Jonathan Green's Blog, page 14

Gamebook Friday: Stock Clearance Sale

Due to an imminent house move, I am currently trying to clear as much old stock as possible. Follow this link to pick up a bargain, knockdown price ACE Gamebook hardback while you still can.

You can also pick up the PDF of the Heorot RPG at a discounted price, for the duration of Ormamánuður, Worm's Month, until 14th August 2023, over on DriveThruRPG.

Steampunk Thursday: Jules Verne Lives!

It's been a while since I've written a Steampunk Thursday blog post but I am doing so today because Jules Verne Lives!: Essays of His Works and Legacy, edited by Gary Westfahl, is out now.

Gary approached me in 2021 about being a contributor, providing my thoughts on writing Steampunk stories. And being published alongside James P. Blaylock, one of the Godfathers of Steampunk, is pretty darn cool.

Gamebook Friday: MAGIC REALMS has funded on Unbound

Magic Realms: The Art of Fighting Fantasy, written by myself and Sir Ian Livingstone, has reached its funding goal on Unbound. 

However, because this is Unbound, there isn't a cut off date yet for pledges, so if you haven't pledged yet, you still can.

The book focuses on the work of 26 artists, who have contributed art to the Fighting Fantasy series over the past four decades, across 25 chapters. Each chapter starts with a brief biography of the artist, followed by pages and pages of full colour and/or black & white artwork, along with some previously unseen sketches and other tidbits. There are also insights into their work from the artists themselves.

Rewards on offer include signed hardbacks, a clamshell box edition, and a new A2 colour map of Allansia by Leo Hartas.

To pledge your support, click on the link to the Unbound  Magic Realms: The Art of Fighting Fantasy  project page.

Gamebook Friday - Moon Knight: Age of Anubis - the first review!

Moon Knight: Age of Anubis isn't out for another two months in the US, and closer to five months in the UK, but the first review is in, courtesy of NetGalley reviewer Chelsea-Anne Kennedy of ChucksLibrary on Instagram. Here's what she had to say about my first Marvel gamebook.

Book: Moon Knight: Age of Anubis⁠
Author: Jonathan Green ⁠

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐⭐️⁠

Another gamebook novel this time starring Moon Knight.⁠
⁠
I love these books they are so much fun and take me back to being a child with the choose your own path format. With my notepad and dice handy I was ready to start. In this book we are an Egyptologist setting up a new museum display when a mummy comes back to life. We help Moon Knight track down this mummy and stop Anubis.... or we try to.⁠
⁠
I found this book super fun and you can spend hours trying all the different paths. I managed to die twice but also unlocked some fun achievements like late night double feature and going underground. The story is engaging and is great if you love the Moon Knight universe, we do have some other Marvel characters appear too, so look out for them :)⁠
⁠
If you want a fun, easy-going, choose your own book with some action this is a must.⁠

You can pre-order Moon Knight: Age of Anubis here.

Gamebook Friday: Your Last Chance to Late Pledge!

If you would like to place a Late Pledge to the YOU ARE THE HERO 40th anniversary edition Kickstarter, or upgrade your pledge, today is your last chance to do so. Either visit the Late Pledge page here , or drop me a line at info@jonathangreenauthor.com.

In other news, MAGIC REALMS: The Art of Fighting Fantasy is now 85% funded through Unbound Books.

30 Years of Spellbreaker

As Spellbreaker's 30th anniversary month draws to a close, Julian Sparrow will be commencing a readthrough of the adventure on his Twitch channel. Proceedings kick off tonight at 9:30pm BST.

Enjoy Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland for free this Free RPG Day

Today is FREE RPG DAY, so why not download the PDF of Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland today for free?

To take up this offer, simply click on this link or the image below. Happy gaming!

Gamebook Friday: Spellbreaker is 30 years old today!

Today, 23rd June, marks the 30th anniversary of the publication of my first book, the Fighting Fantasy adventure Spellbreaker.

At least, for some reason, 23rd June is stuck in my head as the date. It was on or around this date that I went into WHSmith in Leamington Spa and found the book on the shelf and then spent so long poring over it that I ended up getting a parking ticket. I was just blown away by the fact that I had written a book and that it had been published, and could be picked up in an actual bookshop by actual people. The fact that I had a copy of my own from when I had visited the offices of Puffin Books in London some weeks previously was irrelevant.

Sadly, I lent that very copy to someone a few years later and never saw it again. The copy I now have is the one I gave to my parents, complete with my personalised dedication to them and a very immature autograph. My signature these days resembles something you'd see on an ECG monitor.

It took three years to get to the point where I had my first book on sale, if you ignore all the years of 'practice' that had gone before that. In my final year of school, I wrote to Puffin asking if I could write gamebooks for them. Eventually, Marc Gascoigne, who was the Fighting Fantasy consultant editor at the time, wrote back to me kindly explaining what I need to submit to be considered for publication but warning me that my chances of publication were very slim.

I proceeded to start writing Outlaws of Kaan , and duly submitted the first 100 sections and a detailed synopsis of how the adventure would pan out. Marc considered my proposal and politely declined, so in the Christmas holidays, after my first term at university, I re-wrote and re-submitted by proposal. Unfortunately, it still wasn't up to scratch and Marc turned it down again. It was time to try something else.

I let things rest until the summer holidays and, in between working as a gardener, of all things, I worked on a proposal for a new adventure called Spellbreaker. This one was better received, but I was still asked to make some changes and resubmit. I did so and this time Marc thought it was good enough to show to Richard Scrivener, the Fighting Fantasy commissioning editor at Puffin Books. In my Easter holidays, after my proposal had been scrutinised by Richard, I was asked to make a few more tweaks and then, at the start of my summer holidays after my second year at university, I received a commissioning letter from Marc the last line of which I still remember was. "I'll let you go now and pass out with happiness."

From that point on I became one of FF's regular stable of writers, providing one book a year for the series until Puffin Book pulled the plug in 1996.

Fighting Fantasy opened all sorts of doors for me, including ones that lead to Games Workshop, Abaddon Books, and Doctor Who, and only last year I assisted Steve Jackson with writing Secrets of Salamonis , and Sir Ian Livingstone and I are currently working on a book together .

Looking back, it feels like quite some achievement. I have been published every year since Spellbreaker came out, in one form or another, and I now make my living as a jobbing writer. But you find me in a sombre mood today. The reason? My age.

My father died suddenly of a massive heart attack aged 70, whilst doing what he loved. I was diagnosed with high blood pressure four years ago and since last summer I have had a couple of health scares related to my heart. Therefore, in my mind, I only have 20 years of writing left, at most, which leaves me thinking, what do I want to spend my time writing, since my remaining writing time is precious?

I am a writer, it's what I do, and beyond being a husband and a father, in a large part it is how I define myself. I will write for as long as I can, but I also have to be sensible about what I write, because my family need the money I earn from writing. But on the other hand, I don't want to fritter away my time writing something I'm not wholly invested in. (You won't find me writing Moshi Monsters books these days.) But equally, some of my ideas for gamebooks are pretty niche, and adventure gamebooks are already a niche market.

I don't have any answers to these questions at present. In my immediate future I need to finish YOU ARE THE HERO - An Interactive History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks and The Box of Delights - The Roleplaying Game . I know I want to write another ACE Gamebook , ideally in time for the UK Games Expo 2024, but beyond that I don't know.

Nonetheless, I shall be raising a glass to Spellbreaker tonight and toasting the future. Just in case.

Magic Realms: The Art of Fighting Fantasy

Coming in 2024 from Unbound is Magic Realms: The Art of Fighting Fantasy, written by myself and Sir Ian Livingstone. 

The book focuses on the work of 26 artists, who have contributed art to the Fighting Fantasy series over the past four decades, across 25 chapters. Each chapter starts with a brief biography of the artist, followed by pages and pages of full colour and/or black & white artwork, along with some previously unseen sketches and other tidbits. There are also insights into their work from the artists themselves.

The book is currently seeking funding here and rewards on offer include signed hardbacks, a clamshell box edition, and a new A2 colour map of Allansia by Leo Hartas.

To pledge your support, click on the link to the Unbound Magic Realms: The Art of Fighting Fantasy  project page.

Gamebook Friday: The Wicked Wizard of Oz - Brazilian edition cover reveal!

The Brazilian edition of The Wicked Wizard of Oz - or O Maligno Magico de Oz, as it is in Portuguese - will be launched this autumn at the Rio Biennial Book Fair, which is one of country's largest literary events.

The cover has been released by Brazilian gamebook publisher Jambô Editora, and here it is...

Click on the images to enlarge them.