{"title":"Ben Riggs","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"slaying-the-dragon-book-ben-riggs-9781250278043","title":"Slaying the Dragon","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eRole-playing game historian Ben Riggs unveils the secret history of TSR\u003c\/b\u003e-- \u003cb\u003ethe company that unleashed imaginations with \u003ci\u003eDungeons \u0026amp; Dragons\u003c\/i\u003e, was driven into ruin by disastrous management decisions, and then saved by their bitterest rival.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"Ben Riggs manages to walk the fine line between historical accuracy and fun about as well as anyone and SLAYING THE DRAGON is equal parts historical accuracy and entertainment. It was an essential read for me while directing and producing the Official D\u0026amp;D documentary but I'd recommend it to anyone regardless of the subject material. It's a wild and fun ride through the turbulent history of one the most influential brands in our lifetime.\" - JOE MANGANIELLO\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Co-created by wargame enthusiasts Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, the original \u003ci\u003eDungeons \u0026amp; Dragons\u003c\/i\u003e role-playing game released by TSR (Tactical Studies Rules) in 1974 created a radical new medium: the role-playing game. For the next two decades, TSR rocketed to success, producing multiple editions of \u003ci\u003eD\u0026amp;D\u003c\/i\u003e, numerous settings for the game, magazines, video games, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling novels by Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, and R. A. Salvatore, and even a TV show! But by 1997, a series of ruinous choices and failed projects brought TSR to the edge of doom--only to be saved by their fiercest competitor, Wizards of the Coast, the company behind the collectible card game \u003ci\u003eMagic: The Gathering\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Unearthed from Ben Riggs's own adventurous campaign of in-depth research, interviews with major players, and acquisitions of secret documents, \u003ci\u003eSlaying the Dragon\u003c\/i\u003e reveals the true story of the rise and fall of TSR. Go behind the scenes of their Lake Geneva headquarters where innovative artists and writers redefined the sword and sorcery genre, managers and executives sabotaged their own success by alienating their top talent, ignoring their customer fanbase, accruing a mountain of debt, and agreeing to deals which, by the end, made them into a publishing company unable to publish so much as a postcard.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e As epic and fantastic as the adventures TSR published, \u003ci\u003eSlaying the Dragon\u003c\/i\u003e is the legendary tale of the rise and fall of the company that created the role-playing game world.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49530976076049,"sku":"CIN125027804XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50799620653329,"sku":"GOR014076900","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51697383473425,"sku":"CIN125027804XVG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51833214730513,"sku":"GOR014417709","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/125027804X.jpg?v=1751402411"},{"product_id":"finding-god-in-the-body-book-ben-riggs-9780692760222","title":"Finding God in the Body","description":"That we all want to live meaningful, happy lives is self-evident. The question is, how? Finding God in the Body answers this question with spiritual practice. Finding God in the Body draws from the wisdom of the world's traditions--Buddhism, contemplative Christianity, Judaism, and Twelve-Step spirituality--to present a modern view of embodied spirituality. It turns inward to examine the human condition, meeting personal suffering with heartfelt insight and transformative practice. Ben Riggs leaves no stone un-turned, addressing each stage of the journey as he explores the space between fundamentalism and atheism to uncover a spirituality that resonates with the modern, Western mind. Then he binds that view to an actionable path of self-analysis, prayer, and meditation, which introduce the reader to the God of the body. This book is a much-needed addition to the corpus of spiritual literature, and a must-read for all modern seekers. Purchase your copy today. ____________________________ In Finding God in the Body, Ben Riggs shows us the possibility of experiencing God as an intimate, intensely personal, and deeply affecting presence. Within our bodily awareness, in the immediacy of the present moment, we can behold God's mind, His love, and His glory throughout the universe. And in doing so we can experience true salvation and find our own place within the infinity of divine reality. This is a most remarkable, unusual, profound book that is certain to transform the spiritual lives of all who read it. Dr. Reginald Ray, author of Touching Enlightenment: Finding Realization in the Body and Indestructible Truth In Finding God in the Body Ben Riggs delivers a heartfelt and deeply experiential message of engaged faith. He outlines some pragmatic methodologies of contemplative and progressive Christianity, drawing on personal experience and practice of Buddhist and Christian meditation. He offers relevant and meaningful analysis of scripture along with the words of mystics and philosophers from diverse traditions. Riggs invites exploration through self analysis, study, prayer and meditation. He gently coaxes, guides and rekindles our connection to God in a way that profoundly speaks to modern Western sensibilities. --Rev. Roger Wolsey, author of Kissing Fish: Christianity for People Who Don't Like Christianity","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49757689774353,"sku":"CIN0692760229G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50145115275537,"sku":"GOR012062174","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50358435152145,"sku":"CIN0692760229VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51006019797265,"sku":"NIN9780692760222","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0692760229.jpg?v=1751074350"},{"product_id":"tell-them-a-story-book-ben-riggs-9781880407394","title":"Tell Them a Story","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhat does storytelling-narrative-have to do with reporting-nonfiction? Everything.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 1965, Capote published \u003cem\u003eIn Cold Blood\u003c\/em\u003e, an account of a series of ghastly murders in the late '50s. His book became a bestseller, marked by factual accuracy shared through the transporting power of fictional prose. He called it a \"nonfiction novel,\" and some have called it a literary experiment that \"opened the way for a new kind of literature.\" See it as a writer's version of crosspollination, maybe even a certain literary alchemy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBefore \u003cem\u003eIn Cold Blood\u003c\/em\u003e, America's interest in nonfiction and journalism had already begun to grow. The breakneck speed of reporting captured readers' attention. With it came a writing technique that treated the reader more like a receptacle for information and headlines rather than someone to compel and entice with words and sentences from the first word to the final period. The Inverted Pyramid, the journalist's map for writing, ensured that a report's first paragraphs contained all the information readers would need, like a shirt in an overstuffed suitcase. This guaranteed readers' access to anything useful if the bottom paragraph had to be cut.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStorytelling offers great resources for accomplishing most of the goals of nonfiction writing. In fact, most of the marketing, selling, persuading, and entertaining goals attached to today's writing finds its lineage in the bloodline of storytelling; namely, what prompts readers' curiosity, compels them to continue reading, and satisfies their needs as readers. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf you're writing leadership articles or recipe blogs or online-marketing copy, how can you use storytelling to your advantage? In Tell Them a Story: Using the Best Lessons from Narrative Nonfiction in Your Everyday Writing, Ben Riggs breaks down the differences between a report and a story, asks the reader to examine the different purposes of \"efferent\" writing and \"aesthetic\" writing, and to consider the benefits of joining the two to meet the needs of an audience. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn an examination of the importance of theme, Riggs teaches that by situating your piece of writing on the back of a theme you can inject deeper meaning into even the most prosaic and pragmatic of nonfiction pieces. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWriters \u003cem\u003estill \u003c\/em\u003eneed to know how to distill real life accurately into words. Nonfiction. To accomplish all of these strategies, writers \u003cem\u003estill\u003c\/em\u003e need to write to entice, entertain, and compel readers. Narrative. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEven for genres that don't seem inherently \"story-friendly,\" you can make many writing decisions that bring any reader to think, \"What happens next?\" Ideally, writing this way doesn't occur at the expense of the clarity and factual nature of nonfiction writing and its many forms. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis booklet contains tools and strategies to help you write nonfiction in a way that helps your readers - whoever they are - ask those three words, even if they don't know they're asking them. 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