One week before D-Day in Atlanta.…and there was much rejoicing. I got an e-mail from my friends in Atlanta: “Hallelujah! 44 boxes have arrived. Stack is taller than me, if such a glorious height can actually be imagined and maybe 4′ wide by 7′ deep.” Finally. The first boxes of Playing Gods are in hand, in Atlanta, at least 250 of them. And with a week to spare, no less. Do I credit the gods above? Or the shipping / trucking company to which I paid 740 originally unanticipated dollars? No matter, a big hurdle is done.
Still, I have nagging doubts. Sure, the games are there, but are they done correctly? Is everything printed right, the colors aren’t screwed up, the cards aren’t lined with lead or something? No pornographic misprints, or sabotage by religious Chinese printers or factory workers who don’t appreciate my irreverential version of the Buddha? (Seriously, it crossed my mind.)
Until I actually have a box in hand to pore over, I won’t be really sure everything is okay. (Not to mention the upcoming Midget Jesus problem, but THAT version of the game won’t arrive until mid-September. Or at least that’s what they want me to think!). I don’t really consider myself a Type A personality, or worrier, but with so many things needing to come together, my laid-back side is taking a backseat.
I would celebrate with a beer and a pizza tonight, but I really need to get cracking on writing a press release for the game, and plus I’m giving a fundraiser talk at my local library on lake monsters tonight in a few hours. I will have to postpone a mini-celebration, Saturday I have my first official PG gaming tournament at a local comic store, Tall Tales, and I have been asked by some folks at a local Fantasy/Sci Fi convention called Bubonicon to do some game demos, which are of course this weekend as well. (Whimper.) Oh, and I realized with a stomach knot that I STILL forgot to find and buy some packaging or envelopes for the Expansion Pack of cards. I can’t just sell or hand them out at Dragon*Con without packaging, only wrapped in rubber bands— can I? (Ben turns for guidance toward the head of the table, where The Decider sits, only to find his annoyed reflection.)
The next week is also when the first ads will hit: One in the L.A. edition of the Onion, another in a local alternative weekly The Alibi, another in Game Trade Magazine, and yet another in a small gamer mag Knights of the Dinner Table. And, of course, a full page ad in the Dragon*Con 2008 program. Will the orders pour in, or will I hear crickets?
It’s very clever of you to post this msg in invisible text so only the truly divine are able to read it. Brilliant!