Ricardo Pinto's Blog

Elite conversion interview in Retro Gamer, Aug 2022, page 32

In the 1980s, in the Neolithic of the computer game industry, myself and three friends, Mark Wighton, Dominic Prior and Phil Mochan—working under the name Torus—converted the highly successful game Elite into Z80 versions for the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC. So, when Rory Milne phoned me up to ask me about it, I dredged into the murky depths of my memory and told him as much as I could remember. This is the consequence, an interview with me and in depth description of Elite in its many incarnations that appeared in the August edition of Retro Gamer.

Elite conversion interview in Retro Gamer, Aug 2022, page 33 ©Retro GamerElite conversion interview in Retro Gamer, Aug 2022, page 34 ©Retro GamerElite conversion interview in Retro Gamer, Aug 2022, page 35 ©Retro GamerElite conversion interview in Retro Gamer, Aug 2022. page 36 ©Retro GamerElite conversion interview in Retro Gamer, Aug 2022, page 37 ©Retro Gamer

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When Blaise Ancona approached me to appear on his podcast, I was only too happy to do so. He had been reading his way through the Second Edition of my Stone Dance books, so that was mostly what we discussed

listen to the interview

Blaise also reviewed each of the seven volumes of the Second Edition of the Stone Dance on his SFF site

read Blaise’s reviews

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Pastherina’s Peacocks—For Storm Constantine

When I was told that Storm Constantine had died, I was devastated—I had had no idea that she was even ill. She hardly told anyone that she had terminal cancer. In the two weeks before her death—knowing nothing about her illness—I had several times almost phoned her to chat, to ask her advice about some publishing issue but had put it off for one reason or another. I had made the mistake of assuming that she would always be there.

back cover of Pashterina’s Peacocks

More than a year before, we had planned a get together, but at the last moment, Covid cheated us of that last meeting.

Storm was a dear friend. We hit it off the moment we met. Given her considerable achievements, she was modesty itself. She was friendly and approachable. She was warm and funny and charming.

So there it is, I had made the mistake of assuming she would always be there.

When her family and friends decided to publish a book in tribute to her, my contribution was a choice between a short story about a giant spider and a strange little piece that I had, half-finished, relating to my Stone Dance books. Since we had first met because of the Stone Dance, I went with the latter.

The piece, Renunciation, is a rather dark and grim telling of the experiences of a Candidate becoming one of the Wise. It is not for the squeamish. I’m not entirely sure it was appropriate, but it was what I had to give, and I fancy that Storm would have liked its pitch black, deeper than Gothic darkness.

The tribute book to Storm, from Immanion Press, is entitled Pashterina’s Peacocks

buy Pashterina’s Peacocks

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a Book Page a Chapter Page the SDC Companion Tag Cloud

As this website was being upgraded, I took the opportunity to use the new technologies available to me to rebuild the SDC Bible into the completely new, much more interactive and reader-focused, SDC Companion: if the Bible was like a textbook, the Companion is more like a direct extension of the books

The SDC Companion has entry points for each of the seven volumes of the Second Edition of the Stone Dance, and each of these provides access, through the sidebar, to a page for each chapter of that volume

A Chapter Page provides access to all information relevant to the chapter in the books that it corresponds to. This should make it easier for you, the Reader, to avoid spoilers and to have at your fingertips easy access to anything that you might want some clarification or a reminder of

The information on a Chapter Page will either be in a pop down ‘accordion’ or in one of the buttons underneath

At the bottom of every page of the Companion is the Tag Cloud: this gives you direct access to all the information available in the Companion. When you select a topic, it will produce a list of all the entries in the Companion that are relevant to that topic. If an entry in this list is of a chapter you have not yet read, looking at it may expose you to spoilers

The most general information of all is available in the drop down The Stone Dance of the Chameleon menu, such as a list of all the characters appearing in the books

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I am delighted to announce that The Third God, the seventh and final book of the Second Edition of The Stone Dance of the Chameleon, is now available on any Amazon store as an ebook, and as a paperback from a more limited number of stores. I published it on the 21st of December, the winter solstice—well, it sort of happened over two days because I had all kinds of technical problems with the ebook. (Basically, I upgraded to a new MacOS, and the software I use wouldn’t produce an ebook, so that I had to fire up an old laptop yada yada…)

I hope that you like the cover—it’s the first ‘proper’ picture I have attempted for decades. It’s not as ‘finished’ as some of the images on the earlier covers, but it seems to me to convey more ‘feeling’. Given the context of the story, I see it—by contrast with, for example, the cover of The Mirror Breaks—as a tearing away of the mask to reveal the reality beneath.

So, the thoroughly revised, leaner and cleaner text of The Third God, with its completely new initial chapter, brings the Second Edition to a close. It has been a massive undertaking, but one that I felt compelled to pursue. I hope you will feel that it has been worthwhile.

I commend to you The Third God.

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I am delighted to announce that The Third God, the seventh and final book of the Second Edition of The Stone Dance of the Chameleon, is now available on any Amazon store as an ebook, and as a paperback from a more limited number of stores. I published it on the 21st of December, the winter solstice—well, it sort of happened over two days because I had all kinds of technical problems with the ebook. (Basically, I upgraded to a new MacOS, and the software I use wouldn’t produce an ebook, so that I had to fire up an old laptop yada yada…)

I hope that you like the cover—it’s the first ‘proper’ picture I have attempted for decades. It’s not as ‘finished’ as some of the images on the earlier covers, but it seems to me to convey more ‘feeling’. Given the context of the story, I see it—by contrast with, for example, the cover of The Mirror Breaks—as a tearing away of the mask to reveal the reality beneath.

So, the thoroughly revised, leaner and cleaner text of The Third God, with its completely new initial chapter, brings the Second Edition to a close. It has been a massive undertaking, but one that I felt compelled to pursue. I hope you will feel that it has been worthwhile.

I commend to you The Third God.

The post the final book of the Second Edition released appeared first on Ricardo Pinto.

I had intended to launch the seventh and final book of the Second Edition of the Stone Dance in November, alas I only received the copyedited text two days ago. There are a lot of corrections, and I need to put them in carefully, but I am reasonably confident that I will still be able to publish before the year is out.

Meanwhile, I have drawn a new map that I felt was needed to enhance the experience of reading the seventh book. I have also been working on a cover for The Third God—I thought you might appreciate a sneak preview.

It’s been a marathon getting this to you, and I won’t stop pushing for the finish line.

The post Seventh book of the Second Edition a bit delayed appeared first on Ricardo Pinto.

I had intended to launch the seventh and final book of the Second Edition of the Stone Dance in November, alas I only received the copyedited text two days ago. There are a lot of corrections, and I need to put them in carefully, but I am reasonably confident that I will still be able to publish before the year is out.

Meanwhile, I have drawn a new map that I felt was needed to enhance the experience of reading the seventh book. I have also been working on a cover for The Third God—I thought you might appreciate a sneak preview.

It’s been a marathon getting this to you, and I won’t stop pushing for the finish line.

The post seventh book of the Second Edition a bit delayed appeared first on Ricardo Pinto.

I am delighted to announce that The Mirror Breaks, the sixth book, of the seven that will constitute the Second Edition of The Stone Dance of the Chameleon, is now available on any Amazon store as an ebook, and as a paperback from a more limited number of stores. I published it on the 23rd October—but have waited until I was sure that both editions are available to announce them.

The final book is nearing completion, and I am confident that I will have it out by the beginning of December this year—perhaps in late November. There is a lot to do before it’s ready. It is currently being copyedited. Also, I have drawn a new map for it that I feel will deepen your enjoyment of the book, and I will soon start on a new cover—the first proper piece of artwork I have done in MANY years!

The thoroughly revised, leaner and cleaner text of The Mirror Breaks, with its completely new initial chapter, will see Carnelian initiate an apocalypse that will envelope all those he loves…

I commend to you The Mirror Breaks

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I am delighted to announce that Dragon Fire, the fifth book, of the seven that will constitute the Second Edition of The Stone Dance of the Chameleon, is now available on any Amazon store as an ebook, and as a paperback from a more limited number of stores. I published it on the 25th August. The final two books are nearing completion, and I am confident that I will have them both out by November this year.

This new volume begins the ramp up to the coming apocalypse…

I commend to you Dragon Fire.

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