The first piece I ever had published at University didn’t have my name on it. My reviews editor, a man who resembled Paul Weller after he plummeted out of a very tall tree, ‘edited me’. As I recall the largest edit job he did was removing my byline but still, apparently, that was enough to …
As a critic you’re different things to some people; to readers you’re a canary, seeking out what they’re not sure of. To the text you’re talking about you’re either an asset or a massive problem, depending on how you find it. To people who vehemently disagree with you you’re an opponent. But most of all …
There are two ways to review any piece of media; the first is to discuss it from a consciously placed position behind the lens of your own experience. The second is to step out from that and try and look at the thing if not dispassionately then certainly from distance. It’s entirely possible to do …
My first published journalism was a CD review of a single by Ed Alleyne-Johnson. It was in the Manx Independent. I got the job by pitching them a regular music review and pitching the local independent music store the idea of a regular free feature. Since then I’ve done 150 word film reviews for a …
My first big pro sale was in 2007. The game was published in 2009. I was paid in 2012. In that time I picked up other work, mostly for smaller companies, only two of whom ever paid. I had one contract where I screwed the maths up on the game system so hard they told …
Play everything you can. Read everything you can. Go sit on rpg.net if you like message boards. Go noodle about on Google Plus if you prefer. But however you do it, talk to people. I know, sometimes that’s difficult and weird. Ask me how long it took me to stop ending every sentence in emails with …
Perpetual motion is real and it’s a thing that powers the RPG industry. That and steam. And dice. What else did you think D12s were for? Perpetual motion in this instance means keeping moving. Always be working on something, always be looking for something else. There’s a tendency for the inherent lack of self-confidence a …
I learned how to write RPG modules by writing them. It’s an awful bullshit truism I know but, like the really annoying truisms, it’s…well…true. It’s also all Vampire’s fault. I roleplayed from my early teens and most of that time was spent at the Isle of Man-based RPG club that was conveniently located about ten …
I once edited a recording for Pseudopod that had 52 errors in it. Each error was marked by the narrator pausing, clapping and then continuing. The story was 40 minutes long. Editing it took 4 hours. I once recorded an endcap standing in a bathub in a friend’s house because the …
I’m coming up on ten years at Pseudopod. In that time I’ve met and chatted to tons of listeners. They are for the most part absolutely lovely people. The show introduced me to the love of my life. I mean, as audience quality goes you don’t get higher than that. …