A conversation with Annie Fox, writer/designer of Sherlock Holmes and Putt-Putt adventures

0 Comments

Interviews by Adventure Game Hotspot staff
Published:

Most adventure game fans know the name David Fox: designer, programmer and one of the earliest Lucasfilm Games movers and shakers. But David was far from the only creative talent in the Fox household, as his wife Annie is also an accomplished writer and designer. Annie has been involved in a number of adventure games over the years, beginning with the FMV trailblazing series Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective. None of Annie's credits are with LucasArts, but a close connection with Ron Gilbert led to her being instrumental in Ron's own company, Humongous Entertainment, primarily writing "junior graphic adventures" in the popular Putt-Putt series. This ideally suited Annie's lifelong interest in teaching and encouraging children to learn while having fun, a passion first explored through a computer learning center opened with David.

Following her videogame design days, Annie turned her attention to writing books, both for younger kids (People Are Like Lollipops and the Raymond and Sheila stories Are You My Friend? and Are We Lost?) to older (the Middle School Confidential series; The Teen Survival Guide to Dating & Relating; Too Stressed to Think? A Teen Guide to Staying Sane When Life Makes You Crazy; and The Girls' Q&A Book on Friendship: 50 Ways to Fix a Friendship Without the DRAMA." Her latest book is her first YA novel, which has just been released, entitled The Little Things That Kill.

With her wealth of experience and expertise, it was only a matter of time before she got her own Tech Talk with Daniel Albu, and that time has come! In his latest one-on-one video interview, Daniel walks Annie back through a fascinating career filled with highlights and memorable moments – some of them preserved on film! Annie's a delightful guest, so even if you're not familiar with her work, you'll surely want to hear all about her initial resistance to computers, her "superpower" of empathizing with children of all ages and understanding how they develop, her many game collaborations with Laurie Bauman Arnold, managing the "creative real estate" in her brain when working, and why she became known as one of the "queens" of CD-ROMs. All these topics and many more are covered here, so settle in and enjoy. (And happy 50th anniversary to Annie and David!)

Tech Talk with Daniel Albu is part of the Adventure Game Hotspot Network, a collective of talented, dedicated content producers who work entirely independently but have joined forces to promote each other’s efforts. All opinons expressed belong solely to the original creators.