Mini-Update October 14, 2010

[Kevin]

Mini-Update October 14, 2010

UPDATE: Dad. For those of you who might not have heard yet, my beloved father passed away Monday morning. Most of the arrangements have been made. He will be missed greatly.

UPDATE: Me. I know I “think” I’m doing better than I really am. There are moments I’m sad. Moments when I feel like I’m in a fog. Moments where I feel normal, and moments where I feel happy or comforted by fond memories and/or friends. However, I know I’m off my game. I keep forgetting and misplacing things. I feel worn out, I get frustrated easily (especially when I misplace things) and time seems to be going by too quickly (or I’m going too slow).

I haven’t spent a lot of time at work (about 3-5 hours a day compared to 12+). I’ve been busy talking with friends and family and settling my father’s affairs. A nice person with some experience in grief management told Wayne I need to take 2-4 weeks off from work. I wish I could, but that’s not possible. I am, however, taking it easy and getting home by 7-8:00 PM which is early for me. I slept like a log last night, but woke up at 5:00 AM and couldn’t fall back to sleep. Somehow I couldn’t manage to head for the office before 7:30 AM though. Like I said, moving slow. Distracted. I needed to take care of some business things in the morning and write this Murmur. Later this afternoon, I need to drop payment off at the funeral home, visit my uncle (my Dad’s older brother), and run some other errands. I want to write a nice memorial for my Dad in tomorrow’s Weekly Update, but I’m struggling finding the words I want.

With so many people pulling for me and Palladium, I know I'll be okay. One of my Dad's doctors even called me last night to see how I was doing and to express his condolences. Again, my thanks to everyone.

Now on to some gaming news and fun

The first 40 Christmas Surprise Packages are shipping out. With everything going on, I wasn’t able to select and sign all the books necessary for Grab Bags until the last couple days. A few Surprise Packages went out yesterday, the rest are shipping out today. I hope everybody enjoys them. Keep those order coming as we are now shipping 'em out as fast as they come in, and there isn't a better bargain anywhere.

UPDATE: The Rifter® #52 ships tomorrow – Friday – October 15. It’s another great issue and sports a cover from one of this past Summer’s Rifts® Art Contest runners up. I think you’ll like the cover, and there is a ton of mouth-watering and unique magic weapons and source material in this issue. Printer has confirmed tomorrow's ship date.

UPDATE: Armageddon Unlimited™. I’ve had trouble focusing on editing and rewrites this week, but hope to be back on the job soon. Actually, I’ve been doing at least a little bit here and there as I can.

Armageddon Unlimited™. This is another great book that has a wonderful blend of new source material, NPC villains and adventure. While it is designed specifically for Heroes Unlimited, it is a Minion War™ crossover book with characters, heroes, and powers suitable for use in the HU2™ setting, Nightbane®, and Ninjas & Superspies™ to Rifts®, Phase World® and the Three Galaxies and is a perfect companion to Heroes of the Megaverse®

John Zeleznik is doing the cover to AU.[b] Freelance artist and pal, Mark Evans, is facing his own struggles with a sick parent. His mother has been battling cancer for quite a while now, and has taken a turn for the worse. We send Mark and his mother our prayers and hope for the best. Unfortunately, this has prevented Mark from finishing the cover for [b]Armageddon Unlimited™. Jazzy Johnny Z has stepped in to save the day and is doing a new cover painting in short order. I approved the tight pencil drawing and color sketch yesterday. Nice.

UPDATE: Robotech®. We plan to support the Robotech® RPG line with a number of new sourcebooks next year.

Online sales have been up and down. Not sure how the week will top out, but sales have been fair to good.

Please don’t lose faith in Palladium or our release schedule. I still hope to whip out several great books by the year’s end, with Armageddon Unlimited™ and Thundercloud Galaxy™ coming out in November. I’m also working on ways to get a number of out of print titles back in stock over the next 10-12 weeks.

Keep those imaginations burning bright and game on.

Sincerely,
Kevin Siembieda

© Copyright October 14, 2010 Palladium Books Inc. All rights reserved.

Rifts®, The Rifter®, RECON®, Splicers®, Palladium Books®, Phase World®, 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, 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.