This evening, from 7:00pm GMT on Facebook, Ken Boyter of The Bottled Imp Fellowship will be continuing his live readthrough of the original ACE Gamebook, Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland.
If you have yet to pick up a copy of Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland, you can do so here.
I am delighted to be able to announce that I am one of the guest writers on the new board game Bardsung: Legend of the Ancient Forge, from Steamforged Games, that is currently funding on Kickstarter.
Here's the newsflash that appeared on an update this week:
Anyone who is already aware of my work will know that I have an abiding love of steampunk, golems, things with too many tentacles, and Scandinavian/British folklore. I also enjoy a good mystery, so I plan on my adventure containing elements of all of these.
There are daily updates and unlocks on the Kickstarter campaign page, and I have been particularly excited by those revealing new monsters that will be appearing in the core box, as well as the Lost Levels expansion.
I hope to use elements of these in the story I want to tell, and already have a number of ideas jotted down in my planner.
So, if you've not checked out the Kickstarter campaign page already, why not do so today, and pledge your support?
This time last year I started writing my ACE Gamebook adaptation of Stoker's most famous novel, Dracula, and twelve months on I am still working on it. There are various reasons why it remains unfinished, not least of which is the global pandemic we are still in the grip of. But last weekend I learned the very sad news that Martin McKenna, who was supposed to be illustrating Dracula - Curse of the Vampire, died at the beginning of September.
I still intend to finish the adventure, having already written almost 800 sections, but I am taking some time to mull over what to do about the book's illustrations. However, late pledges to the project are still open and you can pledge your support here.
I may be picking up my skald's harp and singing a new story into being next year, so this Gamebook Friday I have one simple question to ask you.
What would you expect from a typical Jonathan Green gamebook adventure?
Answers on a postcard or in the comments below, please.
This evening, from 7:00pm GMT on Facebook, Ken Boyter of The Bottled Imp Fellowship will be continuing his live readthrough of the original ACE Gamebook, Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland.
It was with great sadness that I learned this weekend that Martin McKenna had passed away at the beginning of September. He was just 51.
Martin was an incredible artist, his illustrations for the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks some of the most realistic of all. They also dripped atmosphere, with their fine pen and ink details and sinister gothic air.
I first encountered Martin's work via Fighting Fantasy but I soon discovered that his art peppered numerous Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay products as well, and it was with genuine pleasure that I pored over his immaculate vignettes and character portraits.
His illustrations really helped bring the grimdark corners of Warhammer's Old World to life, as they did Fighting Fantasy's own Old World.
Naturally, when I started writing my own FF gamebooks, it was Martin I requested to illustrate the adventures, but it didn't happen until Curse of the Mummy*, my third FF title. Unfortunately, the illustrations weren't quite what I had been hoping for and Martin later admitted himself that they had been rather rushed. In contrast, the cover painting he produced for Curse of the Mummy** was astonishing.
However, when Wizard Books started publishing new titles, I got the chance to work with Martin again. We were clearly inspired by the same source material, and the illustrations he produced for Howl of the Werewolf and Night of the Necromancer are some of my favourites.
And we were due to collaborate again on my new ACE Gamebook, Dracula - Curse of the Vampire, but sadly that is not to be now.
We never actually met and we didn't even speak on the phone, but I had huge respect for Martin and his work, and I think if we had met we would have got on very well.
However, my greatest regret is that is seems Martin did not have the same confidence in his own abilities as everyone who ever enjoyed any of his immaculate illustrations. I only hope that he had some inkling of the pleasure he brought to all those whose lives he touched through his art.
Martin's close friends have set up a JustGiving page to raise money, to help disadvantaged children gain access to the arts, in Martin's memory. If you feel able to give something, no more what, follow this link.
* The upside of this was that I got to work with Alan Langford and Tony Hough instead, and Tony and I have a new RPG coming out this Christmas.
** His first FF cover!
*** Martin based Count Varcolac's face on his own.
