Apocrypha Studios is returning to Hal Con!

Apocrypha Studios is returning to Hal Con!

I am excited to announce the release of my first novel, Seven Crows.  A supernatural thriller set in the world of Eden Falls, Seven Crows is suitable for adults of all ages.  I will have copies of Seven Crows available for purchase ( $10 ) AND I will be having the release of the Seven Crows RPG at Hal Con.  You all will have the FIRST chance to purchase the Seven Crows RPG!

One crow for sorrow,

Two crows for joy,

Three crows a girl,

Four crows a boy,

Five crows for silver,

Six crows for gold,

Seven crows a story,

Never to be told.

– anonymous folk poem

Seven orphan children;

Bron: poor child of sorrow and resolve in the face of a town of bullies. Mab: capricious child of boundless mirth, and fierce protectiveness. Kendra: young girl struggling to find herself in the whirlwind of an exclusive school. Akeem: a reader of what should not be, withdrawn and scheming. Onshuuko: a student of perfection and tradition, haunted by demons. Nathaniel: a “good” boy, struggling with his own power and just trying to remain good. Unknown: perhaps the biggest mystery, will this story ever be uncovered?

Bound together by fate and a mysterious friend that only they can see, these seven have been separated ever since the incident that left their orphanage in ruins. Years later, something powerful and frightening begins to awaken within them, darkness stirs around them, and they are propelled out into the world to find each other once again. This is only the beginning...

Bound by fate,

Seven Crows awaken

to power and tragedy.

Like previous years, I will also be running RPG gaming, this year I will be running an scenario for the Seven Crows RPG.  For those of you who have been involved in previous Hal Con games of Eden Falls, Seven Crows is set in the same world, but is a sort of prelude to the Eden Falls world.

The novel, Seven Crows, is already available on Kindle and Kobo, and if you are on Goodreads you can enter into a draw for a free softcover copy of Seven Crows (the draw will be September 8th).  If you pick up a copy of Seven Crows, I thank you.  Please let me know what you think of it and drop a review on Amazon.com (reviews really help draw attention to the novel).  Thanks for your support and see everyone at Hal Con!

Kindle:

http://www.amazon.ca/Seven-Crows-ebook/dp/B00E9JSZXC/

Kobo:

http://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/books/seven-crows

Facebook Author Page:

https://www.facebook.com/jkillamwriter

Facebook Group for upcoming release of Seven Crows

Justin Killam: Gamer, Writer, Publisher, Teacher, and soon-to-be Novelist!  I am working on my first novel, to be self-published.  The following link is a Facebook Group where I will be blogging my progress, include samples for members to read and give feed-back on, and eventually post release information and events.

EXCITED!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/sevencrows/

The group is open to all, feel free to join and pass the link on to others who might enjoy the genre.  Right now I have a sneak preview of Chapter One uploaded to the group, for members to download and enjoy.  The book is in PDF, MOBI (Kindle), and EPUB (for e-readers).

Carcassonne: overrun by Zombies

2013 has been busy.  I am still plugging away at my first novel; Seven Crows.  I am on March Break at the moment and plan to post an excerpt from the chapter I am working on, near the end of the week when I -hopefully- have more written.

In the meantime I have been playing around with some alternative rules for the amazing tile game Carcassonne.  My wife and I have both become addicted to the tile game Carcassonne and have collected many of it’s many expansions.  I came across a website called MeepleSource.com and bought a set of their Zombie Meeples.  And so the Zombie Apocalypse has come to Carcassonne!

The playtests went well.  It is frightening to see a hoard of Zombies slowly moving ever closer to your Followers as you desperately try to finish whatever it is your currently building, in order to get your points before the Zombies infect and spread!

You can download the PDF HERE.

Head over to Meeple Source for some Zombie Meeples and if you do buy some, make sure to mention Apocrypha Studios.  I am going to send them the PDF as well, so they can add it to their site, and maybe they will send me some Vampire, Werewolf, and Monster Meeples so I can create a Monster Mash Carcassonne.  I am also playing around with a version of the Zombie Carcassonne where one player IS the Zombies and steals points from the other players when he eats their followers.

Seven Crows

HALCON UPDATE:
Hal Con is over, had a GREAT time.  It is incredible, as a little known indi writer and publisher, to meet people that are excited by your work.  It gives you this charge...

As always, new mechanics and setting ideas where tested and found to be awesome.  There was this moment (well, there were a lot, but it would take too long to write all of them out) when I was explaining how a failed roll in mental conflict does not force a character to take a certain action... that free will was inherent to the system... but by choosing not to follow the incredibly strong compulsion, the character would suffer stress and could, eventually if they continued to resist, suffer mental trauma.  BUT, the choice is always there.  One players eyes looked like they where gonna pop out of his head, the idea that a system could do that blew his mind.  It was awesome!

And of course, got some new ideas from the experience.  Can't wait until next HALCON.  Might have to start branching out soon to other conventions.

Seven Crows

Playing around with photoshop and cover ideas for the novel.  This will be my first novel, I am aiming to have it published by the end of the March via ePub and Lulu.