Will McDermott

Worlds of their Own

noreply@blogger.com (Night Watch) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:11:00 +0000

A short story I wrote for the Eric Reynolds anthology, Golden Age SF: Tales of a Bygone Future, has been picked up to be reprinted in a new anthology featuring main stream SF works written by game-related fiction authors.

Check out the Paizo page for Worlds of their Own for more information.

The part that thrills me the most is the company I am keeping in this anthology. Big name authors like R.A. Salvatore, Mike Stackpole, and even Gary Gygax grace the cover. Pretty exciting stuff.

Cool cover too.

Can't wait to see this one.

Will

Shadowmoor

noreply@blogger.com (Night Watch) — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 18:31:00 +0000

My latest piece of fiction will be in stores in less than a month.

Here's the link to the product page:

Shadowmoor Product Page

It is a new Magic Anthology. My story, "Meme's Tale," is an homage to The Jungle Book. I'm very happy with it. I hope readers enjoy it.

Will

RIP Gary Gygax

noreply@blogger.com (Night Watch) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 19:38:00 +0000

I know I don't post often enough, but this definitely deserved a post today.

I never met Gary Gygax, but I don't think it's hyperbole to say that every cool job in my life (including my current job) is directly attributable to his influence in this world.

There would have been no Magic: The Gathering (which spawned its own industry) or computer and video rpgs (including the juggernaut that is WoW or the game I am so lucky to work on called Guild Wars) without E. Gary Gygax and D&D.

But his impact didn't just impact me and my own personal career, he made thinking on your feet (and rolling dice to make decisions) cool for many millions of people. For that alone, he should have a special place reserved in history (and in the afterlife of his choice). We are all better people today for having played the game he gave us 34 years ago, and all of its offshoots.

The gaming industry has lost its Tolkien, its Shakespeare. I don't think we should let this day pass without spending a moment thinking about the magnitude of his impact on the world.

And then, go out and roll 3d6. May all your rolls be natural 18s, Gary.

Will

Breach the Hull Review

noreply@blogger.com (Night Watch) — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 17:17:00 +0000

Hey everyone. A friend of mine asked me to review this anthology. It's a good read (the anthology, not necessarily the review), Enjoy.

Breach the Hull Review

I met Mike McPhail through his wife, author Danielle Ackley-McPhail as she and I were ran the East Coast convention circuit. Mike is a huge fan of military SF and this anthology is truly a labor of love.

What Mike understands best is that military SF doesn’t have to be just about epic space battles and high-powered grunts waging war against alien bugs. In fact, Breach the Hull is at its best in stories like “Peter Power Armor” and “Forgotten Causes” by Asimov’s veteran John C. Wright and the two reprints in this edition, Jack McDevitt’s “Cryptic” and “Black to Move” (both originally printed in Asimov’s in the ‘80s), which bring us down out of the stars and delve deep into the human condition. That’s where SF does its best work, even SF of a more military bent.

But that’s not to say there aren’t some great space-faring yarns here. I really liked “Thresher,” which contained some truly innovative tech along with a well-developed story of personal loyalty and honor. And for just plain, edge-of-your-seat, wartime adventure, you don’t want to miss Jeff Lyman’s “Compartment Alpha.” This story also has some cool tech driving the plot, but what brings it to life are the characters, whom you can immediately connect with as they strive to survive in the heat of battle.

The final story in this volume, “Shore Leave,” by the always wonderful CJ Henderson, is an amazing romp through a fanciful future city where the military of many worlds come to relax. But again, it’s not the tech or the guns that make this story work, but the two incredible jarheads at the center of the action. While absolute caricatures, Rocky and Noodles made me believe in them and their often wacky future.

I have to be honest, though, some of the stories in this volume are a bit of a mixed bag. Not all the authors here are seasoned professionals, and it shows at times. It’s not that they’re badly written. No, I enjoyed every story for what it brought to the anthology. But some of the stories here just didn’t feel complete. Some had brilliant ideas and crisp writing, but failed to engage me with their characters. Others pulled me into the stories and made me care about the lives of the inhabitants, but didn’t deliver in the end.

Still I saw definite promise in these newer authors and I would give each of them a look again in the future. In the end, there is more than enough great SF in Breach the Hull for any true fan of the genre, military or not. And without small press anthologies like these that provide a venue for up-and-coming authors, the next crop of McDevitts, Wrights, and Hendersons will languish in obscurity, never given the chance to reach for the stars... and perhaps blow one up.

Visual Journeys

noreply@blogger.com (Night Watch) — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 22:51:00 +0000

My most recent short story, "Resurrection Man," is now out in Eric Reynolds's latest anthology, Visual Journeys. This hardcover anthology from Hadley rille books, which features both great pulp SF stories from some excellent 21st century authors like Tobias Buckell and Jay Lake, as well as some amazing artwork from such luminaries as Bob Eggleton and Ron Miller, is now available on Amazon.com.

If all goes well, I hope to have another, even more exciting announcement about this anthology in the near future. Stay tuned

Reader praise for Lasgun Wedding

noreply@blogger.com (Night Watch) — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 22:40:00 +0000

I have been thrilled to see the response so far to my latest Kal Jerico novel, Lasgun Wedding. Here are some excerpts:

Kal does it again!

21/05/2007

****

Another great book in the Kal Jerico series, I would say. It has the humour one has come to expect in this range as well as superb action and various twists and turns on the story. I certainly cannot wait for the next Kal book!

Book 3

23 May 2007

*****

There are two previous titles about Jerico and his pals: Blood Royal & Cardinal Crimson. I have not had the pleasure of reading the two earlier titles; however, if they are even half as fantastic as THIS title is, then I would LOVE them! Even though I jumped into the series late, I never found myself lost, scratching my head in wonder, or confused. I easily immersed myself on the first page and never came up for air. This is a terrific read from start to finish by an exceptional author!

Fast, fun and furious

15 Jun 2007

*****

Lasgun Wedding is a great book and is easily the best of the Kal Jerico books so far. The book is very well written with a fun and involving plot with many great fights and intrigue that will keep you turning page after page to find out what will happen. Will McDermott gives a great representation off the backstabbing political situation among Hive Primus' ruling classes and is able to give each of the noble houses a distinctive look and feel.

Lasgun Wedding Sightings and Anthology News

noreply@blogger.com (Night Watch) — Thu, 03 May 2007 23:17:00 +0000

So, Lasgun Wedding, my third Kal Jerico novel for Black Library, has been spotted in U.S. and Canadian bookstores. A friend of mine bought a copy last week at a chain store in Bellevue and I saw them for sale at a Vancouver book store, White Dwarf, on Monday when I traveled north for a book signing by my friend (and Hugo Award winner), Rob Sawyer.

I'm very excited about this book, as I was quite happy with the way both the themes of the story came through and the more light-hearted tone of much of the book. I would be interested to hear from fans what they think about it once they read it.

In other news, I recently finished my second short story for Eric Reynolds. Eric printed a story of mine entitled, "An the Off-Ramp of the Intergalactic Super-Highway," in his anthology, Golden Age SF: Tales of a Bygone Future. That book came out last August. Well, in less than two months, Eric's next anthology, Visual Journeys, will be published. This anthology connects some great SF authors with some fabulous SF artists for an anthology that really hearkens back to the golden age of the pulps. Each author was asked to pick out a piece of artwork and write a story based on the piece. I chose a painting by Frank Wu entitled, "Resurrection Man," and wrote what I think is an interesting take on the old zombie astronaut story.

If you're a fan of pulpy science fiction, you should check out the Hadley Rille Books website and look for Eric's anthologies. He is a fine editor with a real love for the golden age stories.

Golden Age Review and Upcoming Convention

noreply@blogger.com (Night Watch) — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 17:27:00 +0000

I just received word that the Golden Age SF: Tales of a Bygone Future anthology which I appeared in last year, has been reviewed on sfsite.com (Read the Review). My story, "On the Off-Ramp of the Intergalactic Superhighway," was favorably compared to a classic SF story as well as Mike Resnick's own story in the anthology. I am quite pleased.

I actually just finished a story for Eric Reynold's next anthology, Visual Journeys, due out this Summer. It is called "Resurrection Man," and is based on a painting by Frank Wu of the same name. This anthology is all about crafting stories around some great SF art (again in the tradition of the Golden Age magazines). I am really excited about this anthology and am very happy with the way my story turned out.

In other news, I will be attending Norwescon this coming weekend (April 6-8). In addition to attending panels on writing and gaming, I plan to read from Resurrection Man while there, and am involved in their annual Writer's Workshop, critiquing stories from aspiring writers. If you're in the Seattle area, this is a must-attend convention, one of the biggest in the Northwest each year.

Guild Wars New Year Festival

noreply@blogger.com (Night Watch) — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 17:54:00 +0000

Hey, just a short update today about something cool that happens this weekend. Guild Wars, the MMO I work on at ArenaNet, is having a New Year's Festival this weekend in its asian-themed campaign, Factions.

The Canthan New Year coincides with the Chinese New Year and is celebrated with a huge festival and feast. As usual, with Guild Wars festivals, there will be goodies for players to get (lots of fireworks) as well as hats to earn during the festival's finale on Sunday.

I got to write quite a bit of dialog for this event, including my first two quests. In addition, I wrote the text for our website that promotes the event, along with a set of festival-themed haiku.

It's been a lot of fun. One of the many things I think we do really well at ArenaNet is providing players with new content beyond what they got with the basic game. And this festival, I think, will blow the players away.

Lasgun Wedding Sample Chapter

noreply@blogger.com (Night Watch) — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 20:31:00 +0000

Hey, I just found out that Black Library has a sample chapter up on their site for Lasgun Wedding. Check out the Lasgun Wedding page and then click on the link to go read the sample chapter.

I'm Back

noreply@blogger.com (Night Watch) — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 17:06:00 +0000

So, after a protracted battle with the transition from old blogger to new blogger, I have finally gained access to my blog again.

Just a few updates right now, but I hope to post more regularly in the future.

First of all, I am working on a new short story for my friend Eric Reynolds. My story, "On the Off-Ramp of the Intergalactic Super-Highway" appeared in Eric's anthology Golden Age SF: Tales of a Bygone Future. This was a collection of pulpy short stories written as if the authors still lived in the golden age of SF (the 1930s through 1950s).

Eric is working on a new anthology, and this time he's getting the rights from some great artists to illustrate each story. Again, the idea is pulpy science fiction in the manner of the grand masters. Each author gets a painting and writes a story around it. I chose Resurrection Man from an up-and-coming artist named Frank Wu, whom I met a while back at some East Coast convention or another. This is a cool piece of art that immediately sparked an idea in my head.

I don't want to say anything more about it right now, but it will have zombies.

If you want to see Frank's image, take a look at his website: www.frankwu.com.

Blustery Day

noreply@blogger.com (Night Watch) — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 02:07:00 +0000

Well, it's quite the blustery day here in the Pacific Northwest. Lots of rain (more than usual, really. It's not normally THIS wet), and the winds are whipping, making a huge mess of everything.

The fun part is that this is the night of the Arena.Net holiday party, so we'll be braving the flooded roads and dodging downed trees just to go have some fun at an uber arcade called Illusionz. But that's what Seattle-ites do, deal with rain and play lots and lots of games - mostly video games.

But enough about the weather, the main point of interest for me today is a couple of pieces of anthology news.

First, the Golden Age SF: Tales of a Bygone Future anthology that I have a story in, just got reviewed by Locus Magazine (The magazine of the Fantasy and Science Fiction Field). The review was quite positive, using words like "an agreeable anthology." The reviewer had wonderful things to say about many of the pieces in the anthology. I assume he would have said nice things about my story, "On the Off-Ramp of the Inter-Galactic Super Highway," but perhaps he just ran out of room.

But I love this anthology and am really proud to be included in it. There is a foreword by Arthur C. Clarke, for goodness sake. Who wouldn't want to be in this anthology. If you are interested in finding out more about this anthology, go look at the book's website at www.bygonefutures.com.
The second piece of great news is that Eric Reynolds, the editor of the Bygone Futures anthology, has asked me to write a story for his next anthology, which will feature artwork from some of the best SF artists in the field accompanying each story. In fact, the authors are being asked to write stories based on images from these artists. It's so completely retro, and I can't wait to start writing.

I'll keep you all informed about how the story progresses, as well as keeping you all (Hi, mom) up to date with my novel career and whatever happenings I can divulge about my work at ArenaNet.

until later, stay dry.

First Post

noreply@blogger.com (Night Watch) — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 23:11:00 +0000

Look, it's my first First Post ever. Don't you just hate those people? They never say anything but "I'm first!" Well, I am most definitely not first. In fact, if I had waited any longer to start a blog, I think I would have been the last person on the planet to have one.

Anyway, I have set up this blog as a way to more easily talk about what's going on in the life of Will McDermott, writer and all around good guy (really, just ask anyone; I really am a writer).

If you don't believe me, just check out my web page at www.willmcdermott.com.

So, here's what you can expect from this blog. I will talk about myself and my projects and my work, and a little about my play (not the one I'm writing, but what I'm currently doing during my free time.

So, to get everyone up to speed, here is who and what I am at this moment in time:

Will McDermott is a fantasy and science fiction writer currently specializing in game-related shared world fiction. I have written two Magic: The Gathering novels and three Necromunda novels (Necromunda is an offshoot of Warhammer 40K). I've also written about a dozen short stories (most of them published) and some nonfiction game material (Magic and Pokemon guides and one hardcover Dungeons&Dragons game supplement).

What I'm currently working on:

My current day job is as a writer for ArenaNet, the makers of the online role-playing game Guild Wars. I write and edit dialogue for the characters in the game. We just shipped the third campaign in the series. It's called Nightfall, and I touched at least half of all the text in the game during the development cycle. It's a great gig, and I hope that having a real paycheck again (after five years of freelancing) will allow me the psace I need to write novels in my own worlds instead of always playing in other people's sandboxes.

I just finished proofing the galleys for my latest Necromunda novel (Kal Jerico:Lasgun Wedding). This is a fun story of how the intrepid bounty hunter, Kal Jerico tries to weasel his way out of a forced marriage while tracking down the assassin who killed his father. Lasgun Wedding will be on bookshelves next April.

What I'm currently playing:

I have turned into a MMORPG addict over the last two years. I play a number of characters in World of Warcraft (look for Baraqorn, Yolanda, or Trogana as those are the toons I play most often). I've also gotten into Guild Wars since starting to work for the company and really love it's combat system, lush visuals, and great storylines. I have borrowed names from my Kal Jerico books for my two main toons in Guild Wars. So look for Yolanda Catallus and Kal Jerrico in those games.

I love to chat with people online, so feel free to whisper me if you see me online.