Gamer Chicks Do, In Fact, Rule

Mike Bohlmann tells me that he and his wife have started a new gaming website: Gamer Chicks Rule. While it’s aimed at female gamers, they happily accept readers and writers of all genders. Check it out.

Energy Drinks, Wisconsin Style

Here’s something that we drink in my house that’s apparently only available in the Midwest and (for some reason) parts of Florida: Water Joe. It’s just what it sounds like: bottled water suffused with the writer’s wonder drug of choice, caffeine.

I’ve had some problems with acid reflux over the years, and doctors often advise me to restrict caffeine intake when that happens. Of course, one of the problems with caffeine isn’t the compound itself but what comes along with it. Sodas and coffees come with all sorts of other acids that can irritate your stomach too, so it’s hard to tell what’s actually causing the trouble. Water Joe is just pure, Wisconsin water with caffeine mixed in, and it’s as gentle as can be.

Otherwise, I often turn to coffee for my fix. Other than the occasional sip (or a ridealong with the police in Bell, CA), I didn’t start drinking coffee until a trip to Castellaneta, Italy, a few years back to celebrate my sister Jody’s wedding to her husband Nanni. While there, I did as the Italians did and knocked back enough espresso to kick my jet lag back across the ocean. I liked it, and when I got back home, I picked up a cheap espresso machine.

It sucked. I didn’t want to spend a fortune on a proper one, though, so I took up with regular coffee. I ended up back in Italy (in Bolzano) the next fall, after attending the wedding of my great friend Bill King in Prague. While there, I picked up one of these little aluminum coffee pots I saw in every household I visited in Italy: a Bialetti Moka Express.

Actually, I got a cheaper knock-off. As Jody said, “Would you like the Bialetti or this one, which is identical and 10 euros less?”

I grind my own beans, usually an Italian roast, and use the little machine to make a tasty, homestyle Italian espresso that doesn’t bother my belly a bit. I take it like I take my scotch: with not one other blessed thing.

Computer Games

I’m doing more work on computer games than paper games these days. Unfortunately, these projects have long development cycles, sometimes more than two years, and I’m under strict non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) that clamp down tight on what I’m allowed to say about them. However, I can tell you that I recently wrapped up work on projects for both Ubisoft and Atari.

I had a great time on both gigs. Helping create computer games differs from working on tabletop games or writing fiction, but there’s a good deal of crossover too. Not too many writers understand the requirements of writing for games, so that’s given me a leg up, and I’ve found it to be a fun and exciting challenge. With luck, I’ll get to do more of this same kind of work soon, and with patience you should be able to play with it.

Kane on Film

ICv2.com reports that the Solomon Kane film should start production in May. Kane is one of Robert E. Howard‘s better-known heroes, although they all shiver in the long shadow of Conan. I’m looking forward to this movies, as well as to the roleplaying game being produced at my old company, Pinnacle Entertainment. Pinnacle’s CEO and my old pal, Shane Hensely, loves Kane, and I’m sure this news thrills him too.

Cold Days

Today, here in Wisconsin, it’s so cold that the schools are closed. Our high is predicted to be a balmy 2° F, but right now at 10 AM, it’s —7° with a wind-chill factor that makes it feel like —25°. The hair in my nostrils, which is about the only part of me that’s exposed when I go out outside, starts to freeze within seconds.

I don’t suppose it’s any coincidence that the two latest novels I bought are The Crook Factoryby Dan Simmons and A Salty Piece of Landby Jimmy Buffett, as both are set in tropical climes. I haven’t been to such places in years, although I have plans for this spring. It can’t come soon enough.

Thanks to my pal Rich Dansky for alerting me to the existence of the first. Dan Simmons writing a novel about Hemingway chasing Nazis around Cuba during WWII? How did I miss that? Hemingway’s one of my favorite writers, and Simmons writes the way I want to when I grow up–should that ever happen.

Wonder Spot to Close

Rich Dansky also points out to me (he’s a trove of information) that the Wonder Spot in Lake Delton, Wisconsin, is going to close after 59 years of trapping tourists in its strange and wonderful gravity storms. (There’s a Jimmy Buffett reference in there for those paying attention.) I hit more than one of these strange Mystery Spots during family road trips as a kid. They’re fun in a cheesy way, which is perfectly appropriate for an attraction near a hotbed of resorts in the middle of Wisconsin. Adios to the Wonder.

The Angell Box

My friend Rich Dakan points me to what may be the coolest H. P. Lovecraft item ever: the Angell Box. It’s a box of printed props straight out of Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulhu,” lovingly reproduced from the story’s text. It’s far from cheap, but it comes with a resounding recommendation from Greg Stafford that says it all.