I decided to do a Questions and Answers post to answer some of your questions. I always appreciate getting questions from people I know and hang out with and people who message me on various web platforms, email, or in discord.
To get things started, I am kicking it off with the topic I get asked the most, mainly from various gamers I have played with for decades and some more recent who know where I keep my free modules.
Questions and Answers Regarding The Guardians of Night Series:
Lots of great questions regarding Team Kafei Haus. I am taking the most common three and combining them into one section.
Q. How long until The Guardians of Night series hits beta readers again?
Q. Why are you changing the Guardians of Night series to eliminate Tri Tac and Bureau 13 references/content?
Q. Where are your Tri Tac gaming modules and other custom/homebrewed content?
Answers:
From my complete book list section:
***** With the blessing of Tri Tac System’s creator, Richard Tucholka, I started writing this series in 2005. Life happened between then and Richard's untimely passing. Because of his passing, I put these stories on hold because I knew I had many changes to make. Book titles will be announced after conversions unrelated to Bureau 13 are completed.
I have twelve Team Kafei Haus books written, all based around Tri Tac’s Bureau 13: Stalking The Night Fantastic.
I have to remove all references and source material related to the game. With a family, a job, school, and other books, it might take a minute (or a decade) to complete.
While Nick Pollota permitted me to reference Team Tunafish in my books, and Richard Tucholka gave me the go-ahead to publish them, both gentlemen passed away.
Nick, April 13, 2013, and Richard, April 27, 2017.
I attempted to contact Tri Tac after Richard’s passing, but no one responded. Then I realized it would be in my best interest to remove, change, and create new “worlds” and items and rewrite the books.
Copyright and trademarking are big deals. Since I heard nothing, I wasn’t sure if Richard had records of our letters back and forth, including the friendly letters regarding the gaming supplies and other gifts he sent us while deployed to Iraq. Legal battles are not a pond I want to swim in any time soon, especially going against a company such as Tri Tac.
Because of potential legal issues, all custom content, gaming modules, and short stories referencing Tri Tac content, not limited to Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic, FTL:2248, Fringeworthy, and Incursion, have been removed from both my pen name, and my real life alter ego.
I still enjoy playing the games mentioned above with my gaming groups, and I wholeheartedly support you all playing too. Keeping Richard’s memory alive, one dice roll atta time!
Questions and Answers Regarding Wattpad:
Q. Why have you stopped posting/updating on Wattpad?
Answers:
Wattpad is a great place. I still go over there, read stories, and talk to friends I have made on the platform.
The reason I stopped posting/updating on Wattpad is a cluster of answers, all centering around a few statements.
- A publisher advised me to stop posting my work on Wattpad IF I wanted to be published.
- I was told most publishers want new content, not old content that had already been published, and publishing on Wattpad counted.
- I was told to drive traffic to my website by posting free stories instead of posting them on Wattpad.
- I was told to post a few chapters of the final edits of books such as Insurrection (formerly The Caste.) I never finished updating that book, so it was a great idea.
But, on the flip side, Wattpad is a great place to get beta readers if they can find your book. Stay tuned for my final decisions on Wattpad.
Questions and Answers Regarding Releases:
Q. Why have you yet to publish *X* book?
Answers:
I wanted to see if I could go the traditional route to publish. I pitched the Rube in Time series to a publisher, and they loved it.
I almost published with them, until…
They were quick to try to take away control of my stories. They hated Meriya’s name and wanted me to change it and some of her “attitude” that is crucial to the message of the books. There was more I didn’t like, but it is what it is.
Under the contract, the shorts that I had planned for the series were a no-go. I was not allowed to use any of the characters in the books for anything else but the books they contracted until the contract was finished.
On top of that, I still had to do 95% of the marketing…
So, what was the point of it all? Give up my creative rights and still have to do the marketing… No, thank you.
This does not mean that I will not be publishing my books. This means the steps and the means that I will publish my work will differ from what I expected. It will be a learning process, and I look forward to it.