A common refrain I hear among writers is that they fell in love with the written word at a very early age. That ‘twern’t me. Television, Movies, and, to a lesser extent, radio were the tools I used to stuff my imagination. As my 1st and 2nd grade teachers could attest, words on page failed to hold my attention for long. But I can pinpoint exactly when that disinclination towards reading started to change.
I must have been about eight that night I spied my older brother and his friends playing Dungeons & Dragons. Of course at the time I had no idea what it was. “Were they playing a game?” I wondered. They were rolling dice, but there was no board. Instead stacks of books and sheets of graph paper covered the table. I couldn’t follow the action but one thing was clear to me. My brother and his friends were having fun. A lot of fun. Being the inquisitive younger brother it was not long before I was shooed away from the table.
So the next time my brother was out of the house I snuck into his bedroom, eased open his closet, and peaked at his stash of D&D books. The artwork, with its bold dashes of color and stylized figures, both drew me in and scared me. Being a child in a devoutly Catholic family, the images of shining knights fighting against goblins, devils, and dragons filled me with a sense that I. should. not. be. looking. at. these. And, like any kid, I kept going. I wanted to know the stories behind the pictures. I wanted to learn the game.
Reading took on a greater importance to me. A switch had been flipped in my brain. And whole new vistas of imagination became available to me through books. Through D&D I got interested in Tolkien and Lovecraft. I still love movies, tv, and radio, but nothing elicits the same emotions from me as a book. Oh, except for role-playing. I am unashamed to say that not a year has gone by since then that I have not been active in at least one role-playing-game group. There is still something I find deeply rewarding in thumbing through a new RPG book. It is not uncommon for me to buy books for game systems I know I will never have the opportunity to play. My love for reading was borne out of RPG books. It is a love that often made me wish that some day I would be able to write in one of those beautiful books.
Now that wish has come true. When the opportunity to submit a story for White Wolf’s Werewolf: the Apocalypse setting presented itself, I scraped off the rust and tamped down the self-doubt as best I could in order to make it happen. All these months later I can finally announce that I am included in one hella-sweet anthology. Changing Breeds: Wild West Tales Anthology is a collection of short stories which feature the lesser known shapeshifting Children of Gaia. All the tales take place in the old west. My story, “The Leadville Mind Heist”, kicks off the book! It is a weird west heist tale inspired by my love of Sergio Leone films and old-time radio westerns. It was an absolute hoot to write the story, and I hope those of you who purchase the book find it just as fun to read. Seriously, for six bucks you buy yourself 10 stories of escapism and partake in this man’s joy in seeing a childhood dream realized.
