Although I worked for a couple years at Human Head Studios and served as the president of Pinnacle Entertainment Group as we developed a Deadlands computer game (that never quite made it), I’ve yet to have my name in the credits of a published computer game. It’s the nature of such things. I have friends who spent years of their lives working on computer games that never shipped.

For me, that changes on May 1 with the US release of ArmA: Combat Operations. The spiritual sequel to the smash hit Operation Flashpoint, ArmA: Combat Operations takes modern combat simulations to its highest level yet. I can’t wait to play it, and I hope you’ll enjoy it too.

I wrote the script for the voiceovers that play during the cutscenes before each mission begins, and I had a ball doing it. Best of all, I had the chance to work with my old friend Henrik Strandberg, formerly of Target Games fame. Henrik and I spent many years in the early ’90s working on games like Mutant Chronices, Warzone, and Doomtrooper. Now he’s a top producer with Atari, which publishes ArmA: Combat Operations among many other excellent games.

At the same time, I’m working on the novelization of the Mutant Chronicles film. Funny how it all seems to come full circle while still pressing on into new frontiers.

This Saturday, I’ll be at Adepticon down in Schaumburg, Illinois. I don’t know my exact plans yet, but I suspect I’ll end up signing some books and taking part in a seminar or two. If you’re in the area, please stop on by and say hi!

If it seems quiet around here, it’s because it’s anything but that in my house. I’m in the final throes of writing The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Creating Dungeons & Dragons Characters. I’m about to dive into my fourth Blood Bowl novel. And I have the Mutant Chronicles film novelization on the line, screaming for my attention. In the meantime, I’m creating a series of puzzles and games for a new line of children’s books, and I just finished up two large pieces for my third computer game gig of the year.

Mix that in with school conferences, Marty’s play this weekend, planning for convention trips and summer vacations, and there’s precious little time for anything else. Still, I can’t complain. While my life may be filled to bursting, it’s filled with wonderful stuff.

In the interstitial bits, to keep me sane, I do and read what I can. Marty and I recently finished Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney for the Nintendo DS, and we really enjoyed it. If you like mysteries, it works more like interactive manga than a regular computer game, but the story is as strong and compelling as anything in print. I polished off Scott McCloud‘s excellent Making Comics, which completes his trifecta of must-read comics on comics. And at the moment Dan Simmons‘ The Crook Factory and James Farr‘s Xombie (the new illustrated novel which just shipped!) are stomping through a cage match for my attention.

Whew! So, how you doing?

I sometimes get notes from people looking for an agent. WritersDigest.com recently posted what looks to be a solid list of agents on the hunt for new authors. If you’re hoping to be hunted, check it out and see what you can do to put yourself in the path of the right agent.