When I heard that The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was coming out in VR, I think my heart stopped. This game is as close to being in a fantasy RPG as we can be these days, and, my dream is to truly wield a sword in one hand and magic with the other. Yet I won’t buy this edition (though I’ve bought several others … oh, Bethesda, you’re so very sneaky with your Very Special Editions, too), because I know that the current VR limitations will take me more out of the game than if I am simply holding a controller in my hand or using a mouse and keyboard. The technology just isn’t there yet.

Xander Mallory – the fictional creator of Neverfall Online – has of creating a truly immersive, utterly real, epic fantasy RPG game (with a fantastic single-player story woven into a MMORPG) has that same dream. But, unlike Xander, the only way I can create this game is to write it. And that is why The Neverfall Series exists.
I’ve written professionally for over a decade (though not under this pen name) and focused on fantasy, action-adventure, and science fiction. But not even I knew that one genre could take my love for writing and increase it one-hundred fold like GameLit and LitRPG have. Because, in a very real sense, this genre mixes writing and game playing, two of my favorite activities, into one.

There are a few other things that you should know about me and the series. Four of the most defining moments of my childhood/young adulthood were seeing Star Wars, DMing Dungeons & Dragons, reading The Lord of the Rings, and playing The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.

Star Wars taught me many things, but most of all, the importance of an excellent, well-rounded, and complex villain.

Dungeons & Dragons trained me how to world build convincingly. I learned pretty quickly what does and doesn’t work when I could see in real time what the players thought of my ideas.

The Lord of the Rings introduced me to my love/hate relationship with elves and all they mean for the fantasy genre.

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind showed me how games could truly become something greater than any other form of entertainment.

I cannot wait to share with you Neverfall Online and hear your ideas (both compliments and criticisms). Thank you for taking the time to check out my world.

C. Wintertide