Family Games: The 100 Best should be on shelves Real Soon Now, I’m told. To hold you over for this smorgasbord of essays, check out Alan De Smet’s stunning and thorough breakdowns of both this book and its predecessor, Hobby Games: The 100 Best. Alan goes over the books in terms of writers, designers, and publishers to see who’s inspired …
Blurbs: Jim Lee
If you’ve read a comic in the last 20+ years, you should already know Jim Lee. As an artist, he defined the look of the X-Men in the early ’90s. His X-Men #1 (written by Chris Claremont) is still the best-selling comic book of all time, having racked up 8 million copies in print. He parlayed that into becoming one …
Geek.Kon Guest
The fine folks at Geek.Kon have announced that I’ll be a guest again at their show this year. I had a great time with them last year and agreed to join them again. The line-up of my fellow guests so far includes Bill Bodden and Aaron Pavao, both of whom were there last year, so it’ll be like getting the …
Blurbs: John Rogers
John Rogers is my kind of writer. He got a degree in physics but gave up working in that field to become a stand-up comedian. From there, he moved into TV, where he became a producer of Cosby. (I grew up listening to Bill Cosby albums. He’s the funniest man ever.) John also created the Jackie Chan Adventures cartoon and …
Thriller Awards Nominees Announced
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 …