Friday
I was pretty bummed Friday morning and afternoon. The news that my Dad had bladder cancer, after the doctors were so certain they had gotten all of the tumor was a surprising blow. At 3:00 PM, I rand some errands, went to the bank and the store, went home, had a tuna sandwich, took a nap and went back to work around 6:45. I was dragging for the first hour, but after talking to pals Carl, Alex, and Kathy, and seeing the well wishes posted online, I felt much better and got in a couple of hours of work.
Saturday
I spoke to may Dad on the telephone and was relieved to hear that he sounded in pretty good spirits and was taking the diagnosis fairly well. He is not looking forward to chemo therapy or radiation treatment (we know the drill and what comes with it), but said, “Hey, what other choice do I have. I’ll do it and hope it works out.”
We really don’t know how serious Dad’s condition is at this stage. We know the cancer has been caught early, but it an aggressive type. EVERYTHING will depend on how well Dad responds to chemo.
Hearing Dad sound so positive (he has a nasty tendency to let himself get down in the dumps and stay there for weeks on end), was a huge relief and enabled me to write up a storm on Saturday.
Sunday
Visited Kathy Simmons for a while, talked ghouls (a few more sold today!), hit some garage sales, and worked on Mysteries of Magic™. The book is almost done and is fantastic. I should be able to finish it up tomorrow and get it to printer on Wednesday. Next book is a quick edit of Jason Marker’s Robotech® UEEF Marines and then Dimensional Outbreak™ and the second Dead Reign™ Sourcebook.
I’ve made a point of getting rest so I can be sharp and positive for my Dad, and an unexpected side effect of that has been a flood of ideas for FOUR additional Mysteries of Magic™ sourcebooks (I’m very excited) and I jotted down five pages of notes for them. I also had ideas for Dead Reign™ Sourcebook Two: Dark Places™ and made notes for it, as well as for Heroes of the Megaverse® If inspiration stays high, I should be able to kick my writing into high gear, which is exactly what Palladium needs. Well, that and sales.
I found a very cool Robotech® New Generation Matchbox toy from 1985 at garage sale. It was Rand riding Scott Bernard's Cyclone and cost one thin dime! Rand is my favorite character in that part of the series and I love the Cyclones, so I took it as an omen of good fortune and a reminder that I need to get my butt working on that book soon, too.
Tomorrow
I plan to visit my Dad on Monday to try to keep his spirits high, and polish off Mysteries of Magic™. I have not looked at what online sales have been, for fear that if they are slow, it would derail my momentum on the book.
That’s it for now. Again, my thanks to those of you who have called, emailed and/or posted online. Your well wishes and positive vibes have helped make this weekend positive and better for me and my Dad. Thanks for being the greatest fans in the world.
Enjoy the rest of the Holiday.
Sincerely,
Kevin Siembieda
Publisher, Writer & Game Designer
Palladium Books®, Inc. – 28 years of RPG Publishing
© Copyright September 6, 2009 Palladium Books Inc. All rights reserved.
Rifts®, The Rifter®, RECON®, Splicers®, Palladium Books®, Phase World®, Palladium Books®, The Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, Megaverse®, Nightbane®, The Mechanoids®, The Mechanoid Invasion®, Coalition Wars® and After the Bomb® are Registered Trademarks of Palladium Books Inc. Heroes Unlimited™, Beyond the Supernatural, Dead Reign, Warpath, Shemarrian Nation, Fleets of the Three Galaxies, Mysteries of Magic, and other published book titles, names, slogans and likenesses are trademarks of Palladium Books Inc., and Kevin Siembieda.
Robotech® and Robotech® The Shadow Chronicles® are Registered Trademarks of Harmony Gold USA, Inc.