Dad is back
Sunday morning I got a call to tell me my father, Hank, now has kidney stones. The pain was so bad they almost took him to the emergency room. Poor guy.
Monday, around noon, I get a desperate call from my father’s roommate and girlfriend Arlene. Her blood platelets are dangerously low again. Worse than last time. Her gums and nose were bleeding and she is being rushed to the hospital.
That means Dad is back living with me in my apartment. I spent three hours cleaning it, getting it “Dad-proof” and then had to run out to get groceries. Dad arrived late in the afternoon and I spent the rest of the evening with him.
He is in reasonably good spirits, but very worried about his girlfriend and not feeling so well today.
I feel bad because I MUST finish Dead Reign™ Dark Places™ (which is gonna be another great zombie book), so he’ll be rather on his own most of the week. Grrrr. Being the trooper that he is, as he waited for me and the Palladium crew to sign books for the Christmas Surprise Packages, he joined in and signed a hundred or so books. What a guy.
The waiting game
No word on Arlene’s condition yet. Will try calling her in a bit. We are also waiting to get the news about the tumors removed from Tina, Kathy Simmons’ daughter. Praying they are NOT cancerous!!! I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be a long day, as you feel on edge while you wait for news like that.
In Palladium Specific News
Sales were decent over the weekend and last night, but not good enough to bring Wayne Smith back to work this week. Actually, they probably were jut good enough, except Palladium got clobbered by an unexpected bill that changed the picture for bringing Wayne back. He was disappointed but in pretty good spirits about the whole thing. He’s coming back October 12, no matter what! That made him feel better.
X-Mas Grab Bags sales are at approximately 155 copies (I lost exact count around 125). Because there are so many already (cool!), I’ve had Julius and Alex start packing and shipping them out. 12 Grab Bags went out yesterday. Another 30-40 are going out today and tomorrow. Those who requested artwork, sketches and prints are being held until those items come in. I’m waiting to get all of the above from my artists. They should arrive by the October 12-14, so you don’t have too long to wait and it will be worth it..
Man oh man, I forgot how work intensive the Christmas Surprise Packages really are. Whew. But they are worth it. I think most people are going to be blown away by what they get. Especially those who give us a lot to work with. (Hey, you don’t give us a lot of options, you are going to get less than others or stuff you don’t want or already have. It’s up to you.)
Mysteries of Magic™ continues to sell well and there is growing excitement for Dead Reign™ Dark Places™, Dimensional Outbreak™ and Heroes of the Megaverse™
The Rifter® #48 is just about ready to be printed and bound. I head out to the printer as soon as I post this Murmur to approve the proof copy.
Dead Reign™ Dark Places™ is really coming together, and Alex seems to think it covers a bunch of things about surviving the Zombie Apocalypse that has not been covered in film or literature. Somehow, I doubt that, but it it would be cool if it did. Heck, I'm happy I’m tackling some seldom covered ground, if not actual new ideas. I don’t know why, but I really love writing zombie stuff and I’m always inspired. I lost a day or two prepping for grab bags, but I plan to work on Dark Places™ pretty much non-stop till it’s done. Which I’m expecting to be this weekend.
Alex Marciniszyn has been busy scanning the pages of key out of print books that people keep asking us for. The plan is that we can do Print on Demand, special runs. They include Rifts® Canada, Old Ones™, Aliens Unlimited™, Revised, Rifts® Dark Conversions™, and a few other titles. They will become available every few weeks. Scans are from the original keyline paste-up pages and then cleaned up, so they are the best possible quality.
I imagine there are other things going on at Palladium, but those are the highlights and I have to get on the road.
Stay frosty. Stay positive. Buy Palladium and game on!
Sincerely,
Kevin Siembieda
Publisher, Writer, Game Designer & Son
Palladium Books®, Inc. – 28 years of RPG Publishing
© Copyright October 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, Dimensional Outbreak, 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.