Tally Sheet

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Last year was a little bit of a lull for me, writing-wise, as I concentrated on laying the groundwork for new projects and personal matters. But, I vowed to hit the ground running in 2025, and I like to think I have done that.

So far, I have done the following:

  • Started a new job as Narrative Director at Romero Games, and I am having a blast doing so.
  • Written the bulk of the manuscript for The Video Game Writer’s Guide To Surviving an Industry That Hates You, and done edits and final proofs.
  • Finalized the concept and wrote the script for my first graphic novel, a 124 page horror comic for the French publisher Delcourt, done in conjunction with the legendary Matz.
  • Finalized the contents of a new short story collection, including an all-new Reb Palache story.
  • Wrote 7 short stories so far and counting.
  • Managed to pump out 2 essays a week on game narrative and writing over at LinkedIn
  • Laid the groundwork for a few more upcoming projects.
  • Promised to kill at least one person horribly in a story or novel for charity.

I’m now gearing up for starting another novel, and I have a few more stories in progress I need to complete. And there will be at least two big announcements coming up before the end of the year.

No rest for the wicked, or their typing fingers.

Going To The Mountains to Read

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Saturday, May 31, I’ll be part of a group reading at the Story Parlor in Asheville, NC to support Brother Wolf Animal Rescue. It goes without saying that western North Carolina got absolutely hammered by a hurricane last year, and while the folks out there have done a great job of rebuilding, they’re not getting a hell of a lot of help from Washington right now. So if you’re in the area, swing by and help out a little, because the lineup is great and so is the cause. And if you can’t make it, maybe check out Brother Wolf and see if you can help them a bit anyway.

Hope to see you there!

A List Of My Literary Murders

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Earlier this year, I donated an item to a charity auction for the fine organization Nuci’s Space that combined a signed copy of Firefly Rain with the chance to get brutally slain in an upcoming writing project. As I’m about to start writing the new book, I revisited the topic today to try to get a sense of how exactly the lucky winner wanted to get offed. This then led to a wider discussion of making a charity donation in exchange for being brutally murdered, and with that in mind, I thought I might lay out some of the options for folks.

In the past, I have committed on paper the following crimes:

  • Murder by severing unnatural psychic connection to the land.
  • Murder by man-eating Sasquatch in a top hat.
  • Murder by farmland infused with the spirit of a murder victim
  • Murder by Cthulhu, ‘cause you gotta do Cthulhu
  • Murder by aspiring writer
  • Murder by otherdimensional drug-fueled partiers in the next hotel room over
  • Murder by evil sentient kudzu
  • Murder by insane talking water bird
  • Murder by haunted lawn
  • Murder by an army of fallen leaves
  • Murder by evil alien invaders who hate noise, and while I am at it I would like to point out that I published that story at least fifteen years before A Quiet Place came out, damnit.
  • Murder by evil French hotel
  • Murder by unnamed thing in dark, abetted by magical fat dude on a passing airplane
  • Murder by sentient house
  • Murder by dybbuk
  • Murder by feeding someone to an ancient evil in a well after middle school one day
  • Murder by the Devil, who actually shows a lot of restraint about this sort of thing in my work
  • Murder by evil steampunk industrialists and their strike-busting thugs
  • Murder by pre-Permian time warp and ancient cosmic horrors in a swamp
  • Murder by sea-going zombie
  • Murder by being thrown off a zeppelin
  • Murder by mob angry over the desecration of their site of ritual human sacrifice
  • Murder by evil guy intent on drowning kittens
  • Murder by brother-in-law (Not mine. I like mine.)
  • Murder by giant invisible cat
  • Murder by various high fantasy methods including stabbing, hacking, casting evil spells, and feeding to monsters
  • Murder by DIY flamethrower-wielding vampire
  • Murder by shooting with a wide variety of high-end firearms
  • Murder by stake through the heart
  • Murder by zombie cannibal ocelot
  • Murder by escaped video game character
  • Murder by small child who makes an unholy bargain
  • Murder by suburban cannibal
  • Murder by loving spouse
  • Murder by legendary cinematic monster
  • Murder by bad management meeting

I’m probably missing a few, but it’s a start….

The Paranormal Ranger: Book Review

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The Paranormal Ranger: A Navajo Investigator’s Search For The Unexplained, by Stanley Milford, Jr.

I read this book on a recent work trip to Ireland, as it seemed like an interesting take on the “supernatural memoir” subgenre that I rather enjoy on occasion. Upon due consideration, I think the best way of phrasing my reaction to the book is that I really enjoyed most of what was there, but I missed what wasn’t.

Let me be clear: It’s a really interesting book. Milford does an excellent job of framing his professional experience in terms of his Indigenous heritage and upbringing, and how an early encounter with what he identified as a skinwalker was foundational in his later professional life. Even more interesting was the way he outlined his approach to the paranormal aspects of his job once he became one of the elite Navajo Rangers. Milford’s logic was that it didn’t matter if someone was reporting a Bigfoot sighting or a possible case of witchcraft, they deserved respect and for their story to be heard, with a serious investigation of the story even if it turned out to be nothing, or a hoax. That won him a lot of points with me, and I particularly enjoyed those chapters where he went into detail on specific cases. And the way he interacted with the person who had made the report was equally as interesting as the followup investigation. Of particular note was one story of investigating the case of a woman who thought that witchcraft was being used against her at her isolated hogan. No spoilers, but both the approach and the resolution demonstrate what an excellent officer Milford was and what a great storyteller he is.

My main issue, honestly, is that the book wrapped up far too quickly. Milford did a great job of setting the stage for his role as the “paranormal ranger”, and I was excited by the possibility of what kind of stories he’d bring his thoughtful perspective to. But there were relatively few cases discussed, and I was left wanting more. Then on the back end there was a brief summary hypothesis of his theory of the paranormal, and a quick nod to his post-Navajo Ranger exploits on the UFO/paranormal convention circuit.

Do I regret having read it? Absolutely not. There’s a lot of food for thought in there, and the stories Milford does tell are engaging. I just wanted more of them.

Call it maybe 7/10, and particularly recommended to folks who want a more grounded take on some of the spooky stuff.

 

 

Off To Ireland!

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I’ve been a whole lot of places for work and conferences over the years. China, Brazil, Sweden, France….even Wisconsin. But never before have I had the chance to go to Ireland.

Today, that all changes. I’m headed over to do a narrative summit with my team at Romero Games, and I could not be more excited. Looking forward to the adventure!

Bridgewater

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I have been a comic book fan since I was a kid. I know waaaaay too much about the mid-200s issues of Incredible Hulk, I have a complete run of the Denny O’Neil Question series, and until its mysterious disappearance, I had an original sketch of Malekith the Dark Elf by Walt Simonson gracing my office. But my efforts to actually write comics always sort of foundered. I did a couple of short pieces for White Wolf back in the day – the example of play in Wraith 2nd Edition and the opener to Corax – but mostly it was stuff like my former employer asking me to write comics scripts for tie-ins to a game I had worked on, receiving the scripts, and then claiming that they never existed in the first place and I had no idea what I was talking about.

So it gives me great pleasure to announce that coming soon from Delcourt will be my first official foray into writing a graphic novel. I am co-authoring a horror project called Bridgewater with the legendary French graphic novelist Matz. Art will be by the mighty Aurélien Morinière. And it’s going to be creepy as hell.

Looking forward to telling you more!

Space AND Time All In One Place

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Really happy to announce that the spring/summer issue of Space and Time magazine (#148) is now loose in the wild. This issue features my story “Used Sleep”, which is my take on the old “magical store that is sometimes there and sometimes not there” trope, though since this is one of my stories, it may not end well for all concerned….

Hope you enjoy it!

 

 

AuthorCon V and Cruise to the Edge

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Last weekend I was at Scares That Cares AuthorCon V, a charity horror writers’ convention in Williamsburg, VA. I go every year and it’s a great time. Lots of horror fans, lots of horror authors, and apart from my inflatable Sasquatch costume trying to kill me during a charity event Saturday night, it went great. Always lovely seeing folks there, catching up with old friends and making new ones, and I told the True Story of the Zombie Frog many, many times.

Tomorrow I take off for Cruise to the Edge, a 5-day journey….someplace. I mean, honestly, I don’t care. There are going to be bands I love that I never thought I would ever see live on that ship, and so I’m staying on board the whole time. The real issue, apart from the fact that I haven’t been on a cruise in something like 20 years and have no idea what I am doing, is that I need to figure out which prog rock concert t-shirts I’m bringing. Too obscure might seem like a flex. Too common might seem like I’m a poser. Decisions, decisions….

 

Writing Update

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Just got in off the road from GDC, just about to roll out to AuthorCon, but I’ll talk about both of those later. In the meantime, here’s an update on my current writing projects…

  • Just finished my second short of the year, a non horror ghost story called “Letters To The Dead”. It’s with readers now and I am looking forward to feedback.
  • I should have two stories hitting next month: “Used Sleep” in Space and Time, and “Paws” in Black Cat Weekly.
  • I have six stories out for submission, plus another two I am looking for the right market to sub to. Another story has been pulled from the submission rotation because upon due consideration, it seemed likely that the underlying themes might get misread in a way at odds with my intent.
  • I have one completed novel on sub with a publisher and with agents. I am also waiting to hear back from a publisher on a second novel pitch, featuring my recurring Reb Palache character.
  • I owe one anthology a story that is mostly complete. I have been asked by another editor to send a story along. Beyond that I have eight stories in partial stages of completion, which I intend to wrap up this year.
  • My non fiction book The Video Game Writer’s Guide To Surviving an Industry That Hates You, has a release date. I should be getting proofs shortly, and I had a great chat with my editor while at GDC. I will be announcing the release date and preorder links as soon as the cover art is ready.
  • I have two unannounced projects in progress. More details soon, I hope.
  • My card game, Squatches and Scotches, is under review by multiple publishers. I look forward to hearing back, hopefully with good news.
  • And I am keeping up my ongoing twice a week LinkedIn posts on game narrative, for reasons I will go into another time.
This….feels like a lot, especially on top of a writing based day job that I enjoy immensely. Some folks want to know how I can do it. Some folks think I am lying.
I am not lying.
The secret is twofold. One, many of these projects have evolved over time. I am not writing all the things every night. These are carefully prioritized and sequenced to ensure things are actually getting knocked out as needed.
Two, a steady application of words every night goes a long way towards creating substantial output. I have had my 10000 word days and even a 20000 word day or two. But I find hitting a hard minimum of 500 words per, with room to do more if my muse is feeling randy, ends up producing more than you would think.
Throw in the facts that my romantic partner lives in Albany, my cats have gone on to The Great Comfy Couch In The Sky, and I fell out of the television habit in 2016, and I generally have plenty of time to write every night.
Your mileage may of course vary. But this is what I’ve got.

North Carolina DoubleHeader

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Saturday, March 15 is going to be a busy day.

During the day, I’ll be down at the Lee County Local Authors Festival in lovely Sanford, NC. I’ll be there 10-4 with all sorts of books, including the re-released versions of my fantasy trilogy set in the Exalted RPG universe.

And once that’s done, I’m hopping the car and heading to Wilson, where there’s a Noir at the Bar at the lovely Larema Coffeehouse. Join me and some amazing authors like award-winner Mur Lafferty and rising star Jes Malitoris as we unleash verbiage beyond imagination!