Author Archives: Brent Knowles

Brent Knowles is a writer, programmer, and game designer.

He has been living in Edmonton, Alberta for the last ten years, and is a graduate of the University of Alberta’s computer science program. He worked at the role-playing game studio BioWare for ten years, during most of which he was a Lead Designer/Creative Director.

Now he writes full time.

He has been published in Dragon, Not One of Us, On Spec, and Tales of the Talisman .

In 2009 Brent placed first in the third quarter of the Writer’s of the Future Contest.

He is also a member of SF Canada: Canada’s National Association for Speculative Fiction Professionals

Nebula Nominees 2011

Congratulations to this crop of Nebula nominees. I have several friends on the list of nominees this year so I’m very excited for them!! Novel Among Others, Jo Walton (Tor) Embassytown, China Miéville (Macmillan UK; Del Rey; Subterranean Press) Firebird, Jack McDevitt (Ace Books) God’s War, Kameron Hurley (Night Shade Books) Mechanique: A Tale of …

February 20, 2012 – 2:55 pm | By Brent Knowles | Posted in Writing Resources | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Good Luck Drew!

As some of you may know Drew Karpyshyn, one of BioWare’s writers, has announced his retirement. He will be focusing on his own writing projects and I wish him all the luck! You can read Drew’s blog post about this or check out his impressive bibliography. He already has an extensive body of work, including …

February 18, 2012 – 9:35 am | By Brent Knowles | Posted in Game Reviews | Tagged , , | Comments (4)

Trains, Trains, Trains

Yep, this is what I’ve been up to lately. The kids love the new Lego train set and I’ve been buying too many accessories for it. Well, okay, I’m doing a bit more than just playing with trains. Mostly I’ve been writing, editing, writing. I wrote rough drafts for several stories last summer and I’m …

February 17, 2012 – 9:19 am | By Brent Knowles | Posted in To Do, Website | Tagged , , , | Comments (4)

Bad Dad

My 4yr old (formerly known as the 3yr old) really likes Boba Fett. And I have a Boba Fett that is still in its package which really pisses him off. So I *accidentally* placed Boba a little bit out of reach. This created about an hour of fun for me…

February 10, 2012 – 9:28 am | By Brent Knowles | Posted in My Life | Tagged , | Comments (33)

Lazy Designer Book 2

The second book in the Lazy Designer series is now available. This title explores how to build designer-powered game engines and pipelines as well as prototyping and testing. It can be purchased from Amazon. Later in the year I will make it available on other sites as well (Kobo, Nook, iOS, et cetera). A section …

February 9, 2012 – 9:02 am | By Brent Knowles | Posted in The Lazy Designer, Writing Resources | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

Non-Update Update

Busy! Sorry for the lack of updates but things are hectic. More next week. Today though I’m taking some downtime and making chocolates with the kids. Should be interesting. If not interesting then at least messy.

February 4, 2012 – 8:37 am | By Brent Knowles | Posted in My Life | Comments (0)

A Writer Stops for Nothing

I was so eager to finish the first draft of the Lazy Designer II that even a faulty keyboard could not stop me. Have you spotted the problem yet :)

January 27, 2012 – 8:47 am | By Brent Knowles | Posted in Writing Resources | Comments (30)

Lazy Designer Book 2 Rough Draft Complete

So I have finished the rough draft for the second book in the Lazy Designer series. I’m going to take a couple days off from it and get back to some stories that have been pestering me to be written. Editing will start next week. The current length is 46 000 words. The first book …

January 26, 2012 – 11:36 am | By Brent Knowles | Posted in Game Reviews, The Lazy Designer | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Lazy Designer 2: Feedback on Tools Section

If you have the time to review this section from my forthcoming game design book, I’d appreciate it. Basically I am looking for examples of design tools; I’ve filled in the ones I remember using but I’m sure I have missed some. Tools To assess the types of tools you will need look at similar …

January 23, 2012 – 2:22 pm | By Brent Knowles | Posted in Game Reviews, My Life, The Lazy Designer | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Priced to Die

“Why We Should Fear Ourselves More Than Pirates” So now that I’m seeing reports of SOPA and PIPA having been defeated by overwhelming negative opinion many are breathing sighs of relief. And others are cursing violently (but generally silently). Among game developers and writers, my two primary areas of interaction, opinions are mixed. Many are …

January 20, 2012 – 3:34 pm | By Brent Knowles | Posted in Game Reviews, Technology, Writing Resources | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (57)