It’s finally here! Office Maxi is now available on pretty much every online realtor including most local library apps! Office Maxi was written while book 3 of Misfits of Carnt was at the editor. It was meant to be a one-off novel that I wrote for the audiences at Royal Road. After the Misfits of Carnt were picked up by Podium for the audiobook versions (which I maintain is the best way to experience my work), I got exposed to a bunch of LitRPG, which I mistakenly thought my Misfits of Carnt novel was a part of because of the copious amount of DnD references and the basic form of adventuring party style characters.

However, after devouring a couple of LitRPG titles from Podium in audiobook (which is my preferred reading method), I realized that the Misfits of Carnt was missing a crucial element in many LitRPGs: a functional game system. LitRPG and Gamelit are exactly as they sound, the novelization of the popular RPG genre of most video games and dice versions.

A LitRPG typically has a mechanic in the novel that could very easily be converted into an RPG or video game (and I’m sure the authors in that genre would be living their inner most fantasy if that ever happened to one of their works). He Who Fights with Monsters, one of the most successful LitRPGs that I sampled when I was doing my survey of the genre, has a main character with a game interface that’s explained as magic allowing him to interact with the world. So, the novel reads as if he is a player in a video game.

Game mechanics to LitRPG is what magic is to fantasy. In fantasy, there is always some explanation about how magic works. In Misfits of Carnt, there are harmonies in the universe that wizards can tap into with their singing, thus having to sing to cast spells. In LitRPG, there is some sort of interface that gamifies the novel.

Wanting to write a proper LitRPG with a game mechanic, I had to think of a world where the main character will have a game interface and an RPG like system that helps them interact with the world. I also didn’t want to do something that’s been done before. And to my knowledge, there weren’t any office based LitRPG. While the office that fights monsters isn’t anything new in the sense of Buffy the Vampire Slayer extended universe had corporate monster fighting in Angel. I’m certain there are none with stats and abilities that uses job titles in the Class system.

When I first started writing, I realized that my strong female protagonist novels were starting to outweigh my male ones, and decided that the name of our main character was Office Max. I got about 13 chapters into writing it when I realized that there was a store chain called Office Max, and I don’t enjoy being sued, so I decided that the easiest solution was changing the MC to female.

Maxi allowed me to keep the pun on the LitRPG trope of maxing the main characters power and Levels (Office Maxi), but also get the main character’s name and the setting in the title. It’s a two-word title pulling triple duty that has no relation to the store chain. Thus, why another strong female lead when I really tried to write a male one this time around.

In order to really put this novel in the home of LitRPG and Gamelit, I also needed a system that functioned like an RPG but also used corporate buzzwords companies use to convince a person that their job doesn’t suck when by any objective measures the company is an awful place to be.

I wanted to spotlight how some companies forget the human element and treat their employees like parts in an incomprehensible machine. The book needed to have the ridiculousness of the Office but the sense of possibility of Star Wars. Office Maxi needed to be recognizable to anyone who ever had a job that made them roll their eyes but also have a sense that there is something more than the never-ending tedium of the modern workplace all with a game system interface.

That’s why I went with stats like Adaptability and Ambition rather than say Strength and Intelligence. The skills needed to have a tree where a person could be fixing your printer and another skill for killing the coffeemaker that attempts to use you as an afternoon snack. I also had to write moments into the book where absurdity of corporate policy conflicts with reality as large corporations sometimes fall victim too.

I needed something that a worker could read and be amused by my take on the absurdity of some corporate cultures, but also enjoy the adventure of a person who finds that there is an entire alternate reality in our world much like Harry Potter finds out there is a school for wizards in the mundane world.

I feel the combination of corporate culture, game interface, and Maxi’s discovery of herself throughout the book mashes it into a unique story that will thrill those who love LitRPG for the game mechanics, but also thrill those who are just there for the story and skip over reading Maxi’s character sheet and quest rewards.

If it’s your first time with a LitRPG or you are a longtime fan of the genre, I feel this story will have something for you. If the Office and Buffy the Vampire Slayer had a child together, it would be Office Maxi raised on World of Warcraft.

If you’re looking for an MC to power game her way to the top, or a story about a mysterious company with secrets personal to our main character, this story is for you. If you ever felt like a square peg in a round hole at your job, this story will resonate with you.

Without further ado, nab yourself a copy of Office Maxi.

Maxi’s first week in a groundbreaking gamified workplace is disrupted by a snarling, drooling printer with large, pointy teeth and a murderous disposition.

After nearly becoming the red toner liquid refill during a killer inkjet’s afternoon snack, Maxi decides to investigate the mysterious company that’s more associated with slimes, zombies, and dragons than office work.

Luckily, she is equipped with an interface that is similar to her favorite RPG-style video games. For once, being a gamer will be good for more than just getting a couple bucks during her live streams.

Maxi normally enjoys LitRPG Urban Fantasy adventures, just not the dying part. Hopefully she can max her levels before the end is nigh and the beasties devour humanity.