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Game
Quest FAQ!
What is
Game Quest about?
It's about the hostile takeover of the world's foremost computer gaming
company in the mid-90s, at a time when both the gaming industry
& the Internet was experiencing a meteroic rise &
entering mainstream culture. Thematically, Game Quest is about the
effect business & profit-motives have on art, culture, our
daily lives and happiness. It's about how computer gaming and the
Internet offers new and unusual avenues for exploring and understanding
the world and oneself to a young generation of people, something
previous generations never enjoyed, and may not understand. It's about
going your own way, doing your own thing despite what the inevitable
consequences may be.
Who is
the Author?
My name is Leopold McGinnis. I have been writing for over 15 years and
have had work published in several online and offline poetry &
prose journals. I run www.redfez.net,
an online database of writing from underground and independent writers,
and you can find free stuff to read (as well as other non writing
related fun stuff) at my website, www.leopoldmcginnis.com.
If you're interested in knowing more about me, that's a good place to
start. You can also visit the Game Quest About
the Author page here.
I was a huge fan of 3D Adventure games when I was young and wanted to
work for Sierra when I grew up. But seeing as how nobody was going to
hire me when I was that young, I turned to writing as a creative
outlet. In some ways, this book is an homage to the games and
game-creators who first inspired me.
How do
I contact the Author?
Email me at leopold@SPAMAWAYalumni.sfu.ca. Remove the spamaway from the
email, of course.
When
will the book be published?
I'm hoping to have the book published and ready for distribution in mid
to late Fall, 2005.
How
much will Game Quest cost?
I'm not sure at this point. I hope to make it as affordable as
possible. This is a labour of love, not profit, and I will probably
lose money on the venture simply because I don't have an entire book
industry behind me. However, it should be a similar price, or cheaper,
than comparable books on the market. I will be designing it myself
(I've worked as a graphic designer and have training in Illustration)
and professionally printing the book. It will be of standard or better
quality than paperbacks you find in your average bookstore. I will sign
copies for those who want them, of course.
How
much is Game Quest based on real life?
That's really hard to say. While it's certainly inspired by a few real
life events and organizations, early on, when I decided I wanted to
write about this I decided that I didn't want to be hindered by reality
in telling my story. While it's important to write what you know,
writing what you know can really hinder writing what is interesting. In
many cases here, I kept the basic shell of certain events/organizations
as a tribute to what inspired me. None of the characters, situations or
companies in this book are meant to represent real-life entities as
they have or do appear. However, partly to maintain beleivability and a
connection to real life and partly out of homage to the industry that
fascinated and inspired me to write this, I made things similar enough
to real life that they'd be recognizable by people in the know, yet
distant enough that reality wouldn't impeded on telling an interesting
story. I'm sure the industry is full of terribly nice, sane, generous
people. Books, however, full of terribly nice, sane & generous
people tend to not be so interesting. I tried to find a happy medium to
pay homage and discuss real life without it having to hold back the
story I wanted to tell. How much Game Quest is based on real life is
somewhere in between not at all and quite a bit.
How do
I know when a new chapter is available?
There should be a new chapter every friday, just bookmark the Chapter 1
page. Alternatively, you can get on my update mail list tobe
informed when the next chapter comes online
or, if you don't like reading online, my get on my publishing mail list
to
be notified when the book is published.
For online updates, you can also pick up the www.leopoldmcginnis.com
 feed.
Will
you be offering discounts to people who follow the online version?
Closer to the publication date I may offer discounts on pre-orders for
Game Quest. No guarantees, as of yet, but I'd most like only tell
friends and people following the novel here about the pre-order
discount. It's something I'm thinking about.
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