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.193913] * Iron Man 2 (film) [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.194106] * Maschine Zeit (tabletop) [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.203940] * Lamb (book) [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.205422] * Salt (film) [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.217441] * Inception (film) [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.218237] * Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (film) [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.228940] * Mogworld (book) [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.235462] * Kasumi's Stolen Memory & More (DLC) [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.236931] * Dragon Age: Origins: Awakening [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.237797] * Red (movie) [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.239582] * Poker Night at the Inventory [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.246923] * Lair of the Shadow Broker (DLC) [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.247555] * True Grit (movie) [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.267594] * Dungeon Overlord beta [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.272016] * Dragon Age II [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.276546] * Overlord & Arrival (DLC) [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.277021] * Portal 2 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.281751] * Thor (movie) [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.284625] * Captain America: The First Avenger (movie) [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.302776] * Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine (first impressions) [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.309159/] * Deus Ex: Game of the Year edition [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.317758/] * Alpha Protocol [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.318550] * Immortals (movie) [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.322699] * Star Wars: The Old Republic (beta/first impressions) [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.328214] * Section 8: Prejudice (first impressions) [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.337008] * Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (demo) [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.347374] * Deus Ex: Human Revolution [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.350490] * Shotgun Gravy (book) [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.352289] * Mass Effect 3 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.355099] * Tribes: Ascend [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.369770] * The Avengers (movie) [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.374355] * Bastion [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/326.374485] * Pan's Labyrinth (movie) [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.375421-Pans-Labyrinth-The-Blue-Ink-Alchemy-Review#14573964]

If you would like to nominate someone for an upcoming Community Spotlight, feel free to let me, [user]Nasrin[/user], know through a PM or by posting in the official thread! When nominating, please tell us why this user deserves to be in the next Community Spotlight and provide links if possible.

Permalink

 

[Best of the 3]

Woo! I love the community spotlight and user group spotlight. It's a good way to get to know some people and user groups you may never have known existed. Glad these are back.

I hope this continues, it's a really fun little thing to do and sometimes a very interesting read.

 

[Fappy]

Woo! I love the community spotlight and user group spotlight. It's a good way to get to know some people and user groups you may never have known existed. Glad these are back.

I hope this continues, it's a really fun little thing to do and sometimes a very interesting read.

Agreed. I vote for Nasrin's cat to be the next spotlight!

 

[Sassafrass]

Nice to see Blue get featured, I've always enjoyed reading his reviews in the User Review section.

Looking forward to future spotlights.

 

[maninahat]

This spotlight thing is a nice idea. I've been following Blue Ink's blog for a while now, and its good to see him get some more attention.

 

[Jack and Calumon]

So THAT'S why your name is that. That's honestly a really cool reason, much better than the random collection of nouns idea I presumed. Really cool to know and to find out more about you, especially since I love to read your stuff.

Does make me wish I had a kindle or something to read your book.

Calumon: ...I like that hat.

 

[BlueInkAlchemist]

Thanks, everyone. Nasrin did a fantastic job writing me up, and I feel honored to be in the spotlight. Your support means a lot!

Does make me wish I had a kindle or something to read your book.

You can get it in PDF format via Smashwords. Hopefully in the future I'll make it directly available from the site.

 

[Formica Archonis]

Damn, been a long time since I've seen one of these!

(Reading this interview made me realize what a lousy interviewee I'd make.)

 

[DeadpanLunatic]

I have removed my words from this site.

 

[Nasrin]

Ha, looks like my nomination has been successful. Dance puppets, dance!

Ahem.

Nice to see Blue featured here, and very nice to see things are moving along. I've been wondering when we'd see the new Spotlights appear. Is there a schedule to this or will we see new ones whenever you can find the time?

They'll be more frequent than they have been, but I'm loathe to commit to a schedule as we'll all have Expo on our plate for at least the next month

I'm very glad you guys liked this. I was nervous!

 

[thenumberthirteen]

Yay. The Spotlight is back. This gives me an opportunity to plug <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/communitytab/8211-Community-Member-Spotlight-thenumberthirteen>my spotlight.

Hope this happens more often than the last one did.

 

[DustyDrB]

Oh, this is cool. Bravo, BlueInkAlchemist! Nice to see our user reviewers getting some love.

 

[Mr.Pandah]

Wow, cool to see the spotlight back.

 

[NewClassic_v1legacy]

Congratulations to BlueInkAlchemist. I can think of few more deserving, and it really shows in the interview. Glad to see you getting some recognition, as it's quite well-deserved. Also, I'm surprised you didn't get a little blurb about your blog or book. Shame, that. (Which you all should look up, they're both excellent.)

 

[PsychicTaco115]

I laughed! I cried! I vowed to make sure @BlueInkAlchemist reaches New York's Number 1 Best-Selling list!

Very well done and can't wait for future spotlights

 

[BlueInkAlchemist]

Congratulations to BlueInkAlchemist. I can think of few more deserving, and it really shows in the interview. Glad to see you getting some recognition, as it's quite well-deserved. Also, I'm surprised you didn't get a little blurb about your blog or book. Shame, that. (Which you all should look up, they're both excellent.)

Nasrin, awesome human being that she is, added a tiny blurb about the book in my write-up. Thanks for pointing it out to people!

 

[Aerosteam]

Looking at the second and third paragraphs, there's no way I would be as interesting as that if I'll ever be featured.
I better think up some stuff quick. >.>

This spotlight didn't disappoint. I've strangely only found out about Blue a few days ago and he really deserved this spotlight.

 

[Katherine Kerensky]

Finally, glad to see this is back. And I'm surprised I didn't think of nominating Blue for this. Bias towards my favourite reviewer, I guess, but I'm glad Blue did get it, because now I know where to get something new to read. And also

-Snip-
You can get it in PDF format via Smashwords. Hopefully in the future I'll make it directly available from the site.

Thanks for that, I was a bit disappointed when I saw all the stuff about needing a kindle for it. Of course the solution would be on the one link I didn't check.

 

[Nasrin]

Woo! I love the community spotlight and user group spotlight. It's a good way to get to know some people and user groups you may never have known existed. Glad these are back.

I hope this continues, it's a really fun little thing to do and sometimes a very interesting read.

Agreed. I vote for Nasrin's cat to be the next spotlight!

Boba Fett says wasssaaaaaaap?

 

[Fappy]

Woo! I love the community spotlight and user group spotlight. It's a good way to get to know some people and user groups you may never have known existed. Glad these are back.

I hope this continues, it's a really fun little thing to do and sometimes a very interesting read.

Agreed. I vote for Nasrin's cat to be the next spotlight!

Boba Fett says wasssaaaaaaap?

Oh gods in Asgard, that's too awesome. Cat's look like they're fire their lasers when they yawn sometimes.