Saying Goodbye

Brad wants you to pick up Seasons in the Abyss.

THANK YOU, thank you, thank you to everyone who picked up Seasons in the Abyss and gave it a nice launch yesterday!

I know LitRPG isn't for everyone. The hard stuff (lots o' stats and mind-numbing explanations of game mechanics) isn't for me either. I tried to strike a balance between that sort of stuff and telling a story about characters people will love with the Brad books. That made the hardcore LitRPG fans hate the series. Not sad about that. The trick is finding enough of my readers who like my other types of fantasy to give my LitRPG a try. Some did. Not enough, sadly. Thus, the series ended with this third adventure.

But, I'll tell you what. I'm proud of this series. It's THE MOST fun I've ever had writing a book series. The entire series had to be crunched into this final book (thus it's nearly 1,000-page count). But the story is so full, it's rich.

Some of those scenes that readers will go through in this last book... man, they were killer to write. Pulling on my heartstrings. Hard. I swore, I'd only create characters and stories that made me emotionally go on a rollercoaster of a ride. If I couldn't FEEL for their plight, if saying goodbye to some of them didn't send me into temporary depression, there was no point in wasting time writing their story.

There were times during writing Seasons in the Abyss that I went deeper than I ever had with any character. Some of this stuff came from places in me I hadn't tapped into in years. Some maybe I shouldn't have tapped.

All that to say that I hope it takes everyone on a wickedly epic ride through all your emotions as well. If I don't make readers cry, get angry, choke up, guffaw, eye roll at corny jokes, or feel empowered to change their world with this book, then I've failed the reader.

But, unlike me, Brad and Slash didn't fail. I firmly believe every author has to write for themselves first and foremost. If we're only writing the story because it's a hot market or sells far better (cough, romance) than our beloved market (fantasy), it becomes a job. This series never was for me. When I closed with the famous last words (the end), I was emotionally drained, yet satisfied. Sort of like how Zeke feels after a super platter of chicken wings.

I'm at peace with that and will always consider the way this series ends as my favorite (sorry, Thornbane, you were great, but this is perfect).

Okay, if I haven't convinced you to try the Brad the Impaler series because you don't think LitRPG is for you, and you like my urban/epic fantasy, I'm simply shouting into the void at this point. Thanks for liking my other stuff, though. ;)For those of you who have started, or are currently reading the series, thank you for being part of the most important story I've told to date!

Be epic!