Gather round Adventurers.
August has come and gone, and what a month it was. While I am still working away on my usual projects I have mentioned before, I decided to come up with a crazy idea. Inspired by how Codex Alera was inspired by a bet to create a story based on Pokemon mixed with a Lost Roman Legion, I wanted to get my teeth stuck in to a similar project.
I asked my followers to give me two suggestions, a franchise and a setting. I then randomised the pots and rolled two D20’s to determine what my next project would be inspired by. Well… the results are in. I’ll be writing a book based on The Office mixed with The Lost City of Atlantis.
It’s quite the combination, and something I would never have come up with, but here we are. The good news is that I have already got to work, making my notes with ideas, and think I have the bones for the story set out. You can follow along on my socials for updates as they happen. However, as promised, I said that subscribers to my substack would be able to vote on further plot points, and so that first vote is now open.
So what will you be voting on? Well, we’ll need to create our own Dunder Mufflin, which means we’re going to have to give it a name.
A few things to know before you vote. In this story, instead of a paper company, it will be an ink company. It’s also worth noting that the story will be set in a fantasy setting. I have come up with a few options for you to choose between, so please, click the link here to have your say.
I’m really looking forward to sharing more details with you as the story progresses and will be putting out the first of those updates in the coming days, so keep your eyes peeled.
As for other bits of August news. What happened? Well, I made my first guest appearance on a podcast, which was an amazing experience. I can’t wait for you all to see/hear the result, so make sure to check out the What’s Your Weird podcast hosted by Griffin (it’s a great show and he is an incredible host). I also got to work more on the sequel to my upcoming sci-fi book, meaning I should have the first two books in the series ready to launch next year.
Outside of writing it was a fairly quiet month. I haven’t managed to digest nearly as much nerdy content as I would have liked. I did get my hands on Star Wars: Zero Company just a few days ago and have played it a tad. I am a massive XCOM 2 fan, it is right up there among my favourite games of all time, so gameplay wise, this was an easy transition for me to make. There are a few performance issues I’m hoping get fixed in a patch, and there are one or two aspects I am questioning, but for the most part I am really enjoying it. I won’t go out and give a full review yet as my playtime is quite low, so once I’ve got stuck in more I’ll be able to give a better indication of how I found it.
As for movies and TV, it was all quiet on my nerdy front. I’d like to say it was because the weather was so nice that I spent all my time outside, but in reality it was just the trials that come with parenthood. I’m sure that will only get better when I have two… right?
Anyway, I shall keep this update short and sweet as I will be pestering you with further updates about the upcoming project. Please do take the time to vote on a company name. It will take a few seconds and gives you the chance to influence the world for this story.
As always, thank you for taking the time to read this and remember that a subscription here and a follow on my socials goes a really long way.
Until next time.
JTK