Matt Forbeck's Blog, page 69

This Weekend: Geek.Kon

This weekend, I'll be reprising last year's appearance as a guest at Geek.Kon in Madison, Wisconsin. If you're anywhere near the area, come on out and say hi! Other guests include Chris Ayres, Bill Bodden, Jim Frenkel, John Kovalic,  Matt McElroy, Aaron Pavao, Raven Software, Eric Vale, Monica Valentinelli, and the Spoony Bards. (Check out the Guest List for all the details.)

Here's what I'm scheduled for:

Friday, September 3

6 PM: Game Creation

Saturday, September 4

2 PM: Writing Panel3 PM...

Lightning Kings

Here's something else I worked on that never made it over to the States: Inazuma-Oh! (That's "Lightning King" in Japanese, I'm told.) It was originally a Japanese set of customizable racing cars that clipped together in three different levels. You mixed and matched layers, then rammed them into each other to see which could dish out or take the beating best.

At the request of Playmates Toys, I came up with a new set of factions and names for the various cards, along with the framework for a...

Die Geister von Ascalon Available Now

The German version of Guild Wars: Ghosts of Ascalon — Guild Wars: Die Geister von Ascalon — officially hit stores yesterday in Germany. It's published by Panini, a publisher I know best from its long relationship with Marvel Comics in Italy and through my friend Marco Lupoi. If you speak German or can fake it well enough, you can download and read the first three chapters for free.

Big thanks go out to translator Cora Hartwig, as it can't be easy to translate a fantasy novel like this. My...

Give My Old Games Good Homes

Now that I'm done running around for the summer, my son Marty has stepped up to give me a hand with clearing out my closets and attic, which are clogged with old games, books, and more that haven't seen enough love over the past few years. He's putting them up on eBay for me, one at a time.

Part of the impetus for this is that a small disaster struck while I was at Gen Con. The quad boys' bedroom sits directly over my office, and their toilet overflowed. The water rained down into my office...

Jonny Nexus on Tied-In

Jonny Nexus — he of Game Night fame — recently picked up Tied-In, the first book about tie-in novels from the IAMTW. He likes it a lot so far, but then he segues into naming his favorite tie-in novel of all time: Grease by Ron De Cristoforo.

I haven't thought about it for years, but I read lots of these when I was a kid. My favorite at the time was a Welcome Back, Kotter novel by William Johnston. How about you? What's your favorite?

Ghosts of Ascalon Uber Alles

If you speak German, be sure to look out for Guild Wars: Ghosts of Ascalon — a.k.a Die Geister von Ascalon — in deutsch next week. It hits stores in Germany on August 24. If you can't wait that long, head on over to GamesCom this weekend, at which my co-author Jeff Grubb will be reprising his Comic-Con role as official autographer of free copies of the book.

New Amortals Review

Gill Polack recently read my upcoming novel Amortals. In her review, she writes:

I keep wanting to use that old slogan "Tight, taut and terrific" about Amortals, which is accurate, but oh, so wrong. There's not a wasted word. There's not an idea that doesn't make sense. I meant to start it tonight and finish other work, then finish it tomorrow, but it's a read-at-one-sitting book so I've rescheduled some other things.

Thanks, Gill!

Angry Robot on the Air Again!

The fine folks at Angry Robot just posted their second podcast. This one — hosted again by the mellifluous Mur Lafferty — features Lauren Beukes and Kaaron Warren. I've read both of their first books, and I'm in the middle of Lauren's Zoo City right now. They're both excellent writers, so be sure to check them out, right after you listen to the podcast.

"Roll Dice" Prizes

My friend John McLintock is running a series of contests to celebrate the 5th anniversary of his gaming blog "Roll Dice and Kick Ass!" As part of this, I'm donating a signed copy of Guild Wars: Ghosts of Ascalon. You can also win games and books from other authors and designers like Bill King, Academy Games, Q-Workshop, Jim Swallow, and many more. Check John's blog for all the details.

Listen In On Gen Con

During all my running around at Gen Con, I wound up being recorded for three different podcasts. In the first, Cam Banks and I chatted with Ryan Macklin and Kevin Weiser for This Just In … From Gen Con! We ranged over a lot of topics, including the Smallville RPG and the Diana Jones Award. It was 11 AM on Gen Con Thursday, so we were all still relatively fresh.

Next, Jason Pintre recorded "The Intersection of Games and Stories," a seminar that Jeff Tidball, Stan!, and I ran at 11 AM on Gen...