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Friday, January 26, 2007

Captain's Log Marches on (Vanessa's schedule)

Captain's Log is our "magazine" and comes out twice a year (Nov and May). It has been 112 pages, went to 120 last issue, and will be at least that big next issue. It's done as a giant "fill in the blank" project, with around 30 "blanks" to fill. There is fiction, convention reports, after action reports, product schedules, Q&A, Input guide, Starline, Ask Admiral Growler, Ask WHY?, awards, comedy, Federation Commander (rules, ships, scenarios, tactics), Star Fleet Battles (rules, scenarios, tactics, ships), Battle Group, Brothers of the Anarchist, Monster special rules, update of some rules section, tactics (term papers, primers, victory reports), venues (computer games, play by email, play on line, card game, prime directive, galactic conquest), and Federation & Empire (ships, scenarios, tactics, rules).

Every time we finish one, we swear we won't do the next one that way. We get to a point 30 days from publication with maybe 10% of the 120 pages finished, and it's crisis management, blood-toil-tears, screaming matches, thrown laps, all nighters, and nervous breakdowns to finish (usually a week or two late).

Not this time.

Vanessa (who watched all that happen) decided she would not allow it again. "You will give me five pages every week!" she declared (and I don't even want to discuss how she enforces that). We have, so far, about 50 pages done. Wow, I have never started the last 30 days before publication (which starts in early April) with that many pages.

Thanks, Vanessa.