Heroes are More than Tavern Brawls
If you're a fan of board games, there's a good chance you've at least heard of Red Dragon Inn, even if you haven't played it. Well, that lighthearted battle of booze and barroom boxing has a new tie-in that better encapsulates the adventurer's life outside the tavern....
Poll: What’s it take to be the greatest bounty hunter?
Back when I first launched my Black Ocean: Mercy for Hire series, I posed this question to my email insiders. The main character, Esper, may be unconventional, but she still shares many of traits the great scifi bounty hunters possess. A bounty hunter's job is to...
Good News, Everyone! It’s the best Sci-Fi show ever
While I hold onto hope that someday this title might get passed along to a Black Ocean adaptation, I just want to talk about the best sci-fi show ever made. With all due respect to the likes of Star Trek, Dr. Who, X-Files, and Firefly, the best science fiction ever...
Henchmen can be heroes too
Not sure what my Author Scrapheap is? I introduce the idea on the Author Scrapheap archive page. This edition hearkens back to some of my earliest fantasy reading back in junior high school. Idea: Henchmen Start with a band of villain’s henchmen as the main...
Firefly: You can’t take this board game from me
I've never made a secret of Firefly being one of the main inspirations of my Black Ocean universe. And when it comes to themed board games, there are few they hew as close to the feel of their source material as Firefly: the board game. In the television series,...
2 techs I want to mash up
For me, the "present" is sort of permanently frozen in my mind as the mid-to-late nineties. As we drift ever onward into the future, we rob old sci-fi stories of their futuristic tropes. Today, we stand on the verge of one that gets little attention but stands in the...
Your DIY magic portal
One of my favorite seeds for story ideas is the notion of the crossover concepts. They've been big in comics since forever and huge in fan-fic. But I like them just for the "what if" scenarios and the interesting fallout that comes from exploring them. I work hard to...
Labyrinth: Two Kinds of Magic
Rumors have circulated (as rumors are wont to do) about a potential remake of the fantasy classic The Labyrinth. This is, of course, blasphemy. Not every old movie needs to be remade/retold/repackaged. If a new generation needs to experience it, they'll enjoy the...
NASA TV
Not sure what my Author Scrapheap is? I introduce the idea on the Author Scrapheap archive page. With SpaceX making news recently, I thought it was a good time to bring up a scrapheap story idea about NASA. NASA TV With budget cuts finally about to break NASA’s back,...
Seasons: more than just awesome dice
Today I want to talk about a wonderfully whimsical game called Seasons. It is high fantasy in a vacuum. It is a myth without context, or any attempt to explain itself. Instead, it gives you wonderful artwork and ominous objects that center on a magical battle between...