Games Quarterly Magazine #7 and National Games Week

My copies of Games Quarterly Magazine #7 showed up in the mail the other day. I wrote an article about gaming-related fiction for it, which appears on p. 70. It also features articles from James Ernest, Jeff Tidball, Ken Hite, and Mike Selinker, along with interviews of Kevin Siembieda (of Palladium) and Loren Greenwood (of Wizards of the Coast) and lots of other gaming goodness.

It also focuses on National Games Week, which is coming up soon: November 20—26. If you want to order a promotional package for your NGW event, they just extended the deadline to November 13, so there’s still time if you move fast. As an NGW member, you can get solid discounts on some great games, many in bundles set up just for National Games Week. Membership is free, and it’s a solid group of people working for a good cause: to promote gaming as great entertainment. Check it out soon.

WFC Highlights

A few days after the World Fantasy Convention, now, some things still stick in my head enough for me to have to share them.

Lucien Soulban, being the great Canadian he is, brought two spirits made from maple syrup: a cream liqueur and a whisky. Both were delicious and would either make great toppings for an ice cream drink or for a wicked wake-me-up stack of pancakes. Not so coincidentally, I first met Lucien when he made me my best-ever swag offer at a game convention: a six-pack of excellent Canadian beers for a copy of my Brave New World RPG.

Rich Dansky wove an incredible tale of his days at White Wolf that covered the evolution of the Trinity RPG. It was born from the ashes of near-disaster, and although I knew good chunks of the story from before, I enjoyed hearing it from a fresh and perceptive perspective.

Mike Stackpole kindly asked me to record a few tags for his Science Fiction Podcast Network and Gaming Podcast Network. If you’re into either topic and enjoy listening to podcasts, you’ll find some true gems there. And you might even hear me putting on my best radio announcer voice to say, “You’re listening to the Gaming Podcast Network!”

World Fantasy Con Report

I had a great time at the World Fantasy Convention held in Madison, Wisconsin, this weekend. Since it was local, I only showed up on Friday and Saturday. I wandered around the dealer’s hall and the art exhibit for a bit, but my razor-keen writer’s senses quickly told me that the best places to be were either the nightly parties or (if it wasn’t night yet) the bar.

I saw some old friends and made lots of new ones. I ran into Mike Stackpole almost immediately and bounced into Rich Dansky and his brand-new wife Melinda Thielbar soon after. When Lucien Soulban showed up, that completed the “faces I know” collection.

On Friday night, I joined the other authors in the mass autographing session and even managed to sell a few books with my scribbling in them. While there, I ran into some more gaming industry professionals–Jean Rabe and Don Bingle–who were just down the table from me. Also, Drew Bittner–the man who designed the WildStorms CCG with me–hunted me down to catch up with me and show off his wife Katherine.

On Saturday night, I moderated a panel about gaming and fiction. My fellow panelists–Rich Dansky, Lucien Soulban, and Walter Jon Williams–did a wonderful job. They were informed, eloquent, and willing to share not only their experiences but their microphones.

In the course of the show, I talked with Ginjer Buchanan (who edits the Conan books with me for Ace Books), Nancy Holder (a fellow IATMW member), Michael Reaves, Marc Zicree, Maria Alexander, John Helfers (another fellow IATMW member), Martin Greenberg, Jeff Easley, Clyde Caldwell, Alice Henderson, Martin Greenberg, John C. Hay, Joe and Gay Haldeman, Robert Vardeman, Maurice Broaddus, David D. Levine, Kelly McCullough, Jack Byrne, William O’Connor, Jim Pavelec, Christopher Golden, Dave Smeds, Richard Chwedyk, Matthew Stover, Scott Bakker, Julie and Scott Wright, David Willoughby, Lisa Frietag, Jerome Epps, Naomi Kritzer, Gary Wassner, and lots of others I’m too sleep-deprived to recall at the moment. One and all, these are delightful people, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of them and (in many cases) reading their books.

For an old, gaming-convention guy, the WFC struck me as strange. Most gaming cons scream for people to join them. The WFC caps its “memberships” at 850, plus about 50 staffers. Everyone I met was either a published professional or aspired to be one.

The show had panels but they didn’t seem to be the main draw. Instead, it was a chance for people to meet their favorite authors and to network like crazy. I enjoy doing both of these, and if I can make it down to Austin next year, I’d love to do it again.

High Stakes Drifter Promo Card

I got my copy of InQuest Gamer yesterday, and it included a promo card for High Stakes Drifter: none other than George Armstrong Custer. If you’re interested in High Stakes Drifter promos, hunt this down. Custer is one valuable dude. (Appropriately, though, he has only average Smarts and poor Luck.)

Prophecy of the Dragons Announced

Random House has posted the title of my next novel in the Knights of the Silver Dragon series: Prophecy of the Dragons. This is the 13th book in the young adult series I created for Wizards of the Coast, starting with Secret of the Spiritkeeper. According to Random House, it will be on shelves on June 13, 2006, nearly two years after Secret debuted.

This is the first of a two-book story arc set in the series. I just sent in the revisions for Prophecy of the Dragons this week, and I’m in the middle of the next book right now. This story will give the setting a good shake, setting up all sorts of new story possibilities for the future. Despite the fact I’ve only written a few books in the line (other authors wrote books 2 through 12), Wizards has been wonderful about letting me follow my instincts with my installments in the series, setting up few if any roadblocks. I can’t wait to be able to tell you more.

More High Stakes Drifter Goodness

It seems that the people at WizKids have taken advantage of the slight delay in releasing High Stakes Drifter to post one bonus preview of the game. Stop by and see what “Cavalry Support” can do for your deck.

This is just after Gen Con So Cal, but I suspect if you stop by the WizKids booth during the show, you might be able to persuade them to part with a few early decks and boosters. I won’t be at the convention myself this year, barring any unforeseen emergency trips to California in that time frame. It’ll be the first time I’ll have missed the show in the three years it’s been running, but it can’t be helped. To those who do go, have a great time!

Grand Marshals Times Five

Here in Beloit, WI, our Downtown Business Association sponsors a lighted holiday parade every year on the Friday night after Thanksgiving. This year, the theme is “Through the Eyes of a Child.” As such, they asked if our kids would be willing to lead the parade, since we seem to have a lot of children with eyes to see through around here. If you’re in the area, stop by and cheer us on. The details:

Santa makes his grand entry to downtown Beloit, cheered on by large crowds and a glittering procession of floats from businesses, civic organizations, and spirit-filled families! Along Grand Avenue West to East. Begins at First National Bank Plaza at 5 pm. with music, 5:30 pm choral sing, 6 pm Santa arrives and tree lighting, 6:30 pm parade, and 7 pm Santa stops to visit at Turtle Creek Bookstore. Free admission.

The highlight of the event is usually just after Santa’s sleigh lands on the roof of the First National Bank. Shortly after, one of the city’s fire engines runs up to the bank and picks Santa up off the roof with its extended ladder. You have to see it to believe it.

Dealer’s Choice for Choice Poker

I’m right in the middle of Dealer’s Choice: The Complete Handbook of Saturday Night Poker, and it rocks. If you ever thought about setting up a regular poker night with your buddies, this the how-to manual you need. Even if you’ve been playing in such a game for years, the book comes with over 200 poker variants for you to spring on your friends in the middle of your next session. I haven’t been in a regular poker game for years, but this book makes me want to set one up and give it a whirl again.

Best of all, some game designer friends of mine wrote the book: James Ernest (of Cheapass Games), Phil Foglio (of Studio Foglio and Girl Genius), and Mike Selinker (of Wizards of the Coast/Avalon Hill and now, with James, Lone Shark Games). Phil’s one of the funniest cartoonists around, and between James and Mike they’ve created some of the greatest games of the last decade, including Pirates of the Spanish Main from WizKids. When they turn their attention to poker, it’s by turns riveting and hilarious. If you have any interest in poker at all, pick up this book.

Geek Mafia for Free

My friend (and former Pinnacle freelancer and co-creator of the hit computer game City of Heroes) Rick Dakan has just self-published a new novel: Geek Mafia. It is, as the tagline says, a novel of comics, games, and crime, subjects dear to my own geek heart. I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but it’s high on my virtual stack. The book won’t be out until February (you can pre-order it from Rick’s website), but you can download a PDF of it for free right now.