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Heidi was recently featured in MicroSoft's blog, She Builds Games.

 

Heidi has received a generous grant from the Sprout Fund as part of the Remake Learning Network, to attend this year's Project Horseshoe on November 5 - 8. A partial scholarship was also provided by Project Horseshoe. Heidi will join industry leaders to brainstorm and discuss issues facing the games industry and some prescriptives.

 

Heidi's newest journal article, "Romance in Games: How It Is, What It Is, and How Developers Can Improve It" was recently published in QED Journal: A Journal of Queer Worldmaking, Volume 2, Issue 2.

 

Telltale Games writer Justin Sloan has written a book called "Creative Writing Career 2" which is available for pre-order on Amazon. Heidi is among the writers interviewed, and is honored to be among so many talented friends and practitioners!

 

Heidi is currently working on a book about Romance in Games for Taylor-Francis Publishers, based on her conference talks about the same.

 

Heidi is playing a crap-ton of Dragon Age: Inquisition right now. While mildly disappointed in the lack of foofy dresses at the Orlesian ball, this game is everything a Dragon Age fan would have hoped for, and more. Well done, BioWare!

www.deathbow.com

deathbow@deathbow.com

 

For inquiries about speaking engagements, consultations, interviews, and narrative or audio work on game projects, please fill out the form below. Thank you!

© 2015 by Heidi McDonald. All rights reserved

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  • Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, Houston, TX, October 2015: Panel on Developing Serious Games

 

  • PAX Dev, Seattle, WA, August, 2015: Moderator of Romance in Games Roundtable

 

  • Video Gamers' United, Washington, DC, August 2015: Moderator of Romance in Games panel

 

  • Confluence, Pittsburgh, PA, July 2015: panels on Geek Parenting, Terry Pratchett's works, and Writing for Games

 

  • Deconstructing Barbie and Mortal Kombat, Philadelphia, PA: April 2015: Public forum

 

  • Montreal International Gaming Summit, Montreal, Quebec, November 2013: “Romance Games: Unpopular Genre or Untapped Market?”

 

  • Grassroots Games Conference, Philadelphia PA, October 2013: Keynote Address

 

  • K-12 Educational Conference, Pittsburgh PA, October 2013: Keynote Address

 

  • GDC Europe, Cologne, Germany, August 2013: “Romance Games: Unpopular Genre or Untapped Market?”

 

  • Gotland Gaming Conference, Visby, Sweden, May 2013: “Narrative Design as a Tool for Inclusiveness”

 

  • GDC Poster Session, San Francisco, CA, March 2013: “Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Ferelden”

 

  • GDC Online, Austin, TX, October 2012: “Writing the Romance-Able NPC: ICING on the Content Cake”

 

  • Feminists in Games, Toronto, Ontario, May 2012: “The NPC Romance Project”

Resume and Samples

Heidi's resume: (view)

 

Heidi's Independent Games:

 

Creative Writing:

 

Scholarly Writing:

  • QED Journal: A Journal of Queer Worldmaking, Volume 2, Issue 2 (view/download)

  • Epic Awesomeness: An Exploration of Play, Art, Love and Death in Video Games (download)

 

Game Writing:

  • Story Module for The World of Lexica, A Garden Affaire (download)

  • Side Quest for The World of Lexica, The Riddle of the Daisies (download)

  • Sir Jimmy, from the Now I Get It Jam, May 2015 (view)

 

Heidi's game music: (listen)

Shipped Titles
Personal Awards

  • Women in Gaming Rising Star Award, March 2013

  • The Anna Darlington Gillespie Leadership Award, Chatham University, May, 2012

  • Golden Quill Award, Press Club of Western Pennsylvania, 2004

  • National Finalist: Food and Beverage Campaigns, Silver Microphone Competition, 2000

Latest News:
Contact Me
Speaking Engagements
Publications

  • "Are Gamers Ready for Gay Romance?" Chapter of forthcoming edition of Deconstructing Barbie and Mortal Kombat, 2015

  • “Romance in Games: What it is, How it is, and How Developers Can Improve It,” QED Journal, Michigan State University, Publication in June, 2015

  • “NPC Romance as a Safe Space: BioWare and Healthier Identity Tourism,” Well Played, Entertainment Technology Center Press, July 2012

  • “Epic Awesomeness: An Exploration of Art, Play, Love and Death in Video Games,” Chatham University, May 2012

Think Tanks

  • Project Horseshoe, San Antonio, 2015

  • Deconstructing Barbie and Mortal Kombat, Philadelphia, 2015

  • Forward/Slash Story, New York, 2014

Volunteer Experience

  • Co-Founder, IGDA Romance and Sexuality in Games SIG, 2015

  • Conference Associate at the Game Developers’ Conference, 2012 - 2015.

  • IndieCade Juror, 2014, 2015.

  • Board Member, Pittsburgh Chapter of IGDA, 2012 - 2014.

  • Humor Content Editor for IGN, 2000 - 2004.

  • Mentoring and outreach to students both independently and on behalf of Schell Games.

Game Awards

  • 2015 Entertainment, Film & Digital Media Prize from CREATE PIttsburgh 2015.

        Awarded to The World of Lexica.

  • 2015 International Serious Play Awards, Gold Medal.

        Awarded to The World of Lexica.

  • 2013 International Serious Play Awards: Gold Medal, Healthcare/Medical from DigiPen Institute of Technology. Awarded to PlayForward: Elm City Stories.

  • 2013 International Serious Play Awards: Silver Medal, Games for Good from DigiPen Institute of Technology. Awarded to Tunnel Tail.

  • 2013 Joystick Award, 2013 DATA Awards, from the Pittsburgh Technology Council.

        Awarded to PlayForward: Elm City Stories.

  • 2013 First Penguin Award, from Pittsburgh International Game Developers' Association during the Global Game Jam. Awarded to Quick or Dead. 

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