Forbeck.com

Keith Parkinson died of complications from leukemia on October 26, four days after his 47th birthday. A service for friends and family will be held on November 1 near his home in southern California.

Keith was one of the greatest fantasy artists of our time. In the five years he spent at TSR, he created dozens of amazing covers for the company’s games, magazines, and calendars. As a freelancer, he painted even more award-winning covers for fantasy and science-fiction novels for the top publishers and writers. In 1995, he helped design the Guardians CCG for FPG. More recently, he painted the covers for the best-selling EverQuest computer games. In 2002, he co-founded Sigil Games Online and became the company’s art director. 

We’ve lost one of the greats here. Keith’s work has influenced and amazed just about anyone who’s worked in our industry. His widow Donna has asked that any donations in Keith’s memory be made to the the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

I saw Keith at many conventions over the years, selling his artwork out of his own booth, but I never managed to find the time to stop by and say hi. Finally, at last year’s Gen Con So Cal, I ran into Mike Stackpole at Keith’s booth, and the three of us chatted about life and work for a good long while. I’m glad that I got to finally meet Keith and get to know him, even for just that too-short slice of time.

The World Fantasy Convention is coming up November 3–6, the weekend after Halloween. I’ll be there, along with several hundred other devotees of fantastic tales. This will be my first time at this traveling convention, but since it’s in Madison, Wisconsin, this year, I couldn’t pass up the chance to check it out.

I’ll wander about the place most of the weekend. If you’ll be there, too, be sure to give me a shout. I’m only scheduled for one event there:

Saturday 9:00-10:00PM

Other Forms of Storytelling
Capitol B

These days, books are competing with a number of alternate forms of storytelling. We know about movies and graphic novels, but we rarely consider role-playing and video gaming. The most compelling of these games are popular because they provide the player with a pretty good story, in which s/he takes an active part. Our panel of experts discusses the most popular games and the way in which they offer an entirely different technique of involving the player in a story. How are they produced? What do they offer that books do not? Are there any lessons to be learned by traditional writers?

Panelists: Richard Dansky, Matt Forbeck, Lucien Soulban, Michael A. Stackpole, Walter Jon Williams

That’s a panel I’m both pleased and proud to be on. I’ve known Rich, Loosh, and Mike for years, and it’ll be a great chance to catch up with them, before the panel, during, and after. I don’t know Walter, but I’m a fan of his work, so it should be a lot of fun. Stop by if you can!

Heretic of Set, the second in J. Steven York’s Stygian trilogy for the new Age of Conan line of novels, should be in stores soon. Amazon lists the book available on October 25, but a copy for me showed up in the mail earlier this week. Steve did a great job with this series. If you’re a fan of Howardian fantasy, you should pick it up. If you’re the kind that wants a taste first, the Conan website has excerpts from the first two books in the trilogy available for free. Dig in!

Hammacher Schlemmer puts out a few high-end, premium toys every year. They’re always cool, but this one is amazing: a life-size, working Robby the Robot. For only $50,000. I don’t think you’ll see that under too many trees this Christmas, but it’s the ultimate Forbidden Planet toy!

Yesterday, the AEG website noted that they were laying off a number of people. Word has it that other companies have also let a few employees go in recent days. Still other publishers, like Decipher and Guardians of Order have had troubles this past year too. This naturally led some people to wonder if the entire RPG industry—or perhaps the gaming industry itself—might finally collapse on itself like an (ahem) house of cards.

I don’t believe it for a second.

I’ve been through this part of the cycle a number of times. Sales go down for a while. A few companies that were on the edge topple closer to it. Some even fall over it. The industry rolls on, and a few months later the ones that are left—and a few new ones to boot—are doing better than ever, often riding on the coattails of a hot new category that no one could have expected.

More to the point, I think AEG is going to be around for a long time. I know John Zinser and the rest of the crew over there. We were partners in Pinnacle Entertainment Group at one time, and we went through a round of layoffs at Pinnacle too. You don’t do these things because you like to, you do them because you need to, and John’s smart enough to do it before whatever problems the company is having grew large enough to choke them. They’ll come through it fine. And so will the adventure gaming industry too.

Once upon a time, I tried to keep track of every thing I could about my publishing career. This long since proved impossible, but I still do what I can. Sometimes, though, it’s difficult to answer questions about what I’ve done.

For instance, I have no idea how many languages my work has been translated into. Lots of times, games publishers don’t bother to tell their freelancers when they cut a translation deal. It’s mostly work-for-hire, and if I’ve already been paid the publisher’s obligation to me ends there. If they get someone to publish my material in another language, they just cash their checks and smile and rarely think to let me know.

That said, I’ve been able to find evidence that my work has appeared in the following languages:

English
French
German
Italian
Polish
Portuguese
Spanish
Swedish

If you’re aware of any others, please let me know. I’d love to be able to add to the list.

The fine people at WizKids have posted another preview of an important card in the upcoming High Stakes Drifter collectible card game I designed for them. Check it out!

My good friends and fellow Alliterates—Rob King, Lester Smith, and Steve Sullivan—just launched a new website aimed at e-publishing (at least for now) short fiction. They’re also looking for others to join them in their endeavor at Popcorn Press. Check them out, and wish them luck!

WizKids has announced plans to sell early starters and boosters of High Stakes Drifter at Wizard World Texas. That’s November 4-6 in Arlington, Texas. I believe this will be the first chance to get your hands on copies of the actual game (as opposed to the demo decks used at Gen Con Indy this summer). Supplies should be tight, though, as WizKids will only sell each attendee one starter and three boosters during the show.

To whet your appetite in the meantime, WizKids recently posted details on another special card from the game: Quick-Draw Artist.

Playwright, screenwriter, director, actor, and poet Harold Pinter won the Nobel Prize for Literature yesterday. I’ve enjoyed some of Pinter’s work, but not managed to read nearly all of it. However, Pinter wrote the last play in which I acted: The Room. So I feel some connection.

Our production took place in the Residential College Theater in the East Quad dormitory at the University of Michigan—Ann Arbor. I played the nervous old landlord, a role into which I could channel any stage fright I might have had.

The director wanted me, a lifelong asthmatic, to smoke on stage. I thought he was nuts (nothing like picking up a lifelong addiction for a part in a college play), but I went out and bought my first-ever pack of cigarettes. After choking down the whole pack, I told him that if he insisted on me smoking on stage he’d only get a coughing, hacking, wheezing old man who’d be lucky to remember his lines.

The day of opening night, I went skydiving for my first time (a static-line jump from a tiny Cessna at 3,000 feet). That gave me enough nervous energy for the play’s entire run.

Congratulations, Mr. Pinter! I don’t know if we did your work justice all those years ago, but we had a ball trying.

Amazon.com has also posted the cover to Blood Bowl: Sudden Death, the third book in my Blood Bowl trilogy from the Black Library. The site lists the book to be released on April 25, 2006. Well before then, of course, you can pick up the second book in the trilogy, Blood Bowl: Dead Ball, on December 27, 2005.

The colors of the Sudden Death cover posted on Amazon are way off the real ones. To see Max Bertolini’s art in its proper glory, click on the thumbnail to the left. Pay close attention to what’s really holding up the trophy. It took me a moment to spot it myself.

Amazon.com recently posted the cover for The Road to Death, the upcoming second novel in my Lost Mark trilogy from Wizards of the Coast. You can see a larger version by clicking on the thumbnail to the left. Amazon lists the book to be released on January 10, 2006.

Beyond the Storm: Shadows in the Big Easy is now available in softcover as well as a PDF. You can order either or both versions from Lulu.com. All proceeds from the book go to support Katrina disaster relief. I’m going to order one for myself right now, and you should too. Not only is it a great book full of wonderful roleplaying game material, short stories, and essays, but it’s for a good cause.

For my part, I wrote up the “Naked Room Service” story of GAMA Trade Show legend in a piece entitled “Truth and Lies in the Big Easy.” As a teaser, here’s the first part of the story to whet your appetite.
(more…)

Wizards of the Coast has posted the answers to the D&D developer’s test I mentioned earlier. Best of all, the answers are those that recent-hire Mike Mearls gave when he took the test, and they feature comments from Jesse Decker, who explains how well Mike did.

I’m not surprised Mike did so well. He’s one of the best designers to emerge from the d20 movement, and I’m sure he’ll do great things at Wizards.