This past weekend I read Marlon James’ The Book of Night Women. I couldn’t put it down. It was good to the last word, and left me wanting more, even though the story ended very cleanly and clearly.

Set in colonial Jamaica, the book centers around Lilith, a young slave who either invites or seeks and finds chaos and death. It’s hard to tell which. She is an incredible heroine. Throughout the story I found myself wanting to smack some sense into her so she’d stop being so dangerously arrogant, and wanting to make the world right for her because she deserved so much better. I also loved the vulgar bitchy affectionate dialog among the women. I don’t want to spoil anything about the book for anyone. Just buy it and read it. You might want to clear your calendar for a day or so. I couldn’t put it down.

On a personally and creatively selfish note, the story, a modern slave narrative, once again made me happy about Steal Away Jordan. I’ve wanted to run a game set somewhere other than the South United States. I considered doing an Amistad setting, Quilombo (the movie is great, by the way), anything not in the south United States. Colonial Jamaica is perfect. Insha’allah, my friends will indulge me this summer and let me put them through Jamaican sugar can plantation hell.

And on that note, I’d like to thank Holly for sending me this fantastic link to a letter from a former slave to his former master. I think the next time I run SAJ at a convention, I’ll begin by reading this letter, just so we can clear up that whole slave as victim fallacy.

And one more thing. Does anyone remember an anti-smoking media campaign in the early 90’s where a rapper sang, “They used make us pick it, now they want us to smoke it” or something to that effect? I remember it was catchy and jarring and potentially effective, but it didn’t last long. Was it too controversial? Did it offend smokers who weren’t descendents of slaves? Too bad. Back in my smoker days, I used to think about that notion, and not want to smoke. Granted it wasn’t what made me quit smoking. I think it would unethical to release the flu among the smoking population to get them to stop, but it was the deal breaker for me.

If you like The Book of Night Women, check out Bullwhip Days: The Slaves Remember.

“Varulvarna” is such a beautiful and terrifying word, I wish I could pronounce it properly. It means “werewolf” for those of you who wondered why I didn’t link the word to anything.

I ran a Medieval Scandinavian-esque dinner theatre game of Werewolves of Miller’s Hollow called Varulvarna från Mjölnardalen at JiffyCon. I tried over and over again on Saturday to say “varulvarna”.  I just couldn’t do it. Nevertheless, it was a great game. I loved how everyone got into character through their names. You’ll see from the document I had fun with the character names. Even the GM had a name: Ragnfrid Chieftain of Mjölnardalen. Grubbi the Elder put the antsy kids in their place. Lorn the Kindhearted was delightfully cantankerous. The undercurrent of anti-Elfish Folk would have made Tolkein frown. I’m not sure if Alhildr Chieftain of the Fighting Elves and Alfred the Half Elf sat together to fortify the Elf presence, but doing so added an amazing dimension to the story. So not surprisingly, there was a anti-Elf contingency. (”They think they’re so much better than we are!”).

Werewolf is my favorite bluffing game. It’s versatile, it can get intense (and a little cutthroat), and very often it’s fun to be accused of being a werewolf, regardless of what you are. Better yet, it works well playing post-by-post online, as a party game, and I now see it makes a pretty good jeepform game.

You can get the Player’s Version (without the secret identities revealed) by clicking on the link above. If you’d like Ragnfrid’s Version, the GM’s version with all secret identities revealed go here: varulvarna-fran-mjolnardagm.pdf.

I played one of the tamest Tales of the Fisherman’s Wife game, although the Fisherman and Wife tried to break up, but then the Fisherman won his intention to enslave her. That’s pretty dark.

Thanks to my mother-in-law Karin for providing the Swedish translations, and thanks to the people who came to JiffyCon and played the heck out of some games, and the folks who came together a such a great convention. This was our biggest one yet!

Rob Bohl interviewed me again for his podcast the Independent Insurgency. I got to spend a good hour talking about Tales of the Fisherman’s Wife, which, insha’Allah, will be published sometime in June. For now, I’ll let the podcast say what I have to say about the game and all.

I’m not a fan of listening to myself speak, but that was one of the most fun interviews to do, and I think it shows. Enjoy it. I only counted one thing that I said that made me go “I shouldn’t have said that.”

Some questions have come up about the podcast, such as what was the background noise/program; was I eating and if so, what was it; and how many cats were there weighing in on what I had to say. If you don’t want to know the answers, stop reading now.

BUT FIRST! JiffyCon! June 6! Hampton Inn, Greenfield, MA!  I’m running …Fisherman’s Wife and Werewolves of Miller’s Hollow. Ya’ll come!

A Chuck Jones production of a Dr. Seuss story. My 4 year old Ingrid was watching it until she fell asleep. At some point the video shut off, and Lost came on.

Yes, I was eating my dinner. Pasta, marinara sauce, and meatballs.

That was our vocal cat Maude. Our other two cats, Harold and James, were off doing other things.

I’m going to Dreamation again this year. I’ll run two very different sessions of Steal Away Jordan, Tales of the Fisherman’s Wife, and with Tom Russell, I’ll be hosting The Upgrade.

Tales of the Fisherman’s Wife is a quick two-four player game inspired by ukiyo-e art and Japanese ghost stories. When the Fisherman leaves for sea, he and his Wife exchange 6 words to weave a story while they are apart. The Wife creates a story from his 6 words, which she tells him when he returns. But the Fisherman and his Wife have caught the attention of otherworldly beings who try to seduce, possess (or supplant), devour, or serve them. While the Fisherman fishes, the “Wife” player plays the part of the being attached to him, and the Fisherman player plays the being attached to the wife. Players take turns playing out what happens while the lovers are apart and vulnerable to the demons or spirits. When they reunite, one of them may not be what she seems.

The first SAJ is pretty serious, for adults only, lots of violence, drama, and suspense. The second on has all that, but only if it can sell popcorn and movie tickets. Here are descriptions of the Steal Away Jordan games:

Steal Away Jordan: Captured in West Africa

1680’s, West Coast of Africa, possibly Central Africa. You are the spoils of war. The victors–Africans from another village most likely, will now walk you and your fellow captors across the half the continent to sell you to Spanish slaver. They will put you on a ship and bring you to America. That’s their plan, at least. You can (and should) try to organize, escape, and save your family and fellow villagers before you all get on that ship. After that, there’s no going back home.

Steal Away Jordan: The Film based on the RPG, directed by Quentin Tarrantino and Spike Lee, written by Alan Gruder, with cameo appearances by Samuel L. Jackson and Harvey Kietel

Stone Baby Games sold the rights of Steal Away Jordan to Harpo Studios and now it’s a film, and you are one of the characters and famous Hollywood actor/performer. Set somewhere in the Dirty South, sometime back in the day during slave times, on a big ole cotton plantation. You will stage a rebellion, get the girl (or guy), and if you have to, make a deal with the Devil in a bizarre and mysterious Hoodoo ritual. You’ll  fare better if you can find that buried stash of guns and convince the beautiful house girl (played by Halle Berry) to poison Master Badass (played by Brad Pitt). Throw that history book out the window! Fire the historical consultant! This is Steal Away Jordan Hollywood style, complete with tongue in cheek cliches and anachronisms galore.

Now that GenCon 08 is done, here’s what’s on the SBG horizon:

Tales of the Fisherman’s Wife: I will do another ashcan run of handbound regular and handbound fancy. It will be a small run, stay tuned for preorders/reservations. I’m hoping to have the final edition out by January, and quite possibly by Dreamation 09. I’m doing more decks of cards with decoupaged boxes of Ukiyo-e art. There will be final edition of the fancy handbound ones down the line, and the regular press ones will be full color, just like the ashcan. I’m rethinking offering a “clean” shunga-free edition, due to lack of interest (on my part, and the gamers who have expressed interest), lack of time (this project is all consuming!), and shunga free just doesn’t fit in with my vision.

The final edition will include a filmography, bibliography, and custom cards. So why get the ashcan? Because I’m not sure the final version will have Hokusai’s lovely woodcut on the cover. That’s about as clean as I’m going.

Steal Away Jordan is back in print at Indie Press Revolution. I usually have a few kicking around if you want to buy it from me.

M’Alice might make it to ashcan production once I finish Fisherman’s Wife. I want to playtest again. I have been amassing a nice little collection of old scary dolls for inspiration.

Murder Ballad Blackjack needs my care and attention. That’s all I’m saying for now. There’s a possibility that when it sees the light of day, not only will it come with the lyrics and chords to some of my beloved traditional murder ballads, but also a CD, possibly performed by Brennen Reece. Here’s hoping the sun will shine on this project some more.

This summer I scored a Red Box D&D. I’m thinking of doing a supplement called Bad Girls, about an intrepid group of biker chicks who battle orcs and monsters on their way to Sturgis. Really. I’m not kidding. There’s a subtext in there, which I will reveal one of these days.

And looking far ahead to GenCon 2009, I may be sharing a booth with other lovely and talented game designers and artists of the female persuasion, such as Emily Care Boss, Elizabeth Shoemaker, and Anna Kreider, to name a few. Stay tuned.

Thanks much to everyone who has helped and supported my game design aspirations. Thanks to the gamers who have taken a chance and played my games.