For the most part, this site has been about my musings on writing, and on gaming.
Over the next few months, you may see that change. But it'll still be about writing, and gaming.
Explanation ...
I had a remarkably creative and prolific run as a freelance writer for the gaming industry for a few years, something that not a lot of people get to enjoy. It's literally been a childhood dream come true. And I got to meet a lot of pretty cool people along the way. I'm incredibly grateful for all of the opportunities provided by freelancing, and wouldn't trade the experiences for anything.
But I've made no secret of my more recent dissatisfactions and frustrations with my journey in the world of freelance writing. I'm a bit more at peace with some of the things that have frustrated me over the past year-and-a-half or so, but honestly, I've come to the realization that this isn't particularly what I want to do anymore. Not with things staying as status quo, at any rate.
My interests have also wandered a bit. There was a time, probably two years ago, where if you told me I'd get to do nothing but write adventures for the next ten years or so, I would've been the happiest gamer alive. Give me the same offer now? I don't think I'd be so enthusiastic. I have a lot of weird and eclectic interests, and gaming has started to take a back seat to some of them. Couple that with the above dissatisfactions, and ...
Oh. Right.
Some of those weird and eclectic interests also include writing, and gaming.
Over the past year or so, while the freelancing end of things hasn't always been wonderful, the personal games at the table have been pretty grand. I've been running a Warhammer campaign that's been a blast. I just finished making my first Exalted character, for a campaign that my friend Eric is starting. I'm making characters for Shadowrun and CthulhuTech. I'm planning on running Rogue Trader whenever the Warhammer campaign wraps up, and I've got ideas for a Pathfinder campaign and a 4E Eberron campaign that I hope to get off the ground at some point. (Or, quite possibly, a 4E Dark Sun campaign, if I can wait until next summer. That just smells of genius possibilities.)
In short, despite the fact I wasn't that into gaming for awhile this year because of the freelancing side of things ... on the personal side, it's been incredibly good. It's been a creative renaissance of sorts, one much like the one I enjoyed during my high school and college years. And I'm loving every second of it.
As for the writing ... well, one of the things I realized is that the gaming freelance projects, while a dream, have taken away from another dream – writing a novel. Every word written for a sourcebook or module is a word less that I’m writing for something else. I’ve enjoyed the dream of writing games for a couple of years now; it seems a good a time as any to try to pursue a different dream.
That’s not to say I won’t try to keep a hand in the gaming end of things. Not at all. But it does mean I’ll probably be working on a lot less gaming projects, and I’ll be way more selective about the ones I do work on. If that means losing jobs because I’m too fussy or because I turn too many things down, so be it. As I’ve said, I’ve had a good run as a freelancer, so no complaints. Life’s too short.
I still have one or two projects that need to be wrapped up, so I imagine I’ll still be talking about those in the weeks and months to come. But I think this site will start to be more about the games I’m playing, rather than the ones I’m writing. More reviews, perhaps. More actual play stuff. It’ll probably head further away from the design end of things, and more towards just how things play at the table.
And it’ll be more about the writing, which I’m really excited about. I already have some interesting irons in the fire, so to speak. No, no contracts with a publisher, no book deals just yet … but I’m a little further down the road towards those goals than I was just a couple of weeks ago. And I plan on sharing some previews of what I’m writing every once in a while.
Exciting times. Different times, to be sure.
Hope you stick around for the ride, even if it’s changing a little bit.
