This one’s a knock out, folks. Last summer, my friend Gareth Skarka launched a Kickstarter for his Wild West/Wuxia adventure game setting Far West. Support flooded in, eventually netting Gareth and company almost $50,000 in backer pledges.

From its beginning though, Far West was intended as a transmedia property with the pen-and-paper game being just the beginning. While the Far West game is slated for release later this year, another piece of the transmedia pie has dropped with the release of the Tales of the Far West fiction anthology.

The line-up of talent is jaw-dropping with original stories from folks such as Matt Forbeck, Chuck Wendig, Ari Marmell, Scott Lynch, Tessa Gratton, and more. I was blown away that Gareth invited me to sit by their fire and spin a yarn but he did just that. I’m proud that my own story, “Local Legend,” sits among such company.

So, it’s out. Right now you can grab it from Amazon on Kindle. I’m sure it’ll hit other outlets soon. (I’ll let you all know when it does.)

Anyway, check it out. It’s an awesome set of tales in a fantastic and inspiring setting. Far West is primed to become something truly special, and I’m happy to have been involved.

(Artwork by Rick Hershey, blatantly stolen from IntoTheFarWest.com.)

Check out the panel with Josh and Filamena here.

You can hear me talk way too much about myself and Streets of Bedlam here.

Thanks to Josh for having me on and to Filamena for being a great co-guest.

HAUNTED really is a great book. My story “It Happened in the Woods at Night” sits alongside original tales by Alex Bledsoe, Richard Dansky, Chuck Wendig, Monica Valentinelli, and more. I highly recommend the book—and not just because I’m in it.

This is the second anthology I’m in to receive the honor, with 12 to Midnight’s Buried Tales of Pinebox, Texas being the first. I’m proud to be involved in both collections as they feature some great stories by amazing talent and doubly honored readers bestowed this award on both of them.

If you haven’t checked out HAUNTED, you can pick it up in print and pdf through DriveThruRPG.

As a last-minute push toward that number, I’ve decided to add a new milestone and with it a new incentive to back the project.

If the Streets of Bedlam Kickstarter reaches $10k, acclaimed composer and sound designer Ed Lima will create an original soundtrack for the game! Ed provided the amazing track featured on the promo trailer that launched earlier this week (which you can click below) but his work goes well beyond that. As an audio guy in the video games industry, Ed has worked on such projects as Doom 3, Prey, Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway, Borderlands, and he is currently head sound man at Respawn Entertainment.

When I first met Ed years ago, I was blown away by the work he was doing, and he just keeps getting better. I really enjoyed the track he did for the trailer and really want to see more of it. I hope you do too.

As an added incentive, every backer who pledges $45+ will get a free digital copy of the soundtrack as an extra-special thank you. Click below to hear what Ed’s already done. If we reach $10k, we’ll all get a lot more of this.

HAUNTED: 11 Tales of Ghostly Horror is up for a Reader’s Choice Award over at Preditors & Editors! The book features a lot of great authors, including Jess Hartley, Georgia Beaverson, Chuck Wendig, and Richard Dansky. I’m honored that my story, “It Happened in the Woods at Night”, is included in such illustrious company.

Voting ends soon (January 10th) so please, if you’re a fan of the book, head over to the site and place your vote. (And don’t forget to verify your vote afterwards.) If you haven’t picked up a copy yet, you can grab it in digital or hard copy from DriveThruFiction.

Operation: Awesome was put to test in summer 2010 when I was brought in to work on High Voltage Software‘s Conduit 2. They put a lot of power in my hands and I did not want to disappoint. I worked hard on that game and had a lot of fun doing it. When it came out earlier this year, I was thrilled. I had a video game on the shelf that I could point to and go, “See that? I wrote that.” What an amazing feeling.

That gig was a big test of Operation: Awesome but it was just the beginning. I was still shuffling off a lot of bad habits and baggage. I decided to do some small projects to establish a better writing habit. I launched the Campfire Tales line for Little Fears Nightmare Edition. I originally intended for that series to run twelve straight episodes but had to stall it at three. I can say the reason was at least somewhat noble: I was busy working on the first full-sized supplement for LFNE, Book 2: Among the Missing. I was also doing some freelance work in that time, including fiction for an upcoming tabletop game line, some development work on a (sadly) cancelled project, and contributed to Chuck Wendig and Lance Weiler’s Sundance Film Festival transmedia project Pandemic 1.0/Hope is Missing. I launched Book 2: Among the Missing in March 2011. A ten-year retrospective of the original corebook from 2001 saw release as Happy Birthday, Little Fears over the summer. Also over the summer, I signed a contract with Human Head Studios to work on Prey 2. I was brought on as the Narrative Designer and Writer for the project. In that time, not only did I wrangle the story for Prey 2 but I lent some insight and ideas to a variety of projects.

On top of that, I had some fiction published, did some layout work for friends, and added to some really fun projects such as Clint and Cassie Krause’s Don’t Walk in Winter Wood. I even returned to the Campfire Tales line for three more episodes, putting out Season Two this past fall. No way I would have had the discipline to fit all this into my schedule prior to Operation: Awesome. While I certainly wasn’t a saint in my time management, I did far better than I ever did previously.

A lot of things started to fall into place this past year and I knew it was mine to fumble. I worked hard to make sure I didn’t do that. When my contract at Human Head ended, I began work on getting a new project up, running, and ready for public approval. I took the momentum of joy and satisfaction from working at Human Head and funneled it into new projects aimed at new goals. After launching the Kickstarter for a new Savage Worlds setting called Streets of Bedlam in November, my plan was rewarded almost immediately as generous backers fulfilled the initial goal in under three days. I am still in awe of that.

I’ve changed a lot as a creative and a person since starting Operation: Awesome and it really all came down to taking my ambitions seriously, investing in my dreams, doing the work, and no longer accepting excuses. One of the side effects of that, besides actually releasing product, was I started to expect more and better from others as well. I was fortunate enough this past year to find myself in a room with a half-dozen highly-creative people who were firing on all cylinders, demanding better from everyone else, and the sensation was exhilarating.

I still have a lot to do. I don’t think there is an endgame for Operation: Awesome, only a fail state. And I have no intention of failing.

2011 had a lot of ups and downs but it ended on some very high notes for me. I learned a ton, did some good work, got an award nomination from IGN, and have a lot more projects on my done list. I had some high ambitions for the year and, while I didn’t hit them all, I hit enough to mark the chalk in the win column.

Coming into 2012, I have even higher ambitions with much more at stake. As of this writing, over 150 people have put their money where my mouth is and backed Streets of Bedlam. My dance card for the first three months is almost fully booked with that one project. I’m leaving some wiggle room for a couple sweet pick-up gigs and plotting for the April project but Streets of Bedlam is my main focus for that time. I’m really excited for it.

I plan to spend April and May of next year writing a novel. I haven’t finished a novel since I completed my attempt at a Young Adult book for Little Fears back in 2007. I want published novels under my belt, both lit and genre. I plan to focus on Middle Grade but want to do some adult and YA as well. That may be the biggest test of Operation: Awesome yet. I look forward to it.

I have many other plans beyond as well. And I might even pick up some high-profile gigs, fates willing.

With Operation: Awesome, I took an honest assessment of myself and mapped out a battle plan to start changing who I was into who I wanted to be. For the above reason and beyond, I’m glad I did. Here’s looking forward to 2012 and even more awesome.

I’ll be sitting down this Thursday, December 22nd, with the folks from Beautiful Brains Books & Games to discuss Savage Worlds, my new tabletop game project Streets of Bedlam, and the game’s Kickstarter. The chat will be text-based, online, and run from 9p to 10p EST. Swing by, listen to me ramble, ask questions, and I’m sure Beautiful Brains and I can cook up something to make it worth your while.

See you then!

(I posted this over at StreetsOfBedlam.com but thought I’d drop it here as well since the discussion may dive into related topics. For the most part though, I reserve this sort of news for the game’s official site.)

Top adventure gaming website AdventureGamers.com has launched a thirty-year retrospective of the Top 100 Adventure Games. Jack Allin, the editor, had the enviable* task of compiling feedback from the staff and herding us cats as we wrote up our reasons for including certain games. I was honored to be assigned some of my all-time favorites to praise, and I look forward to reading what other writers had to say about their faves. As with any Top X list, I’m sure it will inspire plenty of debate as to why one game was ranked higher than another, why someone’s favorite wasn’t included, and why another was put on the list at all. For me, that’s part of the fun.

The countdown will be rolled out over the next couple weeks, starting today with the first batch, numbers 100 through 91. I encourage you to check out the list, read up on some classics, and maybe even find a couple (dozen) new games to try. Keep checking back from now until the new year to see more games revealed on our way to the top ten.

*I kid, Jack. I kid.

I found out today that (insanely-)popular entertainment site IGN.com has announced their Best of 2011 shortlists and have honored CONDUIT 2 with three nominations in the Wii category: Best Graphics, Best Multiplayer Game, and BEST STORY! Wow! I am humbled and honored by the nod and wish the folks at High Voltage the best. They’re up against some pretty heavy competition in all categories but, as cliche as this may sound, the honor really is in the nomination.

So thanks to IGN for the nomination and to High Voltage for the opportunity to work on such a great game!

Streets of Bedlam is fully funded!
Wow! Less than three days since the Kickstarter launched and Streets of Bedlam is fully funded! I am humbled and amazed. But there are still six weeks to go and plenty of reasons to jump on-board.

First: Kickstarter exclusives. Every backer gets credit in the book and folks who pledge $5 or more get turned into NPCs. Backers at higher levels get to influence future supplements, get immortalized as a major character in the Streets of Bedlam corebook, get archetypes only available through this Kickstarter, and more!

Second: New goals unlock new perks. I’m in talks with folks to bring even more freebies and exclusives to Kickstarter pledges. I’ll have more details as we get closer but I’m looking at unlocking new content at $5k, $8k, and beyond. Your support could benefit everybody!

Third: More money means more products. I would love to launch the Streets of Bedlam line in style and the more capital behind it, the quicker I can move on it. I’m looking to release district books, character packs, more scenarios for your group, fiction anthologies, and a graphic novel.

THANK YOU TO EVERYBODY WHO HAS SUPPORTED STREETS OF BEDLAM SO FAR AND TO EVERYONE WHO DOES SO IN THE FUTURE.

You are all awesome.