Author/Game Designer Update

Hi all,

I wanted to get you a quick update on all fronts as I’ve been meaning to post for quite awhile, but have been unable to do so. Here goes . . .

Medical:
So much has happened since my last post—the biggest of which is that I’ve been out of town and swamped for about a month (from early December to early January, with only a few days home before Christmas and then back out of town). Too busy to blog or do much of anything else. Everything’s been on hold and I am just getting back on my feet. The biggest of the bad part was why I was gone.

My father lived on a farm in Maryland and became deathly ill around Dec. 1st or 2nd. I flew out there right away and looked after him all day every day at the hospital with my sisters (also from out of town) and his girlfriend, then around the clock at home when he got out of the hospital. He seemed to stabilize somewhat (neither getting better, nor worse) and I had piles of work (I’m the only artist on staff at my day job) and bills to take care of back home, so I left him in the hands of my two wonderful sisters and his terrific girlfriend. Sadly, the cancer was just too advanced and he passed away on Christmas Eve from 3 types of cancer, Stage 4.

I flew back out there Chrismas night, taking a red eye. There’s still much to wrap up regarding my father, his bills, farm, etc. so I’ll be dealing with all that for some time to come, but things are somewhat back to normal—well, a new normal. I loved him very much and will miss him sorely.

Fiction:
I didn’t have time to write during all that. Last night was my first night back to writing in a month. I’m back to revising and polishing The Shadow Hunter, a novella that should be completed soon! It is part of my Arcane Synthesis Kickstarter (only beefed way up from what I promised—a bigger, cooler tale). After I finish the last remaining rewards, I’ll be diving into a sequel to my Voices novella. After that, I’ll be back on track and jump on The Living Train, I imagine.

Game Design:
I’m still working on the Cosmothea Blended-Genre Roleplaying Game when I can, and have made a few nice improvements lately. I’m really excited about the game and Cosmoverse Campaign Setting, but finding time to work on them is challenging. I brainstorm in my car nearly every day, looking for ways to improve and polish. And they are improving!

Almost all of the heavy lifting mechanics are long behind me. What’s left design wise is mostly filling in blanks, writing out the rest of the spells, monster and alien stats, weapon info, that sort of thing. Of course all that still takes a huge chunk of time. And of course there’s a lot of playtesting and polishing to do too, plus commissioning and doing a lot more artwork.

Blog:
I’ve been torn for quite awhile about this blog —whether I should keep bouncing between the setting, roleplaying game, board and card games and of course my fiction, or whether I should start a second blog and have one for games and one for fiction (but the Cosmoverse is both gaming and fiction, and I don’t know if I can nurse to blogs at the same time).

Problem is, my fan base is still small and I’m not sure how many are even reading these posts (I get very little feedback as it is). I do appreciate those of you who do read it. The thing is, few ask questions or provide feedback. Of course some of that happens on my forums and via emails, but I’m just feeling out of sorts with the blog. I feel it has included a lot of good stuff in it, but it’s not getting the attention and feedback I was hoping for.

If you would like me to continue or if there are questions you have for me regarding any of the above, please let me know and I’d be happy to address them. No matter what I choose to do regarding the blog, I’ll keep you up-to-date, and I’d love to hear your thoughts! QT Games isn’t fading away and I’m not crawling under a rock, but I need to sort out how to proceed from here on. Talk with you soon!

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