Pelgrane Press just posted its latest Page XX. This free collection of articles covers such topics as Robin Laws‘s “Point of Distinction,” “A Cold Day in Hell: A Look at eBooks in the RPG Industry,” and “Is the RPG Industry Screwed?” All recommended reading.
A Million Voices Crying Out at Once
Jim Muraco alerted me to the advent of the Voice of a Million Petition. It’s an experiment in what people can do if enough of them get together and ask for it. The first mission: Getting U2 to play at Miller Park on St. Patrick’s Day 2007. There are more important windwills to tilt at, sure, but few hold as much potential for fun. Add your voice now!
Fantastic Battle Dice Wallpaper
Over at MarvelBattleDice.com, the fine folks at Playmates Toys have posted the latest in their series of computer desktop wallpapers. This one features the Thing and Mr. Fantastic from the Fantastic Four!
Comic-Con
I just made my reservations for Comic-Con International. It’ll be a quick trip for me. Although the con runs from Wednesday through Sunday, I’m in on Thursday morning and back out on Saturday night.
While I’m there, I’ll be on a panel or two and sit in at a book signing. If you’ll be there, be sure to drop on by and say hi!
Thrudbowl 2006
On July 22 & 23, if you’re anywhere near Bognor Regis (on the south coast of England) and love Blood Bowl, be sure to head to the Bognor Regis Community College (Upper School) for Thrudbowl! This is a Blood Bowl tournament featuring Carl Critchlow‘s Thrud the Barbarian, complete with Carl’s blessing. With luck, they’ll have some autographed copies of my Blood Bowl novels there to hand out as prizes, along with all sorts of other stuff.
All profits from the tournament are to be donated to breast cancer research. So, get out there and play dirty for a good cause!
Sample Blackstaff
Fellow Alliterate Steven Schend‘s Forgotten Realms novel Blackstaff is due to hit shelves in July. You can now read the first chapter online for free.
Loeb and Kunkel
Writing about Sam Loeb triggered some thoughts about his dad Jeph. I love Jeph’s comics work, but I’ve been enjoying more of his TV work lately too. He’s well known for his work on Smallville, but I spotted his name come up on the credits of Lost too.
Better yet, I just discovered he wrote the screenplay for the Herobear and the Kid film. It’s based on one of my favorite comics series of the past five years, Mike Kunkel‘s book of the same name. I’ve read Herobear to my son Marty at least three times through.
Another favorite is Mike’s The Land of Sokmunster, which drives Marty straight to giggles. (I met Mike at Wizard World Chicago a couple years back and had him autograph the treasured copy I picked up for Marty.) As the other kids get older, I’ll be sure to share these with them too. They’re warm, funny, and fun, the kind of books you instantly recognize as classics.
Sam Loeb’s Book on Sale
Back in February, I posted about Sam Loeb and the upcoming Superman/Batman #26. Quick Recap: Sam, Jeph Loeb’s son, was to write the issue but died before he could complete it. A legion of legendary comics writers and artists signed on to finish the job, pledging their payments to a charity set up in Sam’s name.
The book went on sale on May 31, so be sure to pick it up soon. If you’d like to get more involved, every page of the comic’s artwork will be auctioned off at the upcoming Wizard World Chicago, on August 5, from 2—4 PM. Erica Durance of Smallville fame will co-host the auction with Jeph.
Luikart on Fame
Game designer (and good guy) TS Luikart waxes well on how fame works in the role-playing game industry. (He also name-checks me in a kind way.)
Palladium Update
ICv2.com posted an article today about Palladium Books and how it’s working to overcome its “Crisis of Treachery.”