Todd Lyons's Blog

A small but satisfying update: both You Tried: A Deadbeat’s Guide to Self-Actualization and Wazo the Wildcard: Things Go Wrong, Mostly are now in the catalogue at the Ottawa Public Library.

This was not, strictly speaking, a surprise. I submitted them through the library’s Local Author program and then did what I usually do—forgot about it just long enough that the outcome could feel like a pleasant accident.

So when the older brother joined its younger sibling in the catalogue, my reaction was less “astonished author achieves lifelong dream” and more:

Oh, nice. They accepted my submission.

Still counts.

There’s something quietly meaningful about this, even if it arrived without fanfare. Libraries have always been one of the few places where you’re allowed to exist without needing to justify it. No purchase required. No performance necessary. Just space, time, and the possibility that you might stumble across something you didn’t know you needed.

Which now, apparently, includes my books.

If you’re in Ottawa and feel like taking a chance on either of them (or just want to verify that this is real), you can find them here:

You Tried: A Deadbeat’s Guide to Self-Actualization
https://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S26C1705473

Wazo the Wildcard: Things Go Wrong, Mostly
https://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S26C1701011

If you do end up borrowing one, I hope it helps. Or at least keeps you company for a bit.

And, in keeping with tradition: please return it on time. I have a reputation to maintain.

As one professional chapter closes at the end of this month, it feels meaningful to see another one finding its place on a public shelf.

The first Wazo book has been accepted into the Ottawa Public Library system.

Libraries represent access, community, and longevity—values I care about deeply as a writer, and values I carried with me for 18 years as a federal public servant.

For nearly two decades, my work was about making things understandable. Taking policy, complexity, confusion—and translating it into something people could actually use. Sometimes that meant podcasting. Sometimes it meant writing in plain language. Sometimes it meant being the bridge between rural communities and national headquarters. (Occasionally it meant explaining the same thing six different ways until it finally clicked.)

Storytelling isn’t that different.

You take something complicated—a feeling, an idea, a question—and you make it navigable. You make it accessible. You make it something someone else can step into without needing a map.

A library shelf feels different than a sales page. It’s quieter. More patient. It doesn’t measure success in spikes. It measures it in presence.

There’s also something grounding about knowing a book will simply… be there. Waiting. Available to anyone who wanders in curious.

And someone did! It's already been checked out.  

I don’t know what the next professional chapter looks like yet. Canada's Free Agents ends this month. Eighteen years of public service shifts into past tense. That’s a strange sentence to write.

But there is comfort in this: the work of making things clear, accessible, and human doesn’t disappear. It just changes form.

For now, one chapter is on a shelf.

And another is about to be written.

Not many, but I do keep a few copies of my books on hand. Cheaper than Amazon because they don't get a cut of the sales. I might also be able to drop them in the mail. Shipping within Canada is $10. Local pickup available for those in the National Capital Region.

Wazo the Wildcard: Things Go Wrong, Mostly (paperback) - $14 CADYou Tried: A Deadbeat’s Guide to Self-Actualization (paperback) - $10 CADYou Tried: A Deadbeat’s Guide to Self-Actualization (hardcover) - $20 CAD

Happy to write you a personalized inscription or just my signature. Write me at todd at toddlyons dot ca

 

 

 

 

Art: "Storyteller" by Fuseblower 

Here a sentence I never expected to write... at least not with my name attached to it. 

Today, The Unusual Predicament of Sophie De Murtas was released as a digital download on BasicFantasy.org.

The adventure began life in 2016 as an unfinished module by Stuart Marshall, a writer and editor whose influence on the OSR is difficult to overstate. Stuart is best known as the Editor-in-Chief and co-author (with Matt Finch) of OSRIC, but more than that, he had a particular way of thinking about fantasy adventures: humane, literate, structurally sound, and quietly clever. At some point after releasing r12, he stepped away from the public Internet, and Sophie De Murtas remained unfinished.

With some hesitation (and a great deal of respect) I stepped in to complete it.

Even in its incomplete state, Sophie De Murtas had strong bones. Stuart had established a compelling central mystery, a memorable cast of NPCs, particularly Sophie herself, a tone that balanced melancholy, curiosity, and quiet danger; and several locations that felt inhabited, rather than merely keyed.

What was missing was not imagination, but closure. Threads were introduced and left unresolved. The situation was unstable, but not yet allowed to tip. The adventure gestured toward consequences without quite reaching them.

In short: the ingredients of a great story were already present. My goal was not to overwrite Stuart’s voice, but to answer it, carrying his ideas forward to their natural conclusions.

Specifically, I focused on:

Structural Completion: The original manuscript stopped short of resolution so I added clear escalation paths, a defined endgame (with multiple possible outcomes), and consequences that emerge logically from player action rather than authorial decree.The adventure now knows how it ends. Or, more accurately, how it can end in several different ways.Expanded Locations and Interconnections: Several areas hinted at in r12 are now fully realized, with attention paid to how NPCs move and react, what changes when the party intervenes (or doesn't), and how information travels through the setting. Nothing exists in isolation anymore. Motivations: Where r12 sketched characters and their roles, I tried to give them traction: why they stay, what they fear, and what they will do if pushed. I avoided turning anyone into a monologue delivery system. If an NPC explains something, it’s because they have a reason to.Playability: I made a conscious effort to ensure the adventure can be run without improvisational heroics from the GM and provides enough clarity to adjudicate consequences, but still leaves space for player-driven solutions. I hope I succeeded. UPSDM is not a "plot module." It's a situation that reacts.

That said, I did not try to write like Stuart Marshall. I don't think like he does, and pretending otherwise would have been dishonest. Instead, I tried to write adjacent to his work. I think the result is something close enough that the seams don't show too badly, but distinct enough that I’m not ventriloquizing a voice that isn't mine.Where the tone shifts slightly, I hope it feels like development rather than intrusion.

Working on The Unusual Predicament of Sophie De Murtas reinforced something I already believed: good adventures are less about clever twists than about careful attention. Stuart paid attention to people, to implications, and to the emotional weight of fantasy situations. My job was to keep paying attention after the manuscript stopped.

This is not a rescue, and it’s not a reboot. It’s a completion.Even unfinished, Stuart had written something worth finishing. I hope r18 honours that. If nothing else, I hope players come away feeling that Sophie’s predicament (unusual as it is) was finally allowed to resolve.

One final thought: I’m deeply grateful to Basic Fantasy RPG for fostering a culture where something like this is not only possible, but actively encouraged. I bought OSRIC years ago as a fan. Full stop. I admired the work from a distance and never imagined I’d be anything other than a reader and a gamer.

Did I ever think my name would appear on a cover because of something we made together? Absolutely not.

Basic Fantasy has always treated creation as a shared endeavour rather than a gated one. It’s a space where contributions are welcomed on their merits, where stewardship matters more than ownership, and where finishing good work is considered as valuable as starting it. That ethos is the only reason this project exists in the form it does.

I’ve never met Stuart Marshall, and despite trying, I haven't been able to reach him. Even so, it’s an honour to have my name appear alongside his on something he began. That’s not a thing I take lightly. I hope, wherever he is, that he’d recognize the care with which this was handled and that he’d feel the work was respected.

My first YA novel (suitable for kids 12 to 99) is out!

 More details here.

So, while you were busily doing nothing or lazing on a beach somewhere, some of us were not doing that but wishing we were. Unfortunately, we were stuck doing regular maintenance on our 130 year old house. Well, I was, anyway. And I really don't enjoy working with my hands; it makes my brain scream out for distraction.

As it turns out, that's a great way to inspire another book. 

And that book will be out later this year, I hope. It stars someone you might remember from Chrysogon’s Coterie, though for most readers, Wazo will be brand new... 

...which is probably for the best, because Wazo… well... he sees the world sideways, and not always the same sideways twice.

He’s the sort of person who can fall into an open pit trap and call it “a tactical choice.” Someone who takes a mysterious, possibly malevolent stone at its word, even as it ruins his day. A guy who argues with reality like it owes him money.

Wazo is messy, brilliant in short bursts, prone to enthusiasm at very bad times, and loyal in a way that terrifies his enemies and occasionally his friends. He is either the worst hero you could ask for, or the best one you’ll get under the circumstances.

The book’s called Wazo the Wildcard: Things Go Wrong, Mostly. It’s funny until it isn’t, then funny again, because life works like that. Or mine does, anyway. When it works.

If you liked You Tried and want something lighter, I think you'll like it.  

If you didn't like You Tried and wanted to give me another chance (please), I think you'll like it. 

More soon.

So, while you were busily doing nothing or lazing on a beach somewhere, some of us were not doing that but wishing we were. Unfortunately, we were stuck doing regular maintenance on our 130 year old house. Well, I was, anyway. And I really don't enjoy working with my hands; it makes my brain scream out for distraction.

As it turns out, that's a great way to inspire another book. 

And that book will be out later this year, I hope. It stars someone you might remember from Chrysogon’s Coterie, though for most readers, Wazo will be brand new... 

...which is probably for the best...

...because Wazo… well... he sees the world sideways, and not always the same sideways twice.

He’s the sort of person who can fall into an open pit trap and call it “a tactical choice.” Someone who takes a mysterious, possibly malevolent stone at its word, even as it ruins his day. A guy who argues with reality like it owes him money.

Wazo is messy, brilliant in short bursts, prone to enthusiasm at very bad times, and loyal in a way that terrifies his enemies and occasionally his friends. He is either the worst hero you could ask for, or the best one you’ll get under the circumstances.

The book’s called Wazo the Wildcard: Things Go Wrong, Mostly. It’s funny until it isn’t, then funny again, because life works like that. Mine does, anyway. When it works.

If you liked You Tried and want something lighter, I think you'll like it.  

If you didn't like You Tried and wanted to give me another chance (please), I think you'll like it. 

More soon.

When I first set out to write You Tried, I didn’t want to create a static artifact—a final, unchanging object sealed in amber. Instead, I wanted the book to be a living reflection of me: messy, neurodivergent, and always evolving.

You might notice subtle changes in the text over time—a sentence reworded here, a tiny addition there, a joke sharpened or a thought deepened. These tweaks aren’t bugs or mistakes; they’re part of the journey. They’re like emotional software updates, silent and slow, sometimes imperceptible if you were to compare versions published weeks apart, but unmistakable once you look back over months or years.

This approach is very different from how I work on my open-source Basic Fantasy RPG books, which use numbered releases and forum posts acting as changelogs. But this book is personal, and I want its changes to mirror me—gradual, quiet, and organic.

After making many tweaks during the book's first few week's of life, I added this paragraph to Appendix J:

Stealth Update Advisory
Please be aware that the author cannot be trusted not to tweak, revise,
or impulsively expand this manuscript during routine proofreading.
This is not a bug. It’s a compulsion.
Every time a typo gets fixed, new content sneaks in. The book now
exists in multiple parallel versions, all equally canonical, none officially
numbered. Like emotional software updates, you won’t notice what
changed—only that you feel slightly different afterward.
This advisory was added during one such update. 

I trust my readers enough to come along for this ride—to embrace the imperfections, the slips, the expansions, and even the small mysteries of “Did that line sound different before?” Because the truth is, none of us are fixed or finished. We’re all works in progress.

So if you’re reading this book now, or years from now, know that you’re holding something that will be alive so long as I am. And that, to me, is exactly how it should be.

Amazon CanadaAmazon US 

What? A real book. One that the average person might actually buy? 

Yes. I’m still shocked too.

This manuscript started life 19 years ago as an escape. A coping mechanism. Then I stopped believing in my writing and quit. The bleakness of the COVID-19 lockdown made me start again. I wrote a couple of self-published TTRPG books, thinking they were a safe way to practice writing again. Fiction, mostly. Maps and monsters. Not personal. But even as I wrote those, I could tell how much of my unresolved pain was seeping in. 'Chrysogon’s Coterie' contains a lot of me—splintered into dozens of characters, some noble, some petty, all carrying too much. That book revealed things I wasn’t ready to face. But I kept writing. By the time my second book came out, I’d already finished a third. And was halfway through a fourth. Then I stopped again.  Because I realized how much of what I write still comes from the same places: anxiety, anger, depression, insecurity. I decided to revisit the book I never finished. The one I abandoned before any of the others.  I did. And this is it. It’s not the same book it was back then. I’ve had almost 20 more years of wrangling my demons. The anger’s softened. The bitterness too. It’s easier for me to read now. Less painful to write. But I didn’t expect it to be quite so... listy. If you notice a heavy reliance on lists, please know that wasn’t a stylistic decision so much as a survival strategy. Lists are how I think. They keep me organized. Help me remember the things I forget.  They’re also how I avoid thinking too hard. They got me through the days when writing paragraphs was too much and coherence felt like a myth. Lists trick my brain into believing it’s being linear, even when it’s just pacing in a circle. Also: prose is hard. Bullet points are shaped like soft little shields. If you’re neurodivergent, overwhelmed, emotionally exhausted, or just short on dopamine—this book is for you. If you’re not? This book is still for you. You might just need to squint in sympathy.Amazon CanadaAmazon US

Here's an early preview of the cover of my forthcoming 3rd book Nightmare Voyager. The artist is M. W. Byouk, who I long admired before reaching out. He has also created a dozen pieces of interior art for the story's characters, and says there are more to come. I can't recommend him highly enough.