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 does it without asking a thing? That’s how Rich Dansky is for me.”
I can only agree. Rich is a mensch’s mensch and a fantastic friend. The fact that he’s also a hell of a writer helps explain how we came to hang in the same circles.
Rich started out at White Wolf countless years ago, where he was best known for his excellent work on Wraith: The Oblivion and outstanding books like Charnel Houses of Europe. That’s also where he was when I first met him, back when I made most of my living off creating roleplaying games too. He wisely managed to segue from that into a long-term career with Red Storm Entertainment, where he’s now the manager of design and also serves as the Head Clancy Writer for all of Ubisoft‘s Tom Clancy-related titles. This is a man who knows his technothrillers.
On top of that, Rich is a firecracker of a novelist. His Firefly Rain – originally published in hardcover by Wizards of the Coast‘s now-shuttered Discoveries line – is a as great a Southern gothic ghost story as you’re bound to find. The paperback edition is due out from Simon & Shuster on April 6, so those unfortunate enough to miss it the first time around can finally get to enjoy it too.
It’s no surprise then that when I asked Rich for a blurb that he kicked out a doozy:
“Amortals fuses cutting-edge technothrillers with old-school action and storytelling. Matt Forbeck tells a wickedly cool, scarily plausible story that hits the ground running and then picks up speed.”
