We're under two feet of freshly fallen snow here in Vancouver. It's amazing but it makes it very much a stay at home day. I'm more than a little worried for some of our trees under the weight. I've got gifts to wrap and people to phone and a hundred other things to do. Fortunately I've achieved the mandatory viewing of a Christmas Carol, and in high definition, this year. I've got a lot of work to do for the upcoming books but that is all going to have to wait a few days while Christmas sweeps the world.

December 5th 2008 The Crystal Castle

The Crystal Castle has been released and I hope you enjoy it! The White Ghost is also off to Phoenix Lore magazine and will be released when issue #2 comes out. (I'll be sure to announce it here and on the BrokenSolaris site.) I'm off to continue work on Pipedream.

November 25th 2008 Coming Soon

I hope you like Broken because there will be two small and one major release for Broken in December.

Broken: The White Ghost, a short Christmas adventure module.

Broken: The Crystal Castle, a short adventure module.

Broken: The Pipedream, a major expansion.

November 14th 2008 Updating Chronomancer

By popular request I am creating a print friendly version of Chronomancer. I'm also fixing a few minor problems with the original documents - the drop shadow of the stone backgrounds and the bookmark mess in the high resolution version.

Nov 3rd 2008 Chronomancer released!

Chronomancer has now been released at RPGnow. After three days and many hours of work I have stumbled across the right combination of crossed wires and jerry rigged cables to get the PDF uploaded! Using the Firefox web browser, and frequently clicking links on RPGnet to prevent timing out, did the trick.

There is a benefit to the delay. During the troubleshooting I created different versions of the product, including a higher resolution version. I will be including a high resolution version of the product in addition to the regular version! (Each will have it's own download link.)

You can purchase Chronomancer: Time Travel for Everyone here!

October 31st 2008 Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone. I spent 6 hours trying to get RPGnow to upload Chronomancer this afternoon but with no success. I've contacted customer service but it's a holiday weekend so I probably won't hear from them until Monday. I'll keep trying to upload the file. My apologies. Chronomancer is going to be late.

October 14th 2008 Cover to Chronomancer

Chronomancer has it's cover and I'm eagerly awaiting the very last piece of art for the book. The full sized art will be made available shortly... ...and here it is!

October 12th 2008 Classic Classes: Druids

I am pleased to announce a new series, Classic Classes. After discussing it with the writer, the first book is going to be on Druids. It will be available in January 2009.

October 9th 2008B Chronomancer Sample Available

In less humbling news, a sample of Chronomancer: Time Travel for Everyone is now available here! Click on the image to view or right-click and select "save as".

October 9th 2008 An Apology to Mongoose Publishing

There was a thread over on Mongoose Publishing's forums that touched on Chronomancy and I took the opportunity to comment on one of my favourite topics and mention my book. People started asking me questions and I started replying and it ballooned into a major topic. Those are not my forums and I got carried away. My apologies.

En World does have an area for other publishers and if you wish to talk about Charke Publishing, I'll see you over there.

October 8th 2008 The Season of All Hallows Eve

Halloween is approaching. With it comes rain and orange leaves, ghosts and goblins. The irony of writing is that I'm working on Christmas products and spring products. Chronomancer will be my Halloween release.

Sept 26th 2008 The Oldest Goblin released!

Broken: The Oldest Goblin is available on RPGnow. I'm officially a starving publisher, which is a great big upgrade from starving writer. So spend that dollar wisely because with the pricing on the rest of Broken, well, I need that dollar!

On a serious note, The Oldest Goblin and the upcoming Crystal Castle are shorter books. The Pipedream is going to be 50+ pages and priced slightly higher. Chronomancer: Time Travel for Everyone, will have a higher price but for that cost you will be getting a 330 page full color manual, with six months of weekly playtesting that was seven years in the making.

Sept 21st 2008 First Release

Broken: The Oldest Goblin will be released this Friday September the 26th 2008 for only 1$ on RPGnow. This will be the first release by Charke Publishing.

Sept 14 2008 Welcome to Charke Publishing

My website has undergone a dramatic facelift, mostly with nested tables and other internet tricks, to become the site for Charke Publishing. Many of the features of the old site will remain, the games area, the writer's resources and the photo galleries while new publishing features are being added.

The directory structure grabbed onto my harddrive and I'm still patching that up but this page's links should be fine, I hope.

Sept 14th 2008: Coming Soon

I have four products in the works which will be the first products released by Charke Publishing; Broken: The Oldest Goblin, Broken: The Crystal Castle, Broken: The Pipedream and Chronomancer: Time Travel for Everyone. Later in January 2009, I hope to release the first of our new line of products.

Sept 2nd 2008 PAX and Updates

I visited the PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) in Seattle this weekend and I have been updating the website, mostly cosmetic stuff and housecleaning.

August 24th 2008 THE CLONE WARS

The clone wars have been getting a lot of bad press, which is ridiculous. Fans have become too comfortable demanding things from George Lucas. This was an awesome movie. I loved the new music. I loved the animation. I loved the story. Go see it!

August 19th 2008 The Clone Wars ««««

I went and saw the Clone Wars at GenCon as it came out on GenCon Friday. It was awesome. Where Lucas struggles with actors he has complete freedom with animation and put together a spectacular movie. This movie about Anakin as a hero is tainted because we know he will turn to the dark side and would have made a better Episode 2.

August 18th 2008 Gen Con 2008

I just got back from GenCon 2008. It was, as always, a blast. I spent countless hours in seminars listening to my piers. I managed to scoop one of the new Dragon Vault MTG sets! I participated in LARP foam-weapon fighting. I played the Gary Gygax tribute game - and died without making a single action. I caught the Dragon Mech Battles demo and offered by advice and ideas. I hit the Catalyst Games booth too often, bought way too much of their stuff; Battletech 3072, Jihad Documents, Chuthlu Tech, and the new Battletech core book.

My flights were 11 hours instead of 6, one delayed to 12 hours. I went over budget because of planning mistakes. I spent two hours searching for my camera which went missing the day before I left so no photos. But it was still very much worth the trouble.

August 12 2008 The Great Revision

I've been bothered about the art in Broken: The Memory of Solaris since reviews came back. It's been several years and my art, well I think it's improved, and I've finally given in to the temptation to go back and tinker with Broken. This is the first of dozens of pictures that may get a fresh coat of paint. But don't hold your breath, this is a free-time project.

August 8th 2008 The Dark Knight

“No”

“You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.

I can do those things because I’m not a hero, not like dent. I killed those people. That’s what I can be.”

“No, no you can’t, you’re not.”

“I am whatever Gotham needs me to be.”

“Call it in.”

“A hero, not the hero we deserved but the hero we needed. Nothing less than a knight, shinning.

“They’ll hunt you.”

“You’ll hunt me. You’ll condemn me. Set the dogs on me. Because that’s what needs to happen. Because sometimes the truth isn’t good enough. Sometimes people deserve more. Sometimes people deserve to have their faith, rewarded.”

“Batman. Batman! Why is he running dad?”

“Because we have to chase him."

“Okay we’re going in! Go! Go! Move!”

“He didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Because he’s the hero Gotham deserves but not the one it needs right now. So we’ll hunt him. Because he can take it. Because he’s not a hero. He’s a silent guardian. A watchful protector – a DARK KNIGHT.”

The Official Site

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2cdW1dUaiw

August 6th 2008 Playing with the Logo

July 31st 2008 A Quill Full of Shadows

This is the first in a series of three poetry books from Bards and Sages which I did the covers for. None of my contributed poetry appears in this particular book but it should in the others. You can buy A Quill Full of Shadows here.

I was sort of hoping The Oldest Goblin would be my 30th publication but this is instead. (Ahem, someone is dragging their heels.) With a ton of books scheduled to be released this winter it seems like a moot point. (Chronomancer, A Quill full of Dragon's Blood, A Quill full of Star Dust, Broken: The Oldest Goblin, Broken: The Crystal Castle, Broken: The Pipedream).

I've also updated my Writer's Resources page with links to forums where you can post your press releases to announce your product.

July 29th 2008 Home

I'm home after nearly two months in the bush. I was in northern British Columbia doing geological survey work (I carried stuff and stuck rods into the ground). It was grueling, backbreaking work with no days off. I decided to quit and then changed my mind every day for the first week. I came back to camp completely exhausted everyday for two weeks. Then things started getting better. It ended up being a fantastic experience.

I was home for four hours before leaving on a three day LARP (live action role playing) event in a tiny little camp. We -only- walked a few kilometers everyday and it was a welcome break from the 6+ kilometer up and down-hill hikes through the bush I'd been doing everyday.

Naturally my webpage went belly up the second I left civilization. My domain expired and I've had to fight my way through a bunch of simple technical problems but here it is again.

June 3rd 2006 A Little Hubris

I couldn't believe I said it. I like Windows Vista. I really do. Once you stop fighting the system and trying to do everything the way you did under Windows XP, Vista becomes a really ergonomic system. The problem is that many programs, especially the ones I haven't upgraded yet, don't yet support these features so you still end up doing things two different ways.

It's like Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition. When I first read the system, which I had stayed away from until it's release, I thought 'holy cow, this is terrible, just awful'. As I read more of the rules and realize, yes I can do everything I used to do before, I've calmed down and the system has started to grow on me.

June 2nd 2006 Updates and More Updates

I've been doing a colorful page of book covers as part of my resume. (You can find it here on My Writing page.) I build it with Indesign which will export as a JPG. I just updated it to include my work with Dark Skull Studios but it will need another update in a few days for Broken: The Oldest Goblin, a new mini-book expansion for Broken: The Memory of Solaris.

May 30th 2006 Doors

Well there it is, you knock on a door and a whole new world of options becomes available. Knocking on doors is easy though. You brush your hair back, put on a good face and show some honesty and manors. Finding the door, that is the challenge.

When you start you may not even realize that you need to look for the doors. You stumble around in the dark banging into things, confused, lost and alone trying to find and pursue a path. Someday, out of the blue, someone says something and you listen this time. People say a lot of things, all the time, and good advice can be lost in the sea of verbal information. But this time you listen. You find the first door. Maybe it occurs to you now or maybe after a few more doors, but you've got to start looking for them. Waiting to stumble across them is a much slower process, unless you're unbelievably lucky.

I found a new door today. I don't know what is inside it, what I can trust and I've never used it before but it is an opportunity. I'm jaded though, good and cynical about the internet. I've been burned, scammed and left out in the cold too many times to leap through a door with both feet, never looking back.

Today's door goes by the name of http://www.freelancewritinggigs.com/ and it looks far too good to be true. There are offers of 45$ an hour for writing employment and I find that staggeringly hard to believe in. I'm inclined to suspect I'll end up paid one hour per two or three hours of work I end up doing. Cynicism never gets anyone anywhere but safe so I'm willing to risk getting burned a few more times to find better writing work.

May 30th 2006B It's Pouring

It never rains, it pours. 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons has just been released and I am revving up to start converting older works to re-release them. I've just got a new job opportunity doing some kind of land surveying outdoors in northern British Columbia. I've just found a freelance writing website that has the potential to get me non-rpg writing work.

May 26th 2006 Magic the Gathering

I've had a little free time so I've put a dent in sorting magic cards and building new decks. I've got a mountain of the brown-backed beauties. Rather than build one deck, I plan dozens so while I'm sorting and searching I can set cards aside.

My latest concept is an all land deck. In reality it's about 60% land. I didn't design it to win - so what did I design it for - well, I wanted to do something no one else had done. And, at least locally, it's true. Crucible of Worlds is the key of course, recycling dead lands. Broken combos keep popping up, like Glacial Chasm and Strip Mine. Finally the deck is very cheap - most of the cards have zero casting cost!

May 6th 2008 Vista Troubles

I'm doing a project for friends, editing a document for them. It has to be done in Microsoft Word because they don't have Indesign, which is annoying but I can't hardly ask them to upgrade. Indesign isn't exactly cheap. So I'm doing layout using one of the most reliable programs I know of and it goes belly up and dies. A bunch of popups (thanks Microsoft!) appear and tell me I've got to download an update. Frontpage appears to be working though.

Welcome to Vista, are you sure (y/n)?, are you sure (y/n)?, are you sure (y/n)? I'm so used to clicking "Yes I'm damned sure I want to do what I'm trying to do" that I would just click yes for a problem program anyway - not that one has EVER appeared.

May 1st 2008 Spinning the Wheels Faster

I grumble a lot. I want the ending of the book right now and I won't be satisfied until I get it. Life, writing, walking down the street - it's all the same. To that end I've got a lot of projects on he go with the continual hope one will be the next big thing.

I'm chasing work with Upper Deck, White Wolf, Wizards of the Coast and Fantasy Flight. The books are moving along slowly but I've started back on Blue Water High, a novel about a fellow stuck in a rut until he gets the superhero-ish ability to control water and how it changes his life and the world forever.

April 19th 2008 Karmic Races: Elves

My 27th publication rolls in almost on a whim as an art credit and surprisingly fast. Of course, I just did a single illustration for the book, not the dozens of illustrations, the writing, the editing and layout that went into the Broken books. My art is the black and white dark elf image on the interior. As of this writing I haven't managed to actually get my hands on the book. I'm sure RPGnow is getting a little worried because I've reset my password seven (?) times. I keep having trouble with it. It's not a software problem, although I can never tell if the password is using a zero or "o" letter and maybe caps is an issue.

April 10th 2008 Broken The Lost Moon Released

The first full expansion for Broken: The Memory of Solaris has been released. It's been months in preparation and I'm very happy about the book. It deals with the Lost Moon, inhabited by lycanthropes, undead, elementals; survivors of Solaris reduced to barbarism living in tribes and focusing on druidism. If you are a fan of Broken: The Memory of Solaris, come visit the largest remaining site, the Lost Moon!

Sunday, March 16 2008 Monday Doldrums

I hate Mondays. It's the end of the weekend and I'm burning the midnight oil knowing that when I lay my head down, my time is not my own anymore. The rollercoaster of the week begins. I try to snatch time in-between the required hours of the workweek. Eventually the week will end with still much left to do and relaxing on the weekend I'll get very little of it done, instead writing, drawing and socializing.

I made my first "boffer" weapons this weekend for Larping. (Live Action Roleplaying). It was more expensive than I expected but still cheaper than purchasing the professional weapons. I made a staff and a bastard sword - my favorite weapons. I hammered out four more B&W images for Chronomancer. I actually got in a game of Magic the Gathering and won only because one of the players kept me alive to foil another player (everyone makes mistakes). I even found time to pick up the weekly comics and watch Spirit of the Cimarian, again. Yeah I know but the movie has amazingly realistic animal behavior and a soundtrack to die for.

March 13th 2008 Wind, Sun, Sand, Surf

I'm not on vacation although it might feel that way. Oh work's still there and I'm slaving away but I've got a smile on my face. What does that mean? I really don't know.

Broken: The Lost Moon and Broken: The Oldest Goblin are both off to The Le Games and Broken: The Pipedream is about to hit layout. The art is mostly down in Indesign - I've just got to finish the writing. I'm plugging away at Chronomancer's art. Of the 90 planned pieces of art, I think I hit 60 with a wonderful little pilgrim image.

The black background? Well that'll be up for a bit. I met Gary Gygax last year at GenCon. As I imagine he was to many, many other people, he meant a lot to me as the father of roleplaying. For those non-roleplayers, he was like Tolkien, or Babe Ruth, Hulk Hogan or Newton. He changed the world.

Ernest Gary Gygax

July 27th, 1938 - March 4th, 2008

MILWAUKEE - Gary Gygax, who co-created the fantasy game Dungeons & Dragons and helped start the role-playing phenomenon, died Tuesday morning at his home in Lake Geneva. He was 69.

He had been suffering from health problems for several years, including an abdominal aneurysm, said his wife, Gail Gygax.

Gygax and Dave Arneson developed Dungeons & Dragons in 1974 using medieval characters and mythical creatures. The game known for its oddly shaped dice became a hit, particularly among teenage boys, and eventually was turned into video games, books and movies.

Gygax always enjoyed hearing from the game's legion of devoted fans, many of whom would stop by the family's home in Lake Geneva, about 55 miles southwest of Milwaukee, his wife said. Despite his declining health, he hosted weekly games of Dungeons & Dragons as recently as January, she said.

"It really meant a lot to him to hear from people from over the years about how he helped them become a doctor, a lawyer, a policeman, what he gave them," Gygax said. "He really enjoyed that."

Dungeons & Dragons players create fictional characters and carry out their adventures with the help of complicated rules. The quintessential geek pastime, it spawned a wealth of copycat games and later inspired a whole genre of computer games that's still growing in popularity.

Funeral arrangements are pending. Besides his wife, Gygax is survived by six children.

February 2nd 2008 A new tag line

The website now reads, "Writing, Layout, Art" which is more appropriate. I wanted a three words subtitle to describe what I do. While it is true I do editing, I have never been paid to do it and it is not my strongest suit. I have been paid to do layouts and I really enjoy doing them so it's a much better word.

My frustration is that there isn't a good word for "layout-er". Layout person? Layout artist - that sounds good but overlaps with the artist's position.

February 1st 2008 Walking Forward

I've still got a lot of projects on the go, but getting some of them done really feels good. The New Gods of Mankind work (Dark Skull Studios) appears to be just about done on the Fate's Screen, PCsheets and Celestial Gardens manual. I'm chasing work with Catalyst Games (Battletech, Shadowrun), Fantasy Flight Games, Wizards of the Coast, Upper Deck and more work with Dark Skull Studios.

Broken the Pipedream enters playtesting soon and I'm just waiting for The Lost Moon back from my editor before publishing it. Zakume is in the works. I've started designing a card game. It's sort of for fun, but my idea of fun requires hours and hours of work. Finally Chronomancer will finally come out of it's shell soon. That I'm really, really looking forward to. It's my first, oldest and best book.

On a non-rpg note I've decided I really need to get a novel off the ground and I'm playing around with that.

January 25 2008 Expensive New Year

I walked into London Drugs to repair my laptop's hinge and walked out with a bill for a new computer. The computer died in their care, 3 months out of warrantee. They worried I was scamming them. I was just frustrated. They were good about it, offering to repair it or (more preferably) the cost of repairs towards a new laptop. So I ordered my 4th Toshiba, a tablet notebook at a lower cost but lost my last computer.

I already have a relatively new desktop, which I'm still paying off so I'm back in debt. Don't feel bad for me though. It's a two, maybe three, month financial setback for what should be 3 years worth of computing.

A nasty computer virus on the tower cost me 2 days work. It turns out the "trial" version of Norton included with my Hewlett Packard only scans "important" files. I revisited McAfee promising their software for 20$ and scamming me with hidden fees up to 50$ for their product. It worked and I'm thankful it worked, but couldn't they be honest about the price? Value advertising is much stronger than deceptive practices.

Finally a visit to the Dentist rounded out the month, looking for the largest chunks of my shattered budget to consume.

I'm trying to be an optimist. It doesn't show does it? Over on the positive side, I've got applications out of Wizards, Upper Deck, and Catalyst Games (Battletech, Shadowrun) who showed some interest in my resume.

January 12th 2008 Happy New Year

Is is the new year already? I worked all through my Christmas break and expected to get about three months worth of work done in a couple of weeks. That's about normal for myself. I'm still hard at work finishing the layout for the New Gods of Mankind fates screen, pc sheets and The Celestial Gardens for DarkSkull Studios. Broken: the Lost Moon is almost complete and I've started the layout on Broken: The Pipedream. So things are moving along. The Le Games has announced their book schedule and it's much more realistic than my crammed schedule was.

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