I wanted to take a moment and reflect on a particular character who does a lot of heavy lifing in the story. His role was meant to be small, but grew into something far more than I ever expected it to.

All predators have their hunting grounds. Here, Grey learns just how dangerous his are proving to be.

Blood of My Blood really forced me to look at a few of my biggest flaws as a person. Looking back on it, I can see points in my life where I inadvertantly treated people the way Grey does, and it makes me wish that there really wasn’t a reflection to stare back into.

Keeping players under control is difficult for any Dungeon Master. Trying to keep the players and their characters under control? Trying to keep them under control and write a series of novels about them? How can it be done?

The answer: Outlines.

The Baron of Charlotte awaits Grey as Diego leads him into the belly of the beast.

It’s always interesting to go back and look at something that you wrote at a different time in your life and piece together what it was that you were blind to at the time that affected the development of a story. Would I have made the same choices I did half a year ago?.Maybe, maybe not, but the story remains, as do the flaws, and flaws are what make characters worthwhile.

While the experience of going from table to tome is a fun one, the best part of the books vs the game is getting to leave some things on the cutting room floor. But how does one make the choice of what stays and what goes?

With great power comes great responsibility… but before we can truly accept that lesson we need to fail to uphold it. What does it make us when we do the wrong things for the right reasons? Are we still monsters? Are we acceptable monsters? Or are we heroes? The answer depends entirely on your perspective it would seem.

Grey remembers his humanity, and in the darkest of times, we all need to reflect on what keeps us human in the face of monstrous acts.

These books were not the first that I ever wrote, nor the first I’ve published, but they were the frist I can look back at and think: “Wow, I really did it!” with a sense of true pride. I think DMing has made all the difference in the world in my writing. Here are the main takeaways from the lessons I learned.

We’ve explored what can push us to the point of being a monster, but what separates us from true monsters are the things that hold us back. The things that keep us human, that remind us where we draw the line.

The world is a dark and terrible place at times, which means that those who don’t want to live in darkness need sometimes to embrace it to find the light. Each of us has something that would push us to that point. The question is, what would push you?

Dialogue can sometimes be the hardest part of writing. Figuring out what a character would say or how they would react verbally in a situation can be challenging. Sometimes, you have to work even harder to find those exact words because the person saying them doesn’t even know what they want to say. How do you find the right words when the character doesn’t even know them?

Once we have the power, we have to decide how we use it. What do we fight for? What do we stand for? And what do we stand against?

Chapter Two: The Beast Within was still where I was beginning to get my footing under me, and upon closer inspection, I’m starting to see what was going on in my mind when I was writing this story.

How can we deal with Main Character Syndrome and the desire to be in control of the story when finding ourselves in the middle of an ensamble cast? And how can we gently help others do the same?

The first step to creating the new me is to project to the world who I want to be.

A quick reflection on the first chapter of A Place to Belong. While the character is a bit of a self insert, I would much rather explore the person I want to be as opposed to hyping up the one I am.

How can a DM handle the unexpected? How do we handle the chaos that is our friends either hopped up on adrenaline and caffeine or rightious fury and needing something to take it out on? How can our stories survive when they just won’t cooperate?!?!

Well… Here’s how I do it.

The first, albeit short, chapter of A Place to Belong, my Vampire story in the Queen City. This chapter was based off the writing prompt: “When I Changed.”

Please enjoy the story, and should you become inspired, enter the World of Darkness yourself. They have many great games and wonderful stories.