Help award-winning Neal write his fantasy novel—quick!

Quick: do me a favor and noise this around. It's another one of THOSE requests, but a
modest one— so the bottom line is the next-best thing you can do is SHARE IT.

My buddy Neal Hallford, whom you may know as the DP behind my CON OF WRATH doc, is also an award-winning game designer — for "Betrayal at Krondor" and "Dungeon Siege," a popular couple of big-selling computer roll-play adventure games a few years back, based in part on Raymond E. Feist's Riftworld series—though this new book has no connection.

With that esteemed fantasy DNA, Neal's jumped out with a very modest Kickstarter campaign for THE THIEF OF DREAMS—a sprawling, richly textured, all-new fantasy novel ...and one that can be the cornerstone for its own spinoff game, or who know what else. (And "modest," as in—a lot is not needed if many do it.) It's even consistently rated in the top 5 projects in the Fiction Publishing sub-category on Kicktraq's Hot-List.

To see how much of it all he has sketched out, Neal has a great video up at the KS page—here it is below—plus he has a THIEF OF DREAMS website as well. He's put a ton of time into this: a map, characters, an FAQ for both the project and the campaign—and of course more on all the rewards they have set up ... especially if you are wondering what all there is for donor gifts for a novel. Updates are there, too.

You know the drill with Kickstarter: if Neal doesn't reach goal, the project doesn't fund and all donors get their money back. So the days may be ticking by, but there's time to kick in, and then share with all the fantasy and gaming fans you know (like via Facebook). It's a great feeling to be able to create and evolve one's own universe, and to be able to weave a fantastic tale you know fellow fans will love.

Comic-Con 2012 and another fun "Wrath" meet-up

All the recent news and events delayed my simple Comic-Con wrap up after San Diego, but I do want to make some points and share some pics ... as we look forward to ramping up for Vegas Khhaaann.

I especially want to thank everyone who came out for my big gamble: the latest edition of my 2012 meetup/fundraisers for THE CON OF WRATH—Comic-Con size (right)! To have two dozen come and go to make it was very gratifying and encouraging—especially doing this on the wing. To have everybody have a great time was just a kick.

Yes, these brave Treklanders get big props from me for the support in making our documentary... and purely from my Tweets/Facebook feed, and the announcements made at our 7 p.m. panel just before.  We shoot for no-overhead sites during cons so as to get the most bang from our donated bucks as possible, and Seattle and Phoenix, so far, are pretty big shows. But Comic-Con San Diego was a whole new huge scope unto itself, and biting off this same set-up on the scale of SDCC was a big risk to take if the logistics and venue were a disaster, and that's too much to ask of any Trekfans kind enough to come out. Aside from our louder-band-than-normal, everyone had a great time, enjoyed the trivia, clips, prizes and talk ... and I met all kinds of new fans who will now follow our progress feeling a small stake in it. (A big thank-you also to manager Mike at Hennessey's and waitress Jenna, who got this together on a day's notice and played patient with our audio-visual tech weirdness.)

Remember, as a relatively new and small-scale player at SDCC (ie, not a studio marketing guy, and just since 2006), I was lucky enough and thankful for the second year to have had my panel accepted (right)—the second flirtation with my "Between the Cracks" slideshow format, which is pretty flexible. I advertised it as a TNG anniversary celebration from my archives, but of course was thrilled to also offer the world-premiere of our new teaser for THE CON OF WRATH, put together for the occasion by my DP, Neal Hallford. (You can see that, and more, after I sneak-peek it at Vegas Khaan, as well)

So a big THANK YOU as well to the 500-some who turned out at 7 p.m. Saturday for "Trekland: Between the Cracks!" And to all of you who signed up your new names to our news list there. As usual, we ran out of time, but —if Eddie and his bunch have us back next year—we'll have some real Q&A quality time in 2013, I promise.

Otherwise, realizing how few pics and parties I got in this year at Comic-Con made me realize I'm working way too much there and playing way too little!


My normal gang o'guys was disrupted this year due to birthday plans for buddy Lee Wochner—my web guru/marketer at his Counterintuity Inc. and my entree into SDCC in the first place—so I had to shift "residence" mid-con and commute in with my Con of Wrath DP Neal (helping me set up, left).

Still, it was great to be a red-carpet  guest at Rod's Trek Nation/White Room premiere showing on the big screen... meet up a lot of old friends out of the blue, like Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore, or some totally out of the blue like the great John Eaves himself (right) ... and table once again a few hours in Autograph Alley, and see who else could find me. You never know, you know?

Just took one costume pic all weekend—and "she" had nothing to do with Star Trek, of course (do YOU know who she is, below? I can't believe I have to tell you. ). But I love the unique costumes—rare, skewed or with a sense of humor, like Dragon Con—and not just the obvious and trendy recreations that I feel Comic-Con has fallen into. Vegas Trek is tilting toward the more and more rare/unique in cosplay all the time, a good thing—and time will tell what 2012 brings there in a few weeks. Stay tuned ...

Meanwhile, how cool is it to take a big bite out of Comic-Con and not get bit back?


Thanks to Dwayne Day, Jana Hallford, Stephanie Sullivan, and Justin "BayouCon" Toney for help with the pics. Best coverage ever!