Since the publication of my 'The Axis of Shadows' by Damnation Books last February, it appeared online, or at least on here that I went silent in the writing department. That wasn't true fortunately. Due to my teaching High School Freshmen English, which was a very involved job day to day, my writing did slow. Novel three in my Celtic series had abruptly stopped last August in 2014, leaving me hanging with only 20,000 words left! I do plan on finishing that wondrous adventure tale, filled with intrigue and Prince Rhun's first introduction to the Otherworld physically in the saga, and it isn't pleasant. 'A Perilous Pursuit' is my Troll Lord Games module 'A Crimson Pact' brought to life, and trust me, it has been! There is also wild passionate romance within its pages.
On that note, the first two books in the series, 'The Sullen Queen', and 'Within a Dark Mountain' will be re-published soon by Chenault & Grey Publishing officially. New covers and meticulous editing will help bring this Celtic series alive for readers. Once the third book I mentioned above is done, it will be added. The tale of Prince Rhun and his father's own powerful rise to power, King Maelgwn of Gwynedd, in 6th Century Britain, will be unlike any set of books before it. Last year I self-published the first on my own. 'The Sullen Queen' had limited success and it was tough, but I didn't like the uphill struggle that it involved. I wanted the comfort of having access to artists and editors. I edited the novel ten times, paid a moody and random artist to do the art (of which I could have done myself, as I was a professional Celtic artist in the 90's of some renown). I made my money back roughly but it wasn't what I wanted to do, not at the pace that I write. My ambitions are higher and my production skill is greater, so I need the backing of funds and people to support me.
So the opportunity arose and I took it! Self-publishing works for some, but unless you have a million dollar seller, you never make your money back in the end and you are always in the low-end struggling to get noticed, handling advertising and getting paid. It is too much work added to the work of writing already.
Next month my long awaited 'Codex Germania' begins its Kickstarter! Finally! Yes, it is true. You can recreate anything from the ancient Germanic sagas and tales, whether it is Anglo-Saxon, Frankish, Gothic, or name it, you can do so in this newest Mythic tome of gaming goodness. I even added a small starter adventure in the battle that takes place in Celtic Britain as the Saxons are trying to establish a foothold after the Roman Empire left. This sort of bridges the gap between the 'Codex Celtarum' and the 'Codex Germania' books now. This book is also a companion to the 'Codex Nordica' as the cultures are shared and alike, both linguistically, mythically and otherwise, so expect many commonalities.
In addition to this, it appears that later in the Fall my 'Codex Slavorum' will be next in line! That is right. The Slavic Codex, so you get a double shot of Codices so close to each other in this short time and that is amazing. That isn't all. In all of this, it is planned to get the next one (I am assuming), the 'Codex Classicum' for the Winter/Spring. This is the next volume I need to write obviously before that time comes, and includes Greek mythology (with the Roman and Etruscan). So by Spring of 2016, you will have FIVE Codices on your gaming shelf! That will be the entire European set in one swoop amazingly. Then I will plan to write the Asian set, which will be two books. One for the Japanese islands, and the surrounding isles, and another for the mainland. Added to this, I will also write a 2nd Edition for the 'Codex Celtarum' in the manner I intended originally, adding the material that I never included and much more. So it will be a mega time for Mythic Codices and gaming to come!
Now...onto Chaosium. It had long been a goal of mine someday to write and design for them. I had started gaming around the time I discovered both 'Call of Cthulhu' and H.P. Lovecraft in 1984-5. Now, that goal has come true this summer. If you know the recent news, Sandy Peterson and Greg Stafford are back to save the company from peril. I submitted a campaign book idea just barely a month before they returned. By August I will be working on it. It will be a sort of....'Codex Celtarum' meets the Lovecraftian Mythos adventure campaign book. Imagine the classic campaign books 'Shadows of Yog-Shoggoth', 'Masks of Nyarlethotep', etc but with a Celtic theme throughout Celtic Europe and time. It will be compatible with their 'Dark Ages', 'Cthulhu by Gas-Light', 'Green and Pleasant Land' and 'Cthulhu Invictus' books as the Celts occupied nearly all of Europe throughout the last 4,000 years. I have one adventure written already and it takes place in 1920's Ireland. This will be odd and mindblowing stuff...my tentative name for it is 'Savage Hyperborea: Mythos Terror in Celtic Europe'.
Also, my old scriptwriting venture is brought back to life too, with new Hollywood connections and more. One of these scripts dates back to 1999, and if ever taken by a producer and studio, it would be my 'Codex Celtarum' and the modules/novels associated brought to life on the screen. Major things are happening. So the silence on here is NOT indicative of the reality of the fervent energy going on behind the scenes.
