Whoops – it’s been almost five months since my last update (as usual). Here’s some interesting stuff that’s happened in that time! (Don’t worry, I’ll try and be as brief as possible.)
Heroes Wanted: A Fantasy Anthology
Back in November, myself and some fellow members of the Terrible Ten writers’ cabal finally released our latest anthology: Heroes Wanted. Not only has it received a whole bunch of really positive reviews, but it also won a Stabby Award!
The cover art was done by the epically talented Shane Cook, and the typography by master of design Christian Bentulan. (If you’ve read my entry in the anthology, ‘Ratman,’ you’ll undoubtedly recognise one particular character lurking there on the cover!)
The ebook is FREE, and it’s even available as a sexy paperback too!
God of Gnomes is thriving in the wild
Going back even further, my LitRPG debut God of Gnomes released in September 2019 and has been performing VERY well. I’ve honestly been overwhelmed by the positive comments and reviews I’ve received from readers, bloggers and fellow writers, friends and strangers alike. It means I’m excited to be preparing to work on the sequel(s); books 2 and 3 (working titles Exodus of Gnomes and Ascension of Gnomes) should both be finished by the end of this year, ready to release in 2021!
In related news, book one’s publication date happily coincided with SwanseaCon, at which my awesome friends Beth and Mike presented me with a very special surprise – a God of Gnomes CAKE! If this isn’t evidence I have the best friends in the world, I don’t know what is.
You can never have too many dice. Characters, though…
Colin and I continue to indulge our D&D obsession, and are now part of no fewer than EIGHT ongoing campaigns. Eight! Each group we play with has a different dynamic, and as you can probably imagine, things never get boring. But it can become quite hard to remember which character you’re meant to be playing…
Currently, I’m balancing role-playing the following characters:
- Grumlin Greyhammer, a dwarven cleric (lawful good, level 9)
- Gnarl, a wood elf ranger (chaotic neutral, level 3)
- Muin Alleyn, a half-elf warlock (chaotic good, level 3)
- Pyra Kisabane, a dragonborn paladin (lawful good, level 3)
- Rime Kisabane, a dragonborn sorcerer (chaotic neutral, level 3)
- Butcher, a firbolg druid (I forget his alignment, but he’s level 2)
- Kenku Monku, a kenku monk (chaotic neutral, level 2)
- Skadia Stonefist, a goliath barbarian (chaotic neutral, level 3)
As you can tell, I am apparently attracted to playing chaotic characters. And like my Kenku monk is drawn to shiny things, I am also drawn to polyhedral dice. I have a different set for each character (obviously); here are just a handful of them:
(Thanks to Taya for sending me the metal ‘Fuck’ die.)
Because I clearly have a problem, I also backed the first ever Dispel Dice Kickstarter. How could I not? LOOK AT THESE BEAUTIES.
Other obsessions
I’ve been working in the office with Colin a lot more recently, and as such have been working pretty hard. However, there’s still been spare time enough for fun and (non-tabletop) games. We’ve watched a run of excellent TV series lately, highlights of which include The Witcher, Sex Education, and the final season of The Good Place (reader, I SOBBED MY HEART OUT). But I spend most of my downtime at the moment bumbling around my farm in Stardew Valley (which I play on the Switch), and it’s one of the most relaxing and satisfying games I’ve ever played. Colin and I played the multiplayer version quite a lot last year, which was awesome, but the single-player Switch version is just so ridiculously chill. I love it.
Right. To sum up: buy the Heroes Wanted anthology! Buy God of Gnomes! And buy me MOAR DICE! I needs them, precious.
Thanks, and have a great weekend!
