*Jaw Drop* (and Space Westerns news)

[alanajoli]

Apparently, I missed some big news two weeks ago when I didn't read Matt Forbeck's blog. He announced that the Eberron line of novels has been canceled at Wizards of the Coast (see ETAs below for clarification). Apparently the Discoveries line and the Tracy Hickman Presents Dragonlance line have also been canceled.

I can only hope that this is because the lines don't meet with the vision of Wizards right now, because they had some really good titles come out in the Eberron line, at least. I'd been hoping to pick up several of the Discoveries titles as well. As all of the interactions I've had with their editorial department have left me impressed with the people working there, I'd hoped to eventually have the chance to write fiction for them in some way or another. As someone who was never a huge fan of the Forgotten Realms as a setting (my involvement with Living Forgotten Realms aside), I was thrilled to be able to buy fiction more up my alley from a publisher I liked and admired.

At any rate, I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

ETA: Paul Crilley was kind enough to post here and let me know that not all the series in the Eberron line have been cancelled. He, gloomforge, and Don Bassingthwaite are still working on Eberron novels. Hurrah! As I responded to his comment, I'm very glad this is the case, as it gives me greater hope that the Eberron series won't just vanish and never return. If they have some continuity, there's the chance that they'll build up the number of titles again in the future. Which, actually, gives me a chance to catch up on the titles I've purchased in the series, but not yet read.

Thanks Paul!

ETA #2: Matt Forbeck also just commented that the line is not actually ending, just some of the series. It doesn't make the situation better for those folks affected, I'm sure, but... well, I was already optimistic in my first ETA, so I'll leave it at that.

end edit

--

After posting last night, I had a great conversation with friends about interactive storytelling in home games, and talked about how much I'm looking forward to starting a game, set in Mythological Greece, for some of my old "home" group (which stretches from New Haven area to Boston, so it's hard to consider it "home" exactly). I haven't run a home game since 3rd edition came out, and that was a play-by-post. Actually, now that I think of it, I've never run a table-top *campaign* before--only ever stand alones in mixed DM campaigns. So this is going to be a whole new adventure for me, and I'm excited about going back to Delphi and Naxos and visiting Ithaca for the first time, all in their ancient glory.

In other news, I got to judge the 100+ senryu entries that came in for the Spacewesterns.com contest. They were so good! Nathan may post a handful of runners up, and I hope he does--there were a lot of really excellent poems that I hope the public will get to read. I've still go to write comments on a bunch of them--I only commented on five or so, plus my judge pick, so far--but the actual judging/ranking is complete on my end. The winners will be announced on August 6. I'll link as soon as they're up!

Comments

[matt-m-mcelroy.livejournal.com]

Yep, several folks I know lost out when their books got canceled recently. Too bad, Discoveries had a lot of potential for some great talent to get a shot.

[alanajoli.livejournal.com]

I'm bummed. :(

[dmoonfire.livejournal.com]

That's a bummer they canceled the line. That would be a horrible blow, more so if you put a lot of work into it already. I hope the authors who did get shuffled can at least revamp and repitch their books. Obviously, I'm not any of them.

I forgot about the senryu contest. That will be cool to see the winners.

[alanajoli.livejournal.com]

I really feel for all the folks who are now out of contracts. For some, there's no salvaging the work--particularly the folks in the Eberron line, as the whole point of shared-world novels is exploring the shared-world with your story. (Well, not the whole point. But yeah.) Matt said that he got paid his advance, so I hope that's the case for everyone.

I'm so excited about the contest! August 6th will be a very fun day. :)

[stargatedragon.livejournal.com]

wow... I'd heard about the Discoveries line but not the others.

guess the recession is hitting everyone.

:(

[alanajoli.livejournal.com]

Not as badly as I thought, thank goodness--I suspect it has more to do with 4e coming out and that affecting how the business is run than overall recession (particularly with the announcement that they're also shutting down the gaming social networking site to focus on the 4e digital projects), but we'll see.

[elven-wolf.livejournal.com]

Ancient Greece would be awesome. My dad still has all 2nd Ed. historical campaign sourcebooks. We've done Norse most recently.

Too bad about the book lines being cancelled, though.

[alanajoli.livejournal.com]

I'm so excited about it! One of the gamers went with me on the Greece and Turkey trip this year, and my husband went the year before, so three of us will have actually been to a number of the relevant sites. :)

[(Anonymous)]

Hi there Alana

Just thought I'd let you know that they haven't cancelled the whole Eberron line. Only a couple of series have been cut. I know Don, Keith, and myself still have our series on the schedule.

Paul C

[alanajoli.livejournal.com]

Oh good! Thanks so much for letting me know. I'll correct that in the entry.

That's actually a great comfort; I'd hate to see the line entirely disappear. This gives me greater hope that they'll increase the number of series again somewhere down the line. It also, I suppose, gives me time to catch up, since I have most of the "Inquisitives" sitting on my TBR pile. ;)

[mforbeck.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the post and the sympathy, Alana. However, I need to make a correction. While a line of Eberron novels has been canceled, the entire line of Eberron books has not, at least as far as I understand it. You should be able to look forward to reading other Eberron novels for some time to come, just not the ones in the particular subline that was ended before it really began.

[alanajoli.livejournal.com]

Just got a similar note from Paul Crilley and made a correction to the relevant bit. I'll add that you've commented as well. I'm still bummed as, you know, I really dig your stuff! And I'm sad for my other lj buddies who have been affected, especially Marsheila Rockwell, since it sounds like she was a goodly way into hers. But I'm hoping that since the line is still in existence, there's the possibility that they'll ask you all back eventually. (Whether or not you accept, of course, is a whole different matter!)