State of the Wombat: Been Sick. Oy!

There's this strain of flu going around which doesn't cause a fever worth mentioning, but it makes you feel sick for a couple of weeks. And guess what I've had since just after Christmas! My apologies to those who came to Game Day for the possible infection.

Despite that, I'm getting things done.

• I'm feverishly churning out piles of little notebooks for the March Mythoard box as organized by +Jarrod Shaw. How can I say no to getting paid while advertising Wombat's Workshop to 300 gamers? I'm stamping them with skulls and calling them Tombstone Notebooks, though I'm open to other name ideas. You can stand them up to mark your fallen PCs on the battle map and scribe a remembrance inside after the encounter's done.

Tombstone Notebooks, ideal for tracking PC deaths.

Ideas Into Action

You have to have an idea of what you are going to do,
    but it should be a vague idea.
        – Pablo Picasso

Image from talkingholistic.com
via Pinterest.

Ideas will flow thick and furious if you let them. Open yourself to the possibilities and shut your internal judge up for a minute, and you can hear ideas crawling out of the woodwork. Most of them are crappy, but let them come. Write them down or they'll fade like morning dew.

Explore them. Turn them around in your mind. Scribble down doodles and chicken scratches inspired by them. Milk the possibilities out of each. Make vague plans for your most promising ideas. Get excited.

Now here's the tough part:

Do something with them.

I'm a train tumbling and making mistakes,
    But my choices are mine and that's why I have brakes.
Collisions, reversals, I keep scraping by.
    I'd rather be wrong than forget how to try.
        – The Doubleclicks, "Unstoppable Force"

I'm still fumbling my way through setting up Wombat's Workshop. Some things work, and some "great ideas" I had turned out to be total duds. But I made a thing, and now it wants to walk on its own, taking me along for the ride.

All in all, Wombat's Workshop is proceeding apace. I have an Etsy store to set up, new designs to tinker with, Tombstone Books to design and market, zines and RPGs to print and bind, and new products and partnerships explore. It's a rush, and it takes time to do correctly. I've slowed down posting in here in favor of working over there. That's not to say I don't love you, my loyal Gaming Den of Iniquity readers, but my priorities have shifted in recent weeks.

Tease: New products and parternships.
More in January. SQUEEEE!

So I'm not dead, merely distracted. These little notebooks ain't gonna make themselves, and I've got orders to fill.

In random gaming news, I received my copy of the D&D 5e Dungeon Masters Guide, and I'm starting a Classic Traveller play-by-post game. I have a few editing gigs lined up for next year, including a DCC zine and a Kickstarter project, but I'm waiting for triggers to be pulled. Stay tuned.

Gaming is happening, it's just a little squeezed for time in recent days.

And I'm learning. I'm always learning. If I ever stop learning, please bury me so at least my body will provide nutrients for the plants. If I'm ever arrogant enough to believe I know everything, please shoot me, then bury me as above.

Until next time, game on.

Thanks for reading!

The Wombat Workshop

A Magenta Graffito.

Little Notebooks for Big Adventures.
The Wombat Workshop is presently A Thing.

I've sold a couple of notebooks. I've talked it up a little at work, and I gave away a few of my prototypes. I have people at work interested in buying. I will have a table at a friend's small craft fair in a couple of weeks, in an environment with hopefully other interested buyers.

The Wombat Workshop is born. Or maybe Wombat's Workshop? What sounds better to you? Maps for sale will fall under this business name as well, I think.

If you're interested in purchasing notebooks from me directly, you can contact me on Google Plus, on Twitter, or via Email, with payment via PayPal. Let me know what color(s) you're interested in and I'll see what I can do.

The Punch List
So many things need to happen. I need to make more notebooks to sell, first and foremost. Showing up to a craft fair with only 20 notebooks ain't gonna cut it. Figuring out what colors people want will take some time in the field, but I'll take my best guess at it and we'll see how it goes.

Goings On

I've had plenty of irons in the fire lately.

Current Projects
I recently updated my Editing CV to reflect what I've been editing lately. I'm excited about putting the final touches on Drongo, consulting on the Moonquake Escape rules, and helping out with Black Powder, Black Magic in whatever capacity I can. That said, I should have the time for smaller projects. Please give a shout if you need an editor or proofreader and we'll start talking.

I really like this first map.

Aside from that, I've got a few side projects in the works. I've been mapping and binding a bit lately. Maybe it's time to mash those pursuits together.

Hopefully this weekend I can scan in some of my 3x5 maps to start playing with layout and figure out how to print/bind/laminate them effectively. I'm toying with other binding projects, just to see what's available and what I can do efficiently to bring more hand-made books to the hobby. More on those as they happen.

Intro to Binding

I've been making my own (small) notebooks lately, as I mentioned previously in My First Attempt at Binding. I've been posting several pictures on G+, and then people started requesting a video. I had some time, so I recorded and edited 2 videos yesterday.

The first one covers the tools I use in binding, all of which have Amazon links in the video description if you're interested in picking them up. About $100 will get you started with all the tools you need to get a zine assembled and out the door.

This video is 2 minutes long. What can I say? I enjoy working in a limited space.