BIFF 2009

 Raves  No Responses »
Jan 232009
 

The Beloit International Film Festival announced its 2009 lineup this week. The festival runs February 19–22, and I’m hoping to make the most of it. I’ve not heard of many of the films on the docket. If any independent film buffs out there could offer some recommendations, I’d appreciate it.

I actually managed to see several films in a theater last year, which is my new record since the quads were born. They were The Spiderwick Chronicles, Iron Man, The Dark Knight, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Wall•E, High School Musical 3, Slumdog Millionaire, and Mutant Chronicles. (I’m not sure the last one counts as in a theater, as the private screening room in which I saw it had no popcorn, but why not?) Toss in a couple more at the Omnimax theater at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, and a 3D film at Great America, and that’s a good year for me.

Forbidden Mail

 Professional  12 Responses »
Jan 232009
 

A couple weeks ago, I received my first e-mail from a concerned parent about More Forbidden Knowledge. Honestly, with a title like that, I’d have figured on more outrage in my inbox by now, but I’m happy to be wrong on that point.

The woman had some real, if misguided, concerns, and I did my best to answer them. You can read the entire exchange below. I’ve only removed the e-mail addresses and last names. The text of the letters is intact.

Continue reading »

Congratulations x2

 Raves  6 Responses »
Jan 232009
 

A quick shout out to two friends of mine who’ve had good news this week.

First, to Carl Kluzke, who made it through the first round of Paizo‘s 2009 edition of its RPG Superstar competition. (Think American Idol, but for RPG designers.) The boundary chalk magic item he concocted for this is good fun with a cool twist. Good luck to him in the next round(s)!

Second, to Paul Crilley, who can finally announce that he’s sold the first two books in his new middle-grade fantasy series. Personally, I can’t wait to read them and to share them with my kids.

Good on you, guys!

Superhero Wishes at Bookgasm

 IAMTW, Professional  No Responses »
Jan 212009
 
IAMTW

Fellow IAMTW member and comic-book legend Paul Kupperberg recently asked a bunch of us to tell him which superhero we’d like to write a novel about and what kind of story we would tell. Oh, and did we have any horror stories about such books to tell?

You can see my answer—along with those of Richard Lee Byers, Greg Cox, Russell Davis, Keith R.A. DeCandido, David Mack, Jeff Mariotte, Yvonne Navarro, David Seidman, James Swallow, Brandie Tarvin, and J. Steven York—in Paul’s latest “Capes, Cowls, and Costumes” column on Bookgasm.

Mutant Chronicles on the Big (and Little) Screen

 Mutant Chronicles  4 Responses »
Jan 152009
 
Mutant Chronicles

Word is that the Mutant Chronicles movie (for which I wrote the novelization) will finally get a theatrical release this year. Magnet Releasing—a division of Magnolia Pictures—picked up the distribution rights, and it plans to have a limited release of the film on April 24.

In advance of that, though, the film will be released on HDNet‘s Ultra VOD service on March 27. That makes it available to anyone who has access to HDNet rather than the “select cities” which will host the film in theaters.

I saw a mostly finished cut of the film at a private screening last year, but I’m looking forward to seeing it in a theater with a crowd of people too. I’m thrilled that it’s finally going to happen.

Quick Game Reviews Site

 Raves  No Responses »
Jan 132009
 

If you’re looking for short and sweet reviews of tabletop games of many stripes, check out the new GameCryer.com. It’s the brainchild of Ed Healy, David Moore, and Chris Perrin, but they have a number of reviewers lined up to tear through the shelves of their local game stores and tell you what they think.

They summarize their style as such:

Each Game Cryer review begins the same way. The first paragraph is a summary of the game being reviewed. The second, a summary of the reviewer’s opinion about the game.

After those bits, the articles often go into further depth, but if you’re in a rush all you need to do is scan those first two paragraphs for a taste. It makes everything nice and web-friendly, and definitely worth a look.

Gen Con Emerges from Bankruptcy

 Raves  11 Responses »
Jan 092009
 

According to a press release on its website, the bankruptcy court has approved Gen Con‘s reorganization plan, and it’s now emerged from Chapter 11.

Woot! I’m thrilled for Peter Adkison, Adrian Swartout, and my other friends at the company. This means that the current team will remain in place and that the show will go on this summer.

As part of the declaration, the court also rejected the hostile takeover offer from the Gen Con Acquisition Group, which never did publicly name any of its investors. My friend Anthony Gallela revealed himself as the person who would run the new operation if the takeover succeeded, but that was it. While I’m disappointed for Anthony, I can’t help but feel that keeping Gen Con in Peter’s hands is the right choice, and I’m glad the bankruptcy court saw it that way.

Anyhow, you can be sure I’ll be at the show this summer, and I hope to see you there too!

Politics, My Dad, and Saying No

 Personal  14 Responses »
Jan 072009
 

My father, who was appointed a Rock County circuit court judge last January, just found out that he’s going to have an easy time with his first actual campaign for the elected seat: He’s running unopposed.

This is the kind of election that families of candidates root for. Very low stress.

I actually considered running for the school board here in Beloit this year. A number of people asked me to, and I do hope to someday be able to serve my hometown in some direct fashion. However, the kids are still just a bit too young and the demands on my time too stringent for me to be more than a warm body in any such position—and that just wouldn’t do.

I’m not always good at saying no to things that interest me. I sometimes overbook my time that way, but most of my projects only run for stints of a few months. A seat on the school board comes with a three-year term, and I don’t think I could sustain a super-crunch time for that long without serious repercussions.

Still, it would have been cool to run for a seat at the same time as my father. The yard signs alone would have been worth it.

IGDA Game Design SIG

 IGDA  2 Responses »
Jan 072009
 
IGDA

The IGDA just launched a new Game Design Special Interest Group (SIG), which I joined right away. It focuses on the actual design aspect of games, as opposed to programming, art, writing, and so on.

The SIG welcomes people working or studying both video games and tabletop games. It’s young and still finding its footing, of course, but if you fall under its remit, consider contacting the Google group‘s owner Sande Chen for admission to the group.

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