"Magic: The Addiction" -- my 20-year gaming journey. Book now available on Amazon.

[Havrekjex]

You can expect "gems" like:
- Influential Magic people in my life
- Brainstorm (the first rule of Fight Club is, never talk about Brainstorm)
- How I feel about speculators
- On being a sore loser
- The two Magic communities I grew up in (Vancouver and Beijing)
- On getting old
- Bans
- On pimping
- Epilogue (I *am* going to GP Seattle after all...)

I`m looking forward to these. Some of these topics are complicated, and getting to read someone`s internal reflections on stuff like pimping, speculators and being a sore loser is going to be interesting, especially when it`s from someone as honest as you. Pimping in particular, I think that`s something that a lot of people are conflicted about, the justifications and the self-deceptions.

Not to start that discussion here, but personally I`ve mostly given it up. Pimping, that is. I do like foils and nice stuff, and I always really, really want a lot of upgrades badly and I keep returning to the pimp thread to drool on their stuff, but experience has taught me that as soon as I cough up the dough for something serious and sleeve it up, owning it doesn`t really bring me a lot of joy, and having paid a lot extra for something so unnecessary kind of makes me feel bad when I have more important things to spend money on. I bet that`s something that a lot of people can relate to, maybe particularly older/grown up players with family and mortgage.

[Plague Sliver]

New site is up:

http://writtenbyjames.com/books/

Updates:
- Found an editor
- Doing final edits (w/ editor and on my own)
- We're at 49,000 words
- Doing search for cover illustrator
- Going to start testing book titles this week.

---

SURVEY

Need to land on a proper title for my book. Which of the following titles do you like the most?

[Subject matter: my personal experience with a card game called "Magic: The Gathering." Chronicles the 20 years I spent playing it, the emotional ups & downs in competition, balancing it effectively in my life, interspersed with personal stories of success and failure.]

1. Obsessive Magic
2. Compulsive Magic
3. Twenty Years of Failure
4. Magic: the Addiction
5. Chasing the Spark
6. The Cruel Game

Feel free to suggest other titles as well. This was shortlisted from over 50+ brainstormed titles.

[Plague Sliver]

After testing several different book titles, I've settled on Magic: the Addiction.

New excerpt on new site is up!
http://writtenbyjames.com/2016/02/03...introductions/

[big_ticket]

wow,very good read..

magic will be always in my heart/mind just hooked into it,

I was thrilled playing the sengir vampires/killer bee's circa 95

[Plague Sliver]

I've got a legit-looking cover and web site now. Release date: next month.



--- UPDATE FEBRUARY 23, 2016 ---

Book excerpt #2 is up, about my initial attempts to play (The Epic) Storm:
http://writtenbyjames.com/2016/02/22...cerpt-2-storm/

[easysantiago]

This is a fantastic project. All the power to you!

[sdematt]

So...I'm nearing the finish line. The 6-parter has been heavily revised, edited and expanded on to become a full-length book.

I started from the initial ~20K word count and now it's at 45K. As it stands, I have a draft of the book ready.

If anyone is interested in reading a draft of my upcoming "On Magic" book please message me or post here. Looking for constructive feedback -- tear it a new one if you have to. The goal is to make the final thing as good as possible.

Thanks,
James

I'd be happy to make the audiobook for you, free of charge.

[Plague Sliver]

I'd be happy to make the audiobook for you, free of charge.

I would prefer Morgan Freeman or Veronica Belmont, but if they decline, I guess there'll be a spot for you

[Plague Sliver]

Bump with new article.

--- UPDATE FEBRUARY 27, 2016 ---

Book excerpt #3: Good Magic player, bad Magic player:
http://writtenbyjames.com/2016/02/27...-magic-player/

[Plague Sliver]

On playing Magic in China: observations and how I got started.

http://writtenbyjames.com/2016/03/02...pt-4-on-china/

[jrsthethird]

http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles...ate-2016-03-03

#1 on the March 3rd Daily Update on the mothership!

[Plague Sliver]

http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles...ate-2016-03-03

#1 on the March 3rd Daily Update on the mothership!

Yeah man, I was super stoked to see that. Thank you and all the other readers for the generous support.

My book is at 66,000 words now and I'm getting ready to publish later this month. Look forward to announcing it on Amazon soon

[Piceli89]

I wanted to chime in this thread because I feel your content.

I am in my mid-twenties and Magic has been part of my life for more than a decade. It has given me much in terms of mental developing and creativity, but with time passing and the crave for competitiveness rising more and more (despites me hardly attending real-life tournaments), it has taken a toll on my personal balance, oftentimes with me wasting notable amount of time (and by notable I really mean months) on it, tweaking decks to find the next big thing, perfectioning here and there, thinking about the game, chatting with "friends" and so on. In a word, a proper addiction, although more invisible than, say, alcohol. Luckily I am starting to take the reins of it all again and plan to ditch it for the future, or at least- this time for real- manage to carve out a small niche of my week for it and move on to more meaningful activities.
Like you, I also feel like it has somewhat contributed to damage my personal relationships by preventing them from growing (although I have to admit that it is not the only culprit in there).

It also amazes me how, the rare times I attend Mtg tournaments, I look at people and believe how some of them (most of?) are sad inside, trying to legitimate themselves and their self-worth by overcoming another human being (the opponent) in a card game. Perhaps this is nothing but myself projecting my own insecurities in this sentence, but I don't know-- there's always that strange feeling of excessive committment to the game and unhealthy un-sportmanship at the tables to strive and be the winner, which sends me a bad vibe. Maybe it is a hint on the human nature and why we care so much to prove our worth, somehow. Or maybe- and here I may very well be preaching cheap philosophy- it's the implication of such large amounts of money that is responsible for polluting the disinterest in having a ludic experience, turning it into a miserable rat race.

I don't know. The few times I attended large tournaments, even when in the very high standings and about to top8, I felt like it wasn't worth it at all. In those very moments, I could feel how all the aspirations at succeeding and putting myself in the spotlight, both to gain others's appreciation and my own, hardly were nothing but mental constructs and that I didn't really care. Perhaps I have already outgrown Magic but consuming such a heavy dose of online Mtg "culture" everyday hinders my capability of keeping that in mind.
---

Anyways, off my rambling. I wanted to express my appreciation for you writing this. I am just a few lines in one chapter but the honesty and detailed use of words echo my feelings. Thanks.

EDIT: I just saw your material was featured on the Mothership. I am surprised given how the title ("Magic: the addiction") may be at odds with their marketing politics. Perhaps it is something to be appreciated.

[Plague Sliver]

Thanks for the kind words.

I'm hoping that being featured in passing make the title A-OK. Maybe allows for future collaborations with WOTC, you never know. I'll explore deeper after the book release.

[Plague Sliver]

Here's another excerpt (Part 5). On how I flew from Beijing to New Jersey in 2014 for the Legacy GP. Also how I met Julian Knab for the first time.

http://writtenbyjames.com/2016/03/14...se-the-julian/

[Plague Sliver]

Home stretch! The book is DONE and will be on Amazon.com next month, in both paperback and Kindle versions.

I'm taking pre-orders now. The pre-orders are completely obligation-free. Sign up and get 40 pages of the book for free, special out-takes (chapters that didn't make the final edit), and BIG DISCOUNTS ON THE FINAL BOOK. No obligation to buy anything.

Details on the pre-order:

https://writtenbyjames.com/books/

My goal is 100% about getting the message out to as many Magic players as possible. Hope to hear from you soon.

- James

[Plague Sliver]

UPDATE MAY 5, 2016: Book is now available on Amazon!

Kindle edition
https://www.amazon.com/Magic-Addicti.../dp/B01F55014Y

Paperback edition
http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Addictio.../dp/1532963874

As one of the few Legacy-specific books out there, I hope you'll give it a read.

[sdematt]

UPDATE MAY 5, 2016: Book is now available on Amazon!

Kindle edition
https://www.amazon.com/Magic-Addicti.../dp/B01F55014Y

Paperback edition
http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Addictio.../dp/1532963874

As one of the few Legacy-specific books out there, I hope you'll give it a read.

5-star review given on Amazon. :D

Congrats, James.

[Stuart]

Just ordered a copy! Looking forward to reading it.

[sadface]

As one of the few Legacy-specific books out there, I hope you'll give it a read.

What are the others?