A Good Day
I didn’t make mention of getting the flu right after New Year’s Day (on the second), but I am now. The demon bug grabbed hold of me, gave me fevers, fatigue, and a general sense of malaise which I’ve had difficulty shedding until today. The thing is, I did nothing peculiar to warrant getting sick except make mention of the fact during the dwindling days of 2010 that I had managed to escape getting sick (as I am wont to do from long hours and little sleep). The past year, I maintained a steady, robust diet of words, deeds, and sleep, but 2011 had something nasty waiting in the wings for me. I didn’t relent in the work, however, though my progress was greatly hampered by the necessity of far more sleep than my body usually demands. I usually curl up, throw on some tv (Netflix these days), and let the sickness run its course. Words don’t get written that way, but it does give me an opportunity to think about things.
The business of making things up is, ultimately, madness, creativity, and a pinch of forward thinking. Your mileage on this, as in all things, may vary. I’ve had several meetings over the last few weeks as I play catch up already to determine what’s where in the respective developmental cycles, and this year should shape up to be a pretty good one. (Knock on wood.)
Iron Dynasty: Way of the Ronin should be back from the printer any day now, so it should wend its way to you early supporters, and find its ways into stores shortly thereafter. Currently, I’ve been busying myself with working on support products for Iron Dynasty as well as continuing to fiddle with Echo of Dead Leaves for Realms of Cthulhu. My thoughts, honestly, are never very far from the twisted visions of Charleston I have created, but I make haste slowly. Just as you may become impatient with us, have no fear. We are impatient with us as well.
The Razorwise Report has continued uninterrupted since I began the Daily Blog Challenge on November 1st, but there have been days when I have felt tired or uninspired, and have requested you sound off and give me a juicy topic to sink my teeth into. I’ve gotten little response, so I’ll continue to meander on like this for a bit until something really gripping comes my way. I don’t, by any means, think I’ve exhausted all there is to talk about, but I am reticent to just gab away about what I’m working on, instead preferring to keep the topics to things which add value to you and your games.
However, this is a design journal, so I suppose one thing I can talk about today in broad strokes is making the mundane interesting. While it is an awful lot of fun to have bizarre and unusual things present in books, there is also the necessity to address the little things, detailing out those parts of the world which may go unnoticed. It is not wise for the writer to base his work entirely on his audience’s assumptions. It is essential to provide detail for those little things. My challenge for the last few days was to explicate further upon some of the little corners of Konoyo (in the upcoming form of Region Guides), but to frame the material in such a manner where it adds value and interest for you, the end user. Hopefully, you’ll see I’ve accomplished this task. The template was hammered out last month for Iron Dynasty, and is something we’ll be doing for additional product lines including Agents of Oblivion, Ravaged Earth, and RunePunk. I’m anxious to sink my teeth back into ScatterPoint, believe you me, but rest assured all the material is in quite capable hands.
I appreciate you hanging in there, and hope we all have a good year, full of adventure and intrigue, and much fun. Hang on. I’m certain the ride is going to pick up once winter has come and gone! Until next time, I bid you, dear reader, adieu!
