On Monday night, my mother passed away.
I mentioned earlier this month that she caught a very nasty flu at the end of December. After twenty years of fighting metastatic breast cancer, the complications from the flu finally pushed her body too far. After a brief period where I thought things were turning around again, everything collapsed very, very fast and very, very suddenly.
You can find the obituary I wrote for her here.
Between the flu and my mother’s illness and her death, I have simply dropped the ball on these updates. I have also, behind the scenes, been fumbling and delaying my interactions with the artists trying to finish up the last of the work for the book.
I’m sure many of you will say that this is “perfectly understandable” (because I’ve had several people already say that to me). But this is a project which is radically overdue and this is the first time that I feel like I, personally, have been screwing it up instead of just trying to stay on top of a bad situation. I’m also not really clear of this situation. The memorial service was yesterday, but next week will bring its own challenges as my brother and I work out way through her estate.
This is all combined with the fact that I really thought I would have a substantive update for contributors by December 1st or, at the latest, December 31st. And those dates (which I was treating in my own head as deadlines of a sort) have, obviously fallen by the wayside even before the added shittiness of the last month happened.
So here’s the deal: Over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to be taking an honest stock of where I’m at and where this project is at. At that point I’ll be making a serious decision about whether to start refunding money or not. (My hope, obviously, is that I can get things pulled back together.)
NOTE: If you’re one of my artists reading this, please continue working. You’ll be getting paid regardless of what happens with the project.
Also: Apparently the comments on the site collapsed again during my absence. They’ll be reopened within the next 10-15 minutes.
I wish you the best. Take care of yourself.
My thoughts are with you. My mother has been ill for quite a while and so it pains me to hear this news. I wish you the best.
Keep strong Justin. Don’t give up.
My condolences.
Keep strong.
Sorry for your loss. Your mother and your family will be in my prayers.
My condolences.
BTW I recently begun a campaign using the L&L-rules (based on the PDF, I have received), where we are playing some old D&D modules (The Hollow World Trilogy to precise), and so far we are supplementing the missing elements with the basic D&D 3,0 books (monsters, spells and magic items). Considering some of the changes you have revealed for spells on your blog, I do really hope to receive the book in some not too distant future, so even though it may drag out a bit more, I do hope , that you will not pull the publication.
Regards.
I am sorry to hear about your mother.
I’m sorry for your loss, and wish you more power in the coming weeks.
Although I’m not a backer for your project, I’m very much looking forward to seeing the finished product. I’ve taken a lot of inspiration from your blog, and hold your work in very high regard. Please don’t lose heart: take a break if you need to, but don’t let this rough patch waste the work that you’ve already got under your belt.
Take care.
Finish the project. I’m sure that’s what your mom would have wanted since this has probably been a dream of yours for awhile and a mother wants nothing more than for you to follow your dreams and achieve them.
Complete it and write a dedication at the beginning to your mother. And my condolences of course.
Hello
I realize this is still a painful subject, but have you decided where you plan to go with the Legends & Labyrinths project?
I am a backer, and I would love to see it finished, but honestly if you decide it is not to be, I will respect that decision and bear no ill will, and be happy with the draft copy I have.
Thanks
Steve W
Baltimore, MD
I just posted a review of the Black Book Beta on rpg.net. It should appear in a week or so and is overall positive. I hope you decide to finish the project and produce the final book.
The review of the BBB is here:
http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/15/15875.phtml