Nick Lees: Call of Duty duty calls for Edmonton writer

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Edmonton writer Shelby Carlton has helped a California company write the 19th installment of Call of Duty , a video-game series that has generated $27 billion since launched in 2003.

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“When I found a posting last year for a narrative designer job at Sledgehammer Games, one of several studios creating Call of Duty games, I didn’t think I had a hope of getting the position,” says the 24-year-old Carleton, a University of Alberta English graduate.

“Writing for games is a competitive field. There’s lots of interest and lots of incredibly awesome applicants but very few positions.”

After interviews, Carleton was asked if she would be willing to relocate to California if accepted for a position and says she gave an excited “yes.”

“In March this year, I joined Sledgehammer Games’ incredible narrative team and began writing on Call of Duty: Vanguard ,” says Carleton.

“Working during a pandemic has had its challenges, but I plan on moving to Foster Creak near San Francisco next March to write with the team in person.”

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Call of Duty is a first-person shooter franchise published by Activision . Games were initially set in the Second World War, but more recently,they have been set during the Cold War, on futuristic worlds and in outer space.

In February this year, Activision Blizzard president and COO Daniel Alegre said the company’s $27-billion earnings since 2003 made Call of Duty “one of the most successful entertainment franchises of all time.”

Sledgehammer Games, which opened its doors in 2009, plans to release the 18th installment, Call of Duty: Vanguard, on Nov. 5.

“I tried to read as much as possible about the Second World War before starting work on the game,” says Carleton. “Our team also had some incredible historians to help guide us.”

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As a kid, Carleton grew up watching her dad play games on his computer, such as Doom 3, and later helped him solve puzzles in Resident Evil 4.

“In 2009, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was released and I remember playing through the campaign multiple times,” says Carleton. “This was my first but certainly not my last experience with the Call of Duty franchise.

“There are so many people who were part of the war effort, and showcasing just some of those stories in Vanguard is something I am so proud to have been part of.”

Timely recognition

A homeless mother recently in a car rash with her three children was quickly connected to the Kids Kottage Foundation and given staunch support in a path forward.

“The woman was a victim of domestic violence,” says Janine Fraser, executive director of the Kids Kottage Foundation. “We provided her family with basic living needs and connected them with necessary resources to get them out of crisis, including clean clothes, warm meals, supportive housing, a food security program and counselling.

“Since opening in 1995, we have provided safe refuge for more than 30,000 infants and children and prevented 14,000 from falling into crisis.”

Staff were excited last week to learn their work in helping families cope with poverty and homelessness has them nominated for an Oct. 30 International Peace Award (IPA) in Ottawa. IPA is a Canadian charity promoting peace, harmony, and community service around the world.

“At the Kottage and across our city, we have seen COVID-19 cause an increase in mental illness, domestic violence, homelessness and toxic stress as a whole,” says Fraser. “Being nominated for an IPA is an honour to our entire team. It’s validation that what we are doing is truly making an impact.”

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Dedicated Danny

Danny Hooper is perhaps best-known as the Wayne Gretzky of fundraising auctioneers and as the Big Valley Jamboree emcee.

But Hooper, who has also been a recording artist, a Hall of Fame realtor and a radio announcer, has also used COVID-19 to move ahead.

“The pandemic taught many of us to re-prioritize our lives and I have always had a passion for cooking,” he says.

“My first job at age 12 was flipping burgers at the Little Acres BBQ tent at K-Days; at age 15, I spent the summer on Ellesmere Island (Canada’s northernmost Arctic island) working as a bull-cook in a 68-man seismic camp. Then at 21, my dad and I opened our own steakhouse called Danny Hooper’s Stockyard.”

He went on to travel widely, and his love of tasty food saw him take cooking classes in Italy, Spain, Bali, Argentina, Germany, Greece and Mexico.

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“Cookbooks became treasured souvenirs, and when the COVID pandemic struck and restaurants closed, I hit the kitchen with the intent to kick up my culinary skills,” he says.

“I’m now creating some outrageously delicious meals on the charcoal BBQ, over a wood fire, in the smoker or the pizza oven.

When friends began asking him for recipes, he recently launched Danny Hooper Edibles on YouTube.

“In many countries, mealtimes are a focal point of the day, when family and friends gather at the table to savor healthy food and linger in conversation,” says Hooper.

“Here in North America, food is almost an afterthought at times, where for many families, weekly visits to a drive-thru far outnumber meals shared at the dinner table. What a shame.”