All members of my Patreon (INCLUDING the free members who are basically just using it like a monthly newsletter) can download the EPUB and PDF of this illustrated action-comedy from now until June 23rd. (Offer now expired, but here’s the page for history’s sake. The ebook, and soon the paperback, can be found for sale here.)
And/or read on. This is a quick little post about a not-so-quick, not-that-little story. Seriously, this PDF is 780 pages and everything had to be finely massaged to fit Amazon’s paperback printing regulations. (It’s still too long for hardback. Needs more massaging. Maybe someday.)
So: 2020. You remember it, maybe. You know it, you love it. Probably don’t love it. Well, I found myself without much to do and decided I’d try to write and finish out a long story.
That way, I could publish it during the next RoyalRoad writathon, which would guarantee tons of views! (Note: RoyalRoad writathon guarantees no such thing.)
So out of the ashes of a fantasy-world death game idea, I plucked out a character and decided they would be a demon lord. One rickety rough draft and a somewhat less rickety final one later, I had I’m the Demon Lord, but All I Wanna Do is Sit Around and Eat Pizza Poppers…which, from what I gathered in the comments sections, everyone thought was an obviously bad name. Eventually a friend gave the title The Demon Lord is Apathetic, which is cooler and much less try-hard.
Maybe I’ll write a deeper retrospective on it at some point! At any rate, this was the first non-fanfiction fiction longer than a short story that I completed online. It taught me things about writerly endurance. There’s also an eternal soft spot in my heart for the main cast, who were just fun to write and make bounce off of each other. Slacker demon lord Nyx and their wimpy but well-meaning servants are, um, not so subtly inspired by Disgaea, now that I look back on it and realize my subconscious thought processes here.
The reason I’m releasing it for temporarily-free, and then releasing it here on Amazon for a lower price than three books’ worth of book could technically go for, is because while I still enjoy what I’ve written and believe that others will…I can do better. Namely, every Disgaea game I’ve played has one thing Demon Lord does not: a tight core plot. Demon Lord is comparatively loosey-goosey. Thank goodness I had a first draft that served as a testing ground for what plot elements do exist, to give this story what solid ground it does have. Damn was that first draft a buncha nonsense. THANK YOU to the friend who insisted I not publish that one.
Also, Demon Lord was not a story beloved by all as I’d wildly dreamed. It was a story beloved by…a number between zero and five people, I’d say. The rest of the reading audience—who I’m nonetheless thankful for—probably liked the story but didn’t love it. It didn’t light a fire in them, didn’t inspire them to comment. Like a good ol’ 7/10.
But it does show part of my writer’s journey, and I do want a printed copy sitting in my home, at least for posterity. It’s also kinda funny.
Besides, you can’t beat the price of “free…”
(Well, the only price now is “not-free,” but you get me.)
Thank you for reading, and Patrons, thank you for Patreonning.
This time, my three recommended blog posts will be random selections from a random number generator. First up is…Blue Box Madness! Oh, I remember that one. Funnily/sadly enough, I reexperienced some Blue Box Madness when formatting the Demon Lord PDF. Next is my post on 4Kids theme songs. Gotta love ’em, unironically. Finally, learn the secrets of dancercise with me! Yes indeed.