Gamebook Friday: Interactive Fiction and Gamebooks Takeover

In November, I will be taking over the Interactive Fiction & Gamebooks Facebook group to do a deep dive on my latest ACE Gamebook, RONIN 47. I may also give some hints as to what's coming next. ;-)

So, if you have any burning questions about the first SF-themed ACE Gamebook, make sure you stop by the Interactive Fiction & Gamebooks Facebook group during the month of November.

Gamebook Friday: Dracula - Curse of the Vampire

Dracula - Curse of the Vampire has been out for a few weeks now, and more and more people are discovering the latest ACE Gamebook. Some reviews have even started to come in.

Dracula - Curse of the Vampire is going to be November's book of the month over on the Interactive Fiction & Gamebooks Discussion Group (Book Club) on Facebook. But before then it's Halloween, and what could be a better Halloween read than Dracula - Curse of the Vampire?

Talking of Halloween, if you have any Photoshop skills whatsoever, I would like to set you a challenge. I might be okay at writing adventure gamebooks, but my Photoshop skills are zero. What I would really love are some images of your favourite screen Dracula holding a copy of Dracula - Curse of the Vampire that I can then use to help promote the book this 31st October.

It could be Bela Lugosi coming down the stairs of Castle Dracula, it could be Gary Oldman about to bite the neck of Mina Murray, or maybe Christopher Lee in one of his many Hammer Horror appearances. I really don't mind. So let's see what you've got...

 

International Gamebook Day 2021

International Gamebook Day is only in its second year but it has already expanded to take over the whole weekend, from Friday 27 - Sunday 29 August!

There is a lot going on this weekend, including interviews with gamebook authors and designers, and livestreamed games as well.

Check out the schedule below, and join us online to enjoy the interviews and post links to your favourite gamebook projects.

International Gamebook Day weekend(!) concludes with an online meet-up hosted by James Spearing.

Gamebook Friday: International Gamebook Day

I recently learned that 1st August is International Childfree Day, which drove it home to me that you really can have a day for anything.

So I am proposing that 27th August be designated as International Gamebook Day, when people around the world can celebrate their love of interactive fiction.

Why 27th August? Because it was on that day in 1982 that the first Fighting Fantasy gamebook, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, written by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, was first published.

So who's with me?

   

Interactive Fiction Saturday: AdventureX 2016 and WordPlay London

For some reason, this weekend seems to be the weekend of Interactive Fiction here in London. AdventureX is enjoying its sixth(?) and biggest year, with all manner of people demoing all manner of interactive adventures over the course of the weekend at Goldsmiths University in south-east London, and yesterday saw the international WordPlay festival take over the British Library for the day. Seeing as how I live a tube ride away from central London, it seemed rude not to attend both.

Goldsmiths University, venue for AdventureX 2016.

I started at AdventureX, where I listened to a very interesting conversation with Rhianna Pratchett and briefly got the chance to say hello afterwards, and then headed back across London to the British Library, where I was appearing on a panel myself.

Rhianna Pratchett in conversation.

Both events took over their respective venues, with laptops dotted about the place and people trying out each others games (AdventureX in a stairwell/hallway, and WordPlay in the environs of the British Library). There was a real buzz at both events and it was pleasing to see that the gamebook hasn't died out, rather than it has evolved.

The British Library, venue for WordPlay London.

I arrived at WordPlay in time to hear the panel before mine, entitled 'Practical Considerations of Writerly Games' and found myself nodding away as the panellists discussed the pros and cons of crowdfunding platforms, the challenges faced by independent games designers trying to market their games, and how to actually earn any money from such ventures.

Does what it says on the tin...

And then it was time for 'Worldbuilding with Words'. Hannah Powell-Smith (creator of various interactive games in which a far bit of making out seems to take place) did a sterling job moderating our panel, on which I was joined by Helen Carmichael (whose new game 'Shadowhand' is out imminently) and Nate Crowley (who has contributed a story to the soon-to-be-Kickstarted short story anthology SHARKPUNK 2).

We discussed how to avoid overloading readers with information, pacing, design vs storytelling, creating believable worlds within a limited word count, and matching the setting to the game mechanics. (I also plugged Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland and The Wicked Wizard of Oz - a lot!)

After all that talking, it was only right that we decamped to a hostelry down the road to refresh ourselves and talk more about this business we call 'Writing'.

Thanks to everyone who came along to listen to our panel (especially loyal FF fan James Aukett) and for being such an involved and interested audience*. And here's to WordPlay London happening again next year!

* One gentlemen was taking copious notes on his laptop and I'd love to read his transcription of the talks, if such a thing were possible.