“There are love stories in the underground. I’ll tell you one if you want.” – from ‘The Case of George the Curious’
With those words, we kick off my very first short story publication in the upcoming anthology called The Lost from Galileo Games. Set in the haunting world of Jeff Himmelman‘s indie RPG Kingdom of Nothing, The Lost is a set of stories about those adrift in the underground places of the world, set apart from mankind and forgotten. With the stunning cover designed by Jeff Himmelman himself, the anthology will benefit City Harvest, a charity doing good work to feed the transient and homeless population in New York. Others contributing to this great collection include my good friend CJ Malarsky, Peter Woodworth, Meg Jayanth, K.H. Vaughn, Stephen D. Rogers, Sarah Newton and more, all edited by the fantastic JR Blackwell and brought to you by Brennan Taylor.
The anthology is being funded over at IndieGoGo with all the details. You can check out the book trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGRVKoqKZkY
It has been a wonderful experience contributing to this collection. Way back in the day, I was a beta tester on Kingdom of Nothing when Jeff Himmelman was first developing the game and had the pleasure of watching the concept world and mechanics evolve into the touching and evocative game that KoN is today. More than anything, I was always impressed by the deference and respect Jeff designed KoN to convey to the plight of the homeless population. Never was there a question that the game would capitalize on the ‘drama’ of the story of a person who has lost much. The anthology continues that tradition of respect by giving back to those who need help the most.
It was with that respect in mind that I also wrote my story, ‘The Case of George the Curious’. I wanted to focus heavily on what it would be like to lose one’s self in the underground, having lost nearly everything to the Nothing that consumes the characters of this bleak world. Yet in the dark, there would be one last thing I didn’t want to see surrendered – and that was the chance at a love story. I will admit, I barely ever write love stories and this was a big challenge for me. I hope that people reading it will like it.
So come out to the IndieGoGo site and pledge some cash. You get an awesome anthology and for other pledges, you get some great games too from Galileo. So go ahead, and whatever you pledge, you’re contributing to a worthy cause. And if you get the chance, play Kingdom of Nothing. It’s a hell of a game.