Never have I been so ready for a new year. In the midst of all the stress and worry that 2020 brought to my doorstep, it did provide me with the clarity I needed in terms of my creative goals. I've learned what I most enjoy and what I don't; what drains my energy and what inspires me; and what I want to manifest in the days ahead.
One of the things that brought me joy and creative satisfaction in 2020 is contributing to the charity zine The Book of Lost Magicka, released last month.
It is an absolutely massive publication, with 190+ pages of original, homebrew Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition content from 90+ volunteers and featuring over a hundred unique illustrations! All proceeds go to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. In this collection, you'll find the first subclass of my creation - the Sprite Sorcerer, perfect for nature lovers who are looking for an alternative to playing a druid. Later this year, you'll be able to find an NPC of this class in an adventure I wrote! (More news about that release as we get closer to the date.)
In 2020, inspired by a few Jams on Itch.io, I finally started creating my own indie games. Until that point, everything I'd done in the tabletop RPG sphere was in some way related to D&D 5e - adventures for anthologies, NPC design, and so forth. Creating my own game required a huge leap of faith on my part, and I'm thrilled that I finally did it.
The next step is to create solo products for publication on sites like Dungeon Masters Guild. Something about the process of creating on the back end - making products that are accessible and attractive (and, well, listed correctly!) has always intimidated me. Yet I have ideas that I want to make happen, so... time to get over myself and learn how to do this. In the works already are two very different products - one for players, and one for DMs. If you're as much a fan of mythology as I am, you'll really love the one I'm aiming at players. I have two followup products planned for the same line, so stay tuned.
Also on my list: Working on short stories and a novel. I'd hoped to do the novel for NaNoWriMo this past November, but life got in the way. That's okay. If you've followed me at all on my Twitter, you'll know that it's close to my heart, a fantasy tale full of polyam, queer romance.
One of my goals for this year is to create more content, fiction and non-fiction alike, that is unabashedly queer and/or polyam. Some months ago, I polled folks on Twitter to see what kind of content they'd most like to see of me. Polyamory won, hands down, with queer topics coming in second. As both of these reflect my own life experience, I'm more than happy to oblige.
This brings me to perhaps my most ambitious goal. I'm in talks with a wonderful polyam artist and gamer who shares many of my same interests. I approached them with an idea for a shop, and they said yes! Now we have to make it happen. I know exactly what kind of merch I want to create, and they're a perfect partner to bring this vision to life. The challenge? Learning what it takes to set up a store, with two people as equal partners, but who reside in different states. Content should be relatively easy; it's the business side that's the hurdle. Again, though, it's something I want to make happen - and make it happen we will.
Stay tuned! And thank you for all your support, friends. May this year be better for all of us.