A History of A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks

In the build-up to the launch of my History of FF Kickstarter, I thought it might be fun to let you know a little more about how this project came to be in the first place.

2012 was always going to be a big year - and I  don't mean because of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee or the Olympics. 2012 marked the 35th year of 2000AD, 15 years of the Black Library, my 20th year as a freelance writer, and the 30th anniversary of the publication of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain.

With that in mind, I got in touch with David Bradley at SFX Magazine about the possibility of writing a piece about the anniversary. In the end Jes Bickam commissioned me to write the history for the SFX Fantasy Special.

The Legacy of Firetop Mountain was commissioned at 2,000 words. I managed to persuade Jes that 3,000 would be nearer the mark. What I actually handed in at the end of the day was over 7,000 words long, and even then I had only just scraped the surface of the history of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks.

When I set about writing the article I contacted all sorts of people who had been involved with FF in the past, but not all of them were able to get back to me before my deadline. And so suddenly I had even more interview material that I wasn't able to use. What I really needed to do was to write a book about the subject.

When I approached Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone about the idea, they were both very enthusiastic and keen to have their story told, and so, several months down the line, here we are, on the verge of the launch of the History of FF Kickstarter.

But if this book is still to happen, it's going to need your support. So tell all your friends, get the buzz going, and watch this space...

Until next time...