Through a glitch in the flow of time, 2019 is already half over. What have I been up to? A mix of cosmic horror, Martian exploration, preternaturally evil dating apps, and late-stage capitalist elves.

Moons of Madness

I spent many months writing for Moons of Madness, a moody horror video game set on Mars. Think of it as an unholy marriage of Cthulhu Mythos and The Martian. The game is developed by Rock Pocket Games and published by Funcom. It takes place in its own special corner of The Secret World universe.

Tender Beta Project

One of the more unique writing projects I’ve worked on was this ARG (alternate reality game). I teamed up with Paradox Interactive and Alice & Smith, writing everything from text for a sinister dating app, to fake conspiracy theory articles, to internet influencer Twitter posts. All of this took players through online mysteries (as well as clandestine encounters in the real world), leading up to a live event in San Francisco. The entire caper served as a transmedia guerrilla marketing campaign for the announcement of Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines 2. What is an ARG? What does it all mean? Nick Nocturne breaks it all down with a deep dive over at Night Mind (including an interview with me).

Chicago Folios

My work with Vampire: The Masquerade continued with Chicago Folios, a stretch goal for Chicago by Night (5th edition). I got to work with a setting and characters I first discovered as a teenager (bringing my inner goth geek full circle).

The 500 Days of Ms. Between

I’m a longtime listener of The Drabblecast, so getting one of my stories recorded there was on my bucket list. My story “The 500 Days of Ms. Between” can be found on their premium B-Sides show. It’s a Cthulhu Mythos tale and my first time travel story.

Pirates of Pugmire Actual Play

I’ve been itching to do some live-play online tabletop gaming and finally got my chance. This game was set in the delightful world of Pugmire, to promote their upcoming Pirates of Pugmire book. Follow the links to watch Part 1 and Part 2 of the play session.

Midwinter LARP

I wrote up some twisted characters for an upcoming game by Avalon LARP Studio. Midwinter is a LARP (live action roleplaying game) with a dark holiday theme, featuring elves as late-stage capitalist slaves to a mysterious workshop. Here there be candy canes, lost souls, and stolen memories. Ho. Ho. Ho.

East Coast Games Conference

I attended this year’s ECGC as a speaker, giving a talk about the branching trunk of a story arc in interactive media like video games.

Unannounced Mystery Thingy ???

I wrote a little something for iLLOGIKA Studios for an upcoming game project of theirs… and I can’t say much more than that.

Anyway, it’s been an interesting year. The best is yet to come, sweetlings.