Music, Comics, Books, and Food

Ann and I just got back from seeing Fountains of Wayne perform at Studio M, in the basement of 105.5 FM in Madison. I won the tickets in a random drawing on Monday and arranged for babysitting right away. We drove up to the station and got there on time and enjoyed a couple free beers courtesy of the Capital Brewery, which sponsors these events.

The band played a short set interspersed with interview questions, and they rocked. They even answered my smart-ass question about how much of an influence Michael Jackson had on them by confessing they sometimes used a riff from “Beat It” in their concerts. They went on to say though, that Jackson had undoubtedly had a huge influence on many muscians. Just not them.

It turns out that their bassist, Adam Schlesinger, wrote a bunch of the songs for “A Colbert Christmas.” This fact catapulted my respect for them even higher.

Afterward, we headed over to Westfield Comics and then to the Frugal Muse to gorge ourselves on comics and used books. From there, we ran to Sa-Bai Thong for a fantastic Thai dinner and then raced home to put the kids to bed. We had a wonderful time, and the whole day served as a perfect reminder of how great a city Madison is. I love living in Beloit, but one of the greatest things about it is how close it is to places like Madison, Milwaukee, and Chicago too.

My Kids in the News

Yesterday’s Beloit Daily News had a short article about the Together We Read celebration at the Beloit Public Library on June 20. The photo that accompanies the article shows all five of my kids sitting in the front row of a story reading. From left to right, Pat’s the one in the green shirt (partially obscured by the reader), then Helen, Nick, Marty, and Ken. Ann brought them there, but I was still in the final throes of finishing Guild Wars: Fall of Ascalon at the time.

Brave New World Show at Gen Con

BNW Gen Con copy.jpgAt Gen Con, the big event for me is Matt Forbeck’s Brave New World: Experience the Revolution. At 4 PM on August 14, the Reactor 88 Studios folks show off the progress they’ve made with their finished proof-of-concept piece for a Brave New World feature film. This multimedia event also features a live concert by Makeshift Prodigy. (ENT0904588)

The event starts at 4 PM in the Grand Ballroom II & III in the Westin. It’s free, although I recommend you get a ticket beforehand to guarantee entry. Makeshift Prodigy is one of Chicago’s hottest new bands, and they rock. Hit their website and check out their music (under the “Media” tab), especially the track “Revolution,” which figures large in the show.

At 2 PM on August 15, we’ll return to the scene of the crime for Matt Forbeck’s Brave New World: Revolution Feature Film Q & A: A seminar with the Reactor 88 Studios folks. I’ll be there, along with many members of the cast and crew, to discuss the film and how it’s coming along. (FLM0904589)

Tell all your friends and spread the word far and wide! The guys at Reactor 88 and Makeshift Prodigy have put a ton of work into this event, and I’d love to have a huge crowd there to enjoy the show.

Gen Con 2009 Schedule

My favorite time of year is coming up soon: Gen Con (August 13—16)

I’m an Industry Insider Guest of Honor at my favorite show once again, and my schedule is packed. All of the seminars are in Room 212 of the Indianapolis Convention Center unless otherwise noted. All events (except for the VIG mixer) are free, although you must have a Gen Con badge to attend, and I recommend getting a ticket for each if you can, especially for the Friday afternoon concert.

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Comic-Con 2009

I’m planning to be at Comic-Con this summer, from July 23—26. Anyone else out there going to be there? At the moment, I have one panel planned:

FRIDAY, JULY 24

3:00-4:30 Scribe Awards/Media Tie-in Writers Panel – third annual presentation of the International Association of Media-Tie-in Writers (IAMTW) “Scribe” awards, honoring such notable franchises as CSI, Criminal Minds, The X-Files, Star Trek, Stargate, Star Wars and Dr. Who. Followed by a panel of nominees, including James Rollins (Indiana Jones), Matt Forbeck (Mutant Chronicles), Bob Greenberger (Hellboy), Keith R. A. DeCandido (Farscape), Stacia Deutsch (Dark Knight), Nathan Long (Warhammer), Tod Goldberg (Burn Notice). With moderators Lee Goldberg (Monk) and Max Allan Collins (GI JOE). Room 4.

I hope to see you there!

This Is Not a Game

I just finished reading This Is Not a Game, the latest novel from Walter Jon Williams, and honestly I’m surprised the book hasn’t gotten more buzz among the circles in which I hang. For one, Walter is one of the original generation of cyberpunks. (His big breakout book was Hardwired, back in 1986. I had the pleasure of sitting on a panel with him at the World Fantasy Convention in Madison, WI, a few years back, and I took the opportunity to let him know how much I’d enjoyed that book.)

For two, Walter’s a tabletop gamer. He wrote a Hardwired supplement for R. Talsorian’s Cyberpunk roleplaying game, and he’s a part of the legendary RPG group that’s included George RR Martin and Roger Zelazny, among many other talented writers.

For three, he’s been involved alternate reality games (ARGs) too. He worked on Last Call Poker, the ARG designed to promote the Western video game Gun.

This Is Not a Game is a modern-day thriller about a woman who designs ARGs for a living. In it, reality and ARGs blur together in exciting and innovative ways. Walter’s not the first to tread this ground–Charles Stross did a great job of working ARGs and MMOs into his Halting State, for instance–but Walter knows a lot about the inner workings of such games, and he puts it all on display here. It makes for an intriguing read and hopefully introduces a lot more people to how powerful these sorts of games can be. If you’re interested in such things, be sure to pick it up.

Guild Wars Novel Away!

Yesterday, I wrapped up my first draft of the Guild Wars novel I’m writing and shipped it off to my editor and the fine people at ArenaNet. I had a lot of fun working on it, and I think it all coalesced into a fine tale in the end.

According to Simon & Schuster’s website, the book is due out February 23, 2010. I don’t know if that’s carved in stone quite yet, but it’s as good a guess as any.

Much as I loved working on the book, it’s a huge relief to have it out the door. I’m sure, given the nature of such tie-in novels, that it will come back for revisions, but I’m thrilled to know that the bulk of the work is complete.

Now I’m going to take a couple days to pay bills, maybe get my taxes going (I filed for an extension), and tackle another couple details that need to be knocked down. Then it’s back to the keyboard to wring Amortals out of my brain. It’s been lurking there far too long and needs to be let out.

Uncle Duke in the News

The Janesville Gazette ran an article on June 4 about the new statewide smoking ban coming to Wisconsin. In it, they interviewed tabletop gaming-industry legend Duke Seifried. You might recall I sat next to “Uncle” Duke at Gary Gygax’s funeral last year and had a chance to catch up with him. Shortly after that, he had a triple-bypass in in May of 2008. I haven’t seen him since then, but I heard reports that he’d recovered and has been playing gigs with his jazz band, the Duke Seifried Trio, in both Janesville and Beloit.

The Gazette article relates how Duke was diagnosed this April with a lung disease called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, likely caused by cigarette smoke. Although Duke doesn’t smoke himself, he spent many nights performing (and playing games, I’d guess) in smoke-filled rooms over the years and was exposed to a lot of second-hand smoke. There’s currently no cure for the disease but a lung transplant, for which Duke is too old. He’ll need to be on oxygen regularly within the year.

I first encountered Duke when I was in high school. I was publishing a gaming fanzine called The Quill and Scroll, and I spotted an ad for one of Duke’s wargame weekends. I called him up and interviewed him about it, which may have been one of my first interviews, now that I think about it. He was warm and chatty as could be, even though I was just some kid who’d called him up out of nowhere.

I’ve had the honor of meeting him several times since then, and you will never find a more engaging tale spinner with such a wild history. Besides founding one of the first miniatures manufacturing companies in the US (Heritage), he’s sculpted over 10,000 figures. He builds stunning dioramas of Middle-earth battles and runs massive games using them at big gaming conventions every year. He was the first vice-president at TSR, the company that created Dungeons & Dragons, and he put D&D toys into the mass market back in those days.

Duke also claims to have been a CIA agent, which I can’t verify, but honestly don’t want to. It’s one of those stories that’s so well told it doesn’t matter if it’s true or not. You can enjoy it either way.

We often say we don’t take the time to remember people until they’re gone. I heard that many times at Gary’s funeral, but less so when Dave Arneson died this year. Gary’s death reminded us that we should take the time to honor people while they’re still with us, so that’s what I’m doing with Duke. If you get the chance, you should too.