Archives 2021

2021 has been an interesting year. We started out with the wonder if there would be many if any conventions to attend, and we finished the year with a total of six events under our belt. Not a record by any stretch, but still a good showing given the circumstances.

2022 looks to be trending more favorable as everyone is growing accustomed to what I guess we are going to call the “new normal”. This means more conventions and more opportunities to get out, see people and share my books and products with you.

Since we began this journey back in 2016, we have confined ourselves to our familiar territory of central Indiana where we are based. This coming year, 2022, we are going to start moving out into strategic areas. We are currently looking into some convention opportunities in the south-central part of Florida including none other than Tampa Bay Comic Con.

This event takes place the last weekend of July, just one week before our big show Gen Con in Indianapolis. We’ve put in an app, so we’ll wait and see.

We are also exploring some events on the East Coast near the Washington DC area. At this point, I have not applied for any events, but if you know of a good event that would fit our books and products, please let me know as I do not know the convention scene in that area like I do Indiana.

2021 also saw the launch our newest endeavor Silverwood Tableworks and Wood Designs. I’ve enjoyed working with wood ever since I was a pre-teen. I credit my grandfather and even my great grandfather, whom I never knew, with getting me into wood working. So this year, we launched a line of custom wooden gaming accessories and tables.

Currently these products can be purchased at shows, online via our own website or through our new Etsy store linked above. Right now, we make dice towers, dice trays, dice chests (coming soon), several styles of deck boxes, game storage cases, and we crown it all off with custom gaming tables/dinning tables.

As someone who spends their most of their professional time on a computer, having an outlet to work with my hands is a great life balancer.

Silverwood Tableworks and Wood Designs

The gaming tables have started to take off since Indy Comic Con. If you’re interested in checking one out in person, you can stop by our friends at the Spartan Gaming Lounge on the southside of Indianapolis.

I still have plans for books. I’ve got several that are in different stages of development right now including a science fiction novel, a mystery, a college anthology of works, and a non-fiction book about board game design. I am having a lot of fun with developing the wood working side of things right now, so the books are taking a lot longer to get done.

Hi everybody. Our busy schedule continues as we make our way to a brand new gaming convention, ItsNotACon, hosted in Indianapolis. See our event section for details and locations.

For this show, we’re adding some much requested dice towers to our accessories line up. Below are some pre-finished shots of three of the towers. The tower’s stand 8 inches tall and can attach to any of our solid wood dice trays. We’ve also introduced a new exotic wood, Zebra wood. You can see the Nightfury dice tray and tower set pictured below. The wood’s natural striping is beautiful. I was originally worried that our etching would not show, but the presentation at this stage is really surprising me.

We are also experimenting with adding a small clear epoxy base to some of the dice trays. A couple of Kat’s designs, the Wolf head and the Phoenix Dragon, can create a measurable level difference in the wood that it could impact dice rolls. The epoxy layer would go on top of the finish to provide not only a harder surface for rolling (good for metal dice users), it should also level everything out.

Come see us this weekend. Its our next to last show of the year, and the last one in the Indianapolis metropolitan area, so I hope to see you there.

Our first Indy Comic Con starts today. Check us out at the exhibit hall booth 1036. Should be a great show.

I’m just putting the finishing touches on my latest hand-made dice trays. These will be available at the show this coming weekend or by special order through the my website. I started out favoring the purple heart wood, but the sheen I’m getting from blood wood has almost won me over. You decide which is your favorite. I’m using a Tung Oil finish on the dice trays to give them warmer, richer wood finish.

Deck boxes are being engraved now, and hope to have them finished early this week. I’ll post some pics of that later. The deck boxes will be finished in Polyacrylic for durability and speed.

Well, its barely been two weeks since GenCon 2021, and we’re gearing up for the next big show, Indy Comic Con. It will be held likewise at the Indianapolis Convention Center. I believe there are still tickets available at https://indianacomicconvention.com/. This year’s guests include the legendary William (Capt. Kirk) Shatner.

As you can see, I’m busy getting new product ready for the show. I’ve added some exotic woods to the dice trays and deck boxes including, Bloodwood, Purple Heart, Padauk and Hard Maple in addition to the Poplar, Oak and Aspen offerings I already have.

We’ll also be demoing games along side our friend Scott from SnyderGaming.com, as well as a few surprises.

Come find us at Booth 1036, smack in the middle of the exhibit hall.

Well today is the last day of GenCon 2021. It’s family day so the ticket prices are reduced to $5. Come on downtown and enjoy some fun at the convention center. We have free dice and meeples for the little ones — while supplies last of course.

I’ll be honest, yesterday was a bit of a downer. While the exhibit hall was fuller, we saw less people at our booth. We really need a good showing to finish the Con strong. Otherwise, packing up is going to be a chore.

We’re back for day 3 of GenCon 2021. So far this morning I am seeing lots of cosplayers. Saturday is the biggest day so we’re looking to meet a lot of new friends.

We are running short on softcover Book 5s so if you’re heart is set on a set, then get here soon. I don’t expect them to last the day. We do have some hard covers available as well.

Good day everyone. Indiana Matt here and we’re kicking off Day 2. I don’t normally cosplay, and what I’m wearing might not even qualify, but I tried.

It’s hot enough with this jacket that it should.

I’m very excited about the new friends we made yesterday. The support blew me away. You could definitely tell a difference in the attendance from a quantity standpoint, but the overall attitude of everyone is great.

If you’re in the neighborhood stop in and say hi!

GenCon 2021 is just an hour from kicking off. Lots of space but it looks like we’ll have a great crowd. Tickets are still available. Come down and see Kat and I at booth J in the Author’s Avenue until 6pm tonight.

It’s been two years and change since the last GenCon hit Indianapolis’ Convention Center. This week, it returns with tempered celebration. By tempered, I mean that there will be fewer attendees, fewer vendors, and fewer hours to spend during the Four Greatest Days in Gaming.

Still, I’m excited to be there in Author’s Avenue again. Come see me and Kat at booth J. In 2019, we ran out of Book 1 by early Sunday Morning. We’ve stocked up, but it would be really exciting to see it happen again this year. So, tell all of your fantasy reading friends, to stop by and get an autographed copy of Guardians of the Silverwood.

For all of you gaming aficionados, today I launched The Game Collector app for Android devices on Google Play Store and soon Amazon Market Place. This app allows you to store you personal board game/card game (any game really) collection, and keep track of players and games played.

If you can’t make it to GenCon, we are currently planning on attending Indy Comic Con in October along with Snyder Gaming. Looking forward to seeing old and new friends alike.