Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been working on three new books:

1. Do You Want Kids With That?, which is a collection of stories about being a stepparent.
2. The Untitled Poker Book, which is my effort to write a Big Deal or Positively Fifth Street or Diary of a Mad Poker Player.
3. The Untitled Work Of Fiction which is still in the larval stage . . . but I get excited whenever I look at my notes.

All of these books will be published by Monolith Press, and will have audio versions just like Just A Geek: Teh Audio Book. I am flirting with releasing electronic versions, as well.
I’m working with my good friend and Dancing Barefoot editor, Andrew, on these projects, and as I go through old blog entries for material and talk with him, it reminds me how much fun I had with that book, and how wonderful the sense of community around WWdN and The Soapbox was back then. I’m thrilled that I earn a little bit of a living from writing now, and I’m continually shocked that so many people read my lame website, but in many ways, I miss the old days when I felt like whatever I wrote here didn’t matter as much. It was so so sad to read the hopeful optimism I had with Just A Geek, but so cool to relive old Star Trek conventions, moments with Anne and the kids, the Avon walk and marathon, and track the ups and downs of the last couple of years in my life.
I sent Andrew a ton of material for Do You Want Kids With That? on Monday (my first official self-imposed deadline, and I hit it! Yes!) and while he reviews it, I can get to work on the other projects when I’m not writing for Games Of Our Lives, which is up to 32 columns! Can you believe that?
I was unsure about working on several projects in parallel. I didn’t think I’d be able to maintain creative focus or momentum on several different projects, but Andrew reminded me that Isaac Asimov always worked on several different projects at once, so if he got blocked on one of them, he could just switch to a different one and keep on working. I’m no Isaac Asimov, but I’m a huge fan and admirer of his work, and if it worked for him . . . well, maybe it will work for me, too.
So as I buckle down and seriously get to work on these new projects, I’m making Yet Another Change to WWdN: I have several friends who write for Weblogs, Inc., and we’ve been talking about me contributing to their poker blog, Card Squad. I know that not everyone who reads WWdN enjoys or cares about poker, so I talked with Jason Calcanis about moving all of my poker content over there: trip reports, SNG reports, observations on the game, reviews, interviews with bloggers and professionals, etc . . . and he thought it was a swell idea.
So. Starting right now, with a few exceptions, I’m moving most of my poker blogging over to Card Squad. I’ll still post major announcements here, but just about everything else will go over there. My Boobies over there is Controversy at the Bike.
Oh! Before I go: while I was writing this, I got e-mail from Dan at PokerStars, and I’ve got the green light on a charity poker tournament to support the Red Cross! More details will come later, just as soon as I get time and date worked out. (That’s one of those major announcements which will probably get cross-posted here and at Card Squad.)

So they really blew it with Just A Geek, and I won’t work with them again . . . but O’Reilly still publishes some incredibly cool stuff, like MAKE magazine, which has a supermegaawesome blog that I read in Bloglines.
A lot of the stuff that MAKE talks about is over my head (making my own crystal radio from scratch is cool in theory, but I’ll take that time and play Destroy All Humans, thank you very much) but occasionally something comes up that I absolutely love and can’t wait to do on my own . . . like the errupting volcano cake!
MAKE is fun to read, even if you’re never going to make (har.) any of the stuff they demonstrate, because on the same day that they link to the volcano cake, they show us how to use old 5″ floppy discs as ultra-cool CD covers, and build a Lego computer.
Check it out, and if you like the blog, pick up the print version — it’s a nice companion to 2600.

I was 0-3 in SNGs until just a few minutes ago . . .

PokerStars Tournament #11907419, No Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $20.00/$2.00
9 players
Total Prize Pool: $180.00
Tournament started – 2005/08/29 – 19:09:29 (ET)
Dear Wil Wheaton,
You finished the tournament in 1st place.
A $90.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

Congratulations!
Thank you for participating.

I saw that a few WWdN readers dropped in on the game, and gave me some mojo, which included mojo of the Guinness-fueled variety. Thanks for watching, and thanks for the mojo! It was another one of those SNGs where I somehow manage to back into the money, back into heads-up, and turn my 2200 into victory. (That, by the way, is my favorite type! 😉
Some readers have asked me if I could put together a charity tournament to benefit people who have been hit by Katrina. I think it’s a great idea, and I’m working on it.
In the meantime, I’m sure the Red Cross is going to need blood and money, so anyone who can spare one or both should head out and give whatever they can . . . and beware of scam artists who claim to be running fundraisers, and promise to send the money to the Red Cross. Remember what happened post-9/11 and post-tsunami, when evil scammers took advantage of kind-hearted people. You’re much better off contributing to an established organization that you can trust.

This is so so so so so so cool! Wizards of the Coast will sponsor after-school D&D programs in public libaries.

The Afternoon Adventure with DUNGEONS & DRAGONS program will include everything librarians need to start regular gaming programs in their library with the original pen-and-paper roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons (D&D for short). Players assume the persona of fantasy characters and pursue magical adventures, confronting and solving problems using strategic thinking and teamwork. For three decades, D&D has appealed to an ever-increasing population of fans for its use of imagination and storytelling over competition. This free program will include a Dungeons & Dragons Basic Game (a $24.99 value), instructions for starting a D&D group in the library, a guide to using D&D as an introduction to library use, recommended reading lists, and other practical resources.

I sure hope the fundies don’t screw this up. D&D is a great way to encourage kids to be creative, use lateral thinking, excel in math . . . and if I had to pick between my stepkids hanging out (unsupervised) at the mall (where they learn to be good consumers) or at some kid’s house (unsupervised, where they learn how to sigh and roll their eyes more effectively), or playing D&D in the public library (where they will learn to research things and appreciate great literature), it’s a complete no-brainer.
Libraries are almost as unappreciated as librarians, and taken for granted almost as much as a great teacher, which is a real shame. WotC gets 5d12 cool points for doing this, and if this program ends up encouraging kids to read more, and spend more time in libraries, I’ll make it 10d12+100.
Come to think of it . . . maybe I’ll call the old library I went to in elementary school and see if they’ll let me come in and run a one-shot later this year. That’d be cool.
(link via boingboing)

I know there are some WWdN readers in New Orleans, Biloxi, Mobile, and other areas that are in Katrina’s path . . . FWIW, I’m thinking about all of you guys, in that I-don’t-personally-know-you-but-even-though-I’m-safely-in-Los-Angeles-I-empathize-with-you sort of way.
Stay safe.