My Guest Post: Aliens, Naming and Naming Conventions

Hi,

Just wanted to drop a brief note that this month’s post over at Apex Book Company continues my series on How To Create an Alien Language with names and naming conventions.

In this post, a talk about how names and naming conventions are often a reflection of culture rather than a mechanical permutation of letters. Here’s a quote:

Whether you’re describing our world or an alien planet, any intelligent life form will associate values with a particular place or location. Some languages employ proper nouns that don’t have a meaning associated with it. Other languages that describe certain locations may translate to a string of phrases and is truncated for the proper noun. “Tall Mountain” may be one way of describing a mountain top. “Gateway to the gods” might be another. When it comes to naming conventions, there’s really no right or wrong way to do it, because the names are often a reflection of culture and technology. Take, for example, how common surnames like Miller, McGilroy, Johnson, etc. were created. Some were based on where you lived, who your father or clan was, or what you did for a living. Consistency in naming conventions depends upon where you live, your genealogy, and what period of history you live in. –SOURCE: Creating an Alien Language: Names and Naming Conventions

If you’re interested in this month’s article, be sure to hop on over to Creating an Alien Language: Names and Naming Conventions at Apex Book Company.

Cheers!

My Guest Article at Innsmouth Free Press

Hi everyone,

Thought you’d be interested to find out that I wrote an article about the appeal of Cthulhu in gaming for Innsmouth Free Press, a Lovecraft-inspired webzine. Written with the casual gamer in mind, I list some horror games that I enjoy and talk about why the Cthulhu mythos is a great backdrop for a horror game.

For hobby gamers, the idea of losing your sanity while investigating the things that go bump in the world of Lovecraft has a strong appeal because it gives the characters a very tangible cost to uncovering the truth. — SOURCE: Cthulhu In Your Game at Innsmouth Free Press

If you’re interesting in gaming, I hope you drop by to read my article entitled Cthulhu In Your Game at Innsmouth Free Press.

Also, I’d like to mention that as part of our FlamesRising.com Cthulhu Week promotion, the publisher at Innsmouth Free press wrote a guest article for us entitled Cthulhu Week: A Note from the Editor at Innsmouth Free Press. Be sure to read this informative article written by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and find out more about their upcoming anthology.

Guest Post: What’s in an Alien Alphabet? (Or Why Some Languages Are Really Fonts…)

While I was away at GenCon, Apex Book Company posted the next installment of my series on creating an alien language. This installment was a lot of fun to write, because I addressed the difference between creating an alien alphabet and designing a font, in addition to quite a few resources that you might be interested in checking out.

Part of the goal behind writing this post, is that people tend to confuse an alien font with a fully-develope alien language.

Here’s a quote from the article:

in many ways, your alien alphabet is a complex key that will serve as the building blocks for everything else you will do. Keep in mind that the order of the letters, symbols and numbers may or may not matter to you. The English alphabet, for example, doesn’t mean anything semantically when you put the letters in their proper order. The alphabet only becomes a crucial part of a language when you identify what the letters represent, combine them into words, or rank these words in alphabetical order. As a result, you have a built-in system to place permutations of letters, phrases and sentences into lists.

So, the first thing I’d like you to consider is to ask yourself if you know what an alphabet is. Well, I can tell you what it isn’t – it’s not a font! –SOURCE: Creating an Alien Language: What’s in an Alien Alphabet?

The article is really in-depth this time around, so if you have an interest in the topic be sure to check out Creating an Alien Language: What’s in an Alien Alphabet? on the Apex Book Company Blog.

Hack/Slash Card Game and my Role as a Developer

Cassie Hack from HACK/SLASH by Tim SeeleyHi everyone,

I am excited to announce that I am one of the developers of a card game based on the horror comic HACK/SLASH by Tim Seeley!

Produced by Eden Studios, the game was designed by Matt Papa and the development team includes M. Alexander Jurkat, James Lowder, who is also the current editor for the HACK/SLASH comics series, and yours truly!

Currently, the comic is published through Image Comics. You can read a really good interview with Tim Seeley conducted by Newsarama.com about the move from DDP to Image.

Both the HACK/SLASH card game and the RPG will be published through Eden Studios, who published the BUFFY: the VAMPIRE SLAYER, ARMY OF DARKNESS and ANGEL RPGs.

Here’s a quote from the press release:

HACK/SLASH creator Tim Seeley will take an active role in the development of the games. “I grew up reading comics and playing RPGs,” Seeley explains, “so I’m thrilled that a company as great as Eden Studios is giving people a chance to play around in the world of HACK/SLASH. And it’s fantastic to see Cassie and Vlad on a roster alongside such stellar horror licenses as Buffy and Army of Darkness!”

A prototype version of the HACK/SLASH card game will be available for demo play at the Eden Studios booth (#209), at the upcoming Gen Con Game Fair, August 5th through 8th, at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. — SOURCE: Eden Studios To Bring Fan Favorite Comic HACK/SLASH To The Gaming World

I am absolutely thrilled to be a part of this for many reasons on so many different levels. As a fan of HACK/SLASH and horror, well, everything, I can tell you that this card game really targets the mood and theme of the comic. Matt Papa did an exceptional job as the primary designer and the collaboration that we’ve done on this game has made it even better.

Don’t take my word for it, though, because you know I’m going to rave about it. So, if you’re going to GenCon: Indy, stop by the Eden Studios booth and play the game for yourself. Or… as Cassie would say… “Suck it.”

25% Off My e-Book Plus Huge Sale on 1,000s of Others at DriveThru

I’m not sure how many of you that read my blog know about DriveThruRPG.com or DriveThruComics.com. Did you know that DriveThruRPG.com is the world’s largest retailer for digital hobby games? I’ve contributed to a few games within the gaming industry over the years. This industry has been really fun to be a part of and I’m excited for my panels at GenCon: Indy’s 2010 Writer’s Symposium, too.

The hobby games industry has been great to be involved with and has been a boon to my creativity and my professional career. The best part about gaming, though, is the people. Leanne, Shari and James, who composed the music for THE QUEEN OF CROWS trailer, are all people I met through gaming.

I’m pleased to announce that our project will be included in the Christmas in July sale at DriveThruRPG.com!

The Queen of Crows e-Book

From now through Monday, July 26th at 6:00 p.m. EST, my e-book entitled THE QUEEN OF CROWS will be priced at $3.75!

There are literally thousands of digital titles on sale, so if you like to game or read, now is the perfect time to check out DriveThru. The sale also applies to comics at DriveThruComics.com, so you can read comics from publishers like Top Cow, Archaia and 2000 A.D. for super cheap.

Hope you get the chance to check out some other games and comics, too. Many of these people pour their sweat, blood and tears into their work because, like me, they love what they do. There’s a lot of great products on sale, so if you’re thinking about going digital, now’s the time.

Catch ya later!

DriveThruRPG.com

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