No, "Suffer The Children," Is Not Some Secret Sign of Q-Anon Support (A Rebuttal)

For folks who don't follow my fiction releases as closely as my other work, I've been slowly creating audio dramas of several pieces of short fiction over on The A.L.I.C.E. Files (which you should subscribe to if that sounds like your bag). The project started with Dead Man's Bluff (a weird Western about a gambler whose past comes back to haunt him), which is a short story out of my collection The Rejects which dropped back in 2020. Since that story seemed relatively popular, I figured I'd follow it up with another story from the collection, Suffer The Children. A modern-fantasy noir story about an angel trying to do his job among the dark hearts of Hollywood, I figured it would be a nice, self-contained tale to add to the collection.

Until Q-Anon people started showing up in the comments. Which is why I wanted to take a moment to talk about this story, what it's actually about, and why I'm disturbed at this particular reaction.

Before we get into it this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron!

Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

What Is "Suffer The Children"?

I wrote this short story perhaps 5-6 years ago when I was trying to get into a modern fantasy noir anthology. My story didn't get chosen for that collection, sadly, and I didn't have much luck placing it with other publishers. That's how it wound up in The Rejects in the first place, as that book is an anthology of stories that never quite seemed to get picked up, but which I didn't want to sit on any longer.

What's the story about? Well, the story follows Malachi, an Old Testament angel stalking the streets of Los Angeles. He follows a guy carrying what seems to be a stolen baby to a sketchy building that absolutely reeks of wealth. A cult made up of big-name executives, highly-paid entertainers, and others are there, worshiping the god Moloch. The baby is to be the latest sacrifice made by this newest acolyte. Malachi manages to invoke old laws, and make a point that there are certain lines that are not to be crossed, while avoiding an all-out war with another god whose worship extends back to the time when the world was young, and many powerful entities walked the earth.

Every time you save an innocent, you get a new feather on your wings.

Ideally I wanted to dip a toe into the water to see if Malachi was popular enough as a character (and if folks wanted to see a modern fantasy setting that focused on Middle Eastern gods and mythologies rather than the usual Celtic, Norse, etc., gods that permeate the genre) to warrant writing novels about. Since The Rejects is a relatively small short story collection that hasn't gotten a lot of reads and reviews, I figured that making an audio drama version of this tale might breathe a little life into Malachi and get folks interested in more of his adventures.

Then The Q-Anon People Arrived

If you don't live in America you may be less familiar with the political movement/crackpot conspiracy referred to as Q-Anon. An extremely truncated version is that an anonymous person claiming to have/be a secret source in the United States government started dropping tidbits of information they claimed revealed deep-seated wickedness not just in the government apparatus, but around the world. The conspiracy reads like a greatest-hits of the most unhinged ideas that people have ever believed in America, rolling up the remnants of the Satanic Panic, The New World Order, antisemitic conspiracies like the Protocols of The Elders of Zion used by the Nazi party during WWII... basically, if you can find something absolutely absurd that Americans have used to make themselves feel in on some kind of worldwide secret, its DNA has wound up in the Q-Anon movement somewhere.

Buried in a lot of the various parts of this conspiracy is an obsession with protecting children. Not in real, meaningful ways like backing policies that would improve schooling, or fund community centers, or ensure that school lunch is free to all, or preventing school shootings, though. Rather, Q-Anon uses children as victims of extreme situations that are just as absurd as the monsters in most fantasy novels. Perhaps the most ridiculous of these is the Adrenachrome conspiracy theory, which posits that leaders of the Democratic Party, so-called Hollywood elites, and others who aren't aligned with Q-Anon's politics, kill children in Satanic rituals in order to harvest their blood, and then either drink or inject it in order to keep themselves younger and extend their lifespan.

This conspiracy theory states, with a straight face, that anyone who isn't ring-wing enough in their political believes is a literal devil-worshiping vampire. I could not, in my wildest imaginings, come up with something that utterly ridiculous... so I'm more than a little annoyed that this seems to be the crowd that was most responsive to my story.

Moloch Isn't The Democrats... It's Capitalism

Judging from the comments folks were leaving, they completely misinterpreted the symbolism I was trying to go for, and what was being said in this story. All they seemed to see was that an angel (which they identified as a hero) kicked open the door to a cult meeting, killed a guy who had kidnapped a baby to sacrifice it, and then left, saving that kid from a grisly demise.

And that does happen... but it seemed like a lot of their takes were that this was a, "Hollywood is full of groomers," story, or, "Yeah, show those liberal elites that God is coming for them," story. It is, to be very clear, neither of those things. What it is however, it an indictment of capitalism, the power of the wealthy, and how most of those who abuse their authority are never punished for their actions.

You know, noir shit.

Rank has its privilege, as the saying goes.

I could have set this story in Chicago or New York just as easily as Los Angeles, but I chose it primarily because L.A. is one of the cities with the richest history of noir stories, and because a literal angel in the City of Angels amused me. I did not choose it to make some statement on the so-called liberal corruption of Hollywood, and how it's a godless place that's lost its way.

Is Hollywood corrupt? Absolutely! From abuse of performers, to sleazy backroom deals, to the exploitation of children, Los Angeles is famously corrupt... and that's just in the real world. But that corruption doesn't just come out of nowhere. It is, by and large, caused by pursuit of the almighty dollar. It's caused by people trying to take land, to exploit their workers, by always trying to double-cross someone in a business deal, or to get special exemption for their particular sins. The very reason Hollywood is the center of the American film industry, after all, is because people making movies didn't want to pay Thomas Edison the fees for using his camera, so they set up on the opposite coast and told him to come and get it if the money meant so much to him.

But back to the story.

Who is Moloch? As a god, he's a king that gives wealth and material success to those who sacrifice to him. In the old days this was rain, crops, and good animals, but in the modern world it's become gold, record deals, movie contracts, and high-yield stock portfolios. And people who come to him sacrifice children for his favor... but the driver Malachi is following isn't one of these elite. He isn't some hungry young star trying to make a name for himself. He's a down-on-his-luck social worker kidnapping kids to try to trade them for a step up the ladder.

It's a single, throwaway line, but in it we see a lot about the L.A. that Malachi lives in, and how it isn't too far from the one in the real world. We see that social workers aren't well paid, and that they don't have either upward mobility in their field, or any kind of guarantee on basic necessities. We see a system so overcrowded by orphaned and unwanted children that when they go missing no one seems to notice or care. We see a world where people are desperate, and where if they lose their jobs there's nothing to stop them from ending up on the street before they can try to get back on their feet. We also see that it's the guy on the bottom, the one who didn't have the money, resources, or prestige, who gets punished when he gets caught by an authority figure. The rest of the cabal did far worse than Manny did, and while they might be scared of what Malachi could do to them, they know they're functionally untouchable. They have the protection of their king, and angel or no, Malachi can't take that head-on even if he might want to.

Moloch represents a corrupt hierarchy of wealth, and those whose power insulates them from the consequences of their actions. He's capitalism, and the way that those who climb high enough in the pecking order are basically above the law more often than not. It represents everything an angel of the lord should be against, given how the gospels demanded giving away wealth, feeding the people, caring for your neighbor, and loving one another.

So, if that sounds like the sort of thing you'd get a kick out of, give the video a watch, and subscribe to my Daily Motion channel! These things are hard as hell to put together, so getting the numbers to justify the time and energy to put together the next one would help. And if you find yourself in the market for even more audio dramas, check out the Azukail Games YouTube channel where I've got 20 some-odd more of them for your listening pleasure!

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Craft of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list. 

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!

Tales From The Sellsword Skull, A Potential Podcast

For folks who are out of the loop, I've been dealing with one shoe dropping after another this month. I've been exiled to a hotel while my apartment is under construction (something neither I, nor my cat, are particularly thrilled about), there have been shake-ups at one of the companies that hosts a lot of my work, and Eric Flint has recently passed away. Though I never met the man personally, he seems well regarded, and with his passing the publishing house he ran has closed up shop... so I now have to find new homes for three of my novels that are (or rather were) on the market.

To say that it's been a stressful few weeks is a bit of an understatement.

So, what's coming next?

For those who don't know me, though, my brain reacts to intense stress by coming up with new projects for me to take on. And while my plate is already pretty full, my gray matter has decided that I can squeeze just one more thing onto it... if I can get you all behind me as readers and listeners, that is.

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Tales From The Sellsword Skull!

All right, all right, so it's a work in progress. Whether that is the final name for the project or not, the idea is still the same. In short, my current plan (once I'm home from World Con next month) is to sit down at my desk with my mic and my editing software, blow the dust off some of my old books, and to make audio versions of some of my previously-published stories. Generally speaking I want to take the skills I've been developing while making short audio dramas for the Azukail Games YouTube channel (which you should totally go follow, by the by), and apply them to something longer, wilder, and which may not have gotten as much love.

For those of you who haven't heard any of these yet, check out The Price of Steel from my Sellswords of Sundara RPG release below!

Now, once these longer audio dramas have been completed (several of which are coming out of my collection The Rejects if you haven't gotten yourself a copy yet), my plan is to submit them over on Daily Motion. For those who are wondering why that site, it's because I'm not allowed to get paid by YouTube personally, since I can't hold an AdSense account. Once the wheels are turning on this (call it Phase One), that's when I want to initiate Phase Two. Which is, drumroll please...

A podcast.

The first season of the cast will be the Sample Platter of short stories, available on all the different platforms for listener convenience. However, the second season is going to feature my ongoing series The Silver Raven Chronicles, detailing my group's run through the Hell's Rebels adventure path. Links below if you haven't checked that out for yourself yet! And after that story is wrapped up... well, that's going to largely depend on you, the audience. If a lot of folks are tuning in, asking for more, and making suggestions, I'll keep the project going! If not, though, I'll probably turn my attention to something else once we've reached that point.

So if you've enjoyed the little pieces I've been putting out, but you'd like something a bit more substantial, stay tuned! And, as always, any and all signal boosts to reach folks' eyes and ears is appreciated, as it takes thousands of hits to earn any money, and tens of thousands of hits to get one's bills paid.

- Part One: Devil's Night

- Part Two: From The Ashes

- Part Three: The Raven's Nest

- Part Four: Circles in Salt

Now that you've gotten a bit of a sneak preview as to what should be coming up, feel free to make requests in the comment section below, or to leave requests if there's something particular you'd like to see me add to this project going forward!

Like, Follow, and Stay Tuned!

That's all for this week's Business of Writing!

If you'd like to see more of my work, take a look at my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife as well as my recent collection The Rejects!

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!

Twists Aren't Required in a Story, Short or Otherwise

Short stories are everywhere. From the days of the pulps up through the constant anthology calls publishers big and small put out, to forums across the Internet specializing in everything from creepy pastas to fan fiction, these truncated tales take many forms. While I've got a handful of novels under my belt at time of writing, most of my published work has actually been in the form of short fiction. Because of that, there's a habit I've noticed among a lot of writers who tend to work in smaller word counts... namely, it's an attempt to put a twist into your story.

For some stories, that's a good idea. However, it's not something you need to do every, single time. Trust me, if you feel obligated to have a twist, pretty soon it becomes the focal point of your efforts instead of just telling a good story.

Check this out for some of my bona fides on the subject.

Before we get into it this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron!

Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Beware The Tricksy Twist

For folks who don't know me, I grew up watching anthology sci fi and horror programs. From The Twilight Zone, to Tales From The Crypt, to The Outer Limits, this was where I was most comfortable.

Anyone who is familiar with with these programs probably knows that they often deal in twist endings to make a point. From the infamous Eye of The Beholder (where the woman beneath bandages is beautiful by our standards and hideous by those of the day she lives in) to Werewolf Concerto (where it turns out that the man on the trail of the werewolf is, himself, the werewolf... and the beautiful femme fatale we've been suspecting the whole story is actually a vampire) twists were these programs' stock in trade.

Plot twists like these are no mean feat to pull off, especially when you're working in text rather than a visual medium. Using tricks like word choice, perspective, careful framing of a situation, etc., you can still pull it off. With that said, however, it's all too easy to become obsessed with the twist rather than treating it as a component of the story itself.

Let's take the video above as a perfect example. The entire story builds suspense about the character's appearance. She's tried everything she can, and she's desperate to fix what's wrong with her. All the while she's reassured by doctors and nurses whose faces we never see. It builds this sense of foreboding, but it also puts all of our focus on her. So when our protagonist finally reveals her movie star beauty, we're momentarily relieved that all her struggles have come to fruition... until we're slammed back down, realizing that this is the hideous visage she sought to change! She then flees, and we see the legions of people who all have the same face. We see the fascist speech given by their dear leader about conformity to a single norm. We see her terror that she won't be accepted... that through no fault of her own she's been culled. Rendered an outsider. An Other.

The twist exists as a hammer to drive home the greater points being made by the episode about beauty standards, society, acceptance, and a slew of other social issues.

However, before you focus on the twist in your story, ask yourself if the story is served by a twist. Does the twist disarm your audience, leaving them vulnerable to the ending you're about to hit them with? Or are you just jerking them around? Because a twist needs to serve the overall narrative, and improve the story as a whole. But it's all too easy for us to focus on the twist as the end goal in and of itself, rather than as a tool we're using to enhance the story.

How do you know if you're doing that? Well the symptoms might vary from person to person, but for me a sure sign was that I was focusing on reaching the twist so I could get to the good part. This left other parts of the story underdeveloped and anemic, thus rendering the twist even less effective because the story hadn't been good up until that point. Additionally, if a twist seems to exist only for the sake of there being a twist, it's going to have a much smaller impact on the reader.

Always focus on the story itself. If it needs a twist, then give it one that really slaps your reader in the face! And if it doesn't? Well, there's no law that says you need one... especially if it makes the story stronger not to.

In The Market For More Short Stories?

If you're one of those folks who enjoys short fiction (or unique novels) consider checking out some of my other work! Starting with my ongoing fantasy series The Silver Raven Chronicles!

- Part One: Devil's Night: A ghost haunts the streets of Kintargo. It's gotten bad enough that many Dottari won't go into the old district of the city. Tonight one of them finds out why.

- Part Two: From The Ashes: After a night of burning, the new lord mayor addresses the public of a city that doesn't want him here. Chaos and violence erupt, and a resistance movement is galvanized.

- Part Three: The Raven's Nest: The so-called Silver Ravens need a base of operations if they're going to resist the occupation of Thrune... while this smuggler's cove might do, there are complications involved in using it.

- Part Four: Circles in Salt: The Ghost joins the Silver Ravens in a bold assault on a prison complex. Who, or what, he is remains shrouded in mystery, though.

If you're looking for some additional reading in the mean time don't forget to check out my full Vocal archive, as well as some of my other stories linked below!

- The Irregulars: My official contribution to the Pathfinder Tales, The Irregulars follows an Andoran unit as they throw a wrench into the gears of Molthune's war machine.

- Waking Dogs- A World Eaters Tale: For my fans of Warhammer 40K, this is a story I felt compelled to tell about one of the infamous World Eaters remembering who he once was. It was also dramatized by the channel A Vox in The Void, for those who enjoy audio renditions.

- Crier's Knife: My sword and sorcery novel, we follow Dirk Crier as he sets out to collect his wayward cousin from parts unknown. Dark tidings lie ahead, but those who stand in his way will learn why the mountain folk say only a dead man crosses a Crier.

- Marked Territory and Painted Cats: Join Leo as he gets roped into other people's problems on the mean streets of NYC. A Maine coon with a bad habit of getting curious, explore the world of street beasts in these nasty little noir mysteries!

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Craft of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my cat noir novel Marked Territory, its sequel Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list. 

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!

Neal Litherland Reads "Dressing The Flesh" From His New Collection "The Rejects"

There's been a lot of disruption going on, and folks around the country and the world are staying indoors to try to mitigate the toll taken by the current pandemic. And while there are medical personnel working round the clock, scientists devising tests, and stockers and truckers are doing their best to keep the supply lines going, artists of all stripes are stepping up to help stop people from despairing. From TV shows, to video games, to books, everyone is trying to do their part to make sure there's distraction and entertainment aplenty during this particularly gray time.

And since I'm not a trained medical person, nor am I helping keep supply lines moving, I wanted to do my part to keep everyone entertained. So last night I put together a reading in my lair of the first story in The Rejects. So, without further ado, folks looking for a dark little drama should lean back, and take a listen to "Dressing The Flesh."

Also, big thanks to Dungeon Keeper Radio for hosting the video, as I'd originally intended to just upload it here to my blog, but it seems that this video is more than three times what Blogger will allow you to just toss into the middle of an article sight unseen.

And before I forget, for all those who want to make being read to more of a thing, I recommend checking out Audible gift memberships. We've got a lot of hours to fill, these days, and we may as well spend them listening to stories that take us away.

What Else Would You Like To See?

As I've said previously, things are a little up in the air at the moment. As such, my goal is to try to help provide as much entertainment for folks out there as I can. So I'm asking you what sort of content would be most helpful to you going forward?

Seriously, you all have my attention, here.

If folks are looking for recommendations and giveaways, I could add those in as features. If you enjoyed my reading, I'd be happy to do more (perhaps partnering with Dungeon Keeper Radio, if they and their audience would like to hear more from me), and to direct you all to other authors I know who are providing similar uploads. I'm also more than happy to talk about how this whole situation has changed the professional dynamics of the industry, along with giving general break downs of tropes and writing devices.

So, what sounds good? My ears are open.

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Craft of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my short story collection The Rejects!

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!

The Pros and Cons of Using Tabletop RPGs as a Writing Tool

Tabletop roleplaying games have been around for decades now, and at this particular moment they're undergoing something of a resurgence in popularity. Between shows like Stranger Things, which heavily feature Dungeons and Dragons, and the popularity of online live play shows like Critical Role, it seems that more people than ever before are getting into this particular hobby.

Believe me, we are happy to have every one of you!

If you're a fan of genre fiction, though, you've likely noticed the impact tabletop RPGs have had for some time. Writers like R.A. Salvatore, Ed Greenwood, as well as Chris A. Jackson, are known for their novels that explore the settings these games take place in, for example. Additionally, many of these games will adopt popular fictional settings, from Tolkien's Middle Earth to the Known World of A Song of Ice and Fire, and give players the chance to forge their own tales in realms they've only read about before.

A lot of folks use these games as ways to test out story ideas, character concepts, and to help them build worlds. However, there are good sides and bad sides to using RPGs when it comes to your writing.

The Pros

Just take a drink... what can it hurt?

Before we get started, I'd like to establish some bona fides. First, I've been playing RPGs on the regular for about fifteen years or so. I'm also a content creator for these games, with modules like The Curse of Sapphire Lake for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition, and supplements like 100 NPCs You Might Meet at The Tavern on the market right now. Lastly, I've used several games to explore characters and ideas for stories, such as in "Jungle Moon" and "Dead Man's Bluff," both found in my latest release The Rejects. I also run the gaming blog Improved Initiative.

This is a topic I know a little something about, is what I'm trying to say.

So, from the pro side of things there are a lot of benefits for writers who take up tabletop roleplaying games. First and foremost is that these games exercise your creativity (often in ways you don't expect). They let you experiment with personalities, archetypes, character arcs, and histories, getting all the reps you need to pump up your imagination. These games also give you a sandbox to play around in, testing out different ideas and structures to see what most appeals to you. Perhaps most importantly, though, these games are group affairs, so you can play off all the other folks involved, get feedback from them, and build off of the collective activity.

And that's just what you get from being a player.

If you take the extra step to become the dungeon master (the person who runs the bad guys, voices all the other characters, and generally breathes life into the setting) you can learn a whole new set of skills. Everything from constructing narratives, to filling plot holes, to making the world feel real and lived-in are things you learn how to do when you sit behind the screen. And while the extra character creation and world building are good practice, you also learn how to cover all the details when it comes to the world. Because when your players ask you what the history of a particular symbol is, or what kind of sewer system the city of Karoka has, you learn there's always more going on in the world than what you think to put on the page.

The Cons

Oh god... not again!

Before you get too enthused at the idea that a DND boot camp will turn you into a brilliant novelist, I'd like to let a little air out of your balloons. Not all of it, of course, but there are some genuine traps I've seen a lot of writers fall into you need to be aware of, and that you need to watch for in your own work if you use tabletop games as your training ground for writing.

Keep all of these things in mind, because they'll save you a lot of time, trouble, and frustration along the way.

First and foremost, you need to know where the lines are in a game so that you don't end up using someone else's intellectual property. I've talked with dozens of different RPG players who were going to write novels about their favorite characters or adventures who didn't realize until someone pointed it out that everything from the names on the map to the gods of the realm are the intellectual property of the company who created the game. So unless you're writing the book for that publisher (great work, if you can get it), you're going to have to go through and scrub everything in order to make sure nothing you can be sued over makes its way into the final product. And depending on how intimately your story is connected to this specific setting, that might torpedo your whole project.

Another problem I see a lot of writers deal with is that when they base their books off of RPGs they often end up with a distinct RPG feel to them, which can introduce a flavor to their stories they may not even realize is there at first. For example, roleplaying games generally have tiered threats and achievements, with the player characters growing in power over the course of the story. So they start off protecting towns from goblin raids, and end the story fighting god-like wizards for the fate of the world. Now, there's nothing wrong with that kind of escalation, but if your story has definite periods where the party "levels up" in threats and powers, just happening to discover new abilities when they most need them, that can impose a structure you weren't intending on your narrative.

Where the hell did all this come from?

Speaking of unintentional structure, another issue folks who try to write stories and novels based off their gaming experiences run into is adopting the framework of the game for how things work in their books. As an example, in fantasy RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons or Pathfinder your spellcasters have a certain number of spell slots per day they can use for their magic. This is meant to keep things fair in the context of a game's challenge, but it isn't necessarily something a story will benefit from. If your protagonist is a wizard, though, and that limitation has been part of their character since their inception, you might simply adopt this Vancian magic system out of reflex. The same is true with iconic magic items, the special abilities of the monk, or the rage of the barbarian; if you get too steeped in how things work in the game, you often end up copying and pasting those elements into your story without asking whether they're helping or hurting.

To be clear, that's not inherently a bad thing. There is, after all, an entire genre of Lit RPG books which are supposed to feel like you're reading an RPG campaign. But if you aren't doing it on purpose, it likely won't make your book better.

Lastly, something I would recommend to those looking to use RPGs to enhance their writing is to test out concepts and ideas, rather than simply recording the events of a campaign and then writing them in a more engaging prose format. Part of the reason for this is because (with very few exceptions) you are not the only one at the table, and the other players may not take kindly to having their characters wind up in your work. This goes double if you're the dungeon master, because then it feels like you ran the game so your friends could write your book for you. Learn how to test specific elements and ideas, and to take those things out of the game, polish them, refine them, and spin a book about them.

You get a lot more mileage out of this approach.

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Craft of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my short story collection The Rejects!

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!