Because Amortals is a sci-fi thriller, I recently joined the International Thriller Writers. (Best benefit? Membership is free to qualified writers.) Yesterday, they announced the nominees for their Thriller Awards. I don’t know any of the nominees personally, but I’ve read some of their excellent work. Congratulations to them all! The awards will be given out this July at Thrillerfest.
Blurbs: Jordan Weisman
I’ve known Jordan Weisman for well over 20 years, and watching him work has been a real ride. He’s a serial entrepreneur, ricocheting his way from one great idea to another. He started out as one of the founders of FASA, creators of Battletech and Shadowrun, after which he founded FASA Interactive, which he later sold to Microsoft. After working …
Blurbs: Richard Knaak
The first time I met Richard Knaak was many years ago at one Gen Con or another. They tend to blur together over the years into one long convention that spans months in your sleep-deprived mind. He was a Dragonlance author back then, one of the best, although he’s added several feathers to his cap since. He’s written several novels …
Blurbs: Jack Emmert
If you’ve played many MMOs over the past few years, you’ve probably played a game that Jack Emmert helped create. As the chief creative officer of Cryptic Studios, he led the design for City of Heroes/City of Villains, Champions Online, and Star Trek Online. Every one of them offers sharp combination of engaging gameplay and clever storylines designed to keep …
Blurbs: Richard Dansky
Ken Hite was once talking with someone who had started to slag Rich Dansky. Ken put a hand up to stop the man and said, “Before you continue, do you remember the bit in Grosse Pointe Blank, when John Cusack asks the friend he’s not seen for ten years to help him get rid of a body? And the guy just …
Origins Awards Nominees Announced
The Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design announced the nominees for this year’s Origins Awards this week. Congratulations to all the nominees! The winners will be announced at the Origins Game Fair held at the end of June. The biggest happy surprise for me was the inclusion of Space Hulk as a nominee for best board game. Games Workshop …
Blurbs: Monte Cook
The next blurb for Amortals came from my longtime friend Monte Cook. He’s probably best known for his work as one of the co-designers of Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition, but his career has spanned much more than that. He started out in the gaming industry back in 1988, working for Iron Crown Enterprises. In 1990, he became the Hero System/Champions …
SLC Report
I had a great time at the Stateline Literacy Council‘s annual awards banquet at La Casa Grande, here in Beloit tonight. I was only there for about an hour and a half, but I got to meet a lot of wonderful people and catch up with my neighbor Tony Grover, who lives down the street. I also chatted with the two other authors …
Blurbs: Ben Templesmith
As I’ve mentioned, I hit up a lot of great people for blurbs. One of the early replies came from Ben Templesmith, one of my favorite comic-book artists of the last decade. I met him through our mutual friends at IDW a few years back. About Amortals, he wrote: “It kicks like a mule & whispers sweet nothings in your …
An Interview with Gamer’s Haven
Ethan Parker of The Gamer’s Haven podcast called me up for a chat last week. The interview covered all sorts of topics from my career, going back to how I got started as a gamer and running all the way up to the impending launch of my first original novels this summer. I had a lot of fun talking with …