Meme alert! Harukami interviews me, and I interview YOU!

[demiurgent]

harukami posted an interview that another person did with her. The rules of the interview are simple. That other user writes a series of questions in her Livejournal. Harukami then answered the questions in her own Livejournal, and posted a comment in the original interview's Livejournal saying she was done. And then she offered to interview anyone who wanted, and I raised my hand.

So, a nice, cheerful interview married to a neat Meme. And, to complete the circle, anyone who wants me to pose interview questions for their own Livejournal, please ask in the comments. (If you want to comment on the interview, feel free to do that too. :grin:)



1)The icon you posted with is very nice. (Michael, is it?) Where's it from?


Actually, the art in question (seen here in its entirety to the left) isn't Michael, but the character's name is Mica. He's was originally a Mercurian of Lightning from my Boston campaign, but he underwent a sea change during the game when it became apparent an Elohite was needed for my campaign purposes instead. The writeup is for the Mercurian version, though.

The art was done by the fantastic Jennifer O'Meara, who I have gotten commissions from every year at Baycon for years. (This year, I literally had no subjects to give her, so I missed it this year for the first time.) Other In Nomine related work she's drawn for me includes a Malakite of the Sword named Dian, a Free Lilim named Geneva, and one of my favorite characters and unquestionably my favorite IN commission of all time, Trudiel, Malakite of Creation in Service to War. Writeups for Dian, Geneva and Trudiel can be found at my In Nomine site.

I strongly recommend Ms. O'Meara to anyone.

As for the actual LJ icon... I use it to represent my creative side, these days. Generally. Or when I feel like using it.

2) What's your roleplaying resume look like?


Heh -- that's a loaded question. I'll assume you mean my professional writings in gaming, since that lets me advertise for a few minutes. My entry into professional game writing was In Nomine: Superiors 4: Rogues to Riches by Steve Jackson Games. I contributed Alaemon, and an excerpt from my section is a part of the sample PDF available at the above link. From there, I published in Pyramid, then went on to be one of the principal authors (and top billed, I mention with some pride) on Sidewinder from Citizen Games. I am one of the contributors on the forthcoming Star Trek: Worlds for Star Trek: Roleplaying Game from Decipher games. I have also contributed sections to Bat Masterson's Guide to the High Plains and Bat Masterson's Guide to the Southwest, both of which should appear from Citizen Games at some point in the future (they've got a lot of exciting things on their plate right now).

I've had some other irons in the fire, but a combination of severe stress, rather monumental health issues over the last six months, a nervous breakdown of sorts and a bad case of writer's block for several months caused me to pull back. At this point, I'm back in a writing 'mode,' but while I ensure that there is no recurrence of my writer's block and other problems, I'm sticking to the two novels, one short story and several poems I'm currently working on and not stumping for RPG work. We'll see what happens in the coming weeks and months, however.

(In non roleplaying writing, I've had several poems and short works published, including cover credit for a serial I wrote for Mythic Heroes.)

My nonprofessional gaming pedigree is very extensive, going back to 1979 and the Dragon Box edition of Dungeons and Dragons. I got a copy of the first edition Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual from their very first printings. I own and have read, run and GM for many different games, with personal favorites including Traveller (many incarnations), Champions, Shadowrun, Nobilis, and (always) In Nomine.

3) You were given, as a gift from the universe for your birthday, ANY JOB you could do, without having to worry about finances. What do you pick?


Mmm -- the lottery fantasy. I think the ultimate job I would want would be 'patron.' I'd love, love, love to have the financial resources to fund a studio and pay people to create and write.

If that doesn't count... well, I already have my ultimate job. I'm a writer. I write. For money. But I'd happily let the universe cover my expenses so I don't need a day job while I establish more lucrative pieces and get my career where I want it.

4) Favourite author and why? (This can be online OR real life)


That question varies with the day I hear it, which is true for almost all people addicted to the written word. However, the author that got me into SF in the first place and the one I go back to most consistently is Robert A. Heinlein. As for why... well, first and foremost because his books are amazingly entertaining. I started with Starship Troopers at a young age and then devoured his juveniles, then found myself in his adult fiction and just kept reading and reading, and from there I read Asimov and Clarke and Bradbury and E.E. "Doc" Smith and Ursula K. Le Guin and Piers Anthony (look, I was twelve. Xanth is cute when you're twelve) and Larry Niven and Douglas Adams and... and... and....

I keep going back to Heinlein because there's always something new to find in his work. One of the things that drives me nuts is when critics try to typify or simplify who he was, inevitably deciding he was a misogynist and a right wing Fascist. This just amazes me. I mean, what self-respecting misogynist embeds the idea that women are better pilots, better at math (take that, Barbie), quicker thinking, more reasonable, and better able to handle both pain and gee force into the background of his books? What self respecting right wing nut manages to have an intelligent, honorable, extremely human black man as the star of a kid's book in the mid-1950's without anyone catching on? Or a Filipino star of a Hugo Award winning book in 1959? Or stumps for reproductive rights, abortion rights, homosexual rights, and the decriminalization of drugs?

At the same time, Heinlein is hardly a left wing liberal either. You see my point. He's dense, and takes several readings before you peel away all the layers, and he doesn't fit into any one category, and yet at the same time you can do an absolutely superficial reading of his work and be completely entertained. Oh, and he invented the alien substitution trope, the time travel story, the paradox story, the term 'Free Fall,' and the waterbed. And he didn't sell a single short story before he was in his 40's.

The man gives me hope, you know?

5) What did you first have in mind to do with your LiveJournal when you signed up for one?

I was going to use it to promote an online webcomic called Unfettered By Talent, which was a lot of fun, but which I didn't have time to continue. I had already been keeping an extensive and (for a time) popular online journal called Some Days in the Life, so I didn't feel I needed another journal, but I figured this would be a good place to put comic related stuff.

Of course, I learned about Friends groups and some of the advantages of this form, so I decided, ultimately, to start using the Livejournal the way I do now.

Comments

[demiurgent.livejournal.com]

1. There are many writers in the world. There are considerably fewer editors. As a professional editor in the RPG field, what have you found to be the biggest recurring problems in submissions? What do you think is the most important quality of good RPG writing?


2. What beverage (hot or cold) holds the most personal meaning to you, and why?


3. What are your favorite and least favorite ways to travel. What makes them so different, to you?


4. You're given an artifact that will give you one day with any one historical figure, but it will only work once. Who do you summon and how do you spend that day?


5. The obligatory In Nomine question: which Superior would you work for, and why?