BEA Bound

I’ll be in the fine city of Chicago over the weekend of June 4–6 for BookExpo America, the largest trade show for English-reading bibliophiles on the planet. I’ll be in the Wizards of the Coast booth, signing advanced reading copies of Secret of the Spiritkeeper, the first in the new Knights of the Silver Dragon series of young adult fantasy novels. I created the series and wrote the first book (Secret of the Spiritkeeper), although others will take the reigns from there.

Those who are interested in having me scribble in a book can stop by the Wizards booth between 1 and 3 PM on Friday, June 4 and 1 and 3 PM on Sunday, June 6. (Saturday, June 5, is the two-year anniversary of the most amazing event in my life: the birth of four of my children with in two minutes of each other, so I’ll be rolling home for that.) Bring any book you like. It doesn’t have to be one of mine. I’m not particular.

Games Quarterly Magazine on the Horizon

On Friday, I got another surprise in the mail: the first issue of Games Quarterly Magazine. This is a brand-new general games magazine from Matthews-Simmons Marketing, the same people who bring you the game-industry bible Games Quarterly Catalog. I wrote an article about Fluxx (a real game designer’s card game) in it, which is why the printer drop-shipped me a few advance copies. The issue should be in stores by the end of the month or so.

This is 84 pages of gaming goodness. Peter Adkison (formerly of Wizards and now of Gen Con) writes about historical trends in gaming. James Ernest (of Cheapass Games) “discovers” a “Strategy Article by an Idiot.” Ken Hite expounds on the joys of terror in Call of Cthulhu. Mike Selinker (formerly of Wizards and Avalon Hill ponders “tinker-proof” games. Marcelo Figueroa (formerly of AEG and now with ACD) discusses Hollywood and games. Will Niebling (of Mayfair Games) exposes the Settlers phenomenon. John Kovalic contributes a new Dork Tower cartoon. And that’s only about the half of it. At only $3.95, this is a steal.

Eberron Rocks

I’ve been typing my fingers raw over the past few weeks as I pound away at the first of my Eberron novel, which is due any day now. I’ve committed to having it done by June 3, which is right before the Book Expo and, coincidentally, the second birthday of four of my kids. Mark Sehestedt, my editor at Wizards of Coast, has been feeding me a steady diet of Eberron material over the past few months, and a couple weeks ago, I got a real treat in the mail: an advance photocopy of the Eberron Campaign Setting , all laid out with artwork and everything.

I’ve read several drafts before this, starting back when it was only a dozen pages or so. It’s been amazing to see this grow and mature into such a great setting. There’s plenty of material to sink your teeth into here. As I read through it, I keep coming up with more ideas for other novels than the ones I’m writing. It’s distracting and exciting at the same time. This is a beautiful book, and I can’t wait until it’s in stores next month so I can talk more freely about it.

Secret News


About a week ago, Wizards of the Coast sent me some promotional covers for Secret of the Spiritkeeper, my young adult Dungeons & Dragons novel due out this August. If you click on the image to the right, you’ll see a full-sized version. I’m pleased with the art and design, and the same artist also made some snazzy illustrations for the interior too.

On Friday, I found something even better in the mail: an advance reading copy of the book. Publishers often print short runs of a book from the first galleys sent to the printer and then send them out to reviewers and give them out at trade shows to get people excited about the book. They often make a few small changes to the book for the final version before it’s put on press. That’s what this is: an advance copy of Secret of the Spiritkeeper, as complete as it could be at the moment.

Wizards plans to give out advance reading copies of the book at BookExpo America, a trade show at which the publishers show off all their upcoming products to the bookstores. It’s June 5–7 in Chicago, only a short slide down the road from me. As such, I’ll be signing books in the Wizards booth at the show. If you’ll be there, be sure to stop by and say hi. If you ask nice, I might even manage to deface a copy of Spiritkeeper for your own collection of scrawled-upon books.

Dracula’s Revenge Prototype Spotted

At Human Head Studios, we got a prototype of the Dracula’s Revenge game, in last week. The first thing we noticed is that the cardstock we chose for the boards was too thin. It started to curl soon after we got it out of the box. We thought this was unusual, since we went with a thicker stock than you see in many games like this, but it’s apparently because the thicker stock comes in two layers. The bottom layer expands more than the top, and the piece curls.

We immediately decided to upgrade out stock to the thickness of a puzzle piece. Now the boards should lay flat for sure. We should have a new prototype in next week to show us for sure. This means that the game is going to be a bit later than expected but only by a week or so. We should have a limited number to sell at Origins, but if you want a copy there, be sure to get in line early. They’ll go fast.

Origins Awards Nominations

The Origins Awards nominations were just released. I’m happy to say that two pieces I worked on picked up a total of three nods. Many thanks to those members of the Academy who voted to recognize them.

Redhurst Academy of Magic garnered nominations for Best Roleplaying Supplement and Best Graphic Design in Book Format. Also “The Price of Freedom” got a nod for Best Game-Related Fiction, Short Form.

If you’re interested in “The Price of Freedom,” you can read it for free on the WizKids website. For Redhurst Academy of Magic, you can get the player’s edition for free from the Human Head website.

Brave New Questions

In a comment to one of my posts on Brave New World, AkodoAkira writes:

“So my question is this: why are their no new Alphas? Maybe I missed it in one of the books, but what’s the deal with it?”

Native alphas come from deltas who have near-death experiences. These people are still affected by the Disappearance Effect that happened in the wake of the Bicentennial Battle. They end up transported to the disappeared Chicago.

Alphas can come into the world from other dimensions, and they can also stick around if they’re protected at the moment of their conversion. This is rare, though, and could only happen through tremendous foresight or providence.

“Also: Why do Deltas begin springing up in the 20th century? My friend is arguing that the tears in the fabric allow the Delats to appear, I am arguing that medical science is allowing them to survive the change. Which one is more accurate?”

Your friend is closer to what I had in mind. I like your idea too. I’d never thought of it that way. It could easily be a combination of the two.

Errors Creep In

I just got a prototype of the Dracula’s Revenge boardgame in. A few details need fixing, but that’s why you have a prototype made before you go to press. Otherwise, you end up with several thousand error-riddled copies of the game.

Still, it always seems like the first thing I find when I pick up the first copy of a book or game hot off the presses is a mistake. When it’s your product, it’s painful, but at that point there’s little you can do about it. Over the years, I’ve come up with a number of “explanations.”
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CCG In the Works

Right after I cut down to part-time at Human Head Studios, I started beating the bushes for work hard. Among other things, I flushed out a collectable card game design gig. It’s been a couple years since I’ve worked on one of these babies, but it’s just as much fun as I remember. I can’t say any more about it at the moment, as it’s a long way from seeing print yet.