So Much To Do, So Little To Talk About

OK, so this last week has mainly been a quiet one. The same old, same old, as they say. At least from the point of view of what I can discuss here. In reality, I'm now working on two projects in addition to Worlds of Magic. I just can't talk much about either of them yet. Why not? Well, they're just the kind of things we don't want people talking about until they're ready. The first one has nothing to do with Worlds of Magic, the other has a great deal to do with it. I feel that I should be able to start talking publicly about one in about a month. The other is going to have to wait until October or so. Still, there's work going on in the background, so that's good :)

Before I go any further I have to point out that I've lost my camera and so I don't have any pictures. I plan to borrow Rachel's camera for a while as it's a lot better than mine was anyway. Also, I'm posting this about five days late. It just kept slipping my mind...


One little change in our family life is that Rachel and I have gone on a diet. It's not just to get rid of the fat we've picked up since we came back from Dominica, however. It's called “Trim Healthy Momma” or something like that and it reduces your weight, gives you more energy, and many claim it even helps with diabetes. Whatever it's other benefits are, I've been eating more and better than I have in... well... ever maybe... since we started it. It's funny because it makes you eat more because it speeds up your metabolism, but you still end up loosing weight. I'll try to remember to keep you guys posted over the next couple of months. We should be getting slimmer and feeling better!

Another little news item is that I was on a live radio program last week. It's funny how the Lord works these things out. One of our backers from WoM's first campaign (and second actually), Troy Costisick, got very involved in our forums, became a moderator, and began helping to shape the game. Over the following months we got to know each other better and better and he started getting involved in some of my “behind the scenes” work. He was the one that netted me the interview on KTAM radio and actually ended up conducting it. It was a lot of fun and we've been invited back. It's an invitation we'll almost certainly take advantage of. If you're interested in hearing the interview you can listen to it on their site here:

KTAM Radio

I should warn you that it's around and hour and a half long, lol.

Either way, that's basically what's going on around here at the moment. Work on the game continues and the rumor is that we're going to start letting in Beta testers by the end of June. We still have a fair amount of work to do, but things are moving right along. In any event, I need to get ready for Church (I'm writing on Sunday Morning again), so I'd better wrap it up. As is often the case, I'm wishing you a goodnight from South Carolina!

A Long Road

Before I dive into the meat of this post let me go through the news. The kids and Rachel are well. Alec is still staying at his grandparents and we miss him. For days and days and days now we've not gotten to play D&D for one reason or another. I'm hoping we get to next week. Either way, Summer vacation is right around the corner so we should get to play then one way or the other. Today is Mother's day (I'm writing this on Sunday) and although I won't post this until Monday I want to wish all you Mother's a very happy Mother's day! My last bit of local news (before I dive into work news) is that I've shaved my beard off. “What beard?” some of you may ask. Well, my poor, thin, I-tried-to-grow-a-beard-for-my-wife-beard beard. She saw the beards on Duck Dynasty and decided I should try to grow one. So I did. For months. Yesterday she decided it was time for the beard to go. As soon as I'm done here I plan to shave. Of course, I had Abby take a picture for posterity:


I happen to have a number of pictures this week in spite of myself. First we have a few of the kids in general:


Then there a number of the tea party that Rachel took the girls to Saturday:


Here's one of Caleb asleep with a chicken nugget in his mouth (courtesy of Ben):


And here are a couple from the play Dad was in:


The play was great! It was a production of Annie and everyone did well. Dad did a great job!!

Now that I've taken care of that I can move on to the title of this post. Some of you may be wondering exactly what “long road” I'm referencing. Well, this morning I'm talking about video game development. I started working on Worlds of Magic (then titled Empires of Sorcery) two years ago as of March. That means by the time the game comes out (probably in time for Christmas sales) I'll have been working on it for almost three years. And as soon as it's released I'll probably be starting work on our first expansion.

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind. I like it, really. In fact, I enjoy it a great deal. What I don't enjoy, however, is waiting on payday. For more than two years I've been working on WoM and what I've made out of it so far has been a little more than I needed to cover what I spent when I first started. That's not exactly what I'd normally make during a two year period, lol.

Of course, there is the “flip side”. And it's a pretty big “flip” as it were. You see, I'm not just working on Worlds of Magic, I own it. That is to say I'm the owner of the “intellectual property” as it's called. That means I can authorize and produce any number of expansions for the game and as much “download-able content” as I want. I can also develop Worlds of Magic 2 when the time comes. On top of that, when payday finally does come I should get a pretty good sized check. I'll get my two (or three) years pay all in one chunk and then some. In fact, “and a whole lot more” might be a better way to put that :)

Another consideration is that this entire process has “legitimized” me as a game developer. I'm planning to do another Kickstarter next year for another game project I have in mind. (In fact, I've already started tinkering with it a bit in my spare time.) I have two successful Kickstarter campaigns under my belt and by the time I do the next one I should have made a fairly awesome video game. I've got a lot of contacts I didn't have when I started with Empires of Sorcery two years ago. Those contacts should be a great help when it comes to “getting the word out” when I start my next campaign. All things considered I expect it to be a success.

One other consideration is that all this is helping get my name out there. That could be a real help to me when it comes to my publishing career. I like making games and I want to keep doing it, but I like writing as well. I still hope to be a published author one day. Anyways, I'm beginning to stray from my “long road” point....

What has put this “load road” feeling on me is news I got yesterday. It turns out the publisher that is looking at us wants to push things back about three months. I'm not sure what Les is going to do about it (this one is his decision), but I really have a “not another three months...” feeling. I can't help it. according to my original time table WoM was supposed to be finished by January. Now, the issues that pushed the time table back couldn't be helped, but that doesn't improve my situation a great deal. I am almost broke. I'm getting our bills paid, but just barely. I was really hoping that we were going to get a deal signed with a publisher before the end of the month. My plan was to ask for an advance if there was enough money. Well, now there isn't enough money and I just have to keep on doing my best to make ends meet. This is probably the worst financial situation we've been in since Rachel and I got married. Still, we're not going hungry and I think I should be able to pay everything until December. By then the game should be out and everything should be good.

Still, it really has been a long road. I'm hoping and praying I make enough on this game to make all the future roads seem shorter, lol. Either way, that's enough for now. I need to go shave and we have a good bit planned for Mother's day. So, once again, goodnight from South Carolina!

I'm Not Boring...

So, breaking with the tradition of the last few weeks I'm working on this post on a Sunday. Yesterday was “Derby Day” as well as Abigail's birthday. Once again I failed to get enough pictures. The fact is that I need a new camera (I know I keep saying that, but this thing keeps reminding me of how bad it is...) and I have got to become more “camera conscious” or whatever. Of course, we are kind of like hippies in some ways. That's to say, we lack formality and organization unless we need it. For instance yesterday we had a decentralized party for Abby. Everyone went and sang happy birthday to her when they wanted a cupcake. I was even out of the room when they decided to do that. By the time I got finished with what I was doing it was all over, lol. So, there weren't a lot of photo opportunities that I ignored or anything.

Of course, that's the way we like it. We have parties to have fun, not to stick to some form or schedule of events. And Abby had a great time, which was the main point of the party in the first place. Either way, here are the pictures I took this week:


Those of you who are paying attention may have noticed that our one year anniversary is coming up on Wednesday. As of May 7th it will have been a year since we first landed in Dominica. It's amazing how times flies. I am really looking forward to going back. However, all this really has nothing to do with the overall point of my post.

Once again we're going to skip to the “what I've been thinking” part of the post. (There's a little news, but we'll leave it for the end.) The main thing I've been mulling over this morning is that I'm not boring. I say that because it would be hard to tell it from my blog. Something about the life I live and the way I tell it (or don't tell it) leads people to yawn city. I don't have a firm theory as to why that is yet. I suspect some of it has to do with the fact that I'm just not funny enough. Or exciting enough. Or anything in particular enough.

I have plenty of funny and/or exciting things happen to me. I mean, just this morning I got up and realized there was glue all under my desk. I have no idea why it was there, but the empty bottle was just lying right by my keyboard. So, I guess one of the little ones (probably Isaac) decided that it would be a good idea to take the top off the glue and pour it on the floor under my desk. Now, the first thing to kick in was my “Dad Instinct” not my “Blogger Instinct”. What was the result? I grabbed a wet rag instead of my sorry camera. I just cleaned it all up and fixed myself a cup up coffee. What did I see next? Drops of glue on the floor I had just cleaned. For a moment I stared at the top of the desk in disbelief. The top of the desk was clean... Then it hit me: “Ah... the drawer... of course *sigh*” I opened the desk drawer to find it filled with glue. As I stood there mulling it over I grabbed my camera and tried to take a few pictures. Then, of course, I cleaned it up...


I suppose if I can reign in my Dad Instinct a bit I'll be able to get some of the crazy things that happen around here on camera. Still, I stand behind the idea that I'm not boring either way. It just doesn't come across in my blog. In the past eighteen months or so I've: Run a kickstarter campaign that failed. Run two that succeeded, raising over a hundred thousand dollars. Lost both the house I built with the help of my friends and family and the trailer Rachel and I bought right after Ben was born. Moved to a tropical island where we did things ranging from walking on a volcanically heated beach to swimming in a natural pool in a rain forest. I've done I don't know how many interviews (I've actually lost count) for websites and magazines. I've started working on the design of my next game project in my spare time. Really there's more than that, but that's enough to make my point.

I have a lot going on and have since I was a child. Of course, people tend to think of me as being both arrogant and conceited when I talk about myself. So, I try not to as a general rule (I fail a lot, but I try). However, if I don't talk about myself in my blog what am I supposed to talk about?

On the other hand, my excitement comes in bursts. I'll be working away on this or that without anything really cool going on and then up and move to Dominica one day. It's just the way I roll, lol. Still, during the times that nothing seems to be going on I'm thinking. Always thinking. About what? Oh, a lot of things: Religion, Science, Technology, and Politics. The future of the country, my business(es), and my family. I think about game design and development. I think about things that are and shouldn't be. I think about things that should be but aren't. At times I share portions of what I'm thinking about here and there. A few people (and I mean a very few) are actually interested. In the main, however, I just bore people, lol.

I think the conclusion has to be that I'm not boring, but that I have an aura of boring that masks the excitement that lies behind, lol. I'm not sure what I can do about it or if I should even try. You few who read my blog are interested in what our family has going on. Or you're at least interested in the pictures I put up. (I do need to make sure I have more of them each week.) So, for you guys I'll keep posting away.

I have no idea what most people blog about. I rarely read other peoples' blogs. I'm usually too busy working on what I'm working on. I have no idea what makes “good blogging”. Of course, I could only do so much either way. This blog has to represent me and my family. It has to show who we are and what we're doing. If it doesn't do that then it's not real. It would just be a fictional work made for entertainment. I've done a lot of things, but I've never been a sitcom writer and I don't plan to try to start a career as one with this blog.

So, at the end of the day it may just be a case of “I'm not boring, I just look that way.” If that's bad for business I'll have to hire a publicist to help me look cooler to the public, lol.

Anyways, that's enough of my mad ramblings for this week. Hopefully you didn't fall asleep while you were reading it :)

Just a quick news update: The weather stank last week. Rachel and the kids are great. Alec has pushed through to get his school done so he can spend a couple of months at his grandparents. Work is going very well and the guys from the publisher are supposed to head to the Wastelands Interactive office next week. As is usually the case there's a lot going on. Thank the Lord, almost all of it is going great :)

Anyways, as usual, goodnight from South Carolina!