From Introduction: NOTES FROM THE TIME MACHINE I wrote "Demon Bean Falling" in the winter of 1994/1995, when I was a senior at the University of Notre Dame. I'd been running a regular RIFTS campaign for my friends since 1990, and had become obsessed with two things: becoming a writer, and working for Palladium Books. The material in this book (along with the material in its companion, "The Banwok Hunters") reflect a lot of the original material I wrote and used in my ongoing RIFTS campaign during that time. I submitted both the manuscript for this book and "The Banwok Hunters" to Palladium Books in the spring of 1995. For a while, it looked like Palladium might publish them. Ultimately, they didn't. I learned a lot from that experience, though, and ultimately it helped me to get published, and to become a better writer. Both "Demon Heart Falling" and "The Banwok Hunters" were put in storage, and were forgotten. I moved on to other games, and other things. Fast-forward just about fifteen years later, to the fall of 2009. While looking for some other old games in the attic, I found one of the original copies of "Demon Heart Falling" - probably the only copy still in existence. I'd printed some copies of it for my friends way back in the day, complete with a cover and comb binding. I'd assumed that all copies - including my own - were long-lost to the ravages of time. Wrong. Here was the last copy, staring me in the face. So I re-read it. And liked it. It's not the greatest book in the world, I'II be honest. For that matter, it's probably not good. It's decent. It's an excellent reflection of the author I was back then - raw, hungry, passionate, and practically exploding with ideas. It lacks a lot of the polish and refinement needed from a more experienced writer, which could've made it into something far better than what it was. But it's not terrible. It's just a glimpse at the author I was, and the author I would become. So I present it to you, for your enjoyment. If you can use any of this stuff in your own RIFTS game, awesome. Let me know about it. If not ... well, I hope you enjoy what you read, and it at least makes you smile. Warts, flaws and all, I'm proud of this one. It told me that I could be a writer.