A Beautiful Thing

One of the biggest projects of the spring and summer has been working with Devinder Thiara on a feature length movie script (purely a spec script, you understand).

Right before GenCon, we typed “The End” on 122 pages of Western Horror. The first draft has been sent to a very small inner circle to get some fresh eyes on it, and give us a bit of distance before we burn through a quick 2nd draft. After that point we’ll probably be trying to get everyone we can to read it.

Other than game material, this was obviously the longest piece I’ve done collaboratively. It was a very interesting experience to see how we split the work (about perfectly 50/50), which characters we each felt more comfortable writing, which we never agreed on, and the different ways we approach pacing, drama, action, characterization, etc. Overall it was a real success, and I’m eager to start on another spec.

Now I just have to figure out how to register the damn thing before the Toronto Pitch Expo next week!

Posted in Writing on August 29, 2007 by Jesse
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HG100

I was thrilled to be invited to contribute an essay to the upcoming Hobby Games: The 100 Best, published by Green Ronin. James Lowder wrangled 100 authors to each talk about one of their favorite games – whether roleplaying game, collectible card games, miniatures games, wargames, or board games – in what promises to be a very fun and historic collection. The authors list alone “blows my mind.”

Authors are luminaries from many gaming fields, from the grandfathers of the pen&paper and wargame industry to cutting edge computer game gurus. It’s a real honor to be counted among these folks, though I fully admit my contributions to the industry have been fairly minor. Among the list we’ve got legendary game designers: Gary Gygax (co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons), Ian Livingstone and (British) Steve Jackson (co-founders of Games Workshop), Richard Garfield (creator of Magic: The Gathering); best-selling authors: R. A. Salvatore, Tracy Hickman, Douglas Niles, and Ed Greenwood; computer industry notables Warren Spector (Deus Ex), Bruce Shelley (Age of Empires), Jack Emmert (City of Heroes), and Bruce Nesmith (Oblivion); and the usual suspects: Monte Cook, Zeb Cook, Greg Costikyan, (American) Steve Jackson, Christian T. Petersen, Jordan Weisman, Stewart Wieck, JD Wilker, and Skip Williams.

And a list of top-notch designers I’m always happy to drink with: Justin Achilli, Stan! Brown, Richard Dansky, Matt Forbeck, James Ernest, Kenneth Hite, Steve Kenson, John Kovalic, Steve Long, Mike Selinker, Zev Shlasinger, Jeff Tidball, George Vasilakos, James Wallis, and Erick Wujcik.

I can’t tell you yet what game I wrote about (hint: it’s *not* my favorite RPG of all time), but all will be revealed soon. Advance copies will be for sale at the Green Ronin booth at GenCon.

Hobby Games: The 100 Best info page.
(note the tabs at the bottom of the page and check out the Author List and the Editor Interview)

Posted in Games, Writing on August 12, 2007 by Jesse
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