Blog | Liam O'Donnell

Ganked print edition arrives. I am happy.

by liam | Nov 20, 2013 | gaming, literacy, Uncategorized, video games, virtual worlds, writing news

I’ve written over 30 books and graphic novels for kids over the last decade. I like them all. A lot. I’m always happy when the first printed copies arrive at my door. I get to hold them, put them on my bookshelf, show them to my family, so they know that...

Why I’m Launching Ganked Quietly in a Noisy World

by liam | Oct 19, 2013 | literacy, media, video games, virtual worlds, writing news

Friday was a bit of a quiet celebration day around here. First, it was Friday and that always puts a spring in my step. Second, my young adult gamer geek mystery, Ganked was officially released into the world as an ebook. The print edition will follow in mid-November....

Get Ganked on Wattpad

by liam | Oct 14, 2013 | comics, literacy, media, video games, writing news

It’s locked down and online. No more edits. No more tweaking. Time to step back and let go. Yesterday, I uploaded the final version of Ganked: Geeked Out Mysteries #1 to Smashwords, iTunes, Barnes & Noble and Kobo (it will be on Amazon on Oct 18th). The...

Bringing the Minecraft to ECOO 2013

by liam | Oct 5, 2013 | appearances, education, gamebasedlearning, gaming, Teacher's Guide, video games, virtual worlds

I’ll be yammering on about Minecraft a lot this October at the upcoming ECOO 2013 conference, in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Last year’s ECOO Minecraft Madness was a lot of fun and this year promises to be bigger, better and blockier than ever before. Read on...

Squashing bugs in Ganked for preview and pre-order

by liam | Sep 22, 2013 | gaming, video games, writing news

September is always a busy time for teachers and when add publishing a book to that mix, things get hectic. But fun. A lot of fun. Earlier, I posted about creating the cover for Ganked and what I learned about creativity. Now that the cover is done, I thought I was...

Ganked gets a cover and I learn three things about creativity

by liam | Aug 31, 2013 | education, gaming, Teacher's Guide, video games, writing news

I’ve written more 30 books for kids from sci-fi graphic novels to cute picture books about animals. While I’m happy with each book, I didn’t have much say about one key aspect: the cover. All that changed with Ganked: Geeked Out Mysteries #1, my new...

Cube World: the next video game your students will be talking about

by liam | Aug 15, 2013 | education, gamebasedlearning, gaming, media, Teacher's Guide, video games

This coming school year, teachers and parents could be hearing talk of a brand new game inspired by Minecraft, but adding role-playing game (RPG) elements that so many kids (and adults!) love. That game is Cube World. It’s currently in Alpha mode and not...

Three newly releasesd books to tackle online bullying in your classroom

by liam | Aug 8, 2013 | education, literacy, Teacher's Guide

I fill many roles in my daily life: children’s writer, digital games-based-learning critic and advocate and virtual world community manager and finally elementary school teacher. The recent tragic events of children taking their own lives because of online...