All right, people, I hope you’re sitting down — this is big news. I mean, really big.

BIG. NEWS.

At least to me.

Just about three years ago, after toiling with great joy and genuine pride, I submitted to Steve Jackson Games the final manuscript of a gaming book they wanted to publish as a PDF. Then there was waiting. And a bit more waiting. And, particularly in the Year of the Ogre Kickstarter, even a little more waiting.

But, finally, the wait is over! I am absolutely ecstatic to announce that the book was released this morning!

It is entitled “How to Be a GURPS GM,” and is now available for purchase and immediate download for the princely sum of 11 bucks.

To many of you, that title makes perfect sense. The tabletop role-playing game GURPS has long suffered an undeserved reputation as being hard to learn, or too complex. Those years ago I thought to myself, “There should totally be a book that dispels that myth once and for all.” To my great delight, Steve Jackson Games agreed — and now here I am, finally able to shout the birth announcement to the world from the virtual rooftops.

To many others of you that don’t play RPGs, that title is gibberish — a bunch of clearly made-up words, or possibly Klingon or Esperanto. In a nutshell, it’s a book about using a game called GURPS to sit around with your friends telling stories, rolling dice, and basically just having a grand old time.

Wherever you fall on the spectrum between those two points, I hope you’ll join me in celebrating! Grab a copy, dig into it, and let me know what you think. Get copies for your gaming friends who don’t grok GURPS. Or get copies and print them out for Halloween. Or get copies and wallpaper your guest room with ’em (it’s looking a bit plain).

I want this book to be a huge success, because SJG is one of my favorite companies and they totally deserve it. I hope everyone (yes, everyone in the world) will read it and enjoy it. If you’re a gamer, let me know what you liked, what you didn’t like, what you wished there was more of. If you’re not a gamer but think it sounds interesting, jump on in and give it a whirl* — you might be surprised at how much fun you have. And even if you don’t think it sounds interesting? Well… regardless of content, it is still my first published book ever! This is your chance to have your very own Mook memento. 🙂

Truly, I can’t even put into words how much I have looked forward to this day. The bucket list goes down by one, and I get to walk around for the next day/week/month with a grin from ear to ear.

For today, I am an author.

 

* To actually play GURPS, you’ll also need at least a copy of “GURPS Lite,” available here at absolutely no cost.