Keith Parkinson died of complications from leukemia on October 26, four days after his 47th birthday. A service for friends and family will be held on November 1 near his home in southern California.

Keith was one of the greatest fantasy artists of our time. In the five years he spent at TSR, he created dozens of amazing covers for the company’s games, magazines, and calendars. As a freelancer, he painted even more award-winning covers for fantasy and science-fiction novels for the top publishers and writers. In 1995, he helped design the Guardians CCG for FPG. More recently, he painted the covers for the best-selling EverQuest computer games. In 2002, he co-founded Sigil Games Online and became the company’s art director. 

We’ve lost one of the greats here. Keith’s work has influenced and amazed just about anyone who’s worked in our industry. His widow Donna has asked that any donations in Keith’s memory be made to the the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

I saw Keith at many conventions over the years, selling his artwork out of his own booth, but I never managed to find the time to stop by and say hi. Finally, at last year’s Gen Con So Cal, I ran into Mike Stackpole at Keith’s booth, and the three of us chatted about life and work for a good long while. I’m glad that I got to finally meet Keith and get to know him, even for just that too-short slice of time.

The World Fantasy Convention is coming up November 3—6, the weekend after Halloween. I’ll be there, along with several hundred other devotees of fantastic tales. This will be my first time at this traveling convention, but since it’s in Madison, Wisconsin, this year, I couldn’t pass up the chance to check it out.

I’ll wander about the place most of the weekend. If you’ll be there, too, be sure to give me a shout. I’m only scheduled for one event there:

Saturday 9:00-10:00PM

Other Forms of Storytelling
Capitol B

These days, books are competing with a number of alternate forms of storytelling. We know about movies and graphic novels, but we rarely consider role-playing and video gaming. The most compelling of these games are popular because they provide the player with a pretty good story, in which s/he takes an active part. Our panel of experts discusses the most popular games and the way in which they offer an entirely different technique of involving the player in a story. How are they produced? What do they offer that books do not? Are there any lessons to be learned by traditional writers?

Panelists: Richard Dansky, Matt Forbeck, Lucien Soulban, Michael A. Stackpole, Walter Jon Williams

That’s a panel I’m both pleased and proud to be on. I’ve known Rich, Loosh, and Mike for years, and it’ll be a great chance to catch up with them, before the panel, during, and after. I don’t know Walter, but I’m a fan of his work, so it should be a lot of fun. Stop by if you can!

Yesterday, the AEG website noted that they were laying off a number of people. Word has it that other companies have also let a few employees go in recent days. Still other publishers, like Decipher and Guardians of Order have had troubles this past year too. This naturally led some people to wonder if the entire RPG industry–or perhaps the gaming industry itself–might finally collapse on itself like an (ahem) house of cards.

I don’t believe it for a second.

I’ve been through this part of the cycle a number of times. Sales go down for a while. A few companies that were on the edge topple closer to it. Some even fall over it. The industry rolls on, and a few months later the ones that are left–and a few new ones to boot–are doing better than ever, often riding on the coattails of a hot new category that no one could have expected.

More to the point, I think AEG is going to be around for a long time. I know John Zinser and the rest of the crew over there. We were partners in Pinnacle Entertainment Group at one time, and we went through a round of layoffs at Pinnacle too. You don’t do these things because you like to, you do them because you need to, and John’s smart enough to do it before whatever problems the company is having grew large enough to choke them. They’ll come through it fine. And so will the adventure gaming industry too.

Once upon a time, I tried to keep track of every thing I could about my publishing career. This long since proved impossible, but I still do what I can. Sometimes, though, it’s difficult to answer questions about what I’ve done.

For instance, I have no idea how many languages my work has been translated into. Lots of times, games publishers don’t bother to tell their freelancers when they cut a translation deal. It’s mostly work-for-hire, and if I’ve already been paid the publisher’s obligation to me ends there. If they get someone to publish my material in another language, they just cash their checks and smile and rarely think to let me know.

That said, I’ve been able to find evidence that my work has appeared in the following languages:

English
French
German
Italian
Polish
Portuguese
Spanish
Swedish

If you’re aware of any others, please let me know. I’d love to be able to add to the list.