• Matt Thompson talks about The 3 key parts of news stories you usually dont get.
  
• Seth Godin and Scott Berkun talk about positivity and hating vs. loving.
• Chris Chinn continues his series on collaborative setups for roleplaying games by talking about ensembles and factions.
• Randall Munroe explains a vulnerability in the International Choice of ( Read more... )

Another story I read for PodCastle, Marie Brennan's "A Heretic By Degrees," is up. I struggled with this one, as it demanded that all four of major characters be distinct and real. (Some of that may be due to the character work I'd done just the week before in Barbara Scott's workshop at the VIC.) I hope they come across as clearly to everyone as ( Read more... )

• Taylor Mali talks about The The Impotence of Proofreading.
• Bobby McFerrin demonstrates the power of expectations at the World Science Festival.
• Raymond Chen on presenting as if the diagrams in your PowerPoint don't exist.
• Garr Reynolds gives 10 tips on how to think like a designer.
• Ukranian sand artist Kseniya Simonova animates Germany's invasion ( Read more... )

This past weekend, I met Jess Hartley. I've been aware of her for years, but until now our social circles have only touched and never completely overlapped. Meeting cool new people is one of the reasons that I go to conventions, so I was happy this worked out ( Read more... )

I'm up for an award, and I need your help. Two minutes is all it takes.

The Voice of the Revolution, a gaming podcast I co-host with Brennan Taylor and that's produced by Ryan Macklin, has been nominated for the ENnie Award for Best Podcast. The results are based on an online vote, and voting is open to everyone. (It's limited to one vote per ( Read more... )

Today, the story-telling game I've been working (slowly) on for the last two years is shipping from the warehouse to customers. My comp copies arrived last week, and I'm amazed at how an idea that started as some notes scribbled in the back of a bus has turned into a tangible thing. I'm a little overwhelmed by the whole process, so I'm not really ( Read more... )

Every so often I have the honor (and pleasure) of narrating a story for PodCastle (or their big sister, Escape Pod). This week they released The Dreaming Wind by Jeffrey Ford, which I recorded for them back in December. I almost forgotten about it, and it turns out I wasn't the only one. Due to an editorial mixup, they ended up getting two ( Read more... )

Numerous people have introduced me to the Cult of Done Manifesto, which holds a certain terrible fascination for me. Caught as I am in the never-ending development cycle for A Penny For My Thoughts ("The smallest game ever to take two years to finish!"), I can't deny its appeal. But as I was talking with Ryan today, I realized that for me, it's the ( Read more... )

I have a strong tendency to take my "leisure activities" pretty seriously. When I wanted to start exercising regularly a few years ago, I suddenly jumped to doing triathlons. When began taking improv classes in 2007, I quickly transitioned to spending three nights a week at the theatre. I'm an enthusiastic person, and I can't seem to dip my toe in ( Read more... )