In the Works

Clearly, over the years, well, decades, Peter Mucha has collected quite a few ideas, reserving what he believes are the best ones for personal projects.

Here’s an overview as of July 2016.

Children’s picture book. Years ago, while brushing his young daughter’s teeth, Mucha told her a story. It flowed, combined creativity and a sense of myth, and finished with a surprising ending. He long hoped she’d illustrate it, but when she said not her thing, he thought, hey, why not do it himself? After teaching himself a lot more about illustration programs, he labored to put the book together. Next on the drawing board: Incorporating suggestions from artist/teacher Jim Repenning.

Games. This list has grown, with hopes of having a half-dozen finished games to show to companies at the Chicago Toy & Game Fair’s innovation conference. One kids’ card game and a crazy stacking game are ready to show. A family word game is all designed, and the rules just need refining. Still deciding which pieces make the cut for a family board game. More card games and a couple of abstract strategy games need testing, testing, testing.

Websites. After reviving StealMyIdeasPlease.com and starting ThinkableOrNot.com early in the summer of 2016, Mucha’s plan is to turn a list of blog drafts into a post almost every day.

Novels for young readers. Mucha has written two — one long, one short — fantasy adventure stories. Backburner for now … but the stories keep nagging to be next.

Is it too ambitious? Perhaps. “Guess it’s just my creative philosophy,” Mucha says (quoting himself). “When I reach an impasse, I move on to the next project, expecting to return when the answer comes.

“Why should life be hard? Why can’t things just unfold as they were meant to be?”