The August meeting of the Madison chapter of the IGDA is set for Tuesday, August 13. With luck, I’ll be there, but either way those who attend will get the chance to listen to the talented artist Mark Nelson talk about art in both paper and computer games. I hope to see you there!
Back Again, Off Again
Just home from Comic-Con, which is still going on. Had a wonderful time. Saw lots of old friend and made many new ones too. Off again to an undisclosed location. More later!
Comic-Con Bound
I’m off to Comic-Con first thing in the morning. I’ll only be around until Friday night, so if you’re looking for me, do so early. I don’t have any scheduled appearances, just lots of business to attend to, so contact me directly if you can. Either way, I hope to see you there!
Storytellers Unplugged
It’s that time of month again. My latest essay is up on Storytellers Unplugged. This time around I muse about muses and what keeps writers writing when they’d rather be somewhere else. Be sure to check it out.
Wolf’s Words
Fellow Alliterate and good guy Wolfgang Baur just opened up a locked post on his Open Design site about the writing process. The net is filled with these, of course, but rarely about RPG design. As usual, Wolf is spot on. Check it out.
Birdman at E3
It seems like the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law video game I worked on with High Voltage Software is getting some good buzz at this year’s E3 show.
Thanks to Jason Blair for the heads-up.
Dansky Dares to Ask
My pal Richard Dansky just launched a new feature at his website, a series of short interviews with other authors. I’m flattered to be the first in the lineup. Rich asked some great questions, and I enjoyed responding to them as best I could. Be sure to check it out.
Rich, by the way, is a true gentleman and a connoisseur of many fine things, including incredible scotches. He’s also the head Clancy writer for Red Storm Entertainment and a cracking-good novelist to boot. Look for Firefly Rain, his first original (non-tie-in) novel–and the inaugural title–from Wizards of the Coast’s shiny new imprint for such books, in January 2008.
Kobolds and Baurs
My fellow Alliterate and friend Wolfgang Baur–he of the prolific RPG pen, including the innovative, patron-sponsored Open Design project–has just launched spanking-new magazine: Kobold Quarterly. For those of us who will dearly miss the about-to-die Dragon and Dungeon Magazines, Kobold Quarterly is like going to the funeral and running into a long-lost friend.
Wolf spent many years at both TSR and Wizards of the Coast, some of them as editors for those now-doomed publications, and he wrote extensively for them both over the years as well. Now he’s decided to harness the power of his Open Design projects, his vast and authoritative experience, and this newfangled thing called the internet to produce a quarterly gaming rag that brings us some of the best bits of both of those hallowed mags.
So, if you love D&D–and would like to see the return of Bolt & Quiver by Stan! (another Alliterate), among all sorts of other gaming goodness–do yourself a solid and check it out.
Complete Idiots Amuck
I see that my The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Creating Dungeons & Dragons Characters now has a release date. According to Amazon, it should hit shelves on December 4, just in time for the holiday rush.
And did I mention that I’m also working on a sequel to The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Manga Fantasy Creatures, Illustrated? I am. You can look for The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Shojo Manga, Illustrated in stores in 2008, by the same team that brought you the last one: the incredible Tomoko Taniguchi and me.