The folks over at Major Spoilers have posted a preview of first chunk of Blood Bowl: Killer Contract #5. Read it for free, then go hunt down the rest of it at your local comic shop!
Blood Bowl #5 in Stores Yesterday!
Like a thief in the night, Blood Bowl: Killer Contract #5 slipped into comic book stores yesterday without my notice. In this final issue in the miniseries, Lads Helloven and I wrap up with a bang the tale of the Bad Bay Hackers’ quest to defend their title as the Blood Bowl champs against their (very, very) old rivals, the Champions of Death. Meanwhile, undercover assassin Kalter Mörder has one last chance to kill the Hacker’s star player Dunk Hoffnung or be forced to refund the blood money with his own blood.
Again, I had a fantastic time working on this project, which serves as a direct sequel to Rumble in the Jungle, the fourth (and currently last) of my Blood Bowl novels. Seeing Lads’s hilarious interpretation of the characters who have been bashing about in my head for the last few years made it all that much better. I hope you enjoy it too. Be sure to ask for it at your friendly neighborhood comic-book store.
More LOTRO
Will Hindmarch‘s second article for The Lord of the Rings Online, which I edited, is now up. Check out the details about “Warden Mastery,” a new snazzy class for the upcoming Mines of Moria expansion.
Local Debate: Baldwin v. Theron
I was scheduled for an online chat tonight on RPGLife.com, but I’m going to have to reschedule that so I can attend my local congressional debate between Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin and challenger Peter Theron. It’s being held at the Beloit College campus at 8 PM tonight, right when I would be signing on for the chat.
My mother runs Tammy’s office here in Beloit, and I’ve been a supporter of Tammy since before that, so there’s little doubt who will get my vote. Still, it’s important to be involved and to support the excellent work both Tammy and my mother have done for my hometown, so I plan to be there. I plan to reschedule the chat with RPGLife.com if I can. I’ll let you know the new time when that happens.
In the meantime, if you live in or near Beloit, be sure to catch the debate if you can!
100-Word Tale
My latest post is up on Storytellers Unplugged. Since it’s October, it’s time for some short fiction again. Last year, I wrote six-word stories. This time around, I cracked my knuckles and went all the way for 100 words (on the nose) instead.
Be sure to check it out. It won’t take long.
Mine, All Mine
My author’s copies of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Drawing Superheroes and Villains Illustrated finally showed up yesterday. It’s the first time I’ve held a printed copy of the book in my hands, and it looks great. Yair Herrera did a wonderful job bringing everything I wrote to life.
On a personal level, the best part about the book is that I own all of the characters in it. Most of the writing I do is for tie-in novels, computer games, or book packagers, and while I can’t complain about the contracts, I don’t own very much of that writing. In this case, I negotiated a deal that gave me the underlying rights to all of the characters in the book. After all, what would IDW do with them?
Now, of course, the trick is figuring out what I should do with them. Seems a shame to let an entire book’s worth of superpowered characters lie fallow. Hmmm.
Online Chat on RPGLife
The folks at RPGLife.com asked me to join them in an online chat on Tuesday, October 21, from 8 PM to 10 PM Central Time. I agreed, and now I’m asking you to do the same for me. Please stop by and say hi, ask questions, or just rattle my cage. I’ll type back as fast as I can.
Get the Idea
My friend Professor Lew Pulsipher has a great essay up at GameCareerGuide.com called “The Idea Is Not the Game.” In it, he discusses the worth of ideas and then offers ideas about how to come up with them and capture them. Definitely worth the read.
Free RPG
My friends over at Talisman Studios have decided to give away the PDF of their Suzerain RPG core book for free. Stop on by and pick up a copy for nothing at all.
Citizens of Virtue Launches Tomorrow
According to the Citizens of Virtue website, the Seven Virtual Virtues anti-ARG campaign associated with it launches tomorrow. I recently received a CoV press release (PDF) that details what the fuss is all about. It’s a riot, and I can’t wait to see how it all plays out.