I know I just posted about this...but the new graphic they just built was too cool not to share. I also caught wind of a new guest that might be showing up. You're not going to want to miss this convention. Do what you gotta do to make it!

http://www.whc2016.org/home.html

World Horror Con is coming back to Utah, April 28th - May 1st this year! It will be in Provo, Utah at the Provo Marriott Hotel and Convention Center. This is a great opportunity to meet some famous folks in the horror industry, to include:

• Brian Keene
• Michael R. Collings
• Joe McKinney
• Sara Pinborough
• Darren Shan
• Keith Thompson
• LInda Addison
• Michael Arnzen
• Michaelbrent Collings
• Victoria Price
• Carter Reid
• Dan Wells

There will be plenty of panels, workshops, and other fun events like a Killer Tea and a ghost tours. Several agents, publishing companies and editors will be on site to accept pitches. Join now by going to the event website and buying a membership. This is possibly one of the last times the World Horror Convention will come through Utah, so don't miss out!

http://www.whc2016.org/registration.html

I recently ran a session of the Mayhem RPG for my gaming group. It's a game I picked up at the Salt Lake Comic Con a couple years back. It's whole thing is centered around balance: light vs. dark, chaos vs. order, good vs. evil, etc... Overall, I think this is a pretty fun game and it's a unique system. For one, there is a combat clock mechanism for fighting that makes the combat interesting. The clock is used for initiative, or in other words, who gets to go when. Actions you take during combat are tagged with a speed that puts you so many spaces down the clock, and you don't get to go again until the clock comes around to your spot. So if you do quick actions, you can go sooner; however, if you choose to do slow actions, it may take longer, but the payoff might have been with the amount of damage you inflicted on your enemy.

Other things I liked, were the amount of races and/or talents/curses that come with the core book, allowing you to make crazy and unique characters. There aren't classes per se, because everything is based off of the skills you choose during character creation. The mechanic of play is pretty simple, your attribute (i.e. strength, agility, intelligence, etc) determines which die you roll, then you add any skill modifiers and try to beat a target number.

There are some drawbacks to the game. First, the layout isn't the most user friendly in my opinion. For example, not everything is presented in a logical order, and sometimes one important piece of information is buried in a paragraph of text in odd places. Also, they give conversion rules for D20 systems allowing you to convert monsters from other RPGs without "too" much trouble, but I would have liked some pre-made monsters in the book to make things easier because at the heart of this game is combat techniques which really add flavor to the battles.

Overall, I'd give this game 7/10. It's face-paced in that the combat scenarios did bog down and seemed to move quickly. Character creation wasn't very difficult either, even with the amount of combinations to be had. Just be prepared to annotate the book or make your own index.

You can get the book here: http://midnightcampaign.com/midnightcampaig_nsite/mayhemsplashpage.html  

If you use Goodreads, then you're in luck. I'm giving a way a copy of my novel, Consequence. It's super simple, just click on the button to enter the giveaway. If you win, I'll send you a signed copy of the book. Easy, peasy. 

Here we are at the start of a new year and it's looking like it's going to be a big one. Good things are on the horizon.

First and foremost, if all goes well, my wife and I will be welcoming our second daughter into the world at the end of February! We've got a name pinned down (and no I'm not sharing it). We're pretty danged excited and anxious about the new addition.

On the writing front, I'm editing the second book of the Dark Tyrant Series and will hopefully be done with it by the next couple of weeks. I'm editing the draft of my children's book about a magical teddy bear who keeps children safe from things that go bump in the night. I'll hopefully have it done by the end of the month and submitted for consideration. I'm also drafting the third book of the Dark Tyrant Series and hope to have that finished and submitted by the end of July or August. On another front, I'm involved with the second anthology put together by the Utah Chapter of the Horror Writers Association. That anthology is finished and in the processed of being put together by the publisher. If you liked Old Scratch, then definitely check this one out, it's going to kick some ass. It's called, It Came From the Great Salt Lake: A Collection of Utah Horror. 

On the hunting front, I've already put in for a Turkey tag. I'll be putting in for big game when it opens up. I think I'll mix things up and try my hand at archery for elk and maybe go back to black powder for deer. I'll continue to put in for pronghorn, bison, and bear, but I doubt I'll draw for any of those because I lack the points.

Finally, I'm hoping to get some more reading in this year. I read some kick ass books last year, but not as many as I'd like. 

​Happy New Year!