Book Review: The Godgame

If you’re reading this then you might be deciding whether or not you should buy The Godgame by Keith Deininger, so let’s cut to the chase. Should you buy The Godgame? Absolutely yes!

I have been following Keith’s work since before he even published his first book, and I must say, he just keeps getting better. With each new release he shows that he is constantly honing his skills and becoming a true master of his craft.

In The Godgame, Keith displays what a truly exceptional storyteller that he is. And that’s what it all comes down to, the story. The story is what keeps us reading, what keeps us turning the pages late into the night, and The Godgame is a wonderfully captivating story set in a vivid and dark fantasy world that is unlike anything I’ve ever read. It is enticing, thoughtful, and absolutely fantastic!

Buy it, love it, tell your friends about. You won’t be disappointed.

Cheers for Keith Deininger’s The Godgame!

Be Legend – Ragnarok: An Introduction

Be Legend – Ragnarok Base Set (Box Cover)

Today I’d like to introduce you to a project I’ve been collaborating on. This is something quite different than anything I’ve worked on previously, but it is a project that’s quite close to my heart because it is, in fact, a board game. Now, I love board games and tabletop gaming for many reasons that I won’t elaborate on here (perhaps in another post). Really, I’m just excited to show it off to you and I should probably stay on topic anyway. So without any further delay, let me present: Be Legend – Ragnarok.

Be Legend is a programming, deductive combat system created by First Legend‘s Lead Game Designer, Mark Laufer. It is based on legends, myths, historical figures, and other various works of fiction, and we’ve come up with an interesting story to tie all these together. Our base set, Ragnarok, is centered on the Norse mythology, and will include some known favorites such as Odin, Loki and of course, Thor. Other Legends in the base set include: Surt, The Fire Giant; Freya, The Enchantress; and Fenrir, The Great Wolf. In all, the Be Legend – Ragnarok Base Set will include a total of 8 customizable characters for you to pit against each other in this unique game of epic conflict and clever deductions.

One thing that really excites me about this game, aside from the intuitive, programming combat system, is how the game manages to capture the feel of each of these individual characters. Each Legend you have to choose from has two unique ability cards which boil down how it feels to be that character in combat. It sounds almost impossible to accomplish such a thing, but let me tell you, it really works and it’s this specific characteristic of the game that, in my opinion, really makes it something special.

In a future post I’ll go into detail about how the game actually plays, what encompasses a typical game round, and of course, how to decimate your opponents and snare ultimate victory, but for now I wanted to give you a quick introduction and show off some of the gorgeous, original artwork by Rafael Domingos. So, let’s have a look, shall we?

[All images made larger by clicking.]

Here’s our Game Board:

Sample Player Boards (Works in Progress. Text shown is filler text only.):

 

A few Unique Ability Cards (Card Text not Finalized):

 

We’re steamrolling toward our Kickstarter Campaign, expected to launch in June, but if you’d like to give the project an early boost in the mean time, please visit us at gofundme. Any help you can offer is greatly appreciated. And if you aren’t in a position to donate financially, that’s cool, but you can still help by spreading the word. Heck, even telling just one other person would be awesome!

Also, visit the Be Legend Website for more information on the game itself, view more of Rafael’s gorgeous artwork, and sign up for the print and play beta! Also visit and like our Facebook Page for updates and of course, share, share, share!

Thanks for checking out Be Legend! I’ll be back soon with more information!

Cheers!

The Memory Eater has Arrived!

Okay folks, my apologies for being so late to the party. The Memory Eater was officially released already and somehow I missed it. Oh well, better late than never, eh?

I must say that this book has been an amazing project to work on and I am very fortunate to be included with such an outstanding group of writers and artists. It is quite an honor to be lumped together with all this amazing talent. Kudos to Matthew Hance for putting all this together. It just goes to show how a spark of an idea can spread like wildfire if only given the chance. Pick up your copy on Amazon in Print or ebook format.

Here’s the blurb for the book followed by a quick video trailer for my own included story, Vanishing Cycle:

The Memory Eater is an anthology consisting of 27 uniquely illustrated stories based on a device with the ability to locate and destroy any memory in the human mind. Follow the story of a conflicted man who tries to become the fantasy inside his head by deleting reality. Or the story of a devastated couple who lost their child and turn to a shady Memory Eater doctor to erase their problems. Discover the truth behind the urban legend regarding where the Memory Eater really came from, and how it was used during World War II in the fight against Hitler and Nazi Germany. Drop in for a tale of love, and how one man never gives up hope to find his childhood sweetheart after the Memory Eater tore them apart. Witness how a teenage prank involving the machine and a chore goes hilariously wrong. Or how, with the introduction of this new technology, mass paranoia begins to spread, prompting people to tirelessly investigate their own pasts. See how the Memory Eater will shape the future into the perfect utopia. How it evolves into much more than deleting memories. Memories will become transferable and sold in back alleys. They’ll become viral. But ultimately, nothing will be safe, not even the sacred depths of the mind.

The Memory Eater on Kickstarter–Call for Support

Hi folks. I know it’s been a while since you’ve heard from me, but i assure you, I’m still alive and kickin’. Despite what the rumors may have you to believe, I haven’t been abducted by aliens, nor have i become a rogue zombie and ventured into the wilds in pursuit of sweet, sweet brain meat. I have, however, returned from the netherworld in order to share a creative project that I’m involved with. Oh, and I’m also here to shamelessly enter a plea for your support. Don’t worry though, because if you do lend a gracious hand (and dough, I’m talkin’ serious amounts of hard currency!), you get stuff in return, so it’s cool. I mean let’s face it, we alI like to get stuff.

I’m very excited to share with you the news of this creative project—a fiction anthology called The Memory Eater: Stories that Erase the Past to Save the Future, created and edited by Matthew Hance. The science fiction-inspired anthology consists of 27 uniquely written and illustrated stories based on a futuristic device with the ability to locate and destroy any memory in the human mind. The concept—that everybody wants to forget something, don’t they?—is intriguing, as is the format. Each of 27 authors wrote an original story around the concept, and 27 artists contributed a companion original piece of art for the stories. My story, Vanishing Cycle, was accepted for inclusion in the anthology.

 

Here’s the promotional video for my story:

 

 

 

The anthology was pitched to select publishers with positive feedback, but ultimately, Matt decided to take advantage of the evolving book publishing landscape and retain control over the book publication and distribution by raising the funds to self-publish. April 2 marked the launch of the Kickstarter.com fundraising campaign to raise funds to publish The Memory Eater, which is ready to print right now!

 

 

 

Kickstarter is a unique Internet funding platform for creative projects by writers, musicians, artists, designers, filmmakers and visionaries of all kinds. Artists post an in-depth profile of their creative work and ask interested people to pledge a donation over a short period to reach a funding goal. If the goal is reached, the pledges are funded, and the artist can help bring their creative project to life.

 

 

Please visit The Memory Eater fundraising campaign at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/875080901/the-memory-eater-anthology and support my story. The page includes a project introduction video, story and art samples and links to several contributor web sites. The platform offers several pledge levels ranging from $1-$300 with rewards attached to each donation. Rewards run the gamut from written acknowledgement in the anthology, to free books, to bookmarks and T-shirts, to custom created, artist-signed The Memory Eater artwork on canvas. Pledges are not collected (via PayPal or credit card) unless and until the project goal of $4,250 is reached in the 40-day campaign period.

 

 

The Memory Eater’s Kickstarter campaign runs through May 12, 2012. For further information about The Memory Eater anthology, visit Hance’s blog at www.anthologies2011.blogspot.com; http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Memory-Eater-Anthology; and Twitter at @TheMemoryEater.

 

 

 

Thank you for checking out the campaign and for your support of my work!

Aberrant Embodiment

I recently noticed a common theme with several of my stories: aspects of characters either changing physical bodies in various manners or altering their existing physical or mental state from one thing into another. It then occurred to me that this commonality might make for a good collection. As it stands, there are about eight or nine stories I’ve written that fall within this theme.

This simple realization has inspired me to further build upon it, and even write more stories to fit within this mold. I have a few more ideas brewing for new stories, and now with this concept in mind, I can work to make them more focused as I write them. I believe I might even have a few poems that could be included to further flesh this manuscript out.

The working title is currently Aberrant Embodiment: Curious Tales of Strange Metamorphoses.

And now I’ll leave you with a quote from Ovid, Metamorphoses:

“Nothing in the entire universe ever perishes, believe me, but things vary, and adopt a new form. The phrase “being born” is used for beginning to be something different from what one was before, while “dying” means ceasing to be the same. Though this thing may pass into that, and that into this, yet the sums of things remains unchanged.”