Wet Ink Games has launched a new Kickstarter that I’m a part of. Psychic Kids, the next Indie RPG from Wet Ink Games is NOW LIVE on Kickstarter! Use the powers of your mind to flee the agents of the Facility and find your way to the last place you felt safe.
Both my daughter and I have written for this game and we’ll be running adventures for it at GenCon this year. You can back it here.
Heckin’ Good Doggos Save Everything
Thursday August 3, 2023, 4pm-8pm
2-8 players, 6+ (Very Kid Friendly)
Play beloved family dogs (or street mutts with hearts of gold) looking to save their humans from terrible perils like men with hats, and stonky cat schemes to take over the world. (Or just the neighborhood, but still!)
This game will cover character creation and multiple adventure scenarios for Wet Ink Games’ Heckin’ Good Doggos. We will be focusing on mundane adventures and challenges from the core rule set.
I will provide dice, character sheets, and pencils for this game. More information on the game is here. You can purchase it here.
Never Going Home- Tears in the Sea
Friday August 4, 2023, 2pm-6pm
2-6 Players, 18+
Join the German crew of U-19 as they track down the secrets of PROJECT RIPTIDE aboard the cursed U-boat that still carries the flesh of her last crew.
This game will cover character creation and as much of the NGH Mission Folio Tears in the Sea as we can manage in the time block.
I will provide dice, character sheets, and pencils for this game. More information on the game is here. You can purchase it here.
**The Psychic Kids will launch soon on Kickstarter.**
Psychic Kids- Lost in the Woods
Saturday August 5, 2023, 6pm-10pm
2-6 Players, 13+
Last night you escaped from The Facility, and now you’re hunting down the very idea of home, all from clues found through the Facility and half remembered dreams of a five year old with precognition. But The Facility sits deep in a strange woods, miles from cities you don’t know how to function in. And you’re just a bunch of kids, with a legion of adult agents after you.
I will provide dice, character sheets, and pencils for this game.
My Covid project, The Lady of the Valley is finally done and posted wholly over on Wattpad. You can read it here. I will be releasing it ebook form at some point. First chapter below.
1.
The cemetery stood as an oasis of calm in the middle of madness. Fifty yards beyond, two massive yews stood guard at the path to the little refuge. Beyond those the blend of humanity representing Mystic Valley University mingled, rushed, loafed about, and generally lived their mundane lives. Derek felt quite irritated at himself for feeling intimidated by it.
“Hello, friend.”
The voice startled him. He spun around as a woman inched closer. She had a careful demeanor, but as she leaned forward her thick braid fell over her neck and her backpack tried to slide off her shoulder. She reached out an arm, strung with multiple bracelets, and carefully spread a handful of shredded chicken nuggets on the marble table top a foot from him. Then she backed away again and sat down at the base of a tree with the rest of her lunch. Somehow he hadn’t even noticed her. Which bothered him.
“I like to people watch too,” she continued. “And this is a good spot to people watch. They’ve learned to ignore this place, so they don’t even think about anyone being back here.”
He considered her for a moment. Cocking his dark head at her. Then he picked at the nuggets, though he wasn’t really hungry. He’d never been offered food like this before.
Honestly, he’d never had anyone talk to him while in animal form before. Not directly, and certainly not gently, like this woman. And he wasn’t the only one. Nearby two feral cats sat working on their own nuggets, and while he watched, the woman dumped half a container of fries out for the birds and the squirrel in the tree behind her. They were waiting on her.
He cocked his head again. She was a touch taller than the average woman, on the plump side of curvy, with bright blue-gray eyes and a brighter smile. She moved slowly, so as not to startle the wild-ish life gathered around her. One hand played with her odd colored hair. It was too dark to be blonde, too light to be tow headed, with a definite sheen of red. Amused, he realized if she was a cat, like the ones which gathered at her feet, she’d be a calico.
“Sometimes,” she continued, possibly addressing him, or maybe the cats kissing up for more chicken. “I don’t want to go back into all that chaos. But then, I realize, while I like my peace, I like a challenge too.”
She shot him a grin, tossed out three more nuggets and gathered her trash and back pack. Then she shrugged. “So back into the craziness.”
He watched her walk out past the yew sentinels. Then looked down at the bits of chicken at his feet. Back into the craziness indeed.
Then Derek shook out his feathers and took flight for where he’d left his own bag, hoping he was ready for a little chaos.
* * *
“Welcome to Campus Culture,” the man at the front of the classroom said. He clicked the tiny remote in his hand and the next slide moved forward, turning his presentation into colored text. “Or as I like to call it, Humaning 101.”
Derek snorted. Much of the class tittered along.
“The administration has lost faith in much of the parenting capabilities of the world, so in this class, which is the only one that every student on campus is required to take, we will cover a number of basic life skills. You might be bored. You might learn something new. But this is a pass/fail class and the only test is whether you show up or not. So enjoy the easy A while you can.”
The instructor smiled at the full room. Click. A photo of the instructor wearing a super hero costume along with four other familiar heroes popped up. “In my normal life, here on campus, I teach in the art department. So I’ve tried to make this class entertaining, at least.”
The door opened and the woman from before entered. Derek straightened in his seat. The instructor gestured immediately to her. “Great timing. This is Astrid, my T.A. If you email me, you will probably be talking to her because she is much more organized than I am and she actually likes computers.”
Derek’s eyes followed Astrid instead of the lecture. The bounce of her teal backpack against her back, the way her braid fell over her shoulder when she leaned over to put the bag on the floor, and especially the way the muscles and veins moved beneath her skin held his attention far more than he was prepared for. He didn’t need a new obsession. He had plenty of trouble as it was.
Gods, he thought, please don’t let Mystic Valley be as interesting as the rest of his life.
* * *
Astrid studied the new crop of students while pretending to draw in her sketchbook. The first class was always about the history of Mystic Valley and MVU. The parts the administration was okay with talking about, anyway. Distinguished past. One of the first integrated universities in Kentucky. Yada yada. It seemed like they should be past patting themselves on the back for letting minorities and the womens learn, but MVU was a special place. It was right there in the school’s mission statement. Twice.
Mystic Valley was a special place. It drew a certain kind of person into its tentacles.
Two of the people in the class she recognized. They were the younger siblings of people she grew up with. Most of the others drew no more than a cursory glance. Mostly harmless, she told herself with an inner smile. Thank you, Mr. Adams.
Not too far away sat a peculiar guy who she caught looking at her. His short, dark hair feathered disobediently around a paler than average face. He was handsome, in a bold featured kind of way, the way of movie stars and male models who always ended up as the center of attention. Oh yes, he would definitely draw people to him. Especially with those shocking blue eyes. No man had any business having that combination of perfect skin, glossy hair, and thick fringe of eyelashes over actually blue eyes. His glance and the small twist of his lips offered a suggestion of wickedness that no doubt he wouldn’t live up to.
Because real people came with real flaws and led to real disappointment before they left for some better deal with a blonder woman with fewer opinions and fewer inches on her waist. Astrid had bigger things to do with her life than to skip from one ‘I know I’m handsome’ fuck boi to another. So she forced her attention down, to her page, where a map of the city was taking shape in pencil strokes.
Every year I make a goal to write more, publish more, blog more. And every year… Wash out. Sometimes Literally.
There are hundreds of things vying for our attention and so many more give us a more immediate return for our investment. When I spend the day writing I then close the notebook or laptop and nothing seems to have changed. When I spend the day painting my bathroom I see that change every time I walk past. Shit’s hard.
And to be honest, while I’m still in the writing I’m less sure every day that I want to trudge the mess that is the publishing world these days. I mean, I like a challenge too, so I waffle back and forth, never sure how best to put my words in front of people’s faces.
So, how about a reflection? In 2022 I published most of my novel The Lady of the Valley on Wattpad. It’s almost finished, but, well, that’s the handwritten copy of the next chapter in the picture.
I also worked a lot on a new project, The Vampire’s Pet and also released some of it on Wattpad. I’ve written far more than I released. It’s still my favorite WIP child. Writing rules dictates I not post it all online for free. Authors absolutely deserve to get paid for their work, but, honestly I’m not sure how much I care about building a career any more. It is pretty nice to write, then post, then be done with that story and move on to another rather than hoarding pretty, useless tales like a dragon with costume jewelry. I will likely post more over this year, but I plan to finish The Lady first.
I released my first novel, Wolf Heart, entirely on Wattpad as well. I don’t intend, as of right now, to continue the series, so it’s time for it to be free.
2022 also saw the release of Heckin’ Good Doggos from Wet Ink Games. I wrote the Super Good Doggos expansion and I also have adventures in the companion Fetch Quests book.
I’ve already signed on for a few other projects with Wet Ink, including the hotly anticipated Garbage & Glory game, which is similar to D&D from a raccoon point of view.
So there will be more work from me coming out in 2023! This gentle turning of a career path is going places I didn’t foresee ten years ago when I started. Instead of trying to hold it to some sort of set of rules, I’m planning to embrace it as it is and just hold on for the ride. Happy new year to those still hanging around. And I’ll see you on the other side.
GenCon 2022 is August 4-7th this year. I will be once again running games for Wet Ink Games at the IGDN room.
Here are the sessions I am signing up to run (final times pending.) This page will change as more things are finalized.
Heckin’ Good Doggos Save Everything
2-6 players, 6+ (Very Kid Friendly)
Play beloved family dogs (or street mutts with hearts of gold) looking to save their humans from terrible perils like men with hats, and stonky cat schemes to take over the world. (Or just the neighborhood, but still!)
This game will cover character creation and multiple adventure scenarios for Wet Ink Games’ Heckin’ Good Doggos. We will be focusing on mundane adventures and challenges from the core rule set.
Super Good Doggos Save the World
2-6 players, 6+ (Very Kid Friendly)
When aliens attack these secretly super powered dogs must step up to save the world, but most importantly their families, from strange creatures who want to claim Earth’s resources for their own.
This game will cover character creation and multiple adventure scenarios for Wet Ink Games’ Heckin’ Good Doggos. We will be focusing on the Super Dogs expansion, playing super powered canines saving the world.
Never Going Home- Tears in the Sea
Join the German crew of U-19 as they track down the secrets of PROJECT RIPTIDE aboard the cursed U-boat that still carries the flesh of her last crew.
This game will cover character creation and as much of the NGH Mission Folio Tears in the Sea as we can manage in the time block.
Finally: If you bring pictures of your pets (print or digital) to my Gencon games you will start with extra “experience”. (The +One system uses a playing card system for experience.)