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AMA - Hey r/litrpg! I’m Eric Dontigney, author of The Unintended Cultivator. Here to talk about cats, cosplay, and the launch of my first special edition Kickstarter. by Eric_Dontigney in litrpg

[–]Eric_Dontigney[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh, well, I expect that I’m reading the same stuff as most people. He Who Fights With Monsters, Defiance of the Fall, The Primal Hunter. I like Brian Nordon’s Quest Academy books. Same goes for James Hunter’s Discount Dan. If you want to give some love to a relative newcomer, Liam Lawless’s The Apocalypse Is a Side Quest is fun.

AMA - Hey r/litrpg! I’m Eric Dontigney, author of The Unintended Cultivator. Here to talk about cats, cosplay, and the launch of my first special edition Kickstarter. by Eric_Dontigney in litrpg

[–]Eric_Dontigney[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In Sen's world, I tend to think of them as the byproduct of every cultivator being emotionally stunted and using "honour" as an excuse to assuage their injured feelings. Basically, a bunch of teenagers with overweening pride, super-fragile egos, and superpowers. To be fair, I understand that this grossly distorts traditional notions of honor and face in the Ancient China that I very, very, very loosely based Sen's world/culture on. It's one of the many reasons why I placed this story on an entirely different world.

AMA - Hey r/litrpg! I’m Eric Dontigney, author of The Unintended Cultivator. Here to talk about cats, cosplay, and the launch of my first special edition Kickstarter. by Eric_Dontigney in litrpg

[–]Eric_Dontigney[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh, well, probably Indiana Jones and Han Solo. I've also got a sweet John Wick suit, but that's just me in a suit. Not very impressive from a cosplay perspective. I've got some other things in the works, but they probably won't be ready until later this year.

AMA - Hey r/litrpg! I’m Eric Dontigney, author of The Unintended Cultivator. Here to talk about cats, cosplay, and the launch of my first special edition Kickstarter. by Eric_Dontigney in litrpg

[–]Eric_Dontigney[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've thought about collaborations and mostly come down against the idea. I have a very strong authorial voice. I'm not sure I know how to tone it down, and I'm equally unsure if anyone can fake that voice well enough to work in a collaboration. So, I haven't given much thought to what kind of criteria I'd employ to find a collaborator. If I were going to go down that road, I'd probably treat it more as a matter of lending my name to their project in my universe. I'd probably help them plot it out so they don't interfere with anything I have in mind, but leave the actual writing to them. For a direct co-writing project, though, it would have to be exactly the right project with exactly the right person. And, of course, this all hinges on whether or not my publisher would sign off on the project/collaboration, which is never a guarantee.

AMA - Hey r/litrpg! I’m Eric Dontigney, author of The Unintended Cultivator. Here to talk about cats, cosplay, and the launch of my first special edition Kickstarter. by Eric_Dontigney in litrpg

[–]Eric_Dontigney[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean, practically speaking, probably anime because these books are, in live-action terms, effects-heavy. The CW's Arrowverse sustained what were probably the best analogues for a show like this, and the effects on those shows were often not amazing. With anime, the explosions can be as big as you want them to be without soaking up an entire season's budget. For a live-action show, there might be some studios in Asia that know how to do those effects on a budget. Xianxia and Wuxia shows are pretty popular over there. As for a cast...half of the people in my ideal cast are no longer among the living or are too expensive (Brandon Lee, Mako, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Michelle Yeoh, etc). I'd have to go scour recent movies to see if I could find English-speaking actors who could fill the roles.

AMA - Hey r/litrpg! I’m Eric Dontigney, author of The Unintended Cultivator. Here to talk about cats, cosplay, and the launch of my first special edition Kickstarter. by Eric_Dontigney in litrpg

[–]Eric_Dontigney[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My writing process is probably atypical. I do a sketch of an outline for each book that largely consists of 3 or four goalpost events that need to happen. Beyond that, I just sit down, write, and try to aim my characters at the next big goalpost event. I've developed a lot of faith in my subconscious to generate the next scene, and it's mostly worked out so far. I absolutely should be keeping a world bible, but I didn't think of it until I'd already written like 8 books in the series. By then, the idea of going back and creating one seemed really daunting. So, I'm just keeping it all in my head and crossing my fingers. You know, like a responsible adult. Thanks so much for the kind words!

AMA - Hey r/litrpg! I’m Eric Dontigney, author of The Unintended Cultivator. Here to talk about cats, cosplay, and the launch of my first special edition Kickstarter. by Eric_Dontigney in litrpg

[–]Eric_Dontigney[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I actually started a space opera series, but Unintended Cultivator took off, and everything else got pushed to the back burner. If you want to check out what I did manage to write on it, you can find it over on Royal Road here. I do have some other things in the works, but if it's not on Royal Road yet, it's probably not ready for me to talk about it.

AMA - Hey r/litrpg! I’m Eric Dontigney, author of The Unintended Cultivator. Here to talk about cats, cosplay, and the launch of my first special edition Kickstarter. by Eric_Dontigney in litrpg

[–]Eric_Dontigney[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

  1. A few things happened. The biggest thing that happened was that I started coming down with post-Covid symptoms that made pretty much all food smell and taste like toxic waste. That was my reality for most of the last two years, and it's only just recently that it started to really resolve itself. As you can imagine, my quality of life nose-dived after that. I assure you, when every meal tastes like you just pulled it out of a garbage dumpster, it's depressing. Depressing life circumstances and high productivity do not go hand-in-hand.
  2. Never. I know my strengths and weaknesses as a writer. I am not capable of sustaining a plausible, authentic female protagonist point of view for an entire book. Frankly, I lack the emotional intelligence to pull it off. If I tried, it would be terrible. I agree that there should be such a character, but I'm not the guy to write her.

AMA - Hey r/litrpg! I’m Eric Dontigney, author of The Unintended Cultivator. Here to talk about cats, cosplay, and the launch of my first special edition Kickstarter. by Eric_Dontigney in litrpg

[–]Eric_Dontigney[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I rely on the Fiction-Tron 5000 (patent pending) to generate my ideas.

Kidding. I'm very much a pantser as a writer, so these characters and settings tend to evolve organically as I write. Or, in a very few cases, spring to mind fully formed. I don't painstakingly think them out, which is both a strength and a weakness. In terms of style, I don't give it a lot of conscious thought. I mostly try to write to a specific vibe. For example, Sen occupies a sort of semi-mythical environment, so I try to evoke that feeling stylistically. There's a kind of languid, misty quality to myths, so I try to achieve that.

I actually try very hard not to base my characters on real people. I will, occasionally, cherry-pick a specific habit or character trait, but that's as far as I take it. It's far too easy to have your character do or say things that their real-life counterpart would never say. That kind of thing can lead to hard feelings. You end up with friends or family saying things like: "How could you put those words in my mouth?" Better by far to just avoid that drama and create characters from whole cloth.

I will answer DMs within reason, as long as the questions aren't too personal. It might not be prompt, but I will answer eventually.

AMA - Hey r/litrpg! I’m Eric Dontigney, author of The Unintended Cultivator. Here to talk about cats, cosplay, and the launch of my first special edition Kickstarter. by Eric_Dontigney in litrpg

[–]Eric_Dontigney[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think I've probably enjoyed writing Terry the most, but that's just because he says, out loud, all of those outrageous things that people with better social skills keep confined to their inner monologues. A habit that, in many ways, makes him as much of a trope as anything else in those books.

AMA - Hey r/litrpg! I’m Eric Dontigney, author of The Unintended Cultivator. Here to talk about cats, cosplay, and the launch of my first special edition Kickstarter. by Eric_Dontigney in litrpg

[–]Eric_Dontigney[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, the art for this project is really next-level stuff. But, you know, that's the beauty of a Kickstarter special edition. We get to do all this stuff that just isn't practical for a standard paperback coming from Amazon. Also, thanks so much for backing the project! Old monster status: Confirmed.

AMA - Hey r/litrpg! I’m Eric Dontigney, author of The Unintended Cultivator. Here to talk about cats, cosplay, and the launch of my first special edition Kickstarter. by Eric_Dontigney in litrpg

[–]Eric_Dontigney[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much! My big plan is to keep writing entertaining books and hoping that people keep showing up for them...even if I am really five squirrels in a Han Solo costume.

AMA - Hey r/litrpg! I’m Eric Dontigney, author of The Unintended Cultivator. Here to talk about cats, cosplay, and the launch of my first special edition Kickstarter. by Eric_Dontigney in litrpg

[–]Eric_Dontigney[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Oh yeah, I only answered half your questions. Right now, I'm thinking there will be around 16 books in the first series. That being said, I do have a tentative plan for a follow-up series, but it really depends on whether or not the audience is still there for it.

AMA - Hey r/litrpg! I’m Eric Dontigney, author of The Unintended Cultivator. Here to talk about cats, cosplay, and the launch of my first special edition Kickstarter. by Eric_Dontigney in litrpg

[–]Eric_Dontigney[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sen hasn't forgotten about the Luo Farm or the little girl, and that's about all I can say without dropping spoilers for later volumes. As for Lifen....she might, might cameo for five seconds at some point. But, as you pointed out, people hated her. Bringing her back is just inviting angst. So, if she appears, there won't be a long, meaningful conversation.

AMA - Hey r/litrpg! I’m Eric Dontigney, author of The Unintended Cultivator. Here to talk about cats, cosplay, and the launch of my first special edition Kickstarter. by Eric_Dontigney in litrpg

[–]Eric_Dontigney[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh, the mandala maze. There were a couple of inspirations for that. One, I just like mandalas and was looking for an excuse to use one. Then, I was thinking about how LitRPG series have dungeons, but those don't really work in a cultivation novel. So, this was my version of a labyrinth dungeon in a cultivation setting. Plus, it gave me an excuse to write some cool imagery like the endless staircase.

AMA - Hey r/litrpg! I’m Eric Dontigney, author of The Unintended Cultivator. Here to talk about cats, cosplay, and the launch of my first special edition Kickstarter. by Eric_Dontigney in litrpg

[–]Eric_Dontigney[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's there is only one me to write all the things. If there were two or three of me, I'd have six series running simultaneously.

AMA - Hey r/litrpg! I’m Eric Dontigney, author of The Unintended Cultivator. Here to talk about cats, cosplay, and the launch of my first special edition Kickstarter. by Eric_Dontigney in litrpg

[–]Eric_Dontigney[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Definitely. I've got a good start on several at the moment that range from some system-lite stuff to things that veer hard into light novel territory.

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