So I stumbled across I Dream of Dragons, the blog of aspiring fantasy writer Bryan Hitchcock, who has some nice things to say about some of my stories.

On “Save Me Plz”: “Kirtley wrote one of my favorite Realms of Fantasy stories, ‘Blood of Virgins,’ and I was thrilled when that one was picked up by Escape Pod. ‘Save Me Plz’ is a riff on life with a video game addict. There was a lot here that rang true, since me and my whole family basically are WoW players, though I have managed to limit my addiction to Friday nights…. mostly. The thing I enjoyed most about this story was the way it kept unfolding and revealing layers of meaning and turns in the plot. Sure there are always going to be questions and places where the explanations run thin in a story that starts so small and becomes so epic. But, for the most part, the gaming issues rang true and the relationship was realistic. Mur‘s reading was excellent. I think her gaming background helped her make some really good choices for emphasis and emotion. I really enjoyed this story. A+”

On “The Second Rat”: “Wow. My favorite short stories are ones with a different twist to them that somehow make the reader appreciate life in a new and profound way. This was a story like that. I don’t want to give much away, but the basic idea is about a guy who can ‘rewind’ time and live parts of his life over again, and again, and again, if he wishes. This story blew my mind. So far, Kirtley is 3 for 3 with me. He writes stories that matter in the way I want my stories to matter.”

And finally on “The Disciple”: “A good spooky story about a man who is driven by his own losses and sense of mediocrity to pursue powers that ‘man was not meant to meddle in.’ Great twist at the end. Excellent buildup and homage to Lovecraft.” This blogger also notes that, “This guy is becoming one of my favorite short story writers.”

Thanks, Bryan. Coincidentally, you are now becoming one of my favorite bloggers.

There’s now a lively discussion over at the Escape Pod message board about my story “Save Me Plz.” The story seems to have particularly struck a nerve with some gamers (or their significant others).

Warning: Spoilers for “Save Me Plz”

For example, mattatarms writes, “First time poster, been listening to the podcast for months. This one connected with me enough in such a way that I felt compelled to come here and post. I am a former MMO addict (Star Wars Galaxies), and during the height of my time in the game I really had the feeling that it was my life. When I was working (the little I was), I would want my life to be that swaggering smuggler/fighter pilot that I was in the game. I was involved in a role-playing guild, and the stories that we had in there just felt more real to me than real life did. There was a time where if I wanted to change the world to fit the universe I was involved with in the game, I would. It’s been a world of change since I decided to ‘unplug’ though. I’ve turned my life around, and found the love of my life. Moved to a new city and started a new and better life. Anyway, my point … The end of the piece, where they found the car in their fantasy world that Devon created, rung some sort of bell, along with Meg’s emotional reaction. That this piece of the old world that she had mostly forgotten would bring her back in that way, and then cry for help, makes me wonder what in my own personal situation reminded me of ‘reality’ and made me cry for help. Anyway, great podcast. Keep up the awesome work!”

Biscuit writes, “This story really struck a chord with me because it is SO close to the bone. At some times in my relationship with my husband, I have had to say, ‘Me or the computer game.’ And now I’m fully on the other side. Having watched on the outside for so many years, I decided to find out what all the fuss is about, and now I am a complete Guild Wars fanatic, to the point it IS pushing aside some of my aspirations in life. (I want to be a writer, but am ‘crippled’ by the amount of time I spend playing during my free time. Even all my other hobbies have suffered because of GW.) I sound like a freak, but I’m actually a very well-centered human being. There’s a whole lot of emotional Ouch in this story. And after all, isn’t that one component that makes a good story?”

CieBird writes, “I am SURE that I dated that guy in college. Brilliant programmer, always spouting some self-important wisdom, never went to class, got high a lot, WAY into gaming, dropped out. I am sure that was him the story was about.”

Speaking of “that guy,” the character Devon, many listeners seem to have very strong reactions to him. Some are creeped out, while others sympathize with his desire to change the world.

Sayeth writes, “The thing I liked best about this story is that the ‘bad guy’ wasn’t really what most people would call evil; he was just trying to make the world into what he thought would be a better place. I don’t think he would have considered himself selfish (though he was), rather he was just so myopic that he believed that by remaking the world he would be helping everyone out. This gives the story resonances with not just multiplayer games, but politics as well. Perhaps I’m a bit naive, but I think most of the political battles are not good vs. evil, but people trying to reshape the world into what they think would be ideal, not grasping that their view of heaven is the other man’s hell.”

ScottC writes, “The story also made me think of Disney. I read (well listened) to the recent biography, and the theme was that Disney wanted to make a perfect world (Snow White, Disneyland, the original concept for EPCOT). But the difference was that Disney invited you into his world, while Devon forced everyone, including Meg, into his. I bet Devon is still fine-tuning his world, still thinking the problem is with reality and not with him.”

To read more, go here.

My favorite comment posted over at Pseudopod about my horror story “The Disciple” comes from Simeon Weinraub: “Overall though, I thought that this was a fairly realistic portrayal of getting a tenure position at any college.”

My short story “Blood of Virgins,” which recently appeared on Escape Pod, seems to have inspired a great deal of discussion, and some very strong opinions, both for and against. See here and here.