A Tribute to My Writers – An Honor and a Pleasure

Well, since everyone is doing their own little retrospective pieces this year, I figured I might do something of that sort as well. Longtime readers of the site will know that this is the first year we’ve brought in outside writers to do some of our dirty work here. Even if it’s just one or two posts a week, I think it’s greatly improved our content.

I was wary about bringing in outside help at first. This site is like my baby, although now it’s turning into a big boy at four years old. But Nattyb had faith in me to pick some great writers, and I think that I have. So, let’s go down the list so I can pay personal tribute to each briefly. They’ve all done great work this year, and I’m looking forward to much more from them.

Remy Carreiro

What can I say about Remy? He’s insane. But past that, he’s brilliant and an incredibly hard worker. He does two posts a week and they are always VERY in depth. The dude sends me lists of like, 80 creative post ideas, then sits down and does them all. Seriously, go through his archives, he has some truly phenomenal articles in there.

TJ Fink

TJ is our resident handsome guy, but he’s a pretty great writer as well. I think my favorite TJ pieces are his Ron Swanson-voiced articles and the times when he channels Dr. Seuss. He’s been a great addition to the team, and I see big things for this guy in the future.

Sara Clemens

I know Sara thinks I’m something of a ghost because I tend to reply to emails with about six words, but I really have loved her work this past year. My favorite pair of pieces from her are probably her love letter to Tom Hardy’s Bane, a sentiment which I agree with, and the discussion of her life as a text-based adventure. That’s one of my favorites from the whole year, in fact.

David R

It’s always good to surround yourself with people you disagree with, and that applies quite frequently with David here. I can’t tell you how many times I rolled my eyes during his defense of the Star Wars prequel series, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t argue his case eloquently and effectively. And hey, sometimes we’re on the same side as well.

Dave Bast

Dave’s articles tend to be on the higher brow end of things here, and half the time I’d like to feature some of his posts on the other site I work for, Forbes. It’s been a blast talking through each chapter of The Walking Dead game with him this year, and I look forward to more to come.

Laura Frances

Laura has been doing this a while the way I have, and you can tell as she’s a professional, always getting in her posts on time and with almost no errors. She brings a great perspective to her lists, and I always look forward to seeing what she has for me on Fridays.

E. Lee Zimmerman

I had him doing a “This Week in Sci-Fi” segment for a while, but I thought his talents were best used in actual article writing, and I’m glad he made the switch. His pieces so far have been brilliant, and I hope he sticks around to give us a bunch more.

Glen Miller

I think Glen is our most recent hire, but he’s always full of great ideas and very punctual about always getting posts in. He even had some done for Christmas and New Year’s Day this year! Check out his latest from this week, which is quite good.

Benny Bedlam

I actually met Benny in the Bioware forums back when the Mass Effect ending controversy was happening. We kept in touch via Twitter, and only recently did I A) hire her and B) learn she was a girl. She’s done great work to date and always shows an eagerness to learn.

Also thanks to Luis Loza and Zack Ruskin who have written for us in the past, but have since departed. Departed writing, not life, that is.

I’m looking forward to seeing what else these guys produce over the course of the next year. Even if a few leave us by then, they’ve done fantastic work throughout 2012 they can be proud of.

My goal for 2013 is to be more like them. I’m being serious, not sappy here. I want to devote as much time and effort and thought into my own posts as they do with theirs, and that’s something I can’t say I always do writing day in and day out. There’s much I can learn from them, and it’s been a pleasure having them on board.

Thanks to them for writing, and to you, for reading.