Here is another preview of the April A to Z series that I am doing this year. Here, Jonathon Green talks about the Trolltooth Wars graphic novel, which is only about £2000 £700! away from being funded, so if you want to see this Fighting Fantasy novel brough to life as a graphic novel, have a look at the Kickstarter page.
YOU
ARE THE HERO is an awesome book. Has the fact that people are still
willing to throw money at you for Fighting Fantasy related material
given you any ideas for other projects?
Yes
- or at least given me the motivation to pursue various gamebook ideas
I've had bubbling away on the back-burner for a while. I would also love
to write a new FF book, should the opportunity arise.
Fighting
Fantasy fans have had some ways to rekindle their enthusiasm for the
books in the past few years - Blood of the Zombies, classic books
getting the Tin Man Games treatment, YOU ARE THE HERO, Fighting Fantasy
Fest. Ian and Steve have hinted/teased a 40th anniversary Fighting
Fantasy book. Are there any other treats coming up?
Potentially
there's the Steve Jackson's The Trolltooth Wars graphic novel, but only
if it gains the funding it needs on Kickstarter. So, if you've not
pledged, pledge now!
There's
still a screenplay for Deathtrap Dungeon waiting to be turned into a
film, of course, and the FF models that Evil Dead Miniatures are
currently working on. I believe the plan is to use them as part of a
game, but we'll just have to wait and see.
What about non-Fighting Fantasy stuff. What have you got up your sleeve there?
Out
in May from Snowbooks is SHARKPUNK, an anthology of killer shark
stories that I've edited. Find out more at Sharkpunk.com and follow us
on Twitter @sharkpunked.
I've
also got another Doctor Who book coming out later in the year and I've
done my first piece of work for LEGO. (I'm now trying to persuade the
editor that there could be a market for LEGO adventure gamebooks!)
What was the best thing about organising Fighting Fantasy Fest?
Giving
FF fans the convention they've always wanted, giving YOU ARE THE HERO
the launch it deserved, meeting childhood heroes, enabling other,
like-minded individuals to also meet their childhood heroes, helping to
bring about the first proper Zagor miniature... The list goes on and on!
(I'm sure no one's mentioned this before) Will there be another Fighting Fantasy Fest?
Maybe.
Hopefully. If there's the interest, and we can find the right venue at
the right price. I can't really say anymore than that at the moment.
How can the fans keep Fighting Fantasy alive?
By
supporting FF in all its forms - apps, Kickstarted-projects, buying the
books, playing Arion Games AFF RPG. And keep talking about it, making
people - especially lapsed fans - aware of it. So often I run into
people at conventions who loved the books when they were children but
had no idea they were still in print or that new material was still
being produced.
Oh, and for buying YOU ARE THE HERO for all your friends and family. ;-)
As someone who has a not inconsiderable fanbase, what is the best thing about having fans?
Being
able to get feedback on what's working and what isn't, and being able
to spread the word about events like FFF, as well as being able to
target a niche group directly when it comes to launching new projects,
like YOU ARE THE HERO.
Finally, what, if anything, can the fans do to get more Fighting Fantasy books written (besides writing their own)?
Ask
for them in bookshops, in WHSmith, in Waterstones, support new
publishing ventures (by spreading the word as well as buying the books),
buy the apps... Really it's the same answer as I gave to 'How can the
fans keep Fighting Fantasy alive?'
As
someone who has written for other gamebook series besides Fighting
Fantasy, is there another series you would like to see revived?
To
be honest, no. Partly because the ones that deserve being revived
already have been, and because I have ideas for new series of my own
that I'd like to get off the ground. With that in mind, keep an eye out
for news of Steampunks vs Zombies and Beowulf Beastslayer over the
coming months.