Talislanta: The Savage Land…still no elves!

  Back at the beginning of 1987, a small company named Bard Games released a very cool new roleplaying game called Talislanta. Ads in Dragon Magazine loudly proclaimed “no elves…” and explained that it was for people “tired of ‘look-alike’ fantasy games.”   The world of Talislanta was densely populated with alien cultures, strange races,Continue reading "Talislanta: The Savage Land…still no elves!"

Through the eyes of the first person…

Recently, I began reading the Chronicles of Amber series by Roger Zelazny to my son. I’ve had The Great Book of Amber, which collects all ten novels in the series (though not the short stories) for many years, and this series has stuck with me since my initial read of it. Zelazny published the firstContinue reading "Through the eyes of the first person…"

Free Story – Springtime

I tried to write a positive, uplifting story. I really tried. But there's been something about March this year that has my thoughts taking a dark turn. This month's free story is called Springtime. It's not what you might expect from the title, though it is the story that was in my head and neededContinue reading "Free Story – Springtime"

Writing Update – March 2017

I’m going to change up the order of my updates this month to highlight the biggest news first. Tales of the Undying Empire The Kindle Omnibus Edition of the first three novels in the Tales of the Undying Empire series is now live at Amazon! I’ve priced this Omnibus so that you get all threeContinue reading "Writing Update – March 2017"

The One Ring is a Work of Art

No one can deny the influence that J.R.R. Tolkien has had on the fantasy genre. Many of the elements from his books have become genre tropes that dominated novels for decades. There are countless books that include Tolkien versions of elves, dwarves, and hobbits (though they might be called halflings, or little people, or someContinue reading "The One Ring is a Work of Art"

Reading and Writing: Reader Expectations

As I mentioned many times, I love to read out loud to my wife and son. I’ve gotten to share so many books with them over the years, and it’s so much fun to do. Over the last month, I introduced my son to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams. InContinue reading "Reading and Writing: Reader Expectations"

Free Story – Inheritance

This month’s story has a great deal of personal meaning to me. March 12th will be six years since my father passed away. At the time, he was experiencing severe dementia and was forced to live in a facility where he could be properly cared for. I wrote this story quite some time ago butContinue reading "Free Story – Inheritance"

Writing Update – February 2017

This month is a fairly short update, but overall things are moving well and I’m excited by how these projects are going. The Traitor and the Thief The manuscript for this book is essentially complete. I’ve got a couple of scenes that I’m going back to rewrite, but that will be done by the endContinue reading "Writing Update – February 2017"

T.I.M.E. Stories

Recently I had the opportunity to play a very interesting boardgame called T.I.M.E. Stories. The primary publisher, Space Cowboys, calls it a “decksploration” game, and that invented word actually describes the game play fairly well. The premise of the game is that the players are temporal agents of the T.I.M.E. Agency (the acronym stands forContinue reading "T.I.M.E. Stories"

Introduction to Sword & Sorcery

  I’ve been reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series to my son and my wife over the last couple of weeks. My wife is familiar with them, but they are complete new to my son, and he’s enjoying them immensely. However, I’ve found that there are opportunities for me to read to myContinue reading "Introduction to Sword & Sorcery"