The fine folks at Gen Con Indy have asked me to be a guest of honor once again at this year’s show. This will be my third year in a row to be so honored. Best of all, it’ll be my 25th summertime Gen Con in a row. Back when I was a kid, my father would pack me and …
GAMA Seminar Notes
Since a few people have asked about the seminars I held at this year’s GAMA Trade Show, I’ve posted the notes from them in my Downloads section. “Seven Habits of Effective Freelancers” is for beginning freelancers, while “Advanced Freelancing” is just what it says. They’re incomplete, of course, since they’re just my speaking notes. I used these for the first …
Concinnity Coming Up
This Saturday and Sunday (April 1—2, 2006), I’ll be at Concinnity, a gaming and science fiction convention held on the campus of the Milwaukee School of Engineering. My tentative schedule looks like this: Writing and Freelancing. Learn the basics of getting published and dealing with the challenges of writing fiction, RPGs and more. Featuring authors Matt Forbeck, James Lowder, and …
Hear Me Blather with Paul Tevis
When I was at the GAMA Trade Show last week, Paul Tevis grabbed me, sat me down, and interrogated me about all sorts of things. The recording of this somehow turned up on Paul’s excellent podcast, Have Games, Will Travel. (I suppose the large microphones should have been a clue.) Give it a listen, and you can hear how I …
GTS Moving
The GAMA Trade Show will no longer be held at the Riviera. Next year, it’ll be at Bally’s instead, and a month later in the year to boot. Perhaps not too coincidentally, this moves it away from the inaugural Games Expo, which will be held in Las Vegas also, near GTS’s traditional dates, but at the SouthCoast. See the full …
State of the Freelancing Industry
The latest issue (#169) of Comics & Games Retailer, a trade magazine for two tightly bound industries, concentrates on the state of the gaming industry. Along with the regular doom and gloom, editor James Mishler commissioned an article from me about how the industry looks from a freelancer’s point of view. The answer in short: confused but hopeful, with an …
Dennis Mize Dies
Dennis Mize, one of the first two sculptors at (legendary and now defunct miniatures company) Ral Partha, died this week. He also created gorgeous figures for Dark Sword Miniatures, Reaper Miniatures, and others. The Miniatures Page has an excellent memorial post about him. I never knew Dennis, but like anyone who starting gaming in the ’80s, I appreciated his work. …
Back from GTS
Got in late last night. Still recovering and plowing through e-mail. Had a great time. Saw and made many wonderful friends. Left my voice in Vegas. More soon.
GTS 2006 Ahoy!
I’m off for the GAMA Trade Show in Las Vegas on Sunday. If you’ll be out there (it’s for gaming industry professionals only, I’m afraid), give me a shout. I’m only sticking around through Wednesday, as I have many duties calling me home. (I can think of at least five by name, and they live in the bedrooms next to …
No Plan Survives Contact with the Enemy
This happens every time I write a novel. I get halfway to two-thirds through it, and I realize I’ve gone so far off my original outline I have to sit down and rewrite the outline again from that point on. Sometimes I have to go through it twice in a single book. This isn’t a bad thing. As I write …