Illektron v. Playmates Toys

A company called Illektron–which made a collectible card game called Battlez–has filed suit against Playmates Toys over the trademark for Battle Dice. I’m still poring through the PDFs of the court documents to see exactly what this is all about. (You can get these and the original press release about the lawsuit by clicking on the “News Wire” running scroll in the lower left corner of the Battlez site.)

No comment until then. As I might be called as a witness by either side, I’ll probably have little comment either way.

I just wanted to let you know that I do know about the situation. Also, since it seems to be over the trademarks for the games, it shouldn’t affect me directly. (Let’s hope!)

WizKids Reorganizes

According to a press release posted on GamingReport.com, WizKids has “reorganized.” This means some good people have lost their jobs.

Without being on the inside, it’s impossible to know what the reasons for this are: poor sales, meddling by a corporate parent, or something else entirely. The management team at WizKids is filled with good people, and I know this can’t have been an easy decision for them to make.

Here’s best wishes to all those who were laid off–and all those left behind.

Queen of Death for Halloween

It’s official. The Queen of Death–the final novel in my Eberron trilogy (The Lost Mark series)–is due out in October rather than December. That means cutting two full months out of that long, dreary waiting season that falls between novels. Plus, it means it’ll be out just in time for Halloween, which seems fitting for a trilogy that centers so much upon death.

Cathy’s Books Sells Out?

Monday’s New York Times featured an article on Cathy’s Book, the new blend between novel and alternate reality game created by Jordan Weisman and Sean Stewart. Apparently Cover Girl has arranged for product placement in the book in exchange for promoting it on BeingGirl.com, a website for adolescent girls.

According to ICv2.com, Commercial Alert–an organization which “protect communities from commercialism”–sent an e-mail out to newspaper and magazine editors, asking them to not review the book. They object not to the book’s content but the paid (or bartered) placement of products within it.

While I understand Commercial Alert’s point, I think they’re off-base here. The fact that I known Jordan and Sean probably colors my opinion, but it’s naïve to think that the book isn’t meant as a commercial venture in the first place. To alter inconsequential bits of the book to increase its marketing exposure seems like a brilliant move on the authors’ part. As long as they’re above board about it–which they’ve been–I don’t see much harm.

Conan Film Finds Auteur

As ICv2.com reports, the upcoming Conan movie has a confirmed writer/director: Boaz Yakin. Yakin wrote The Punisher and directed Remember the Titans. While this will be his first fantasy film, I have high hopes that Yakin will bring us the Conan film we’ve all been waiting for.

In a perhaps-not-strange bit of coincidence, Tom Jane, who starred in Punisher, now has the lead role in another movie coming from the same producers behind the Conan film: The Mutant Chronicles.

Tim Hildebrandt Dies

Tim Hildebrandt, one half of the identical twins known as the Brothers Hildebrandt, died on June 11 due to complications from diabetes. I never knew Tim (or his brother Greg), but I loved their artwork from an early age. Their renditions of Tolkien’s words brought Middle-earth to life for me as a kid, and they defined fantasy artwork in my mind. As a writer, I can only hope I can craft stories half as vivid as the images, Tim and Greg created together.

Comic-Con Panelists?

Comic-Con has asked me to put together a panel of game industry professionals for the show. The panel will run from 11—12 on Saturday, July 22. If you qualify to be on such a panel, will be there, and have the time free, please use the link in the sidebar to drop me an e-mail.

If you’ll be at the show but can’t be on the panel for one reason or the other, please be sure to stop by and chat with us. I’m looking forward to having a great time.

Knights No More

This morning, Nina Hess, my editor on the Knights of the Silver Dragon line, gave me a call. That should have been my first clue something was wrong. You see, in this age of the internet, I’d yet to speak with Nina even once. If she’d picked up the phone to talk with me, something had to be up.

In her kind way, Nina told me that, while Secret of the Spiritkeeper had sold well, the Knights line as a whole hadn’t kept up with Wizards’ hopes. The editorial team had made the hard decision to cancel the series.

Now, I’d known for a while that the line would come to an end–just not this soon. Not too long ago, Nina had commissioned two more novels in the series from me, which were slated to be books #17 and #20. The 20th book was meant to be the series’ capstone.

However, Wizards took a look at the numbers and decided that it would be better to end the series now. Book #14, The Dragons Revealed, will now be the final book. Look for it on shelves this August.

I don’t hold any ill will against Wizards for this decision. I’ve been a publisher myself, and publishing is a business. You have limited resources, and if you find that something isn’t generating the money it must, then you have to cut it loose.

Also, since I’ve only had one book in the series published to date, I can’t take it too personally. In fact, I’ve been going back and forth with Nina on a proposal for a whole new series, and with luck you’ll hear something good about that soon. She’s been wonderful in every interaction I’ve had with her, and I’m looking forward to working with her again.

In a way, it’s fitting that the line end with The Prophecy of the Dragons and The Dragons Revealed. The two-book story offers a huge shakeup to the setting and resolves a number of dangling plot lines, while still offering the hope of future adventures. That’s pretty much how I’d intended to end the series, albeit a bit later. Still, it should ring true.

So, no pity for me. Just go out there and pick up those last two books when they come out. Prophecy is due out June 13–this Tuesday–and Dragons hits stores August 8, the Wednesday after my birthday. And let me know what you think.