Ready to Rumble!

Rumble-JungleRumble in the Jungle, the fourth in my series of Blood Bowl novels, is on sale in the UK. Those of us in other parts of the world must wait until Boxing Day for our fix, but the fortunate souls in Old Blighty can get theirs now.

However, the non-British aren’t entirely out of luck. The Black Library has posted a short, free sample to whet your appetite.

In other news, I delivered the script for the first issue of the Blood Bowl comic book to Boom! Studios. It picks up directly after the end of the events of Rumble in the Jungle and continues the adventures of the Bad Bay Hackers as they make their bid to repeat as the Blood Bowl champs!

Quote Me on My Dad

The Stateline News (our local freebie/shopper newspaper) ran a front-page article in Sunday’s edition about my father’s appointment to the Rock County Circuit Court. (Ignore the erroneous caption under the photo.) They called me up for a few pithy quotes, which I was proud to supply. As I said (with all appropriate bias):

“I think he’s the best person for the job, and I’m glad the governor agreed,” Matt Forbeck said. “I think he’s going to be a fantastic judge.”

Omnibus in America

Blood Bowl: The Omnibus is now available outside of the UK. That means those of us in the States can now get our hands on it. This massive tome smashes all of the first three Blood Bowl novels (Blood Bowl, Dead Ball, and Death Match) together under one cover, plus a short foreword I wrote just for this doorstop. That’s 768 pages of hilarious, spike-balled mayhem for the low price of only $11.99 of those Yanqui dollars!

Those lucky sods fortunate enough to live nearer to the Black Library should also be able to pick up the fourth book in the series, Rumble in the Jungle, on Monday! The rest of us have to wait until the end of December, but we can assuage the pain of those dark days of waiting with The Omnibus for now. It’s even colored green with blood-red accents to make for a most suitable holiday gift!

Happy Birthday, Marty

My eldest son, Marty, turns 9 today. It’s hard to believe he’s that old already, but it seems like I can barely remember a life without him. He made me a father and changed Ann and I from a couple into a family. He’s a wonderful, smart, sweet son and the best big brother any set of quadruplets could ask for.

Happy birthday, Marty!

Here Come the Judge!

We had many things to be thankful for this weekend, but one snazzy piece of news topped the list. Wednesday, Governor Jim Doyle appointed my father, Ken Forbeck, to become a judge on the Rock County Circuit Court.

As you might guess, we’re all bursting with pride and excitement about this. It’s going to be a big change for Dad, who’s been a practicing attorney for 37 years, but we’re sure he’s going to make a fantastic judge. Dad spoke about this on the Stan Milam show on WCLO (a local AM radio station) this Friday morning–calling in from my driveway–and he sounded ready to go.

This is an elected position, but the judge in it at the moment is retiring from the bench as of January 1. Dad won’t have to run for the job until April of 2009. You can bet we’ll be hititng the pavement hard for him then. In the meantime, we’ll cheer him on from the sidelines every step of the way.

ChiTAG Report

I had a great time at the 5th annual Chicago Toy and Game Fair
this past weekend. I got up early and drove down to Schaumburg so I could sit in on the two morning panels for the Inventors Forum. Mary Couzin, who runs the whole shebang, met me at the front desk and got me set up. Although we’d never met before, she was as friendly and wonderful as could be. I felt at home right away.

Tim Walsh (creator of Tri-Bond, among other games) moderated both of the inventor panels and did a wonderful job. One of the best parts, though, happened in a back corner of the room. Nicholas, a designer who I met during a past seminar, and his son got inspired by the talk and started designing a new game right in the hall. During the break, they set it up in the back corner and had at it, there on the floor!

Courtesy of Mary, I had lunch with Tim and the rest of the panelists and the other experts from the “Ask an Expert” event, including Mike Hirtle (VP of R&D for Hasbro), Howard Fleischer, Jeffry Breslow of Big Monster Toys, Peggy Brown, and Kim Vandenbroucke.

Afterward, I ran off to the “Ask an Expert” event and did my part. They put us up in a series of tiny offices just off the main convention floor and sent people back to chat with us for 15 minutes at a time. I spoke to a number of incredible people, including a mother with an excellent behavior modification system/game that can take up to six months to “play,” plus folks from Really Neat Stuff and the Party Hard Corps.

As it wrapped up, I ran into Dan Rowen from Playroom Entertainment and caught up for a bit. Then I met with Darren Orange and Darrik Cupps from Reactor 88 Studios. We wandered about the hall for a while and then headed out for a quick bite. After that, I got back in the car and headed home in time to catch the end of Ratatouille with Ann and the kids.

I had a great time at the show, and Mary treated me like a king. The energy among the inventors matched anything I’ve seen. If I can, I’ll be back next year for sure.

Thanks!

Here’s to a happy Thanksgiving day to you all, whether you’re Americans, Canadians (who celebrated last month), or from entirely somewhere else. Here’s hoping we all have much to be thankful for, as well as the wisdom to recognize those blessings.

TSR Memories for Sale

Kevin Hendryx, a TSR employee back in the early ’80s, is selling his collection of TSR stuff on eBay. It’s a wild gathering of items ranging from business cards and character sheets to rare zines and even letters of resignation. The biggest find is the set of print negatives for the original, banned version of the D&D module B3 Palace of the Silver Princess, which is going for over $1,500. The auction ends tonight, so move fast if RPG history interests you.