Missing Summer

Fall officially came crashing in over the weekend, and I’m missing the summer already. I like warm weather, barbecues, having the kids home from school, going to conventions, and all the other hallmarks of the summer months.

One of the best memories I haven’t written much about is the week or so I spent with my wife and kids at my wife’s family cabin up in the U.P. (That’s the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for you Midwestern-challenged folks.) It’s an old, two-room hunting shack, and when I first started going up there with my wife, we had no electricity, no phone, and no running water. It was paradise.

It’s still paradise now, even though we have electricity in now, and our cell phones work if we stand under a pair of trees on the short walk down to the lake. Ann’s uncle even installed a pump to bring wash water up from the lake. And, of course, we now have five young kids joining us–along with two teenage babysitters who make that possible.

Here’s a shot I took of the lake this past August. I use it as the desktop on my computer, and we had it blown up for a framed print on our dining room wall. Until next summer, it’ll have to do.

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Mutant Memories

Back in 2004, Thom Talamini of Excelsior Entertainment asked me to write a forward to an upcoming book in his company’s new (the third) edition of Warzone, the Mutant Chronicles miniatures battle game. I’d edited the first edition and had been in on the Mutant Chronicles since just after its first roleplaying game book was published, and he thought the fans of the game might like to read my perspective on it.

Flattered by the request, I wrote a short essay about how I got involved in the game and what a dream of a gig it was. Excelsior has since suspended operations, and I understand that Prince August Miniatures now has the remaining Warzone backstock. I don’t know if the essay ever got published. Either way, I thought some of you might like to read it (as a PDF). Enjoy!

Zuiker Interview Turned In

I just transcribed and submitted my interview with Anthony Zuiker to Games Quarterly Magazine. Anthony made for a fantastic subject. My favorite quote from the whole thing:

My sights were set so if I could just one time walk in and buy a game that had my name on it, I could’ve just died there.

GAMA Survey Results

Brant Guillory writes:

Hey there!

Back in the Spring, you guys graciously helped get the word out about the GAMA-Wargamer-Ohio State games research survey.

I’m happy to report the first of the non-academic articles is now available at Wargamer.com.

Thanks.

Take everything you read anywhere with a shaker of salt, of course, but this shows some intriguing results.

At the Wisconsin Book Festival

I’ll be at this year’s Wisconsin Book Festival, wandering around beautiful downtown Madison on Friday, October 20. I’ve been scheduled for a short reading and signing as part of the Wisconsin Publishers Showcase. You can find me in the Memorial Library Auditorium from 2:30 to 2:45 PM. I’m happy to sign anything you might bring, although I should have a few copies of my books on hand if you need one.

Mutant Chronicles Questions and Answers

Robert Farmer wrote to ask:

I’m a longtime fan of yours, in fact dating back to your work on Mutant Chronicles when I was just getting into the hobby. I was wondering what your thoughts were on the upcoming movie and the new RPG being developed by Center of Gravity.

Ah, thanks for the name. I’d been told the RPG was in the works, but I didn’t know the name of the new publisher or if it was public information yet or not. Glad to see things are moving along on that front.

Given the wildly different take on MC that the movie seems to be working from (judging from the 7 web documentaries currently posted), are you still looking forward to seeing it in the theaters?

Very much so. I know it won’t match up with the original property from the early ’90s, but it’s many years since the game went out of print, so I expected as much. Also, any translation of a setting into another medium requires changes to make it fit the new medium better. I’m not put off by that.

And how do you feel about the re-imagining COG is taking? Are there any phantom pains from the game you put so much time into, or is it a case of “your job is done”?

My job was done a looooong time ago, and I never was the game’s publisher. As much as I loved it, it was never truly mine. Also, no matter what happens with the movie or the new game or anything else, I still have the original books on my shelves. I can always take them down and read or play with them as much as I like.

Mutant Chronicles RPG 3rd Edition in the Works

I’ve known about this for some time, but it wasn’t my news to announce. Now that the secret’s out (thanks to Robert Farmer for alerting me to this), I can tell you that a new edition of the Mutant Chronicles roleplaying game is in the works. A new company called Center of Gravity Media Group is working on this third edition of the game and hopes to have it out sometime next year.

The new publisher is Swedish, just like the original publisher, Target Games. I don’t know much about them yet, but Fred Malmberg has wonderful things to say about his countrymen. I’m looking forward to seeing what they come up with.

Mutant Chronicles Movie Site Up

The official website for the upcoming Mutant Chronicles movie is now live. It’s a bit thin at the moment, but it has information on the key cast members, plus a number of featurettes on the film’s production.

One of the highlights of Comic-Con for me was chatting with Fred Malmberg and Thommy Wojciechowski of Paradox Entertainment about the film. They had a book filled with stills from the shoot, and it all looked fantastic.