Great News! Just today I got the OK from Awaken Realms to send them a copy of the book I am working on (nearly complete – currently about 100 pages … maybe I should do Development Updates like they do?). You can see all the “source” material for the book here:
=> Count Down
These are the stories of Levi O’Connor, chaplain on the starship ISS Vanguard. His stories helped bring some smiles while we were waiting for the first backers to receive their game. Another 18 official crewmembers are interwoven into the stories as well. Levi was introduced just before the Countdown articles started:
Part of his story hinges around a United States postage stamp (for real). Here is a photo of a plate block of the Four Immortal Chaplains stamp:
Update: Some cultures are not familiar with chaplains on ships [from a Board Game Geek forum thread] so here is a very short but informative article that will help provide perspective on this:
We are fortunate to have a wonderful book bindery here in Madison who will make just ONE COPY of a book (or 2 or 20 or 200:) Plus, for only about $5 extra they also make the cover of the hardcover book a glossy photo cover, just like lots of Kids Picture books!
I already have all the pages formatted for the book. Now I am going through them a second and third time to touch them up. Just like Awaken Realms, I don’t think “Good Enough” is Good Enough! Just like Awaken Realms I shoot for excellence (and just like Awaken Realms, we typically don’t hit that target completely).
Next I need to design the front and back covers for the book which will be a portrait style 8 1/2 by 11 inch book. I am planning on using the crew cards for all the crew that are included in the stories in the book. Here is a PDF of them:
=> ISS Vanguard final Crew Cards for storybook
Or maybe I should cut out the crewmembers and just use their “portraits” on the cover, and not the crew cards themselves?
And WHAT FUN … Awaken Realms has given me permission to include photos of our invincible leader (Marcin Swierkot) and the illustrious story teller (Krzysztof Piskorski) and I’ll see about including a photo of the illuminating story teller for THIS book (Levi O’Connor)… might use my photo maybe?
Would YOU like to be involved in this book? Include a “thank you” message in the book? Help with the cover? Design a crew card for Marcin, Krzysztof, Len or Levi?
Personally, I think fans can (and DO) expand projects above and beyond the original. Take Lindsey Stirling for example. She asked her fans if they wanted to contribute to her music video for THE UPSIDE … and look at how wonderful that turned out:
If you’d like to include words of thanks and appreciation to Awaken Realms right IN this book, just send them over to me. But DO IT NOW (I hope to finalize it in a couple days).
You can use the CONTACT page:
=> Contact Len
My ISS Vanguard 
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