Animate Dead

Now available is the latest release of the Behind the Spells series: Animate Dead. Grab it here: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=6001

That is all.

And Yet More Shopping

Today saw Linda and I out in the Allentown/Bethlehem area in our continuing shopping saga. Got my mom finished so now it's down to my brother and his wife and Linda herself. Not too shabby for not even being December yet.

In RPG news, I handed BtS: Animate Dead in to Phil today before I left so it should be out on the market any time. The current trilogy of the series just got new reviews for each on RPGNow yesterday (4 out of 5 stars all). I've also started brainstorming ideas for my group's Xmas adventure to be played next month. We'll be using the PCs whose campaign just ended for some high level holiday excitement. Nothing like exchanging gifts and slaying imaginary beasties to celebrate the season.

Slow Going

Jeremy Reaban, a frequent reviewer of things d20, has posted a review of BtS: Magic Missile on his review blog. It should be hitting rpg.net sometime in the near future, but here's an advance preview: http://jeremysreviews.blogspot.com/

Didn't get much accomplished this weekend. Invasion: Freeport didn't go anywhere and I only made some preliminary notes for Behind the Spells: Animate Dead. Should be finishing the latter this evening. I guess I had too much turkey and just lounged around for the weekend. :) Now, back to work!

The Shopping Season Begins

Today is known as Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when people go bananas for the sales that shops dangle before them like carrots. Sometimes I like shopping on this day but most times I don't. Today after work, I decided to take my sister Katy (who can't get out all that much between working and her two children) out for the evening. After a quick pit stop for dinner we cruised the MacArthur Rd. strip in Allentown. I got a little more shopping done for Christmas (having already started weeks ago with my friend Linda). Katy had fun and got some things bought as well.

One of our stops was at Borders (a coffee/music/books place for you readers not in the US). Now, this place isn't that big but when I wanted to leave I couldn't find Katy. I meandered through the store, eventually getting looks from those I'd passed several times. Eventually I gave up and had the information desk page her. I made a conscious decision to use her maiden name and a minute later her voice behind me said lovingly, "That's not my name." Now how did I know she was going to say that? ;)

Life Is Good

With BtS: Mirror Image already fast climbing the vendor hot sellers list, I think I might have a hit pdf series on my hands. Heck, I had Chris from TwinRose software (who apparently handles webwork for the ENWorld Game Store) email me to say that a customer was literally waiting for mirror image to be posted to the store so he could check out. How cool is that?! This coupled with two developing Green Ronin pdf adventures, being on the home stretch for Temporality's completion, and the imminent release of my MPM adventure though Highmoon Media all make for things to be thankful for in the publishing world. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Be safe, eat lots, and rest comfortably.

Mirror Image

Now on sale is the latest in my series: Behind the Spells: Mirror Image. On a related note, Magic Missile is now a "copper pick" on RPGNow. I'm not sure how many sales you need to reach this, but hitting it after only 2 weeks feels pretty satisfying. :)

I'm taking Thanksgiving Day off to snuggle up with the new R.A. Salvatore book. I loved the Artemis/Jarlaxle pairing from Servant of the Shard and am eager to see where this book takes them. Well, I know it takes them up to the Bloodstone Lands but you know what I mean. This is Salvatore's old stomping grounds, as he wrote the 2e D&D supplement by the same name--good stuff!

Guess I'd better start Invasion: Freeport sometime this weekend as well. My other adventure, Vengeance in Freeport, seems to be holding its own so I'm eager to see how an adventure not related to the current stuff does.

I'm Number One!

Or at least I was. For a time, BtS: Magic Missile had nabbed the #1 spot on the month's top d20 releases at RPGNow. I handed in BtS: Mirror Image and it should be out sometime today. These are really fun little pdfs to crank out. It's amazing what's possible just using the rules as presented in the PHB. I may or may not take next week off of the series for turkey day (yeah, I know it's this week). We'll see how my schedule works out.

Two More Reviews

Someone has kindly reviewed both of the Behind the Spells pdfs out so far. Check them out here: http://www.enworld.org/reviews.php

After considering the requests for the next installment, I've decided to go with mirror image after all. Look for that in a few days. And if you haven't checked out this series yet...well, what's wrong with ya?!

Special Ebay Auctions

I'm in the process of placing a few autographed items from my collection onto Ebay. The first are a set of Elmore Masterworks miniatures--sets 1 & 2 are the "limited edition gold" versions which come with 6 normal minis plus a gold one. They each come signed and numbered (only 99 made) with a certificate of authenticity. The second group (sold separately) are Foul Locales related. These are a trilogy of books which I contributed to for the now-defunct Mystic Eye Games. Besides signing each book, I'm throwing in my original handwritten notes for the locales I contributed. Will anyone care? I don't know. Personally, I love behind the scene author notes, but maybe that's just me. To the highest bidder of this trilogy, I'm also sending along my notes for the 4th Foul Locales book--Slum Lords--that never saw the light of day.

The final book is a signed copy of Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed which I got at GenCon '03. In the same vein as above, Mystic Eye Games had a good relationship with Monte and, besides the adventure they put out for AU, the company also planned for a Foul Locales book. You guessed it, I made notes for that book as well and am selling them along with the book. Interested? Link: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZvantas1

Approvals and Another Review

I had two adventure ideas awaiting Green Ronin approval and I've received the green light for both. Invasion: Freeport and Beware the Minotaur are now officially on my "to do" list. The first is self-explanatory and the second is the much talked about (at least in this blog) sequel to my MPM adventure A Matter of Faith (which is in layout now with Highmoon Media). If I'm lucky, the development of these adventures won't put too big a crimp in my Behind the Spells series.

Speaking of which, BtS: Magic Missile received its second review today from frequent commenter here, K. Axel Carlsson. 4 out of 5 stars! Thanks, bud; glad you liked it. I'm happy to see that Magic Missile has hit #2 on Ronin Arts' vendor hot sellers list and Fireball has zoomed up to #7 in its first 24 hours up for sale. Does this mean I'm making any money? Lord, no, but it's still fun.

New pdf and a review

As expected, Behind the Spell: Fireball went up for sale today. Use my "Most Recent Work" link as always to take you to it. Also, BtS: Magic Missile has gotten its first review from Derek Holland: 5 out of 5 stars! I suspect Derek has been taking a look at my stuff since my Complete Guide to Dragonkin book for Goodman Games was released. He appreciated the section which described how to change unhatched dragon eggs into virtually any other creature before their birth.

It should be feasible to put together a BtS pdf every week or so. Phil tells me that the frequency of a series' releases does have an affect on sales. I guess we'll see. At the very least, each new pdf in the series should spur sales of the older ones. Thanks to everyone who takes a look at these little works.

Turning Down Work--Do What's Right for You

[Caveat: I am a hobby-lancer and do not need to write to survive. The information in this entry is geared toward those writers/artists in similar positions, so take this for what it's worth to you.]

It's not easy to turn down work, but sometimes it has to be done. Once you're "in" with a company, they tend to funnel more work your way. The unforunate part of this is that if you get "in" with multiple companies you'll eventually bite off more than you can chew. Suddenly your freelancing schedule is anything but free, to say nothing of those random open calls which catch your interest and you want to apply for.

As a hobby-lancer I can pick and choose my assignments. Part of the selection process is knowing what's right for me and the other part is knowing how it fits into my schedule. I don't want to spend every waking moment writing (as I have over the last couple years). My name is "out there" to my satsifaction that working like a Benedictine illuminator isn't necessary anymore. As to the first point, when Neal mentioned a few months back about hooking my up with the Clothing project, I immediately frowned at the screen. It's not that I thought the topic was bad, just that it wasn't right for me. But, as I detest turning away work, I followed along. Mistake.

I've been nothing but happy with my Dark Quest relationship and I hope to continue writing for them (especially since they're putting out my masterwork--Temporality) but I had to email Neal today that I was off this project. With the holidays right around the corner, a new MPM adventure, my new Behind the Spells series, and discussion for a new Freeport adventure (oh, did I say that out loud?), the Clothing project just doesn't fit into the puzzle.

So how does back out of work with some kind of grace? I don't have definitive answers since I don't make a habit of it but here's some criteria to consider:
* Contract: Is there a signed contract for that project? If so, you're locked in unless you and the publisher can come to an agreement.
[the criteria below assume lack of contract]
* Due Date: How far are you from the assignment's due date? If less than a month, you might want to just stick it out if you've already begun.
* Number of Writers: If you are the sole author, opting out is easier sooner than later (although that's true of any situation, really). You've got more leeway if there are multiple authors. Just be certain that at least a month's notice is given. As a goodwill gesture, hand in whatever materials you've written up free of charge.
* The Price: Is this assignment really worth it monetarily for you? If you need this money to pay the rent, then you need to sit down and finish it (assuming the publisher pays in a timely fashion). If not, backing out may cost you money but actually be better mentally.
* The Publisher: Is the publisher someone you want to maintain a working relationship with? This criteria really must be dealt with on a case by case basis. Are they easy going and willing to overlook your backing out? Are they a big company that cannot afford even minor setbacks to a busy schedule or are they more casual in their business plan? If the former, you're in trouble. If the latter, you should be in good shape to back out with some dignity.

That's it for now with my unsolicited advice. Oh, and my concerts went quite well this weekend, thanks for asking. ;)

Busy Weekend

This weekend I'll be singing as part of the Hamburg Community Concert Choir. This is a local gathering of approximately 100 people who practice from the end of August to the beginning of November, with the concert the second weekend of Nov. For a "throw together" group it's really not bad. We have folks ranging from high schoolers to a 90-year-old. This is our 11th season and I've been around for all 11 years. Concerts used to be an ecletic mix of classical, religious, and cultural (Americana or Broadway). But for the last number of years we've had a theme--Christmas, all Broadway, Jazz, and this year is the 50s and 60s. Concerts are tonight and tomorrow afternoon with likely a sold out 500+ seats for each inside my local church.

While the concerts are a nice change of pace, they leave me little time for continuous writing. I'm working steadily on BtS: Fireball (which should release this coming week if we're lucky) and less than steadily on a Clothing project for Dark Quest. I'm pleased to see BtS: Magic Missile getting higher on the lists for both Ronin Arts and this month's top d20 on RPGNow. I wish someone would review the first before the second comes out so I have some kind of feedback as to the structure and content of these short pdfs.

Fast sales

Wow! Although barely out for 24 hours (and not even a press release about it yet), BtS: Magic Missile is just two places behind The 11th Hour on Ronin Arts' Hot Sellers list. Not too shabby, methinks. Can't wait to see what happens after some advertisements are in place. Guess this means I should start writing BtS: Fireball soon.

Magic Missile!

After a very fast turnaround, the first pdf as mentioned in the previous blog entry is out! Click the Most Recent Work link over there to get to Behind the Spells: Magic Missile. Now, it's only 4 pages with the OGL license, but these pdf's aren't meant to be large. Just some alternate ways to look at your favorite spells. And while you're considering this pdf, don't forget about all the other goodies out there by me including: Mallyate, The 11th Hour, Substandard Magic Items, the Dread Codex, and Vengeance in Freeport. :)

New pdf series

As if I didn't have enough to do, my idea for a new pdf series for Ronin Arts was approved yesterday. I'm not complaining, mind you. These pdfs will be short and be a great way to vent any pent up creativity that cannot be channeled into a current longer project. The series is called Behind the Spells and each pdf will take one of the quintessential spells from the PHB and examine possible uses aside from the one normally associated with it. I think the series has real potential because it isn't introducing yet more spells into the already huge repository out there in the d20-verse. Each pdf features the creator of the spell, alternative uses utilizing only the spell's definition, and possible variations of the spell. Players get new ways to use favorite spells and DMs get some plot hooks and new ways to use these spells against the PCs. Everybody wins. Look for the first Behind the Spells: Magic Missile soon.

Creativity Swings

Like mood swings, I've been wondering for awhile if creativity is partially affected by the phases of the moon. During new moon this week (yesterday I think), I felt incredibly ambitious, even to the point of firing off a new pdf series concept to Phil Reed last night. I'll have to see if my creativity waxes or wanes as the moon emerges. Then again, it could be from watching the Revenge of the Sith documentaries.

Happy Samhain!

Today (or rather last evening) began the Celtic new year. If you survived the rift that opened between this world and the Otherworld last night, I wish you a great new year.

Have you watched your copy of Revenge of the Sith yet? I bought mine today for $14.99 (widescreen naturally) and have been slowly going through the extras. It was great to see Yoda going to Degobah. Even though this deleted scene wasn't integral with Anakin's storyline, I felt it belonged in the theatrical release.

Finished up my outline for the next MPM adventure and sent it to Daniel. Now I've got to start on my part of another project for Dark Quest Games. I can't say I'm looking forward to it but maybe that'll change as it goes along.