Jim's relationship with Infocom began in the spring of 1983, when he saw a column in the "New York Times* Book Review" concerning Deadline and this new medium of computer-aided interactive fiction. He realized at once that he had the proper sort of both experience and daring to bring professional writing skills into this medium. So he hopped a plane from the Garden State to the Bay State, and almost immediately reached agreement with Infocom to begin a series of projects, beginning with Seastalker and now continuing with Moonmist.
In his long career, Jim has scripted technical training films, free-lanced magazine articles, turned out weekly dramatic radio scripts, written "continuity" for newspaper comic strips, and authored some 60 books of fiction. Many of his books were ghosted for juvenile series like Nancy Drew and Tom Swift, Jr., but he has also written juvenile and adult paperbacks under his own name.
As a successful storyteller in many media, Jim learned the art of interactive storytelling with impressive ease. Equally important, he's been willing and able to devote considerable effort to a creative project for a year or more, knowing that the end product would not make him rich or famous. He writes interactive fiction for the best of reasons: for him, it's challenging, creative, and fun to give players a thrill.
Jim is the sort of person who remembers anecdotes, unusual events in the news, and interesting names. He keeps files of short newsclippings. He may take years developing a character in his mind before he'll use the character in a story.
And he's a calming influence. As Jim and Stu worked on a story, Jim would make the plot thicker...and thicker and thicker and thicker. Stu fretted. "Don't worry, Stu" said Jim. "I've gotten heroes out of much tougher situations than this."
The Status Line; Vol. V, No. 3; Summer 1986; Lawsuit Edition; page 2
Copyright 1986 (c) Infocom
Thanks to David Jinks for transcribing and donating this article.