Time Flies like a Chronological Banana

Work proceeds apace on the fleshing out of the Repossession Files world, and getting myself into the headspace for writing. My normal reward for completing a book - reading a new book - turned instead into listening to the first few books in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman. Been a while since a universe captured my fascination with such a degree of obsession. Yikes. So much fun. Huge shout out to Jeff Hays, the wildly talented voice actor for the audiobooks. Dude has some mad skills.

Discovering this subgenre - LitRPG - is an intriguing creative exercise. I’d never really read anything in this genre before, and it made me re-explore my understanding and appreciation for genre-as-style. Going into these new books is forcing me to put this idea to the test, as the new books look to be carved out in a noir-lite concept. First person, present tense, a bit of gruff poetic license - all well and good, but I’m also including a bit of comedy to balance out the tone, and I’m also presenting these out in a serialized sensibility. I’ve already penciled out the first 4 books, including A-D plots into 2-4. At the same time, I’m pulling back on some of the explicit world design exposition. Like, I’ve already built out the framework for 3 of the main divine organizations in the Para Cultures, with more than a half-dozen minor entities also waiting in the wings.

And the lingering concern I’m having at this point is my intention to focus less on the Genre and more on the substantive character arcs. I guess it’s turning into a series inspired by Indiana Jones, Warehouse 13, and Percy Jackson (the books and TV show, not the movies), but with a tone referential to The Maltese Falcon or Blade Runner.

Building out a playlist already - did I already mention this? - built upon 80/90s songs covered by 2020’s bands, plus a bit of international vibing and 1930-1970s jazz. Such a weird vibe, but I’m digging it. And since the first chapter takes place in Mexico, I’m even plugging in a few pop songs covered by Hispocantantes.

As we get closer, I’ll post a link to the Playlist - because posting the playlist itself would be… substantial. There’s already more than 11 hours of music in the list, so… maybe I’ll just include a list here of the highlights. Putting a pin in that.

Okay, so that’s the logistical update. Oh, and this week marks the official launch of Tales of the Dead Man, Book 3: Sea & Shadow.

And I had a birthday, so that’s something too. Sure beats the alternative, right?

Have a great day, my fellow travelers. I hope all is well, and, if it is not, I hope it will be better soon.