The hobby games industry has been great to be involved with and has been a boon to my creativity and my professional career. The best part about gaming, though, is the people. Leanne, Shari and James, who composed the music for THE QUEEN OF CROWS trailer, are all people I met through gaming.

I’m pleased to announce that our project will be included in the Christmas in July sale at DriveThruRPG.com!

From now through Monday, July 26th at 6:00 p.m. EST, my e-book entitled THE QUEEN OF CROWS will be priced at $3.75!

Click Here to buy THE QUEEN OF CROWS on sale now at twenty-five percent off.

There are literally thousands of digital titles on sale, so if you like to game or read, now is the perfect time to check out DriveThru. The sale also applies to comics at DriveThruComics.com, so you can read comics from publishers like Top Cow, Archaia and 2000 A.D. for super cheap.

Hope you get the chance to check out some other games and comics, too. Many of these people pour their sweat, blood and tears into their work because, like me, they love what they do. There’s a lot of great products on sale, so if you’re thinking about going digital, now’s the time.

Catch ya later!

Related posts:

1. Announcing the Release of THE QUEEN OF CROWS
2. E-Books Are Not Liquid Gold
3. [Video] Trailer for THE QUEEN OF CROWS e-Book

Base Ingredients

1 pound ground turkey
1 pound whole wheat spaghetti
1 jar generic spaghetti sauce
3 strips uncooked bacon

Secret Spices

red wine
maple syrup
garlic
dried shallots
oregano
olive oil
red pepper flakes

Slice the uncooked bacon into square pieces. Then, brown ground turkey with bacon in skillet. Add about a tablespoon of olive oil and as much garlic as you normally would. Once it’s cooked, you’ll want to drain the fat before you add anything else to your concoction.

After I put the meat back in the pan, I add about a quarter cup to a half cup of red wine and stir that into the meat. I find that the wine takes that “turkey taste” edge off. Then, add your tomato sauce, some dried shallots and oregano. Let that simmer for about five minutes on low heat. If your sauce thickens too much, add a little bit of water to it to thin it out.

While your sauce is simmering, fill your pasta pan with water and add a tablespoon of olive oil, a pinch of salt and some herbs. Don’t be afraid to be generous with your sprinklings here. This step is totally worth it because the taste of the herbs will infuse into the noodles while they cook, which makes a cheap pasta taste like it was created at a gourmet restaurant. Once the water is boiling, you’ll want to follow the directions on the box to ensure your pasta is cooked correctly. I usually break the spaghetti in half before I add it to the pot.

Immediately after you’ve added your pasta to the water, stir your spaghetti sauce and add a sprinkle of red pepper flakes and about a tablespoon of the best maple syrup you can find to it. Then, turn your heat down on your sauce even lower. Once your pasta is done, you’re ready to eat my recipe for spaghetti with bacon.

The best part about this concoction, is that there’s a number of different ways you can spice this up. I should point out, however, that if you’re going to use red meat you might want to consider adding some milk to your tomato sauce instead of maple syrup. Beef tends to have a fuller flavor and you don’t want your spaghetti sauce to taste like a bacon burger. Or maybe you do? Either way, there’s a lot of variations that you can try here.

Sadly, this is not a vegetarian recipe but that doesn’t mean I won’t try a version that’s vegan-friendly. If you’re meat-free and are inspired, be sure to let me know what you’ve come up with.

Enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Day One: My Pescatarian Adventures
2. Day Three: Good Karma and Laziness
3. Day 5 and Beyond: Being a Pescatarian Takes Planning

I will be on four panels, which I’ve listed below, and I will be milling about for the various events and whatnot. Come say hello!

Saturday, September 4th

12:00 pm to 1:00 pm — Game Publishing
2:00 pm to 3:00 pm — Writing Panel
4:30 pm to 5:30pm — World Building

Sunday, September 5th

1:00 pm to 2:00 pm — Being an Effective Reviewer/Critic

Be sure to drop by the Geek.Kon website to learn more about this Madison-based convention.

Related posts:

1. My Schedule at the GenCon 2010 Writer’s Symposium
2. Speaking Engagement: OddCon 2008 Panels
3. About Me: Appearance at GenCon-Indy

The list of 2010 nominees for the ENnie awards includes some really fun games like ECLIPSE PHASE and DOCTOR WHO.

This year, we have some tough competition in our category of “Best Regalia,” because every product that’s listed there is outstanding. Now that the preliminary round of voting has passed, voting has now opened up to the public.

Cast your vote to decide this year’s winners for the 2010 ENnie awards

If you’re remotely familiar with these games and books, I hope that you take the opportunity to vote. These awards mean a lot to the people who work in this industry, because they’re not just decided by a panel of judges. They’re decided by our peers, our readers and our fellow gamers, too.

Good luck to everyone! If you’re interested in picking up any of these books or games, you can visit the 2010 nominees on DriveThruRPG.com. Many of them are on sale, too!

Related posts:

1. When Fan Awards Make a Difference: Diana Jones and ENnie Awards for Gaming
2. Hobby Games: The 100 Best is an Origins Award Nominee
3. Writing Notes for Tales of the Seven Dogs Novella

The first thing we did was listen to various sounds and whatnot to decide what the feel of the music should be. Did I want the composition to be dramatic and tense or smooth and understated? Did I want an authentic, Native American feel or an inspired take on the music?

We decided that an inspired, more dramatic and textured take on the music was the way to go. We were both able to find some sound effects (Yes, that’s right! I said sound effects!) that will work well with the images and clips in the trailer. While I wanted the music to give you a Native American feel, I felt that it wouldn’t be a good idea to go the historical route for several reasons. — SOURCE: 2010.07.11 Setting Music to the Trailer

The music was composed by James Semple, a professional in the entertainment industry. In addition to his work in film, he also has composed soundtracks perfect for gaming including Four Shadows: Music for Trail of Cthulhu and Dissonance: Music for Esoterrorists.

Without further adieu, I hope you enjoy this trailer. We both had a lot of fun creating it and I’m pretty pleased with the results.

If you’re interested in learning more, visit THE QUEEN OF CROWS e-book on DriveThruHorror.com.

Hope you enjoy the video!

Related posts:

1. Promote Your Work with a Book Trailer
2. Announcing the Release of THE QUEEN OF CROWS
3. 25% Off My e-Book Plus Huge Sale on 1,000s of Others at DriveThru

Here are the panels that I will be speaking on. The person moderating will have a star next to their name.

Thursday, August 5th

3:00 p.m. Writing and Editing for Online Publications – Track A – Jennifer Brozek*, Monica Valentinelli – There’s a difference in on-line versus paper markets… how to write for them, how to submit, how to find the best publications and rates out there. Join our panelists for a look at the digital marketplace.

4:00 p.m. Bring Out Your Dead – Track B – Richard Lee Byers*, Anton Strout, Wes Nicholson, Tim Waggoner, Monica Valentinelli – Vampires, ghosts, and zombies, oh my! Breathe life—so to speak—into your undead characters. Discover what rules apply and what should be ignored when writing about the undead.

Friday, August 5th

1:00 p.m. Building Your Online Reputation – Track B – Monica Valentinelli*, Anton Strout, Kelly Swails – Your Online Reputation: When is it appropriate to work for free? How can you cater to the readers who visit your website? What do you need to watch out for so you don’t “spam” your fans with content? Our panelists tackle these topics and more, including how to promote your writing via the Internet.

2:00 p.m. Pick My Brain – Track C – Monica Valentinelli – These types of sessions allow you to come visit with individual authors in a one-on-one pow-wow. If you’re stuck and my expertise can help you, this is the place to be.

3:00 p.m. Women Writing Men – Track A – Elizabeth Vaughn*, Kerrie Hughes, Kelly Swails, Linda Baker, Monica Valentinelli – So you want to create a main character that doesn’t match your gender. You want the woman believable, and you want to avoid stereotypes and clichés. How do you get into such a character’s head? How can a guy “write” a convincing gal? Our panelists are adept at doing just that and are chomping at the proverbial bit to share their expertise.

Saturday, August 6th

1:00 p.m. Pros and Cons of the Small and Large Press – Track B – Dylan Birtolo*, Donald Bingle, Monica Valentinelli – Small and Large Press: We’ve been published by major New York houses as well as small press companies and have had varying degrees of success with both. We’ll discuss the differences between writing for a large publisher versus a small one, and the advantages and disadvantages of both.

2:00 p.m. Pay It Forward – Track A – Monica Valentinelli*, Kerrie Hughes, Marc Tassin, Tim Waggoner – Help other writers, and you’ll end up helping yourself. Topics we’ll tackle include mentoring, managing expectations of other writers, when it’s appropriate to pitch ideas to other professionals, the downside of too much shameless self-promotion, and building a writer’s community for support.

I hope that you will be able to join me and the other experienced professionals at GenCon. There are a lot of really interesting panels this year, and with the size of these panels I feel you’ll be able to benefit from the knowledge that everyone has to offer you.

Related posts:

1. My GenCon 2009 Writer’s Symposium Schedule
2. GenCon 2009 and the Writer’s Symposium Wrap-Up
3. My Guest Appearance at Geek*Kon 2010

I am pleased to announce that I’ve got three, non-fiction releases related to hobby gaming available for you to check out.

First, if you haven’t had the chance to check out FAMILY GAMES: the 100 BEST, I’d recommend that you consider getting your copy signed if you’re heading to GenCon in Indianapolis. Several of the essayists, including yours truly, will be at the convention. Also, you might want to head over to the Green Ronin booth and track down James Lowder for his signature. Not only did he edit the book, he’s also an outstanding author in his own right.

This year, you can find me at the GenCon Writer’s Symposium which is managed by author Jean Rabe. I’ll be writing a post about what panels I’ll be on later.

My second release is a very “heady” essay about dice and divination for THE BONES, which was edited by Will Hindmarch and published through Gameplaywright. What is this book about?

The Bones gathers writing about fandom and family—about gamers, camaraderie, and memories— and ties them together where they meet: our dice. These are essays and anecdotes about the ways dice make us crazy, about the stakes we play for and the thrill we get from not knowing what the next roll will bring. –SOURCE: THE BONES at Gameplaywright.net.

My contribution to THE BONES took on a more intellectual, esoteric approach. I talked about how the act of rolling dice draws upon a form of divination that employs the use of dice; I also mentioned how players like us often take on the role of the divine, because we typically determine what happens to our characters through a simple roll of the die.

After reading through our limited edition copy, I have to say that I feel Will did an absolutely outstanding job as editor. He provided a healthy potpourri of entertaining anecdotes and intellectual discourse that offers something for everyone to read. If you like to game, you can order a copy now or buy one in the dealer’s room at GenCon this upcoming August. Similar to FAMILY GAMES: the 100 BEST, several of the essayists and contributors will be floating around to sign your copy of THE BONES.

Last, but not least, I also wrote an essay about how powerful convention demos can be to attract new players for this year’s release of the RPGirl Zine. RPGirl is a project led by Emily Care Boss that highlights women in the gaming industry. In addition to this essay and my bio, Emily was kind enough to promote THE QUEEN OF CROWS e-book. I’m not one-hundred percent sure if she’ll have her own booth presence this year or not, but I do know that the RPGirl Zine will be available, along with THE BONES, at the Indie Press Revolution booth.

Related posts:

1. What to Expect from Gaming and SciFi Conventions When You’re Speaking
2. When Fan Awards Make a Difference: Diana Jones and ENnie Awards for Gaming
3. Gaming Fiction Day Four: Inferred Plot and Metaplot

Still, this blog is just one aspect of “me.” VioletWar.com is another. There, not only have I been able to share more news about THE QUEEN OF CROWS and what reviews it has gotten, but I’ve also recently started a journal there. It’s been a really fun creative outlet for me and something that supports my efforts for that world. At the same time, it’s beginning to get more personal than I had expected. I’m pretty private, but for whatever reason I’m having a blast just being me.

So, if you’re mildly curious about the world I have built and the novel I’ve been working on, that’s the place to drop by and explore. If not, stay tuned because I’ll definitely be blogging more about topical subjects that are meaningful to both you and me.

Thanks for reading!

No related posts.

For me, I need those moments of solitary confinement even when I’m not writing because it allows my head to be clear. For a while there, it seemed like my mind was in a literal fog and I couldn’t figure out why. Worse, I felt that my writing was suffering as well. What was once fun and enjoyable turned into a literal chore. I choked up. I had stage fright. I over-analyzed and psychoanalyzed every verb, every comma, every first word of every, single sentence and I couldn’t figure out why.

So I started to detach during my off time and I turned to my favorite video games instead. Slowly, but surely, I figured out what was happening to me. (Thank you, Square Enix.) I had been so inundated with a constant stream of noise that I felt I had to either read (or respond to) each individual pixel of internet dirt. As a result, I didn’t have the chance to focus on “me” or “my work.” I was too busy focusing on things that were triggering my emotions. Mind you, several things had already pushed me in that “I’m frustrated” direction already. The noise did not help.

Noise, for me, is probably different than it is for you. I have certain topics that send me off into an instantaneous rant, turning me into an ugly troll. With warts. And smelly feet. I have other topics that are like little race cars. When I see them, I feel compelled to stick on the top of their hoods and ride them all the way through to the end. Mind you, none of the subjects I’m talking to you about here have anything to do with work or my writing. And that, truly, was the reason why I needed to disconnect. The constant bombardment of ads, news, factoids, gossip, etc. throughout my day forced me to face myself in the mirror and ask myself what I could ignore. What could I stop worrying about. What did I need to listen to versus what did I feel obligated to listen to.

For the past, few weeks I’ve been going through what I call a “noise detox.” I’ve turned off and tuned out of almost everything, only to embrace the great outdoors and hobbies I’ve abandoned. This experience has been wonderful and exhilarating. It has also opened my eyes to what truly matters to me, and I can tell you that the “noise” does not. (The same goes for drama, in general. Although, I like drama when it’s performed on the stage.)

Instead of giving in to the noise and its destructive tendencies, I am traveling sideways and shielding myself with sunlight and oxygen and my imagination. Otherwise, I can’t hear the music of my words. I don’t know if any of you have experienced something similar, but this has definitely been one of those times where I have learned my lesson well.

No related posts.

Foreword by Mike Gray
Introduction by James Lowder
Afterword by Wil Wheaton
Appendix A: Games and Education by David Millians
Appendix B: Family Games in Hobby Games: The 100 Best by James Lowder

List of Family Games and Essayists

Carrie Bebris on 10 Days in the USA
Steven E. Schend on 1960: The Making of the President
Dominic Crapuchettes on Apples to Apples
Mike Breault on The Awful Green Things from Outer Space
Jeff Tidball on Balderdash
Keith Baker on Bang!
Bruce Harlick on Battleship
James Wallis on Bausack
Paul Jaquays on Black Box
Lewis Pulsipher on Blokus
Teeuwynn Woodruff on Boggle
Fred Hicks on Buffy the Vampire Slayer
James Ernest on Candy Land
Ian Livingstone on Can’t Stop
Bruce Whitehill on Careers
Jared Sorensen on Cat
Wolfgang Baur on Cathedral
John Scott Tynes on Clue
Alessio Cavatore on Condottiere
Elaine Cunningham on Connect Four
Will Hindmarch on Cranium
Erik Mona on Crossbows and Catapults
William W. Connors on Dark Tower
John D. Rateliff on Dogfight
Robert J. Schwalb on Dungeon!
jim pinto on Dvonn
Gav Thorpe on Easter Island
Jeff Grubb on Eurorails
Kenneth Hite on Faery’s Tale Deluxe
Richard Dansky on Family Business
Warren Spector on Focus
Corey Konieczka on For Sale
James M. Ward on Fortress America
Stan! on Frank’s Zoo
Bruce C. Shelley on The Game of Life
Phil Orbanes on A Gamut of Games
Monica Valentinelli on Gloom
Matt Leacock on Go Away Monster!
Steve Jackson on The Great Dalmuti
David “Zeb” Cook on Guillotine
Jason Matthews on Gulo Gulo
Joshua Howard on Halli Galli
Bruce Nesmith on Hare & Tortoise
Mike Pondsmith on HeroClix
Anthony J. Gallela on HeroQuest
Chris Pramas on HeroScape
Ed Greenwood on Hey! That’s My Fish!
Colin McComb on Hive
Alan R. Moon on Hoity Toity
Jon Leitheusser on Ingenious
Uli Blennemann on Java
Luke Crane on Jungle Speed
Monte Cook on Kill Doctor Lucky
Emiliano Sciarra on Knightmare Chess
Todd A. Breitenstein on Liar’s Dice
Marc Gascoigne on Loopin’ Louie
Andrew Parks on Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation
Seth Johnson on Lost Cities
John Yianni on Magi-Nation
Bill Bodden on Master Labyrinth
Andrew Greenberg on Mastermind
Ken Levine on Memoir ’44
Scott Haring on Mille Bornes
Steve Jackson on Monopoly
Sheri Graner Ray on Mouse Trap
Kevin G. Nunn on Mystery Rummy: Murders in the Rue Morgue
Dale Donovan on The Omega Virus
Darren Watts on Othello
Charles Ryan on Pandemic
Michelle Lyons on Pente
Thomas M. Reid on Pictionary
Nicole Lindroos on Pieces of Eight
John Wick on Pit
Matt Forbeck on Pokémon
Robin D. Laws on Prince Valiant
Stephen Glenn on Qwirkle
Sébastien Pauchon on Ricochet Robots
Peter Olotka on Risk
Richard Breese on Rummikub
Jesse Scoble on Scotland Yard
Richard Garfield on Scrabble
Mike Selinker on Set
Rob Heinsoo on Small World
Hal Mangold on Sorry!
Jess Lebow on Stratego
Eric Goldberg on Strat-O-Matic Baseball
Andrea Angiolino on Survive!
Karl Deckard on Thebes
Dan Tibbles on Time’s Up!
Tom Wham on Trade Winds
Susan McKinley Ross on TransAmerica
Ray Winninger on Trivial Pursuit
Leo Colovini on Twixt
Matthew Kirby on Uno
David Parlett on Upwords
Lester Smith on Werewolf
John Kovalic on Wits & Wagers
Philip Reed on Yahtzee
Kevin Wilson on Zendo
Jess Hartley on Zooloretto

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1. Hobby Games: The 100 Best is an Origins Award Nominee
2. Freaky Friday: Jeff Bridges the Mystery of the Burger King King
3. Guest Blogger Writing Tip #1: Planning