Robin D. Laws's Blog, page 84
March 21, 2012
Kickfinisher?
In the latest episode of the That's How We Roll podcast, hosts Fred Hicks and Chris Hanrahan talk to author Chuck Wendig about his work on Evil Hat's burgeoning fiction line. I tuned in hoping to hear Chuck on Don't Read This Book, an upcoming anthology set in the Don't Rest Your Head universe, to which I contributed a piece. Much of the run time goes to their inaugural Spirit of the Century novel trilogy, Dinocalypse.
The top of the chat deals with issues well-known to anyone plying the waters of tie-in fiction. There's the eternal question of balancing material that serves the story at hand with choices that put across the broader property. Then there's the parallel, game-specific matter of how much license authors are afforded to reference or sidestep game rules.
What I learned from the podcast arises from Evil Hat's Kickstarter strategy. As someone on the brink of a crowd-funded project or two, I found it a salutary exercise in preconception adjustment. Fred talks about the value of having material not just in the notional phase, but ready to deliver to funders, instant gratification style. This tells me that an issue I've been concerned about is actually a plus. Perhaps taking the name of the main crowd-funding organ too literally, I've been assuming that pledgers want in on the ground floor and might shy from projects already in a high state of readiness. Why make happen what has already happened? Instead Fred and crew indicate that pledgers want something the creators have already invested their time and money in. It's more about putting the project over the top than providing seed capital. If so, it's another example of the culture of a web entity moving away from the assumptions of its original creators.
With benefit of hindsight, it might be called Kickfinisher.
March 20, 2012
Blood of the City
Paizo has announced my next novel for their Pathfinder Tales fiction line, due in August. Here there be sell-text:
Luma is a cobblestone druid, a canny fighter and spellcaster who can read the chaos of Magnimar's city streets like a scholar reads books. Together, she and her siblings in the powerful Derexhi family form one of the most infamous and effective mercenary companies in the city, solving problems for the city's wealthy elite. Yet despite being the oldest child, Luma gets little respect—perhaps due to her half-elven heritage. When a job gone wrong lands Luma in the fearsome prison called the Hells, it's only the start of Luma's problems. For a new web of bloody power politics is growing in Magnimar, and it may be that those Luma trusts most have become her deadliest enemies...
From visionary game designer and author Robin D. Laws comes a new urban fantasy adventure of murder, betrayal, and political intrigue set in the award-winning world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.
400-page mass market paperback
ISBN–13: 978-1-60125-456-6
Thanks to the Paizo marketing department for upgrading me from legendary (as per the equivalent text for The Worldwound Gambit) to visionary.
Blood of the City stands alone from the previous book, though there might just be a wee crossover tucked in there.... It eschews the present tense a faction of Worldwound readers found worrying, in favor of the fantasy-standard past tense. Proceed to mourn or celebrate, as your tastes dictate.
Place your vengeance-soaked pre-orders at the product page.
March 19, 2012
March 16, 2012
Lovecraft's Influence and This Month's See P. XX
This month's edition of See P. XX takes the 75th anniversary of H. P. Lovecraft's death as an occasion for Pelgrane Press regulars, including Kenneth Hite and yours truly, to examine his influence. I'm also on board with more on the play value and psychology of GUMSHOE point spends. There's also a call for playtesting on an intriguing new fantasy game from Jonathan Tweet and Rob Heinsoo, a publisher's look at freelancer payments, and a Steve Dempsey demo for The Esoterrorists. Check it out!
March 15, 2012
Adventures in Title Treatment
As a dry run for New Tales of the Yellow Sign, I've decided to disseminate a free short story to the various ebook venues. Longtime blog readers may remember "The Star Makers" as a piece I once released into the wild in PDF format. This contemporary supernatural adventure features Orlando Frank, who turned his back on the family occult crimebusting business to pursue his muse as a mildly famous indie rocker.
In this exploration of self-publishing, I'm envisioning a tiny, bewinged John Nephew on my shoulder, advising me not to do anything he wouldn't. In other words, parsimony must rule the day. So while I'm commissioning a gorgeous cover from Jerome Huguenin for NTYS, I can't justify the cost for a sheerly promotional effort. Which is to say, it falls to me to put together an at least creditable virtual cover.
The story's contemporary period and music scene backdrop allow me to reach for something photographic, sparing the vulnerable masses from my attempt at drawing. For the design vocabulary I'm looking at something you might see on a book by Chuck Klosterman or Sarah Vowell. A simplified band poster motif seems like it fits the bill, and, if need be, provides a template for future variations. The poster's guitar neck pentacle fuses the rock 'n' roll and supernatural elements.
So here's what I've come up with, in two variations. They're not going to keep any actual graphic designers up at night, but I think they fall within the standard of the freebie story ebook cover. Which of these grabs your eye?
Before you hit send on the comment button, remember that these have to play in at the very small 155 pixel height a book cover gets in an Amazon search result. Does this change your perception any?
March 14, 2012
Flames Rising Interview
As part of Flames Rising's ongoing interview series with the authors of Paizo's Pathfinder Tales line, Jeremy L. C. Jones puts the questions to me regarding The Worldwound Gambit, novel development, and the essence of a compelling protagonist. Along the way I drop a hint or two surrounding my unannounced next Pathfinder novel, talk up Hamlet's Hit Points as a plotting aid, and provide aspiring writers with either encouraging discouragement or discouraging encouragement. Check it out.
March 13, 2012
Back to the Edge
In a move sure to activate the salivary glands of ludobibliophiles throughout the reality grid, Atlas Games has announced the Over the Edge 20th Anniversary Edition. The classic and seminal roleplaying game of weird contemporary conspiracy, by Jonathan Tweet with yours truly, resurfaces from the depths of the Terminal in a lavish limited printing, with deluxe binding and premium interior. Extras include new essays by Jonathan, Greg Stolze, Keith Baker and John Nephew—and a newly commissioned full-color map.
With its concentration on secrets, Jonathan recently referred to his Al Amarja setting as a product of its era. With the battle between chaos and control ever-ratcheting, I feel like it's never been timelier.
(Can it really have been that long? If this game is twenty years old, that means my career in hobby game is exactly that old, too.)
Tie on your best silk noose and head on over to the product page.
March 12, 2012
March 9, 2012
Repairer of Reputations 25% Off in Pelgrane's Hidden Gems Sale
My Trail of Cthulhu adaptation of the Robert Chambers classic story The Repairer of Reputations is available at a discount until Mar 16th. It's part of Pelgrane's Hidden Treasures sale, along with Lorefinder (GUMSHOE/Pathfinder), Brief Cases (Mutant City Blues), and Invasive Procedures (Trail of Cthulhu / Fear Itself.) Go check out Simon Rogers' theories on why they haven't received the sales love they deserve, then click through to pick 'em up cheap.
Six Difficulties of Fiction Plotting
1. How do they know X?
2. Why do they not know X?
3. How do they meet up?
4. What prevents them from meeting up?
5. How do they contact each other?
6. What prevents them from contacting each other?
