Horizon Zero

West of House

Playfic.com is a site that offers interactive fiction - the grand-daddy of the adventure game genre - and the tools needed to build your own.

Interactive fiction has always appealed to me because it seemed like the purest blending of writing and games. The writing is the game, after all, since there are no fancy graphics to fall back on. It's up to the characters, setting and witty turn of phrase to keep the player's interest.

The king of commercial interactive fiction was Infocom, who published a wide range of titles including the Zork series and the game adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. There have been some memorable homages to the IF genre in modern gaming, from Homestar Runner to Fallout 3 to (bizarrely enough) Saints Row: The Third (NSFW).

I've had a story idea kicking around for a while that I could never find a proper outlet for. I thought that it might work better as a television concept, but I think doing it as an Interactive Fiction piece might be an even better fit.

I must ponder this.

GenCon 2012

I'm registered and reservated. Going to do all 4 days this time.

The guest and event information won't be published until May, but Wheel of Time and Mistborn author Brandon Sanderson will be there this year - although it's not clear yet if he's just going to be signing or if he's taking part in the Writer's Track.

2011 - Taking Stock

Pretty big year, 2011. Changed jobs, changed cities. Did some travelling. Read some new books and reread a ton of old ones.

I didn't get as much writing done as I would have liked, but I did get something completed and entered into a contest. Sure, I lost, but I was kind of expecting to - and getting something from concept to submission was a major improvement.

All in all, I'm pleased with the way things played out - personally, at least.

Of course, 2012 is an election year, with all the associated chaos and drama that seems to bring these days. The economy is still uncertain and I'm still pretty bearish on the long term stability of the whole system. I'm as well prepared as I think I can be, but the truth is we're all just sitting around waiting for Black Swans.

But you pay your money and you take your chances, same as everyone else who's ever lived.

Bring it on, Mayan Calendar Dudes.

 

Blizzard Short Fiction Contest - Entered!

To quote the great explorer James Tiberius Kirk, "Why do we always cut these things so damn close?"

I could say that it's the thrill of the deadline, but in truth I'm just a notoriously bad procrastinator.

But by George, I really did it, I did it, I did it.

I said that I would finish and indeed I did.

I knew that I could do it, I knew it, I knew it.

I said I'd write a story and indeed I did.

Blizzard, you're magnificent.

A Cure For Writer's Block

for (int i=0; i>-1; i++) {
char monkeyWithTypewriter = (char)(random.nextInt('Z'-'A'+1)+'A');
System.out.println(monkeyWithTypewriter);
}

You might need to let it run for a while to get anything good.

Blizzard 2011 Writing Contest

Has been announced.

I don't really know the Starcraft or Diablo lore well enough to do anything there, but I'd really like to give the Warcraft angle a shot.

And I'm not going to get into the "Blizzard is teh biased to Horde" argument, but I will note that the last two winners were about Garrosh Hellscream and freaking Regent-Lord Lor'themar (who is so memorable I had to hit up google just to get the name).

The way I see it, you can either Go Big and pick a major NPC and hope that your take on him or her resonates with the lore and story gurus or you can go for an Everyman approach and hope you don't Mary Sue yourself into absurdity.

Ideas, people! Start providing!

Presented Without Editorial Comment

"Harry Potter is about confronting fears, finding inner strength and doing what is right in the face of adversity. Twilight is about how important it is to have a boyfriend." 

Steven King

Summer Camp

Camp Nanowrimo, the summer version of the National Novel Writing Month event, kicks off at the beginning of August.

I'm excited.

Just because I've never actually, you know, finished doesn't mean I'm still not eager to try.

Fall down seven times, get up eight.

Self Publishing Author Becomes Million Seller

DIY author hits millions in sales, makes a bundle using Amazon's $.35 royalty model.

Mike Stackpole is right - the tools are out there, it just takes the will.

Summer Camp

As much as I've tried (and how aggressively I've actually tried is something that can be debated) I haven't quite managed to pull off a NaNoWriMo win yet. Something about November, I tell myself.

The Office of Letters and Light seems ready to call my bluff, as it were.

Camp NaNoWriMo is a new summer competition, due to kick off in August. Same rules apply, one month to hit 50,000 words. August even has one more day in it than November, so that's a big boost right there.

And since it looks like I won't be attending GenCon this year I won't have that excuse to fall back on either...