If I was ever glad I became a freelancer, it’s in the middle of the global pandemic.
It’s been quite a ride these last couple of weeks. As I write those words, watching Mary Popping Returns with half an eye (the movie really doesn’t warrant a whole eye on it), it’s been over four weeks of Finland on lockdown. Working as a full-time freelancers was a bit of a challenge for both of us, between two preschoolers running around and me catching the virus and being definitely worse for wear for almost a month.
Regardless, as I’m sipping on strawberry milkshake, I’m happy to declare that the spring has finally arrived in Finland. No snow for a week, almost! The cats are delighted, the dog less; she likes digging in the snow. The things are looking brighter already, especially as I can finally breathe like a human being should be able to do.
We’ve been working a lot lately. I’m finishing up Adventure Tactics (there’s always a lot of last-minute revisions in boardgame rulebooks as the last playtests tend to uncover things that could be improved or clarified in the rules) and putting together the expansion book for Starport RPG (it’s going to be so beautiful! Kevin has sourced some amazing artworks for it). I’ve finished a project for Green Ronin Publishing that I can’t share yet, started another for Atomic Overmind Press (can’t share details yet either). Did some more Legends of Barsaive for FASA Games.
There’s some more delightful books coming soon – and some exciting collaborations with Luka Rejec and Exalted Funeral’s Matt (you know them both from… well, Ultraviolet Grasslands if I am to pick one thing. If you don’t, go check it out; it’s glorious). And I might or might not be starting on some serious gambling pro… project. Stay tuned, I’ll fill blanks as soon as I can.
Meanwhile, Jakub’s been working on a super-secret project for FASA Games, realizing his lifelong dream of writing for Earthdawn. Can’t share the details (classic NDA Life) but it’s going to be a book chock-full of delicious material for the players and gamemasters alike.
He has also finished writing his second book, Incitatus – a space thriller (horror? I’m yet to read it not in bits and pieces) set in the world of Project Aphelion. The book is now being edited, and I can’t wait until we can start sharing it with the world. From what I’ve read, it’s going to be a blast. And the book cover art is absolutely stunning, made by the illustrious Holly Humphries (HolBolDoArt).
In other news, we brought our Shadowrun campaign to the end of the first season. We’ve fought a racist policlub, solved some backstory-introduced problems, found some new friends, lost some of the old ones. I should really find a moment (more like a month) to make the write-ups because Jakub’s GMing skills should be shared with posterity. Well, they are shared, technically, as we taught the kids to play RPGs, but they don’t appreciate the story twists six-months-in-the-making. I don’t think they remember ‘six moths ago’ in general.
So we keep on working in our quiet Finnish home (well, as quiet as the house can be with two preschoolers, two cats, and a big dog with too much energy to burn), playing Surviving Mars and a political-intrigue D&D 5e sessions online. It would be already archery season but the local shop ran out of arrows. Finns weren’t into panic-buying toiler paper. They went for essentials.
Hope for a delivery soon, I miss hurting my forearm on daily basis.