Category Archives: Writing

Golden Goblin Press Launches with Kickstarter

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Golden Goblin PressISLANDS OF IGNORANCE has started a Kickstarter campaign for its first book, Island of Ignorance, the Third Cthulhu Companion. The Kickstarter went up on Friday, 4/19, and it’s been heading steadily toward its initial goal since.

I’m in the running to write a bonus “mystery” scenario. What’s the mystery? Almost everything about it. Backers at the Private Eye level and higher will vote on the elements they want to see in the scenario, as well as who will give life to the patchwork monstrosity. The other authors vying for the spot are Chad Bowser (writer of Cthulhu Invictus), Adam Gauntlett (writer of numerous historically based Trail of Cthulhu scenarios), Stuart Boon (line developer of Cthulhu Britannica), Bret Kramer (editor of the Masks of Nyarlathotep Companion), and Jeffrey Moeller (Lost in the Lights). Those are just a few of the credits these impressive writers have justifiably received accolades and awards for. That’s going to be some tough voting.

Oscar Rios is in charge of Golden Goblin Press. He’s well regarded for his numerous contributions to the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game, including the integral role he’s played at Miskatonic River Press since the beginning, both as a writer and an associate editor.

I’ve worked with him or been published alongside him a number of times. As impressive as his bibliography is already, I don’t think we’ve really begun to see what he’s capable of, because he keeps getting better and better. His Cthulhu Invictus campaign, The Legacy of Arrius Lurco, stands eye-to-eye with any Call of Cthulhu campaign, which is saying a lot for a game renowned for its campaigns. And “The Tenement,” one of his latest offerings (included in Tales of the Sleepless City), is a masterful exercise in dread and despair. Under his leadership, Golden Goblin Press promises to be an exciting and vital new CoC licensee.

A Double Threat

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Two books I worked on were published recently. Finally! (Working in publishing is an exercise in patience.) Paul Carrick was one of the many great artists contributing to both books.

Tales of the Sleepless City Cover

Paul Carrick’s cover for TALES OF THE SLEEPLESS CITY

I was a copyeditor on Tales of the Sleepless City, a collection of Call of Cthulhu scenarios from Miskatonic River Press. It’s another beautiful book from them (their production quality keeps getting better and better). Each scenario spotlights an area of New York City in the 1920s, full of great atmosphere and details to bring the cosmopolis to life. Some friends and I got to play in a couple of the scenarios (“To Awaken What Never Sleeps” and “The Fishers of Men”) at MythosCon in 2011, courtesy of MRP president Tom Lynch.

Paul Carrick art from "This Village Was Made for Us"

Paul Carrick’s nightmarish painting from “This Village Was Made for Us”

I wrote a scenario, “This Village Was Made for Us,” and some scenario seeds for Atomic-Age Cthulhu from Chaosium.  This Call of Cthulhu collection takes place during the 1950s, a previously neglected era for the game. It also provides resources to create characters and run games during the period.  My scenario takes place in one of the communities established to support the nuclear industry, a surreal and oppressive environment for an investigation. I recently received my copy, and I look forward to reading the rest of the scenarios. Brian Sammons put it together, and it was great working with him again. I made my first RPG submission pitch to Brian back in 2002, for Strange Aeons II.