How did it all start?

[cschoepp]

I was just wondering what inspired you to start such a unique business. Have you always had an interest in mystery writing, or does your inspiration come from some secret murderous past? And can we expect any new game, luau or whatnot, by this June?

-Thanks

[2coolbaby]

Fortunately it was nothing so dramatic. I have been a writer since the age of 11. I wrote poetry and short stories. I also have a novel in the works that I hope to publish someday, after I get a full line of games out maybe:)

In my 20's I discovered RPG games. I was a huge fan of Dungeons and Dragons and White Wolf. There were groups of us that would get together every weekend and party and play. We were not your typical lonely geeky teens gathered around a table because they had nothing else to do. We were popular, intelligent and we loved to party and have fun. We had tons of people that wished they could play with us. While a group of 8 of us played, we typically had another 4-10 watching and hanging out.

Later I got into the Live Action RPG & found it was even more fun, but hard to do in a home environment. That is when I heard about murder mystery parties. I went online & found one & never looked back. I started a dinner theater, but discovered a problem. Some games out there are just awful. I got one particularly bad game from an online company, which was embarrassing. I had to refund everyone money. I was not a happy camper & I decided then to write my own. I knew without a doubt I could write one that was better than the one I had used then. That is when I wrote Murder at the Four Deuces. I put it on my murder mystery dinner website & was amazed at the response. I closed the dinner theater as I could not do both. Each was very time consuming. I chose to go with the writing. Basically I am a shy person, so working so much face to face with the public was not easy for me. I really love what I do now. It can be stressful & I put in a lot of hours, but I find it fulfilling. My life dream has always been to become a writer. I am living my dream now. Fortunately I am good at it!

There are many out there that try to do this, but very few that are actually good at it. Anyone that has done many of these can tell you that there are very good ones and very bad ones. It is unfortunate, as anyone exposed to a bad one the first time, will probably never experience the unique joy of playing a good game.

I am finishing up Killer Reunion now. We launched our box sets in November & it was a HUGE undertaking. We completely re-formatted and updated every one of our games to get to that point. I am getting the Killer Reunion done now. We are adding 8 characters to the game and making some big improvements.

You can expect at least 2 new games by June. I cannot tell you what they are because I have a competitor that snoops here and steals any ideas I post on the site. Her games are bad, so she has more time to write and unlike me she doesn't mind putting out quickie bad games. Mine take a lot of time to write, because I am very meticulous and take the time to create depth. It is very frustrating to have a competitor steal your ideas, so I have found the best way to prevent that is to not discuss it here.

If you will reply to your purchase receipt and ask that question I will be happy to tell you what I am working on.

[AlphaSquirell]

I've been in contact with you for what, just over 2 years now? Doing murder mysteries as soon as I can find time? And I never new any of that. Wow.



Guess I should have asked, huh? (a basis in D&D? That's really amazing. All things considered, all I need is to progress from that to LARP to a dinner theater, and I'll be set to take your place in a handful of years! kidding, I fully intend to simply be a great customer, but you get the point. )





Anyways, to add to that, she does put a lot of work into these, but that's what makes them so much better than every other murder mystery online. It's completely worth it, and I greatly look forward to the new murder mysteries myself. As well as going back to do the ones I've "missed" doing so far. As well as repeating the Four Deuces, just because our main group has changed that much, and it would really be that much fun.