From Tavern Wench to Mettlefetchers and Beyond!

cyoa, mettlefetchers, tavern wench

Alas, the Mettlefetchers Kickstarter campaign died last week with a pathetic little whimper. Collaborator Ahimsa Kerp and I really thought the project would elicit more attention and excitement, particularly with the great press it got from SF Signal and Wendy Wagner at Opera Buffo, but so it goes with crowdsourcing. We accept the judgment of the Internet masses and have shelved the project for now, but fret not—if you were excited about the prospect of an interactive, choose-your-own-adventure style spec-fiction book, rest assured I’ll be revisiting the concept again in the near future. With today’s e-reading technology, it just makes too much sense. Hell, Ahimsa and I explored the CYOA concept all the way back in 2003 with a little magazine called Tavern Wench Journal of Lore.

It all started back in the late 90’s. I was killing time during a summer internship and thought it’d be cool to launch my own fantasy e-zine. To set the tone I was shooting for—edgy, fun, and irreverent—I named the zine Tavern Wench.
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Doctor Who Posts

Aug 14, 2015

SF Review: Doctor Who: The Drosten’s Curse by A.L. Kennedy

By Escape Reality, Read Fiction!

My Review: Tomorrow, Saturday August 15, has been declared Doctor Who Comics Day by Titan Comics, who, of course, publish Doctor Who Comics. While I didn’t have a Doctor Who...

Aug 13, 2015

SF Review: The End of All Things by John Scalzi

By Escape Reality, Read Fiction!

My Review: If Doctor Who is the story of a “madman with a box” then The End of All Things is at least partially the story of a brain in...

Jul 15, 2015

Review: Space Cowboys & Indians by Lisa Medley

By Escape Reality, Read Fiction!

My Review: While Space Cowboys & Indians isn’t really like the 2011 movie Cowboys & Aliens, it also isn’t not like it. Along with a bit of Farscape or the...

Jun 08, 2015

Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor #11

By Comics Worth Reading

I know big, galaxy-risking, four-part stories are seen as more important, but it’s the one-off, quieter, more personal scenes that I really like in this series. I shouldn’t be too...

May 24, 2015

Doctor Who Summer Comic Event Crosses Over Four Doctors

By Comics Worth Reading

In keeping with the tradition of the big summer event, Titan Comics has announced that they will publish a five-part weekly crossover in August among their ongoing Doctor Who comic...

May 03, 2015

Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor #11

By Comics Worth Reading

I haven’t been talking much about the Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor series. I liked companion Alice, but she quickly got lost in adding a couple more creatures traveling with...

Apr 05, 2015

Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor #1

By Comics Worth Reading

Completing the modern run of Doctors with their fourth title, Titan Comics has launched Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor #1. This one’s a miniseries, five issues, written by Cavan Scott...

Mar 12, 2015

Review: Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances by Neil Gaiman

By Escape Reality, Read Fiction!

My Review: Fair warning, if you have an eARC of this book, it probably does not include the last story, Black Dog. I’m lucky I had a published print copy...

Feb 21, 2015

Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor #1

By Comics Worth Reading

I was curious to try the launch of the Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor comic series, because I lost interest in the show in the second half of the Eleventh...

Feb 21, 2015

Doctor Who Photo Covers Create New Companions

By Comics Worth Reading

The Doctor Who comics, like so many these days, are available with multiple covers. There’s usually a main art cover, possibly a painted variant, but there’s also been a lot...