Quain Holtey's Blog

Turns out, writing an update once a month pushes the email length limitations. Does this mean I should try harder to write succinctly? Probably.

But instead, I’m going to write TWO updates a month.

No one can stop me from writing too much, MWA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!

Speaking of which:

Writing UpdatesTruth’s Overture → 6th DraftFantasy Novel — Planned release: TBDThe god of Truth convinces his executioner to spare his life by showing them why the Chorus, the gods who have imprisoned him, are the ones truly de...

Screenshot from Necromancer’s Cheatcode

This last weekend, I joined a game jam. It didn’t go too well. As is tradition, I’m going to do a post mortem—or an analysis of how the jam went, and what lessons I’ll be taking into the next jam I do.

So let’s dive right in.

Quain, What’s A Game Jam?

Game jams are where game developers, whether programmers, artists, designers, musicians, or anything in between, get together to make a game over a short period of time (usually a weekend). Jams can have thousand...

A lot happened this month! Was another baby born, or a new book released? Well, no, but just because nothing eventful happened doesn’t mean progress wasn’t made!

So, let’s see that progress!

But first: Cat

My cat, Mimir, in a box the second it was empty.

If you’d like to stay up to date with me and you haven’t already, consider subscribing!

Writing UpdatesTruth’s Overture → 6th Draft: 14%Fantasy Novel — Planned release: TBDThe god of Truth convinces his executioner to spare his life by showing them w...

The top of my feet drag against the rough concrete. Rougher hands hoist me from my armpits as I am dragged through my undeserved home.

“Could you lift me a little higher?” I ask, not looking up. “The concrete’s wearing holes through my shoes, and it’s starting to hurt.”

A thick, stiff pain finds its way into my gut, placed there by the swinging cudgel in the off-hand of the right guard, Porter. It tells me everything he feels about me without words, yet he still feels the need to speak. I suppress...

There is a theorized point in our development as humans where artificial intelligence will advance so far that civilization will look unrecognizable to our historical ancestors. And as technology progresses at an exponential rate, this point—this Singularity—is set to arrive faster than we can even predict. This is called the Law of Accelerated Returns, and it was posed by Ray Kurzweil as far back as 1999, clarified later in an essay he penned in 2001.

Being on this side of the timeline, it’s imp...

I have a hyper fixation on video essays. Specifically ones by the essayist Jacob Geller. So much so that I purchased a copy of his book How a Game Lives, a published version of a selection of ten of his video essays, complete with afterwords from other incredible authors, artists, and essayists, and annotations from Jacob himself.

And, because I can’t do anything while my wife breastfeeds our baby, I’ve been reading the essays aloud to them.

My wife loves it.

In a post a few months ago, I asked whe...

Recently, my friends and I have started doing a weekly writing challenge where each write a short piece of fiction (~500 words) based on a shared prompt.

The original short story I had planned to release today didn’t pan out, so instead, I figured I would share the three stories I’ve written so far, with some behind the scenes context for each of them.

I hope you enjoy.

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The Final VerdictPrompt: write a story where the protagonist is hiding a significant secret

"We've all heard the evidence," Ca...

I recently finished The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin, an excellent science fiction novel originally published in 1969 that examines gender and sexual identity through an alien society that is androgynous—being neither male nor female—save for a few days every month.

The Left Hand of Darkness is one of those books that is so beautifully written and so thought-provoking that by the end of it you’ve gained a new perspective on life. It is an example of the best fiction out there; prove...

Hey! Another month has passed, and another newsletter is here! Short stories, goals for the next year, and launching book I’ve been working on for almost a year.

I hope you’re ready, because somehow, a lot happened this month. Again.

Consider subscribing to stay up to date

Writing UpdatesKing Maker → DONEPlanned Release: August 19th

Novella - Fantasy

A dwarven prince must bring peace to his war-torn underground city by resorting to the one thing his people understand: violence.

King Maker is finally ...

Celebrating a birthday is a strange feeling. On one hand, it’s passing a milestone, like the finish line of a marathon. It’s rewarding and it fills me with pride. On the other hand, it’s one tick closer to the boom. One more step on the steady march toward oblivion that awaits us all at the end of this journey we call life.

And on the other other hand (in this strange world where we have all evolved to have 3 arms, of course), it feels as though if I don’t celebrate in some way, I will lose track...