Scott King's Blog, page 14

What I’m Creating in 2016!

My next big project is a series called Dragon Lotus. The map you see above this post is the map that I made to go with the series. In the books there are dragons, magic, and its a full on epic fantasy adventure! January was pretty much all about wrapping up the 2nd draft of book 1. I’m in the middle of re-writes now and my plan is to release books 1, 2, and 3 in early fall, all together.

At the same time I’ll also release a book of short stories set in the same universe. The idea is that by releasing all the content staged slightly, but more or less at the same time it will really help with getting a boost with the algorithms on Amazon, Kobo, and those kinds of sites. I’m super excited about the series, but its weird to be almost done with the first book when no one will get to read it for many months.

After I wrap Dragon Lotus Book 1, I’m going to take a break and switch over and write Holiday Wars Volume 4. I already got the book outlined but I don’t want to put it off, because the amazing Michael Odom is excited to start drawing the next book and he can’t until I write it! Big and scary things are going to happen, specially after the horrors of Volume 3! It will be nice to hangout with Tegan, Friday, and the whole crew.

Once Holiday Wars is done I’ll switch back to Dragon Lotus and I’ll probably be working on those books till July or August. It will be tough because in April/May I need to start shooting photos for the 2017 Gaming Calendar and then the annual Kickstarter will launch in June.

When the Dragon Lotus books are done I plan to switch over and do some non-fiction. I’ll write the spiritual sequel to Finish the Script! Right now I’m calling it, “Finish the Manuscript!” but I’ll probably rename it because that’s such a horrible name. The big twist though for Finish the Manuscript is that instead of focusing on how to write a screenplay it will be all about how to write a novel.

The tricky part to Finish the Manuscript! is that at the same time I’ll have to write a novel. It’s part of the book’s hook. In Finish the Script! I wrote a screenplay so that the readers could see my journey and how it evolved as well as see the mistakes and how I fixed them. So to write Finish the Manuscript I plan to write a thriller novel. It will have gun fights, and action, and mysterious puzzles and all that kind of cool thriller stuff. Plus I’m going to set it in Texas and plan to have a lot of the locations be places that Lisa and I have visited in the past two years.

I’m going to follow-up Finish the Manuscript! with a book I’m calling “Fantasyland” (I’ll have to rename it). It will be a guide to world building. The focus will be on fantasy since that’s what I write, but the principals and lessons in the book could just as easily be applied to sci-fi novels, rpg worlds, game design, or anything that requires creative world building.

So the total tally for books to write this year are:

Dragon Lotus Book I
Holiday Wars Volume IV
Dragon Lotus Book II
Dragon Lotus Book III
Dragon Lotus Book of Tales
Finish the Manuscript!
The Cyber Key
Fantasyland: A Guide to World Building

Now if I manage to get alllllll those books done, I’m going to start writing the second Dragon Lotus trilogy. Writing eight books in a year while still doing my gaming calendar, photography work for clients, and my podcast is a lot of work. I THINK I might be able to do it all, but only time will tell.

Lots of big things for 2016 and even if I don’t have a new book coming out for awhile, I promise I’m working hard. The best way to keep up to date on what I’m writing is to sign-up for my mailing list. You can do so by getting a free ebook copy of The Eye of Hastur here: http://www.scottking.info/blog/free/

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Creators Cast: Scott Nicholson!

Today’s Chat:

Scott Nicholson is a game designers, college professor, and the director of the Brantford Game Network game lab at the Wilfrid Laurier University in Brantford, Ontario. To learn more about Scott head over to: http://scottnicholson.com/

If you don’t use iTunes or prefer to manually download an episode you can do so by going to the libsyn feed.

iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/creators-cast/id907534102?mt=2

Libsyn http://creatorscast.libsyn.com/ (for listening online or downloading)

RSS Feed: http://creatorscast.libsyn.com/rss (for subscribing via a podcast app)

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Radho Runs Through the 2016 Gaming Calendar!

Little known secret about Rahdo… I LOVE his videos. I used to rely on people like Rodney or Tom to teach me games, but now I get some games MONTHS before they do. Luckily Radho gets lots of prototypes and as a result he has taught me lots of games, including Aquasphere, which is mentioned in the video!

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Merry Holidays!

No matter what your religion or nationality, I hope you get to spend the last few weeks of the year with friends and loved ones. Even more I hope 2016 becomes a kick-butt year for you. Merry Holidays from me and the whole Holiday Wars team!

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Creators Cast: Lindsay Buroker!

Today’s Chat:

Lindsay Buroker is a full time author. Her two best known series are Emperors Edge and Dragon Blood though she’s got a ton of others. She’s also one of the co-hosts of the Sci-Fi Fantasy Marketing Podcast! To learn more about Lindsay head over to http://www.lindsayburoker.com/

If you don’t use iTunes or prefer to manually download an episode you can do so by going to the libsyn feed.

iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/creators-cast/id907534102?mt=2

Libsyn http://creatorscast.libsyn.com/ (for listening online or downloading)

RSS Feed: http://creatorscast.libsyn.com/rss (for subscribing via a podcast app)

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Mega Civ!

When I was in Dallas I got to try out Mega Civilization. It’s a huge $200+ game that comes in a big 30lb wooden box. It plays up to 18 players and takes a good 8-14 hours to finish depending on the player count.



We did a 10-player game and it took about a half hour to set it up. Upon first reaction I wasn’t impressed. For such an expensive game the production value of the components was pretty bad. I expected wood bits or better art or something other than bland generic punchboard pieces.



It did come with overside cards that were nice and the board was huge (apparently in a full 18 player game the board is twice as big). But still for $200+ I had expected thicker cardboard or something.



As for the game itself, we played for about three hours and forty-five minutes. We had reached the halfway point in terms of rounds, but because round length was getting longer we were only about 1/3rd of the way through the total game in terms of real time.

Gameplay itself was pretty darn simple, though it took a few rounds for it to click with everyone. After that though, things went smoothly. I had expected a war game, but it really is much more about social interactions and trading than battles.



It was a neat experience getting to try Mega Civ. That being said, I’m soooo not the kind of person who can play a game for 10+ hours. Even the almost four hours that we played passed my limits. I don’t have patients for something that goes on for so long. That being said, that’s more of a personal taste thing and we did play long enough that I can respect why gamers who love Civ do enjoy it. So I’m really glad I got to try it out and see what all the fuss was about and I gotta say a special thanks to James from the Nerd Nighters for taking the time to teach and moderate the game.

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Austin’s Graffiti Wall!

I did a day trip to Austin and when there I checked out their famous graffiti wall!

From what I can tell sometime around 2010 a company was going to build housing units but the project fell through because of zoning problem. They had already started building the homes and so their were these huge slabs of concrete. Since it’s a city they quickly drew the attention of vandals.

Instead of making a big hub-bub about the graffiti the owners of the property declared it an art gallery and now people from all over show up and use spray paint to make crazy works of art. It’s truly a wonder to see and if you are ever in the Austin area you need to check it out!

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Creators Cast: Bryan Cohen!

News:

I’m back and I share what it was like to have a booth at BGG.con!

Today’s Chat:

Bryan Cohen is the creator of the hit YA series “Ted Saves the World.” He also does a podcast called The Sell More Books Show, he has dozens of books focusing on creative writing, and just recently he launched a description writing service called “selling for authors.”

To learn more about Bryan head over to http://bryancohen.com

If you don’t use iTunes or prefer to manually download an episode you can do so by going to the libsyn feed.

iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/creators-cast/id907534102?mt=2

Libsyn http://creatorscast.libsyn.com/ (for listening online or downloading)

RSS Feed: http://creatorscast.libsyn.com/rss (for subscribing via a podcast app)

The post Creators Cast: Bryan Cohen! appeared first on Scott King.

Tail Feathers Preview!

Tail Feathers is the hot new release published by Plaid Hat Games and Designed by Jerry Hawthorne. It’s a miniatures battle game and is set in the same universe as Mice & Mystics.

Last week I got a chance to drive up to Dallas and visit the Plaid Hat Headquarters. Jerry taught me the core concepts of the game and then left me alone with a special copy painted by Michael Jordal. This is what happened…

You can pickup a copy of Tail Feathers at Plaid Hat’s online store:

http://www.plaidhatgames.com/store/72

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BGG.Con Wrap-up!

Lisa and I had an amazing time during our weekend away seeing Fredericksburg, TX and then had even more fun when we spent a week in Dallas at BGG.Con.

I had a one day booth. It was both good and bad. The BGG folks did a bad job of advertising that the layout of the convention, which was different this year. Instead of one big exhibitors hall there were two of them on the opposite sides of the convention. So during the first day no one knew about the second hall and it was DEAD.

It wasn’t until around three thirty until people discovered that there was a second hall. We were basically busy the last two and a half hours of the day but the first half was a waste. For most of the retailers it wasn’t a big deal cause they were going to be there all week, but since I had a one day booth it made a big difference.

That being said, we sold crazy amounts of my books! I had no idea we would sell so many books. I figured the calendar would be popular. I was totally wrong. A lot of parents bought my Zimmah Chronicles trilogy for their kids and a lot of adults bought The Eye of Hastur for themselves. So all in all it ended up going well, just wish the folks running BGG.con had made it clear that there were two halls.

Best Games I Played!

Dinotwist



This was the winner for both Lisa and myself. We LOVED it. It’s a French game that came out at Essen. It’s not available in the US, but the convention library had a copy. We tried it two player, three player, and six player. It worked with all three player counts and for such a small light game, it was a bunch of fun.

Basically there is an island called Twist Island and it’s going to be destroyed. Every player then has their own island and what they are trying to do is to recruit dinosaurs to come live on their island. Each dino has a point score and the person with the highest score wins.



What’s cool though is that it has simultaneous gameplay so that a six player game went almost as fast as a two player game. It was a lot of fun and a US publisher seriously needs to pick it up!

Super Rhino Hero



We love Rhino Hero. It’s a great card stacking game that’s perfect for a light filler or for playing with people new to gaming. Because Lisa enjoys it so much she had her heart set on playing SUPER RHINO HERO which is basically just a giant version of the game.



From Wednesday to Saturday we tried to get a copy of Super Rhino Hero from the library but it was always out. I mean we went and were checking like every two hours, because she wanted to play it so badly, and then finally on Saturday afternoon we scored a copy!



Lisa set-up shop in the main thruway of the convention and spent nearly two hours playing the game with anyone that walked by and wanted to jump in. It was one of my favorite moments of the convention, seeing her have so much fun sharing the experience of Super Rhino Hero with other people.

Club Zen (prototype)



I’ve wanted to play TC Petty’s prototype for Club Zen for almost three years. I saw it wayyyyy back at Unpub 3 and thought it looked interesting. So I was super excited when we got a chance to demo it. It played fast, under an hour, for three players, which is good because it’s a point-hoarding worker placement game.

What really stood out was the theme. In it, the players are at a resort called Club Zen and they are trying to find inner peace and remove the stress from their lives. So they get to visit zen gardens, events, work out in the gym, and do other vacationy-things to try and find balance in their life. The theme really comes through which is impressive because if not it might feel like a soulless euro, but instead it felt new and fun. Club Zen is supposed to hit Kickstarter in the winter/spring so keep an eye out for it.

Codenames



After GenCon, Codenames was hot. I was able to score a copy. We played it wayyy back in September, but only two player and we did not get why people liked it.



Fast forward to November. Because Codenames is so easy and quick to bust out, we played it at the convention more than any other game. It’s simply a quick party game that plays well with a bunch of people.

Neuroshima Hex



I was totes in the Neuroshima Hex tournament. The problem is no one said ahead of time that we had to have a partner so I got stuck with a random guy I didn’t know and he was kind of a curmudgeon the whole time and very bossy. We lost, to Rodney of Watch it Played and Chad of Pair of Dice Paradise, but that’s fine I didn’t want my teammate to win anyway.



Plus even though I didn’t click with my partner, I actually had a lot of fun playing the game. I’ve only ever played Neuroshima Hex via the app. So it was refreshing to play the tabletop version.

A Fake Artists Goes to NY



A Fake Artists Goes to NY is basically Spyfall meets Pictionary. There is a art-master or something and he/she writes down a thing or object on a bunch of tiles, but on one tile they draw an “X.” The tiles are passed out and if you get the X it means you are the fake artist.

A pad is passed around the table and each player draws a little bit of the picture, trying to make it clear that they know what they are supposed to be drawing without giving away to the fake artist what is happening.

It’s really stressful being the fake artists. The pad comes to you and you have to draw a line or something, but when you don’t know what you are supposed to be drawing it’s super hard.

At one point I got to be the art-master and I really wanted to write “poop emoji” as the thing they had to draw, but then I got an idea. I thought “what if I make them all fake artists.” It’s not that I wanted to ruin the game or even that I was being mean. I just had to know what would happen. What kind of drawing would they make if none of them knew what they were drawing?

It was great watching them all sweat and get nervous and it was really interesting to see the picture they ended up creating…

Obligatory photo dump!

I take photos. It’s what I do. So here are a bunch of photos of games and people from BGG.Con! (note: these are all cellphone pics. It was too hard to lug my real camera around with Lisa there)

Watch it Played in REAL LIFE.

True fact: Sam is an AMAZING driver. The roads in Dallas are poop. They are falling appart and in many cases the highways, exits, and such make zero sense because of so much construction. So even though driver in Houston are horrible, driving in Dallas is worse because of the roads. That being said, Sam drove a huge rental care like a freaking BOSS. It was impressive and everyone should know how good of a driver he is.



Madness Games & Comics was the most amazing game store I had ever visited. It was about 35 minutes away from the convention but it was worth the trip. It was HUGE. The place must of once been a grocery store. If you are ever in the Dallas area make sure you check it out.



Suz is the ONLY person of the 2,800 people at BGG.Con who tweeted more than me. 

The registration line was so long it went outside and started to wrap around the building. 

The first day when we were working the booth, Lisa got a “walking taco” for lunch which was basically taco trimmings dumped in a Dorito’s bag. So weird.

We got to try a new prototype from Talon Strikes. 

We did a coffee exchange and it was AMAZING. One of my favorite non-gaming things I got to do at BGG.Con. 

#meta

Portal’s new family freindly game. We called it “Fat Animal Farm” cause you have to feed sad animals to make them fat and once they are fat they become happy.

Rodney was so proud cause he thought he had one Blood Rage but Matt from Boardgame Replay stole the victory!

That photo inside the view finder is amazing. I wonder who took that? *wink * wink.    

I got distracted while Suz was explaining the rules to Steamroller.

I still won by steamrolling over their pitiful scores!



Lisa LOVED the live “Dice Tower” show. She’s never listened to the podcast and so she hadn’t realized that sometimes Tom, Eric, and the rest can be funny.

I swear, everytime I saw Rob Daviau he was demoing some kind of Legacy Game. There was Pandemic season 2, Sea Fall, and some other game! He’s just a Legacy designing machine.



This was an interesting little game called “Splash!” I thought it was a prototype but apparently it’s an import from Japan.



Lisa’s haul from the Flee Market. She went while I was at the Neuroshima Hex Tournament and it was one of her favorite things to do at the convention.   

Lisa looked at me and said “It’s pretty but not as cool as the giant version of Rhino Hero.”

These people. Shesh.

So last year, I helped Ignacy from Portal Games locate a palette of missing games. I figured it was a once in a life time thing, but NOPE. This year the convention/shipping people lost his games AGAIN! Luckily they found them and everything turned out all right, but seriously, Ignacy can’t cut a break.



This guy was so hardcore about “Time’s up!” that he had a specific stance he developed for use when playing the game.

My favorite purchase when in Dallas. The Tuesday before the convention we hit up the Dallas Zoo and the second I saw this in the gift shop I KNEW I had to have it.

The last game Lisa played at the convention was some weird ostrich birth/sex game. It sounded inappropriate to me. Who would even teach such a wacky thing?

All in all BGG.Con was great. It’s by far my favorite convention of the year and it was nice to share it with Lisa since normally her work schedule is impossible. I’m already excited and looking forward to going again next year!

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