Frequently Asked Questions*
* well .... frequently for me
What's up with your name? Okay ... there really is no easy answer to this one, so let's get some facts straight. My given name is Steven Brown .... no Stan or Stanley anywhere to be seen (though in a freaky bit of coincidence, it turns out that Stanley is my father's middle name). I picked up the nickname "Stan" at college and it has followed me from there into my professional career. However, that's probably a good thing. Everywhere I go, there's another Steve Brown who has been at it longer than I have. This way, I don't have to fight for my name. Although I have occasionally worked at places that have another Stan, those guys always have last names ... and they never have strange punctuation!But how did you get nicknamed Stan? Yes ... well, it's actually a pretty interesting story. But one that I've made it a policy to never write down. I'll gladly tell you in person should we ever meet at a convention or event or party ... but till then you're just going to have to wait.
Awwww, c'mon ... why won't you tell the story? Hey, back off, dude. There are other people involved in the story and they might not want their names splashed all over the internet. Okay? .... Okay!
Hey! I just noticed that on your recent books you're credited as "Stan Brown" ... what's up with that? That was the result of a long debate between me and the powers that be in the book publishing arm of Wizards of the Coast .... a debate that I did not win. If you'll notice, though, the interior pages generally credit me as "Stan!" ... so it was a mutual compromise ... a "win/win solution," if you will. I'm sure that the powers that be hope that I'll see the sense in coming around to using the name that's on the cover ... but I hope that they will see the sense in letting me use the appellation I prefer. I can wait ... I've got time.
Where do you live? I live in Visa, CA. "Where's that?" you ask? Well, it's a suburb about 40 miles north of downtown San Diego. It's right near Carlsbad, Encinitas, and Oceanside. No, you probably haven't heard of those either unless you've either a) been in the U.S. Marines and were stationed at Camp Pendleton, or b) have thought about visiting Legoland.
Can I visit you? No ... probably not. But you wouldn't like it here anyway. I'm very messy and my floors are covered with books, comics, and papers of all descriptions. I would, however, be happy to meet you at any of the game or media conventions I attend during the year. (I'll try to announce my travel plans ahead of time on the Stannex main page.) And I occasionally arrange lunches with visiting fans. If you're going to be in San Diego County and would like to get together, just drop me an email ... I make no promises other than that I'll CONSIDER it.
Are you a San Diego native? No. I'm a native New Yorker. Born in Brooklyn, and raised in the suburban wilds of Wantagh ? the Gateway to Jones Beach (that's on Long Island ... or "Lawn G-island" as the natives say it).
If you grew up in New York, why don't you "tawk funnnny"? Genetics? Good breeding? The tempering influence of my Canadian blood? Who can say. I think it's because neither my mother nor my father speaks with a New York accent ... and they both took great care in teaching us Brown kids to speak correctly (as opposed to "talk right"). And as I got older I realized that I didn't want to sound like all my neighbors and friends ... so I practiced the art of elocution and took very careful stock of what I said and how I said it. The down side to this is that I speak rather slowly and take a good deal of time forming my thoughts before uttering them. But if you ever get me excited and talking quickly you can hear my Brooklyn side come shining subtly through.
Why don't you visit your mother more often? Did she tell you to ask that? Sheesh! I'm on the other side of the country! I get home once or twice a year ... that's pretty good! It's not like when I lived in Japan and she didn't see me for nearly two and a half years.
You could at least call! Okay ... okay ... I'll put down the FAQ and go call home! ...... *long pause* ...... no one's home so I left a message. Are you happy now???
Do you really eat nothing but meat and cheese? Well, technically no ... I do eat other things. But for several years I adhered pretty faithfully to the Atkins Low-Carb dietary regimen. Now I've added in more fruits and even some whole grains, so my actual menus are closer to the South Beach Diet. That means lots of protein and very few carbs. No sugars. No bread. No rice. No pasta. No booze. It's not always easy, but I really feel great ... and my pants fit much better these days.
So, what do you drink? Meat Drippings? Ha ha ha ... very funny. These days I mostly I drink diet green tea from Arizona Tea Company (mmm ... blueberry green tea ... I'm getting thirsty just thinking about it). I also have been known to sip Diet Coke, Diet Sprite, and Diet IBC Root Beer ( I'd be more than willing to be a spokesperson, if anyone from the appropriate bottling company would like to sign me to an exclusive contract), but I also partake of bottled water, iced tea (preferably oolong), V-8 Diet Splash (again, I'm more than willing to serve in a promotional capacity), and sugar-free Italian sodas .... yummmmmmm!
Hey! Didn't I see you eating some cookies at that convention the other month? Yes, you probably did. At home I'm usually very good about what I eat ... but when I'm on the road (particularly at conventions) it gets quite hard to live the low-carb lifestyle (especially on game industry per diems). So that's when I let myself indulge my passion for pasta and give in to my chocolate addiction. So don't give me any crap!! ....... I'm sorry ... it was my choco-cravings talking ... I didn't mean to yell at you ... I'm so weak .....
Okay, how about the requisite "favorites" ... movies, music, etc.? Well, my tastes are pretty eclectic. And since I don't want to have to come here and change my FAQ every time I discover a new band or video, I'll just list some of the things that have remained favorites for a while.
? Movies:The Big Chill, Big Trouble In Little China, Silverado, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, The Wizard of Oz, Fight Club, Aliens, Hudson Hawk, The Princess Bride, Brotherhood of the Wolf, The Living Daylights, Parenthood, The Third Man, Strange Days, (the original) Planet of the Apes, Payback, Tonari no Totoro, Fletch, Ghostbusters, Bull Durham, Guess Who's Coming To Dinner, Yojimbo .... *whew* ... should I go on?
? Music: Barenaked Ladies, The Beatles, Jimmy Buffett, Sam Shaber, Billy Joel, Sheryl Crow, Sting, Rockapella, Mariya Takeuchi, James Horner, Joe Hisaishi, Cirque du Soleil .... I'd better stop ... I'm getting an urge to go CD shopping!!
What's the matter ... don't you like sports? Of course I do! I'm a big baseball fan (let's go Mets!), and I let the NY Rangers break my heart every year when hockey season rolls around. In football season I root for the Dolphins and the Giants (though usually not until Monday morning) ... but I don't really care very much for basketball. While I was in Japan I became quite an aficionado of Grand Sumo. Back in high school I used to follow the English Premier League and root for Aston Villa. I was a big tennis player in my youth, plus I still find myself watching or playing golf many weekends. I've also taken up racquetball in recent years.
That's the second time you've mentioned Japan. What were you doing there? I lived in Japan for five years during the early 90s. I was an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teacher in Fuji City, Shizuoka Prefecture. I was also president of J.I.G.G.
What is JIGG? Japan's International Gamers Guild. It's a network for English-speaking hobby gamers living in Japan. I was one of the founding members and ran the organization for its first few years. I'm proud to say that the damage I did was not permanent. JIGG is still alive and kicking, and you can visit their Yahoo page and sign up for their mailing list if you like. Even if you aren't in Japan, this is one extraordinarily cool group of gamers! I highly recommend checking them out.
Are you the "Karaoke King of Fuji City"? Well, not anymore. But when I lived there I had a reputation as the best damn gaijin karaoke (pronounced [ka-rah-oh-kay]) singer in the city. I used to be invited to bars to give hour and a half "concerts" where no one else got to use the mike. Very strange ... but absolutely true. Since moving to Vista, I've becoem something of a regular at Sunday Night Karaoke at the Beach Club in Oceanside. Stop by if you're in the area!
How can I become a game designer? or How can I get my fiction published? Lord, I don't know. I'm still not sure how I got here. But it seems to me that the one thing you need more than anything else is determination. Try everything you can think of. Talk to anyone who'll answer your questions. Read magazines, articles, and books about writing ... not all of them will be good (or right), but they'll all teach you something. And for goodness sake write, write, and write some more! Get your stuff published any way you can. Join and APA (Amateur Press Association). Submit it to amateur journals. Self publish. Put up a web site. And submit proposals to every magazine and publisher you can think of. All you're trying to do is get a chance.
Once you have that chance, do whatever it takes to make it succeed. Pay attention to your Editor or Creative Director. Be willing to change and amend your work. Follow instructions. Re-write, re-write, and re-write some more! These people are there to make you look good! Specific artistic vision aside, they know what they're talking about. If they say that you're mixing your metaphors, or that your imagery conveys the wrong message ... LISTEN TO THEM!!!
And be patient. Sure there are people who meet with immediate success, but they are few and far between. Most of us have to work "day jobs" for years while writing long into the lonely night before we get our first piece published. And if you do make it to the big time ... remember where you got this advice, because I'll be struggling to keep up with you and I can use all the help I can get!
If you know so much, how come Wizards of the Coast laid you off? Hey! Do I come to your house and insult you?
Sorry. So what's the deal with the layoff anyway? Well, since you asked so nicely ... the truth of the matter is that as the ties between Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro became tighter, there was a predictable change in managerial theory. My layoff (as well as those of a good 20 or 30 very talented designers and editors) had little or nothing to do with performance, and everything to do with making the company look and perform the way upper management wanted it to. Perhaps as proof that there was nothing personal in the situation, I walked out the door with a very big (very important) freelance contract from WotC.
What? They fired you and you're still willing to work for them? Yes. You see, I believe that the health of Wizards of the Coast is ESSENTIAL to the health of the hobby gaming industry overall. And I want to do everything I can to help insure that health. Plus, like I said before, I hold no personal grudges about the layoff. It was business ... and it was actually pretty predictable business. I see no reason to refuse to work for the #1 company in the industry just because they ACT like the #1 company in the industry.
There's something warped about that logic. Hmmmm ... you're probably right. Oh well. At least they pay on time!
So what are you doing NOW? Well, after freelancing full-time for about two years I realized that I LIKED having a regular paycheck. So I've taken a job with Upper Deck Entertainment. Currently I am the Creative Content Manager, running a team of writers and editors as they craft flavor text, art descriptions, and promotional material for UDE's various properties.
Do you still do freelance work? Sure! I'm careful not to take anything that might be a conflict of interest with my work at UDE, but that's much narrower in scope than when I worked at WotC. I'm like any other freelancer, I'll consider working for just about anyone. Drop me a line and let me know what projects you've got!
Aren't you also the owner of a game design studio? Well, I'm ONE of the owners of a company called The Game Mechanics, Inc. We publish d20 System products (for both fantasy and for modern settings) as pay-for-download PDFs. We've also got free downloads that we consider helpware. Go to the website if you want to know more.
Looking around the Stannex I'm sensing a monkey theme ... care to explain?Hey, everybody loves monkeys, right? As a good friend once told me, "When you're in a bad mood, just think about a monkey!" .... it really works!!
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?Well, I hear that he'd chuck all the wood that a woodchuck could if that woodchuck could chuck wood .... but I could be mistaken.