Midnight had come and gone and so I am sat here, not at a party, thinking about the year that has gone by. In some respects, a lot happened in a year where it felt like it had blurred together with the year before.
Game Writing
This last year saw my game writing really take off. Being invited to write on some of my favourite games, working with people I respect, and further building my portfolio has been a heck of a lot of fun. Writing for Vampire the Masquerade 5th edition was a chance to inject some of my ideas into the setting, in particular writing characters with connections to places in the world that sing to me a lot. Likewise, writing for Changeling the Lost on The Hedge has been both a challenge and thought-provoking, as I and the team have been exploring the psychoactive realm that borders onto dreams. But getting to contribute to The Enemy Within series for Warhammer Fantasy RPG was an honour as I of course got to work with the fantastic team at Cubicle 7, and contribute in a small way to Graeme Davis' directors cut vision of the series. In particular, The Horned Rat was entirely new content for the campaign, which meant there was more room to explore the plot. And leading on from this, being invited to write for Iron Kingdoms by Privateer Press, and be a KS stretch goal writer was quite mind-blowing. I am eager to continue contributing to that setting as it evolves from the world-shaking events surrounding the invasion of the Infernals.
Game writing has also allowed some self-published material to get a fresh lick of paint, as the demo scenarios for Vampire finally got a chance to be published in a more official format, and pave the way for more work from the Darker Days Radio team.
Darker Days Radio of course continues, with Mike, myself and the team putting out new episodes, streaming more games, and just trying to navigate another year of virtual conventions, and nonsense in the roleplay game community - I even got specifically called out by chief gaming cockwomble, Zak Smith. So I must be doing something right.
CYBR Magazine
CYBR has gone from strength to strength. This year saw three issues released, two new, and one is a reboot of issue 1, which meant I got a chance to write for that and so have my work technically in every issue of CYBR. The reboot issues are fun as CYBR gets to revisit previous interviews and innovations and examine how things have moved on in the last three years. CYBR of now has a growing Discord community and I am of course always striving to deliver interesting and insightful content that is strong on science and fact, while being accessible.
It was also a shock to see the interview I wrote with Mike Pondsmith getting cited in a recent BBC article about Cyberpunk as a genre in the context of the new Matrix film.
Career
Ten years ago I had just moved to Bochum in Germany to start my second post-doc position at a job that should have been a great fit, but really descended into a grind, and felt rather isolated in terms of career and socially. If we look at it now, I am moving on with my career, escaping the hollowing out of academia, and learning lots of new skills while feeling properly valued for my expertise. Fingers crossed this lasts for a long time. Plus side is that it is a fully remote job.
It was sad to leave the old job, however, as I left projects I was proud of, and people I enjoyed working with.
Looking Forward
This year I have a few goals;
Finish learning to drive and get a car.
Upskill in cloud computing and lay the groundwork for promotion to be a team leader at my new job.
Command a greater pay rate for my freelance work.
Get CYBR magazine distribution up and be more involved in the promotion of it.
Get a game out that I have designed.
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