Michael Betcherman, the Toronto writer and film-maker who was co-author of the popular email fiction: Daughters of Freya, as released a new story. Suzanne is available to experience now (for US$4.99). It is a comedy that is delivered to you through emails, with links to online newspaper articles, photos etc. In other words, it is … Read moreEmail Fiction: 'Suzanne' is out now
Here are some books, presentations, papers, posts and shows that I either have read and love or don’t have yet but will very shortly: Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams’ update to their ‘…On Game Design’ book: Fundamentals of Game Design (and check out the companion site for designers & educators!); Latest edition of the Design … Read moreMixed Bag o' Goodies again
I bought the December issue of Time Magazine to read about their Person of the Year: You. I was shocked to find the articles full of sensationalist writing about the rise of the person in light of ‘Web 2.0’. It was full of lots of badly researched ideas such as ‘Web 2.0’. The term has … Read morePerson of the Year
RealTime Magazine, an arts magazine that I write for here in Oz, commissioned me to write an article introducing Second Life. Here it is: A Second Life Living Online.
The current issue of Reconstruction (vol 6, no 4), Theories/Practices of Blogging, was years in the making. Michael Benton and Lauren Elkin, the editors, have been searching for papers on blogging; seaching for bloggers to commission to write on blogging and searching for bloggers to just blog about blogging. Jeremy Douglass, Mark Marino and myself … Read moreTheories/Practices on Blogging
Yep, they are all the topics I’ll be presenting on over the next few weeks in three states across Australia. But what is even more interesting, are the co-presenters. Check out this yummy bunch of seminars: Film Australia’s “Evan Jones Masterclass: Extending Doco in the Time of Digital” Monday 20th November, 1.30-4.30pm, Film Australia’s Roxy … Read moreARGs, RPGs, Interactive Drama, Cross-Media, Serious Games, Film, Doco, Literature, Blogs and Marketing
I forgot to post about my latest SlateNight article. I review the Second Life artwork by academic and artist John Craig Freeman: Imaging Place. Here is a snippet from the article: JC Fremont, a new resident to SL, aims to discover just how art in SL can disrupt. His flesh counterpart, John Craig Freeman is … Read moreArticle on SL Art and Ulmer's theories
A few months ago David Silver asked me to review a book called Understanding Me: Lectures and Interviews, put together by Stephanie McLuhan and David Staines. My review, ‘From X-Ray Units as Space Heaters to iPods as Storage Devices‘, is now online. Colleague Tama Leaver also has a review in the same issue. There is … Read moreMy Review of McLuhan's Understanding Me
The latest issue of The Velvet Light Trap (Number 58, Fall 2006), spotlights film and TV narrative. There is a wonderful selection of papers with one by Jason Mittell: Keating, Patrick. Emotional Curves and Linear Narratives Newman, Michael Z. From Beats to Arcs: Toward a Poetics of Television Narrative Mittell, Jason. Narrative Complexity in Contemporary American … Read moreSpecial Journal Issue on TV Narrative
Just out (in June) is an edited book that looks like an excellent resource: Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames. Contributors include Ernest Adams; Chris Bateman; Richard Boon; Richard Dansky; Mary DeMarle; Matt Entin; Stephen Jacobs; Ed Kuehnel; Tim Langdell; Rhianna Pratchett; Coray Seifert; James Swallow and Andrew S. Walsh. It is described as follows: … Read moreGame Writing Skills