New Project

So as of yesterday -- the 2nd of February -- I've been invited onto the team at Pure Steam RPG to write two companion novels to their d20-licensed gaming system for Pathfinder.

If you're not familiar, here's the run-down. Pathfinder is a system that is based on the Wizards of the Coast new release of D&D 3.5 rules set. (For those of you who aren't gamers, that's Dungeons & Dragons). It is a unique system with its own worlds and rules and is highly adaptable to a variety of worlds and eras. It was started in 2009 by Paizo Publishing and has a pretty good following in the tabletop rpg circles.

So I've been asked to help Pure Steam market and promote their material with two companion novels about a major character (or two) from the world to help shape the gaming world. It'll be like my own Drizzt or Elminster (look them up; they're cool characters).

I'm pretty damn excited about this. I even get to work with a guy named Crockett. I mean come on. Boone & Crockett. That just sounds like a bad-ass cop-drama team. Way better than those guys from Hawaii Five-0.

I'll keep you all abreast as I learn more and as we progress through development. Thankfully, I am still working diligently on the "Charles" novel, which is going through some of its own major changes. But it's working out well, and I'm exciting for the new material I'm writing.

Keeping Motivated

November has been a busy month with NaNoWriMo and with just three days left until the end of the month (a little less given the time of day on Saturday that I'm writing this) it's gone very well. I've neglected a few things -- like blogs, Facebook updates, Tweets, etc. -- in favor of getting my word count, and I'm proud of the progress that I've made.

Come December I will be reviewing my work and beginning the polishing process, as well as revising an old novella of mine to finish it off. It'll be a nice combination because they're both pieces inspired by the same time-period: one is an homage to Charles Dickens (complete with a main character whose name is Charles) in a city not too dissimilar from London in the 1800s; the other is a steampunk story in a city very like a mid-sized one from America or Britain during the Industrial Revolution.

I've had some battles with myself over the course of the month -- the worst I've had in a while -- over the validity of my work, the worth of it, the reason for it all. It's frustrating to doubt yourself; it's even more so to produce so much and question why you're even doing it to begin with. I've been lucky to have a lot of support from friends, writing colleagues, and my girls, so that's helped. I just wonder sometimes how plausible it is to really move forward with a work like this.

I enjoy the editing process, though, and I hope that will invigorate me as I begin to piece through both works and try to find what it is I love about them. I haven't done much with "the Charles story" (which is what I call it because after six years it still has no title), and I'm eager to delve into it again and fall in love with favorite character.