Newsletter - May 2024

What's Dan Writing?Today I am just finishing the post-formatting revisions for a cool secret project for Dragonsteel Nexus (the new name for the annual Dragonsteel convention). We still have some final proofing to do, but it is mostly out of my hands and with my amazing editor, Kristy Gilbert. Once that's done, I am back to my standard answer of "I'm working on the Dark One novel." That's what I say on every month, I know, but writing novels takes a long time.

What's Dan Reading?Honestly? These days I am mostly reading wargame rules and rpg manuals. Depression has been kicking my butt, and picking up a book to read is a daunting challenge. I worry that anything I read I will hate, so I don't want to read anything I care about until I'm capable of liking things again. That said, since my last newsletter I did read and love an advance copy of The Dollmakers by Lynn Buchanan. I'll be sure to remind you as soon as it's published so you can all read it too.

What Does Dan Recommend?It had a famously terrible launch when it came out a few years ago, but Cyberpunk 2077 has been lovingly patched and improved and expanded and today it is arguably the best video game I have every played. The world is unbelievably immersive, the characters are layered and compelling, the story is fascinating and deeply cyberpunk, and the combat is varied and fun and endlessly replayable. I'm on my fifth play-through, all with completely different builds. It takes a pretty hefty computer to run it, but if you have the opportunity I can't recommend this game enough.