happy new year from one buzzing particle to another


Hi Reader,

Welcome! Happy New Year! Please, come in. Let's shake off that snow.

Make yourself at home. The candles on the table are set up for Hanukkah. Tomorrow night's the eighth night—the big one!

I haven't had you over for a while because I've been heads-down in the text for Defy the Gods, trying to finish it so I can hand it off to Rue Dickey, the copy editor. Now that the Christmas brouhaha is over, I'm putting every spare hour into this.

I'm preparing to launch a Kickstarter for Defy the Gods in March! In advance of that, I'll soon start marketing the game more actively. Once I can get my head out of this manuscript, I'll make a hard pivot from total introvert to total extrovert. At least, that's the plan.

Here's the logo that Cris Viana came up with—not final-final, but getting there. Isn't it awesome? The book is starting to feel real!

And here are the color versions of the character portraits!

Aaaah! They're so cool! Thalie did such amazing work—as she always does.

But! While all this has been happening, a new batch of raccoon dice arrived from Poland! Ros is planning to come over this weekend to assemble the last 170 or so Raccoon Sky Pirates games. I'll ship most of them to Indie Press Revolution and have a few to sell from here, Hectic Electron Central (that is, this table, when it's not Dinner Central). Probably as soon as Monday.

In other news, Udo now wears a harness all day every day, so we can help him down the stairs and up into the car, because he's been getting more tottery. I have to say he looks quite sharp in it. He's an old dog, but he's hanging in there. I'm glad he gets to experience the snow. What he really wants to do is lie on the bed, ideally with us, and we try to maximize his time there.

What are you up to? How have your holidays been? Are you ready to brave the new year? Because I have to tell you, it's here.

Cheers,
Chris

P.S. Quick poll! I'm still trying to land on a tagline for Defy the Gods, so people know what they're getting into when they pick up the book. The current contenders:

  • Queer Sword & Sorcery
  • Discover Queer Sword & Sorcery
  • Sword & Sorcery Romantic Adventure
  • Steamy Sword & Sorcery
  • Sparks, Swords & Sorcery

What do you think? Would you want to know up-front that it's queer-focused? That it has romance in it? I'd love to know. Okay thanks! I'll check in again soon!

Everlasting, Neverending Game Night

🌈🚀 Reliable wonder engine. I make narrative role-playing games that imagine a weirder, queerer, more connected world.

Read more from Everlasting, Neverending Game Night
Four illustrations from the book

Hi Reader, Welcome! Please, come in. There's still a few patches of snow on the ground—winter coming in fits and starts. How are you? Me? A weight is off my shoulders—Defy the Gods is at the printer. You can read more about it in the breathless Kickstarter update I sent out yesterday. In fairness, I was feeling breathless. Or like I was just starting to exhale. The printer is reviewing the files. They'll send a report by the end of the week. I'm gonna pay half the print cost soon, with an...

Art for Defy the Gods: scorpion demon, crab city, civic festival, and a thief in the marketplace.

Hi Reader, Welcome! Please come in. It's rainy and blowy outside, and someone said we could get snow. But it's toasty in here. On the table, we have a pile of decorative gourds. I marked numbers on them with a Sharpie so you can roll them like dice. After months of frenzied work on Defy the Gods, I'm suddenly left with nothing to do. The text is complete, the book is laid out. We're waiting on the index and the last four pieces of art—out of 75! Sometime in the next 10 days, we'll submit the...

sketch of four cards with a human figure or sword strikes, divided into nine grid squares. Defy the Gods looms faintly underneath.

Hi Reader, Welcome! Please come in, sit down. Have some cold fizzy water—it's way too hot out there. On the table are echinacea blooms—they're back! Since the Defy the Gods Kickstarter wrapped, I've been keeping a low profile. Writing the text, fixing things, finishing sections that were rough. I mean, that's what I'm doing now. At first, I just took the weekend off. Went to a movie. I found myself working on an old card game idea—a fast-paced sword duel played in real time instead of turns....