Hello World!

My name’s Cat Tobin, and I’m going to be taking over from Beth when she leaves in (sob!) a few weeks. I first started roleplaying a long time ago in a country far, far away (well, Ireland – where I’m from) and I’ve helped out in a variety of different ways in gaming groups, events and conventions both in Ireland and the United Kingdom over the years I’ve been involved in the hobby.

Gaming-wise, I’m mostly playing and writing freeform (or theatre-style, as they’re also known) LARPs at the moment and I’m looking forward to getting into the excellent boardgaming scene here in London. My background’s in tabletop roleplaying, though; particularly modern-day and horror games like Vampire: The Masquerade and Call of Cthulhu, so I’m particularly excited to be involved in producing games like Trail of Cthulhu and Night’s Black Agents.

I’ll also be helping out with Pelgrane’s fiction brand, Stone Skin Press. With a great Kickstarter result under its belt and some of the best authors in the roleplaying industry writing for it, I think Stone Skin has enormous potential to become a leading brand in genre literature. And that’s before we get into the cupcake-related job incentives (although I’m more of a pain au chocolat person).

I’m now close to the end of my first week in the dizzying heights of the Pelgrane’s Nest, and what a first week it’s been. I’ve had a go at laying out adventures, tried a bit of art direction, attempted some customer email writing and seen a surprising number of pictures of barbeques. I’ve looked at sales figures and sad puppies, made some new banners and made some new friends. In short, it’s been the best possible start to a new job and I’m really looking forward to learning more about the position (although I have a horrible feeling it’ll involve doing some real work, which might take the edge off my INCREDIBLE ENTHUSIASM somewhat).

I’m sure it’ll surprise no-one to learn Beth’s been a star throughout my induction into the Nest, and I’m going to miss her when she leaves. I can’t imagine how difficult it’s going to be for Simon and the other Pelgranistas to lose her. Having seen how effortlessly she turns her hand to the variety of tasks to be done, I know that it’s going to take a long time before I’m able to fill her shoes, so please be patient while I get up to running speed!

Cheers all,
~Cat