Similarly, I chipped in on the creation of our Nanovor Field Guide and the Nanovor comic book miniseries from IDW. When Running Press decided to publish Nanovor novels for the young adult market, as someone in-house familiar with the Nanovor world I was asked to come up with some ideas other authors might expand on in their pitches and outlines. A couple weeks afterward I was told they liked one of my ideas and the way I had pitched it so much that they wanted me to write it! Two months later, I finished the manuscript for Nanovor: Prank Week, my first novel, all about the kids at Hanover High and what happens when Nanovor get involved in a prank war spinning out of control. I was pretty thrilled to see that book hit shelves this spring.

Not long after Nanovor launched in late 2009, I finally took the plunge and became a full-time freelance writer and game designer. It's something I had been working toward for almost 15 years, working at companies like WizKids and Smith & Tinker during the day and then going home to do more work at night, and it finally seemed like something I might make work.

It was right around that time that Lax Chandra gave me a call, and I heard the words I'd been waiting years to hear: "How would you like to do a Watchmen HeroClix set?" Of course I did--and now HeroClix fans can see the results. It was a fantastically fun project, and fun to work with old WizKids compatriots again. I'm working on a couple more projects with them, and if anything I'm even more excited for them to be revealed so I can watch HeroClix fans' brains explode.

Another game company I've worked for over the years is Green Ronin, first writing a sourcebook on gnomes right around the time I joined WizKids. While at WizKids, former HeroClix designer Jon Leitheusser asked me if I wanted to join him in writing a sourcebook for superhero RPG Mutants & Masterminds, and the result was Iron Age, a great book for games set in both the best and worst parts of 80s and 90s comic books. I'm particularly proud of the essay I wrote for the opening of the book breaking down the history of the real-world comics industry during that period and demonstrating how the comics of the period were a real product of their times. I also got to write game mechanics for nuclear weapons, which was fun.

Flash forward to this spring, and Jon is now the line developer for Mutants & Masterminds. Again I got a call with words I've wanted to hear since I was a kid: "Hey, we're working on a DC Comics RPG. Want to be one of our writers?" So far only Steve Kenson's terrific core book for the game is out, but there's an army of writers and designers (including not just myself but ex-WizKidders Mulvihill and Mical) working on a lot of cool stuff coming down the pipe. I was particularly happy to hear that DC pointed to my writeup of Ambush Bug as one they particularly liked.

I was also honored to contribute to another Green Ronin project, one of the fantastic 100 BEST books edited by James Lowder. For the second book, FAMILY GAMES: THE 100 BEST, I wrote an essay on the first game I ever played with my wife, Lost Cities. Anybody who considers games to be an interest, a hobby, or a passion should pick up those books for some great writing on games by an all-star lineup of game designers. I've learned things reading the books--and discovered a bunch of cool games I have to add to my already crowded game shelves.

Continued on page 3...