New Interview and Reviews for Paths of Storytelling

Hi folks,

I’m over at FlamesRising.com today along with the developer of Paths of Storytelling, Eddy Webb, and my fellow authors Jess Hartley and Kelley Barnes. This three-question interview offers all of us the chance to talk about this project from our unique clan perspective. I hope you drop by and read Author Interview for Paths of Storytelling on FlamesRising.com, because Eddy reveals yet another easter egg. Shhh!

Here’s a quote from our group interview:

MONICA: I felt that matching the voice and the feel of the setting was crucial to the joke’s believability, which was part of the reason why I dropped in signature characters like Karsh, El Diablo Verde and a few other familiar faces. It was really fascinating for me to map out, because the goal was to introduce Vampire: the Masquerade to a fictitious reader, all the while knowing that the person most likely reading it would be someone who knew the setting. So in this path, the reader doesn’t just become a Gangrel, they get introduced to Vampire: the Masquerade. — SOURCE: Author Interview for Paths of Storytelling

After you read the interview, a reader recently shared a review of Paths of Storytelling on DriveThruRPG.com. I thought the review was interesting, because the reviewer is correct: this format isn’t something White Wolf would publish professionally to represent World of Darkness, which is why it was billed as a rejected manuscript for April Fool’s. I was happy to hear he not only enjoyed it, but also recognized the amount of work we put into this.

Over at Gameolosophy, you can also read an in-depth review written by Raymond Frazee entitled RPG Game Review: Paths of Storytelling. His thoughts are really interesting to read because he talks about the theme from the perspective of a long-time fan and player of Vampire: the Masquerade.

For more information, read my announcement entitled: New Release! Vampire: the Masquerade Fiction.

Enjoy!

April 7, 2011
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Listen to My Interview with Darker Days Podcast

If you’ve been following my work, you probably recall White Wolf Publishing released Scenes of the Embrace earlier this month. Just recently, Mike Andryuk interviewed me for the sixteenth episode of his podcast called Darker Days.

One of the things we talked about, was how Scenes of the Embrace, which was geared toward Vampire: the Requiem, differed from the 2005 release of The Giovanni Chronicles I: The Last Supper for Vampire: the Masquerade. Admittedly, the question threw me for a loop because I wasn’t sure how the two related. In my product, we developed a toolkit for Storytellers where an Embrace may or may not occur. It’s not an adventure, but a collection of scenes. Last Supper was a very specific storyline which fit within Vampire: the Masquerade, a game more heavily focused on metaplot than Vampire: the Requiem.

Mind you, I thought his questions about Vampire: the Masquerade were interesting. From my perspective, the two game lines are very different. Not only do they have separate themes, but they’re also developed and managed in unique ways. After talking to Mike I can see how a fan might be interested in exploring both lines. I’m just happy to help promote the product, because I enjoyed writing about so many different types of embraces; the transformation from human to vampire is a very powerful moment indeed.

Mike also brought up Devil’s Night, which is a free download on FlamesRising.com. One of the things I like about the new World of Darkness, is the ability to play a mortal character who doesn’t understand all the horrors around her. I thought it was really neat to hear Mike talk about the main character, Gabriella, the way I hoped players and fans would.

If you get the chance, you can listen to the episode via the embedded player below or by visiting this link. To discuss it, hop on over to the Darker Days Facebook page.

Enjoy!

January 31, 2011
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My Guest Article at BookLife.com: Rolling the Dice in Freelancing

The Bones | To help promote THE BONES, a collection of essays about dice, Jeremy Jones is running a series over at BookLife.com about rolling the dice in freelancing. Jeremy is an excellent interviewer who writes “the best” introductions about people. Just recently, he talked about how Matt Forbeck was his hero in If You Play It Safe: Matt Forbeck on Taking Risks In Writing. (Mine, too.) After reading what he said about me, I was thinking about paying him to write my bio for me. Sheesh.

I first met Valentinelli at GenCon three years ago. I was immediately struck with her ability to distill a complex project down to its core elements and by her seemingly undying enthusiasm for whichever creative project she was working on.

Both as a gamer and as a freelancer, Valentinelli has rolled a lot of dice. Here’s what she had to say about the importance of taking risks in writing and freelancing. — SOURCE: Always Rolling the Dice: Monica Valentinelli on Taking Risks in Writing

To read what my responses were, be sure to check out Always Rolling the Dice: Monica Valentinelli on Taking Risks in Writing.

Not sure who else is slated for this series, but BookLife always has some great career advice for you to read. So don’t be shy and check the site out!

December 15, 2010
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Author Paul Jessup Interviewed Me

Just wanted to drop by and mention that author Paul Jessup, who is celebrating the release of an illustrated journal called WEREWOLVES!, interviewed me for his website. He’s been very supportive of my e-book THE QUEEN OF CROWS and has had nice things to say about it.

Here’s one of the questions he asked me:

Did your experience in RPG game design help influence how the end product looked/felt?

It did. I knew that DriveThruHorror.com could handle an enhanced e-book format because of its sister site, DriveThruRpg.com. The DriveThru sites have been offering digital e-books and enhanced PDFs for years before the rest of the publishing industry even thought about embracing e-books. All of us — me, Shari and Leanne — had experience in the gaming industry. That perspective heavily influenced the design and layout. It wasn’t until after we offered the e-book for sale that we realized the limitations of some of the other e-book sites are. Images are still pretty tough for them to render.

To read more, be sure to check out the rest of the interview at PaulJessup.com.

October 19, 2010
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My Interview with Suvudu.com

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to drop by and let you know that a new interview with yours truly went up on Suvudu.com. I’m pretty happy with the way the interview turned out.

One of the questions was about how a recent reviewer pegged me as a “fearless author.” Here’s part of my answer:

You know, I’m the type of author and game designer who loves to experiment with my work. In that way, I’d say that fearless is an appropriate description. I’ve had a lot of people look at me in shock when I tell them I included my first draft in this e-book. Several other pros told me before I even worked on this that authors would be crucified professionally for publishing less-than-superior work. To me, I think that some readers might find a first draft a fascinating read. I view writing to be a process and if it makes sense, why not clue a reader into what went on behind-the-scenes? — Source: Interview with Monica Valentinelli at Suvudu.com

If you get the chance, drop by and check out The Queen of Crows interview at Suvudu.com.

As always, I really appreciate your support! Happy reading!

September 24, 2010
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