Two new rewards announced for YOU ARE THE HERO

I have Ian Livingstone CBE and Tin Man Games to thank for these two...

SPIDER - £10
Receive a copy of GAMEBOOK ADVENTURES 7: TEMPLE OF SPIDER GOD digital gamebook app written by Jonathan Green and created by Tin Man Games. The app will be available in two versions that will work on PC or Mac. Tin Man Games will also throw in GA1: An Assassin in Orlandes and GA2: The Siege of the Necromancer! (Add this reward to any other simply by adding £10 to your existing pledge level.)

ZOMBIE - £25
Receive a BLOOD OF THE ZOMBIES poster signed by Ian Livingstone himself. (Add this reward to any other simply by adding £25 to your existing pledge and selecting this reward level.)

So check your pledge level and tell all your friends!

YOU ARE THE HERO - One week to go!

YOU ARE THE HERO now has only seven days left to run, and under £3000 still remains to be found.

To mark this milestone, tomorrow morning I will be posting a special guest blog post written by British fantasy author Juliet E McKenna herself!

Also, if we reach the £15,000 level before the end of the YOU ARE THE HERO Kickstarter I will be announcing some awesome, new, and totally unique reward levels.

So keep pledging, keep spreading the word, and watch this space...

Ian Livingstone CBE

Yesterday, it was announced that Ian Livingstone, Life President of Eidos Interactive made the New Year Honours list for his services to the gaming industry and the education sector - again.

"Livingstone, whose honour coincides with his 63rd birthday, also co-created the Fighting Fantasy series of role-playing books," reports Digital Spy.

"I'm genuinely humbled to get something," he told BBC News. "My life has been all about games, and I think we learn an awful lot through play.

"Writing Fighting Fantasy books with Steve Jackson in the 1980s seemed to have got a whole generation of children reading again.

"I'm delighted that what we created not just manifested itself in interactive books but it's actually inspired people to join the computer games industry."

You're telling me!

YOU ARE THE HERO is very proud to have both Ian and Steve's backing, and we would like to pass on our congratulations to Ian on his latest honour.

Don't forget, YOU ARE THE HERO will feature a Foreword written by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone CBE!

YOU ARE THE HERO - A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks - UPDATE!

YOU ARE THE HERO is now past the two-thirds mark and with ten days left to run is heading towards fully funding on 6 January.

Progress is going well, but we still need to raise on average £500 a day to make our £15,000 target.

So if you've not backed the project yet, but you've been meaning to, click this link and pledge your support today.

If you have already pledged, thank you - but please check that you've added the correct amount of postage. And then blog about it, post on Facebook and Tweet all your friends.

With YOUR support a copy of YOU ARE THE HERO could be in your hands by this time next year!

Thank you.

YOU ARE THE HERO around the Interwebz

I've been interviewed for various websites and written guest post for other people's blogs about the YOU ARE THE HERO Kickstarter and some are now starting to appear.

First up there's my post about Indie Publishing on William King's blog (yes, the William King of Gotrek and Felix fame!).

Then there's an interview with G*M*S Magazine.

And last, but not least, there's Matt Sylvester's interview with me over on his blog.

Still to come... More guest blogs and an interview with STARBURST magazine!

The Next Big Thing: YOU ARE THE HERO

I know I've been tagged by the Next Big Thing meme before, but it's happened again - and it really couldn't have come at a better time. So, here we go.

What is the working title of your next book?

YOU ARE THE HERO – A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

My love of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks. The fact that 2012 marks 30 years since the publication of the first one, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, and 20 years since my first commission, which was also for a Fighting Fantasy gamebook – Spellbreaker. And because I wrote a piece on the subject for SFX Magazine in the year, which I soon discovered barely scratched the surface of the story waiting to be told.

What genre does your book fall under?

Non-fiction, but non-fiction about the gamebook genre, specifically fantasy adventures.

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

I guess Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone would have to play themselves, as any such movie would need to be a documentary.

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

A 'coffee table' book celebrating 30 years of Fighting Fantasy, the publishing phenomenon created by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, written by gamebook guru Jonathan Green.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Chronicle City is actually going to publish the book, as long as the Kickstarter raises the necessary funds.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

I’ve not written it yet, but I’m anticipating it will take a couple of weeks. It will be the interviews and preparing the book for publication that will take up much the time.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

None. This book is unique. So back the Kickstarter today and make the fantasy a reality!

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

Steve Jackson, Ian Livingstone and Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, of course.

What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?
YOU ARE THEHERO will tell the story of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, from the early days of Games Workshopright up to the present day, and beyond. I have already interviewed the creators of the Fighting Fantasyseries – Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone – who are both keen to have their story told. In fact, Steve Jackson once said to me, "You are the perfect person to write this book."

I have also interviewed many other people who’ve been involved with Fighting Fantasy over the years. These include authors and editors – such as Dave Morris, Robin Waterfield and Marc Gascoigne – the artists – people like Russ Nicholson, Martin McKenna, John Sibbick and Leo Hartas – and fans of the series, such as New York Times bestselling author Graham McNeill, founder of Tin Man Games Neil Rennison, and author, actor and comedian Charlie Higson.

I want YOU ARE THEHERO to be something special, a book worthy of commemorating such an extraordinary achievement and the impact Fighting Fantasy gamebooks have had on the world. As a result, the first print run of YOU ARE THE HERO will be a limited edition. The book will feature brand new, specially-commissioned cover art by Martin McKenna, as well as original artwork from the series, and a foreword written by Steve and Ian themselves.

Not only will YOU ARETHE HERO tell the amazing story of how Fighting Fantasy gamebooks changed the world, it will also cover everything from spin-off novels and puzzle books, to foreign editions, board games and video games. It will even delve into such areas as the gamebooks that never were, the myths and legends surrounding the series, and how Ian Livingstone’s newest gamebook – Blood of the Zombies– almost never happened.

Thanks to Kickstarter we have a once in a lifetime opportunity to create a book about the history of Fighting Fantasy. But now it’s up to YOU! The more YOU pledge, the more impressive this book will be –with more artwork, higher spec production values and more content. I would love this first limited edition to be a hardback, and with YOUR help it could be. But without your support YOUARE THE HERO can never happen.

If you have any interest whatsoever in the British games industry, adventure gamebooks or fantasy fiction, then this book is for you. Check out the rewards on the YOU ARE THEHERO Kickstarter page and pledge your support today!

Remember – only YOU can make this book happen, because, thanks to Kickstarter, YOU ARE THE HERO!

You can find out more (and pledge your support) by clicking this link.

New interview with Yours Truly now online

A new interview with me has gone up on Matt Sylvester's blog. In it I talk about my writing career, Fighting Fantasy gamebooks in particular, and the YOU ARE THE HERO Kickstarter project.

You can read it for yourself here.

YOU ARE THE HERO - Halfway there!

The YOU ARE THE HERO Kickstarter is now passed the halfway mark (in terms of the time it has to run), has already raised over £9,000 and is well on the way to being two thirds funded.

If you've been thinking about backing but haven't committed yet, then watch the pitch video below and then click this link to pledge.



And if you're still not convinced after watching that, then watch this!

YOU ARE THE HERO update

MJ Eccles has blogged about the YOU ARE THE HERO Kickstarter over on his blog here.

And to give you a quick update, we've now passed the £7000 mark - in less than ten day! That means there's only £8000 to be collected (over the next 21 days) and YOU ARE THE HERO will achieve funding!

Remember - keep spreading the word!

Reminder of the Spider God

Just a quick reminder to say don't forget to vote for Temple of the Spider God in the 2011 Best App Ever Awards.

Just in case you didn't know, my first ever digital gamebook has been shortlisted in the Best Dice Game category.

So now it's up to you to go and vote! You can do so very simply by following this link or clicking on the button in the right-hand side bar.

You have until the end of play on 25 January to register your vote.

Iain McCaig offers his support to the YOU ARE THE HERO Kickstarter

Iain McCaig is the legendary Fighting Fantasy artist behind the illustrations in such books as City of Thieves and Deathtrap Dungeon, as well as the cover artist for Island of the Lizard King, Forest of Doom and The Zagor Chronicles.

Well how would you like to own an original Iain McCaig illustration? One featuring YOU in a classic FF-style black and white illustration. That would be totally awesome, wouldn't it, but impossible... Wouldn't it?

Well, no, as it happens, at least if the YOU ARE THE HERO Kickstarter project reaches a high enough level of funding.

To find out more, check out the YOU ARE THE HERO Kickstarter page and Update #4. Oh, and tell all your friends.

The YOU ARE THE HERO Kickstarter is now live!

If you've just stumbled across this blog by accident and are thinking, "The YOU ARE THE HERO Kickstarter? What's that?" then let me explain...

To celebrate 30 years of monsters, magic and mayhem I want to write the definitive history of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks - YOU ARE THE HERO. But I can't do it without your help, hence the Kickstarter.

I've already interviewed a host of people involved with the FF series - including Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone - and many of the FF artists have agreed to have their art featured within the book.

So follow this link to the YOU ARE THE HERO Kickstarter page, check out the rewards on offer, and then pledge what you can to make this book a reality.

While you're at it, please 'Like' the YOU ARE THE HERO Facebook page and follow @You_Are_TheHero on Twitter.

And last of all - but possibly most important of all - tell all your friends, family, work colleagues, the bloke you met down the pub... everybody! Tell everybody about YOU ARE THE HERO and, if the Kickstarter funding goal is achieved, this time next year you'll receive a limited edition copy of the History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks in time for Christmas!

Thank you. :-)

YOU ARE THE HERO - A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks

It's only a matter of hours now until the YOU ARE THE HERO Kickstarter launches, so while you're waiting, please check out the project's Facebook page and 'Like' it, to help spread the love.

And just to wet your appetite still further, have you ever wanted to know...

• Who Ian Livingstone's favourite FF artist is?

• Which is Charlie Higson's favourite FF gamebook?

• What makes the Japanese FF books different from the published pretty much anywhere else?

• What John Sibbick admires in Iain McCaig's FF work?

• How many of the FF writers were actually Games Workshop employees at the time?

• How Steve Jackson came to write The Tasks of Tantalon?

Well have no fear - all of these questions, and more, will be answered in YOU ARE THE HERO - A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks!

Now, go and tell all your friends. ;-)

A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks

If you follow my main blog at www.JonathanGreenAuthor.com, you might have already read my blog post about Dragonmeet on Saturday. If you didn't, click this link now.

Okay, so now you're up to speed about how Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone gave me a fantastic platform to announce my forthcoming Kickstarter project about the History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks.

I'm hoping that the Kickstarter will go live later this week but there are still a few things to iron out. It looks like I'm going to be able to offer some totally awesome rewards and I've already set up a blog, tentatively titled YOU ARE THE HERO, which you can find here.

This will be the go to blog for news about my Kickstarter project, along with the Kickstarter page itself of course. So bookmark it now, and check your Twitter feed for news about the launch... any day now.