Summary
I am an intuitive, experienced writer and designer with both technical and creative aptitude. Lately I have been spending time in the game industry, but I'm equally at home anywhere that the left and right hemispheres of the brain meet for coffee. I am a student of Jungian archetypes, comparative mythology and dramatic structure, especially as they apply to story arcs, quests and class mechanics. If you are looking for someone like that, let's talk.
Game Industry Experience
Writer/Designer/Publisher,
DBA aethereal FORGE--Seattle, WA
'92-Present
- I write, design and publish games—both electronic and tabletop—and provide an assortment of other services to clients, including: marketing copy/copywriting; technical writing; administrating websites; hand-coding HTML; graphic design and layout; quality assurance and testing; and community interaction via social networking, forums and email lists. Select clients include Adobe, BDA, Inc., En Masse Entertainment, NCsoft West, MTV/AddictingGames.com, and Khepera Publishing. Titles include:
- Brain Chef, a zombie-themed casual multiplayer web-based game, '09
- GODSEND Agenda 2nd Edition, a mythological superhero RPG, '04-Present
- HELLAS: Worlds of Sun & Stone, a Greek-themed science fiction RPG, '07-Present
- Power Grrrl, a comedic RPG that satirizes the "super-powered teen" anime genre, '04
- Rune Stryders, a fantasy-based mecha RPG, '03
- Untitled, a casual Flash-based game for Adobe, unreleased
- My most notable indie creation to date has been Ninja Burger, a fictional fast-food restaurant run entirely by (you guessed it) ninja. I created the concept in '00, and since then have written and designed games and content to support the main website, in addition to licensing the concept to others. Titles include:
- Ninja Burger: The RPG 2nd Edition, '06 and No Honor Edition, '08
- Ninja Burger Card Game, licensed to Steve Jackson Games, '06-Present
- Ninja Burger: Honorable Employee Handbook, published by Kensington/Citadel, '06
- Ninja Burger: The RPG, licensed to 9th Level Games, '01-'05
- I have researched and written game industry columns, articles, reviews and other copy for clients such as Dragon Magazine, The Escapist, Gamegrene, MMORPG.com, PowerA, R. Talsorian, RPGNow, The Silven Trumpeter and Slashdot.org. I was the Lead Editor for RPG.net from '02 to '05, as well as a columnist for that site.
Quality Engineer/Community Manager,
Kixeye--San Francisco, CA
'11
Content Specialist,
En Masse Entertainment--Seattle, WA
'11
- As part of the Customer Support organization, I was responsible for writing help documentation for the company's forthcoming support website (which will support their first game, TERA Online, as well as future efforts). I also provided web design (CSS/HTML), graphic design and JavaScript coding.
Content Writer,
NCsoft--Seattle, WA
'10
- As part of the Localization team I wrote and edited NPC dialogue, cutscene text and quest content for Aion: The Tower of Eternity and Aion: Assault on Balaurea (AKA Aion 2.0). I headed up audio production efforts for those two titles, including audio engineering, creative direction, voice casting, script wrangling and scriptwriting.
Game Designer,
Turpitude Design--Walnut Creek, CA
'08-'09
- As part of a team of five, I designed mechanics, missions, worlds and dialogue for two undisclosed, unreleased MMO titles. I also generated game design specs, dialogue and missions for Facebook and MySpace games created by a top social gaming company.
Content Designer
Perpetual Entertainment--San Francisco, CA
'07
- I designed, wrote and implemented quests for Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising, an unreleased AAA MMORPG with a historical and mythological theme. After only a few weeks on the job I was given control of the game's central story arc, detailing the player character's apotheosis and ascension to the realm of the gods through quests within an already-implemented game world. In support of this effort, I wrote voiceover and cinematic dialogue, screened and selected voice actors and attended recording sessions.
Game Industry Awards
- Brain Chef, Editor's Pick, MySpace Developer Team, March '09
- Folkloric: Baba Yaga, Winner, '06 ENnie Award for Best Electronic Book, Nominee for Best Writing
- Iconoclast, a text-based cyberpunk game, January '98 MUD of the Month
- HELLAS: Worlds of Sun & Stone, Nominee, '09 ENnie Awards for Interior Art, Production Values
- The House, a horror-themed RPG, First place, '09 Lulu.com Most Creative Mini Book Contest
Other Experience
Technical Writer,
(UltraDNS, Softbook Press, Onyx, Tello, Fox/IGN, 1Cast)--Various
'00-'01, '05-'09
- As the sole Tech Writer in each instance I wrote documentation for both Engineering and Marketing departments, including use cases, user guides, FAQs, release notes and help files. In each case I improved documentation quality by: creating and maintaining intranets, wikis, document repositories and version control systems; establishing standards; and driving company-wide adoption of said tools and standards.
Designer,
Karen Brown's Guides--San Mateo, CA
'02-'05
- I designed and laid out 17 annual travel guides, as well as associated PDF and web-based content. I reduced costs by bringing design efforts in-house, creating and updating maps, graphics and covers for each edition. I acted as the main point of contact with our overseas printer. I helped keep sales steady despite industry decline by assisting with the writing and editing of marketing copy, a redesign of a Yahoo-based storefront, and the design of effective print advertisements.
Head Copywriter,
AnotherUniverse.com--Manassas, VA
'99-'00
- As part of a team of 10--including a junior copywriter, who I directly managed--I wrote copy for, designed and laid out monthly and quarterly catalogs devoted to comic books, games and collectibles. I composed and edited monthly print ads, email and direct mail pieces, increasing sales and conversion rates over previous years, even in the wake of a comic book industry on a severe downturn.
Creative Director,
Sinclair Broadcasting--Buffalo, NY
'97-'99
- I headed a three-person Creative Services division that provided web, print and broadcast material for six FM and AM radio stations in a Top 50 market. As the sole copywriter, I wrote, edited and produced radio commercials, selected voice talent and attended recording and production sessions. I also designed and maintained station websites as part of the company's initial implementation and embrace of web content.
Assistant Editor,
The RAMA Group--Buffalo, NY
'95-'97
- As part of a team of four, I wrote and edited feature and news stories for, and assisted in the weekly layout of, 16 editions of Metro Community News and Metro Weekend. I managed several "stringers" and other freelance staff, and updated and maintained the fledgling Metro Weekend website.
Education/Associations
- Member, International Game Developers Association and IGDA Writers SIG
- Member, Sigma Tau Delta, International English Honor Society
- Bachelor of Arts in English Honors, cum laude, Canisius College, Buffalo, NY, '95
Skills
- Design: Adobe Creative Suite (Acrobat, Flash, Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop), book design and layout, class/level balance issues in RPGs, design documentation, game mechanics, hand-coded HTML/XML, level design and balance issues, NWN Aurora Toolset, Pagemaker, prepress, Quark XPress, system design
- Writing: BBEdit, character dialogue, dramatic structure, iWork Suite, MS Office Suite, quest/mission writing, radio script format, screenplay format, SEO, story-boarding, technical writing, vi, world design
- Other: Apache, Bugzilla, CircleMUD, CVS/svn, Filemaker, Javascript, Jira, MediaWiki, Perforce, PHP, Renderware Studio (interaction via custom tool), RightNow, TBAMud, TWiki, Unix, VBulletin