Musical Interlude

And now, because it's been a while since I've posted about my awesome daughter, here is your musical interlude.

The Dread Pirate Snuggles
Cuddler of the Seven Seas

"Favorite"
Sung to the tune of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home"
Lyrics by Rich Howard

You are my favorite Ro of all there was,
there was,

You are my favorite Ro of all there was,
there was,

Of all the Rowans there ever was,
you are my favorite one, because,

I love you so much,

You are my favorite Ro.

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"Love"
Sung to the tune of "Frere Jacques"
Lyrics by Megan Tiffany Howard

I love Rowan,
I love Rowan,

Her dad, too, (Her mom, too)
Her dad, too, (Her mom, too)

We're a happy family,
We're the Howard family,

I feel loved, too
I feel loved, too

Gratitude

I just finished editing a 15,000 word game document on shapeshifters by Robert Hudson. There is such a rush getting something like this to click, balancing interesting prose against the right game mechanic to present what you're thinking in an elegant way, knowing that people will use what you created to tell stories and build enduring memories with their friends. I freakin' love this job.

And I have another one just like it.

It's all over my About page that I have a day job in addition to my writing; I'm a critical care nurse at UCSD Medical Center's medical intensive care unit, or MICU*. All intensive care units are busy and extraordinary places to work and ours is no exception. Luckily, I work with an incredible group of nurses, managers, staff and doctors that make our unit culture one of support, laughter and encouragement. I couldn't get through 12-hour shifts without them.

So, with one job I get to support people's physical bodies during the hardest times in their lives, help their families understand what's happening to their loved one, and be there emotionally, professionally and spiritually when medicine can no longer help. With the exception of raising my daughter, there is no greater honor than that.

And with the other I get to inspire imagination and design games that people will use to enjoy the life they're living right now!

I could not be more grateful.

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* = There are four different ICUs at UCSD; contrary to popular medical shows, not everything is trauma. The NICU or neonatal ICU deals with our youngest patients. Those nurses are rockstars in my book. Our BICU or burn ICU deals with patients from little kids to the oldest adults, some healthy other than serious burns, and some where their burns are yet another in a list of medical challenges. I've floated to the BICU before and they deal with some of the saddest cases I've ever seen. The SICU or surgical ICU are our trauma specialists. They deal with the car accidents, falls, gunshots, stabbings and surgical cases that fly in from around the county and beyond. My unit, the MICU, deals with anything that's not a newborn, burn or car accident--kidney failure, liver failure, severe pneumonias, strokes, heart attacks, multisystem organ failure, seizures, and any number of other issues.

Author J.M. Perkins on "To The Best of Our Knowledge"

I'm proud to announce that friend and colleague, action-horror author J.M. Perkins, recently won the "To the Best of Our Knowledge" 3-Minute Futures contest with his short story, "Social Scene Alert". "Social Scene Alert" was selected from 750 entries by sci-fi legend Kim Stanley Robinson and brought to auditory life by Gates McFadden and the Ensemble Studio of Los Angeles.

All of John's stories, including his recent novel CHEMO: How I Learned to Kill, are a demonstration of his inspired imagination. His writing makes me laugh, gives me chills and forces me to contemplate life in a way few others can, making him one of my favorite writers in the industry. "Social Scene Alert" is John at his best, managing to do all three in just 500 words.

Make sure to keep listening after the story for interviews with Kim Stanley Robinson and Gates McFadden, as well as the two runner-up stories also dramatized by the Ensemble Studio.

A Man Never Truly Dies...

Today is the anniversary of the death of my best friend and blood brother, Matt Welty. I've written a lot about how he affected my life, but I wasn't the only one. There were hundreds of people at his funeral and there would have been dozens of speakers if we'd had the time. Still, we heard a dozen poignant tales of how he helped turn people's lives around, encouraged them to pursue their passions and face their fears, and how he made the lives of so many of us better. It's quite telling that seven years later people still hear his laughter in the joy of others, tear up at a bit of geek culture he introduced them to, and reach out to the rest of us when, in a hard moment of life, he shows up in a song, a picture, or a memory to remind us that his spirit is still there.

For those of you who didn't know our dear friend, Matt, I'm sharing two things that I hope give you a tiny glimpse into who he was and what he meant to me. The first is a memorial video I did for him in 2010 after I found a recording of his voice. The second is the eulogy I read at his funeral. I hope other people choose to share their stories in the comments below.

Professional Geek Achievement Unlocked

It's official. My first professional game credit is out in the world--editor on Xaolings by Todd Stewart. Xaolings presents a fascinating race born from the chaos planes. Todd has an impressive ability to describe creatures who are notoriously averse to being described. His mechanics for racial archetypes, feats and magic items were particularly impressive.

So, if you're interested in a new race for your game or are just excited to have something with my name in it, link over and pick up the PDF at www.drivethrurpg.com.

Writer's Bio

I was recently asked to submit a 150 word writer's bio to be used for several of the freelance projects coming out this year. I've never had to summarize my writing career before. The word limit was particularly inspiring; I'm a believer in limitations inspiring/forcing creativity. Some of you aren't gamers, or at least not Pathfinder players, so I thought I'd post a copy here.

Huge thanks to everyone who has supported and encouraged me to make this a reality. You can read more about that first AD&D game here.

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Rich Howard's obsession with gaming started 35 years ago when his older brother finally let him invade his AD&D game. Since his first sleep spell, Rich has wandered the world of roleplaying, board and computer games as fascinated with their potential to teach and inspire as to entertain.

In 2006 he started the move to professional freelancer by refining his fledgling skills, attending conferences and finishing his first novel. After running into Paizo editor James Sutter at World Fantasy 2012 he realized that the skills he'd cultivated as a writer and his decades of gaming experience could be used to give back to the industry that had inspired his own imagination. In the past year he's contributed to projects from Misfit Studios, Rogue Genius Games and Christina Stiles Presents, as well as becoming both lead designer on Misfit's Ultimate Shaman and lead developer for the upcoming storytelling boardgame, LUCID.

In Memoriam: Aaron Allston (1960-2014)

UPDATE 2/4/2016: The Kickstarter honoring Aaron by bringing Strike Force to the 21st century has funded in just 4 days. Please go check out the project and help support this amazing memorial.

Aaron Allston's Strike Force Kickstarter

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It's been an benchmark year for me. Aside from getting a promotion at my day job and having the best little family on the planet, I'm getting a steady stream of freelance projects for my dream job as a game designer. This morning I finished my writer's bio for the first of a series of pieces hitting the shelves this year, but my excitement was dulled by the news that one of my industry heroes collapsed at a conference yesterday and didn't wake up.