I wonder if more than a few readers have noticed the quiet note I wrote yesterday over the donate box, above the art of How to Run.
I am finishing another book, The Dungeon's Front Door & Other Dungeon Essays. I plan to have it ready for sale the 1st of March.
It includes a rework of the 3-part essay I wrote a month ago (that was a test, to see if the content had any value), along with all new content, all about dungeons. As before, I'm working to include humour into the book and making it a thoroughly enjoyable read. It should run around 30-35 thousand words, which will make it bigger than the small essay book I put out last year but only a third the size of How to Run..
I don't expect donations. I do hope that some of you will consider buying yet another book from me.
Come the end of January, I am going to be unemployed. This isn't a surprise; I learned that this was going to be the case in late January 2014. The department that I have been working for these last five years was being overhauled and I was being kept on to help in the transition. That transition is almost complete.
This last year has been amazing for me. Struggling to get How to Run written, selling the book and watching it do well has been immensely satisfying. I feel that this offline content has demonstrated for many that I can write pleasantly and interestingly when I take the time to research and craft my content. I hope I can build on that reputation by working to be more useful to the reader, exploring avenues that are of wider scope and value.
I have done so much writing this last year. Perhaps the best writing of my life. I look forward to 2015 and doing it all over again. Like before, I have a bigger book coming out later in the year - but I'm not offering any spoilers on that quite yet.
I meant it yesterday when I said thank you. Thank you for your comments, your patience with me, your interest and the efforts you've made to try the things I've argued in your worlds. Rest assured, I have much more to tell you.
I'll be buying The Dungeon's Front Door the first chance I get. I'll likely be buying the other bigger book you are promising as well.
ReplyDeleteWell wishes with whatever else you plan to do after your current employment ends. It sounds like you've planned for it, and won't end up out in the cold because of it, but if you ever need anything let your readers know.
Good luck during the transition. Looking forward to the new book. The more I read this blog, the more I find myself adopting a lot of your ideas, thank you.
ReplyDeleteIf you will forgive an off topic question, do you make use of any of the material from the Wilderness/Dungeoneering Survival Guides in your games?
Thank you Matt. We have certainly done our best to prepare.
ReplyDeleteHarvicus,
It is strange that you mention the Wilderness Guide. I borrowed it back in the 80s from a fellow for several months and gained some good ideas from it that I worked on for literally years. It was the first attempt I ever saw at a climate chart, an issue I still fight with.
But I hadn't seen the book in 25 years . . . that is, until I was researching content for the wiki (swimming) and found a bootleg copy on line. I haven't sat down yet to find out how far past that book I've gone, but was a big nostalgic-rush to find it.
Nostalgia always proves to be disappointing, however, when looked at too closely.
I know I've not been posting a lot these past few months, what with student teaching, the holidays, having my appendix burst and spending New Years' Eve in the hospital (THAT was certainly an adventure), and now starting my new job teaching at a university again, I've been neglecting the blogosphere. Rest assured, though, I'm reading your stuff. I'm definitely interested in this new book and I'm planning to pick up How to Play once I get my first paycheck. I feel it is my responsibility as a consumer to reward hard work and quality insight with my dolla-billz.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with writing a new book. I won't donate, but I have enjoyed How to Run and the Garage so I expect to buy and enjoy the Dungeon Door as well.
ReplyDeleteRest assured, Alexis, that I own each and every one of your published works thus far. I don't plan to make an exception with "The Dungeon Door", since I particularly enjoyed that series of posts. In fact, I'm using part of those ideas for an incoming new party of players (an all-new-to-RPGs, all-female group, no less. I will certainly need to be at my best ). I'd say "wish me luck" if I didn't know it's not luck I need, it's work
ReplyDelete