Hey! Welcome to my portfolio. Since I’ll be meeting plenty of interesting strangers at GDC and many with not enough time to talk about everything, I decided i’d write this post to catch any one up on the what-why of my career.
Why are you at GDC 2017?
I’m hunting the wild job beasts for the most part. But also to experience the event. First time.
What kind of jobs are you looking for?
Full and part time jobs as a writer and narrative designer. I’m also interested in starting to mid experience level production roles. Technically i’ve also been a creative director, voice actor director, and a few other things too.
What’s your experience like?
Over four years as a writer/narrative designer and two of those were mixed in with production work.
Have you been part of any shipped titles?
Yup. Really only one major one. I was a Contributing Writer on Albino Lullaby, a horror VR game, which had its first episode launch in 2015. Next episode is coming out this year. It won the Epic Epic Award for Narrative & Worldbuilding at the Boston Festival of Indie Games in 2015 – but now I’m bragging.
VR?
Well, well, well. That didn’t take long, now did it? Yes. VR. I’ve worked on about four VR projects thus far. Let’s not lose focus and move on. Okay?
Okay. You have a lot of experience. Why do you need to look for a job?
Good question. Ignoring the cyclical hiring practices of the game industry, I keep getting hired by indie studios that are poorly managed and then end up shutting down. I’d really love to be part of a stable studio, but for the time being, I keep having rotten luck.
But your resume says you’re currently working on three projects?
I am. They’re small freelance gigs to make ends meet. Most of them have flexible deadlines, and I could very easily take on more part time work, though I’d much rather put them on hold for a full time job. Ultimately I am seeking a full time job, because it allows me to put my everything into a project. But don’t let that stop you from talking to me about your cool part time thing – if it’s really cool.
What are you currently working on?
Earplay is an interactive audio engine that’s producing games for mobile and Amazon Alexa. I’m pitching and workshopping design and stories for it. One of the best parts of this job is I get to work with the amazing Dave Grossman (Telltale, LucasArts), which also makes it the most high profile project I’m part of at the moment.
The Ledge Foundation – A Maze of Grain is a Dungeons & Dragons campaign producer for live play sessions through Roll20 , a digital tabletop engine. The main GM runs about seven groups through the main campaign, and each member of each group also runs an individual solo campaign based around their player character. I write updates for these solo campaigns weekly, for about six characters/players, in addition to helping expand the game wiki and general organization.
The Kinetic Novel is a still unannounced studio and project. It is a small team, so in addition to being the lead writer, I also perform a majority of the production work for the project lead.
All these remote jobs. Where do you live?
I travel around a lot but am open to moving anywhere for the right job. It’s my ideal to stay in one place for one full time job, but so far that job has not made itself known.
I’m interested in hiring you, but I’ve never hired a writer before, and that’s making me feel weird.
There are some online resources out there for this discomfort you’re feeling, but you’re also welcome to contact me with your concern. I’ve been many people’s first writer, so I probably have an answer to your question.
What’s your favorite game story?
I can’t really choose, cus I like game stories too much. But it’s Earthbound.
What’s your philosophy around game narrative and design?
You should contact me for a discussion this deep. To keep it short, i’m not usually interested in prescriptive creation and would much rather create something I don’t fully understand.
I have different/more questions not having to do with any of this/I want to be your friend/hang out/ etc.
Just contact me already.