2011 December | Forbeck.com

12 for ’12 Update

Dec 222011

It’s been a bit quiet here since the first 12 for ’12 Kickstarter wound up in such a spectacular way. Thanks again to all my backers for putting their faith (and their pledges!) behind the project. I’m thrilled straight through with how well it went.

As you might imagine, I’ve been hard at work for the past couple weeks since. During the Kickstarter drive, I had to push for attention all the time to get the word about it out and to remind people that the clock was ticking. Now that it’s over, it’s time for the real work to start.

As of now, I’ve gotten many of the initial rewards out to the backers. This includes the MP3s of “Revolution” from Makeshift Prodigy, the private link to the PDF of the Brave New World Roleplaying Game core rules for only $5, and the ebook version of the first published Shotguns & Sorcery story, “Goblintown Justice.”

This leaves the full-color map of Crescent City that Aaron Acevedo created for me. He’s completed his excellent work on it, but I’m holding back on delivering it for a while yet, likely until I get a bit more of the books written. I want to make sure it features useful tags for locations from the books, and it’s hard to ensure that without having text in hand, so that’ll be a little while yet.

Then, of course, there’s the biggest part of the project: the actual novels! I’m working hard to clear the decks as much as I can to give myself as much time as possible to get the books written on schedule. As per the plan, I won’t start actual writing until January 1 at the earliest, but I hope to have a detailed outline in place before that fateful date.

Shortly after I start that, of course, I need to start thinking about the second Kickstarter drive. For now, though, it’s nose to the keyboard while I line up all the words (and plans for more words) in the most entertaining order I can manage. Wish me luck!

Review Roundup

Carpathia, Guild Wars, Professional No Responses »

Dec 222011

A few reviews of my work — both past and future — have come in from different quarters over the past week. Here’s a quick roundup.

Over at BlogCritics, Greg Barbrick raves over Book of Extreme Facts. He bought it as a Christmas gift for his son but couldn’t resist reading it himself. I had a wonderful time doing the research for this book and co-writing it with IDW founder Kris Oprisko, and I think it shows throughout.

Guys Lit Wire enjoyed Guild Wars: Ghosts of Ascalon. As the review states up front, “Books based on computer games? It’s the best of both worlds!”

On her blog, Gill Polack gives Carpathia its first non-blurb review I’m aware of. She calls it out for being a bit pulpy in spots — a charge to which I’ll gladly cop — but she winds up loving it despite that. As she says:

Forbeck’s capacity to build tension is wonderful. Where most writers would add one, two or even three lines of worry, he adds a fourth and a fifth and they’re all well-founded and reasoned out. We know that things are going to go wrong (the Titanic, after all, did sink) but in Carpathia it goes wrong in all kinds of new ways. In a typically Forbeckian fashion, characters are not wasted and the story is fast and evil right until the end.

It’s a tribute to Stoker, and a good one.

To top all that off — and to get away from my work — fellow Angry Roboteer Lauren Beukes assembled a wonderful collection of recommended Christmas gift books from many of her worldly and famous writer friends, among which I’m happy to count myself. Check out both Part One and Part Two for the full list. (I chipped in a graphic novel recommendation in Part Two.) It’s a fantastic roundup, and I wish I not only had every one of the recommended books in hand but the time to read them all.

PLUS: Forgot to mention Paul Barrett’s kind review of Vegas Knights on his blog too. “A good book that will keep you engaged and is well worth your time.”

Magic Pushed Back

Magic: The Gathering No Responses »

Dec 222011

As ICv2.com reports today, the Magic: The Gathering comic I’m writing for IDW has been pushed back about five weeks. Rather than having the first issue ship on December 28, it’s now slated to be in stores on February 1. The given reason is “unforeseen printing challenges.”

Creatively, I’ve had a great time working on the series. I’ve seen proofs for the completed first issue, and the artist (Martin Cóccolo) and colorist (J. Edwin Steven) have created something beautiful and fun and even better than I imagined it all in my head. While I hate to see it delayed, it clearly falls under the banner of “getting it done right,” so I can’t complain, and once you see the end results, I don’t think anyone else will either.

We Did It!

12 for '12, Brave New World 2 Responses »

Dec 042011

Hey, hey! We did it! At sometime after 1 AM Central, T.S. Luikart pushed the first 12 for ’12 Kickstarter drive over the $12,000 mark, unlocking all of the rewards, including the “Goblintown Justice” short story and Book 3.

While T.S. may have broken the tape, it took the pledges of each and every one of our backers to get us to that point, and everyone of them has my deepest gratitude for the faith that they’ve shown in me. I cannot wait for January 1 to roll around so I can get started writing these books!

Just because we’ve hit that last stretch goal, though, doesn’t mean the drive’s over yet. It closes out at noon Central Time, today (December 4). If anyone wants to boost a pledge to grab an omnibus edition, you have until then. The same goes for anyone who’s been putting off a pledge until the last second. It’s fast approaching, but there’s still time. Use it as you wish.

I’ll post more tomorrow after the drive is over and I’ve had a few hours sleep, but just know that I’ll be smiling through all forty winks. I owe that all to you. Thanks!

Last Day!

12 for '12, Brave New World No Responses »

Dec 032011

As I write this, we have just 19 hours to go until the end of this first 12 for ’12 Kickstarter drive, and we have just over $800 to go to break the $12k mark and unlock Book 3. Woo-hoo!

Thanks to each and every one of your for your support, both with your pledges and with spreading the word. We couldn’t have done any of this without you. If you can give it one more push tonight and maybe tomorrow morning, I’d appreciate it. With any luck, that’ll knock us right over the top!

We had a couple more news bits about the project go up since last night. Over at ComicMix.com, Glenn Hauman wrote about 12 for ’12 and encouraged readers to come by, and Don Corcoran — who’s been so inspired by all this that he’s alsogoing to try to write a novel a month — interviewed me about my writing process. Point your friend and neighbors in those directions if they need just a bit more convincing.

Me, I’m going to spend most of the next 19 hours sitting near a screen and hitting the refresh button on my browser as I watch how it all plays out. It’s mesmerizing.

I’ll let you know what happens.

BNW Map Unlocked!

12 for '12, Brave New World No Responses »

Dec 022011

A little while ago, my college pal Dan Anderson upped his pledge toward the first 12 for ’12 Kickstarter from $100 to $251 to knock us right over the $10,000 mark. That unlocked the color map that Aaron Acevedo’s creating for us, and that will now go out to all backers. Thanks, Dan!

Since I slashed $3,000 from the final stretch goal to bring it down to $12k earlier today, that means we’re now less than $2k away from unlocking both the Shotguns & Sorcery story and Book 3. Despite the fact we only have 39 hours left right now, that’s very doable with just a bit more effort.

To that end, we had the help of a ton of coverage today:

Feel free to point your friends and neighbors in the direction of any of those. With any luck at all, we’ll be celebrating the unlocking of the entire trilogy soon. Thanks again for all your help!

12 for 12 (1.0) for $12k

12 for '12, Brave New World No Responses »

Dec 022011

The outpouring of support for this first 12 for ’12 drive has been both humbling and outstanding. We unlocked Book 2 last night, and we’re steaming straight ahead. I feel like I have the best family, friends, and fans around, and I want to do something big to thank you all for it.

This morning, we cracked the $9,000 mark, and we’re pushing hard for the finish, which happens this Sunday, December 4, at noon Central Time. Still, I had this crazy idea over lunch, and I talked with my wife to make sure I wasn’t just delirious about it from lack of sleep. Unless I hallucinated the whole conversation, she was all for it. Soooo…

I really want to write all three books, and I want you to be able to read all three books. While it’s possible that we can make it to $15k in the next 46 hours, I want to make hitting that final stretch goal as easy to accomplish as I possibly can. So I’m cutting $3,000 out of that goal for the final book. That’s right:

I’m slashing the stretch goal for Book 3 from $15,000 to $12k!

With less than two days to go, that might still be a lofty goal to aspire to, but it’s as low as I can conscionably go. I hope you’ll help give the drive the one last push it needs to get there so we can all reap in the rewards.

And yes, hitting $12k still unlocks the “Goblintown Justice” short story ebook too. It’s a double bonus goal. If we overshoot that, all the better, but now we have a more manageable goal line to charge toward.

Anyhow, please stay tuned and help me keep spreading the word. At Wired’s Geek Dad blog (for which I occasionally write), Michael Harrison wrote a fantastic post about the project this morning, and I should have at least two more bits going up later today. Point people you know toward them at will.

Thanks again to every one of you who have lent me your support. I’m in awe of you all and the trust you’ve placed in me.

BNW Book 2 Unlocked!

12 for '12, Brave New World No Responses »

Dec 012011

This evening, a generous backer pledged a whopping $500 to tip the first 12 for ’12 Kickstarter drive over the $8,000 mark. That unlocks Book 2! Woo-hoot!

I can’t tell you how thrilled I am about that. It validates the whole unlocking model, it shows how much faith the backers all have in the project, and it means I get two write not one but TWO Brave New World books!

At the moment, we have 178 backers who’ve pledged a total of $8,396. That puts us a hair over $1600 away from the next unlockable. At $10k, every backer gets an electronic copy of the full-color map that Aaron Acevedo is creating for the books. You can see an early mockup of it right here.

It’s going to look even more fantastic when it’s finished. I’m confident we’ll crack the $10k level at this point and get to share that map. After that, at $12k, we unlock a short story from the next series in the 12 for ’12 plan — all in the Shotguns & Sorcery setting. And if we hit $15k, we get Book 3 too.

Honestly, with only 60 hours to go, it’s going to be a good stretch to get to $15k from here. It’s not impossible though, especially with a bit of help. I have more interviews and articles going up soon, a couple on fairly big sites, and anything friends like you can do to spread the word far and wide would be wonderful too. Lots of people put off things like this until the last minute, and we just need to remind them that the last minute is now.

Thanks again to each and every one of you who have lent this drive your support. Literally, none of this could happen without you. I’m having a blast on this roller coaster ride, and I hope you are too!