News
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This round of updates was brought to you by the letter K on September 30th, 2012.
The latest on the publishing roadmap
"Unsilenced" publication date
"Unsilenced" will be published in the fourth anniversary double issue of Beneath Ceaseless Skies on October 4th. For those unfamiliar with BCS, it's a online webzine (free to read!) focused on high-quality adventure fantasy with lush prose. My story: There have only ever been and only ever will be four mages, but they make the same mistakes as any other man or woman where their hearts are concerned.
Sigil-beasts available
You can now get a PDF version of my entry in the Windhammer Prize for Short Gamebook Fiction. Sigil-beasts puts you in the place of a mage who is searching for a way to restore a dragon's skeleton to life, so that you can answer an even deadlier creature's challenge to your homeland. Take a look at the (22!) (not a factorial, just excitement) entries if you're interested, and vote for the two you like best. The voting period ends October 30th.
Current writing projects
More romantic interactive fiction
Now that I've got a gamebook under my belt, I'm tackling an interactive reinterpretation of Swan Lake where you are Odile (the black swan), seeking to deceive the prince. Or perhaps you'll decide not to. It'll be up to you. (It's up to me to make both choices satisfying...)
Recent reading
Songs & Swords series by Elaine Cunningham
I read these back when I was a kid and picked them up again because I remembered them as being among the better game-setting-related novels I'd read. Arilyn's an over-powerful character (expert assassin who wields a sword with multiple powers), but I liked her struggle with her mixed elf-human heritage, and just the fact that she was a competent female. This time around, though, it was Danilo, her (supposedly) accidental companion who appealed to me. He puts on a façade as a spoiled noble fop who uses magic for party tricks, although in actuality he's quite a skilled mage who uses his position in society to pick up useful information. What I admire most is that while Danilo keeps up this front for most of the book, it's successfully more amusing than annoying, and I can see how Arilyn still formed a genuine friendship with him despite that deception. The first book is the best, but if you insist on a romantic relationship, read through the rest of the series. (Note that the third book decidedly does not follow romance conventions.)
Miscellaneous updates
More travel
I'm going to be traveling, and as always am equipped with my trusty e-reader (loaded with a bunch of gamebook PDFs, of course). Writing implements are also packed. The fact that I'll have no Internet access might actually lead to their use. I will note that I would be much more likely to write on planes if only every single seatmate I've had did not try to read what I was writing...