James C Gilliam

While there has been a long pause in my updates to this page, they are finally taking place. A few of you may already know, but I have been outlining a new novel series which feels like it holds enough weight to finally move forward and publish. It is a high fantasy, adult adventure novel series that focuses highly on the personal development of the main characters and their choices directly impacting the world around them. The first story in the series is titled:

The Sword, the Song, and the Mage

I started working on the series back in January of this year, and by ‘gamification’ of the writing process, I have successfully developed a ‘Immersive Storybuilding’ process that has enabled me to develop full outlines and proto-drafts of acts and scenes by roleplaying through them as the main characters (Using lots of dice and modified 3rd Ed DnD rules and some worldbuilding books). The end product is a rough cut diamond that simply needs refining. The best part is that I am literally playing a game with the story; entertaining alternate encounters or outcomes to better fit the narrative while maintaining a bit of randomness within the scenes. I have become so involved with this writing process, I have not touched video games hardly since the main character set out from his parent’s ranch in search of mysterious ghosts and the secrets of the amulet he found.

While I have been thoroughly enjoying this new means of story developement, I do owe my fellow wanderers a few things. For starters, I will finish the serialization of the remaining chapters of ‘Deadly Arts’ once the first draft of SSaM is completed. I have already completed the rough draft and am wrapping the first act in the current draft. Secondly, finish updating the website. I may be switching to squarespace or some other sites due to WordPress wanting you to pay to move you menus around so that the chapters can be better viewed, or to use a solid theme altogether. Regardless I will be updating my main and author Facebook page periodically as well.