All posts by Newt

Games Designer, Publisher, Web Developer, Dad.

On Dad’s visit, being surly and other updates from Newtworld

The weeks are just flying by. This must be the most hectic year evar!

Dad came to visit last weekend. Had a good time catching up and the highlight of the visit was a trip into Manchester to go to the ever mouthwatering Yang Sing  Chinese resturant. Afterwards had abit of a guided tour of Manchester, as dad wanted to see what had changed since he was last there in the 1960s.

Took Monday off and had a lovely day with Eve and Rachel. Didn’t do a great deal, but had fun going round the toy depts at Mother care and Toys R US ( all I’ve got to say here is ‘VOICE ACTIVATED DALEKS WOOHOOO!!’). Can’t believe that our little girl is nearly one (this May).

Don’t know what came over me yesterday. Was surly and sulky in a fifthteen year old sort of way. Fortunately managed to shake it by the time I got home. 

Today I’m back to my bright sparky self and getting on with work and life in general 🙂

I have become Gloranthan fanzine editor

Update from my previous post. I’ll be going ‘public’ with this on Monday once website is up and submission guidelines/ideas is written up, but I’ve now got a license from Greg Stafford to publish a Gloranthan Fanzine called ‘Hearts in Glorantha’.  As well as the expected HeroQuest stuff I can publish stuff for other systems including RQ and  2nd Age MRQ stuff!

I go public with this on Monday but already I have four firm offers of contributions as well as the stuff I’ve written already.  So that’s an outstanding start even just asking round my contacts. Can’t wait to see what comes through the door when I go public. My only worry at the moment is art (because there’s only a very small pool of established Gloranthan artists), so I’m kinda consoling myself to the idea that issue 1 if it is going to be out for Continuum is going to be ‘art minimal’ or creative use of free art (which to be fair has been done before by a 90s RQ mag called Codex).

So far its going well and I’m well excited!!

Alt.Fiction day Saturday 26th April Derby

Cross posted from

 ‘ LJ (who is the Venue Manager of Derby Assembly rooms) for all you Sci-fi lovers on my friends list

Alt Fiction Day

Saturday 26th April 2008
12.00 noon.
The Assembly Rooms – Darwin Suite.
£20.00, concessions £16.00.

Alt.Fiction returns in 2008 with another superb line-up of talent from the worlds of science-fiction, fantasy and horror writing.

30 authors, publishers and agents will be coming together for a great range of workshops, readings and panels including Brian Lumley, Michael Marshall Smith, Charlie Stross, Mike Carey. Graham Joyce and many more.

Alt.Fiction presents a fantastic day for readers and writers alike, with access to all sessions for one price.

Mr Cando

At the start of the year I envisioned 2008 as being not so much a year of me being beset by external events (births, deaths, job change, move house etc) but more a return to calm and harmony where the biggest thing that changes is me.
Oh and I’ve had that in spades the recent couple of weeks as I hurtled through feb! On one hand my new found confidence has been bringing me into new situations and in contact with big exciting things, while an sense of embarrassment and ‘can’t do’ was putting the breaks on and leaving me in a quite grumpy state of mind. While Rach and Eve were away at Hema’s down south for the good part of this week, I got my head sorted and refocused. Out with Mr Grumpy and in with Mr Cando!!

So were does this leave me after the long dark tea time of the soul that was February?

Teetotal – for at least two months, perhaps longer if it really agrees with me. Which at 36 going on 37 and never having a big tolerance for alcohol (3 pints and I’m pissed) even in my roaring 20s could be the case.

RPG Writing – With at least on RPG book to my name being released this year, even if I sit on my hands with everything else I’m doing at present. To quote Loz Continuum’s chairman;

Liber Newtus – the con fundraiser for this year is the ‘Liber Newtus’. Newt Newport, a great friend of the con and known to many of you, has given us permission to collect together and publish all his MOLAD scenarios for HeroQuest in a single, bumper volume. All the proceeds of the sale of this book go to Continuum, and we’d like to say a big Thank You to Newt for his generosity. “

Although some of this is previous glory, stuff that was published via the old Masters of Luck and Death website, theres’ going to be some new material that’s not been published before. Suffice to say all this has spurred me on to get Monkey and Simple Quest done so I can have a trio of books available at Continuum. All deeply exciting stuff.

Go Play Manchester
– Just about to have our fourth meet up, and we are getting quite a healthy turn out with numbers up to three tables. Word is getting out to local Manchester rpgers and I’m achieving the target of people getting together once a month and people without a game getting back in touch with established groups. Now thinking of going as a gang to Game08, Manchester 1-2nd November, to have fun and further promote the group.

Home – Operation Tidy up is well underway. Downstairs is clutter free except for the dining room. Upstairs begining to win in the Middle Bedroom, aka the Lair of Newt, the prize being bookshelves for my books (after 8 years of being in boxes!) and a new shiny PC. Also a much happier family as Eve crawls round.

Work – After a massive paranoia attack that I was falling back into bad habits, i.e. drifting along aimlessly and getting sidelined as the real work was elsewhere, this week more or less finished off the big WordPress MU install as a proof of concept, that we can use WP Mu for our research groups/projects who want their own sites and let them get on with it.

Has the pleasant side effect that I’ve learnt enough to set it up for my own and possibly others use. Already have the domain name and software set up at ukrpgblogs.net and the plan is to quietly develop it this month, move over goplaymanchester.org, my D101 Livejournal and either set up a general ‘Newt Games’ blog or a Blog about my HeroQuest shenanigans. Then we’ll see if its robust enough to offer to others as a service.

So that’s it for me. Remember Mr Cando, not Mr Cant!

Arrrrghhh Evie’s moving at the speed of lighting!!!

Evie teethed a couple of weeks ago. It wasn’t too traumatic and I certainly didn’t lose any sleep like some fellow members of the Dad Brigade have.  However I have never seen soooo much snot come out a small child ever!! Rach reckoned see saw on booger the size of her head! Her sleep was disturbed and she went off her food. Then she came out of and for a couple of days and everything was back to normal.

Then it was like a switch had be flicked! Suddenly my little girl has at least twice the energy, see’s strong, crawling 100% properly and pulling her self up on tables and chairs. Blink and she’s across the room by the time you’ve opened your eyes.

So Rach, who’s been taking the brunt of this one girl whirlwind, sorted out stair gates for the stairs and kitchen doors. We fitted them tonight, with the aim of turning the hall into one big playpen/crawl space.  The cats are a bit narked with their free flow restricted, but once Evie’s gone to bed we can open the gates and caty harmony is restored again.

One thing’s for sure, things will never be the same again.

Best night out evar!!

Tonight left Evie with Elaine and went out for a delayed Valentine’s meal with Rach.

Food was lovely, beer fantastic after 2 weeks of none, lots of grown up talk that didn’t revolve around either work or Eve (although due to slooooooow service lots of that too) and best of all….

…when we got in Rach read me ‘The Cat in the Hat’

Get in!!!

My Universe is slowing down…..

Centre Parcs was just what the Doctor ordered. Seven days of pure relaxation. Bike rides, the Aqua Sana (which includes Turkish steam baths, Japanese steam room, a Zen garden, Roman tepid room), Italian resturant, the French cafe, feeding the ducks….  Eve and Elaine enjoyed themselves and there wasn’t a cross word the whole holiday.

Since then I’ve been trying to keep the relaxed attitude that developed while I was away.  After a good seven years of dragging myself out the of the post student days of my late twenties, that has seen my parents split up, two house moves, three funerals, three job moves, both me and Rach retrain, one marriage (ours) and one birth (Eve), I think its time for life to slow down abit. 

While I do concede things will happen to rock the boat whether I like them or not, there’s allot I can do to make my ride smoother – by having a rock solid calm state of mind and by making considered moves.

So far this is paying off. Work is delightful as a result. I’m getting more done in a week than I used to in three months. Its also taking me in new directions that challenge and engage me.

Home is one of those bumper areas. Eve has been teething recently and Rach has found it a bit of a bump coming back home and being Eve’s sole carer during the day, after Centre Parcs where me and Elaine shared the load. While I can’t take the load off Rach, I’ve been making things easier for everyone by being a source of calm help when I get in on the evening.  Having children really brings home  why all the major religons bang on about  serving  others being the first concern and the way to happiness.

So in short I think I’ve reached a personal level that I’ve been struggling for years to achieve. 

Whoa, bit of a introspective post there!

Shattered

Really looking forward to our family holiday at CentreParcs next week. Still suffering from the cold that I had over XMAS, now at the tail end where it won’t let go with out a day or two of complete relaxation. That sounds like CentreParcs in a comfort plus chalet to me!!!

Although I’m physically drained I very happy and content. The new job at Faculty is GREEEEEEEEEEATT, exactly what I need at this point, with people I like, good challenging work, calm atmosphere. Gaming writing is moving on, even though writing has slowed to a trickle, and actually got all the internal art for SimpleQuest. I’ve even got my freelance web dev up and going 🙂 Go quite a fierce TODO list before I go on me jollies this Friday, but I’m sure I get there.