E.S. Lell's Blog

So, yeah… It’s been a while.

But there will be more to come. And soon.

My problem with this blog, aside from my unparalleled ability to lose track of time, has always been me not knowing what to post about. So, I’ve decided to just post about whatever is going on in my world. Is this a win, or a loss, for you, the reader?

Only time will tell…

In the time lapsed since last I posted, sort of a lot has happened. I’m not going to go over it all, but here’s a recap:

Kalijor Press now has 8 novels in print. The Keys of Kalijor series is finished and it has been followed by the Aegis Protocol (Daray’s origin story), It Never Raynes (the story of Rayne, Riana and Vincent’s Daughter, about 20 years after the Fifth Key closes), and Essequibo River (the Story of Tal Renner, and the roving gipsy band, Pandora Celtica, and their attempts to right some wrongs by subverting a few laws).

I’ve also finished and published a new Role Playing Game, with the help of my friend and partner, Chris McCown. It is called Falling Stars, and it is published by Lock ‘n Load Publishing as their very first RPG. They have many other board, card, and war games, plus a video game and now have branched out into RPGs. At present, Falling Stars has a 400+ page core book; a 90+ page Quickstart book that is sold in a Beginner’s Game box that includes maps, tokens, dice, character portfolios, and a short story to introduce players to the world; a 90+ page Module with three chapters and 9-20 hours of game play, and a pack of 11 maps that includes two ships and a space station, all gorgeously illustrated and in 1 inch/28mm scale (perfect not just for this game, but for any sci-fi game in the same scale).

I also produced a 20,000 word short story for the GenCon 2016 anthology, Missing Pieces, in print now.

In 2016 I wrote two new novels, and have two others in revision/editing. I hope to publish at least two novels this year, plus a couple novellas, and finish up the last couple of books for the initial releases for the Falling Stars RPG. After that, I have a new game I’m working on, and need to go back over the Kalijor RPG to look at the rules and decide if I want to do a version 2 for balance and game play clean-up, or just proceed into sourcebooks and support material, leaving the rules as-is.

Anyway, that’s the recap of the past coulee years, and here we go into 2017!

I hope you all have an amazing year and very much look forward to interacting with as many of you as I can, whether it be at cons, or through the ‘net.

Hello, all you awesome folks out there!

I figured it was high time I posted something here to change things up a bit from all that stagnation and what-not. I know I keep saying I’ll post more often, and I fully intend to, but things happen, life gets in the way, and I get so buried in projects that I just forget. That said, I will keep trying. I am nothing, if not persistent!

Not a lot in the way of news lately. We just got back from Genghis Con where we ran some awesome games, chatted with some great fans, both new and old, and had a generally great time.

The next convention we will be attending is Anomoly Con in the Denver Tech Center. It’s a fantastic mixed-genre con with a huge literary and media focus. This will be our first year there, but the con itself has been going on for quite some time and is always very highly spoken of. I will be on numerous panels throughout the weekend, with topics like Deus Ex Machina, The Villain Dilemma, Improv and Adlib Storytelling, and much more! We’ll have a table with books available and look forward to seeing everyone at the con. Please bring some awesome questions for the tons of great panelists that will be there with us.

After Anomoly (which is March 28-30 by the way) our next con will be StarFest, which has been moved for this year only to May 2-4. It will be returning to its normal late April time frame next year. We will be releasing our new novel, ‘The Aegis Protocol’ at StarFest this year. It is, without a doubt, the best novel we’ve done to date and I am super excited to share it with everyone!

As mentioned before, ‘The Aegis Protocol’ is fast nearing completion. I am going through the final major revisions now and all that remains after that is some short edits on a couple spots, then typesetting and layout. The cover art has been assigned out and things are moving along nicely for a StarFest 2014 release!

Once ‘The Aegis Protocol’ is in the can here in the next few weeks, I will jump into revisions on the next novel ‘The Turin Gambit’. It is Alina’s origin story (she’s made some cameos in the Kalijor books and has a much larger part in ‘The Aegis Protocol’) and is more about a young woman learning who she is and how she is strong enough to take control of her world to get out room under the thumbs of those who would try to control her. It’s less of an action story (although there certainly is some action) and very character driven. I very much look forward to sharing it with you.

After that will be a couple more Daray books (a small series that is already all written) followed by one or two more Alina books (depending on how the editing goes), and then some more for Daray and her new family.

I am really pleased to say that I am now into a backlog of already written books that means I can start getting stuff edited and revised long before release. This means I can get higher quality books out to you guys on a less-compressed time table and still keep writing new material to add to the other end of the line. I’ve been trying to get here for a while now and I know it will benefit everyone.

Sales are slow, but they are happening! Folks that play the game are saying good things about it so it’s just a matter of getting people to play.

The first sourcebook is nearing the completion of the writing phase (just a bit of work on the GM section yet to go) and will be entering play testing very soon. I’ve even finished the rough layout and have built the art assignments but I cannot assign art out and begin the final publication processes until the man books are ‘in the black’, as it were. They aren’t too far off, but only core book sales will get us there so tell your friends and family that the sooner they pick up a copy, the sooner they can start getting their hands on sourcebooks that will expand the world and begin to really share the depth of the Kalijor universe.

Also, I had a great hour and change chat with a couple guys from a Colorado game developer about the Kalijor game engine and setting. They had some great things to say, as well as a couple awesome tips that I will be working on going forward. It’s always nice to meet folks with experience who are willing to share it in a constructive way. Together we lift each other up!

Okay, so I think that’s about it for now. I’ll post a panel schedule for Anomoly Con as soon as it is finalized and, as usual, I promise to try harder to keep up regular posts here.

I hope everyone is doing well, and I look forward to seeing you all out there, somewhere!

End of Line…

Paul

*Hangs head in shame* Yes, I am aware that I am a habitually bad blogger/updater. I’ve kind of made peace with that aspect of my personality, but I do regret inflicting it upon those who have expectations that don’t jive with my crazy. To those of you who watch this space, I do apologize for the infrequent updates. I would swear I’ll do better, but that usually only lasts a month or two before I start slacking again, so I’m not making any promises. So, I’ll make an effort, but in the interim, check out the below! Some of you may not be aware that Kalijor Press has an affiliation with an awesome company called G33k & Co. which is an organization dedicated to the expansion of the geek consciousness and arm geeks young and young-at-heart with the tools they need to face the world and spread a little love. Well, one of our peers in G33k & Co. is the SurReal Mother Geek who has an amazing book of nursery rhymes and parables that have been ‘geekified’ for your pleasure. The book is superbly illustrated, and masterfully worded and I highly recommend that you check it out, even if you don’t have kids. But if you do have younger kids, then you need to give it a look as it is the ultimate primer for your progeny! You can check it out at their FaceBook page, or pick up a copy on Kindle, iPad, or dead-tree formats! Personally, I like the iPad version as it is completely interactive with sounds, animations, hidden items to find and seek, voice-over (if you want it), and pronunciation of words to help kids learn to read and speak!   Okay, on to Kalijor Press News.

The First Key of Kalijor is now free on as many eReader platforms as I could make that happen. A couple of them have some kind of restriction saying you can’t change it to free if you’ve ever charged money for it, so on a couple it is $0.99. Most price match though, so you can probably still get it for free if you send an email their way, but it is free on Amazon and iBooks which are the two big ones. Please, tell your friends and family! Well, the Aegis Protocol is mostly through editing and rewrite. The last couple of chapters are still with the editor and rewrite is caught up so as soon as I have those last few chapters I can hammer out the rest and get it in for round two of major editing. We’re still looking good for a StarFest 2014 release and I still feel this is my best work yet so I am very much looking forward to sharing it with everyone. As soon as Aegis Protocol is in the can, I will start the next big rewrite on The Turin Gambit and then hand it off to editing, hopefully in first quarter 2014, giving them an unprecedented amount of time to really work it over and hammer out all the little things that tend to slip through. I am still writing another Daray/Lana story, and a novel with a set of new characters that takes place about 20-25 years after the Fifth Key, and I have several books written and lined up for rewrite after the Turin Gambit is cleaned up.

The Kalijor RPG core book is now available from all major booksellers! Most will have to order it in, but they all have access to it now, so if you ask, they can get it. Amazon currently has it on sale for about $5 off regular retail. The Kalijor: Kids core book will be the next to get through the retail quagmire, but it will have to wait until after the first of the year as I am still pretty backed up on projects right now. It is still available from our store here at Kalijor.com, and if you email me I can hook you up with autographed copies as well. Also, both books are available on iBooks and at DriveThruRPG.com. Either (or both) would make a great gift for a family of gamers this holiday season, or any other day. I am currently working on a rewrite of the first scheduled sourcebook for the game, Rathalon! It is shaping up nicely and is about 80% done at this point. I’ve even begun building the art list and doing layout/formatting on the finished parts of the book so it really is close. The caveat to all of this though, is that I need the core books to get into the black before I can afford to buy more art for the supplements, so the more copies we can move, the faster that can happen. I have about 20 pages of the next sourcebook written (The Earth Ring Station) already, as well as a bunch of other material for subsequent books that is all growing slowly as I have moments here and there. The other big RPG project I am working on right now are two adventure supplements. One of which takes place entirely in the ‘real world’ of the future and involves a mysterious ship and a pair of warring Artificial Intelligences. The other takes place in both Kalijor and ‘the real world’ and, oddly enough, also involves an artificial intelligence, only this one is sentient and seeking something that nobody is sure is a good thing, or a bad thing if it should acquire it. Both campaigns are shaping up to be quite the ride for players and they are testing well with my groups. Scads of new equipment, NPC’s, creatures, places, and more a sprinkled throughout both and I am really looking forward to getting them cleaned up and ready for you guys to check out!

2014 is shaping up to be a pretty busy year for Kalijor Press. Around all of the production we are doing we also have numerous conventions that we will be attending, both as a vendor, and as a guest. Right now the list looks thus: Genghis Con Anomoly Con StarFest Denver Comic Con GenCon TactiCon MAL Con MileHi Con   We are looking at a couple of others as well, namely Wasabi and Nan Desu Kan, plus a little con in January, although that may not happen at this late stage. We’ll be looking to run games at every opportunity while at con, and I will be a guest (or mod) on panels at many of those conventions as well. Also, I know I am listed as a guest on the GalaxyFest 2014 website, but unless I receive some communication from the organizers of that convention, Kalijor Press will ~not~ be in attendance there. So, if you were hoping we’d be there, then please contact the convention and have them get hold of us to discuss the con. Lastly, I’m still hoping to get a couple local walk-in games going at shops in the Denver area, but thus far I have been so swamped with production that I haven’t had the time to go pound the sidewalk and get them set up. Stay tuned for more on that front.   Okay, I think that’s bout it for this round. I’ll try to update more frequently, but I am not promising anything. I hope you all have an amazing day, and a stupendous ChristmaHaunnaKwanzaDanivuS!   End of Line…   Paul

The Kalijor RPG got its first review on Drive Through RPG last night.

Usually, I love seeing reviews, even if they have negative comments in them. I think it’s largely because I work really hard at self-improvement and negative comments are generally able to be translated into opportunities for improvement.

This one though, I am having trouble with, and I’m not entirely sure why. Maybe it’s because the reviewer said the only really good thing about the book was the art. On the one hand, I like that they enjoyed the art. I worked really hard to pull together a bunch of artists that I thought could do the world justice and I am very proud of what they have produced. On the other hand though, many of the comments they made, I am having trouble seeing as anything useful, or even meaningful.

There were some valid criticisms, to be sure. One was a lack of detailed world info for both settings within the book This is something that I am painfully aware of and has been an issue that has been discussed at great length around the testing table for years. I know there isn’t a ton of detailed information about the setting, but there is enough to get things rolling. Unfortunately, I had to make a call on content. I had a lot of information to present, and the nature of the world I was describing sort of necessitated that both the fantasy and science fiction settings made their debuts in the core book. This meant pushing the volume of the book to pretty large proportions and, thus, raising the cost of the book to the end user, especially when the cost of art is considered. I had to draw a line in the sand and make a call on what would get into print, and what would have to be handled in supplements, or on the web site.

Maybe it wasn’t the best call, but I’m new at this and it should come as no surprise that I drop an occasional ball. I am currently working to rectify this issue by posting free campaign and world information on this very web site for players to avail themselves of. It may not be ideal, but I am trying to bridge the gap and show my support for those who have decided to give the game a shot!

The reviewer in question basically calls the Kalijor RPG a rip off of Palladium Books’ system. While I cannot deny that I am a huge fan of the Palladium Books game system, I really must take exception to a comment such as that. All I can imagine is that the reviewer looked no further than the most basic of combat mechanics, saw some similarity, and wrote off the entirety of the rest of the material without looking it over.

Is my combat system a copy of Palladium Books’ combat system? Hell no!

Are there similarities, even parallels? Hell yes!

It is in the DNA of every person alive to find deficiency, I thoroughly believe that. It’s in our very nature to identify the things we don’t like about, well, whatever it is we encounter/use. For a few, let’s call them creators, or maybe innovators, those deficiencies become the driving force behind entire lives.

We didn’t get from telegrams to super-phones in 200 years without people seeing how something worked, identifying things they didn’t like about them, and then hitting the books and work benches to make improvements. We can’t help it. As I said, it’s in our DNA.

The game industry is no different. Gamers the world around pick up books and play games for years, decades even, and without exception, they find little things about systems that they would change ‘if they had their way’, or ‘if they’d been in charge’.  Every RPG out there today is the direct result of players picking up the first one and saying to themselves, “this is pretty cool, but what if…”.

So, did I copy Palladium’s combat system? No. But I took the parts of it that I loved, and blended them with the parts that I, and others, thought could improve it. I did years of research, and more years of play testing with dozens of groups in cities all over the west and mid-west. I learned to do statistical analysis to arrive at the simplest dice solution that would result in the best, character driven combat solution that I could build, and would want to play with. I didn’t just copy the Palladium rules and change 1D20 to 2D10. I didn’t simply change one form of health/armor tracking to another and pass it off as my own. But it is likely that there are hints and glimmers of a bunch of different concepts from other game systems in mine. But I did tip my hat to a combat system that I grew up playing with, and still love to this day.

Beyond that, I wrote, from scratch, an entirely new system of skills, abilities, magic, alignments, and more. I’ve written a system that not only keeps the great, story-centric combat feel of Palladium, but also increases the importance and impact of skill selection, on combat. Not only that, but the system also goes to great length to make sure that characters with a strong mental focus can compete with those who have a strong physical focus in many stages; something the Palladium system does not account for. The Kalijor system can be played dieceless if players want, and it is dovetailed into the Grow With Me RPG system which means kids of extremely young age and people who’ve never touched an RPG before can learn to play with this system, then use it, with increasing levels of logistical complexity and detail, their entire lives!

I can’t even completely express how different this new RPG is from Palladium’s games, but this review makes it sound like it’s just a clone, or worse yet, outright plagiarized. Does it not occur to someone that something like a table can only be presented in so many ways? And of those ways, only a few carry a certain efficiency with them that works well, and quickly, in print?

I know it’s just one review, and I know it is, as the title of this tirade suggests, merely the vocal minority. I’ve had dozens of people email me or catch me at a con and tell me how much the love the game. Yes, there have been suggestions for improvement, and they are being  looked at very seriously. Yes there have been questions about world content and campaign tools, and those are also being worked on, and many of them provided for free on the new Kalijor (almost) daily page here at Kalijor.com. But feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.

So, why the tirade? I don’t know. I think because the review seemed so… half-done? It bugs me that I cannot answer the review with some thoughts without seeming defensive. Maybe I am being just that here, but in the end, this is my blog and I can shout about whatever I want, right? I need more reviews to balance this one out, but the folks that play the game happily and enjoy it rarely write reviews. As with any product or service, the majority of folks only talk publicly about it if they have problems with it. But, since reviews do influence purchasing decisions, having only a single review that is largely negative is a bad thing, even though said review appears to be wholly incomplete and laser focused on a single aspect of the game.

I guess I’m whining because my job getting the word out just got much more difficult than it already was. I’ve chosen a tough, uphill fight, being a self-published author and game developer, and I know that public opinion is something that I will always have to contend with, and that it will not always be positive or supportive. But man, it feels like folks should take the time to look over and talk about the entire product before they speak out, you know?

Okay, I think that’s about enough of that.

In other news, the rewrite of ‘The Aegis Protocol’ is progressing nicely and the book is on track for release at StarFest 2014.

The RPG is heading back into the retail approval channel this weekend and will hopefully start showing up in book stores this year.

The web page is going to start sporting more source material for the RPG over time, and a couple campaigns have already been posted for your use.

The first two Kalijor RPG sourcebooks are fully written and just need editing, layout, and art, as soon as the core books are in the proverbial black, which isn’t too far off. I hope to be able to assign artwork beginning in first or second quarter 2014. Sooner would be awesome, but sales aren’t quite that high yet, and I am all out of conventions for the year.

Conventions are being added to the 2014 roster, and we’ll be at more than ever next year! Including a table and games at Genghis Con, massive participation at Anomoly Con, and much more.

Progress on the newest novel has slowed during the rewrite of ‘The Aegis Protocol’ but is still forging ahead.

The next novel, tentatively called ‘The Turin Gambit’ will go into revision and editing as soon as ‘The Aegis Protocol’ is buttoned up.

And… I think that’s about it for now.

I’m going to go create some stuff.

And remember, folks. Please leave reviews for the things you buy, but please make sure they are complete reviews, reflective of the entire product, not just the bits you glance over in passing.

End of Line…

Paul

Schedule for MileHiCon:

Friday, October 18:

LARPing: Past, Present, and Future 5pm in Wind River A

Readings: Guns, Magic, and Mayhem 10pm in Mesa Verde A

Saturday, October 19:

The How and Why of NaNoWriMo 4pm in Wind River B

I’m also going to try and get some pickup Kalijor RPG sessions going in the game area, so if you want to check out the game, swing by and let us know. It only takes a few people to play, but the more the merrier so if you have a group you’d like to play with, bring them all along!

Author’s Avenue has been moved to the second floor lobby where pre-registration has been the past few years. We’ll be set up there during dealer’s hall hours and we’ll have the full range of novels, short story books, RPG books, and SurReal Mother Geek books as well!

That said, I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow and throughout the weekend!

Hello, everyone!

We just got back from MAL Con and I have to say that for a first year convention, it was very well organized, very well run, and had quite a bit of energy with the attendees. There were a couple minor sticking points but to be honest, I think it is a testament to Nikki and her skills as an organizer that the con went as smoothly as it did. I, for one, am looking forward to next year!

I ran a Kalijor game on Saturday afternoon and unfortunately a lack of food, drink, and some sleep, had me petering out by the time we were getting into the last hour of the game. I apologize to those that played, I was kind of a hurting unit there. Still, they all seemed to have a good time and I was very glad to have had/drafted them into playing!

I also ran a workshop on latex fabrication for CosPlayers, or whomever else was interested, and I got a bunch of great feedback from that as well. I’ve never really shared what I’ve learned in that world with anyone other than my wife, so it was an interesting combination of sharing something I enjoy doing with folks I don’t know in an unfamiliar setting and that giddy feeling I get when I am in the process of sharing information with those who want to have it. It really brought me back to my days as a technical trainer and rekindled the love I have of helping others learn new skills and broaden horizons. In short, it was good fun and I would be willing to do it again if it is something folks want to have more of.

In terms of writing stuff, I made some headway on the new novel whilst I was at con, but I’ve spent the past couple days taking care of some other business odds and ends. It is unfortunate that I have to take time to handle things like taxes and writing letters to foundations, but that is, alas, part of the cost of doing business. Still, I should be able to finish all of that up tonight, and then get back to the creative stuff later in the week.

Next year’s novel:

The initial editing pass is nearly 30% done and I will probably start looking at the finished portion/making changes this week so I don’t have a pile to get through when it’s completely done. There is a bunch of writing to do in order to fill in some character development gaps toward the beginning, so if I get on it soon, I should be able to get through the rest of the edit much more quickly. My goal is to have a revised edition back in editing by December 1 at the latest. It is my fervent hope that this novel can be completely finished, in print, and available in stores, in time for a StarFest (mid April) 2014 release!

Kalijor RPG:

Sales on the RPG are kind of slow, but there is basically no advertising going on for that at the moment, aside from games at cons. Another business task I have on the list for this week is to get with a couple local game stores that have tables and get some public games going. It is my hope that once that is happening, I will be able to get some books on store shelves and generate some momentum.

I’ll also be submitting the Kalijor and Kalijor: Kids RPG books for the EnNie program this week, which could generate some buzz, depending upon how that progresses. I also have a couple other leads I am pursuing in order to get some energy going. But what I am not doing is resting on my laurels. Supplements are already being hammered out (one is done with writing and just needs editing, layout, and art) in anticipation of fan uptake!

Conventions:

It looks like whatever this Rocky Mountain Con is, it is not actually going to be a con. I sent an email more than a month ago asking a couple of questions, and I have not as yet heard back from them. Since the con is supposed to be next month, I am writing it off at this point. That means that we have MileHi Con here in less than three weeks (October 18th) and then we are done for the 2013 year.

For 2014, we are going to hit a record number of cons and I am already working on the list and arrangements. At this point it looks like this:

Genghis Con

StarFest

Denver Comic Con

Anomoly Con

GenCon

Tacti Con

MAL Con

MileHi Con

I’m working on NDK and a couple others still, but I’m also trying to get the product lineup to the point that we really have a good dovetail into some of the more genre specific themes (anime/manga at NDK for example). Also, there are a bunch of cons that are not exactly local, but still in state, so I’m trying to find a balance between expenses and potential profits based upon demographics, Con content, and myriad other criteria. But rest assured, we will be making the rounds, doing panels, running games, hosting workshops, and selling books, in addition to writing and producing material.

2014 is going to be big!

That’s about it for now. We’re supposed to get the panel/workshop/game schedule for MileHi Con this week sometime. I’ll post it here as soon as I can. Until then, I hope everyone has an awesome day/week, and I will chat at you later!

End of Line…

Paul

Hello!

I’ve been busy over here, with book stuff and so much more! So, here’s the news:

The Aegis Protocol (next year’s novel) is coming out of rewrite shortly and will then be going into editing and cover design mode. I’m hoping to knock it out in the next couple of months so I have plenty of time to get it into the books databases before release next year. It is my goal to not have it done by the skin of my teeth this round. I’d like to be able to say ‘it is available now, in all formats, on all the major bookseller’s websites’, rather than, ‘I have copies here, and you can get the eBooks online, but the physical copies will be a while before you can order them from major bookseller’s’. You know… baby steps toward improving the operation.

Also, I broke 30k words on the new novel last week (didn’t get any writing done of the weekend as we had a bunch of family and friends stuff over the weekend). It’s shaping up very nicely and I am still very pleased with the story and characters.

On the subject of improving the operation, I’ve picked up a couple items that will make the table at conventions a bit less cluttered and transactions a bit faster/more organized. Next I’d like to get some better signage for cons. One step at a time, right?

On the subject of the RPG, it should be appearing for purchase at major booksellers soon (sound familiar?). Now that things are calming down a bit I am getting ready to dive into cleaning up the first sourcebook for publication. It’s already written, but needs some cleaning and editing, then layout work. The big hitch will be getting enough sales of the main books to pay for the cost of their printing, then building up a bit of coin to pay for art on the sourcebook.

To that end, I will be speaking to the owners of some local game stores, beginning this coming weekend, about running public, walk-in Kalijor games in their stores. This will generate some buzz, get folks interested, and hopefully get some books on shelves in stores. Plus, as soon as the books actually start showing up for order on bookseller’s websites, I can kick in some online advertising and start generating some energy that way as well.

On the convention front, we will be setup at MAL Con from Friday September 27th through the 29th, then again at MileHi Con from October 18th through the 20th. We will have all of our novels and RPGs, plus some of the SurReal Mother Geek books from our partners in G33k & Co. I’ll be running Kalijor games at both conventions, as well as doing panels and signing books. My awesome friend Mike will be at the table whenever I am not, so books will be available throughout both conventions, even if you can’t find me personally.

After those there is a faint possibility of a con in November, but I have heard nothing from the organizers on a couple of questions I asked them, so at this point it isn’t looking good. I am beginning to send out communications to organizers for next year’s conventions as well, building the 2014 con schedule. I’ll hopefully be adding a  handful of conventions and, at this point I can confirm that we will be returning to GenCon (would love to do so with a sourcebook for the game, but we’ll have to see what happens there).

On a personal note, I got a new gaming table at the house this weekend. It is twelve feet by four feet and should comfortably seat 12-14 people for whatever kind of gaming we want to do! I’m on the lookout for some chairs that are not back-breaking (or bank-breaking), and I Have plans to setup a TV with a computer, a stereo, an X-Box 360, a camera for video conferencing and, eventually, a projector to I can throw video, maps, and so on, on the far wall, or even on the surface of the table. It’s all being done on a budget, but the table and chairs are the biggest pieces to acquire and I did much better on the table than I really could have hoped, so I am already well ahead of the game. I’ll post some pics as soon as things start really coming together with the new setup!

Okay, I think that’s about it for now. I will probably post again next week just to remind folks of MAL Con.

I hope you all have a great week and I will talk to you later!

End of Line…

Paul

Hello!

Yes, I know it’s been over a week since GenCon now, but I’m telling you, the time has been flying by to the point that I just got time to sit down and write this up. I could have done so sooner, but I wanted to give it more than a passing effort, so I set aside some time today to do just this. That said, here we go!

Monday the 12th my family piled into the truck and drove out to DIA (that’s Denver International Airport for those not familiar) where they left me curbside to begin my GenCon journey, then headed off to the kids’ first day of school for the year. This trip was full of firsts, and they started piling up right away that morning. For example, before this trip, I’d only ever flown a handful of times before, but this was my first time going it alone. Also, the last time I flew was before the events of 9/11, so this was also my first time dealing with the TSA. I don’t want to take a bunch of time here with all of that, so I’m just going to say that it was pretty smooth, and I do not appear to have caught any foot fungi from walking around a frakking airport in my socks!

So, I arrived in Dayton that Monday around 3pm zulu, was promptly attacked by munchkins, ran some errands, had dinner with friends, and set about tackling last minute con details and assisting however I could with final prep and production. Tuesday was much of the same, with the evening spent packing a 200 square foot booth and all associated fixtures and stock into a Honda minivan. All I have to say about that is, wow. That thing holds a deceptively large amount of physical goods!

Just after 6, I stopped by the 6-9pm trade day table set out for us and chatted with a couple of people while my cohorts ran around the hotel and convention center dropping off download codes for promotional copies of the RPG books and other prizes for the various charities, groups, and raffles that we had elected to participate in. Around 8 we decided to play hookie from trade day and ran off to get some food, then crashed.Wednesday morning we saw the kids off to their first day of school, packed up the coffee machine and luggage and hit the road to Indy. We arrived around 11am, unloaded the van into the convention center, parked it at the hotel, and then set about constructing the booth which had, up to that point, never been fully assembled previously. Things went very well, if you ask me, and we only had to alter three pieces of the structure, which was entirely expected. By 6pm we were basically finished with the booth, including setting up all of the stock and displays, and having not eaten since 7am, we were famished and ready to eat. Which of course meant that we had somewhere else to be!

Thursday morning we got up, had breakfast in the convention center (bad idea), then headed into the hall to do final preparations and get ready for the first day of con. Things got off to a rough start as we fought with our wi-fi hot spot and the video we’d intended to run in the kids area of our booth, but we soon sorted all of that out, made necessary adjustments, and were off and running! We nearly sold out of our bibs on Thursday, and sold a bunch of dice bags as well, but books were not really a big ticket item. I Had a game around 2 that one person showed up to, so we chatted for a bit, I gave her a download code for a digital copy of the RPG and thanked her for giving it a shot, then headed back to the booth and we finished out the day with strong sales and a good hot meal before crashing hard again.

Friday was more of the same, although a bit slower than Thursday in terms of sales. We sold a few Kalijor: Kids books, a ton of dice bags, and the Surreal Mother Geek book was moving very well from Friday through the end of the con. Friday morning we ran games for kids in the family fun pavilion to no small amount of cheers and parental approval. The game was a hit with the kids, ran well in its first public appearance, and despite her misgivings, Diana knocked it out of the park! My game at 2 had more than enough people to play so we ran through the campaign and everyone said they really enjoyed it. I had a guy do something I’d never seen before in 25 years of GMing (although looking back it wasn’t all that amazing and probably should have come up sooner, but what are you going to do?). Folks seemed to be getting into it and made lots of great comments about the game. That night, we closed up the booth at 6 and ran right over to watch The Gamers: Live, which was epic fun, then had California Pizza Kitchen for dinner and then got probably the best night’s sleep I had over the entire trip!

Saturday was super busy. We ran both the Surreal Mother Geek 4-7 game, and a Kalijor: Kids 7-14 game at the family fun pavilion and again, all parties involved seemed to be having a tremendous time. Parents were laughing and helping their kids play, we did a couple quick Q&A sessions with reporters and bloggers, both at the game and later at the booth, and Diana was even filmed for an interview with PlayUnplugged! My 2pm game was with a group of 9 friends who regularly game together and when they attend GenCon they look for games that are fresh and new and then buy them out so they can all play together. They were super fun to GM for and we played for 3 hours and change, well over our 2 hour block of time. After that, they talked about showing up for the next session on Sunday morning, so I knew they were enjoying the game!

Sunday morning at 10 I had my last Kalijor game session and when I arrived there were already 5 people there ready to go. As I was explaining the basics of the system to them, six of the nine from the previous day’s game showed up and bought up the remaining seats and after another three hours we had two tables full of people having a great time and I was moving around between tables running two different groups as the party had split up to divide their efforts. I had to run back to the booth after that to sign some books and talk to some customers about the game. Then at 2 we ran the last of the kids games, again both the Surreal Mother Geek and Kalijor: Kids games, and again we received a bunch of compliments and accolades from both the kids, and their parents!

The con closed up at 4pm and we had the booth broken down and packed up in about an hour. There were some issues in getting access to the loading dock for load out, but we dodged the (THREE HOUR!) wait with some clever parking and with the help of some friends got packed up and on the road by 7pm. Back in Dayton we decompressed for a bit in the hot tub, then slept off the day.

Monday we saw the kids off to school, unpacked the van, stowed what we could, boxed up all of the stock and other things that needed to come back to Denver, and made a trip to the post office to drop it all in the mail. Tuesday we made a few dice bags, including a prototype Kalijor bag, and started making plans for future cons, including a return to GenCon in 2014! That night we played some Red Dragon Inn, hung out with some friends and had a generally good time.

Wednesday, I had a great sushi lunch with my friends in Dayton before getting back on a plane home and by the time I arrived back in DIA the cold I had started to feel the tingle of the previous night had taken full effect. Still, it was awesome being back home with the family. Since then I have been working to get rid of the cold (almost gone now) and watching movies and playing some Skyrim. But now, Monday, it is back to work!

In all, GenCon was another awesome experience. We did even better than in previous years and I am excited both to go back next year and for the future of the Kalijor RPG and our partnership with the SurReal Mother Geek and G33k & Co.! The RPG didn’t sell out, but it sold, and to people who played it as much as those who picked it up sight unseen, as it were. People are super excited about a game system that they can use with their kids, and for themselves, and accommodate both styles of play without adjusting or changing mechanics or stats in any way. We met a number of folks who run game stores all over the world (including one in Australia) who loved the game concept and want to talk about carrying the game in their stores!

All told, the trip was great, the RPG and novels all sold well, and I am super excited both to have been able to go, and to be back. The excellent news is that I will be putting the finishing touches on the first sourcebook soon, and the moment we have the money, I will be assigning out artwork to get it on its way to publication so we can keep the momentum going!

In the meantime, I will be finishing up the most recent revision of The Aegis Protocol this week, and this weekend we will be at TactiCon in Aurora Colorado! I Have three games scheduled, although something has come up for my usual assistant and I may not be able to get away from the table for one or two of them. I’ll do whatever I can, but at the very least, I will be available in the dealer’s room with novels and the RPG books on hand. I have games Friday at 7pm, and Saturday and Sunday at 9am.

So, I think that’s about it. Which is good because I think I’ve started rambling!

Thank you to everyone who has been here through thick and thin, and welcome to any of those new folks who have joined us since GenCon. We’re all in for some fun here in the near future, with new novels, new RPG sourcebooks, and more, all right around the corner. This is a great time to be getting on board and I am looking forward to seeing where we can take this boat together!

For now, I am off to get some more work done. I hope to see you this weekend at TactiCon!

End of Line…

Paul

Heya, everyone out there in internet-land!

This is, just as the title suggests, a general update on the goings-on hereabouts. I’ve been working to get the iBooks versions of the RPG settled in and ready for prime time, as well as pulling things together in preparation for traveling to GenCon this coming Monday (well, I’ll be going to Ohio for a couple days first, to help finish the booth and other prep work, then we’ll be heading to Indy Wednesday to setup and hob-knob a bit).

On the subject of iBooks, the Kids version of the game is still under review (I missed something in the metadata when I initially submitted it and had to fix and resend the file), but the 14+ version of the game is there and available for pre-order. In point of fact, if you pre-order it now, you will get it at 50% off of the regular price as there is currently an issue that Apple is trying to sort out and is keeping me from pricing the book in line with the PDF version here on the site. So, if you have an iPad (the iBooks version only works on iPad), then get your copy ordered ASAP because I know not when the pricing bug will be fixed and the book will go up to it’s intended price!

On that subject, the physical copies of both books are available through the Kalijor book store, by clicking on the RPG links in the menu bar above. You can order them now, if you want a copy. I was holding off on announcing that until I was pretty sure the IndieGogo backers and folks at GenCon would be the first of the general public to see the books and now that this is the case, everyone can click right on over to the ordering page and get your copies headed your way!

I’ve spent the last few days getting all of the GenCon game characters and info transcribed onto the new character sheets and cleaning all of that up. I just finished printing the last of that and can now call it all wrapped up and ready to go to con. With that said, there are still a couple of seats at a couple of the games, so if you’re interested in checking it out, and you’ll be at or can make it to GenCon, then look up Kalijor in the event catalog and get yourself a seat. They’re almost gone, so move quickly!

On the subject of GenCon, we will be there starting Wednesday afternoon for Trade Day, and then all through the event. Come by and see us and our partners at the G33k & Co. booth, number 1349 and say hello!

We’ll have dice bags, swag bags, dice, the amazing new book from Surreal Mother Geek, Kalijor novels and art and RPGs for all ages (literally, ages 4-400)!

In novel news I am please to report that I am about halfway through the next revision of ‘The Aegis Protocol’, next year’s novel featuring the origin story of Daray, who has made several cameos throughout the Keys of Kalijor series. The story just keeps getting better and better as feedback comes in and I think this could be the best novel from the Kalijor universe yet! I’m really looking forward to sharing it with all of you next year.

And that’s not all, either! I’m also about 20,000 words into writing another new one that takes place about 20 years after the Fifth Key. And that’s all I’m going to say about that.

Still, I have five other completed stories already written as well. They just need some time in rewrite and editing and they’ll be ready to go, so there is no shortage of stories in the Kalijor pipeline. Things are just getting more and more exciting here.

That’s about it for me, but I want to leave you with a reading suggestion before I sign off. This guy, Scott Bachmann is someone I met at GenCon and he is a tremendous writer who does a couple of comics and a series of novels that he describes as ‘super hero books for people who hate super hero books’. His first novel, ‘The Paragon of Animals’ was a great read about someone ending up in the super-hero business very much against their will, and how they handle it. It was a blast to read, with a gritty, down to earth feel, loads of action, and characters that feel very real, despite their abilities and situations. He just released a revised version of the novel, with new cover art and I highly recommend that everyone checks it out! You can find it here.

And that’s about it for me this round. Hopefully I’ll get back to more regular updates after GenCon. And if you’re in Colorado, then please give some thought to coming out to TactiCon 8/30-9/1 and saying hello, or catching a Kalijor game!

Okay, I’m off.

End of Line…

Paul

Hello there, all you awesome people, you!

So, yeah… Mike and I were working on the site last week, as we have been for nearly a month now, and I took a peek at the journal page only to discover that I have been neglecting my posting duties for the better part of six weeks now. I apologize. I have been remiss in my sworn duty to keep you informed as to the goings on here at Kalijor Press. This is a situation which I shall rectify, now!

Novel News:

Feedback on next year’s book has been very good thus far. I have a few more tweaks to make, but then I can send it off for official editing. I’m hoping that can get under way before I leave for GenCon, but I’m not rushing it, especially around other things that are going on and ~must~ have higher priority.

I currently have three (3) other novels in progress. One is being co-written by myself and two good friends of mine, and is a follow up to Status Quo, which is undergoing rewrite on and off right now. The other two books are all mine and are being worked on here and there as I have time and energy. Honestly, somewhere around 90% of my time and energy lately have been going into the RPG and supporting activities, but that is starting to calm down now so I can get back into some serious writing and hopefully get these stories wrapped up.

RPG News:

It has been a busy couple of months, but things are really getting traction now! Both the Kalijor RPG and the Kalijor: Kids RPG are at the printer. These represent my very first time using a heavy press, which has been an interesting experience on its own. They are doing 100 of each for me, and shipping the bulk of them to Ohio, where I will be setting up a base of operations at a friend’s house before GenCon, and the rest to Kalijor Press here in Colorado for TactiCon the last weekend of August here in Aurora. Proofs for both books should be arriving here this week and I am very much looking forward to seeing them!

I also ran a small PoD batch of both books from my regular printer in order to fulfill IndieGogo supporter rewards, and those should also be arriving this week as they all shipped out early last week. The hardcover books are in that batch and it’s the last big hurdle in the path of getting those rewards out the door to those of you out there who so graciously supported the RPG project. I am still aiming to get rewards in the mail in teh first full week of August so supporters get their copies of the book before the general public has access.

PDF versions of both RPG books are done, and will be uploaded to and available from here at Kalijor.com. We had to build out a bunch of new functionality in order to make this happen, and we spent a large portion of last week tweaking, testing, and re-tweaking things to make sure it was all working properly. Supporters will be receiving a download or coupon code to get their perk package copies soon!

ePub versions of both RPG book have been generated and are undergoing testing and tweaking now. I am hoping to submit them to the Apple iBooks store by the end of this week. This has been a learning experience in a lot of different directions and I am looking forward to seeing how the product is received. There are some features in format that I adore, and some others that I find questionable, but on the whole I think it could be a very cool way to carry around an RPG book library. Functionality such as live links, glossary definitions available in context and more are really useful and largely intuitive to use. I hope other gamers out there agree.

Character Sheets have been finalized and Mike took a couple days to go through and turn them into PDF forms so that you can print them blank and fill them out by hand, or type in as much, or as little, data as you like on your computer, then save, or print them; all while keeping the formatting intact and the file universally available. Character and ship sheets will be available as free downloads here at Kalijor.com indefinitely and links to them will be provided from within the eBooks and on the site itself.

Art Prints for IndieGogo supporters have been ordered and should be arriving from production and mounting this week, or very early next week. These are the last piece of the puzzle that must fall into place before perks are shipped out to supporters. I used a local outfit that came very highly recommended by more than one artist friend of mine. I spent quite a while on the phone with the business talking about how they work, what kind of materials they use and what the lifespan of their products are. I am very pleased with the information they gave me and I hope the final product is in line with what I have been told. I have absolutely no reason to believe otherwise though, so I think we’ll be just fine.

GenCon:

Almost everything I Can do from here to prepare for GenCon has been done. I still have some stuff to ship out to Ohio yet, as mentioned previously, but mostly I am down to the anxious waiting. This trip will mark numerous firsts for me, and for my business, so there are some nerves to deal with but by and large, I am ready to go! There are still a couple seats left in a couple of the games I will be running to show off the Kalijor RPG so, if you will be at the con, please give some thought to sitting in and checking out the system, and the finished book!

RPG1339935 Thursday at 2pm

RPG1339941 Friday at 2pm

RPG1339949 Sunday at 10am

All other games, including the kids games, are sold out! You can swing by with generic tickets and see if there is space at the table, but if you want to be assured of a seat, please jump on one of the above games ASAP.

The G33k & Co. booth (1349 in Entrepreneur’s Avenue, right across from Author’s Avenue) is looking amazing, and plans continue to get nailed down for operation and some final design details. My partners are doing 100% of the legwork on the build because I will be flying to their place just ahead of con and it was impractical to do any construction here in Colorado and then incur shipping costs to get it out there for con. I feel pretty badly about not being able to offer much more than emotional and some meager financial support, but I have to say that it is looking tremendous and I think it’s going to be an amazing debut for a new company at GenCon!

Oh! I also got another short story into the GenCon author’s compilation book, ‘Missing Pieces IV’, so if you pick up a copy, please bring it by the booth for a signature and a chat!We are tied into the Cheese Weasel scavenger hunt and con app with raffles going on at their booth that can save you money on, or even get you free products at our booth. We will have prizes at the STINK event before the con, and we will be participating in the trade day event Wednesday before the con opens to the public. We have numerous other give-aways going on and we will be donating a percentage of all of our profits to the local big brothers/big sisters program after the convention.

TactiCon:

We will have a table in the dealer’s room again this year at TactiCon 2013 (August 29- September 2). We’ll have novels, prints, and copies of the new RPGs for sale. We’re also running a few games at the con as well. So, if you’re local to the Denver/Aurora area or close by, and want to check out the game before you decide to pick it up, then please stop by and play a round! There will be Kalijor Press gift certificates given out by the con, and a couple copies of the game will be donated to the auction and prize packages as well.

5042.1 Friday at 7pm

5042.2 Saturday at 9am

5042.3 Sunday at 9am

We had a great time last year at TactiCon and are very much looking forward to being there again this year!

MAL Con:

We will be at MAL (Myths and Legends) Con in the Tech Center September 27-29. We’re going to be setup in the ‘Author’s Nook’ with one or more other authors in what has been described as a fun, cozy, welcoming area with some comfortable chairs, a nice throw rug, a couple reading lamps, and some book shelves. I’m not entirely sure how it’s all going to work yet, but look forward to checking it out and meeting some new folks at this first-run convention dedicated to some of the smaller fan bases out there.

We’re currently discussing the running of Kalijor RPG campaigns there and I look forward to doing so (at this point I just need to verify the availability of my backup so I know if I can step away to run some games). Also, a panel schedule will hopefully be forthcoming as well.

MileHi Con:

We are on the docket for MileHi Con again this year. The panel questionnaire should be arriving soon, followed by a schedule that I will post here as soon as I get it so you can all make plans accordingly. I’ve heard rumors of a sort of author’s alley being setup there this year where authors can have their own tables instead of sharing the local authors table, but nothing official has come of it yet. As soon as I know, I’ll let you know, but for now I can confirm that we will be there, and I will be on as many panels as I can get.

And that’s all I have to say about that…

I think I’m tapped out on news and events for now. So, I’ll let you go and get back to the myriad things I have to do before this next series of conventions kicks off (and next year there are already more on the docket!). When the RPG begins to take off, we’ll add a couple of sourcebooks to the roster in addition to the new novel, and next year will be another big year for us here at Kalijor Press!

Okay, I’m off. Thank you all for your support, and I hope to get back to regular updates and communications here now that production is calming down a bit.

Ciao!

End of Line…

Paul