About the Author 3: Dicemonkey!

I had some friends from England who were always bringing new nerdly things into my life, like Doctor Who, Flanders & Swann, and those little coloring books where every page was covered with tiny interlocking diamonds. In about 1977 they introduced me to a generic version of Dungeons & Dragons, played entirely without books or dice. The "Dungeon Master" drew up a series of traps and treasures, and each player had a penciled sheet that looked something like this:

LEADER
Sword, Shield

That was all you got, and a game took maybe half an hour, with a high casualty rate.

In '79 I joined an after-school "D&D Club" and bought my own Player's Handbook. I was 12 and not a serious player. But when I got my mitts on the Dungeon Masters Guide, it was all over. The idea that I could codify my own world, and other people would then sit down and enjoy it, instantly became the most powerful addictive experience of my young life.

The amount of time that I've sunk into gaming in the intervening decades dazzles me. As the answer to a Fermi question, I'd say 10,000 hours; the actual number is probably more. Even when I'm not actively gaming, it seems to be kind of like herpes, in that it could break out again at any time. And for me it's been, always, a writerly experience: immersive, expressive, personal, obsessive, and narrative.

In my late 20s I finally got around to writing some gaming material for actual payment, starting with a big fat $50 check from PYRAMID, the Steve Jackson Games newsletter, and most recently with my module and other writing for WorldWorks Games. It's nice to be a pro, but for me, gaming is really just part of being a writer.