My Guest Article at Innsmouth Free Press

Hi everyone,

Thought you’d be interested to find out that I wrote an article about the appeal of Cthulhu in gaming for Innsmouth Free Press, a Lovecraft-inspired webzine. Written with the casual gamer in mind, I list some horror games that I enjoy and talk about why the Cthulhu mythos is a great backdrop for a horror game.

For hobby gamers, the idea of losing your sanity while investigating the things that go bump in the world of Lovecraft has a strong appeal because it gives the characters a very tangible cost to uncovering the truth. — SOURCE: Cthulhu In Your Game at Innsmouth Free Press

If you’re interesting in gaming, I hope you drop by to read my article entitled Cthulhu In Your Game at Innsmouth Free Press.

Also, I’d like to mention that as part of our FlamesRising.com Cthulhu Week promotion, the publisher at Innsmouth Free press wrote a guest article for us entitled Cthulhu Week: A Note from the Editor at Innsmouth Free Press. Be sure to read this informative article written by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and find out more about their upcoming anthology.

Three Non-Fiction Releases about Gaming

Hi everyone,

I am pleased to announce that I’ve got three, non-fiction releases related to hobby gaming available for you to check out.

Family Games: the 100 BestFirst, if you haven’t had the chance to check out FAMILY GAMES: the 100 BEST, I’d recommend that you consider getting your copy signed if you’re heading to GenCon in Indianapolis. Several of the essayists, including yours truly, will be at the convention. Also, you might want to head over to the Green Ronin booth and track down James Lowder for his signature. Not only did he edit the book, he’s also an outstanding author in his own right.

This year, you can find me at the GenCon Writer’s Symposium which is managed by author Jean Rabe. I’ll be writing a post about what panels I’ll be on later.

My second release is a very “heady” essay about dice and divination for THE BONES, which was edited by Will Hindmarch and published through Gameplaywright. What is this book about?

The Bones gathers writing about fandom and family—about gamers, camaraderie, and memories— and ties them together where they meet: our dice. These are essays and anecdotes about the ways dice make us crazy, about the stakes we play for and the thrill we get from not knowing what the next roll will bring. –SOURCE: THE BONES at Gameplaywright.net.

My contribution to THE BONES took on a more intellectual, esoteric approach. I talked about how the act of rolling dice draws upon a form of divination that employs the use of dice; I also mentioned how players like us often take on the role of the divine, because we typically determine what happens to our characters through a simple roll of the die.

After reading through our limited edition copy, I have to say that I feel Will did an absolutely outstanding job as editor. He provided a healthy potpourri of entertaining anecdotes and intellectual discourse that offers something for everyone to read. If you like to game, you can order a copy now or buy one in the dealer’s room at GenCon this upcoming August. Similar to FAMILY GAMES: the 100 BEST, several of the essayists and contributors will be floating around to sign your copy of THE BONES.

Last, but not least, I also wrote an essay about how powerful convention demos can be to attract new players for this year’s release of the RPGirl Zine. RPGirl is a project led by Emily Care Boss that highlights women in the gaming industry. In addition to this essay and my bio, Emily was kind enough to promote THE QUEEN OF CROWS e-book. I’m not one-hundred percent sure if she’ll have her own booth presence this year or not, but I do know that the RPGirl Zine will be available, along with THE BONES, at the Indie Press Revolution booth.

Family Games 100: Essay List Announced

Hey folks, FAMILY GAMES: THE 100 BEST just left the printer and I’m pleased to share with you the full list of authors, games and essays. The game that I talked about was GLOOM, which is one of my favorite card games. How many of these games have you played or can recognize?

    Foreword by Mike Gray
    Introduction by James Lowder
    Afterword by Wil Wheaton
    Appendix A: Games and Education by David Millians
    Appendix B: Family Games in Hobby Games: The 100 Best by James Lowder

List of Family Games and Essayists

    Carrie Bebris on 10 Days in the USA
    Steven E. Schend on 1960: The Making of the President
    Dominic Crapuchettes on Apples to Apples
    Mike Breault on The Awful Green Things from Outer Space
    Jeff Tidball on Balderdash
    Keith Baker on Bang!
    Bruce Harlick on Battleship
    James Wallis on Bausack
    Paul Jaquays on Black Box
    Lewis Pulsipher on Blokus
    Teeuwynn Woodruff on Boggle
    Fred Hicks on Buffy the Vampire Slayer
    James Ernest on Candy Land
    Ian Livingstone on Can’t Stop
    Bruce Whitehill on Careers
    Jared Sorensen on Cat
    Wolfgang Baur on Cathedral
    John Scott Tynes on Clue
    Alessio Cavatore on Condottiere
    Elaine Cunningham on Connect Four
    Will Hindmarch on Cranium
    Erik Mona on Crossbows and Catapults
    William W. Connors on Dark Tower
    John D. Rateliff on Dogfight
    Robert J. Schwalb on Dungeon!
    jim pinto on Dvonn
    Gav Thorpe on Easter Island
    Jeff Grubb on Eurorails
    Kenneth Hite on Faery’s Tale Deluxe
    Richard Dansky on Family Business
    Warren Spector on Focus
    Corey Konieczka on For Sale
    James M. Ward on Fortress America
    Stan! on Frank’s Zoo
    Bruce C. Shelley on The Game of Life
    Phil Orbanes on A Gamut of Games
    Monica Valentinelli on Gloom
    Matt Leacock on Go Away Monster!
    Steve Jackson on The Great Dalmuti
    David “Zeb” Cook on Guillotine
    Jason Matthews on Gulo Gulo
    Joshua Howard on Halli Galli
    Bruce Nesmith on Hare & Tortoise
    Mike Pondsmith on HeroClix
    Anthony J. Gallela on HeroQuest
    Chris Pramas on HeroScape
    Ed Greenwood on Hey! That’s My Fish!
    Colin McComb on Hive
    Alan R. Moon on Hoity Toity
    Jon Leitheusser on Ingenious
    Uli Blennemann on Java
    Luke Crane on Jungle Speed
    Monte Cook on Kill Doctor Lucky
    Emiliano Sciarra on Knightmare Chess
    Todd A. Breitenstein on Liar’s Dice
    Marc Gascoigne on Loopin’ Louie
    Andrew Parks on Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation
    Seth Johnson on Lost Cities
    John Yianni on Magi-Nation
    Bill Bodden on Master Labyrinth
    Andrew Greenberg on Mastermind
    Ken Levine on Memoir ’44
    Scott Haring on Mille Bornes
    Steve Jackson on Monopoly
    Sheri Graner Ray on Mouse Trap
    Kevin G. Nunn on Mystery Rummy: Murders in the Rue Morgue
    Dale Donovan on The Omega Virus
    Darren Watts on Othello
    Charles Ryan on Pandemic
    Michelle Lyons on Pente
    Thomas M. Reid on Pictionary
    Nicole Lindroos on Pieces of Eight
    John Wick on Pit
    Matt Forbeck on Pokémon
    Robin D. Laws on Prince Valiant
    Stephen Glenn on Qwirkle
    Sébastien Pauchon on Ricochet Robots
    Peter Olotka on Risk
    Richard Breese on Rummikub
    Jesse Scoble on Scotland Yard
    Richard Garfield on Scrabble
    Mike Selinker on Set
    Rob Heinsoo on Small World
    Hal Mangold on Sorry!
    Jess Lebow on Stratego
    Eric Goldberg on Strat-O-Matic Baseball
    Andrea Angiolino on Survive!
    Karl Deckard on Thebes
    Dan Tibbles on Time’s Up!
    Tom Wham on Trade Winds
    Susan McKinley Ross on TransAmerica
    Ray Winninger on Trivial Pursuit
    Leo Colovini on Twixt
    Matthew Kirby on Uno
    David Parlett on Upwords
    Lester Smith on Werewolf
    John Kovalic on Wits & Wagers
    Philip Reed on Yahtzee
    Kevin Wilson on Zendo
    Jess Hartley on Zooloretto
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