In Which I Announce Unidentified Funny Objects, Volume 8!

In May, I had a short story accepted to the annual science fiction and fantasy humor anthology, Unidentified Funny Objects. Currently in its eighth year, UFO has featured a lot of famous writers, and this year it features such luminaries as David Gerrold (he created the Tribbles for Star Trek) Jodie Lynn Nye (who’s published more than 50 books) and of course Esther Friesner, who has probably written more humorous short stories than Alexander Hamilton wrote essays.

When I submitted the story, I wasn’t expecting to have my story be the first one in the book. But there it is, doing its duty to make a first impression. “The 10:40 Appointment at the NYC Department of Superhero Registration” starts the volume off, followed by 23 more lighthearted romps. There’s grandmotherly golems, cybernetic cats, a daring quest inside the living room couch, and more.

The book is now available in print and Kindle, and it seems to be getting a bit of acclaim on Goodreads (for some reason, there aren’t nearly as many Amazon reviews as of this writing).

From my desk to yours. (The cyber-cat-burglars are on page 133.)

“The 10:40 Appointment” follows the hapless Dr. Amir al-Madani, a newly-empowered vigilante who gave up his job in the United Arab Emirates and moved to New York to fight crime. Problem is, New York is full of superheroes, so the Department of Superhero Registration is basically that cantina in Star Wars except with more teenage deities and nuclear-powered mutants. Amir’s only superpower is regeneration, which is really the worst power to bring to the heroic equivalent of the DMV.

Why? Because to register his super-ness, he’s got to demonstrate its capabilities in a road test… which, for regeneration, means a proctor in power armor beats the living snot out of him.

Amir triumphs… but not in the way you might expect. The story is goofy, but it also tries to encapsulate a lesson about what makes a real hero. I’m pretty proud of the story, so by all means, check it out here:

Unidentified Funny Objects, vol. 8, on Amazon.

“The 10:40 Appointment” is not my only light-and-fluffy superhero short story. Keen-eyed observers of this site may note that I’ve had heroes on the brain for a few months. I’ve actually got five or six stories in the works, all in the same universe as “The 10:40 Appointment.” None are quite ready for prime time yet: they’re all in various stages of creation, editing, and submission to various magazines and markets. If any of them score a bullseye, I’ll let you know.

In the meantime, check out the book for a laugh, and if you like it, feel free to leave a review. And kids, remember to drink your milk, because someday your superpowers might depend on it.

Excelsior!

A Writing Tour






This is is where I show off promotional materials, excerpts from books, links to published or produced works, and so forth. My LinkedIn page covers my specific responsibilities for the collaborative projects. (Writing samples are at the bottom — just scroll down.)

I have also spoken at the Game Developers’ Conference on the topic of writer research skills. If you’re an attendee, you can find my 2016 lecture “What Wikipedia Doesn’t Know Can Hurt You,” in the GDC Vault.

Video Games

Pirates of the Caribbean

Relics of Gods

The Mass Effect Trilogy

Star Wars: The Old Republic

FableLabs Projects

My Loft

Wayfinder

Novels

Civil Blood: The Vampire Rights Case that Changed a Nation

Short Fiction

“The 10:40 Appointment at the NYC Department of Superhero Registration”

“The Torturer of Camelot”

“High Water Mark”

Television

The Agency

Tabletop Role-Playing Games

Legend of the Five Rings

Shadowrun

Earthdawn

Paranoia

The Shot Glass of Nostalgia” — Tabletop Stories to Help Your Games

Comics

Mythkillers

M.I.T.H.

Writing Samples

These are resume fodder: YouTube videos of my video game work and prose fiction in small, digestible chunks.

Videos:

A Question of Motivation Part 1 (MMO Quest Giving)

A short and sweet side quest as it originally appeared in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Takes about 5 minutes to watch, which is why I put it first.

“Shoot the mouthy one” is a very Sith answer, but it does not avail the player here.

A Question of Motivation Part 2

The gameplay of the rest of the adventure, including the twist at 10:34 and decision/quest turn-in at 18:31. Total dialogue time about 5 more minutes.

Stomping giant insect-like Colicoids? You’re gonna need a bigger boot.

Priority: Citadel from Mass Effect 3 (Action Sample, RPG Video Game) ~ 30 min

Kai Leng’s first appearance, a showdown with the Virmire Survivor, and finally a use for those Citadel elevators. (Mayhem. Mayhem is the use.)

The variant lines possible in the Virmire Survivor face-off are quite complex under the hood.

Citadel DLC — Thane’s Memorial Service (Dialogue Sample, RPG Video Game) ~30 min

Didn’t feel like you got a proper goodbye to Thane in Mass Effect 3? DLC to the rescue!

A rare chance to revisit what I thought was a shortcoming in the main game.

Citadel DLC — Silver Coast Casino Infiltration ~ 30 min

A casino heist? In a game without stealth? We made it work! Here’s two versions.

This one is a walkthrough, so it has commentary. It includes the mission briefing.

I leveraged BioWare’s strength — dialogue — into our brief foray into stealth gameplay.

This one has no commentary, but does not have the mission briefing.

“Right, right… what did I say?”

(And just for fun, the Silver Coast Casino mission’s red carpet entrances — all 27 dialogue variations!)

“Needs a little something… now it’s perfect.”

Wayfinder‘s Traditions of Eventide (Seasonal MMO Content) ~ 15-47 min.

In a break from doom and gloom, I wrote gaming’s equivalent of the Hallmark Christmas Special, in which Lord Halar tries to assist his scientist granddaughter Avala during the winter holiday. The emotional beats at the end are all the more poignant if you know Avala is an Echo… in other words, like the player, she died and has returned to live an uncertain existence. The first mission is 15 minutes, but if you want the full 47-minute tour, I had my hands on every bit of dialogue in the patch.

“That’s not what ‘objectively’ means…”

First-Person Shooter Sample:

“Voice in the Ear” (Modern Military Shooter Level)

To demonstrate my skills with short, urgent dialogue (more so than the BioWare or Wayfinder samples) and to throw in a little level design, I added this documentation, adapted from a timed writing test. All names have been changed to protect the guilty.

Romance Genre Samples:

The Double (Contemporary Romance Fiction)

Pinning Him Down (Contemporary Romance Interactive Fiction in Twine)

I briefly wrote for I Got Games/AVGLife’s interactive romance novels, and would welcome the chance to revisit the romance genre. Twine makes it easier to simulate the flow of an interactive piece without starting my own studio.

Interactive Quizzes:

“What Do I Know About Video Games?” (A Twine Quiz)

And to end our tour, a little Web content, because I’ve done that, too!

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