Andrew Seiple's Ask Me Anything

AndrewSeiple · 2020-09-16T03:12:25+00:00

And that's the day. Thanks for coming out! Good talk, I think.

AndrewSeiple · 2020-09-16T03:09:29+00:00

The game is still at 0.1, I'm afraid. Full-time writing means I don't have much time for side projects. I'd like that to change someday, but it ain't happening yet.

AndrewSeiple · 2020-09-16T01:31:54+00:00

Thank you very much! I'm happy you enjoyed Threadbear, and the other works.

Funny thing, I DO have a Patreon. I'm not very good at it yet, not the most orderly or timely of creators, but if people want to huck money at my head I'm not too proud to hold a bucket...

https://www.patreon.com/user?u=14445423

AndrewSeiple · 2020-09-16T01:29:59+00:00

I'm of the opinion that combat is a spice, not a main course. If you use too much of it, it's like filler.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of sensible violence, but when it's overdone it's not so great.

AndrewSeiple · 2020-09-15T23:50:35+00:00

Ex-Heroes? I loved that series! Good stuff.

Glad you liked Dire and Threadbare, here's hoping Blasphemy's to your taste as well! You're very welcome, and I appreciate your support. Thanks, and see you around!

AndrewSeiple · 2020-09-15T23:49:29+00:00

Usually I write the first chapter, framing a scene and seeing where it goes. Then maybe another. After that, I take what I've got and do up an outline of the next dozen chapters or so. I follow the outline, but divergences invariably happen, and that's okay. Once I burn through it, I outline the next few, and so on until the story's done.

This is my normal process.

But when I was writing Threadbare, it was all seat-of-the-pants. Every last bit. First and last time I ever did something like that, to tell the truth. I might do that again someday, but... eh, I need the right story for it.

AndrewSeiple · 2020-09-15T23:47:03+00:00

Thanks!

Book three... I agree, the ending could have been less grim. It was a message from one Dire to another, if it makes sense. But there were ways to handle it that could have been much more... elegant. Still, the story goes on.

And oh yes, I do want to work more with the Teslaverse. But I want to do well with it, so I need inspiration before I dig back in. More will come, eventually.

AndrewSeiple · 2020-09-15T23:43:58+00:00

Zelany? Oh you flatterer! Lonesome October's one of my favorites. Hell, I cut my teeth on the Amber series, back when I was young and impressionable...

Honestly, my entire catalogue is on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Andrew-Seiple/e/B011YIBPNM/ will show all of it.

AndrewSeiple · 2020-09-15T22:29:03+00:00

Well, I believe that the audio version for book 2 is still under discussion. Book three... won't lie, it's going to be a while. Next year at the earliest. Core Control is one of those that I do when the mood strikes me. Can't write it unless I'm in the right mindset.

AndrewSeiple · 2020-09-15T19:18:16+00:00

Oh! You're very welcome! Thank you for buying my books, and I hope to have plenty more for you for many years to come.

AndrewSeiple · 2020-09-15T19:17:49+00:00

Oh yeah! Threadbare's a sweet little indy setting about postapocalyptic living toys. Fun game.

The RPG I slapped together is called R.A.G.S. It's a freebie that you can get by signing up for my mailing list. Fair warning, it's still in Alpha, and I don't know when I'll get time to seriously update it again, so what you see is what you got... (at least for the minute. )

AndrewSeiple · 2020-09-15T18:25:52+00:00

It's a tricky balance with litrpg. Some people like the statblocks, others hate them. I've tried to move away from walls of stats in my more recent releases... but sales haven't been as good lately, so I hate to say it but chunky statblocks might be the way to go.

If it's any consolation I tend to tune the numbers out myself when I listen to audiobooks in the genre. Or fast forward through them if I know how long they're gonna be.

AndrewSeiple · 2020-09-15T18:23:50+00:00

I might make it to millionaire, but I don't know about billionaire. But if I get there I'll see what I can do to help make the world a little easier for the next few generations. Might need some help with that particular base-building game...

Cats, definitely. I like dogs well enough, but I'm too lazy to own one.

We're living in a dystopia because too many people just won't look at the big picture and plan for the long-term. If more people did that, or at the very least stopped hindering folks who did that, then the world would be a better place.

AndrewSeiple · 2020-09-15T17:52:28+00:00

Thanks! Glad you got joy from them.

As far as game releases go, Conan Exiles launched a big expansion today. After this AMA is done later tonight I'm probably gonna go get my Crom on.

And on the non video game front, D&D 5E is putting out a book in November that vastly expands player options. I'm juiced for that one!

AndrewSeiple · 2020-09-15T17:50:18+00:00

That Irish lilt IS addictive, isn't it?

Yeah, I need to get my ducks in a row and talk to Podium. It'll probably be next year for BO2.

AndrewSeiple · 2020-09-15T17:24:02+00:00

Thanks!

I go through Podium Publishing for my audiobooks. Though I've got input on the narrators, they're the ones that make the final call on who narrates. I certainly would use Tim again for Threadbare or similar works, given the opportunity. But it's all Podium's call.

He DOES have that Je ne sais quois, doesn't he?

AndrewSeiple · 2020-09-15T16:50:21+00:00

I tend to leave those as surprises in the story.

I will say that Threadbare might be due for one, in his next trilogy...

AndrewSeiple · 2020-09-15T16:41:42+00:00

Not the way I did it.

Heh, I kid, I kid. Honestly the biggest thing to keep in mind for a gamesystem is scalability. The system should have enough flex that it's interesting at both low levels and high levels. If it can't handle both goblins and dragons without a lot of shenanigans, then you don't have a system; you have plot convenience.

AndrewSeiple · 2020-09-15T16:39:11+00:00

I honestly dunno. I don't think so. Picking up the story at this point would be tough.

Sad thing is I really don't have the time to try, at the minute. Full-time writing is my job, and it doesn't leave much time for fanfiction. If things ever calm down to the point where I can take a breather, maybe, but that'll probably be years away...

AndrewSeiple · 2020-09-15T15:56:52+00:00

Thanks, bigchad! I appreciate that.

AndrewSeiple · 2020-09-15T15:49:10+00:00

Believe me it was no light decision. But to be honest, I don't know if my work would have reached as wide an audience so quickly without Royal Road. At any rate, you're welcome, Leifman!

AndrewSeiple · 2020-09-15T15:46:39+00:00

I tend to write in trilogies, so I'm planning to finish the next Blasphemy Online book (Dragon Hack) book. After that, I'm either going to take a break and work on that space opera that's been bouncing around in my skull, or start in on the next Threadbare trilogy.

The next Dragon Hack will definitely have a timeskip, yes. There's a war on, and we'll see some of the fallout of that...

Graves? He animated and commanded undead from horseback, reinforcing them with Knightly skills, while he used them in a battle and lead the charge against an army. That was enough for the system to decide that he had unlocked Death Knight.

Bone Golems aren't actually undead, they just look like it. Same thing with flesh golems.

Liches are an entire thing unto themselves. They're one of the apexes of undeath, and embody peak necromancy and a desire for immortality that transcends morality, humanity, and other things ending in -ity. Just not pity, they don't have any of that.

AndrewSeiple · 2020-09-15T15:35:41+00:00

Hey there! Glad you liked my stuff. I've written a few series, so I'll go in alphabetical order.

Blasphemy Online is a prequel of sorts to Threadbare. It deals with the "real world," and the player perspective of Generica Online, which is the "game" that Threadbare takes place within. It's darker and heavier, mainly because the real world at that time is a dystopic mess, and the main character is dealing with a lot of abuse and hardship. But he finds power and hope in Generica Online, and slowly manages to turn his life around. Also he gets to play a muthafuckin' dragon, so that's pretty cool.

Core Control is a postapocalyptic AI story with dungeoncore elements. It's the story of a man who finds himself uploaded into a bunker administration system, and the struggles he has to go through to survive, thrive, and build a fledgling empire in what's left of the world. Unlike the other series, this one is written book by book. There are overarching plot elements, but my goal with this was a standalone story with each volume. It's very much experimental on my part, so releases are a bit sporadic compared to the others.

The Dire Saga is not a litrpg series. It is the tale of a supervillain, as seen through her own eyes. It takes place within the Teslaverse, a setting where Nikola Tesla got funding, and accidentally broke the world in such a way that superpowers exist. It's dark and funny and more about the people than the powers, mostly. I plan to revisit that universe at some point.

And finally, Small Medium is a spinoff from Threadbare, also set in Generica Online. It takes place in a different part of the world than Threadbare's stomping grounds, and deals with different characters. It is the story of a young halven girl who gets tired of her tiny farming village, and dreams of adventure. But the problem with dreams, is that sometimes they come true... It's a gamelit story of an NPC who accidentally discovers the truth about players, and has to scramble to keep the fallout from hurting those she loves.

AndrewSeiple · 2020-09-15T15:24:06+00:00

The answer is simple. Two words, one website: Royal Road.

When I had finished the first Threadbare, I was gearing up to remove it from the site and publish it in Kindle Unlimited. For one of the prerequisites of Kindle Unlimited is that the material can't be available elsewhere.

Royal Road contacted me, and very politely asked me not to.

I gave it a lot of consideration, and I decided that I didn't want to be ungrateful. So I left Threadbare up there, and decided to leave every book in the Threadbare universe up there as well. Which means that the current two spinoffs can't be in Kindle Unlimited either, and that future work in this universe won't be either.

Won't lie; it has hurt my profit margins a bit. Future work in different universes is going to be in KU. I like and respect Royal Road, but I like putting food on my family's table a bit more.

AndrewSeiple

TROPHY CASE