Plane tickets purchased and lodging secured for Fighting Fantasy Fest 6! But with that announcement, comes another…
This will be my LAST Fighting Fantasy Fest as a vendor!
There are two reasons for this, the first one being that, if I were to include the two books of artwork, there are currently 13 titles in the Savage Realms Gamebooks catalog. Paul Partington‘s Rift: Herald of Oblivion is also slated for release here in the next couple of months, making it 14. When I had a table at FFF4, I only had two titles available at that time, Balance of Fate: The Legorian Kings Saga and What Dreams May Come. Copies of these were easy enough to bring along with me in my luggage, although I do believe I also had some shipped to Sam Isaacson. Fast forward to FFF5, and there are now 6 books in the series, with additional titles by James A Hirons, H.L. Truslove, and David Lowrie. Joe Cheal was gracious enough to allow me to drop-ship these books to his home and has kindly agreed to allow me to do it again for this Fest. However, with the many titles currently in the works and me being based in the U.S., being a vendor in future Fighting Fantasy Fests is just no longer sustainable.
The second reason has to do with my health. The severe neuropathy in both of my feet has not only gotten worse, but the nerve damage has also steadily moved up into my lower legs just below mid-calf level. This month, my legs started unexpectedly giving out on me and causing me to nearly fall over. To remedy that, I am now walking with a cane. My wife also says that I am braking hard when driving. Add to that, I am also experiencing severe neuropathy in my hands as well, especially in my fingers. Because of this, I am now frequently dropping stuff, and it is now extremely difficult for me to draw or play the piano. All of this only serves to underscore the very real possibility that I could lose my ability to walk, drive, and my entire livelihood as well.
That being said, future Fighting Fantasy Fests are NOT completely off of the table, but if I do make an appearance, it will be as a fanboy attendee and definitely not a vendor.
In the meantime, my plan is to continue writing, producing, and publishing gamebooks and interactive fiction until I am unable to do so.
I hope to see many of you there!
Artwork by Helge C. Balzer