Jonathan Green's Blog, page 10

Gamebook Monday: Jonathan Green meets Jordan Sorcery

I was recently interviewed by Jordan Sorcery about my work for Fighting Fantasy and the Black Library, and the video went live yesterday. And you can watch it here...

It was nice to be given the opportunity to talk about things people don't often ask me out, such as my involvement with Games Workshop and the early days of the Black Library. However, having watched the interview back, I must apologise for the number of times I use the word 'fun' during the course of our conversation.

Jordan Sorcery has been putting out some fantastic content on his YouTube channel and has interviewed the likes of Sir Ian Livingstone, Rick Priestley, Alessio Cavatore, Gav Thorpe and Andy Chambers, to name but a few. You will also find an interactive history of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks on there.

Gamebook Friday: Alko Venturus

Issue #4 of Alko Venturus, the French gamebook and RPG webzine co-written and co-published by Scriptarium and Alkonost, is out now and includes a substantial interview with Yours Truly.

You can download Alko Venturus #4 here and, best of all, it's free!

 

Gamebook Friday: Cannes Festival International des Jeux 2024

I am delighted to be able to share the news that I will be attending the Festival International des Jeux in Cannes, from Friday 23 - Sunday 25 February 2024.

I will be the guest of both Alkonost Editions, who publish the ACE Gamebooks series in France, and Scriptarium, who will be publishing the French language edition of YOU ARE THE HERO.

So if you happen to be attending the festival at the end of February, do make your way to the Alkonost/Scriptarium stand and say hello. Or maybe bonjour.

Happy Birthday, Tony Hough!

M'colleague and occasional collaborator, fantasy artist Tony Hough, is 60 years old today!

Tony and I first worked together when Puffin Books commissioned him to illustrate my second Fighting Fantasy gamebook Knights of Doom, for which he also painted the cover.

We spoke for the first time, over the phone, not long after he became a father but didn't meet until some years later at Dragonmeet.

We worked together again when he provided the internal illustrations for Bloodbones, my fourth FF gamebook, which was published by Wizard Books.

I was privileged to visit an exhibition of Tony's art - much of it Warhammer 40K and Fighting Fantasy-related - in his home town of Luton, and he was one of the artists who attended the first Fighting Fantasy Fest in 2014. He has also attended every one since.

Since then Tony has provided a picture for the Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu short story anthology and he illustrated my fourth ACE Gamebook, 'TWAS - The Krampus Night Before Christmas. He is also the illustrator on the 'TWAS RPG line and our next collaboration will be The Box of Delights RPG.

So please raise a glass to Tony on this, his 60th birthday. May his STAMINA never fail!

Gamebook Friday: MAGIC REALMS and Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu

Happy New Year!

This is a gentle reminder that if you want to pledge your support to MAGIC REALMS - The Art of Fighting Fantasy, written by Sir Ian Livingstone and Yours Truly, on Unbound, you have until 14th January 2024 to do so and ensure you get your name in the book.

In other gamebook-related news, Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come will be arriving on Kickstarter in 2024. You can sign up to receive more details as and when they become available here. And please share this link far and wide.

Gamebook Friday: Review of the Year - 2023

2023 has been a busy year, for various reasons, in no small part because we moved house - again! - although hopefully we are now settled for the foreseeable. Another reason is because we got a dog.

His name is Conker and he's a one year-old Cavapoo.

I have never owned a dog before and wasn't particularly keen on getting one. However, my son found an apt meme online that goes along the lines of, 'There is no love like that between a grumpy, middle-aged man and the pet he said he didn't want.'

Therefore, this year will probably go down in my memory as the Year of the Dog, but in terms of writing, it has definitely been the Year of Aconyte Books. I started 2023 by writing my first Marvel gamebook for Aconyte - Moon Knight: Age of Anubis - and I've ended it putting the finishing touches to my first Arkham Horror gamebook, The Darkness Over Arkham.

I have only actually had two books published in the UK this year - the aforementioned Moon Knight: Age of Anubis and the second ACE Gamebooks Roleplay RPG Heorot - but I've actually written five. However, eight different overseas editions of my ACE Gamebooks have been published this year and three of my Fighting Fantasy gamebooks.

Sadly, this year, we lost Russ Nicholson, whose illustrations for The Warlock of Firetop Mountain helped set me on the path to becoming a gamebook author, and with whom I am immensely proud to have collaborated on the fourth ACE Gamebook Beowulf Beastslayer.

Russ's illustrations also appear in the Heorot RPG.

In 2023 I attended the UK Games Expo and Dragonmeet, as usual, and a couple of events local to me here in Taunton. I will certainly be attending the UK Games Expo again in 2024 but also hope to visit some other events outside of the UK.

I have plenty of writing plans for 2024 as well, including launching the Kickstarter campaign for the next ACE Gamebook, Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come.

But first, I need to put several projects to bed, not least of which is YOU ARE THE HERO: An Interactive History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks. YOU ARE THE HERO will be published later this year, as will Magic Realms: The Art of Fighting Fantasy.

And we also have Fighting Fantasy Fest 5 to look forward to in 2024.

Before I go, if you haven't signed up to my author newsletter, you can do so here, and I'll see you again in the New Year!

Gamebook Friday: Howl of the Werewolf Playthrough

Over on the GoneHollowMedia YouTube channel, Sean and Emily have been working their way through my fifth Fighting Fantasy Gamebook Howl of the Werewolf. Their playthrough runs to seven parts, and you can watch the first part below.

Howl of the Werewolf Playthrough

Over on the GoneHollowMedia YouTube channel, Sean and Emily have been working their way through my fifth Fighting Fantasy Gamebook Howl of the Werewolf. Their playthrough runs to seven parts, and you can watch the first part below.

Gamebook Friday: ACE, Box, Anubis, and Shakespeare

We're just two and a half weeks away from Christmas and I, for one, haven't started my Christmas shopping yet.

If you have yet to do your Christmas shopping, have you considered buying someone on your present list a digital ACE Gamebooks or ACE Gamebooks Roleplay product this year?

Right now I have a sale on over on DriveThruRPG. You can buy a complete RPG - 'TWAS, one of its supplements, or Heorot - for just £5, while my ACE Gamebooks are just £2 each.

I am also currently running a crowdfunding campaign, over on Gamefound, to pay for more of Tony Hough's amazing artwork for The Box of Delights - The Roleplaying Game. 

But if you're looking for a physical gift to pop in someone's stocking, or put under the tree, how about my new Marvel: Multiverse Missions gamebook Moon Knight: Age of Anubis?

Looking ahead to the New Year, in 2024 I will be crowdfunding the eighth ACE Gamebook, Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come. To sign up to be notified of developments, follow this link.

Gamebook Friday: Dragonmeet 2023

I will be attending Dragonmeet on Saturday 2nd December 2023. The event is taking place at the Novotel Hammersmith in West London.You will find me sharing a stand with Sir Ian Livingstone in the Lower Trade Hall, which will be open from 10:00am-6:00pm.

Click to enlarge.

I will have physical copies of the ACE Gamebooks Roleplay RPGs for sale, including HEOROT - Roleplaying in the World of Beowulf Beastslayer, 'TWAS - The Roleplaying Game Before Christmas, Christmas in July, and The 'TWAS Advent-ure Calendar.

I will also have copies of RONIN 47 with me and several more of my ACE Gamebooks.

At 2:30pm, I will be at the Aconyte Books stand signing copies of my new Marvel Multiverse Missions gamebook Moon Knight: Age of Anubis, so, if you're around, do stop by and say hello.