Kingdom of Battlecraft

When I began to write for Splickety, my imagination jumped all over the Prime and Havok issues. I’m a big fan of Science Fiction and Fantasy. I’ve started reading more Steampunk and I’m working my way into Dystopian and Urban Fiction for a couple upcoming projects. Splickety Prime handles those other genres pretty well, but no! I’ll never write for Splickety Love. Until I said that phrase to my wife…

---

 

Like most guys, on the outside I’m a tough John Wayne who doesn’t have time for sappy love stories or Victorian Era romances. Give me gun play, pirates or Knights fighting dragons. I was raised by my single Mom with two older sisters. Needless to say, we watched a lot of Jane Austen movies… I wouldn’t have admitted it at the time, but I honestly enjoyed them. With my knowledge of these complex relationships I realized that I can put that into my epic tales of Fantasy! But no, never will I write a general fiction romance.

Sometimes, my wife snatches the TV remote. I haven’t figured out when she does this yet, but she has these lists of Hallmark movies recorded on our DVR. When she spins one of these poorly dialogued tales up, that’s my cue to pop in my headphones and play some Minecraft. However, on occasion I sometimes end up on the couch next to her watching these tales of cancelled flights spurring instances of romance, or high school sweethearts separated by years of absence ending the two hour tale embracing under a starlit sky. There might be an occasional gag-noise, but love stories are entertaining even if they’re cheesy.

When I made the mistake of telling my wife that Splickety also hosts a Love magazine, she held my gaze with that “You’re going to listen” look, and challenged me: “If you think you can make fun of my sappy Hallmark movies, then write something better.” So I did…

I sat down glaring at my blinking cursor and inspiration hit. The theme for this issue is Smitten Summer and it brought to mind a young girl on a blind date at an outdoor concert. Of course, she wants to go home and play Kingdom of Battlecraft. But will she find love in the real world? You’ll have to read it to find out! You’ll find my story “The Raid” in this month’s issue of Splickety Love. You can check out all the latest issues here.

I can’t say enough how much I love the editors and staff at the Splickety publications group. They’re chock full of advice and a wealth of knowledge to turn a decent story into a great one! I also had a chance to meet Kim Duffy, one the Splickety Love editors, this past weekend at Realm Makers.

 

 

 

 

My advice is this: Write! Don’t stick to one genre. Go out on a limb and see what shakes out. I really enjoyed writing this story, I hope you enjoy reading it. If you grab a copy, please come back and leave a comment! You can also subscribe to my semi-annual/sporadic newsletter by clicking right here!