2011 in review

This hasn't been the most productive year I've ever had. I'm sure it has a lot to do with the baby and the new job, but I did have a few publications.

The biggest was the release of my second novel, Red Moon Rising

I also had short stories published in Beyond Centauri, Aoife's Kiss, and A Taste of Armageddon. I also created several supplements for the Ephemeris RPG.

2012 is looking like it will be a more productive year. Alexis is starting to get a little more independent, so that will hopefully free up some time. Early in the year, we'll see the release of my third novel and I'm also hoping to create a brand new RPG this year.

Hope you all have a great and safe new year! See you next year!

Thinking about a new RPG

I've been playing with the idea of creating a new RPG. This one would be a fantasy game set during the colonization/conquest of America. It would contain a lot of the actual facts of that era, but in the game, magic would be real...opening up a lot of potential alternate histories.

Although I'm thinking about this, I'm not convinced that I actually want to do it. The game would take A LOT of work, and it would be very challenging. I'm not really sure if I can devote the time that I would need to such an endeavor. For my writing friends out there, it may be hard to believe, but I actually think creating an RPG is a lot harder than creating a novel. With a novel, you just have a few plot lines. With an RPG, you have to be able to consider as many plot lines as possible, because every player is different.

It's a thought...we'll see if it leads to anything...

I don't understand parents

Our kids spent the day with grandma today so that we could get some last minute Christmas stuff done. As we were leaving to pick them up, we saw two little girls walking down the sidewalk towards us. They were probably four and two. Both had coats on, but neither of them were zipped up. Neither of them were wearing shoes or socks.

For the record, the temperature here today was not much more than 20, and we just had a foot of snow, so these kids were walking on icy snow packed sidewalks...without shoes and socks!

We asked them where their parents were, and they just kept saying they'd gone night night. Neither of them spoke English very well (we're thinking they might have been Russian,) so it was hard to understand much of what they said. They kept walking because the oldest said they couldn't talk to us. We got in our car and followed them for a couple of blocks. At this point, we pretty much decided that this was beyond insane, so we called 911. Eventually the police showed up and took them into custody. They were very scared of the fact that they were going to have to go with the police, but the fact that we were all trying to help them warm up, and obviously trying to do what was best for them seemed to relax them a little.

I seriously have to wonder what these kids' parents were thinking. It's possible that something had happened to their parents, but we really don't know, and if the parents really were just sleeping, who sleeps while their young kids wander out of the house? I can barely even sleep when our kids are up and moving...

I don't know what happened to the kids, and I would actually like to know. I also really want to know what the parents could have been thinking.

12 Days of Ephemeris Christmas

We're going to be having special sales all through the 12 days of Christmas. We'll be offering a different PDF e-book each day for a buck through DriveThruRPG.

Here are the days, the titles, and the links you'll need to use on those days:
14th: the core rulebook http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?discount=46749

15th: The Derelict Ship of the Ancients http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?discount=14719

16th: Ephemeris: Critters and Pests http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?discount=39990

17th: Mission of Trade, or Mission of Mercy http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?discount=39893

18th: The Ephemeris Book of First Level Characters http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?discount=11412

19th: Necessity's Call http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?discount=18582

20th: The Scientist's Sourcebook http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?discount=14554

21st: The Law Enforcer's Sourcebook http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?discount=66296

22nd: The Althani Sourcebook http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?discount=31824

23rd: The Arbonix Sourcebook http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?discount=39405

24th: The Culthan Sourcebook http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?discount=12482

25th: The Human Sourcebook http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?discount=44103


Remember, each offer is only good for one day, and each book is only $1.

The Martian Wave as a bestseller

The Martian Wave Vol. 2, which I edited, made it onto the bestsellers list at Sam's Dot Publishing for November. It came in at #4. You can check out the complete list at http://sdpbookstore.com/bestsellers.htm.

Ephemeris holiday specials

We've set up some special holiday bundles at DriveThruRPG for those of you that play, or want to play the Ephemeris Science Fiction Role Playing Game. Both of the bundles feature the following titles: Critters & Pests, Expanded Ephemeris Equipment List, Necessity's Call, Derelict Ship of the Ancients, Book of Tables, and the Species Compendium. The only difference in the two bundles is that one features the core rulebook and the other does not. They list for $18 and $15 respectively.

Without the core rulebook: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=86042

With the core rulebook: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=86038

November recap

Happy birthday Alexis!

Nothing to sell

Some stuff to write

Cyber Monday sales