About Me

AI-Assisted SEO - Sample Blog Entry

This is an example article I did for a contract job for Boost Web Results for whom I spent summer 2024 crafting blog posts for their clients.
It's an AI-generated article whose content I prompted into ChatGPT from SEO keywords using a combination of tools like SEMRush and Ahrefs.
I rewrote the generated text using it as an outline then edited it into a usable blog post.
I sourced the graphics from one of several subscription sources for free-to-use images, then tweaked it with photoshop and converted it to .webp format with an online tool.
NOTE: With the proper training and prompts I developed it is possible to completely automate this process but I didn't want to remove the human element.

This is the text PDF

This is the client's live link.

Brief Convention Report

I am deeply immersed in the Comics Industry which allows me access to report on important issues in the field.
This short piece regards tension between "fan" artists and rights holders in the industry whose work these vendors copy and sell.
Fans who buy the pieces argue that the prints of their favorite characters are for personal use.
Publishers and creators disagree

Read it here.

Michael Moorcock Interview

This is an interview I did with Science Fiction author Michael Moorcock for the Tripwire Annual published by Tripwire Magazine one year.

Being co-editor at the time had its perks!

Read more

Crappy Bird

This is part of an ongoing project meant to be included in a larger suite of games.
It's a simple mini-game based on the Flappy Bird game but is using crypto-related memes.
The next item on the list is to add a high score database in the next week or two.
It was written in vanilla Javascript using the canvas.

Play here

Rocker Kid Plays Hooky

This is part of a pitch for an NFT project that would also be a suite of games. This is just a demo for one of them.
It's a simple shooter mini-game where you play a the proverbial Rocker Kid (your character would theoretically be made up of your item NFTs as graphics though).
As with Crappy Bird, the next item on the list was to add a high score database. Although I'd like to make the music louder, add better sound effects, and make a better background graphic than the one I borrowed.
This game was developed entirely in Unity and with Photoshop. Play here

Space Mermaids by Ragzy

I made this Web3 NFT-based game done under contract for a famous Lego artist who goes by the handle Ragzy.

The game was designed in collaboration with some of Ragzy's initial ideas then fleshed out by me.
I programmed the whole thing myself in Unity but had a little help doing the javascript Web3 elements and the high score database connection (none of which was easy in Unity at the time!).
The player figure in the game, the space mermaid, is composed of parts that match the various random individual traits that were generated as part of a customer's initial NFT purchase.
The graphics were outsourced to a contract artist, although I did have to do a lot of adjustment and manipulation of the individual items.

One super-unique thing about this project is that it was done for Ripple (XRP) which is unusual since most NFT games are eth- or solana-based.

Check it out here!

Grantbot

This is a projecvt to generate crazy comic book plots like some of the Vertigo comics stories from the 90s, especially Doom Patrol by Grant Morrison (hence the name).

Just keep pushing the button until you get a plot setup you like.

Next up for this project is using a free LLM from Hugging Face to massage the plots into English with an eventual eye towards it generating a full pitch document.

Try it here

EA/MAXIS Lead Tester and Localization Lead

Back in the dark ages of the early 2000's I was a tester on the Sims.

I started my EA testing career thinking I was going to write an inside view article for Wired. Little did I know how fun the job would be but also how demanding!

I got completely sucked into the whole lifestyle of 36-hour days and quadruple holiday overtime during Thanksgiving and Christmas. It was insane.

I started as a temp on James Bond Nightfire then was made perm and sent to Walnut Creek to work on the Sims Online project.
Once there I began work on their Test Manual writing down all the established debugging lore into one document.

At the time I had a brief stint on Sim City 4 that ended quickly so I went back to consoles for The Sims Bustin' Out and quickly assumed the Localization Lead title.

I got to manage a bunch of youngsters that EA imported from their European and Asian studios to create versions in a dozen different languages.

After we shipped, I was ready to work on The Sims 2.0 and was hoping to get an assistant producer gig or an item creation gig. They had neat tools for that!

However, sadly, I had to leave town due to a family emergency and my testing career ended after almost three years.

My QA Testing credits are here

Image Comics Writer

Spawn 19, 20, Spawn Bible, Daring Escapes 1-4

During the height of the Image Comics boom in the mid-90s I fell into a role that led to some interesting career movement.

My girlfriend (now wife) was doing some lettering work with Comic book legend Tom Orzechowski.
Tom was both lettering and editing Todd McFarlane's Spawn comic and was offered the chance to write a Spawn Annual for Todd.

At first I was just a springboard for him to bounce ideas off of but over time my role grew to the point of plotting and co-writing.

Of course, Todd, like all the other Image creators, was overworked and got late on delivering his issues and ended up skipping some
in order to make solicitations. It was at that point our "annual" became the Spawn fill-in issues as 19 & 20 the ones that were skipped.

When our issues came out in October 1994 two weeks apart they sold nearly a quarter million copies and led the Diamond charts that month. After publication we went on to craft a four-issue miniseries called Daring Escapes spinning off the Houdini character from our issues into his own adventures.

We sent advanced copies to the Houdini estate and got real nice feedback from a family member saying the Mr. Houdini would have loved what we did!

How can you beat that?!

I'm credited both under Andy Grossberg and Andrew Grossberg variously throughout comics.