Sample Blackstaff

Fellow Alliterate Steven Schend‘s Forgotten Realms novel Blackstaff is due to hit shelves in July. You can now read the first chapter online for free.

Loeb and Kunkel

Writing about Sam Loeb triggered some thoughts about his dad Jeph. I love Jeph’s comics work, but I’ve been enjoying more of his TV work lately too. He’s well known for his work on Smallville, but I spotted his name come up on the credits of Lost too. Better yet, I just discovered he wrote the screenplay for the Herobear …

Sam Loeb’s Book on Sale

Back in February, I posted about Sam Loeb and the upcoming Superman/Batman #26. Quick Recap: Sam, Jeph Loeb’s son, was to write the issue but died before he could complete it. A legion of legendary comics writers and artists signed on to finish the job, pledging their payments to a charity set up in Sam’s name. The book went on …

Luikart on Fame

Game designer (and good guy) TS Luikart waxes well on how fame works in the role-playing game industry. (He also name-checks me in a kind way.)

Palladium Update

ICv2.com posted an article today about Palladium Books and how it’s working to overcome its “Crisis of Treachery.”

Four Kids, Four Years Ago

Four years ago today, my wife Ann did the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. (Just one more reason why she’s my hero.) She gave birth to four children all at once. Patrick, Nicholas, Kenneth, and Helen came into the world fighting for every breath. Three of them had to be intubated to get them any air at all. Born …

Prophecy Chapter for Free

You can now read the first chapter of Prophecy of the Dragons, my upcoming Knights of the Silver Dragon novel, for free! This is a sequel to Secret of the Spiritkeeper, my first mass-market novel, which came in August of 2004. If you liked that book, you’ll love this one. But don’t take my word for it. Go read that …

Kovalic up for Harveys!

I just discovered that my pal John Kovalic of Dork Tower fame is up for not one but two Harvey Awards! John’s work is nominated for Best Cartoonist and for the Special Award for Humor in Comics. Woot! This is an honor well deserved. John puts all he has into his work, and it’s some of the funniest, most human …

Origins Awards Gamers Choice Voting Open

The voting for the Gamers Choice section of the Origins Awards is now open to the public. (That means you!) The deadline to get your votes in is June 12, so be sure to vote soon!

Villainy on the Rise

While leaving the GAMA Trade Show in March, I managed to forget to pack my copies of Villainy (a new, multi-deck card game from Human Head Studios), which designer Jason Blair had kindly slapped into my waiting hands during the show. Jason, refusing to allow me to get away with such a disastrous mistake, shipped out new copies of each …