I wanted to start this month off with a bit of good news... the audio drama YouTube channel I launched with Alice Liddell, The A.L.I.C.E. Files, just hit 300 subscribers! And since this has been a goal of ours through most of April (the algorithm has been suppressing our signal hard), I wanted to dangle a bit of a carrot for folks who want to see the new project keep picking up steam.
Because if we can get that subscriber count up to 350, then Alice and I are going to put together an Ask Me Anything for the channel, and the ongoing stories of Alice and the Carroll Institute!
If you've got a curiosity, now is the time to ask!
Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter to
get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of
spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning,
consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.
Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!
You Want To Know, And We Want To Tell You!
At time of writing, we're getting a lot of fresh episodes in the can for the channel, and we're finally starting to set things up for the nebulous Season 2, where we're going to start opening the doors of the Carroll Institute, and figuring out some of the mysteries that lie beyond what we see in the files sent up by the archive. And while we're really excited about that, we also wanted to take a moment and let our listeners know that if you're enjoying what's going on, we're more than happy to give folks a little peek behind-the-scenes regarding what we're doing, explaining different plot points, and tossing out some world building explanations!
So, if you want to see us put together an Ask Me Anything video about The A.L.I.C.E. Files, here's what we need you to do:
- Watch the videos we have on the channel so far to catch up on the plot
- Tell your family and friends to subscribe as well
As soon as we hit 350 subscribers, that's when we're going to go through the questions folks leave for us, put together a list, and sit down to satisfy some of your curiosities!
As a final note, if you go to the comments section and see that someone has already asked your question, that doesn't mean you shouldn't leave your two cents as well! If we see a question being asked more than once, that's going to make it far more likely that it goes on the list when we hit the magic subscriber number.
Until then, thank you to everyone who has helped us get this far, and a thank you in advance to everyone who will help us hit that goal we've set for ourselves!
Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!
That's all for this week's Table Talk. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!
To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!
For all the books I've written and short story anthologies I've been a part of, it seems like most people who know my name recognize me from the work I've had featured over on the YouTube channel A Vox in The Void. From tales of the grim darkness of the far future like Waking Dogs or The Final Lamentation, to installments like my Pacific Weird War story Where The Red Flowers Bloom, or the Dead Space tale Black Marks, literally tens of thousands of people have heard those stories because they appeared on the channel.
But I've hit something of a milestone recently, and I wanted to share it this week... because enough of my tales have appeared on A Vox in The Void that I now have my own playlist!
Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.
Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!
13 Tales of Blood, Death, and Vengeance!
I've been working with A Vox in The Void for several years now, and I've watched their channel grow, and their professional career take off. I won't say I'm responsible for it by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm glad to have done my part to help grow things, and I'm glad the audience seems to like my work overall. However, given how the Internet is these days, it's entirely possible that there are regular readers here who haven't been over there yet... and if you're one of those folks, take a moment to, at the very least, give my stories a listen!
Additionally, if you find a story on that list that you really like, consider leaving a comment and saying what appealed to you about it! And if you want sequels to any of the stories, make sure you let me know. I only add to things that it seems folks want to read, so your voice is what helps me lock-in to make more stuff!
And Once You're Done With Those Stories...
I will admit, I've only got 13 stories on that playlist. For most folks, that's going to be a long day of chores, or maybe half a week of commuting. If you need more, I have two specific recommendations for you to check out, both of which would help me a great deal!
The first is the ongoing audio drama YouTube channel I just launched with Alice Liddell titled The A.L.I.C.E. Files. In addition to the individual, stand alone stories we're presenting, there's also an ongoing narrative about the new "Alice" who just accepted a job with the mysterious Carroll Institute which is finally starting to rev up a little bit. We've had trouble getting eyes on this channel, and any subscriptions and views would be greatly appreciated!
If you managed to get through all of that, and you still find yourself wanting to listen to more audio fiction from yours truly, I have a rather sizable playlist on the Azukail Games YouTube channel. This is where I first started refining my skills, and if you listen to the playlist from back to front you can actually watch as my audio dramas evolve in real-time. All views are appreciated, as they help put pennies in the jar for Azukail Games, which is my main employer and publisher these days.
For all the folks who check these stories out, upvote, and subscribe, thank you. I like writing stories, and I like making audio versions of them... but doing it for free takes a lot of eyes to make the wheels turn. So if you're willing to put your shoulder to that wheel to help push, I (and all the other folks who work to bring these stories to life) are very grateful for it.
Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!
That's all for this week's Table Talk. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!
To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!
Roughly 4 years ago, I wrote a little story titled Waking Dogs about a World Eater space marine who simply decided he had enough. Enough of his legion, enough of the blood god, and enough of the godsdamned Butcher's Nails... Crixus was going to put down every rabid dog he'd once called brother, and wipe the entire legion from the galaxy. He was going to erase the mistake that Angron had made, and if he was very lucky, die in the process of trying to complete this fool's crusade.
I'd originally written it to be a stand-alone piece of fan fiction, hoping it would maybe drag some eyes over to my novel Old Soldiers, which is a dystopian sci fi thriller about 9-foot-tall albino super soldiers dealing with their own dark conspiracy that I figured would appeal to some of my fellow Warhammer 40K fans. However, several years later, Waking Dogs is now a 3-part series with several hundred thousand views on YouTube, and it seems to have made a far bigger impact on folks than I could ever have predicted.
And it's not done just yet.
The Warhounds rise... but will they fall once more?
Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.
Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!
The Old Warhound's Saga Continues... Or Does It?
Originally, Crixus's story was a fun little what-if story. It was a question of what would happen if a World Eater went rogue, and dedicated himself to wiping out all those like him. What would it be like if their personal rage was so constant that it attuned itself to the Butcher's Nails, and those terrible engines became a weapon he was capable of wielding rather than becoming a mere slave to?
And overall, those who read it seemed to like it. They didn't buy any copies of my novel, though, and I would have just abandoned the project as a good try... except that I crossed paths with Paul Graham, the individual behind the YouTube channel A Vox in The Void. He was looking for unique, grim stories to read, and this was one of the stories I said he was welcome to put on his channel. All I asked was that he link the original story on Vocal so I could maybe get some extra traffic.
The story honestly did a LOT better than I ever expected... and looking back at it today, it just crossed 101,000 views. Which still boggles me a bit!
While this wasn't the first story of mine Paul had dramatized (if you check the archive, it's the second story of mine on the channel), it did make a pretty big impact. And it led to me writing additional stories for him over time. And as I read the comments about Crixus, and I saw there were folks who had really enjoyed his tale, I figured I'd add to it. So I wrote a sequel, Broken Chains, which has him hunting down his former Brother Sergeant to settle a grudge, and it gives us a psychic flashback to his childhood, before he was made part of the Warhounds legion in the days of the Great Crusade.
Folks welcomed Crixus home with roars of enthusiasm, and this story did even better than the first one had... in terms of YouTube views, at least (most folks don't read my stories in text format, even if they really enjoy listening), and at time of writing, that story has over 167,000 views!
Since a few years had gone by, I felt it was time for injecting a little fresh blood into Crixus's saga. My most recent story, which involves him being taken prisoner by a World Eaters warband and forced to fight for his life in the arena against several daunting opponents to the roars of the crowd, dropped a few months ago... Waking Dogs, Part 3: War Hounds.
Though this story just rounded 37,000 views, it's only been up for 3 weeks... and if you haven't checked it out yet, you should!
While Crixus hasn't met his end just yet, I do have a plan for how I'd like to end this particular series... but for folks who'd like to see it draw to an epic conclusion, I'm going to need your help to make it happen!
How You Can Help Give The Old Warhound A Proper End
Over the past few years I've had a lot of time to think about Crixus's stories, and where I'd like him to go. And while I acknowledge I could treat him like Conan, and just add a few more stories here and there until there was no longer an interested audience, honestly, I don't want him to just fade away like that. I'd much rather give him a proper and deliberate sendoff...
But I'm going to need all of your help to make that happen!
So, here's how you can help!
So, here's a list of things that would really help me get the last two parts of Crixus's tale slotted into place:
- Read the original three stories on Vocal (Waking Dogs, Broken Chains, War Hounds), and share them on your own social media pages to help boost the signal!
- Check out the audio dramas over on A Vox in The Void, subscribe to the channel, and leave some comments on the videos to let them know I sent you!
- Consider picking up a copy of my novel Old Soldiers, then when you leave a review mention that you bought a copy because you wanted me to have the time and energy to finish Crixus's story.
This list is in descending order of free-to-you as the reader, but in reverse order of what will help me most as a writer. So, just something to keep in mind... because if I could get 10,000 people (to say nothing of 40,000 or 150,000) to grab a copy of my novel, I would have all the time and energy to dedicate to bringing the old Warhound's saga to a satisfying close!
Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!
That's all for this week's Table Talk. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!
To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!
As I first mentioned going on a year and a half ago, I would love to do longer, more involved audio dramas, particularly for the Chronicles of Darkness... but I just didn't have the ground work laid to make it feasible. However, as regular readers found out recently, the Azukail Games YouTube channel (where this podcast will be available, in addition to other platforms) finally got monetized!
And now that this piece of the puzzle has slotted into place, I figured it was time to start cranking up the story engine, and I wanted to give folks an update on where I am with this project right now.
And if you haven't tuned-in, let me tell you why you should!
Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.
Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!
What It Is, And Where I'm Currently At
For those who haven't heard about this project until just now, the short version is that Windy City Shadows is going to be a Chronicles of Darkness podcast where I and a crew of voice actors tell tales about the things that lurk in the dark corners of Chicago. The first season is titled Grim Promises, and it's a Changeling: The Lost story that follows the former Fall Court's chief enforcer being pulled out of retirement against his will to handle one more sensitive matter, and to fulfill a last, dangling promise.
If you need an immediate comparison, it's modern fantasy John Wick with a more noir sountrack.
However, I wanted to give folks an update as to where we're at now. Because even though the Azukail Games channel was only monetized at the start of this month, I didn't want to let the grass grow under my feet on this... because this project is going to take a long time for me to finish, and it's going to take a lot of work to bring it all together.
Also, if you haven't checked out the AMA I did about the show, I'd recommend giving it a watch!
As of Fall 2024, it looked like we were coming up on our goals. So I started storyboarding Grim Promises to make sure that I had the general shape of the series. Once I had that set up, I reached out to some folks I've worked with on the Azukail Games channel before (in addition to some new voices you all haven't heard before). Then in December 2024 I started writing.
At the time of this update, I've completed the first episode script, and I'm diving into the second episode! In addition to that, I'm putting together scripts for some commercials, previews, and some character introductions so that folks can dip a toe into what's coming, and get some additional context before I throw them into the deep end. However, each script is looking like it's going to come in at 7K-8K words, and with a 10-episode series, I'm essentially working on a novel's worth of text before we even start recording.
So, I'm starting off strong, but I didn't want folks to think that silence on my end meant the project had been dropped... especially because a lot of my regular readers have expressed interest in finally getting something bigger, longer, and in-depth for my Chronicles of Darkness fiction!
While I covered some of this in my recent video about Azukail Games Goals For 2025!, I'd recommend folks check out that video for more details, and leave comments over there so that both I and my publisher can see them.
Speaking of The World/Chronicles of Darkness, Though...
Before I sign off for the week and get back to work on scripting this show, I wanted to take a moment to draw folks' attention to the most recent piece of mine that dropped. Because I still have plans to expand the World/Chronicles of Darkness video essays I've been putting up on the channel, and the latest one has been something of a slow starter. As such, any and all views, signal boosts, comments, and subscribes would be much appreciated!
To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Bue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter, as well as on Pinterest where I'm building all sorts of boards dedicated to my books, RPG supplements, and greatest hits. Lastly, to help support me and my work, consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron! Even a little donation can have a big impact.
Folks who have been enjoying my fiction releases recently have likely noticed I've been putting together a lot of short vignettes and flash fiction series when it comes to my audio dramas. And while the ones most folks see are taken from the introductory material in my TTRPG supplements, there are some longer, more in-depth stories out there. Some bigger, complete tales that are just waiting for you to come check out.
Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.
Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!
A Few Examples From "The Rejects"
Most of the audio dramas I've put together, like the one above, are only a few minutes long. Typically they're dramatized versions of vignettes that set the scene for a supplement, but even when I put together a series of these little shorts they can feel more like eating several small, bite-sized candies instead of a meal.
However, for folks who don't know, I write more than just TTRPGs. In addition to the nearly 200 supplements and games with my name on them, I've also written several novels, and even a few collections of short stories. And in my free time a while back, I started dramatizing some of the short stories from my collection The Rejects, which is a book that features all the short stories I wrote that kept almost getting chosen by publishers, but which were ultimately passed on.
EDIT: Both of these tales have been moved over to the new YouTube channel The A.L.I.C.E. Files, which I highly recommend checking out if you haven't yet!
The first story is Dead Man's Bluff, a weird Western. A ghoulish little story that features a game of cards between an itinerant gambler and a mysterious young man, the twist at the end is a particularly dark one. The moral of this story, of course, is to never cross a witch, and be careful where you bury one if you do.
The second story is Suffer The Children, which gives us a glimpse into the dark underbelly of a modern fantasy setting subtly unlike any other you've come across before. We meet Malachi, an angel walking the shadowed back alleys and nasty streets of Los Angeles, as he attempts to stop a cult of child stealers. This is, technically, the second story featuring Malachi and his adventures, but it gives readers a glimpse into the sort of hard, nasty choices he often has to make. While I haven't added to Malachi's world since this tale, there were plans for more stories (as well as a few novels) featuring additional cases that he had to handle. If it turns out more folks are interested in Malachi's saga, though, it's something I could squeeze in if folks wanted to hear/see more!
What Other Stories Would You Like To See?
My original plan with these tales was to give my readers (and potential readers) a little taste of the stories that could be found in The Rejects. However, I would like to dramatize at least half of them, leaving the other half as a mystery for readers to uncover for themselves... but which stories would you like to get this treatment?
Would you like to hear the tale of the young boy, his uncle, and the dark, dangerous secret no one else would ever believe that we see in Bloody Bones? Perhaps the gritty, sword and sorcery tale Champion For Hire is more your speed, with weaving steel and dark plans in a city desperate to avoid a bloody war of succession in its underworld? From the steampunk gruesomeness of Eyes, Hands, and Heart, to the strange, harsh reality of The Mark of The Legion, there are a lot of options in this book... but which ones would you like to hear?
And, lastly, if you haven't left a review of this book yet, please consider dropping by Amazon and leaving me some stars and a review so more people can find these stories!
What's Next on Table Talk?
That's it for this installment of Table Talk! What would you like to see next? I'm listening for your comments and votes!
To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter, as well as on Pinterest where I'm building all sorts of boards dedicated to my books, RPG supplements, and greatest hits. Lastly, to help support me and my work, consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron! Even a little donation can have a big impact.
Folks who enjoy my fiction have had a lot of new additions to check out in the past year. If you're a fan of my long-form work, all three of my out-of-print novels are now available once again (the two tales about a hard-nosed cat getting involved in gangland shenanigans in NYC's mean streets, Marked Territoryand Painted Cats, as well as my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers). If you enjoy my audio dramas, the Azukail Games YouTube channel has been adding more and more of them, many of which are now connected as parts of ongoing series! And, lastly, I've had a big variety of stories going up as part of my Vocal archive, ranging from the Weird War II story Where The Red Flowers Bloom to the much more recent fifth installment of the Gav and Bob series Faith and Martyrs, adding a new chapter to the adventures of the Imperium's bravest ogryn.
However, I wanted to remind folks that if you really enjoy my stories, but you wish you could listen to more of them, then you should definitely head on over to A Vox in The Void, because his channel has been doing some really great adaptations of my work over the past year!
Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.
Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!
Even More Stories For You To Listen To
I've given shout outs to A Vox in The Void several times on this blog, as the channel has done audio renditions of a majority of my Warhammer 40K short stories, including classics like Waking Dogs, the tale of a renegade World Eater, Field Test, which is the story of a potent experiment being conducted by an inquisitor, and even The Final Lamentation, a story of what happens when a Lamenter falls to the Black Rage. However, I wanted to remind folks this week to head over there, subscribe to the channel if you haven't, and to check out the latest round of my stories that have appeared there!
While I've been focusing on other projects since late last year, my hope is to get back onto a few fresh stories that will show up on the channel in the future... so make sure you check them out, and help keep the views up for both my stories, and others as well!
There's More Potential Projects on The Way As Well!
While I've got a lot of stuff out there, I also wanted to take today's post to remind folks that my hope in 2024 was to do a larger audio drama project of my own, likely in the form of a combination podcast/video channel. This project might take the form of a combined series of Chronicles of Darkness seasons, which I talked about back in Windy City Shadows: A Chronicles of Darkness Podcast Proposal, but that isn't set in stone. So if folks would rather see a long-running fantasy story set in my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age setting, if they'd rather see a continuation of my sci-fi series, or even see me take on a setting like Pathfinder's Golarion, or Exalted's Creation, I'm not averse to trying those things out, either.
It's really going to depend on you!
The first step for making this project go is to get the Azukail Games YouTube channel monetized. We're just under 1,000 hours of watch time to hit that goal when last I checked, and getting past that point would be a huge boon. So please, subscribe to the channel if you haven't, and share the videos you like best, because those are the ones that will likely get the top consideration for expansion when it comes to a fiction project. Also, make sure you leave your thoughts and feelings in the comments on said videos, because that will get the publisher's attention, as well as the algorithm's!
Lastly, if you want to check out a bunch of my stories that don't wind up on YouTube, make sure you follow my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary. That channel is likely to be another destination for future stories, so make sure you don't miss those installments!
What's Next on Table Talk?
That's it for this installment of Table Talk! What would you like to see next? I'm listening for your comments and votes!
To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter, as well as on Pinterest where I'm building all sorts of boards dedicated to my books, RPG supplements, and greatest hits. Lastly, to help support me and my work, consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron! Even a little donation can have a big impact.
As my regular readers know, I've been working on stringing together the opening vignettes in a lot of my TTRPG supplements to create longer-running stories for folks who pick up all my gaming guides. And since folks enjoyed the last time I finished up a trilogy, back in My Sci-Fi Audio Drama Trilogy is Now Complete!, I figured that this week I'd share the most recent wrap-up for the ongoing cyberpunk narrative I've been working on for the past several months.
Because it seems that you all enjoy them, judging from the numbers.
Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.
Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!
Capitalism, Corporations, and Consequences
The tale starts off with the introductory fiction from 100 Sci Fi Guilds. There's a lockdown at the star port, since the dockers there are attempting to form a union, and corporate isn't having it. When the station's security proves unable to browbeat the dockers into compliance, the company calls in the Harriers, a guild made up entirely of specialized mercenary companies. Of course, corporate realizes too late that they didn't read the contract closely enough in Fine Print.
After corporate realizes that it's bitten off more than it can chew (and that it's facing a real body count along with lost revenue), the dockers get their union. In 100 Body Mods and Augmentations For Your Sci Fi Game, we cut into the celebration that's raging throughout the red light district. Particularly since the dockers got all their back pay from the corporation, and as far as they're concerned, the Harriers all drink free, since without the aid of the mercs there's no way they would have been victorious. Of course, corporate isn't going to take this laying down, but the gun lugger Hadrian along with a docker named Torg, get in the way of the company's revenge in Paying Your Dues.
Our final installment (for now, at least) comes in the supplement 100 Sci Fi Bands. After all the shots have been fired, and the adrenaline shakes wear off, Hadrian and Torg share a nightcap in a busted down, out-of-the-way auto jack. The after effects of combat are well-known to Hadrian, but this is Torg's first time being this up-close and personal with it. As such, it's important to find some quiet, and to put on some tunes that will relax his jangled nerves in Soothe The Savage Beasts.
Where Should I Go From Here?
While I've currently got 2 complete trilogies of sci-fi audio dramas on the Azukail Games YouTube channel (which you should go subscribe to, if you haven't done so yet), and I've started something fresh with the intro tale Ordered Arms found in 100 Secret Societies For a Sci Fi Setting, I'd love to hear your thoughts as my readers. Should I pen crossovers in future stories? Should Hadrian and his unit end up getting reinforced by the Titansworn Knights in their colossal war machines? Should the Knights of The Void end up joining Gabriel in his attempts to take down the syndicates that have eaten into the lower hab blocks like cancer?
I'm open to ideas, and since several of these audio dramas are my most listened-to ones on the channel, I figured this might be something folks might want to weigh in on!
What's Next on Table Talk?
That's it for this installment of Table Talk! What would you like to see next? I'm listening for your comments and votes!
To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter, as well as on Pinterest where I'm building all sorts of boards dedicated to my books, RPG supplements, and greatest hits. Lastly, to help support me and my work, consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron! Even a little donation can have a big impact.
Back in April I released my latest Warhammer 40K fan story The Final Lamentation, which tells the tale of Astin Furon, the last of a squad of Lamenters taken prisoner onboard a Black Legion ship. Things go poorly, of course, as the bad luck of this cursed chapter manifests itself, leading to ship-wide mayhem.
The story was, as far as my short fiction on Vocal goes, mostly a flash in the pan. When last I checked, the reads on the story had barely broken triple digits. Then the audio version by A Vox in The Void dropped, and it is doing really well! At time of writing it's sitting at around 53K views, and it was only released 5 days ago!
That's a really solid debut, and my hope is that this kind of attention from the audience means that I can keep this train rolling!
Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.
Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!
Delving Deeper Into The Grim Darkness of The Far Future
Back in March on this very segment, I laid out a plan for where I'd like to go with some of my Warhammer 40K fan stories. The details can be found in Gathering The Grimdark (Tying My Warhammer 40K Shorts Together) for those who missed it, but it involves taking the 3 major threads of characters and stories that I've laid down (Inquisitor Hargrave and her retinue from Field Test, Kill Team Errant from my Deathwatch story Blackest Knights, and Crixus's journey of vengeance that began with Waking Dogs) and tying them all into a single narrative that leads to a conclusion for multiple stories.
Of course, as with any other fiction project of mine, whether or not this happens depends on you all as my readers and listeners!
Raise your banners! The crusade begins today!
So what can you all do to help make sure that I keep this project going, tie off the threads I have so far, and possibly start some new ones? Well, I'm going to need your ears, your eyes, and your voices!
First, Help Increase My Reads
Real talk, here. I may be the author of these stories, but I do not draw nearly as much traffic as when they appear on A Vox in The Void with an audio cast. But if you want to help show me, directly, how many people are reading my stories, then please check them out, and share them with like-minded folks who may be interested in joining the audience!
Crixus's Stories (Renegade World Eater)
- Waking Dogs: Crixus awakens from the haze of the Butcher's Nails, and decides that he and his brothers have been a plague on the galaxy long enough.
- Broken Chains: The Skull Cutters warband is invading a hive city, when something goes wrong. Crixus has a score to settle with the band's Captain, and either he or his former sergeant is going to die tonight.
Inquisitor Hargrave (Inquisition)
- Field Test: Hargrave came to a world in the path of an ork waaaaugh, and promised them a weapon that would destroy the greenskins. What that weapon is, though, shocks even the hardened commander of the planet's garrisoned force.
Kill Team Errant (Deathwatch)
- Blackest Knights: Kill Team Errant has a reputation for efficiency, and a refusal to surrender. When they find themselves on a drukhari ship rescuing a captured inquisitor, though, they find out there's something far more valuable on this ship even than a member of the Ordo Malleus.
Other Stories
- Gav and Bob Part IV: The Emperor's Hand: The Word Bearers were ready for anything when they began their ritual to swallow an entire world into the warp... anything except the intervention of the Imperium's bravest ogryn, that is!
- Broken Heroes: When Renn led a team into the wilds to recover a prototype weapon, he knew it would be dangerous. Hemmed in on all sides, and ready to face death, he never expected to find something capable of destroying an entire hive of Dead Heads... something that's been waiting in stasis to be awoken to finish a fight it began thousands of years ago.
Second, Help Increase My Views
Not all of us have time to sit down and dedicate our eyeballs to a screen these days. However, if you like to listen to audio dramas while you're on the bus, at the gym, going for a walk, or just painting minis, then drop by A Vox in The Void, subscribe to the channel, and give the stories there a listen! Most of the stories I've linked to on this page either have an audio rendition over there, or will have one shortly, but when you're done with my stories, go back through the archive and give the others a listen as well!
Most importantly, though, leave comments on the stories you like, and give feedback. You can just say, "I really liked this story!" or you could leave requests for future narrations, ask questions, etc. Interaction is key to helping channels grow, and helping creators get the support they need to keep creating!
Lastly, Something 40K Adjacent
If you've already gone through all of my previous stories, but you still find that you could go for one more helping of gigantic, genetically-engineered soldiers in a dystopian setting, then you should also check out my novel Old Soldiers. This book follows Pollux, a colossal shock trooper forged to fight in the Hyperion Conflict, trying to live his life as a civilian in a world never meant for him, or those like him. When a violent conspiracy seems to be gunning for him, he assembles the remains of his old squad to get to the bottom of what's happening... but what if it's all mixed up in his head, and he simply can't live in a world where there isn't a war to fight, or an enemy to oppose?
Alternatively, if you're in the market for even more audio drama content, make sure you check out my channel The Literary Mercenary over on Rumble, as well as the Azukail Games YouTube channel where I put together all kinds of stories taken from my TTRPG supplements. There's all sorts of stuff out there, so read, listen, and consume away!
Just remember that it's the stories and projects that get attention that get sequels... so if you want more of something, make sure you make your voice heard!
What's Next on Table Talk?
That's it for this installment of Table Talk! What would you like to see next? I'm listening for your comments and votes!
To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter, as well as on Pinterest where I'm building all sorts of boards dedicated to my books, RPG supplements, and greatest hits. Lastly, to help support me and my work, consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron! Even a little donation can have a big impact.
It's that time of the month again, and it just so happens to coincide with a little side project I've been working on. Some folks are no doubt aware that several years back I put together a short list of snacky scares for 50 Two-Sentence Horror Stories, and to this day it remains one of the most popular pieces of fiction I've ever published. Since then I've put out other installments, including a Warhammer 40K edition, an SCP Foundation edition, and the most recent one (which I thought I'd mentioned on this blog, but hadn't), my Cthulhu Mythos edition!
In fact, the audio version of that last one just went up over on the YouTube channel The A.L.I.C.E. Files, so check that out if you haven't yet!
Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.
Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!
Where Should I Take This Series From Here?
Real talk, writing fiction is the easy part of the process. Getting people to actually see that fiction thanks to all the algorithms fighting to smother your signal? And getting people to actually read these stories once they find them? Whew, that's the hard part of things. Even when the stories are free!
Though I'm sure folks around here already knew that.
As such, I wanted to ask my regular readers here whether they think I should continue this particular series going forward. And if you do think I should keep adding to this growing list, I'd like you to do three things for me.
- Read/listen to the existing entries that you haven't yet.
- Share the links on your socials to help them find fresh eyes.
- Suggest a new topic for additional entries to the series.
Honestly, the first two are the most important part of this week's ask. Because while the original list did quite well, the others have had one hell of a time actually coming anywhere close to the breakout 5K reads it managed (partially due to a more niche market, I think, but also due to Vocal being put on the hitlist for Reddit's bots, making it harder to get traction on that site).
However, as far as future installments, I did have some ideas of my own, including:
- World of Darkness stories
- Slasher stories
- DM horror stories (more of a funny entry)
- Medical/Body Horror stories
- Tales of The Dark Woods
These are just some of the ideas I've had rolling around off the top of my head. However, if you've got fresh ideas (or you want to see sequels to the existing entries), feel free to toss those into the comments as well!
Don't Forget My Other Stories As Well!
For those who want something a little more substantial than these little snacks, I do have a lot of other stories out there! For example, the Azukail Games YouTube channel has more than 30 audio dramas by yours truly, and my Vocal archive has several pieces of short fiction for both Pathfinder and Warhammer 40K.
But if you want something more than just short stories, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife is available on Amazon. Not only that, but my formerly out-of-print sci fi thriller Old Soldiers is coming back, and is currently on preorder! This one is a must-have for folks who've enjoyed my space marine stories, as Pollux's story is where I first wrote about abnormally-sized transhuman supersoldiers!
What's Next on Table Talk?
That's it for this installment of Table Talk! What would you like to see next? I'm listening for your comments and votes!
For more of my work, check out my Vocal archives, as well as the YouTube channel for Azukail Games. Or, to check out books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my recent short story collection The Rejects, head over to My Amazon Author Page!
To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter, as well as on Pinterest where I'm building all sorts of boards dedicated to my books, RPG supplements, and greatest hits. Lastly, to help support me and my work, consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron! Even a little donation can have a big impact.
Most folks who wind up on this blog are here for TTRPG discussion, but if you've been checking out my Table Talk posts, then you know I've been trying to work a little bit of my fiction into my updates for the past few years. And of the stories I've been telling, the most popular pieces have all been tales of the grim darkness of the far future. So if you've been enjoying my Warhammer 40K stories, keep on reading, because I've got an update that (I hope) will peak your interest.
And if you're just joining us, well, there's plenty of stuff for you to catch up on!
Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron!
Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!
How This All Got Started
As with so many recent creative endeavors, this whole project actually got started thanks to the pandemic. Let me explain.
I'd been quietly getting into Warhammer 40K since about 2018 or so, mostly via the various readers and lore channels on YouTube. And when the pandemic hit and we were all staying home, I needed something to stop me from online window shopping, where it was all too easy to just buy random fan merch. So I decided to take a jacket I'd had hanging in my closet for a while, get some fabric spray paint, and make myself a little something as a dedication to Cadia. And rather than just post photos when it was done, though, I put together a short story to commemorate the project.
"Almost" is still up, for folks who want to read it, as well.
And it's possible I would have just called it quits there. I had fun my with my arts and crafts project, and I enjoyed writing a little story to go with it, but then I crossed with Paul Graham, the voice and talent behind the YouTube channel A Vox in The Void (which you should go subscribe to if you enjoy this kind of content). He liked "Almost," and as you can see he did a lovely reading of it. The community response was overall positive, and it was refreshing actually having some of my work seen by people who genuinely liked it.
So I figured, what the hell, I'll write another story or two and see where it goes!
At the time of this blog I've put together 7 Warhammer 40K short stories (8 if you count the 50 Two Sentence Horror Stories, Warhammer 40K Edition), and a majority of them have either appeared on A Vox in The Void, or are slated to in the near future. A few of them have even gathered a small following, which makes me extremely happy. Not only that, but when "Almost" went up, the channel had around 8k subscribers. As of right now there are 46k folks tuning in to listen!
And since commenters seem to enjoy the tales I put together, I sat down with Paul and pitched him an idea... what if I started taking the individual story threads that are already on the channel, and began weaving them together to a single, climactic conclusion?
The Narrative Thickens
The first story that gathered audience enthusiasm was Waking Dogs: A World Eaters Tale. In this story we follow Crixus, a veteran of the long war who remembers the 12th Legion before the return of Angron, and the installment of the Butcher's Nails into the legion. During a moment of lucidity he looks around at the twisted battlefield, and decides this is unacceptable. In a shocking bout of wrath and violence, he purges the entire force he was sent to support, his rage now completely focused for the first time in 10,000 years. He means to wipe out the rabid dogs that the World Eaters have become... an impossible task, but one he intends to dedicate himself to all the same.
The sequel to this story, Broken Chains was even more popular, as we see Crixus confront his old sergeant, and settle a score that's been millennia in the making. We also get a glimpse into what he was like before the Heresy, and before the Imperium fell into rot and ruin.
The second thread that I laid down began in the story Field Test. In this tale an inquisitor comes to a world in the path of an ork waaaaugh, and she assures the populace she has a weapon to devastate the greenskins. In the end, though, it was all a test for a member of her retinue... something to prove his worth in a real, life-or-death situation. This story was, surprisingly, the most popular piece of mine so far, both in terms of reads on Vocal, as well as in terms of views on A Vox in The Void.
The third thread is the upcoming story Blackest Knights, which is a tale of the Deathwatch. Chosen by the viewers in a very close vote, this story follows Kill Team Errant, who is made up exclusively of blackshields. As the story goes on, though, we begin to realize what the secret is behind their black armor, and why it is they had nowhere to redeem themselves other than the Deathwatch.
This story hasn't yet appeared on the channel, but it is currently in the works, so if it sounds like fun, stay tuned to see what's coming up!
So what's the grand plan? Well, without giving too much away, I want to weave together these three narratives throughout the coming year (or possibly two years) into a single, cohesive whole. First to bring together Inquisitor Hargrave with Kill Team Errant to face a threat that requires the reinforcement of that many astartes to act as a decapitating strike. Then after we follow Crixus on his quest to wipe out the stain of his brothers from the galaxy, we begin to realize that war can make for strange bedfellows indeed... and in the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war.
What sort of numbers are we looking at, though?
Well, ideally, there would be one more story to bring together the inqusitor with the kill team. Then another story about Crixus that would potentially lead to his one-man quest for vengeance turning into something a little grander in scale (not much, but a little). Then a third story bringing all of them together to face down a serious threat that will thin the ranks of our protagonists quite significantly. And while I could end the story there, if that's what readers want, I would also like to write an epilogue tale, showing the ripples of what this combined force managed to accomplish.
So, all in all, we're looking at between 3 and 5 additional stories, making for a full grouping of between 7 and 9 stories (which would make for several hours of listening content, if you prefer the audio versions).
In The End, This All Depends on You
As I've said repeatedly over the past several years, audience participation is what gets content made. I'm all too happy to write stories if people are reading and/or listening to them, and I'm not shy about taking on big, bold narratives if there's interest. But I want to make sure there's folks who are actually eager to hear more of the story.
So what can you do to help make this happen?
Sending in reinforcements is ALWAYS an option!
First things first, please read and share the text versions of these stories. It's really tough getting eyes on them, and a lot of folks don't even know there is a text version. If you prefer to listen to your narratives, though, then listen to Paul's gorgeous presentations, like, comment, and subscribe to A Vox in The Void if you haven't already! The more subscribers there are, and the more listeners the channel has, the better the chance there is that I'll be able to keep working with the channel on big projects like this.
If you like these stories enough to throw money at us as creators, you can either leave me tips through Vocal, Buy Me a Ko-Fi, or consider becoming a Patreon patron. I'm the first to admit I'm not 40K-specific in a lot of my content around here, but if you like tabletop RPGs with occasional steps into the grimdark with things like my Pathfinder Character Conversion for a Night Lord Space Marine, then you may be more at-home than you expect.
And if you'd like to help support A Vox in The Void, you can Buy The Channel a Ko-Fi as well, leave a PayPal donation, and of course hit that Join button on YouTube in order to pay $2.99 a month to help Paul keep the content flowing.
Some Extra Content For You!
I wanted to say thanks for reading through all of that, and thanks in advance of any and all support you can offer. It takes a lot of time and energy to get projects like this together, and it really helps when the audience is there to help us boost the signal, to offer an encouraging word, or to just put a tip in the jar.
And since you made it this far, I figured I'd offer you some extra content as well!
In addition to all of the stories mentioned above (and this video, which is the audio version of my 50 Two-Sentence Horror Stories, 40K Edition found on my Daily Motion channel), I wanted to lay out some of the extra stories I've put together that you may have missed!
- Broken Heroes (A Knight Story): When Renn and a squad of city guard are sent out into the wild to retrieve an experimental weapon, they end up fighting for their lives against waves of enraged, colossal, insectoid creatures called Deadheads. In trying to lead them away from his companions, Renn discovers an ancient bunker... and a weapons who's been waiting for centuries to finish the fight it started so long ago. This one hasn't yet been slated to get an audio version from A Vox in The Void, but if you send messages in to Paul he might consider putting it on the docket in the future!
- The Emperor's Hand (A Gav and Bob Story): Gav Smythe has a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. When the ogryn and the rest of his inquisitor's retinue wind up in the middle of a war zone, he finds a Black Templar thrown off a cliff by an enemy commander. Picking up the black sword, Gav sees visions, and is told that the Emperor needs a champion. There's no time to find another... now the ogryn must finish what the astartes started!
What's Next on Table Talk?
That's it for this installment of Table Talk! What would you like to see next? I'm listening for your comments and votes!
For more of my work, check out my Vocal archives, as well as the YouTube channel for Azukail Games. Or, to check out books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my recent short story collection The Rejects, head over to My Amazon Author Page!
To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter, as well as on Pinterest where I'm building all sorts of boards dedicated to my books, RPG supplements, and greatest hits. Lastly, to help support me and my work, consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron! Even a little donation can have a big impact.
