Ron Francesangelo was born into a home of stories and adventure. His mother, a die-hard Star Wars fan, tells him he experienced the premiere of the first film because she was pregnant with him when she saw it in 1977. “I always get a kick out of her telling me that.”
Much of Ron’s youth was spent creating elaborate stories and immersive experiences for his friends. He re-emphasizes how much of an influence his mother had on him. “She’s the one who sent me on my first treasure hunt. When I was a kid, she made all these clue cards and hid them around the house, and I had to follow each one’s clue to find the next. It was awesome!”
Ron eventually attended art school where he studied computer animation. “I wanted to work in film, but these stories kept talking to me.” Then, just before graduation, he accidentally registered for an advanced creative writing course. The class took a vote, and decided he could stay. That class gave him the courage to take himself seriously as a writer. “It’s something I’ve always done (tell stories), but didn’t have the courage to actually call myself a ‘writer.’
So he wrote. A lot. And he rewrote (and rewrote and rewrote) until he finished his first novel, an adventure-fantasy for children age twelve and up – and for those who are children at heart.
Another passion for Ron is designing games. “They’re like stories, but ones people have to unwrap themselves. It’s like being IN a story. I just wish I could experience my games like first-time players do.” He laughs. “I already know what happens!”
His Etsy shop, Legend: A Game of Maps, is Ron's first foray into the world of online selling, but not his first creative business venture. He credits his father, who is successfully self employed, for his entrepreneurial spirit. At Ron’s shop, he sells his story-games (which he calls ‘tabletop treasure hunts’), handcrafting each and every one from true-to-life materials so that players feel like they are handling centuries-old artifacts. “I want them to be immersive,” he says. “I want players to feel like they are a part of the story."