6.23.2004

Fun, but Stupid
(FbS was a regular feature back when Marce was the only one who read this page.) Today's Fun, but Stupid link is a step-by-step guide to veggie-modding.

Cybernetics will never be as sexy as R. Talsorian led an innocent child to believe.

(And for some reason I can imagine Kam trying this...)
Agent 009, Over and Out!
So here's a funny truth about blogs: when you are busy, there is no time to write about it all. When you have time to post, there usually isn't much of interest to say.

Jeff LaSala deserves an enormous shout-out. He has been working double time for the Press as both author and artist, which means dealing with me twice as frequently. Hah!

Like I told Jeff, this project has given me a new appreciation for deadlines, and more importantly, for people who make them, again and again, no matter how late or far farfetched the request.

Thank you, all of you, for your patience.

Here's what's going on in the next two weeks:

-Make my own ring
-H & H are wed on the 26th
-Working Honeymoon
-Put the final polish on the heart of GT; send it to the line editor for last proofing
-Edit the Wizards story for Mr. Athans

I'm going to be incommunicado for the next 10 days or so. Till then!

6.21.2004

Eberron Resource Link
Eberron Page
Open Call Ettera
Feel free to add to this list.

What did we learn from last time?

-It will at least take until the end of Oct. for our friends, the Editors, to settle on their favorites.

- The Most Popular Setting in History had only 500 applicants. The odds are much better than any real slush pile.

-11 or so lucky souls got smaller gigs out of the deal, so it isn't exactly all or nothing. An Eb. anthology has GOT to be in the works.

-Know your setting. We all got knocked on this one, or got props on it. Or, if you are a Realms Dunce like me, at least make them believe you know the setting.

-Include the legal form!

Tee hee. My heart gets all pitter-pat just thinking about it.

WotC Open Call: THE WAR-TORN NOVEL
Originally posted here. Thanks to Seismo for the heads up.

Get on it kids. We've all paid our dues. Now it's time to get paid. ;)

6.17.2004

Sample Story
I've had some requests for a sample of our work, so why not provide a teaser?

If anyone wants a pdf of a sample story, drop a note at poisonclanpress@fastmail.fm and I'll fire one off right away.

And many thanks to Ed Gentry for allowing us to use his story.

Not so generic bio
OR: If Jess L. wrote for GT


Q. I don't suppose you could supply us with a generic sample for just how much and what kind of info we should provide in the blurb?

Example (a little heavy on the yearbook style credits, but you get the idea)

Jess Lebow is currently finishing up work on his third novel and has recently started his second screenplay. He's published short stories in numerous anthologies and his recent work, "Assassin's Shadow," was given a Reader's Choice Award by Wizards of the Coast readers and will be included in the Best of the Realms, Volume 1. He writes three online columns for Wizards.com, and "Write Now" is the newest. He can be reached at XXXXXXXXX@Yourmail.com
Q.How Long Does it Take to Save a 150 page Post-Script File?
Too darn long, but it has taught the design kids patience.

I need bio blurbs from all the authors and artists. I'll be sending out individual emails today and tomorrow, but if you see this first, feel free to send me a paragraph or two (and contact info if you like...). Use the poisonclanpress address.

Today's Soundtrack: That Ministry song with the line:
"I've given up hiding and started to fight."

6.15.2004

Q & A

Q. Cool....so...what's the actual ISBN? I can't quite make out the number.....

A. ISBN 0-9735940-0-4 My inability to calculate pixel ratios makes it pretty fuzzy. It won't be official till the government library gets its two copies of our book.

Q. I think you should explain the coyote bit right now. *Chuckle*

A. Coyote - n. (Mex.) Some who smuggles (usually illegal immigrants) across the U.S./Mexico border.

Q. Now, Grim, is there anything I should be prepared to do? Red-tape, paperwork? Fleeing the authorities?

A. I have no idea what you are talking about. I've never heard of you before. Should I know you?

It may seem boring and trivial but that little barcode is actually pretty damn pivotal. Layout on the book began yesterday, and early version of the colored color illus. should be coming in.

Stay on target. Closer, closer....

6.14.2004

Monday Email...
Most of you wonderful folks sent me emails with important questions, but it may take me a day to get to all of them. Sorry for the lag time.


Ladies and Gentlemen,
presenting your unique GT ISBN and Barcode!




This feat is possible thanks to one man and one man only: Mike Wallace, the Canadian Coyote.

If you ever meet me in person, I'll explain.

Poison Clan Press is now an officially registered publisher. *Maniacal Laughter*

(Note that this is a tentative version for a $5 GT. The real price hasn't been established yet.)

6.10.2004

Open Call for Gamers



MNTS will be starting up a Legend of the Five Rings play by post game in the next few days. If you're interested, drop by the forum and give MNTS a heads up. He can provide rules and setting background for anyone who isn't familiar with the L5R 1st edition system.

The Set-Up
Akodo Toturi, the emperor's shogun, has assembled a group of samurai selected from various clans to be his enforcers/investigators--these are the PCs. There's probably a nice name for this group--The Lotus Petals of Fortunate Justice or something--but in every corner of Rokugan they're known as the Shogun Assassin Squad.

As members of the Shogun Assassin Squad you'll investigate nefarious deeds throughout the Emerald Empire and execute justice as needed. Expect heavy resistance.



The above image is the property of the Alderac Entertainment Group . If you haven't seen their work, stop by and check them out. They turn out some great games.

6.09.2004

Plug
Here's where you can find Ruth and her work on the web.
The Art Fairy is Really a Vampire
I've discovered the Fairy's secret. She doesn't sleep.

Ever.

Traditional line art takes time and skill. Most of our art takes a week or more for the artist to produce. A block print requires sketching, cutting, and finally printing and drying.

I gave Ruth the request on Friday. She was out on business the entire weekend, then provided a sketch on Monday. The block was printed and dried sometime early this morning.

Ask any artist and they will tell you that this is technically impossible. And yet, here is the proof. (It needs to be cleaned some, but otherwise...)

And the crazy,crazy, crazy thing is, all of You are just as talented and hard working. You're an amazing band of writers and artists, and it has been a privilege to work with you all. Now let's publish this dog.




6.08.2004

Death From ... Below?
I lost my debit card yesterday. Not a big deal, but it was illuminating to see just how much I've come to rely on a chunk of plastic to feed my coffee habit.

No coffee puts a crimp in Grimbones' style.

I called up my bank this morning to cancel my card, just in case. It turns out someone had been withdrawing $200 from my account every hour, on the hour.

My crimp just became a cramp.

After talking with the bank today, I think it has all been cleared up, but it will take 10 days before the bank agrees that in fact it wasn't me making systematic withdraws from my account.

Q. Hey, Grims, you idiot. Did you have your pin inked on the card or something?!

A. Nope, and that is the strange thing. The card was barely 2 days old, so they must
have gotten the pin through number crunching. Bummer.

But Now a Big Deathy Welcome to.....
Ruth, the official Goblin Tails art fairy!

Ruth just sent me the rough of a block print she is doing as the closing image of our book. She hasn't begun cutting the block yet, but here is the sketch.



Of course, one significant detail is missing. The first one mention it gets a free ride on the goblin tails pony. (Ruth has agreed to make the changes and then begin cutting the block for the print.

Ruth bleeds talent. She is just that good.

But hey, we don't call her the Art Fairy for nothing.)


GT Status and Timeline
I'll be getting in the last of the final drafts this week, and sending them off for one final red-pen read through.

While that is happening, the rest of the art should come in. If it is all up to spec(and if my bank account stops pissing dollars), I'll finish the layout and send you each galley copies of your story for the final okay. Then it is off to our favorite novelist for a promo blurb, and at last to the printers.

So?

So. By late July/early August you should have a copy of Goblin Tails in your hands. If anything changes, I'll let you know.

6.03.2004

Back in the saddle, again!
or 2 Epiphanies in 2 Weeks
It is remarkable how long it takes for me to learn things. Or it is depressing, if you are involved with me on a daily basis. Either way, I've discovered that it takes about two years for me to become truly comfortable in a new town, or with new friends, or in a new job.

That means I'm still at least 18 months away from being a marginally decent small press publisher. For instance, all the way up until yesterday, I was desperately looking for the right talent to take on tasks I had in mind. But that afternoon I had the very simple realization that I should be working just as hard to find the right task for the talent at hand.

See, every one is really good at something. But instead of trying to make them fit the job, a better solution is to make the job fit them.

Before this week I was locked into the first equation, the thinking typically used by larger companies. Sure, if you have a budget made of more than lemon rinds and pizza crusts you can afford to hire talent for the job (ala Wizards hiring Gentry and Kam). But if you are small like PCP, it makes much more sense to examine the talent you have on hand, find what they do best, and then do it.

I know, I know, it seems simple, but seen through the lens of my life, it is a powerful realization.

Fortunately, my hunger for good work outweighs my pride in any decisions I've made. That alone is half the battle.

And the second epiphany? It came during a conversation at 4:am in Colorado (6:am EST ... ouch), and went something like this:

MNTS: Hey, Silver, go over my story while Grims and I discuss "In the Tomb of the Goblin Queen."

- 30 minutes pass -

SILVER: You need changes here, here and here.

MNTS: (nodding) Wow. He's a lot better at this than you are, Grimbones.

GRIMBONES: (drooling from lack of sleep, blurts out defensively) Of course he is! I'm a terrible editor, damnit! My job is to find people who do things better than I can. I'm a producer.

Exactly. My job is to find people who can do things better than I can.

Then I'm supposed to herd them all into the same box canyon and run them off the cliff.

I mean that in the best possible way. ;)

By the way, PCP took on Silver as final draft line editor on the spot, and I finally got the right kind of art request to one of our many exceptional artists.

6.02.2004

Did I already mention this?
Wallace's Art Request bodily hoisted up one of our artists and broke the poor devil in two.

Note to self: hire tougher artists. ;)
Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Back On The Net
Yep. Despite MNTS's repeated attempts to kill me by alcohol poisoning, I am still alive. I'm plotting my revenge and his doom by insisting that he edit another 40,000 words in the next month.

Muhahaha.

A real post will be coming in the next couple days, but my immediate priority is to get Marce's and Gentry's edits back to them. They are coming guys; thank you for your patience.

The big changes are that we've taken on a new line editor for the final drafts, brought in another talented artist, and traded our broken draft horses for lean, steppe ponies.

The end is in sight folks. Hang on, and it will be here before you can scream, "Buy my book!"