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Issue #7 of Undefeated, the premier adventure gaming magazine from Paizo Publishing, features a preview of Dracula’s Revenge (which I designed for Human Head Studios) on page 66. This features quotes from me as the game’s designer. It’s funny that the article states that I’m best known for my work on Blood Bowl and Space Hulk for Games Workshop, since I haven’t done anything with either of those games for around 14 years, but overall it’s a nice piece.

I just got back signed contracts with Wizards of the Coast for another two novels in The Knights of the Silver Dragon series. Since I wrote the first novel in the series (Secret of the Spiritkeeper) and developed the backstory for it, I’m thrilled to have a chance to return to the adventures of Kellach, Driskoll, and Moyra.

The books are #13 and #14 in the series, and they form a two-book story arc destined to shake the city of Curston to the core. I can’t say much more about them yet, but they should be cartloads of fun.

My first mass-market novel, the young adult fantasy Secret of the Spiritkeeper, is due out in stores this weekend. It should be available in most bookstores, including those of all the major chains and the better independent booksellers. Please look for it and get your copy soon! The stronger the sales out the gate, the better.

I truly appreciate all your support and hope that you enjoy the book. Once you have a chance to read it, drop me a line to tell me what you think. I’d love to hear some independent feedback.

Dracula’s Revenge, the board game I designed and produced for Human Head Studios should arrive in our warehouse tomorrow. This means it should hit store shelves sometime next week. To learn more about the game, go to the Dracula’s Revenge website. It has everything you need to know, including a free, downloadable copy of the rules. Be sure to ask for it at your favorite local gaming store.

I’m still recovering from my lightning-fast trip to San Diego for Comic-Con International. The show was amazing. Somewhere between 80,000 to 100,000 people showed up, filled the entire convention center, and taxed the air conditioning to its limits. Every morning, it was chilly in the exhibit hall, but by mid-afternoon the scores of thousands of warm bodies made the whole place hot and steamy.

Warning: Name Dropping Ahead
(What can I say? It was that kind of show.)
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I updated the Current Projects and Upcoming Appearances pages. The latter includes my schedule for seminars and signings at Gen Con.

The fine folks at Gen Con have given me a room in which to hold a meeting for the Origins Awards Task Force. If you’re interested in the Origins Awards, stop by the Marriott Santa Fe Room on Friday, August 20, at 9 AM. I hope to see you there!

I’m off to Comic-Con International this weekend. I get in Friday and leave Sunday. If you want to track me down, I should be hanging around at the Green Ronin or IDW Publishing booths. I’m on a single panel on Sunday (click here for details), with an autographing session straight after. Please stop by and say hi!

Very early Monday morning, I turned in my first draft of my adventure for White Wolf’s Ghost Stories, an anthology of adventures for the new World of Darkness core rules due out this August. Developer Ken Cliffe got his notes back to me the same day, so I’m now working on the second draft, which I hope to complete tomorrow.

The name of my adventure is “Holy Ghost.” It has to do with a dead preacher come back to haunt his old neighborhood.

It strikes me that the last thing I wrote for White Wolf, about 10 years back, was a short story that featured a priest turned vampire. It was called “Reconciliation,” I think, and it appeared in City of Darkness: Unseen. It seems that either I have something against men of the cloth or the issues of death and resurrection snarl in my head with Christianity. No matter what, I blame my 11 years of Catholic school.

Secret of the Spiritkeeper should be here soon. I’m told it will be in stores in the first week of August. If you’re interested in the book and want to lend a hand, I recommend preordering the book through your local bookstore. This helps the booksellers to gauge interest, and it builds a bit of anticipation in the store about the release. Thanks!

At www.DraculasRevenge.com we’ve posted the last two sets of a dozen different wallpapers to beautify your computer’s desktop. Stop on by and check these out.

Also, Dracula’s Revenge is now in the USA. The shipment just cleared customs and should be in the Green Ronin warehouse with a week or so and on store shelves soon after!

The Alliterates website has been down for a couple weeks for domain-related woes, but it should be restored soon. In the meantime, the Alliterates have started a group blog you can find right here. Click over to learn all about the ongoings of our writers’ club.

I finally bought my plane ticket for Comic-Con International. I arrive in San Diego Friday afternoon and leave Sunday night, so it’s bound to be an action-packed trip. I only have two official duties at the show. From the programming material sent to me, they are:

Fantastic Fiction for All Ages: The Young Adult Market: Looking for ideas for summer reading for yourself or your preteens or teens? Something beyond J. K. Rowling, Eoin Colfer, and Lemony Snicket? Then this is the panel for you, as participants explore some of the best fantastic fiction out there, regardless of its target market. Panelists include Timothy Zahn (Star Wars: Survivor’s Quest), Jeff Mariotte (Witch Season: Summer), Emily Drake (Magickers, The Dragon Guard), Sherwood Smith (Wren to the Rescue), and Matt Forbeck (Secret of the Spiritkeeper). Moderator Maryelizabeth Hart of Mysterious Galaxy denies all rumors of special treatment for spouse and panelist Jeff Mariotte. Room 3. Sunday, 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM.

From there, the panelists head over to an autographing session in Room AA4, Sunday, 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM.

If you’ll be there, stop by and say hi. Otherwise, I should be hanging around the Green Ronin booth, showing off copies of Dracula’s Revenge.

Ken Cliffe at White Wolf asked me to write an adventure for Ghost Stories, an anthology of short adventures for the upcoming World of Darkness roleplaying game, the core rulebook for their reboot of their original games, Vampire, Werewolf, Mage, and so on. I jumped all over it.

Justin Achilli played mule for Ken and handed me a CD with a PDF of the new rulebook on it while we were at Origins. I read it over last weekend, and it’s good. It’s mathematically more rigorous than the original, and it gracefully streamlines a game system that had grown ornate with rules over the past decade.