Dalek Epscream.

Every six months, Macmillan sends me a little check for Crafty Screenwriting and Crafty TV Writing, two books of mine they first published 20 and 24 years ago! I guess I did something right?

Now that we have all agreed on the singular "they" (we have, right? I think there was a meeting) do we say "themselves" or "themself"?

Spearhead kindly invited me to write the sequel to Stories: The Path of Destinies (which I wrote in 2015), and now you can wishlist it! store.steampowered.com/app/4185200/...

Couplet I'm happiest with this week: Alien: "As we like to say, any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from god shenanigans." Hero: "You too, huh?"

After the Romans pulled out of Britain in 410 AD, the pagan Saxons arrived and started burning down town after town, inexorably moving West. I wonder if this is how the Britons felt then?

@rdansky.bsky.social's Vaporware seems more and more relevant. (It's about a game that refuses to be canceled. Which is not the REAL monster.)

Netflix subscribers aren't watching as many hours of streaming as before. But why should they care? Streaming is not TV. If I'm signed up just to watch The Diplomat, it's a win for them. They don't need me to binge Lost. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/20/b...

I contributed a chapter on "Taking Criticism Creatively" to this dandy book, From Syllabus to Studio, which is a free download from Play Story Press. Check it out! playstorypress.org/books/from-s...

We appear to be in Zeno's traffic jam.

Had a lovely day yesterday. Directed my favorite Montreal actor in a voice session, wrote a thing that makes me laugh for people I like working for. My Kaleidoscope podcast episode dropped, and we had the first meeting of a new writing group. L'il bits of happy.

I'm moderating one of Rich's Relaxing Chats on November 12. Mine is about "our industry is on fire, so let's speculate what will rise from the ashes." Signups for all the sessions are here: gamedevmtl.com/relaxing-chats.

I had a grand time talking dirty [narrative] with Jon Ingold and Sagar Beroshi. NPCs should lie and contradict each other! You get no traction without friction

Just got the cover art for Crafty TV Writing in Chinese!

Finished a AAA game last night. Spectacular gameplay, cringe dialogue. Self-aware heroes saying exactly what they think. Mix it up! Let characters lie to each other, the player, and themselves. You can't have traction without friction.

Have you noticed how much better customer support has been since AI came in? Me neither.

Live execution of a terrorist isn't going to discourage anyone from more terrorist acts. Terrorists assume they're going to die. That's why they call themselves martyrs. What it *does* do is publicize the act of terror. Which is what terrorists want.

Researching Vikings for my interactive fiction novel, here's an archeological find: a pair of mittens for a three-year-old, connected by a long piece of yarn that would have gone through the sleeves and around a back. So Viking kids were always losing their mittens, too.

ALL HANDS MEETING: We have invested heavily in a tool that digs holes in the ground. Everyone must work hard to figure out how to integrate hole-digging into their workflow. This is non-negotiable.

Pitching some panel ideas for Worldcon next year. If you are an sf fan, what would you be interested in hearing about from some video game writers?

I do not understand why we can't restrict Amazon searches to what we're actually searching for and not something else, and I really don't understand why we can't use a minus sign to eliminate bad results.

No Conodont, spelling bee? Conodont sad

Er, I may be going overboard with dialogue choices here. But that's the attractive fantasy, isn't it? Some days feel like the main choice is 'what should I eat from the fridge first?'

Boy, Dylan Faden sure feels guilty for all those people he made explode with his mind. But come on, get over it. I mean, who hasn't?

Hello Editors and Writers: I'll be hosting a new workshop at the end of the month! Give and Take: The Art of Feedback for Editors and Writers 📅 Oct. 24, 1–5 PM Central 🎟️ $250 + $9.74 booking fee ✍️ For all experience levels + all kinds of stories Register: www.ticketsource.com/schnoodlestu...

I'm intrigued by I Play Rocky. I'm a little worried by the trailer, which is what you already knew: "Sly writes a script, but they don't want an unknown to play Rocky, they throw money at him, he turns it down even though he's broke." His full story is *way* more impressive than just that.

Hey, Amazon, if I search for AA batteries, maybe don't sneak AAA batteries into the search results? That's not helpful.

Lisa is doing an experiment, and so far, it seems to be easier to catch flies with vinegar.

At this rate, Zohran's going to get an airport named after him, if we're still making airports 70 years from now. (Maglev port? Spaceport? Teleport port?)

Oh for heaven's-- "aslan" is just Turkish for "lion."

Sticks and stones can break your bones, but words can tear down kingdoms.

Best video game podcasts in Québecois?

Had a lovely time talking to a friend for his future podcast. To sum it all up: tell your truth. If you tell your truth, you never have to worry about being original, because no one else is you.

Knives are already out for Vance in the 2028 GOP nomination, which means R's think there will be an election in 2028. So that's hopeful. That wasn't a gimme a year ago.

Who else is going to the ACTRA/WGC/AFBS party in Old Montreal on the 6th? (If there's free food, I go. That's the first thing they tell you in screenwriter's school.)

The left's failings come from too much empathy. The right's, from not enough empathy. Which might explain why so many on the right regularly project their own motives onto other people. They can't imagine people thinking differently than themselves.

I'm looking through visual novels. So many of them don't seem to start with explicit conflict...

I really want to watch the new Resident Evil movie, but I have concerns it may be scary.

Lisa and I had big fun presenting at Le Reliquaire. The crowd had great and provocative questions. Who's up next?

Look, uh, I think we need to open up our relationship, maybe, uh, see other countries... At least for a little while. Y'know? And, uh, if it turns out it wasn't meant to be, um ... doesn't mean we can't still be friends. Right? Please don't make this harder than it is.- Canada

Just realized that "Shout" is a straight up gospel song...