Interview of Julian Egelstaff (cont')

RG: How about some lighter questions?

JE: Sure.

RG: What are some of your hobbies outside of Lone Wolf and web design?

JE: Computer gaming, for sure. I'm also on the executive of the local community association, but that's not really a hobby. And I do have a wedding I'm working on planning, but that's definitely not a hobby. I used to bike ride a lot, when I was in high school and a big Lone Wolf fan. I haven't done that for a long time, but I'll probably ride again this summer, since the bike is in the garage, so I don't have to take it down the stairs of the apartment building, which is what I had to do where I used to live. I also used to write a lot. I wrote a novel when I was 19--100,000 words.

*** RG is impressed!

JE: I wrote about 200,000 words of material, including the novel, between the ages of about 16 and 20. But I've only written about maybe 30,000 since then, and I'm 25 now. Don't be too impressed, it's not a great novel. But it's kind of impressive to do it that young I guess.

RG: (More complete than my current ambition...)

JE: I'd like to write some more, and Barbara would really like me to, but the thing is, finishing university, getting a job, and getting married, and starting (and eventually completing) my web site, have all sort of got in the way of that. Plus, writing is HARD. Hard to do well, really well. I find writing takes a huge amount of focus and attention. Moreso than anything else I know how to do. But PC gaming is really my hobby now I guess. It doesn't take much attention or focus. =) My favorite games... Descent: Freespace, Thief: The Dark Project, Civilization II and Railroad Tycoon II. I've got some others, I really like Elite/Frontier/Privateer style games, but there haven't been any good ones for a while (keep an eye out for Terminus though).

I was a Civilization guru at the end of high school, I was really into that. These days, well, I'd like to get into the gaming business as a game designer. So I usually buy unique or ground breaking games when they come out to stay on top of things. So I've got quite a collection. My favorites change periodically, but Freespace and Thief are definitely two of the best games ever, and Railroad Tycoon II is a fantastic strategy game.

RG: Alright. If you happened to meet Joe Dever on a bus, what would you do?

JE: Shake his hand. I think I'd introduce myself, and I hope my reputation would precede me.

RG: Considering the dedication in Vampirium I would say you have a good bet.

JE: I'd ask him to come over for dinner, or if he wanted to go out for a beer. I'd really like to just sit down and talk with the guy, find out what makes him tick and what he likes about Lone Wolf and Magnamund. Out of Lone Wolf I got an appreciation of D&D and role-playing in general, and I'm still really interested in that, though I don't have anywhere near enough time to get into it. Because of my Lone Wolf experiences, I think I now share a lot of common interests with Mr. Dever, so I'd like to talk to him about them, things like role-playing games, computer games, history, writing, and of course I'd want to know more about Magnamund and all that jazz. And I'd ask him what the heck is up with that riddle in book 16?!

RG: Yeah! I tried for hours to solve that thing using every underhanded math trick I know. (which aren't very many...)

JE: I think it's a flawed question. Whatever number you start with is the number you get at the end. You're missing a piece of information.

Next Section -->