My latest essay is up at Storytellers Unplugged, and in honor of Comic-Con this week, it’s about “The Season of the Con.” Be sure to check it out, and if you happen to be going out to Comic-Con too, be sure to give me a shout-out. I hope to see you there!
My Star Trek Toy
The Star Trek movie toy set I designed for Playmates Toys is going on sale in August. The Star Trek Interactive Utility Belt comes with a phaser and communicator that allow you to interact with the belt and communicate with Starfleet Command. I designed the game play and wrote the dialog with some help from a couple of excellent TV …
Hobby Games Essayists Assemble!
The esteemed editor Jim Lowder has given a hundred or so people permission to release the list of essayists they’re joining for Family Games: The 100 Best, the follow-up to the award-winning Hobby Games: The 100 Best. I happen to be one of those lucky souls, and here’s that amazing list. We can’t say what we’re writing about yet. The …
20 Years In
While writing a bio for my essay for Hobby Games: The 100 Best, I realized that I’ve been working full-time as an author and game designer since I graduated from college in 1989, twenty years ago. It really doesn’t seem like I’ve been at it that long, but that’s likely because I enjoy doing it so much. In lots of …
Aaron Allston Auction
The Fandom Association of Central Texas (FACT) is holding an auction to help author and game designer (and longtime pal) Aaron Allston with his staggering medical bills. As you might remember, Aaron suffered a heart attack in March and underwent emergency quadruple bypass surgery. This saved his life, and he’s now on the road to recovery. Unfortunately, like many freelancers …
Whistle While You Work
I just posted my latest essay for Storytellers Unplugged: “Whistle While You Work.” Tune in to see me date myself and discuss what kind of music works for me when I’m writing.
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 …
Explanation Unplugged
I haven’t posted here much recently. There are many excellent reasons for this, but it’s mostly because I’m behind on my work and am spending as much time as I can on catching up. To see me repeat that theme, check out my succinct post for this month on StorytellersUnplugged.com. Thanks!
OddCon It Is
Just a reminder that I’ll be at OddCon for a short while this weekend. I’m scheduled for a seminar on Saturday at 2:30 PM. It’s called “Game Fiction,” and it features Monica Valentinelli, Matt McElroy, Pat Rothfuss, and me. I’ll likely have to take off in the early evening to get back home, so it’ll be a short trip for …
Family Games and Descent
A couple of things I contributed to have finally been announced, so now I can mention them here. Both of them are “celebrity jam” books to which many of the top names in the tabletop gaming industry are contributing. First, there’s Family Games: The 100 Best. This is the sequel to Hobby Games: The 100 Best, and it focuses on …