What kind of “play” is more work than work?

I had to write a short sample for admission into ecopywriters.com. It turned out so well, I thought I’d share it here.

My hobbies include time-travel, dragon-slaying, zombie target practice, and military command. As a child, such opportunities were afforded by books. But books, for all their greatness, have one major flaw: They are static, unchanging. I can add my own interpretation, but not my own ending. I can make the meaning personal, but I can’t determine the hero’s strategy.

This is why I turn to another art form, yet in its infancy:

They’re called ‘video games’. But I prefer to think of them as interactive books. Continue reading

RIFT: The Next MMO?

I’ve had the pleasure of beta testing RIFT, a new MMO from Trion Worlds.

As a six-year veteran of World of Warcraft, I have hardly encountered another game (of any genre) which comes close to WoW in quality of storyline, world depth, intelligent game design, difficulty calibration.

During WoW’s impressive reign of the genre (and before), I have tried many other MMOs and found them sorely lacking in one or more regards. Among those discarded lie Dark and Light, EVE, City of Heroes/Villains, Perfect World International, Champions Online, and Warhammer. And while I have good things to say about most of them, they simply didn’t capture me in the way WoW did.

I bring a critical eye to the MMO landscape, an eye tempered by years of game-tweaking of my own in tabletop roleplaying, as well as endeavors into player-content-creation opportunities afforded by venues like Spore: Galactic Adventures and Neverwinter Nights.

RIFT was the first game in a long time to bring some new concepts to a saturated market: Ideas like truly mixed classes, and dynamic world-altering events.

So how does RIFT stack up to the giants of the industry? Is it worth playing? Or will it shortly be set aside? Continue reading

Announcing New Project: MINDWRITERS

I am pleased to announce the inception of a new project for 2011, one that has absolute blockbuster potential. Part “epic movie”, part heist, part X-Files, and all mindblowing.

It has far too much depth for a short story, which means another novel-length project. And one that will pack a much harder punch than FRAGILE GODS — even in the outline, I am starting to really love and fear the characters.

In addition, some of the “negative” feedback for THE WHISPER KIDS was that people wanted to know more. This strikes me as less of a complaint, and more like evidence I should consider novelizing it. While I haven’t put that much depth into THE WHISPER KIDS, these comments have put me back in the novelist frame of mind.

MINDWRITERS follows a team of telepaths who perform heists. Able to manipulate the minds of their subjects, they have been virtually unstoppable. But when they discover that others know of their powers — and are capable of countering them — the game turns deadly. They will have to outwit opponents who are more powerful, better informed, and better funded. “Survival” takes on new meaning when you can no longer trust your own thoughts.

It might just blow your mind.

THE WHISPER KIDS is finished.

My latest short story, THE WHISPER KIDS, is a short story about a clique of high school kids harboring a dark secret. Mark, a new transfer to Eastmont High, must unravel that secret lest it threaten his life or the lives of his friends. But things do not turn at all like he expects.

The free preview of this story will be added to the website this weekend.

The full version of the story will be sent out to frequent readers and is available to others upon request.

Ethics: Would you kill to save your daughter?

Every Monday, I explore a different ethical dilemma. Today, I ask how far you would go to save your child from harm.

Are morals universal or situational? Do you believe it is wrong to kill, always, without any possible justification?

Or do you feel that desperate times call for desperate measures, and some situations require you to do whatever it takes?

Just how far would you go to defend your wife or daughter from an assailant?

Continue reading