Once upon a time, I wrote novels.

These days…?

Aside from some brainstorming for the sequel to Magic’s Daughter, I haven’t worked on traditional, book-bound fiction since June 2021, when I wrote a short story for a pending dreampunk anthology.

Ghost Mode & Other Strange Stories, my collection of short fiction, came out the month before that. As far as an actual novel goes, that would be The Lost Tale of Sir Larpsalot—which was published way back in October 2020.

For a writer who always gravitated toward long-form fiction, this novel-free span has been a breath of fresh air but also bizarre. After all, I still have many ideas for wonderfully weird books bouncing around my mind.

But that doesn’t mean I’m not having a blast playing around with other storytelling formats!

One Million Words

A year ago, I announced my first foray into producing a tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG).

I hoped it would take about a year to complete—a failed reality check, considering The Curse of Er’Mah’Gerd won’t see the light of day for a few more months yet.

The progress addict in me has made peace with the delay, and I’m pleased to report the game is in good hands.

My layout designer, proofers, and illustrators will ensure that when my TTRPG drops, it’ll have the polish it deserves.

Of course, I still have plenty of marketing tasks ahead of me, including several more blog posts to build excitement for the late 2022 launch.

Goodman Games

Besides game writing for my own company, January 2021 saw the addition of a new role for me: freelancer.

Over the past 20 months, I’ve edited and proofed the text for seven TTRPGs and game-adjacent publications for the illustrious Goodman Games. The first of these, Denizens of the Reed Maze, was released a little while ago. (You can buy it here.)

I’m also proud to report that my pitches to write a Fifth Edition Fantasy of my own were well received, and I’ll be penning a one-shot for 2023 later this year—

—you know…when I thought I’d be starting my next novel.

(To Be Revealed)

Another freelancing opportunity recently came to my attention, one that ties into my creative bucket list: writing for a video game.

After spending so much time working on interactive fiction for TTRPGs, the jump from paper to screens has stretched me in fun new ways. I’m not allowed to go into details—yet—but what I can say is that I’m contributing a handful of quests for an upcoming sci-fi RPG.

It’s an exciting project, and more opportunities seem likely from this up-and-coming indie studio. I’ll share more about it when the timing is appropriate.

In the meantime, I’m content to press the pause button on novel writing—at least for now.