My StarCraft II Story

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Yesterday, Blizzard posted a story I wrote for them for StarCraft II, the latest installment of the best-selling real-time strategy (RTS) of all time. It’s called “Lost Vikings,” and its about a unit of terran pilots who try to save their adopted planet by fighting off an alien (zerg) invasion, hoping to delay the attackers long enough for their friends and family to escape. They fly convertible starcraft called Vikings, which can serve double duty as both aerial fighters and ground-combat troops.

Sharp-eyed readers with long memories may recognize that The Lost Vikings was also the title of one of Blizzard’s first video games, a side-scroller that came out for the Super Nintendo (SNES) back in 1992. The story features a number of callbacks to that piece of gaming history. Even so, I’m not the first person working with StarCraft to do something like this. If you wander into the cantina of Jim Raynor’s ship Hyperion in StarCraft II, you can even find a standup arcade console in which you can play a video game called The Lost Viking.

I had a great time with the story, even though it involved one of the most rigorous editorial processes I’ve ever had my work run through. The Blizzard folks – especially James Waugh, Cameron Dayton, and Cate Gary – know their craft and their audience, and I appreciated every bit of the help. When millions of eyes may read a story like this, it pays to be both thorough and patient.

You can read the story for free on the StarCraft II website, along with other great tales by James and Cameron and Micky Neilson, plus SF luminaries like David Gerrold, Antony Johnston, and Alex Irvine. From the story’s page, you can also download a free, 32-page PDF of the tale and even a set of wallpapers featuring the story’s cover illustration.

It’s a great package for a fun tale, and I hope you enjoy it.

The Gamers & Dangerous Games

DG-HTP-3DSharp-eyed readers and hardcore gamers who pick up Dangerous Games: How to Play (my new thriller novel set at Gen Con) may recognize a man by the name of Leo Lamb. Leo is one of the characters from The Gamers series of fantastic and funny films created by Ben Dobyns, Matt Vancil, Don Early, and the rest of the crew at Zombie Orpheus Productions and Dead Gentlemen Productions.

Leo debuted in The Gamers 2: Dorkness Rising as the owner of the gaming store at which the friends in the film play their games. He also appears in the upcoming sequel The Gamers 3: Hands of Fate. Scott C Brown does a fantastic job of playing both Leo and his alter-ego in the crew’s roleplaying game, an ill-fated bard known as Flynn the Fine. Scott also plays the orc professor Strong Like Bull in Zombie Orpheus’s web series, JourneyQuest.

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Gen Con and Me

DG-HTP-3DThis piece appears in the back of Dangerous Games: How to Play, but I want you to be able to read it whether you have the book or not. 

In case it doesn’t glow right through the pages of this book, let me make one thing clear. I love Gen Con. I’ve been going to the convention every summer since 1985, when my dad packed me and my friends into a van – a 1976 Dodge extended conversion rig we called the Magic Bus – and drove us over to the University of Wisconsin–Parkside campus, set in the middle of nowhere between Racine and Kenosha.

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Dangerous Games: How to Play Releases Today!

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Woot! Dangerous Games: How to Play launches as an ebook today. If you backed the Dangerous Games Kickstarter drive, you should already have a copy, of course, but if you weren’t one of those lucky people – or if you know someone else who might like the book – here’s your chance to grab a copy for only $4.99.

Dangerous Games: How to Play is the first in my trilogy of thrillers set at Gen Con, the largest tabletop gaming convention in America. I’ve been going to Gen Con for more than thirty years and have been a guest of honor there for the last ten years running. I know and love it like no other event in my year.

In the book, aspiring young game designer Liam Parker leaves the Diana Jones Award party with gaming legend Ken Hite and stumbles across the body of world-famous game designer Allen Varney (who volunteered for the role!). Shocked at the tragedy and hired by Gen Con as its liaison with the Indianapolis police, Liam makes it his mission to figure out who killed Allen and why. His investigations drag him deep into the world of tabletop games and thrust him into the center of a mystery he must solve fast – or become the latest victim in this dangerous game.

I had a fantastic time writing this story, and I think it shows. Early reviews have been glowing, and if you enjoy games and stories as much as me, I think you’ll love it too.

As of today, the ebook is available at:

I’m mailing out printed copies of the book to my Kickstarter backers this week. The standard print edition should go on sale a few weeks later. If you like ebooks though, there’s no reason to wait. Go grab yours now.

Thanks for your support!

The Dangerous Games: How to Play Insider’s List

DG-How-to-PlayMy next novel – Dangerous Games: How to Play – is due for release this Tuesday, May 14. This is the first book in the third of the 12 for ’12 trilogies I wrote last year, and despite that, it’s different from all the others. For one, it’s set in the real world and the modern day and has zero fantastic elements in it. It’s a straight mystery with one wild twist: It’s set at Gen Con, the largest tabletop gaming convention in America. 

I’ve been going to Gen Con since I was 13 years old, and it’s been a huge part of my life. I had a wonderful time playing around in (and fictionally destroying) my favorite event of the year. As part of that, I worked a number of gaming industry luminaries into the story.

As I was revising the book, I built a running list of everyone that made it into the book. Now, I hope that everyone who finds themselves in the book will enjoy their appearances – and also that those of my friends who didn’t find their way in won’t be offended. I have two more books in the series after this, and a lot more famous folks make appearances later on.

So, here’s the list of those who wandered into How to Play.

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Kickstarter Stretch Goals Update

db6474d2e8f8f0d6e487981d469959f7_largeAs I wrote back on April 22, my friends have lassoed me into joining many of their Kickstarters by putting up some of my work as a stretch goal for their drives. At the moment, I’m involved in four six different drives:

  • Lords of Gossamer and Shadow: I’m creating a new world setting for this RPG. It smashed through that stretch goal already, and it still has five days left. 
  • Sovereign Stone: Pathfinder Edition: I’m writing a short story for this RPG based on a world Larry Elmore created. It smashed that goal long ago and still has 16 days left.
  • Trigger Happy: I’m writing a short story for this RPG. It cracked the goal for that today, and it still has 10 days left.
  • Witch Hunter: The Invisible World 2nd Edition: I’ll write a new time setting for this RPG if it reaches a stretch goal that hasn’t been established yet. (They have others to knock down first.) It has eight days to go and is funded, but not for my bit yet. 
  • 9645c8d14ebc3c99110b988157be21a5_largeCartoon Action Hour: Season 3: If this RPG hits $13k, I’ll write a new setting for it. At the moment, it’s over $8,500 with 22 days to go.
  • The Awakened: I already wrote the foreword for this anthology edited by Hal Greenberg and Neal Levin. If it hits $14k, I’ll write a story for it too.

These are all fun projects I’m proud to be associated with. Do go check them out, especially if you’re a gamer. If you’re more of a reader, be sure to check out The Awakened at least, and come back on Tuesday for the launch of Dangerous Games: How to Play. 

The Loot Drop Deal

Tor-Logo1I’m pleased to announce that I’ve sold a new novel to Jim Frenkel over at Tor, the largest publisher of science fiction in the world. It’s called Loot Drop, and it’s a modern-day thriller packed with elements from the online universe of MMOs (massively multiplayer online games like World of Warcraft).

This is not a tie-in to any particular game. In fact, I’m going to develop a fictional game of my own as part of writing the book – which is due in September, so I have a busy summer ahead of me. I considered asking permission to use someone else’s game for the book, but this frees me to write this story without worrying about approvals or any kinds of restrictions.

The book is slated for publication in early 2015, and it should be released in hardcover first, with a softcover edition to follow. That’s all a long ways off, of course, and subject to change. We may simply be downloading stories directly into our brains by then.

Because the book’s not written – other than a few sample chapters – I don’t want to say too much about it yet. However, here are some fun details I can share.

  • A loot drop is what happens after you kill monsters or characters in an MMO. When it dies, the creature drops a pile of loot you can rummage through and claim as your own.
  • I sold the book without an agent, just as I have with all of my books to date. Well, except for the ones I self-publish, which I sell to readers rather than editors. 
  • Tor is a division of Macmillan (one of the Big Five publishers in English), which is a division of Holtzbrinck (one of the top ten publishers in the world).
  • Tor is the only division of any of the Big Five to date to get rid of DRM (digital rights management) for all their ebooks. I love that.
  • I originally planned to offer this book as the basis of my third 12 for ’12 Kickstarter, but I’d pitched it to Jim a year or two before that. He’d been excited about it, but we both got busy with other things, and the deal stalled. As a courtesy, I emailed him to see if he still wanted the book before I used it for a Kickstarter. He stopped me and asked for a few sample chapters, and we went from there.
  • I replaced Loot Drop with the Dangerous Games trilogy of thrillers set at Gen Con. That became the most successful of the four 12 for ’12 Kickstarters I ran, and How to Play – the first book in that series – goes on sale next week.

I’ll post more details when I can. Meanwhile, set your calendars to early 2015 for Loot Drop!

Wes Chu Talks Ebook Piracy

TheLivesOfTao-144dpiMy pal Wes Chu is one hell of a sharp writer. I had the honor and pleasure of offering a blurb for his debut novel, The Lives of Tao (available now at better booksellers everywhere), for which I said: 

“A fast-paced, high-action SF mix of Jason Bourne meets the Hero’s Journey, jam-packed with dark conspiracies, wild romance, ancient aliens, and a secret, globe-spanning war. Loved it!” 

Honest. Every damn word of it. 

Like most authors, Wes has a lot to say about all sorts of things, so I made some space for him to do that here. Today he’s decided to tackle the subject of ebook piracy. Take it away, Wes!

Matt – one of my favorite writers in all of the known universe and all-around good guy – is letting me guest blog today. At first I was going to talk about my Hillary Clinton love, but I decided to be more topical. So, let’s talk about book piracy.

Really, Wes? You gonna go there? Damn straight.

Here’s the deal. Piracy is inevitable. In a way, it’s a badge of honor for an author to get his book pirated. It means you’ve arrived. Nobody steals garbage, so someone actually thinks enough of your work to steal from you. But remember, authors need to eat, and no author is Neil Gaiman or George R.R. Martin (well, except for Neil and George). The majority of us scratch and claw to make a living doing what we love.

The Lives of Tao (April 30th, 2013) is my debut novel, and its sales numbers will help dictate my career moving forward. And if I can’t make a living writing, then I’ll have to stop and work as a waiter, insurance salesmen, computer programmer, or something else that isn’t creating stories. Not that there’s anything wrong with those careers, just that I’d make an awful waiter.

Also, Angry Robot Books has been releasing fantastic books and selling them DRM-free through the Robot Trading Company, but they are by no means a big publisher. They live and die by their book sales. Every book counts. If they can’t survive, then they close shop and stop producing these excellent books. That’s a lose-lose for everyone.

Now, I’m a big believer in the Amanda Palmer methodology of The Art of Asking. By the way, if you haven’t seen her excellent TED video, you should.

So I’m going to trust you and ask you to consider supporting this author by buying my book, and I would love you immensely if you did. And if you do pirate it, I hope you enjoy it. Seriously, enjoy it, and consider purchasing it as a token of appreciation for the people who worked many countless hours to bring it to you.

And as a last resort, consider this. If you pirated and like the book, consider donating whatever you like to this Paypal account: pirate4pups@chuforthought.com. All donations will go the local Paws Animal No-Kill shelter here in Chicago.

Straight up. Remember, save the restaurant business by not forcing me to wait on tables.

Chicago Saturday with Wes Chu and Crew

TheLivesOfTao-144dpiThis Saturday evening, I’m heading down to Chicago to help my pal Wes Chu celebrate the release of his debut novel, The Lives of Tao. The book came out on Tuesday, so the party is the weekend after, of course. It’s being held at the NV Penthouse Lounge, and you and everyone else you know are cordially invited to attend.

Being the generous soul he is, Wes invited me and a lot of his other writer friends to join him for a joint signing. If you enjoy genre fiction, you’ll have the chance to chat with us all, grab some excellent books (conveniently for sale on site), and get them signed.

I had the privilege to read the book before its release, and I gave Wes this blurb:

“A fast-paced, high-action SF mix of Jason Bourne meets the Hero’s Journey, jam-packed with dark conspiracies, wild romance, ancient aliens, and a secret, globe-spanning war. Loved it!”

So even if you can’t make it to the party, grab the book. And if you can make it, better yet.

Stretching for Kickstarters

I haven’t run any Kickstarter drives of my own since last September. Expect that to change soon, but in the meantime, I’ve been asked to help out with a number of other Kickstarters in which my work is either featured or set as a stretch goal. In the past, that’s included:

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At the moment, a couple of current Kickstarters have my work as stretch goals for them too. First up is Rite Publishing’s Lords of Gossamer and Shadow, a diceless roleplaying game based on Eric Wujick’s Amber Diceless Roleplaying. This is written by my friend Jason Durall.

The drive already hit its initial goal and smashed through the first couple stretch goals. If it cracks $20,000, I’ll write an original world for the game. Since it’s currently over $17k with 23 days to go, there’s an excellent chance that’ll happen.

236a25ad471b444e204cb02a36c20461_largeThe second drive is TimeOut Diversion’s relaunch of Larry Elmore’s Sovereign Stone RPG as a Pathfinder setting. It smashed through its initial goal in under 8 hours, and it’s heading for the stretch goals now. It’s already up over $15k, and if it cracks $20k, I’ll be writing a new short story for the setting. Since it’s only been running for a day and has 34 days left, I’m confident this will happen, and I’ll get to work with the incredible Larry Elmore.

In any case, if you like excellent games, be sure to check those two projects out. I’m looking forward to working on them soon.

Whoops! And there’s one more!

(Yes, I’m that busy.)

1e561ac2b21541075bdd564b3c1669f6_largeI forgot to mention Trigger Happy, a new roleplaying game about violent vengeance from my friend Caias Ward, featuring artwork from my pal Aaron Acevedo. (Aaron created the Crescent City map for Matt Forbeck’s Brave New World, among many other things.) The drive is already more than 75% of its way to its $4,000 goal. If it hits $5,000, I’ll contribute a short story to the book too.

Trigger Happy has 28 days to go, so that looks like it’ll be a go too. Be sure to check it out too!

Um, one more? 

(Really, really crazy busy.)

3ddbb786ae0a4de029f62718d86cce34_largeMy involvement with this game hasn’t been officially announced yet, but be sure to check out Witch Hunter: The Invisible World 2nd Edition. If you enjoy things like Robert E. Howard’s Solomon Kane stories, you’ll love this. Henry Lopez and his team at Paradigm Concepts did a wonderful job with the first edition, and I’m looking forward to this one too.

It’s already 38% funded and has 26 days to go. My stretch goal hasn’t been announced yet, but I’m hoping it will soon. Be sure to give it your due consideration.