David Lubar | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 16, 1954[1] Morristown, New Jersey |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Author Video game programmer |
| Known for | Short stories, novels 8-bit video games |
David Lubar (born March 16, 1954) is an author of numerous books for teens. He is also a video game programmer, who programmed Super Breakout for the Game Boy and Frogger for both the SNES and Game Boy. He designed Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge for the Nintendo Game Boy Color.
Biography
Lubar was born and raised in Morristown, New Jersey. As a boy he frequented the school library where his mother worked, as well as the town library and county library.[2] He attended Rutgers University and received a degree in philosophy. After graduating, he tried to write full-time, but a low income forced him to pursue more lucrative options. David married his wife around this time in 1977. He began writing for Creative Computing in 1980.
In 1982, Lubar was offered a job designing and programming video games in California. There he designed and translated video games for Atari, Nintendo Game Boy, Apple 2 and the Nintendo Entertainment System.
After realizing he still wanted to write, Lubar returned to writing in 1994 while still working as a developer. By 1995, he had sold six books, and the company he worked for had gone out of business. During 1998 and 1999 Lubar started programming for the Nintendo Game Boy while putting writing to the side, but he returned to writing shortly after. From 2000 to 2005, Lubar wrote short stories for various collections such as Ribbiting Tales, Lost and Found and Shattered.
Today, Lubar writes from his house. He has a daughter, Alison, who is a teacher.
Works
Books for Young Readers
Standalones
- Monster Road (1999)
- Wizards of the Game (2003)
- Dog Days (2004)
- Punished! (2005)
- Toon Out (2007)
- Emperor of the Universe (2019)
Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie
- My Rotten Life (2009)
- Dead Guy Spy (2010)
- Goop Soup (2010)
- The Big Stink (2010)
- Enter the Zombie (2011)
Monsterrific Tales
- Hyde and Shriek (2013)
- The Vanishing Vampire (2013)
- The Unwilling Witch (2013)
- The Wavering Werewolf (2014)
- The Gloomy Ghost (2014)
- The Bully Bug (2014)
Looniverse
- Stranger Things (2013)
- Meltdown Madness (2013)
- Dinosaur Disaster (2013)
- Stage Fright (2014)
Monster Itch
- Ghost Attack (2017)
- Vampire Trouble (2017)
Short Stories
The Psychozone
- Kidzilla and Other Tales (1997)
- The Witch's Monkey and Other Tales (1997)
Weenies
- In the Land of the Lawn Weenies (2003)
- Invasion of the Road Weenies (2005)
- The Curse of the Campfire Weenies (2007)
- The Battle of the Red Hot Pepper Weenies (2009)
- Attack of the Vampire Weenies (2011)
- Beware the Ninja Weenies (2012)
- Wipeout of the Wireless Weenies (2014)
- Strikeout of the Bleacher Weenies (2016)
- Check Out the Library Weenies (2018)
Teeny Weenies
- Freestyle Frenzy (2019)
- The Intergalactic Petting Zoo (2019)
- The Boy Who Cried Wool (2019)
- My Favorite President (2019)
- Fishing for Pets (2020)
- The Eighth Octopus (2020)
Books for Teens
Standalones
- Flip (2003)
- Dunk (2004)
- Extremities: Stories of Death, Murder, and Revenge (2013)
- Character, Driven (2016)
Talents
- Hidden Talents (1999)
- True Talents (2007)
Scott Hudson
- Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie (2005)
- Sophomores and Other Oxymorons (2015)
Video games
Apple II
- Bumper Blocks
- Obstacle Course
- Killing Zone
Atari 2600
- Fantastic Voyage
- Worm War I
- Nexar
- Flash Gordon
- Space Master X-7
- Bumper Bash
- My Golf
- River Raid II, a sequel to River Raid based on a concept by Dan Kitchen[3]
Atari 8-bit family
- Pastfinder
- Alpha Shield
Nintendo Entertainment System
- The Simpsons: Bart vs. the World[4]
Game Boy
- Home Alone
- Frogger
- Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge
Further reading
David Lubar (Spring–Summer 2003). "Everything" (PDF). The Alan Review. pp. 19–21.