Jon Klement's Blog

"F" is for Fun with Fudge Fondue!

2008-01-15T19:50:00.001-08:00

There's a three day weekend coming up for Martin Luther King, jr. Monday! Yay!

One of my goals for the extra time is to finish the last round of editing on "Shadows of Destiny", the third "Rush and the Grey Fox" novel.

I'll also be meeting with artist and genius layout man Mike Cole who is preparing "The Smerd ABC Book" for print.

Gaming the Smerdiverse!

2007-12-10T03:21:00.000-08:00

It all began one day approximately 25 years ago in 1982. I was 11 years old. My elementary school had all day rehearsals (that's right, no classes for a whole day) for the Christmas program. All six grades other than kindergarten were involved in the show. The sixth graders had speaking parts (Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus, the head foreman elf, etc.) and contributed to the show's plot. The younger grades each came in for a scene and same a song. One grade was the elves, another were singing toys, another Christmas snowmen, another a team of reindeer, etc. My 5th grade class were Christmas angels.

We ran through the play again and again. During the hours between the appearance of the your grade's group on stage (assuming you weren't a sixth grader with a speaking part in the plot), your class sat still in the folding chairs that were arranged in the gym for that purpose. You could bring coloring books or reading materials to bide the time.

My best friend at the time brought a small box: a Dungeons and Dragons Basic Set. He pulled out a dungeon made on graph paper and I rolled up a character. Thinking of Gandalf from the Lord of the Rings, I asked if I could be a wizard. My fifth grade friend said "No" and made me roll up a fighter. I later learned that he didn't understand the magic system.

I was hooked. Gaming (RPGs) has been something that has followed me to some degree or another for the last 25 years. It was responsible for a lot of social networking over the years in my life (particularly during high school and college).

Now, it brings a certain thrill to me to be working on a gaming supplement of my own. Coming in 2008 (and in bits and pieces as fair game for Sneak Peek Thursdays on the website), is "Gaming the Smerdiverse" an RPG supplement using the "M and M Superlink" open gaming license agreement of the "Mutants and Masterminds" system. ("Mutants and Masterminds" is wholly owned by and is published by Green Ronin Publishing. Our product will be published with a different publisher but will be compatible through the open gaming license.)

For those of you who play RPGs (know in layman's terms as role-playing games), there will soon be published stats on pocket dragons and other characters and alien races of the Smerdiverse, including the upcoming third "Rush and the Grey Fox" novel, "Shadows of Destiny."

As always, we'd love to hear what you think. I will be playtesting the M & M product at the December 2007 meeting of GameClubHQ (http://www.gameclubhq.com). All those who play in the test game will be given playtester credits in the final product.

If you game in Missouri, click on their link and check 'em out. They're a fun and awesome group! Good times!

Until next post,

New Schedule for Website Updates!

2007-12-05T03:20:00.000-08:00

Beginning next week, RushAndTheGreyFox.com will update FOUR times a week!

Here's the breakdown:

Mondays: Author's Blog (You're reading that now.)

Tuesdays: The "Smerd" web comic

Wednesdays: A new feature called "Smerd Words".

Fridays: A new feature called "Gaming the Smerdiverse" (a response to numerous requests to provide role-playing-game statistics for the Smerdiverse)

In the meantime, enjoy Smerd #13 (updated today)!

Happy Labor Day!

2007-09-02T23:54:00.000-07:00

You gotta love a holiday that celebrates those of us who have J-O-B-S!

Check out the new Amizara page by Dan Chon at http://www.rushandthegreyfox.com

New Smerd Artist!

2007-08-18T20:51:00.000-07:00

I am thrilled to annouce that Mike Cole will be taking over the artistic direction of the Smerd webcomic. Roberto Dakudao is still on the team and is cooking up something very special for you, the pages for the space we were awarded in the February 2008 issue of Mysterious Visions Anthology for our performance in the Small Press Idol 2007 contest. Thank you again to all who voted for our favorite little purple pocket dragon.

Mike's sense of humor is legendary and I think you'll agree that he'll fit right in working on the Smerd crew. Mike will begin with episode #10. If you haven't read episodes #'s 1 - 9, visit http://www.rushandthegreyfox.com

Ready for Archon/NASFiC!

2007-08-01T10:00:00.001-07:00

I just updated the site and am making preparations to meet many of you at Archon 31/ NASFiC 9 tomorrow in Collinsville, IL. I love conventions since I'm a big ol' fanboy at heart myself.

We will be debuting three new trading cards: Alexander Hirschkov, Pixel, and Fred the Verd.

"Rush and the Grey Fox Volume 3: Shadows of Destiny" is on hiatus as I focus on some of our other projects including Smerd's printed comic debut in Mysterious Visions Anthology (February 2008 issue). This spot was earned in the Small Press Idol 2007 contest, so a hearty thank to all of you out there who voted for us!

Give a shout out and let us know what you think of the new cards!

See you at the con,

Jon Klement

A Slice of Humble Pie

2007-04-15T18:44:00.000-07:00

I write this sitting across the dining room table from my mother. She is working on a prototype of a stuffed toy Smerd to debut at Show-Me Con 2007. There will be photos of it on the website later this week.

It's very humbling to see me dreams for the Rush/Smerd Universe become manifest in reality in large part due to the talents and efforts of others.

I am no seamstress like my mother. I am no artist like Roberto Dakudao ("Smerd" comics, novel covers, et. al.) and Daniel Chon ("Swords of Amizara" comics).

My wife has an MBA and has come up with some awesome marketing ideas.

I thank God that I am surrounded with such people.

The success of Rush and Smerd is definitely a group effort.

Comics as Literature?

2006-06-28T07:07:00.000-07:00

I am now 35 years old. I have two kids, ages 8 and 3, with a third on the way. One of life's wonderful twists of fate is that when you have kids, all things become new again as you see the world afresh through the eyes of each child. Holidays, birthdays, cartoons, stuffed animals, books such as Green Eggs and Ham or Where the Wild Things Are...they're all new again.

I am now watching episodes of Cartoon Network's "Justice League" rented from Netflix in 2006 with my kids while I remember watching "Super Friends" on Saturday mornings in the 1970's and 1980's when I was their ages.

Wow!

For bedtime stories sometimes, my little girl wants to know the history of why Dr. Doom hates Reed Richards, how the Fantastic Four met the Silver Surfer (and who's Galactus, Daddy?), or the background stories of various X-men.

I'm afraid my children are going to follow in my geeky footsteps. (Sigh.)

One thing I have really come to reflect on in all of this is how much comic books and super-heroes tap into social issues and make powerful commentary on the human condition and the positive and the negative aspects of our times.

More and more people are realizing that the super-hero genre is bona fide literature and not just kid's stuff.

In a Bonus Feature on a "Twilight Zone" DVD, I learned that Rod Serling originally wanted to do powerful social commentary that the Powers That Be of his era wouldn't permit on the airwaves. His answer? Sneak the social commentary under the radar with the Twilight Zone. He figured the censors and other television media gatekeepers would just chalk the show up to a geeky sci-fi thing. He was right. They did.

I'm not saying that every single comic book in existence is of Shakespearean quality or that every episode of the "Twilight Zone" is golden.

It is gratifying to see as a high school teacher, however, that comics are doing more than just encouraging reading (as important as that is), but they're also encouraging THINKING.