Fan Creations and Dungeons & Dragons Writings

Hi everyone:

This has been an amazing month so far! My Star Wars novel is done, I've joined an exciting project in the role playing game space, and I had some fabulous fan art sent my way. So let's get started...

To begin with, I've received word that Star Wars: Pirate's Price is off to the printers. Last week, I got to see the final page layouts, which included the five (5!) amazing, color illustrations from artist Annie Wu. And boy does it look good.

The book will be out January 8th, but it's part of the "Flight of the Falcon" event and you can already get the kickoff, Star Wars: Lando's Luck by Justina Ireland, right now. I'm very excited about it, and, obviously, being a part of the Star Wars galaxy is just fantastic.

Next, I've just done my first writing in the role playing game space. If you follow me on social media, you know that I love Dungeons & Dragons. I've been running a game for my kids, nephews, and friends, and posting pictures from our sessions to Facebook and Twitter. For those who don't know what Dungeons & Dragons is, role playing games are like stories that you create together. One person sets the stage and then the others all role play characters in that story. It's like improving a book when all you know is the first chapter. Unlike video games, which however "open" they feel still follow a set of predetermined courses to their end, role playing games are as expansive as the imagination of the folks around the table. Dungeons & Dragons is the oldest and most famous of these games, but there are lots of others. We play D&D mostly these days, and we like to use the adventures and world setting from a company called Kobold Press, who makes adventures that can be used with the D&D rules. 

Well, Kobold Press is currently running a Kickstarter for a campaign setting and adventure collection called Tales of the Old Margreve. The Margreve is their world's giant, ancient forest. It's the uber-Black Woods (think Tolkien's Mirkwood), a vast and brooding forest with a will of its own that is home to all manner of fantastic creatures. The Kickstarter is already 403% funded and smashing through stretch goals. But one of the rewards of the Kickstarter is for a separate "Player's Guide," a booklet that will have new rules for players who want to send their characters into the Margreve. (For those who know what I'm talking about, it will have new races, subclasses, spells, magic items, backgrounds, etc...). And here's the exciting bit (at least for me)...

I've got a short story in the Player's Guide! "How to Reign Your Griffon" is a 3,000 word story telling players of the game how to acquire and train griffons to be ridden as mounts. I love Kobold Press, and I'm thrilled to be officially part of their world.

And finally, I got to see some wonderful fan creations inspired by my Thrones & Bones series. Some brothers in Colorado made all three of the boardgames I created for Frostborn, Nightborn, and Skyboard out of Lego. Check out these pictures of Thrones & Bones, Charioteers, and Queen's Champion (the first fan-created version of that one I've seen). And remember, you can see more fan-made versions of my boardgames as well as fan art on this page of my website. I always love seeing and sharing the ways my art inspires others to build and create! It's one of the best things about being an author.

Thrones & Bones

Charioteers

Queen's Champion

That's all for now. I've got some school visits in the near future with others being lined up. I hope everyone has a great October and a Happy Halloween.

Sincerely,

Lou Anders 

Check out the Thrones & Bones series trailer!

Achievement Unlocked! With Skyborn, the Thrones & Bones trilogy is complete! 

Board the Millennium Falcon for exciting tales about Han and Chewie’s adventures with the infamous pirate Hondo Ohnaka – including their first meeting!
Coming in January! 

"The pace is swift and there’s action on every front." Booklist

Nominated for
a Beehive Book Award,
a Golden Sower Award,
a Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award,
a Young Hoosier Book Award.

“Anders presents a captivating world.” —Kirkus Reviews