Conquest of the Gods Fiction writers announced!
It is with a great sense of pride that I can now formally announce who the fiction writers are for the Conquest of the Gods core rulebook. The rules for Conquest of the Gods and the range of miniatures that will be found within its pages have been in development for some time, in fact if we go all the way back to the games inception, it has been a 4 year journey – with the last 2 years having a more focused development effort. The game rules and the miniatures production are now at a point where we have needed to seriously look at having the fiction drafted for the final book. We still need to get some nice artwork done for the book (an ongoing issue) but with this announcement we are taking one large step closer to the games eventual release – tentatively set for some time in the first half of 2014.
Finding the right people to do the fiction has in itself been a long and educational process, we have shifted from initially using an overseas industry fantasy author to settling on a style and direction that would work much better for the adult audience that the game is targeted at. This evolution has resulted on a focus on local talent as originally intended with 3 of the 4 writers residing here in Australia. Exploring and using local talent where possible has been a focus of the project since its inception. Most of our models and other components of the game are designed and made here in Australia so it’s great that the fiction is also for the most part being penned either in Australia or by Australian and New Zealander writers. We have decided to go down an interesting path with the fiction for Conquest of the Gods, to ensure that adult gamers are going to get a new and fresh take on the ‘fluff’, we have recruited published Horror fiction writers to do the fiction for Conquest of the gods. The work that has already come past my desk is defiantly hitting the mark and is very promising! We hope to bring gamers something new, dark and no holds barred, a philosophy that we intend to bring to everything that we produce.
So what are we bringing you as far as fiction is concerned? There will be 5 bodies of fiction to be found within the pages of the games core rulebook. The major body of fiction will cover events spanning all 4 release armies and should be comparable in length to what most tabletop wargame companies release with their rulebooks. So expect a book that will hopefully come in around or just under 250 pages. On top of the major body of fiction there will be 4 short stories. Each of these will be specific to each army released in the games rule book. Each of these will be done by a different author to not only give each armies fiction a unique feel, but each of these have also been catered towards the writers strengths with the aim to help drag readers deeper in to the games setting.
So who are the writers?
Tracie McBride – Tracie is our lead author and is not only doing the major body of work but is also doing a short story for the Greek section of the games rulebook. Tracie is an adopted Aussie; originally from New Zealand, she now lives in Australia with her husband and three children. Tracie is based in the beautiful city of Melbourne, known not only for its F1 circuit, trendy cafes and trams, but also for the talent hidden within the city’s limits. Her first short story was published in 2004, and since then her work has been published or is forthcoming in over 80 print and electronic publications. In 2008 she won the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best New Talent. Tracie is also an associate editor for Dark Moon Digest and vice-president of Dark Continents Publishing. Her first short story collection, “Ghosts Can Bleed”, is now available in e-book and paperback. Tracie is both a talented writer and editor. She may also be helping polish John’s first foray into fiction writing by editing his introductory short story that might sneak its way into the book as a short piece to help introduce the setting. Be sure to check out Tracie’s blog over at http://traciemcbridewriter.wordpress.com
Next up we have the talented Mr. Raymond Gates whose writing style is very dark and very gritty (be sure to check out some of his freebies on his blog cited below), Ideal for the Viking hiding within all of us so it was a no brainer decision to approach Raymond to work on the Norse short story the core rule book. Raymond Gates has had his stories published in several horror anthology books, more recently Massachusetts-based publisher Grinning Skull Press will be adding his short story, All I Want for Christmas, to their soon to be published Christmas-themed anthology and Ticonderoga Publications published ray’s short story, The Little Red Man, in their anthology of Australian vampire stories, Dead Red Heart. Raymond Gates is based in sunny Queensland, better known for its hot weather, theme parks as well as beating New South Wales (where Demigod Games HQ and John is based) in the state of origin football almost every year. As for what twisted journey Raymond Gates will take us on with the Norse fiction is something you’ll have to wait to see. In the mean time I encourage you to check out his musings over at http://raymondgates.com
Lee Pletzers – Lee is a horror writer with 70 short stories in print and 5 novels under his belt. More recently are RAGE (2012) and Resurrection Child, (2012) via Dark Continents. Lee grew up in New Zealand before becoming a well-traveled writer who now lives in Japan. It stands to reason that he was recruited to work on the fiction for the Japanese section of the rule book. Lee brings both an amazing writing style but also a cultural knowledge that is sure to help readers dive deeply into the Japanese aspect of the games setting. You can check our Lee’s site and blog over at http://kobefiction.we.bs
Finally but by no means least is the multitalented Nerine Dorman. An editor and multipublished author, Nerine currently resides in Cape Town, South Africa, with her visual artist husband. Her more recent novel Inkarna is presently available via Amazon. Nerine also edits the Egyptian Society of South Africa’s quarterly newsletter, so it was an easy decision to bring her on to do the short story fiction for our Egyptian army. To find out more about Nerine and her other musings we encourage you to visit her website at http://nerinedorman.wordpress.com/