I have a new book, and I’d like you to meet it. Continue the Transhuman adventures with Tyler, Zack and Eena in:
Archive for Andy Kaiser
“Hacking the Naked Princess” – latest chapters are in print
Go get 2600 Volume 30, #2 (the Summer 2013 issue), and read the continuation of Dev’s newest case, “Hacking the Naked Princess”.
To date, here are the back issues where you can get the rest of the story:
Part 1: Volume 29, #2 (Summer 2012)
Part 2: Volume 29, #4 (Winter 2012-2013)
Part 3: Volume 30, #2 (Summer 2013) – (this is what just came out)
Future chapters will be serialized in 2600, probably every other issue.
2600 Magazine is available in many bookstores, including Barnes & Noble. Individual issues can be purchased at the above links.
“Monsters in the Dark” artwork
Tyler and his older brother Zack are back from vacation. Tyler came back with amazing mental superpowers. Zack got a sunburn.
Tyler shares his powers with Eena, a girl whose past is covered by shadows and secrets. A dangerous enemy is chasing them, and the three children scramble to prepare themselves.
They have too much to figure out, and not enough time.
You may remember Transhuman #1 and its cover:
Transhuman #2, “Monsters in the Dark”, is complete and needs to be wrapped by another great cover. Want to help make it happen? You can.
Telekinesis and sharks (though not in the same book)
For those of you following along, you may have an interest in my latest adventures. I’ve been asked for updates from multiple people. Those causes have led to this effect: Below is the scoop on my current projects.
Transhuman #2
The working title is “Monsters in the Dark”. Today marks the Completion Of The First Draft of the book. The next step is a revision, followed by another revision, and another revision… you get the idea. But First Draft Completion is important enough to me that I capitalized it twice! It’s a big step and I’m happy to have completed it.
I’ve also contacted Darko Tomic, the artist who did the cover art for book #1 – “Waking the Dreamer”. I’m happy to say he’s on board to create the art for this book, too. It’ll allow me to keep visual continuity for the series, and, of course, he’s an awesome artist, so I’m eager to see what he does next.
Dev Manny, Information Technology Private Investigator
I released Dev’s second book – “Wetware” – a few months ago. Dev’s third book – “Hacking the Naked Princess” – is currently being serialized in 2600 Magazine.
League of Scientists #1: “Ghost in the Water”
Coming soonish. See this post for detail.
Abby and Zander #1: “Sharks and Bunnies”
I mentioned it briefly before, but am bringing it up again because we are formally going to get this book through to publication. “We” means it’s a family effort: This is a children’s picture book that I’m developing with artist Celia Kaiser (my sister), and writer and conceptual designer Ally Kaiser (my daughter).
What happened to MrBtongue? A Tasteful, Understated, Nerdrage interview
“MrBtongue” is a video mashup creator – you may have seen his series on YouTube, titled “Tasteful, Understated Nerdrage”.
The TUN videos detail his opinions of not only specific video games (it all started with Mass Effect 3, and continues with Dragon Age, Skyrim and others), but also includes his views on the state of the gaming industry, analysis of games’ thematic strengths and weaknesses (including multiple cram courses on what makes good storytelling), and recommendations for making games better.
That last one is big – it’s easy to complain, but how often do you see a “nerdrage” video with intelligent solutions to a problem?
The short summary of all of the above: MrBtongue has released videos that are entertaining, relevant and intelligent, of interest to geeks everywhere.
An even shorter summary is from YouTuber pauliewasson: “MrBtongue is the last, best hope for videogame journalism.”
The below is an interview with MrBtongue, who has graciously donated his time to answer a few questions.
Andy: MrBtongue, thanks for your time today! Let’s start with the big one: What’s happening with you? Some rumors are that Electronic Arts has hired you away to oversee game design in a secluded basement room. Or they’ve gone the other direction, and have hired ninjas to silence you permanently. Are you still alive? Does TUN have a future?
MrBtongue: I always assume there are ninjas nearby at all times, but so far they haven’t done me any harm, nor have I been hired by EA. What really happened is that I had to study for some big tests (the CPA exam) and took a break from the videos to do that. Unfortunately I left a bit abruptly and without much explanation, and I’m sorry for everyone who was left wondering.
I do have plans for more videos – I hope to have one in the next couple of weeks, though experience has taught me not to commit to too much of a schedule, as I do get busy with other things. Just today the trailer for CD Projekt’s Cyberpunk game came out, and that’s the excuse I need to finish up the cyberpunk video.
Andy: Part of TUN is insight and education. You’ve shown in great detail what makes a good game. You’ve taught what “Gesamtkunstwerk” means. Being able to apply such knowledge means more than restating Wikipedia. How did you get to this point? Can you give more detail on your background?
MrBtongue: Spend a decade or so of your life overeducated, underemployed, and with access to the internet, and you’ll develop useless knowledge on a wide range of subjects. In college I studied literature and music, and thought about going into graduate school for literature (though I didn’t). Now I just read a lot (including wikipedia) and learn where I can.
Andy: You have a handle on the state of the video gaming industry. A year ago, one of your videos presents the idea that smaller game companies can and should be able to compete against the massive game publishers like EA, particularly in areas of development costs and creative control. Do you still see this change happening? Where do you see the industry in the future?
MrBtongue: I do think the momentum is going to switch towards smaller developers, though I suspect it’s going to happen frustratingly slowly. The main advantage of the EA/Activision approach was their ability to raise lots of capital, but their financial performance hasn’t necessarily justified the amount they’ve raised, and we’ve already seen their pace of acquisitions and growth slow down.
I should note though that while I know my way around a spreadsheet, I’m not a financial analyst or anything, and not immune to wishful thinking either. But I do think that smaller studios are going to take a more leading role in the future.
Andy: You know what makes a good story and how that ties in with what makes a good video game. Do you have interest in writing or story design work (in or outside of gaming)?
MrBtongue: I do – but of course jobs aren’t easy to come by these days, and especially jobs in gaming.
Andy: Several commenters have expressed interest in giving you money to ensure more quality content. Any thoughts on monetizing the TUN videos?
MrBtongue: I have looked into monetizing them, but the first couple avenues I looked into I didn’t go with for various reasons. Then the whole thing went on backburner with the videos themselves. I’ll probably start looking into that again once I get back into the swing of making them regularly. I’ve been complaining about things so long for free that it’s strange to think of making money from it.
Andy: What do you do when you’re not expressing nerdrage?
MrBtongue: I work at a nonprofit in San Diego part-time, I’m a student part-time, and teach saxophone. I play games too, of course, generally RPG and strategy.
Andy: Anything not covered here you’d like to mention? Any other projects you’re working on?
MrBtongue: Just my next video, ETA two weeks maybe? I have a backlog of subjects – after cyberpunk is MMOs, and then violence in video games. I also have some plans for shorter segments, which are not reviews of entire games but detailed pieces on very small bits of them. Difficult to explain.
Andy: Pretend that EA’s ninjas have marooned you on a desert island. There’s a Kickstarter campaign to save you, but the project won’t close for another couple weeks. You have an Alienware gaming rig, crippled to allow an install of only one game. You have plenty of food and liquids. It’s 2013. What game would you play while you waited for rescue?
MrBtongue: Yeeeeesh that’s hard. Right now I’m playing the Baldur’s Gate Enhanced Edition and Far Cry 3, which are both good, but I think if I absolutely had to choose only one at the moment it’d be Skyrim. Not necessarily because it’s the best (though it’s very good), but because it’s the biggest and would vacuum up the most time.
Andy: Thanks for your responses!
Dev Manny “Hacking the Naked Princess” continues in 2600 Magazine
Go get 2600 Volume 29, #4 (the Winter 2012-2013 issue), and read the continuation of Dev’s newest case, “Hacking the Naked Princess”.
This adventure was started in 2600 Volume 29, #2 (the Summer 2012 issue). Future chapters will be serialized in 2600, probably every other issue.
2600 Magazine is available in many bookstores, including Barnes & Noble. Individual issues can be purchased at the above links.
Book Release: Dev Manny #2: Wetware
I’d like to introduce you to the latest adventure of Dev Manny, Information Technology Private Investigator. The book is “Dev Manny #2: Wetware“, and is available at an Amazon near you. Get it:
New books – Coming sooner and later
I’d like to update everyone on the entire Internet about two different projects, both of which are critical to our society, culture and way of life:
League of Scientists
League of Scientists book #1, “Ghost in the Water”, won’t be available in stores until 2013. From the publisher, I have this statement:
Our goal is to get the book to press in April or May,
with a pub date of September [2013].
So, no League for a while. However, it’s still promising to see the League now being directly advertised by the publisher: “Ghost in the Water” is available as an advertisement in the back of the publisher’s most recent book. They’ve also built a League of Scientists page on their website. Finally, it looks like we have a book cover for “Ghost in the Water”:
Dev Manny
Dev Manny book #2 is on track for release before the end of 2012. The title is confirmed as “Wetware”. We even have a book cover:
Wetware: Dev Manny 3 is on the floor!
So, here’s the deal: Dev Manny 1 (“Superliminal”) is published. It’s out there in the wild. Dev Manny 2 (“Hacking the Naked Princess”) is being published in a serial format in 2600 Magazine. While that’s in progress, I’ve also started Dev Manny 3 (the working title is “Wetware”). But since the 2600 publication is quarterly, I probably won’t have finished Dev Manny 2 for another year at least, so Dev Manny 3 will come out first, even though it’s #3, not #2. I may end up switching the “3” with the “2” upon publication of “3”. Not sure yet.
Got it?
That’s what will happen later. Here’s what’s happening now: Dev Manny 3, “Wetware”, is on the floor.
My term for saying a book is “on the floor” isn’t some weird industry term, or something metaphorical. I’m being literal. As literal as printing out a bunch of pages and putting them on my floor.
Spooky-eyed Shih Tzu in frame because I'm posting this on Halloween.
In addition to confusing my dog, I do this to get an overview on the chapter flow. As I write, I realize that this part doesn’t belong here, it makes more sense to have it over there. This seemingly-simple rearranging is beyond my mental capacity to visualize (so far there are thirty-four chapters in the book). Putting them on the ground allows me to perform an old-school cut-and-paste. So I do. And I did.
This is a milestone for the book. It doesn’t mean it’s done – this is still the first draft, and I have a lot of work to get it publishable. It’s an indicator that I’ve made significant progress and am almost ready to refine, and refine some more…
…and then I’ll publish.
Writing advice from Pixar: Rules of storytelling
Pixar – the group who brought us Toy Story, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, UP, Monsters, Inc, and many more – is built around a philosophy of excellent storytelling.
Emma Coats is a story artist at Pixar, and she has compiled what she’s learned about storytelling, both from her personal experience and learning from those around her. It’s great stuff. If you want something to post on your wall, PB&J Publishing has converted the below rules into a cool infographic.
Pixar Story Rules
#1: You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.
#2: You gotta keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience, not what’s fun to do as a writer. They can be v. different.
#3: Trying for theme is important, but you won’t see what the story is actually about til you’re at the end of it. Now rewrite.
#4: Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.
#5: Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You’ll feel like you’re losing valuable stuff but it sets you free.
#6: What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?
#7: Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.
#8: Finish your story, let go even if it’s not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time.
#9: When you’re stuck, make a list of what WOULDN’T happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.
#10: Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in them is a part of you; you’ve got to recognize it before you can use it.
#11: Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you’ll never share it with anyone.
#12: Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.
#13: Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it’s poison to the audience.
#14: Why must you tell THIS story? What’s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That’s the heart of it.
#15: If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.
#16: What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don’t succeed? Stack the odds against.
#17: No work is ever wasted. If it’s not working, let go and move on – it’ll come back around to be useful later.
#18: You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best & fussing. Story is testing, not refining.
#19: Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.
#20: Exercise: take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How d’you rearrange them into what you DO like?
#21: You gotta identify with your situation/characters, can’t just write ‘cool’. What would make YOU act that way?
#22: What’s the essence of your story? Most economical telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there.
