Dice in Mind

Shelly Mazzanoble is an award-winning author of essays, books, two unfinished novels, some short stories, and one-act plays that have actually been produced. Most surprising, she is someone’s a mother. She loves writing about reality TV almost as much as parenting. Then there’s all the Dungeons & Dragons stuff. Shelly has written three books about D&D: Confessions of a Part-Time Sorceress: A Girl’s Guide to the Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game, Everything I Need to Know I Learned from Dungeons & Dragons: One Woman's Quest to Trade Self-Help for Elf Help, and Welcome to Dragon Talk: Inspiring Conversations About Dungeons & Dragons and the People Who Love to Play It (co-authored by Greg Tito.) Most recently, Shelly has written How to Dungeon Master Parenting: A Guidebook for Gamifying the Child Rearing Quest, Leveling Up Your Skills, and Raising Future Adventurers.

Please check out these links from the episode:

Tertulia (the publisher is offering a 25% discount until 12 November)

Welcome to Dice in Mind, a podcast hosted by Bradley Browne and Jason A. Kaufman to explore the intersection of life, games, science, music, philosophy, and creativity through interviews with leading creatives. All are welcome in this space. Royalty-free music "Night Jazz Beats" courtesy of flybirdaudio.

Katie Nickolaou is the Emmy Award Winning CBS Morning Meteorologist for WLNS in Lansing, Michigan. From reporting on tornadoes live in the field to tracking multi-day blizzards, she loves injecting her forecasts with unique and detailed information that captivates and educates her audience. She is the creator of the #FandomForecast, a project she started to bring together her love for pop culture and weather forecasting.

Please check out these links from the episode:

Twitter

Welcome to Dice in Mind, a podcast hosted by Bradley Browne and Jason A. Kaufman to explore the intersection of life, games, science, music, philosophy, and creativity through interviews with leading creatives. All are welcome in this space. Royalty-free music "Night Jazz Beats" courtesy of flybirdaudio.

Nearly two years ago, we had the opportunity to interview RPG royalty. Bill Smith is the writer and editor of the much hailed Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game (2nd ed.) core rulebook, Game Master Handbook, and more from West End Games. He was so humble and kind when we spoke. We hope you enjoy listening to the chat half as much as we did having it!

Also, we promise this is the last rerun on Dice in Mind for a very, very long time.

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This week we bring you RPG royalty! Seriously. We have the good fortune of sharing our fascinating conversation with Bill Smith, writer and editor of the much hailed Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game (2nd ed.) core rulebook, Game Master Handbook, and more from West End Games. Bill's work on the mechanics and storytelling of Star Wars roleplaying should not be underestimated. His influences subtle and significant remain manifest throughout the science-fiction and fantasy RPG zeitgeist to this day. It also turns out that Bill is also a really neat person.

Please check out Bill's oeuvre old and new:

Website

Bill Smith's books have sold nearly half a million copies. He has written for leading publishers such as Del Rey Books, Little Brown, Lucasfilm, Topps, West End Games, TSR Inc., and Wizard Press. From 1991 to 1997, he served as the Star Wars roleplaying game line editor for West End Games. In 1995, he was voted "Favorite Designer" by the RPGA, the world's largest organization for role-playing game enthusiasts. He has also written for Hershey Foods, the WIT Agency, and has been involved in motorsports promotion, marketing and journalism for nearly three decades. Bill works a day job to support his writing habit and continues to publish Outlaw Galaxy stories. He hopes you enjoy them.

Welcome to Dice in Mind, a podcast hosted by Bradley Browne and Jason Kaufman to explore the intersection of life, games, science, music, philosophy, and creativity through interviews with leading creatives. All are welcome in this space. Royalty-free music "Night Jazz Beats" courtesy of flybirdaudio.

Michael Dismuke is a Certified Professional in Talent Development and Certified Leadership Development and Succession Strategist. He is a national speaker/trainer and consultant, a freelance writer for the Star Trek Adventures RPG, and a published comic creator.

Please check out these relevant links:

Michael on Twitter

Welcome to Dice in Mind, a podcast hosted by Bradley Browne and Jason Kaufman to explore the intersection of life, games, science, music, philosophy, and creativity through interviews with leading creatives. All are welcome in this space. Royalty-free music "Night Jazz Beats" courtesy of flybirdaudio.

Sarah Al-Ahmed holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in astrophysics from the University of California at Berkeley. After some time as a data-taker for a supernova research team using instruments at Lick Observatory in Mt. Hamilton, California, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in science communication. Sarah spent six years as a museum guide, writer, and show producer at the historic Griffith Observatory. She was a monthly contributor to Griffith Observer magazine and a content creator for All Space Considered, the observatory’s monthly astronomy news program. Sarah joined The Planetary Society as Digital Community Manager in 2020, using her science communication skills to cultivate The Planetary Society's online communities. In 2023, she became the host and producer of Planetary Radio, The Planetary Society's weekly podcast and radio show. She continues to share the human adventure across our Solar System and beyond each week.

Please check out these links from the episode:

Planetary Radio

Welcome to Dice in Mind, a podcast hosted by Bradley Browne and Jason Kaufman to explore the intersection of life, games, science, music, philosophy, and creativity through interviews with leading creatives. All are welcome in this space. Royalty-free music "Night Jazz Beats" courtesy of flybirdaudio.

Brad and Jason are doing a bit of summer traveling. So, please join us this week for a rerun of one of our most popular episodes:

Katie Nickolaou is the Emmy Award Winning CBS Morning Meteorologist for WLNS in Lansing, Michigan. From reporting on tornadoes live in the field to tracking multi-day blizzards, she loves injecting her forecasts with unique and detailed information that captivates and educates her audience. She is the creator of the #FandomForecast, a project she started to bring together her love for pop culture and weather forecasting.

Please check out these links from the episode:

Twitter

Welcome to Dice in Mind, a podcast hosted by Bradley Browne and Jason Kaufman to explore the intersection of life, games, science, music, philosophy, and creativity through interviews with leading creatives. All are welcome in this space. Royalty-free music "Night Jazz Beats" courtesy of flybirdaudio.

James L. Sutter is a co-creator of the Pathfinder and Starfinder Roleplaying Games. From 2004 to 2017, he worked for Paizo Publishing, starting out as an editor on Dungeon Magazine, going on to do foundational work for Pathfinder, and eventually becoming the Creative Director in charge of launching Starfinder, as well as the Executive Editor of the Pathfinder Tales novel line for Paizo and Tor, before leaving to write full-time. James is also the author of the young adult romance novels Darkhearts and The Ghost of Us, as well as the fantasy novels Death's Heretic—a finalist for the Compton Crook Award for Best First Novel—and The Redemption Engine, which won the 2015 Scribe Award for Best Original Speculative Novel. His short stories have appeared in such venues as Nightmare, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Escape Pod, and the #1 Amazon best-seller Machine of Death. In addition, he's written comic books, essays in venues like Clarkesworld and Lightspeed: Queers Destroy Science Fiction, a wealth of tabletop gaming material, and video games. When not writing, James has performed with musical acts ranging from metalcore to musical theater. He lives in Seattle.

Please check out these links from the episode:

The Ghost of Us

Welcome to Dice in Mind, a podcast hosted by Bradley Browne and Jason Kaufman to explore the intersection of life, games, science, music, philosophy, and creativity through interviews with leading creatives. All are welcome in this space. Royalty-free music "Night Jazz Beats" courtesy of flybirdaudio.

Michael Dismuke is a Certified Professional in Talent Development and Certified Leadership Development and Succession Strategist. He is a national speaker/trainer and consultant, a freelance writer for the Star Trek Adventures RPG, and a published comic creator.

Please check out these links from the episode:

Confirmation Bias (excerpt)

Welcome to Dice in Mind, a podcast hosted by Bradley Browne and Jason Kaufman to explore the intersection of life, games, science, music, philosophy, and creativity through interviews with leading creatives. All are welcome in this space. Royalty-free music "Night Jazz Beats" courtesy of flybirdaudio.

Dante Lauretta is a Regents Professor of Planetary Science and Cosmochemistry at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. He is an expert in near-Earth asteroid formation and evolution. He is the leader of NASA's OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return mission, the United States' premier mission to visit one of the most Potentially Hazardous near-Earth Asteroids, survey it to assess its impact hazard and resource potential, understand its physical and chemical properties, and return a sample of this body to Earth for detailed scientific analysis. He also maintains an active research program in Cosmochemistry and Meteoritics.

Please check out these relevant links:

Dante Lauretta

Welcome to Dice in Mind, a podcast hosted by Brad Browne and Jason Kaufman to explore the intersection of life, games, science, music, philosophy, and creativity through interviews with leading creatives. All are welcome in this space. Royalty-free music "Night Jazz Beats" courtesy of flybirdaudio.

If you like what you hear, please leave us a 5-star rating on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!

Scott Fitzgerald Gray has been flogging his imagination professionally since deciding he wanted to be a writer and abandoning any hope of a real career in about the fourth grade. The time since has seen him indulge in educational forays in science, arts, and film, and the bewildering variety of occupations that have driven his search for the secret of the human condition to include information systems specialist, multimedia developer, teacher, facilitator, journalist, production manager, editor, graphic designer, and logger (because he lives in Canada, after all).

Please check out these relevant links:

Twitter

Welcome to Dice in Mind, a podcast hosted by Brad Browne and Jason Kaufman to explore the intersection of life, games, science, music, philosophy, and creativity through interviews with leading creatives. All are welcome in this space. Royalty-free music "Night Jazz Beats" courtesy of flybirdaudio.

If you like what you hear, please leave us a 5-star rating on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!