Our guest this week at The Corner of Story and Game is David "Zeb" Cook. What is there left to say about Zeb? This is the man who created Planescape, was the lead designer on AD&D 2nd Edition, and created numerous other non-D&D games. In 1994, he departed from TSR and ventured into digital games, most recently working as a designer at ZeniMax Online Studios on the expansive The Elder Scrolls Online.

Zeb was kind enough to take a break from his retirement to venture down memory lane and share some of the wisdom he has picked up in his decades of crafting games. There is a lot of great advice here, from making sure your writing fits the setting of an established IP, to ensuring you tell the story you are passionate about. And of course, I have to pick his brain on Planescape!

Find The Corner of Story and Game at:

-> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/storyandgame

-> Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecornerofstoryandgame/

-> Twitter: https://twitter.com/StoryAndGame

-> Email: [email protected]

If you have any questions or comments on this, or any other, episode, please let me know. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to hear more conversations with professionals in the video game, tabletop game, and fiction industries.

Our guest this week at The Corner of Story and Game is Amanda Cherry - a Seattle-based author of science fiction, speculative fiction, and urban fantasy. Her extensive background in theatre, both in production and acting, as well as screen acting, makes her perfect to chat with about how performative skills impact fiction craft. She is also an avid gamer (and self-described "massive nerd") who recently started to appear on the Dungeons Scrawlers streamed live play.

Amanda co-wrote the superhero (supervillain?) novella Femmes Fatale with Erik Scott de Bie, and shares her insights into the process of writing with a partner. 

Find Amanda at:

-> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheGingerVillain/

-> Twitter: https://twitter.com/MandaTheGinger

-> TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mandatheginger

-> Website: https://www.thegingervillain.com/

Find The Corner of Story and Game:

-> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/storyandgame

-> Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecornerofstoryandgame/

-> Twitter: https://twitter.com/StoryAndGame

-> Email: [email protected]

If you have any questions or comments on this, or any other, episode, please let me know. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to hear more conversations with professionals in the video game, tabletop game, and fiction industries.

We have fantasy royalty in the room this week at The Corner of Story and Game! The immensely-talented Margaret Weis took the time to sit down and share stories about her journey as a writer, some writing craft tips, and her insights from her career.

Margaret joined TSR in 1984 as a book editor and would be a part of the team that brought Dragonlance into the world. Along with Tracy Hickman, she has penned almost two dozen novels in the Dragonlance setting, with more still coming out in the near future.

She is also the author/co-author of several other New York Times best-selling series, including Darksword, Rose of the Prophet, Star of the Guardians, The Deathgate Cycle, and Dragonships. Weis and her daughter, Lizz, have written two paranormal romance novels, and working with Robert Krammes she has created two fantasy trilogies.

Find Margaret at:

-> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/margaret.weis/

-> Twitter: https://twitter.com/WeisMargaret

-> Website: https://margaretweis.com/

Find The Corner of Story and Game at:

-> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/storyandgame

-> Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecornerofstoryandgame/

-> Twitter: https://twitter.com/StoryAndGame

-> Email: [email protected]

If you have any questions or comments on this, or any other, episode, please let me know. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to hear more conversations with professionals in the video game, tabletop game, and fiction industries.

This week at The Corner of Story and Game, the ever-entertaining Erik Scott de Bie steals the seat by the fire and talks my ear off. This guy sure can weave a tale, and he shares his history, wisdom, and insights in writing novels for Forgotten Realms, running a live-stream game, and more.

Erik is a fantasy author, game designer, and technical writer. He has written a number of books and stories in the Forgotten Realms setting, as well as numerous other standalone and tie-in novels. Erik is also an avid gamer and is one of the creators and players on the twitch live-play channel Dungeon Scrawlers.

Erik can be found:

-> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Erik.S.deBie or https://www.facebook.com/erikscottdebie

-> Twitter: https://twitter.com/erikscottdebie

-> Dungeon Scrawlers: https://www.twitch.tv/dungeonscrawlers

-> Website: https://erikscottdebie.com/

-> Femmes Fatal: https://www.defconone.com/book/femmes-fatale/

Find The Corner of Story and Game:

-> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/storyandgame

-> Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecornerofstoryandgame/

-> Twitter: https://twitter.com/StoryAndGame

-> Email: [email protected]

Other items mentioned in this podcast:

-> Archvillian Games: https://archvillaingames.com/

-> Basil and Moebius Setting: https://www.magnetic-press.com/basil-and-moebius/

If you have any questions or comments on this, or any other, episode, please let me know. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to hear more conversations with professionals in the video game, tabletop game, and fiction industries.

This week I sit down with Bruce Nesmith to discuss what he has learned from his lifelong career in game design as well as what it is like moving into novel writing in his "retirement" years.

For those who don't know, Bruce started out in tabletop RPG design at TSR. He worked on MANY different products, but most notable (to me anyway) was his early involvement in the Ravenloft setting. In 1995 he made the switch to computer games by joining Bethesda Game Studios to work on Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall. He remained with Bethesda until recently, working on Oblivion, The Shivering Isles, and being the lead designer on Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Most recently, he has ventured into novel writing, with his debut novel being Mischief Maker: Norse Mythology Reimagined. He followed that up with Odin's Escape and is working on the third novel in the series.

Bruce can be found:

-> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100065304827763

-> Amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/Bruce-Nesmith/e/B08YKG3DM4

And his newest novel can be found at https://read.amazon.ca/kp/embed?asin=B09Z9GBG69&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_6ZBCYY46TGD8GDYZCVNA

Find The Corner of Story and Game:

-> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/storyandgame

-> Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecornerofstoryandgame/

-> Twitter: https://twitter.com/StoryAndGame

-> Email: [email protected]

If you have any questions or comments on this, or any other, episode, please let me know. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to hear more conversations with professionals in the video game, tabletop game, and fiction industries.

Back in September, just prior to him taking a new position at Zenimax working on Elder Scrolls Online, Jeff Grubb was kind enough to sit down and chat craft with me. This is the man that helped create the Planes as we know them, ushered Spelljamming into the gaming world, and assisted with the births of both Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance!

He has written many, many novels, short stories, and comics - and has been working in video games for decades. His computer game work has been for studios such as Strategic Simulations, ArenaNet (working on Guild Wars), Amazon, and now Zenimax.

Jeff can be found:

-> Twitter: https://twitter.com/GrubbsTweet

-> Website: http://grubbstreet.blogspot.com/

Find The Corner of Story and Game:

-> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/storyandgame

-> Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecornerofstoryandgame/

-> Twitter: https://twitter.com/StoryAndGame

-> Email: [email protected]

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to hear more conversations with professionals in the video game, tabletop game, and fiction industries.

While the goal of this podcast is to talk with industry insiders and veterans, it's important to take a step back and talk to folks outside of the major industries. In this episode, I talk with Caitlin McVicker, an experienced copywriter who is hoping to someday make the jump from writing for marketing into narrative design. We discuss what drives her to pursue writing for video games, some of her interests and inspirations, and what she is doing to hone her skills for that big break.

Find Caitlin at:

-> LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caitlin-mcvicker/

Find The Corner of Story and Game at:

-> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/storyandgame

-> Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecornerofstoryandgame/

-> Twitter: https://twitter.com/StoryAndGame

-> Email: [email protected]

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to hear more conversations with professionals in the video game, tabletop game, and fiction industries.

Drew Karpyshyn has had an incredible writing career! His video game credits range from lead writer on the first two Mass Effect games, senior writer on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and numerous other titles. He is now working at Archetype Entertainment, a video game studio division of Wizards of the Coast.

He has also penned novels in the Forgotten Realms and Mass Effect worlds as well as his own original series, the Chaos Born trilogy. Recently he ran a successful Kickstarter for his contemporary sci-fi book, Time Kings of Las Vegas. 

In this episode, Drew shares his insights and processes in the craft of writing as well as some of the lessons he has learned the hard way over the years.

Find Drew at:

-> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Drew-Karpyshyn-Author-Page-104591192254854

-> Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrewKarpyshyn

-> Website: http://drewkarpyshyn.com/

Find The Corner of Story and Game at:

-> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/storyandgame

-> Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecornerofstoryandgame/

-> Twitter: https://twitter.com/StoryAndGame

-> Email: [email protected]

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to hear more conversations with professionals in the video game, tabletop game, and fiction industries.

Dave Gross is currently working at Beamdog in Edmonton, but has an illustrious history in novels, short stories, tabletop roleplaying games, and magazine editing! He edited Dungeon Adventures, Dragon Magazine, Star Wars Insider, and Amazing Stories - and has written fiction for both Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder. We sit down and chat about everything from writing dialogue and finding creative inspiration to Dave's favourite drink and the best movies for a gamer to watch.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to hear more conversations with professionals in the video game, tabletop game, and fiction industries.

Find Dave at:

-> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Frabjousdave

-> Twitter: https://twitter.com/frabjousdave

-> Website: http://frabjousdave.com/

And be sure to check out Mythforce from Beamdog!

Find The Corner of Story and Game:

-> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/storyandgame

-> Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecornerofstoryandgame/

-> Twitter: https://twitter.com/StoryAndGame

-> Email: [email protected]

Gavan Brown fell in love with board games over a friendly game of Carcassonne and has been making games ever since. As an owner, creative director, and game designer at Roxley Games, he has been involved with the creation or publication of a dozen different board games - and has many more designs in his workshop. With a background in branding and package design, he offers an unusual perspective on both the board game industry and the creative process behind game creation.

Pre-order Skyrise here -> https://skyrise.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to hear more conversations with professionals in the video game, tabletop game, and fiction industries.

Find Roxley Games at:

-> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/roxleygames

-> Twitter: https://www.facebook.com/roxleygames

-> Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roxleygames/

-> Website: https://roxley.com/

Find The Corner of Story and Game:

-> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/storyandgame

-> Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecornerofstoryandgame/

-> Twitter: https://twitter.com/StoryAndGame

-> Email: [email protected]