Summer, 1982. When two local teens go missing from the riverside town of Calico, Oregon, it falls to a middle school nerd steeped in wild conspiracy theories to investigate.With a posse consisting of a busboy, a delinquent, an L.A. transplant, and a cheerleader, A.J. sets out to prove that a Satanic cult is behind the disappearances, all while dodging the local Sheriff, high school bullies, and a deputy drunk on authority. But instead of a dark cult, the group encounters a legion of ghosts, mysterious government agents, alien technology, and an interdimensional crisis of literally Earth-shattering proportions.From the author of the Airship Daedalus pulp adventure book series, and adapted from his short story, comes a love letter to retro-ʹ80s science fiction and horror, in the vein of Stranger Things and The Babysitter. Equal parts John Hughes, Stephen King and Steven Spielberg, Calico Kids is a coming-of-age story set in a rural town, full of impossible adventures. Todd Downing is the primary author and designer of over fifty roleplaying titles, including Arrowflight, RADZ, Airship Daedalus, and the official Red Dwarf RPG. A fixture in the Seattle indie film community, he is the co-creator of the superhero-comedy webseries The Collectibles, and the screenwriter behind The Parish and Ordinary Angels (which he also directed). His first feature film, a supernatural thriller entitled Project, was included in a PBS young directors series in 1986. He has written for stage, screen, comics, audiodrama, short-form and long-form, interactive and narrative, in a career spanning three decades. The father of two adult children, Downing spent several years in the videogame industry, working on games such as Spider for the Playstation, Allegiance for the PC, and Casino Empire. He also creates book covers and marketing art for fellow authors and corporate clients, and has done voiceover work for Microsoft and the Seattle Seahawks Pro Shop.Widowed to cancer in 2005, Downing remarried in 2009 and currently enjoys an empty nest in Port Orchard, Washington, with his wife and three rescue cats. Fortunately, he has an office with a door that closes.
