Clouds and silver linings

A couple of bits of gamebook news today. First, Fabled Lands LLP has secured a publisher (one of the Big Five, no less) for the ebook versions of the four Critical IF books and my Frankenstein interactive novel. Hang on, though. Before you get too excited: that's the good part, but there's a cloud hanging over the deal. The holdup is in actually taking delivery of finished versions of the ebook files. I'm told by Tim Gummer, who runs the business side of Fabled Lands LLP, that he has so far been unable to get definitive copies of the completed files. We were hoping to have them out in time for Christmas, but now, who knows?

Is this vexing? Considering that we have a shot at worldwide distribution with a major publisher, yes it is. But you can still get the books from Amazon (paperback and Kindle editions) so if the epub3 versions never see the light of day it'll be a pain, but not a total disaster.

The other news is all silver lining - well, a step up from silver, in fact. Tin Man Games, the undisputed kings of gamebook apps, will be releasing my six Golden Dragon gamebooks next year in the form of two compendium apps, each comprising three books. Read all about it on Tin Man's site, and while you're at it, be sure to check out their advent calendar, which trails a lot of gamebook goodies for 2014. The one that most interests me so far is Marie-Paule Graham's The Second Garden, a magical realist journey through seasons and stages of grief. No zombies or luck rolls in there, I suspect.

As it's Tin Man, who have a spotless track record for both reliability and innovation, you can be absolutely sure of seeing the Golden Dragon apps for both iOS and Android in 2014. And if the Critical IF ebook publishing deal does fall through, we'll probably be offering those books to Tin Man to turn into apps instead. What I'm really hoping for, though, is a Warhammer Quest style version of the Blood Sword series. If you agree, better start pestering Tin Man about it right now.