Warning! This is a Magic: The Gathering post. If you’re interested in the game, particularly if you want to play some Magic with me in Spain or the UK in the next few weeks, read on. Otherwise, I promise I’ll post a writing-related update here soon.

Anyway, I’ve been in contact with Ryan Spain over at Wizards of the Coast, and he offered to do something ridiculously awesome for me. From time to time, WotC sends me prizes to give away to people who play Magic with me. I was running low, and Ryan offered to get me some cards signed by the Magic team to give out.

That sounded awesome. But I didn’t know how awesome. A few weeks back, I got several hundred cards in the mail—including a complete foil set of Conspiracy, with most of the cards signed, and a large stack of rares and mythic rares from Theros block and M15. (Along with a few other goodies.)

I’m blown away by how awesome this is; check out the pictures below for just a few pages of what we’ve been sent, along with the key listing people’s signatures so you know who has signed what. (Ryan says he told them to sign cards they personally had a hand in designing or developing.)

I want to give a big thanks to the Wizards team.

It’s my intention to give these all away to fans over the next year or so. I’ll probably be giving some away randomly, while in other cases if you beat me, I’ll let you thumb through the binder and pick one to take. (In addition, I intend to give some of the more expensive cards to be used as prizes for the charity Magic draft I’ll be doing at Salt Lake Comic-Con.)

Magic the Gathering in Spain and London

Now, at the end of July and beginning of August I’ll be in Spain and the UK. I know that playing Magic at my US conventions works very well, and I can pretty much tell how many people will show up to play along. But when it comes to traveling to other countries, I really don’t know what to expect.

On August 4th I’ll be in London signing at Forbidden Planet, as part of my UK tour, and I might have some time after the signing to play Magic. We would limit the signup to eight players, but others would be welcome to come and ask questions while we played.

I’ll also be in Avilés, Spain starting July 30th as part of the Celsius 232 science fiction and fantasy festival. What I want to know from my readers in the UK and Spain is whether there is enough demand for me to set up a Magic event in Avilés and another one after the Forbidden Planet signing in London.

Let me know through the contact form if this is something any of you are interested in. We’ll then judge the demand and plan accordingly. (And if you’re not interested in Magic at all, you can still use the contact form to tell me your city so I can send you an email when I’m signing nearby.) UPDATE: The London draft is happening and is now full. If you got into the draft, I’ve sent you an email. Other people will still get to hang out and ask questions while the draft is going on. See you there!