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Misc
Aug
4
New technology, old content
Filed Under games, technology | 1 Comment
My brother emailed me the other day to let me know that the first book in Steve Jackson’s Sorcery! series was now available for the iPhone. For those who don’t know the books, they were gamebooks, set up in the choose-your-own-adventure style, but with roleplaying elements such as stats and battles that required the use of 2 six-sided dice. There were a slew of them at one time including the Fighting Fantasy books (also from Steve Jackson) and the Lone Wolf gamebooks from Joe Dever.
These books were more my brother’s thing than mine, but being into fantasy and RPGs, I read them, too. They were fun – a kind of interactive reading experience that you could play by yourself, and in the case of Sorcery! and Lone Wolf, you could create your own continuity. If you found, for example, a particular item in one book, that item might come into play in a future book. But only if you had found it before (though, of course, this depended on the honor system).
Putting something like this on the iPhone, to me, makes a lot of sense. The game aspects can be automated while the choose-your-own-adventure parts are maintained. Only the first of the books is up, but I suppose more will appear if sales are good.
But this isn’t the only content from my youth that is now reappearing on platforms like the iPhone and the iPad. Point and click adventure games are making a comeback, too. Ports of old games have been reappearing with great frequency for mobile platforms. Monkey Island made a lot of noise when it was released for the iPhone. And not too long ago I downloaded an old favorite – Broken Sword – for my phone as well. It makes sense – the iPhone, iPad and even the DS are touch devices and the point and click interface scales well on them (with a few tweaks).
What I wonder, though, is whether this is a purely nostalgic phenomenon (as many of the people who have iPhones remember these games and books fondly), or whether this is simply the recognition that there is an opportunity here. What I hope is that we see some new games being developed with the same interface. Or at least newer entries in series that have long lain dormant. A new Monkey Island game, for example.
Whatever the case may be, I’m holding out for King’s Quest 6. If that happens, I’ll be happy.
Would you pay money to play any of these games again? Or new ones?
Jul
16
The Clarion West Write-a-thon
Filed Under writing | Leave a Comment
I have been remiss in not mentioning the Clarion West Write-a-thon which is going on right now. Some of you may remember this from last year. The idea is simple – during the weeks that the workshop is being run in Seattle, alumni (and others) set writing goals, get sponsors to sponsor them with cash money, and then work toward those goals. Many people share the results with those that sponsor them. It’s like one of those charity walk/run things except with writing instead.
As I’ve mentioned before, there are a lot of good causes out there that need your money. Causes that are bigger than whether I write chapters of my novel or not. But I think of it this way – you’re investing in the future of good writing. You’re helping to keep a workshop going that has a history of producing strong genre writers. A workshop that has helped writers like Kij Johnson (who is awesome), Daniel Abraham (also awesome), Cat Rambo (yes, awesome), Rachel Swirsky (very much awesome), Margo Lanagan (super-awesome) and more. So, the way I see it, if you take the money that you would spend on a book or a magazine or other fiction and donate it to the workshop, that’s guaranteeing you good fiction in the future. And it means another group of writers to keep writing the fiction we love, no matter what shape that fiction comes in.
So, my page is here, where you can sponsor me quite easily with Paypal. I’ve committed to writing a chapter a week in my work in progress novel. I haven’t quite managed to stick to that so far (the first week I wobbled) but I’ve been getting back on track recently. But even if you don’t want to sponsor me, consider sponsoring someone else. I think it’s worth it.
Thanks for listening.
Jul
15
Flowing Shapes now online
Filed Under writing, zines | Leave a Comment
I just got word this morning that my story, Flowing Shapes, is currently up and available to read for free at the brand new magazine, Basement Stories. This is their first issue and I’m happy to appear there. I hope the magazine has a long future.
Please check it out.
Jul
12
The Case of the Wounded Heart
Filed Under sale, writing | 2 Comments
I refrained from saying anything earlier, despite receiving the acceptance, but now that I’ve received the contract I can reveal that my story,”The Case of the Wounded Heart”, will be appearing in the Lethe Press anthology, A Study In Lavender. The anthology is basically a gay-themed Sherlock Holmes anthology containing stories in which at least one of the characters from the Holmes mythos is portrayed as gay. I love Holmes stories, so I had a great time writing this one. It features Inspector Lestrade. Publication is currently set for summer of 2011.
Jul
12
Updates and suchlike
Filed Under general | Leave a Comment
Hello blog, we meet again.
I can’t believe it’s been almost a month since my last post. Poor old blog, so often neglected. So now you get random comments and updates from the last few weeks.
Last night I got back from Readercon in Burlington, MA which while always a good time was exceedingly good this year. While it took me a little while to get into a swing of things by Saturday I was on the track to Happyville. Saturday night Matt Kressel had a party in our room which was well-attended and which featured readers from the latest issue (#7) of Sybil’s Garage, which debuted at the con. I worked on the issue, so I was familiar with the stories, but hearing them read by the authors made them much more powerful and I’m very proud of Matt and the magazine and glad for even my humble contributions.
And while I still feel virtually anonymous at these things, a few people knew me from my podcast narrations and had some nice things to say about the stories. I have to say it was nice to hear. I enjoy doing the podcasts, of course, but they can be a lot of work and you never know who’s listening to them. Connecting with people who had was great and gratifying.
I have more updates to make and things to mention – coming soon…
Jun
16
Podcasts!
Filed Under podcasts | Leave a Comment
I recently had the pleasure to narrate a story for the newly launched online science fiction magazine, Lightspeed - David Barr Kirtley’s “Cats in Victory”. The podcast was produced by Starship Sofa and is also presented in their latest podcast. It’s a fun story about animal-people. Give it a listen.
And because I neglected to mention it before, I also had the pleasure to narrate my friend Saladin Ahmed’s Nebula-nominated story Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Jameela over at Podcastle. The story didn’t win the Nebula, sadly, but it could have. Give that one a listen, too.
Jun
14
Bad Blogger
Filed Under general | Leave a Comment
I am a bad blogger. I haven’t updated this in a while. And the last few entries were all self-promotion. So I am hereby going to make an attempt to do this on a regular basis.
I think part of it is that right now my words all go to other places. If I’m not writing short stories or working on my novel, I’m writing articles for Tor.com or writing entries for FermentedAdventures.com or communicating with people on Facebook or Twitter. But I have to keep reminding myself that this is my website. And I don’t want it to languish.
Topics for discussion are always appreciated. 
May
17
“Card Sharp” in Way of the Wizard
Filed Under sale, writing | 2 Comments
I found out this weekend that my story, “Card Sharp”, has been accepted for the Way of the Wizard anthology edited by John Joseph Adams. The anthology will be out in November from Prime Books.
I just learned, also, that Jeffrey Ford has a story in the anthology and I’m thrilled to think that I’ll be in the same pages as one of my heroes.
May
14
Articles at Tor.com
Filed Under articles, tor.com | Leave a Comment
Sorry to bombard you all with more self-promotion, but it just so happens that this week I have a few things up at Tor.com and thought I would mention them.
My appreciation of Michael Moorcock
My Iron Man 2 Review (with SPOILERS)
The latest Lost Round Table (with Bridget McGovern and Theresa DeLucci)
Please check them out.
Apr
25
Is it that time again? A self-promotion extravaganza
Filed Under articles, sale, tor.com, writing | Leave a Comment
It’s been a little while since I spoke about current or past projects here, so I thought I would list a few things that I have out in the world or soon to be out in the world right now:
Fermented Adventures – this is a website I created to talk about beer and wine and drinking culture. I realize this isn’t as interesting for some, but it’s something that I enjoy. I’ve been making more of an effort to keep this updated and have recently started blogging about my homebrewing adventures. If you’re at all interested, stop by, take a look, comment if you like.
Sales! - I recently discovered that I had a story accepted by the soon to be relaunched Dreams of Decadence. DoD was formerly a magazine of vampire fiction, but in its new incarnation it will be focusing on urban fantasy and paranormal romance. I’m looking forward to seeing the mag in its new form. I also had another acceptance that I won’t give details about until I get the contract. But both stories were stories I wrote as holiday stories, my version of Xmas cards where instead of sending a card, I send people an original story.
Recent Publications – the following are recent publications of mine, along with some nice words that people have said about them. They are all still available if you’re interested. Listed in reverse order of publication.
Skulls & Crossbones: An anthology of fiction about women pirates, containing my story, “The Furies”, which received Honorable Mention in the Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror. Now available at Amazon.com and at Bedazzled Ink.
Shimmer’s Clockwork Jungle issue: containing Steampunk animal fables including my story, “The Emperor’s Gift”. The Mad Hatter’s Bookshelf and Book Review had some nice things to say about the issue. Not if You Were the Last Short Story on Earth picks my story as a favorite. And Rich Horton mentions me as well in his year-end roundup of Shimmer. Finally, SF Revu calls the story “touching”.
Steampunk Tales #4: Just as the title suggests, steampunk stories including my zeppelin adventure, “The Juggernaut”. Available in digital formats and as an app for the iPhone/iPod Touch and now the iPad. For $1.99 it’s incredible value.
Shadows of the Emerald City: weird Oz stories (that’s the Wizard of Oz, not Australia which is weird in its own way) containing my story, “Pumpkinhead”. The Amazon review in the previous link lists my story in the top 3. Brandon Bell at M-BRANE SF likes the anthology. Innsmouth Free Press calls the story, “a fine effort”.
Articles - I continue to participate in weekly Lost Round Tables at Tor.com, leading up to the finale. I also will have some other posts coming up soon on some fantasy favorites. All of my articles there can be found via this link.
Additionally, I should have a few more announcements to make in the coming months, one of them being my story, “Doors”, appearing in GUD’s next issue.
Enough about me, now. How are you?