Guild Wars at Comic-Con, But Not Me

Earlier this month, I decided I was going to skip Comic-Con this year. I love the show, and I’ll miss seeing all of my friends there. However, Gen Con was bumped up a week, so there’s only a week and a half between it and Comic-Con this summer. I’m going to be spending a good part of that time in a cabin in the woods with my family instead. As a bonus, Ann and the kids are coming down to Gen Con for a couple days too so they can play games and “see Daddy be famous.”

If you’re going to Comic-Con, though, be sure to stop by the NCSoft booth (#5345) to check out Guild Wars 2: Ghosts of Ascalon. They’re giving away a limited number of copies of the book, and my co-author Jeff Grubb will be on hand to sign them, along with cover artist Rich Anderson. This happens Friday, July 23, from 1 PM to 1:45 PM and Saturday, July 24, from 1 PM to 1:45 PM. The book isn’t due in stores until the following week, but the lucky few can get it at Comic-Con for free!

Deadlands: One Shot – Again

The fine folks at Drive Thru Comics have just released the PDF version of Deadlands: One Shot. This was my first published work in comics, and it premiered way back in 1999. I wrote the book and laid out and lettered the book myself. Kevin Sharpe and Richard Pollard provided the pencils, Chris Dreier and Jason Baumgartner worked on the inks, and Matt Tice and Chris Impink tackled the colors. I was president of Pinnacle Entertainment Group at the time, and we published it through Image Comics.

The book’s been out of print forever, but that all happened long before the latest e-book revolution. Now you can download and read it in glorious full color for only $2.99. That less than half what it cost in game and comic shops when it debuted 11 years ago. As far as I know, it’s the only Deadlands comic available to date. If you like your Westerns a little weird – or you just appreciate a beautiful book with a ripping yarn – be sure to check it out.

Zombify Me

Tomorrow, I’m heading down to Chicago to join the Reactor 88 Studios team for a film shoot. They’re in the middle of creating the proof-of-concept short for the InSpectres movie, and they need someone to play the zombie. Sorry: “living-impaired individual.” That’s me.

I know. If you’ve seen me stumbling about on a Saturday morning at a convention, you’ll say it’s typecasting. That it’s not much of a stretch for me to play a creature with a shambling walk, bloodshot eyes, no voice left, and the worst kind of hangover a man can find.

I prefer to think of it as playing to my strengths.

I’m off to break a brain. I’ll post pics when I have them.

The InSpectres Teaser

Reactor 88 Studios just released this teaser for its upcoming proof-of-concept short for a film based on the InSpectres roleplaying game by Jared Sorensen. Reactor 88 plans to show off the short at this summer’s Gen Con. If you’re there and care to join us, the big event is Friday, August 6, at 7:30 PM in the Westin, Capitol III. I hear there will be an afterparty at the SubTerra Lounge, the same place we used after the Brave New World: Revolutions debut last year. Hope to see you there!

My Family in the News

Yesterday, the Beloit Daily News ran an article on the Welty Environmental Center, a great place out on the edge of town here that’s dedicated to teaching people (especially kids) about nature. Ann takes the kids out there regularly in the summer for various classes and activities, and reporter Daniel Thompson showed up while they were there. Read the article to see what Ann has to say about the place, and if you cock your head the right way and peer at the photo that accompanies the text, you might see Patrick in the blue shirt on the left and Nicholas in the white shirt on the right.

Release Dates Released

Angry Robot just released its upcoming publishing schedule all the way up to the middle of 2011. This includes my first two original novels, Amortals and Vegas Knights. According to this, Amortals will hit the UK in November 2010, and North America in January of 2011. Vegas Knights storms the UK in March 2011 and North America in April 2011.

To hold you over until then, be sure to look for Guild Wars 2: Ghosts of Ascalon by Jeff Grubb and me. It’s due out on July 27, only three weeks away! An advance proof of the book arrived at my door today, and it looks pretty snazzy. This should mean other copies are on their way to reviewers too. I can’t wait to see the real thing.

Back from the Rockies

If it seems like it’s been a bit quiet around here, that’s because I haven’t been around. I spent most of the last two weeks on one of those classic family road trips that American families insist on inflicting upon themselves every summer they can. (Cue up Lindsey Buckingham’s “Holiday Road” from National Lampoon’s Vacation.)

Ann and I packed the kids into the minivan for a two-day drive out to Colorado, where we spent a night at the house of my cousin Tim Kuhn, a professor at the University of Colorado. He was off at a conference in Singapore, but his wife Sophia and their two young kids – plus his mother, my Aunt Joan – took great care of us.

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Brave New World & InSpectres at Gen Con

In that last post about my Gen Con schedule, I buried a notation about this year’s Gen Con event from Reactor 88 Studios. According to the official listing:

Come see what Reactor 88 Studios is working on. We will be showing updates on the development of Matt Forbeck’s Brave New World, and we will also be be offering a first look at the film based on Jared A. Sorensen’s InSpectres, which is currently in production. We will talk about the processes of production as well as showcase some new film-making technology that is changing the way films are getting made.

This should be a lot of fun. I hope to see you there.