The Conversions Return, and the Demise of a Powerhouse Publisher
Yes, you read correctly. After nearly two months of not doing any conversions because I was so set at working on my novel, I have finally written up a couple of conversions. One should be very recognizable to my readers, no matter their age.
The other, not so much, unless my reader happens to be a huge fan of Doctor Who!
I will try to write up a couple a week, and usually they will go up on the site on the weekend. I may write up more during the week, but we shall see.
Speaking of my novel, I started the re-write and edit last week. It is going to be a very long and drawn out process, believe me. I barely managed to read 12 pages and make notes. What will take the longest amount of time for me is running each chapter through Rightwriter. This is a nifty program that analysis work for grammar mistakes and offers suggestions.
I have discovered my biggest fault is run-on sentences. Already I have learned quite a bit and my work is benefiting greatly as a result!
I hope to go through about 20 pages a week, so at this rate it’s going to take about two months for me to fully edit and make the changes to my novel. It will be worth it in the long run, and my book will be all that much better.
In other writing news, I have begun to compile quite a few notes when it comes to monk magic items. Some are going to be downright silly but useful, while others may be more than a little overpowered.
I’m going to give myself a deadline of three weeks to write this material up, so that means even though I am back to playing Everquest 2, I will be pushing it aside during the week to write the material and get it sent off to Michael Varhola for editing. That’s my goal for December 31st.
Also I need to take my advanced mutation rules and send them off to my editor for work, so that they can be used for upcoming issues and then start to compile notes on Tattoos for BOTH Mutant Future and Labyrinth Lord.
I heard some very interesting news as well this week. A company that I had aspirations to write for has announced (not to anyone’s surprise) that it is shutting down after the end of 2015. Gold Eagle, the company that produced ‘The Executioner’, ‘Stony Man’, ‘Deathlands’, ‘Rogue Angel’ and ‘Outlanders’ series, is shutting its doors.
I gave up on Deathlands about ten years ago, maybe longer, due to many reasons. I had even wanted to write for the series many years ago but that too changed for numerous reasons. In a way I’m sort of sad to see this happen, but also very happy. I am glad to see that my friend Mark Ellis will be getting his characters back, and who knows, maybe I’ll delve into that little sandbox once again.
I am happy to see it go for one reason. The way they SCREWED their writers out of royalties and how badly they treated them. Good riddance to the folks who caused so much heart and headaches. Karma’s a bitch.
I do hope to see Deathlands get picked up by a different publisher though, and maybe see it go through some changes and become something new. I doubt that will happen but one can always hope.
One of the reasons I brought my old Everquest 2 account back online was because I really needed something to help relax me. Writing, while enjoyable, can be taxing and I do need to be able to sit down and play a game here and there.
I’ve been playing EQ2 for a decade now, on and off. I typically play for a few months and then shut down my account for a year or longer, usually until the next expansion is released.
If you want the honest truth, I am hoping for inspiration. I’m playing once again to try and come up with some ideas that I can use for either upcoming Wisdom from the Wastelands issues, or maybe articles for Labyrinth Lord.
So far, zippo. But time will tell.
And this week I did in fact pick up some new RPG material.
I LOVE the games Fallout 3 and New Vegas. When I found out many years ago that a now defunct company called Glutton Creeper games was producing a pen and paper version using the D20 system, I was stoked.
But things went wrong with the company pretty much from the start. They got screwed and had to change the title of the game and make a lot of internal changes due to the lawsuit that was going on at the time in regards to the franchise.
They still managed to produce quite a bit of material for the game, including a large number of Ops, or adventures.
I purchased all the material that came out for the game, including ordering hardcopies of the core books.
These sat dormant for several years until recently. A new company – from the way I understand it, purchased the rights to the game and have picked up where they left off and are now producing new material. The company is called 4HR Games.
Most of the stuff they have produced have been continuations of the OPS but they are creating a brand new rule set for the game as well.
I went to download all the material that I had purchased and discovered that one of the disks I used had become corrupted and no longer readable. To make matters worse, I couldn’t download the material since I bought it directly from Glutton Creeper’s page. The only way I could contact the new owners was through Facebook. That was back in August while I was in the Philippines burying my Father in Law.
They replied and asked for some information and were going to check into it for me. They never did get back and have ignored all requests for follow up. Even the email address they had on their site bounced back.
Pretty shitty customer service.
The upside is that I did find another backup of the files so I was able to print them out and get them bound.
Still, I’m not impressed. So buyers beware – make sure you back up your PDF’s and / or print them out.
And on that note, I’m done for the week.
The image for this week’s blog comes from the short story ‘Cost of Freedom’. A young Ioannis Tocci is getting a stern lecture from his father. The man has just been released from a stint in the Kos dungeon and he has a lot of hardships ahead of him. As usual, the work is from the talented Alfonso Maesa.
Stay warm, stay safe, and MERRY Christmas!
Peace!
