I got Mortified

As always, a great time performing at Mortified, that event where you get on stage to share journals, stories, poems and other artifacts from your childhood, teenage and young adulthood. I was at the Oberon Theater in Cambridge, Oct 12 and 13, laying bare my soul via my old Super 8 animated films and MTV-style videos from the 1980s. Thanks for Mortified producer Sara Faith Alterman for helping shape the stories.(Photos courtesy of Mary Ann Guillette). 

In The Adventure Zone

I was thrilled to be part of this event to launch The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins, the graphic novel adapted from The Adventure Zone comedy and adventure podcast (based loosely on D&D). Brothers Justin, Travis, and Griffin McElroy, and father Clint McElroy, were in Boston at the Wilbur Theater July 19th, 2018, and I was there to interview them/moderate their on stage antics. Thanks for inviting me!

 

Writing and the Literary Life in Rhode Island

Over 100 folks came out to the ”Writing and the Literary Life in Rhode Island" roundtable and meet-and-greet on Monday, September 17, that I helped organized with GrubStreet and SchoolOne. The event featured representatives from literary and writing organizations across the state including Frequency Writers, What Cheer Writers Club, Reading with Robin/Point Street Reading Series, Rhode Island Center for the Book, Association of Rhode Island Authors, Ocean State Review, and others. 

here are some photos from the event itself, and you can watch my video interview preview of the event here on GoLocal Prov LIVE below. 

Preview of the event here on GoLocal Prov LIVE below. 

I celebrated the 1980s

I was thrilled to be part of NEON RetroFest in Warwick (Providence) on Aug 24.

 The Providence Journal previewed the event here. 

We played Galaga and Star Castle, and drank Mountain Dew. I talked about "How D&D Changed the World." Peter Bebergal and I nerded out about the 1980s at our "INTELLI-VISION: THE PETER AND ETHAN PUBLIC ACCESS TV SHOW" event-- here's our intro video. Rad!

I gave a TedX talk "Why Dungeons & Dragons is Good for You (In Real Life)"

I gave a TedX talk entitled "Why Dungeons & Dragons is Good for You (In Real Life)."

I'm pretty happy with how it came out and I think the positive message about D&D is important to spread. So I'd truly love your help in getting the word out. The more views it gets, and social media likes/retweets/shares it gets, the better chance it has of being featured on the Ted site, which would help prove to the world the game's amazing impact on people's lives. Thanks for watching and helping to spread the word.

Headline: Nerd appears at TedX

Excited to appear at TEDxPiscataquaRiver in Portsmouth NH on May 6 alongside illustrious fellow speakers Steve Almond, Maxine Bédat, Zand Martin, Tina Nadeau, Jeff Sharlet, Skylar Bayer, Jennifer Dunn, Robert Eckstein, Muskan Kumari, amd Sam Rosen. My talk will be (something like) “How Dungeons & Dragons Makes You a Better Person.” 

Pilgrim for a Day

I'm going to be a Pilgrim for a Day! On Mon June 16, noon-1, join me and deputy director of Plimoth Plantation Richard Pickering, for a Google Hangout live-cast and witness my transformation into 17th-Century Pilgrim, Stephen Deane. Watch me struggle with a period dialect and ill-fitting shoes in preparation for my live role-play experience on site at Plimoth on June 21. It's all for Boston Gloibe story I'm writing.

Settle your colonial-role-playing curiosity and ask us questions in this rare opportunity to look behind the scenes at Plimoth Plantation’s role players!

More info on how to participate here http://www.plimoth.org/pilgrimforaday

Join me for this on Monday night

200 People Singing Happy 40th Birthday Dungeons & Dragons

D&D turned 40 this year. To honor that, at PAX East 2014 (in Boston), I was part of a panel called "Why D&D Is Still Awesome: A 40th Anniversary Dungeons & Dragons Tribute."

But that didn't seem enough. I tried (and failed) to make a giant 40-sided die birthday cake. Instead, I lead the 200+ person crowd in a rousing "Happy Birthday to Dungeons & Dragons" singalong.

With David Ewalt, author of Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and The People Who Play It and and Jon Peterson, author of Playing at the World: A History of Simulating Wars, People and Fantastic Adventures, from Chess to Role-Playing Games.

How Dungeons & Dragons and Fantasy Prepare You for Law & Life

How is a lawyer like a wizard? How does a courtroom resemble an epic battle? How is a casebook like the Dungeon Master's Guide?

In case you missed it, here's the archived video my Harvard University Berkman Center for Internet & Society talk with Jonathan Zittrain "How Dungeons & Dragons and Fantasy Prepare You for Law & Life."

http://www.minds.com/blog/view/291277647059619840/ethan-gilsdorf-and-jonathan-zittrain-on-how-dungeons-and-dragons-and-fantasy-prepare-you-for-law-and-life

D&D Celebration at Pax East

I am very excited to present the panel "Why D&D Is Still Awesome: A 40th Anniversary Dungeons & Dragons Tribute" at Pax East in Boston with David Ewalt and Jon Peterson on Sat April 12.

Here's the official description:

Why D&D Is Still Awesome: A 40th Anniversary Dungeons & Dragons Tribute

In 1974, D&D first appeared on the market. Now, 40 years later, we can see how this revolutionary game caused shock waves in the worlds of pop culture, gaming and play, and influenced how we spend our leisure time and socialize in profound ways. This panel features three of country’s leading experts on D&D, its history and cultural impact: David Ewalt, author of “Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and The People Who Play It”; Ethan Gilsdorf, author of “Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms”; and Jon Peterson, author of “Playing at the World: A History of Simulating Wars, People and Fantastic Adventures, from Chess to Role-Playing Games.” We’ll talk about D&D’s incredible social impact, tell a little history of the game, show slides (OK, nostalgia bait) of its major editions and other historical goodies, discuss why D&D still matters, and maybe give away some free stuff. Followed by a rousing Q&A where you the audience can geek out about how D&D changed your life—- hopefully for good, and not, you know, for Satan. Followed by a book signing with the three authors.

Hope to see you there.

How is a lawyer like a wizard? D&D goes to Harvard (and so do I

Wil Wheaton's dream: to have a T-shirt that says "My sword glows blue in the presence of rules lawyers."

How is a lawyer like a wizard? How does a courtroom resemble an epic battle? How is a casebook like the Dungeon Master's Guide?

I'm excited to be part of  the "Berkman luncheon series" to give a talk called "How Dungeons & Dragons and Fantasy Prepare You for Law and Life," February 11, 2014, 12:30pm, at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society.

For this event, I'll be appearing in conversation with Jonathan Zittrain, a Harvard wizard (Professor at the Harvard Law School, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and Professor of Computer Science at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and co-founder of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society --- whew!).

We'll discuss such issues, with the audience, as: How the skills, rulebooks and "laws" required to play D&D  --- whether understanding complex "to hit" charts or inventing the backstory of an evil Witch King -- can especially apply to law students; the push and pull of laws and rules vs. imagination in a game like D&D, a book series like Harry Potter, or any fantasy world; and the role of the dungeon master/author/world-builder in the consistent (or inconsistent) application of these rules and standards, and how this all might apply to the imaginary world of law, too.

It is free and open to all, but please an RSVP here. You can also see it webcast live here as well, where you can also get more information.

More info on Ethan-themed events here.

A Slide Lecture Adventure

Thursday Dec 5 I'll be reading / presenting/ geeking out at Tufts University, thanks to an invitation from the Tufts student Science Fiction Fantasy Society, mysteriously called "Beyond the Light." I'll be showing some slides about my adventures through geekery and fantasy and gamery worlds. There will be a trivia contest, and some give-aways, and I'll sign books afterwards. I even heard there will be grub! Yee haw. Looking forward to it. Free and open to the public, too. More info here on my events page.

A Hobbit Discussion at the Boston Book Festival

I just discovered that the audio archive from the 2012 Boston Book Festival panel I moderated --- called "The Hobbit: There and Back Again" --- is available to listen to here.

The panel featured Wayne Hammond and Christina Scull, author of The Art of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012) and Corey Olsen, aka "The Tolkien Professor" and author of Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit"

Hire me!

Ethan reads, makes world safe for geeks. Sometimes he wears these grampy pants.

I love to give talks and readings, slide presentations, moderate panels, teach creative writing and role-playing games, and inspire people to geek out.

I've appeared at conventions like Pax East, Gen Con and DragonCon; read at book festivals in Atlanta, Brooklyn and Boston; spoken at universities like MIT, Notre Dame, Bryn Mawr and LSU; and appeared at dozens of bookstores, book groups, high schools, libraries, and other venues.

I've fought (badly) with foam swords in public. I'm not afraid to wear my chainmail and tunic. I've taught 25 newbies how to play Dungeons & Dragons in one evening.

If your bookstore, library, book group, writer's festival, college/university, high school, club, game shop, convention, bar, cafe, mother, etc. would like to book me to give a talk, slide-lecture, organize a discussion, teaching a writing class, or have moderate a panel or Q&A, I am a hired gun looking for a microphone to speak into and some dice to roll.  More info here.

For booking, rates and program details, contact me here. 

For a schedule classes I'm already teaching, see this.

Here are some of the events I can happily bring to your lecture hall or dungeon. Custom topics and talks also possible.

Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks: The Lecture:
An overview of my award-winning book, with a reading, and (if you want) slide-lecture that encapsulates my journey into fantasy and gaming subcultures (D&D, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, World of Warcraft, medieval re-enactors), what explains the appeal of these fantasy worlds, and my own journey to accept my inner geek.

How Dungeons & Dragons Saved My Life:
An inspiring talk about my personal history playing D&D and other role-playing games, and how they influenced me, changed my life, and helped me become a creative, socialized, and (mostly) full-adjusted human being I am today. With images from my personal gaming collection and the history of role-playing games.

I've Always Wanted to Play D&D, But ....: A Three-Hour Fantasy Role-Playing Game Experience:
Using a quick-start method and simplified version of the rules, I've developed a 3 to 5 hour D&D-like experience that even non-nerds can understand. In one session, you and your pals can play characters, go on an adventure, solve problems and defeat evil in your unique way, help tell a memorable story -- and have a great time. Dortitos and Mountaimn Dew can be arranged.

Writing Workshops:
Teen Writing Adventure (three-hour or day-long writing classes for kids); Adult Writing Bootcamps (same thing for adults: fiction, nonfiction, poetry); How to Be a Freelance Writer (Tips, strategies and craft basics for writing articles, essays and op-ed for publication)

Personal Coaching and Manuscript Editing:
I have more than 15 years experience as a freelance writer and teacher of writing. I'm available for editing, consulting, and coaching (and butt kicking), and to help guide and provide feedback for anyone out there working in nonfiction, essay, op-ed, personal essay, memoir, poetry and fiction. I also consult on book promotion.

How D&D changed my life and the life of Brian "Clerks" O'Halloran

I had a great time at the Boston Festival of Indie Games, geeking out and waxing nostalgic with Brian "Clerks" O'Halloran about how D&D changed (and warped) our lives and saved our asses.

Our slide-lecture / unreheased stand-up comedy talk was officially called:

"Back in the Dungeon – A conversation with Brian O’Halloran and Ethan Gilsdorf on how D&D changed their lives"

Digital gaming all began with graph paper dungeons, a handful of dice and the Monster Manual. Join actor Brian O’Halloran (“Dante Hicks” in Clerks) and writer and critic Ethan Gilsdorf (author of Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks) as they geek out about the importance and impact of Dungeons & Dragons and other RPGs and tabletop games on the gaming industry, and how these old-school games changed their lives for good, not evil (mostly). There’ll also be giveaways of Ethan’s book and other goodies We’ll end with a Q&A, book signing, and autograph session immediately following the event.

Thanks Brian and thanks BostonFIG.

Writing Our Way Through The Terror

A woman carries a girl from their home as a SWAT team searching for a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings enters the building in Watertown, Mass., Friday, April 19, 2013. (Charles Krupa/AP)An author friend writes a tribute to his country on his Facebook page. A stay-at-home mom, guarding her bevy of children, becomes a citizen reporter on the scene in Watertown, tweeting about the view from her backyard of snipers staking out a position on the roof of her garden shed. An otherwise non-aspiring writer is inspired to try his hand at capturing his version of this past week’s dreamy miasma of exhausting, hand-wringing events.

As we Boston-area residents have been recovering from the Boston Marathon bombings, the lockdown, and from our media hangovers, out gushed the words, like a fresh wound. Not spoken words, which can evaporate as soon as they are voiced. But stories, written down.

Sure, we’ve all experienced the flurry of hastily dashed-off texts, sent to loved ones to check in, to say, “We are safe.” But even before the dust settled on Boylston Street, I’d noticed a burst of blog posts, Facebook posts, and other personal accounts popping up on the Internet. Those longer stories that cannot be contained in a mere tweet.

All these written words prove our need to find our place within the events. To be part of the story, to insert our own heart and mind into this larger narrative. Who doesn’t want to comment, to communicate, to reflect, to engage in some way? Or, as Neil Diamond himself belted out at Fenway Park, to use words as, “Hands, touching hands / Reaching out, touching me, touching you”?

This urge to participate and to tell one’s individual story humanizes pain and makes big, sweeping events human-scaled. The tradition is as old as Homer and the Icelandic Sagas. We cope with trauma by injecting ourselves into the wider story. The gesture says, “I, too, was there.” The gesture also says, “This is how I process grief.” Story helps transform chaos, crisis, and helplessness into something we can retell, and therefore transcend.

Read the rest of my commentary "Writing Our Way Through The Terror" for NPR affiliate WBUR

Spring Events with Ethan

On the road! Here are some events -- talks and teaching, writers conferences and writing festivals -- I'm doing this spring in the Boston area, plus the North Shore, and Philadelphia

Tues, April 16, 4:30pm
Bryn Mawr College, Phildelphia/Bryn Mawr, PA

Gilsdorf reads from the book and shows images from his adventures in a slide/lecture talk entitled: "HOBBITS HEROES GAMERS GEEKS: What Explains the Rise of Fantasy, Gaming and Role-Playing Subcultures?" on TUESDAY, APRIL 16 at 4:30 pm in THOMAS 224, Bryn Mawr College. Gilsdorf will also read an excerpt from Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks, and the event will end with a Q&A and book signing. The event is free, and sponsored by the Provost's Office and the Departments of History & English at Bryn Mawr College. More info. I'll also be visiting classes 4/15 and running a private D&D sessions 4/16.

Sat, April 27, 2:30pm
Newburyport Book Festival, Unitarian Universalist Church

"What's Wrong with the Real World? A Fantastic Conversation About Fantasy"

Fantasy is hot. So what explains the rise of this genre -- be it pure swords and sorcery epics about hobbits and quests, or some fantasy/science fictional/dystopian/steampunk hybrid? What elements go into a believable, make-believe universe? And what's so wrong with the real world, anyway? Join Ethan Gilsdorf author of the award-winning travel memoir pop culture investigation Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms, and Max Gladstone author of the magical-urban-fantasy-legal-thriller Three Parts Dead, in conversation to discuss the ascendancy of all things fantasy -- from Tolkien to Harry Potter, along with associated topics such as gaming, balrogs, the genre divide, and dice collections. Discussion, reading and Q&A. More info

May 3-5: Muse and the Marketplace Conference
Grub Street, Park Plaza Hotel, Boston

I'll be part of three events. Sign up in advance if you want to attend:

Session 2B: Charting the Non-Fiction Writing Career
2:30pm-3:45pm on Friday, May 3rd

If you want to write nonfiction -- memoir, literary nonfiction, creative nonfiction, journalism -- what is the best way to break in? How do you pitch ideas to editors and agents? What is a book proposal? What is the difference between a promising but vague topic and true story with a hook? How can you build a platform in a unique area of expertise to gain an audience and legitimacy and make yourself attractive to agents and editors? What is a scene, a character, a compelling lede, a coherent theme? In this session based on the success of Grub's Nonfiction Career Lab Program and led by one of its instructors, we'll look at nitty-gritty advice as well as general strategies to map out a career as a nonfiction writer. We'll discuss how to see beyond the one memoir or book idea and how to you turn yourself into a lean, mean, versatile, nonfiction writing machine, capable of churning out essays, op-eds, feature stories, blogs, book proposals and marketable book ideas, all skills that will serve you well in charting a nonfiction writing career.

Shop Talk Lunch Tables
12:45pm-2:00pm on Saturday, May 4th, 2013

These tables are an opportunity to network and/or socialize with invited authors, agents, editors, and presenters. Shop Talk tables are smaller, set further apart from other tables, in a separate part of the Imperial Ballroom, and reserved in advance so you’ll know exactly with whom you’ll be sitting. Participants will be asked to rotate chairs once or twice during the course of the lunch to maximize the number of personal connections to be made at the table. To reserve a spot, you must request a first and second choice of table and pay an additional $75 tax-deductible fee as you register for the conference online.

Session 6L: Non-Fiction Idea Clinic
9:45am-11:00am on Sunday, May 5th

Presenter(s): Ethan Gilsdorf (Author); Eve Bridburg (Literary Agent); Amy Gash (Editor); Joanne Wyckoff (Literary Agent); Hannah Elnan (Editor)

Important: Please read this description carefully before signing up, and bring all necessary materials to the session if you wish to share your non-fiction book idea.

In this session, the moderator (an established writer) will offer a brief preamble of the art of the non-fiction idea. Then, you will get two minutes to share your own idea for a non-fiction book for the audience, the moderator, and a panel of experts. The experts are agents and/or editors with years of experience working with non-fiction writers to turn their book proposals into reality. After you read your idea (preferably from a prepared text), the agents and editors will ask you follow-up questions and troubleshoot your idea. You will discuss issues of platform, expertise, the viability of the idea itself, and other elements of the non-fiction market. Please note that presenters will be chosen at random from names submitted in a hat at the start of the session. (Unfortunately, given the volume of submissions, we can not guarantee that your name will be called). This is a fun event that aims to be respectful of your idea and illuminate the process a writer goes through when she is developing an idea with an agent and/or editor. The point is not to get through as many writers as possible, but to thoughtfully evaluate your ideas and offer concrete suggestions from which all could benefit. Though most people will be reading ideas for full-length books, you may also read an idea for a feature story or article to assess its viability with the panel of experts. 

Sun, June 16th, 2pm
Bestseller's Cafe, Medford Square, Medford Mass.

Happy Father's Day! I'll be reading and doing a book signing with Lizzie Stark, author of Leaving Mundania: Inside the Transformative World of Live Action Role-Playing Games, and Peter Bebergal, author of Too Much To Dream: A Psychedelic American Boyhood. More info

D&D Haiku, Tolkien on Crack, and Other Mischief: Latest FF&GG newsletter

D&D Haiku, Tolkien on Crack, and Other Mischief: Summer 2011 Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks News!

Thanks for tuning into this, the next installment of my intermittent Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks newsletter.

There are plenty of news, rumors and geekery recommendations since you last heard from me.

Read the news here!

Let's Put on a Show!

Henry hams it up.I was hanging out with my nephews over the weekend.

Jack and Henry are aged 8 and 4 respectively. A couple years back, Jack took tap dancing lessons.

When he outgrew his shoes, and became a wee bit self-conscious about being only boy in the dance class, he hung up his vaudeville dreams. But now the shoes fit Henry. And before I knew it, while we were all eating dinner, the tap shoes had been produced and Jack was giving Henry a crash course in everything tap.

“You go like this,” Jack instructed, kicking his lower leg back and forth while the rest of us tried to finish our pizza. “Click and click and click.”

Meal over, the boys disappeared. To treat Uncle Ethan, they had secretly decided to put on a show.

This was DIY at its best. They went over their routine somewhere upstairs. Total rehearsal time: about 15 minutes. They selected their costumes: a dress shirt, their Dad’s tie and silly hat and sunglasses for Henry; and just a shirt for Jack. Total time allotted for costume change: probably 5 minutes.

Then Jack returned to announce that the show would commence in the living room.

“Would you please, you know, shut off your phones and other noisy things,” Jack announced to his audience of three. The kid is 8, going on stage manager.

As for the spectacle itself, there was dancing, and hamming it up, and Jack whispering instructions to Henry as he clicked and clacked his way to tap dancing glory. “Now Henry will do something he’s been working on himself,” Jack announced as third act began: Henry pretended to pour tea, then blew out a candelabra of three lit candles.

Fred Astaire and Gregory Hines they were not, but the show was unbelievable in its own way.

The Uncle shouted “Encore!”

The parents shouted, “Bedtime!”

 The impromptu performance reminded me of my summer days as a kid. I was always putting on a play, or a puppet show, or making a Super 8 claymation movie, or writing a new Dungeons & Dragons adventure, or painting a mural, or building a tree fort — or planning a D&D adventure/performance/movie in a tree fort. I would make grand pronouncements about some new creative direction I had decided to devoted my life to. Summer vacation was always a time for projects, a chance to try out new material. Even if my audience was three: my sister, brother and mother.

My nephew’s nutty, goofy, fearless example recalled those days, but also imparted a key lesson. Namely: be brave. Risk embarrassment. Put yourself out there. Try out that new material. Test it in front of real people (not just the real people in your mind.) Gussy up the barn, sew a curtain from that old bolt of gingham, reunite the jug band and put on a show!

Some writers crave limelight but sit back and wait for the light to find them. “I’ll just wait till someone calls me” is a common myth about building your literary career. It doesn’t work that way. You have to make your own calls.

Putting on your own event is also a good antidote to that grumpy feeling creative people can get. You know the one I’m talking about: that everyone else seems to be getting recognition except you. Miffed that you’re not being invited to read your poems for that new hot reading series? Bummed that the such-and-such bookstore or library or nightclub won’t host you? Find a non-conventional venue like a bar or church basement or backyard, write up a press release, make a Facebook event and invite your friends. (My pal Jane Roper hosted a great book launch for her novel about summer camp, Eden Lake. The event took place at a VFW hall and featured a sing-a-long and Sterno cookers for DIY s’mores.)

Put on your own show. It’s a great way to get experience performing your work, and to test out new material. One piece of advice: I do recommend writing and rehearsing for a bit longer than my nephews did.

[If you'd like to see my efforts in this gingham-and-jug-band arena, four performing pals and I are putting on a performance of writing, comedy and music called "Funny As a Crutch" on Monday June 13 in Cambridge, Mass. The show includes dirty limericks, educational raps, recipes for cooking raccoon, Dungeons & Dragons-inspired poetry, children's stories that shouldn't be read to children, and fiction about the miracle of motherhood as seen from the bottom of a martini. More information here. Hope to see you there.]