The fine folks at GroovyGamers.com interviewed me last fall, and I just stumbled upon the results. It made for a good conversation about my writing and how I go about it. Check it out.
Dansky, Guitar Hero
Gamasutra has an excellent interview up with my pal Rich Dansky of Red Storm and Ubisoft fame. Rich is one of the best computer-game writers around, an excellent writer of fiction, and a gentleman and connoisseur of fine scotches to boot.
I also owe Rich for introducing me to Guitar Hero, one of the greatest video games of all time. Having played it at his house, I considered running out and buying a Playstation 2 just so I could have the game at home too. Instead, I waited patiently for the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II to hit stores. My wife and kids rewarded me with a copy of the game (and the X-plorer guitar controller) as my Father’s Day gift, and I’ve been rocking out ever since.
Best moment in the game so far: When you complete the Career mode on Medium difficulty, the game gives you the option of playing “Free Bird” as an encore for your sold-out concert at Stonehenge. It even gives you several chances to back out of tackling this legendary monster if you like. If you accept and manage to strumble (dibs on that word!) your way through the song, the alien mothership that’s been hovering overhead sucks you up in a beam of light and hauls you off into the stars. As the ship becomes just another star in the sky, the constellations rearrange themselves to read “Live and Let Rock.”
Too damn awesome.
Unplug Me
Beguiled by the wily suggestions of Rich Dansky, the fine folks over at Storytellers Unplugged asked me to join their hearty crew of professional writers, editors, and other assorted scalawags. In a moment of dumbfounded excitement–which kept me from begging off due to my soul-crushing deadlines–I accepted.
In the ensuing blizzard of e-mails, I realized that I’d been shanghaied into–ah, signed up for–providing a short essay for the website, once a month, on a particular day. Joe Nassise, who’s in charge of the whole shebang, whip-cracked me with the 21st. That starts this month or, as the kids say, today.
So, stop by Storytellers Unplugged and check out my first essay for the crew. While you’re there, be sure to poke around and see what the other press-ganged souls have come up with too.
Free RPG Day
Just a reminder that this Saturday is Free RPG Day. If you’re interested in learning more about roleplaying games, check the list of participating stores to see if there’s a place near you where you can join in the action.
Back from La Pura Vida
My apologies for the radio silence. My wife and I just got back from a week’s vacation in Costa Rica. We stayed at BahÃa de los Delfines. This beautiful resort sits just outside of Tambor, a tiny town on a sheltered bay on the end of the Nicoya Peninsula, out on the central Pacific coast. We had a wonderful, stunning time, and I’ll be babbling on about it for months, I’m sure.
We won the stay at the resort as part of a fund-raising raffle for Marty’s drama club (Kids Fun and Drama). We didn’t have the time to sell the tickets and instead bought our allotment ourselves. It paid off big in the form of an early celebration for our 15th wedding anniversary.
In Costa Rica, they have a saying: Pura vida. Literally, this means “pure life.” We spent the trip living that life and loving that country. We’re glad to be back, and hopefully we can continue with pura vida now that we’re home too.
In the meantime, a special thanks from us to my mother and the army of able assistants she lined up to help her take care of our children while Ann and I were gone. We couldn’t have left town without you, and our implicit trust in your goodness and kindness and love meant we could let ourselves enjoy the trip without worrying an instant about what might be happening back home. Pura vida to you all!
Comic-Con 2007
I just made my hotel reservations for Comic-Con 2007. My plan is to be there from Wednesday through Friday night, July 25—27. It’s a short trip, but I have to be back for the weekend, so I can’t stay the whole time.
I don’t have anything official scheduled yet, but if that changes, I’ll be sure to let you know. I’ll be wandering the floor, catching up with old friends, and looking for new gigs. With luck, I’ll have something related to the show’s original theme (comics!) that I can announce by then. If you’ll be there, I hope to see you too!
Happy Birthday
Five years ago today, a team of 25 doctors, nurses, and technicians at Rockford Memorial Hospital led by Dr. Susan Hendricks helped us bring four of the most amazing people into the world: Patrick, Nicholas, Kenny, and Helen Forbeck. Born 11 weeks premature (one week better than average for quads) they weighed, respectively 2# 12 oz., 2# 9 oz., 2# 8 oz., and 1# 8 oz. Their perinatologist, Dr. Dosi, gave each of them a 70% chance to live.
Five years on, Ann and I have four healthy, happy, and wonderful kids who are a lasting joy to her, their older brother Marty, and me. They and the people who helped us with them from their birth to this day have taught me much about what it means to be a parent, a citizen, and a better human being. Perhaps because their birth was such a harrowing experience, I know that every day with them and the rest of my family is a blessing for which my gratitude has no bounds.
Happy birthday, Pat, Nick, Ken, and Helen! Here’s to many, many more.
YouDance
I don’t mean to make this into a blog all about my kids–amazing as they are–but the video below has two purposes. First, it’s hilarious. Sure, it’s of Nick and Helen’s first dance recital, which probably only I and my direct family care much about, but I laughed so hard through much of it I couldn’t keep the camera from shaking.
Second, it’s a chance for me to play with YouTube and see how well it works with WordPress.
So, forgive a father’s pride, and enjoy.
BNW Movie News
While I was at the GAMA Trade Show, I sat in on a meeting about the Brave New World movie, between Darren Orange of Reactor 88 Studios and John Zinser of AEG. John gave Darren the go-head for to create a pilot for a feature film (essentially a proof-of-concept). The schedule calls for shooting in Chicago the weekend before Origins. With luck, the fine people at Reactor 88 should have something to show off at Gen Con.
Natalie Victoria, the actress set to play Lisa Stanzski (the woman in the opening comic of the BNW RPG) recently stopped by here and left a comment. (Thanks, Natalie!) I’ve not yet had the honor of meeting her, but she certainly is a dead ringer for the part. With her joining Chuck “Patriot” Wagner and Zachary “Charge” Laoutides, the pilot’s developing a great cast. Combine that with the crackerjack crew, and we should have a lot of fun on our hands soon.
RC News
My alma mater, the Residential College at the University of Michigan, puts out a quarterly newsletter, RC News. In the Spring 2007 issue, which just showed up in my mailbox yesterday, they ran a small piece on me on page 10 as part of a larger article called “Unpacking Alumni: Success in Business.”
For some reason, they used the cover of the REVs comic rather than a photo of me, but that’s probably because the pictures of the other six alumni all look like they were taken on campus. I haven’t set foot in East Quad for over a decade, although I’m thinking about coming out for the school’s 40th anniversary party this fall. If any other alums out there might show up, let me know!