Beating the Blues, Dyval, New Auction & Stuff

[Kevin]

Beating the blues, work and stuff

First, I want to thank all the people who sent me private messages and e-mails of condolences and kind words to boost my spirits. It’s Friday and I’m feeling much better. A little sad, but overall pretty positive and I’m getting a good amount of work done. It is wonderful to have so many friends out there. Thanks everyone.

Second, I want to say that though I’ve gotten blue about the many friends, family and acquaintences who have passed away in recent times (I didn’t even mention my Aunt Lottie, Kathy’s sister, Cindy, and Rita’s mother, who all died last year, Alex’s father a couple years ago, and the list goes on) – I have a great deal to be happy and positive about.

- My Dad, Henry, will be 78 years old this December, and other than a few aches and pains, he’s doing great. I miss him being around at Palladium (he retired in March), but I can pick up the phone and call him anytime and he’s only 30 miles away.

- Brother, Brian, is doing well and I've had a few nice telephone conversations with him in the past few weeks (he lives in Arizona).

- My daughter, Monica, is happy, owns a rapidly expanding business and is getting married to a great guy next year. I'm so proud of her.

- My son, Adam, hmm, haven’t heard from him lately, but last I heard he’s doing well and he's overcome adversity that makes me proud of him.

– I have an army of amazing and wonderful friends: Erick, Kay, Alex, Kathy, Wayne, Connie, Ann, Louie, Julius, Wendy, Jason, Teresa, Joe, Thom, Carl, Nick, Doug, Rob, Mark, John, Jeff, Josh, Tony, Glen, Derek, Larry, Peter, Barry . . . heck the list is waaaay to long to even think about naming half of them. Thanks everyone!

- On top of that, I have the GREATEST fans on Earth. I think that's pretty much most of you, and I hope to see a good number of you at Gen Con Indy (August) and GallowsCon (October) and the Palladium Open House (May 2009).

- Sales are slow at the moment (no new product, tax time, end of school, poor economy, high food and gas prices, etc., haven’t helped), but overall Palladium is doing well. I think we are through the worst of times and things can only pick up from here. We have a ton of great product in the pipeline and I’m excited about our talent pool, new talent coming in (you’ll start to see them soon), and we’re dabbling with some things that could make Palladium’s future brighter than ever.

- Heck, there are a zillion things I’m happy about. I’m a very lucky and rich man in friends, talent and opportunity.

Of course, loss is hard to deal with, especially when you care so deeply, but I’ll deal with it, grow to be a better, wiser person, and move on. I already have a number of ideas in mind as tributes to Erick Wujcik. I’m getting back into doing artwork (at least a bit, mostly for myself and friends) which is a blast, and I have plenty of ideas for all sorts of products and new ventures. As far as I know, I’m in good health (need to lose 20 pounds, but, hey), I’ve managed to keep Palladium going under crushing circumstance (with your help) and I have nothing to complain about. Not really.

Dyval put aside for awhile

I announced in my past Murmur and in our current, May 16, Press Release that we have to put Dyval and Dimensional Outbreak aside, because work on it has been going painstakingly slow. They are both incredible books, but they are taking too long. By putting them to the side briefly, I can get the Rifts® book of short stories, The Rifter #43, and three Robotech books finished. Then turn my attention back to the Minion War series.

I’m sure a host of fans will be disappointed. Sorry folks, but it had to be done. The hardest call was to author, Carl Gleba, to explain why the books have been delayed. He understood, was very gracious, and is okay with the delay. (Thanks, Carl, it was fun talking with you and a big relief to know you’re with me on this. I look forward to working with you on the secret project).

The latest Palladium Collectibles Auction
starts tomorrow, May 17, 2008

There are some cool, rare and weird odds and ends. Weird but cool includes the Castle Amber pencil and the Dynamix CD album cover that plagiarizes Kevin Long’s original Rifts Sourcebook One cover (we settled out of court more than a decade ago, these are some of the samples). Then there’s the Palladium Muscle T-shirt, the Roger Zelazny autographed poster, number 50 of the RiftsworkZ portfolio, and a bunch ‘o other stuff. Check it out when you get a chance. The next auction, May 30, will have even cooler stuff.

Sheesh, its 11:30 Friday night and I’m going home (I'll be back to work tomorrow). Keep those imaginations burning bright.

Sincerely,
Kevin Siembieda
Publisher, Writer, Artist and Master Juggler

© Copyright May 16, 2008 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, 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.