Brett Rubin wrote me a note a while back and asked me some excellent questions about becoming a published writer. I thought some of you might be interested in the answers, so I’ve posted the bulk of the conversation here.
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I’ve had a crazy busy time since Gen Con. I just turned in my first draft of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Drawing Manga, Illustrated: Fantasy Creatures, which my pals at IDW commissioned from me under a tight (read: insane) deadline. As the sequel to The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Drawing Manga, Illustrated, it’s been a fun book to work on, and the time pressures have made every bit of it fast-paced.

As a comics fan, I’ve read some manga over the years, although I hardly consider myself an expert in the field. Fortunately, my co-author, Tomoko Taniguchi, is a bang-up shoujo (girls’ manga) artist who really knows her stuff. I just follow in her wake and describe what she’s doing as best I can. She was a true pleasure to work with, as were my editors at IDW.

Next up, a short project for Mattel that’s due on Wednesday. Perhaps after that, I’ll be able to take a shot at that Gen Con report.

This summer, Patrick Sweeny pulled me back into working on roleplaying games for the first time in nearly two years. I only wrote the first couple thousand words of Tournament of the Fey, an introductory pack for Faery’s Tale, but you can download them now for free. No cost. Zip. Nada.

Patrick handed me a copy of Faery’s Tale at Gen Con, and it really was one of the coolest things at the show. If you have kids you’d like to introduce to roleplaying games, Faery’s Tale is the perfect choice.