Lucy A. McLaren

Lucy: Hello! Thank you for joining me today for a chat about our shared love of writing, gaming and storytelling.

First up, tell me a bit about yourself—as both a gamer and a writer.

Nicholas: Oh man. Where to begin? How long to go on? Lol.

I’m Nicholas Fuller. I’ve loved stories as long as I can remember. My mom used to love to read and there were always a ton of books in the home. I remember reading The Three Musketeers while I was still in grade school – sword fighting and swashbuckling?! Give it to me! 

I’ve also been playing video games since I was knee high to a grasshopper. I have many fond memories of playing tons of games on the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Super Nintendo with my brother. It’s really never stopped over the years, just changed a bit. 🙂

In 5th grade I started writing my first novel, a sci-fi store with an alien race inspired by a neighbor’s basset hounds. Thankfully that work will never see the light of day. 

I wrote my first novel about 11 years ago but it’s now a trunk book as it doesn’t fit what I want to write in the future. 

I’m working on two different sci-fi novels, one that’s a fun, funny, low-stakes adventure in the near future called How To Pee In Zero G. The other is a secondary world space fantasy with lots of action and some progression fantasy elements that’s tentatively called Stranded: Sorento Saga Book 1. 

I also make videos on YouTube related to writing, video games, and interviews with folks. 🙂 

L: It sounds as though gaming and books have been part of your life since you were really young, which is lovely (and same!).

Haha honestly your 5^th grade novel sounds amazing. Alien race inspired by basset hounds?? Also, one of my regrets is destroying most of my early stories. As cringe as I’m sure they were, it would be nice to look back on and think… wow, I have definitely improved since then. So I say treasure it!

Both of your current projects sound really great. I love the tongue-in-cheek title How to Pee in Zero G, and Stranded sounds like a lot of fun and adventure. They seem to be quite different tonally. Can you tell me a little about the projects and the inspirations behind each one?

N: Such a shame you threw out the work! I’m not sure I have the 5th grade story, but I do have some other early works. 🙂 

Alright! Projects and inspo! 

First WIP:

Jed has spent all his life living in the secluded community known as The Congregation on Mars’ moon; a community that believes in living as simply as possible. Jed, however, has always dreamed of exploring the solar system and seeing all the incredible things people living out there do… 
When his best friend, Betsy the cow, is mercilessly killed, Jed decides now is his time to get out and explore. As Jed finds his way around the solar system and navigating life in the unforgiving modern world, he tries his best to make friends and not enemies, to have fun and enjoy unique experiences, and, generally, to do it all without causing any trouble. 
Jed does not succeed. 

How to Pee in Zero G, the light-hearted near-future sci-fi adventure by Nicholas W. Fuller, is expected to release in the even nearer future. 

Here’s the story behind that story:

I wrote my first book (a trunk book) about 12 years ago. Shortly after finishing that first book, I came across a piece of writing advice that said having a main character be a fish out of a water was a great tool because then the reader gets to become familiar with the world at the same time as the character. So my silly brain said, “Hey, you know what would REALLY be a fish out of water?! How about an Amish person in a sci-fi setting!” Over the years I’ve changed it so the main character isn’t Amish per se but from this fictional organization called “The Congregation” which gives me more freedom. 

That one is coming along but is a bit on the back-burner. 

Here’s my other WIP:

Poey Targe doesn’t want to be on this planet. He didn’t ask to be dropped here, on whatever planet this is, but it turns out when you’re a member of the Royal Senate Guard on a planet that has recently become occupied, raising hell and then getting captured doesn’t make you a lot of friends with those occupiers.
Poey’s not sure why they didn’t just kill him, especially considering they destroyed his whole home planet. But instead, they left him here. Stranded.
The only thing Poey wants is his next drink, but the only way to get another drink is to help protect a small town from some attacking monsters. Poey isn’t trying to be anyone’s hero, but he’ll tousle with a beast or two if it earns him a fresh bottle of whiskey. 
That’s all he wants – just some simple jobs, and some bottles of whiskey. 
But things don’t stay simple for long…

Stranded: Sorento Saga book 1, the first in a planned trilogy of a progression science fantasy adventure by Nicholas W Fuller, is scheduled for release late in 2023.

The story behind this story actually starts with How To Pee In Zero G (HTPIZG):

So early this year (2023) I finished my first, very rough draft of HTPIZG. I’m happy with it, but there’s a lot I want to edit. The whole messy middle of the story basically has Jed sort of Mr Magoo-ing his way through various adventures. I think it’s fun, but upon reflection there’s not enough “progress” in that part of the story – there’s not enough advancing to the goals… in part because there’s not any major goals Jed has. As far as he’s concerned, there’s not a ton of conflict which is generally a very central element to good stories! 

After some pondering, I have some good ideas on how to solve those problems…

But in the meantime, I decided I wanted to write something that was not simplistic, but more straight forward. Instead of just winging it, I wanted to write something that used some clear structure. So, Salvation has some very clear conflicts and uses the 3-act story structure. I’m also writing it as a progression (space) fantasy which is a pretty popular sub-genre right now and one I think I know fairly well. 

I’ve been really happy with how this story is coming together. I’m still HOPING to self-pub it late this year but there’s a big space between where I’m at now and being ready for that, so we’ll see! But it’s good to have a goal! 🙂 

L: Awesome! Both of your WIPs sound really great. HTPIZG sounds almost like a DnD campaign, being more random adventures for the main character Jed. I don’t think there’s necessarily anything wrong with that approach to storytelling, though perhaps it feels odd when it’s in book format. For example, if that were a video game then it would feel more natural because games can be made up of multiple seemingly random quests and no one bats an eyelid.

Stranded sounds more of a traditional sci-fi fantasy adventure and a big change in tone from HTPIZG.

I wondered, then, whether you would say you have taken any inspiration from particular video games in relation to the stories of your individual WIPs? Are you into sci-fi adventure video games?

N: Well, I do love me some Sci-Fi! (And Fantasy which I’d also like to write someday but I digress.) And I do love video games. I tend to get deeply obsessed with a handful of games and play them… a lot. Like, a lot a lot. So, I’ve played a TON of StarCraft 2. I’m still not that good at it – far from pro player skill – but I can almost certainly beat anyone who has never played the game before! Lol. 

Often what brings me to video games is the social aspect, so I’ve been enjoying playing Deep Rock Galactic with my brother and some friends. I call it Space Moria. You play as dwarves that do mining missions, but it’s all a sci-fi setting. It’s kind of absurd but definitely in a fun way. 

But I do think video games are a great story telling medium. Mass Effect had a great story. There’s also this fun game/interactive narrative called Lifeline that I shout at the rooftops about how good it is every chance I get. It’s so cool! It’s a cheap phone app. I’d rather not say anything about the story but just pay the couple bucks and get it – if you’re reading this, you’ll love it. Trust me. 

All that said, I can’t point to any specific games that have been particularly inspirational with these stories… Actually, I take that back. There is a character in Stranded that is influenced by Glados and Wheatley from Portal 2 (as well as by Dross from the Cradle series). 😀 

I think it’s easier to think of literary inspirations. 

Andy Weir (The Martian, Project Hail Mary) is easily one of my top 5 favorite writers right now. Love his works. So smart and compelling but optimistic and funny. Love those books.

HTPIZG, as you may surmise from the title, is intended to be silly and funny and ridiculous – in a good way. What I’m shooting for is something like a cross between The Martian and Hitchhiker’s Guide. If I can get even close to the greatness of those two works, I’ll be thrilled. 

As for Stranded, I’ve heard from my writing group that they get The Mandalorian (TV show) vibes from the story with first drafts of the beginning chapters and I am absolutely loving that comparison. 🙂 

L: Ah, interesting! So, there are some very direct influences from Portal 2 and the Cradle series (none of which, I must admit, I’ve played but have heard of them!) for one character. First of all, can you tell us why those characters in particular influenced your character in Stranded?

Overall, though, you’ve said you take more literary inspiration in your story telling. For me, I feel as though my love of gaming is so great because of the stories told in the games I’ve played over the years—and it grew alongside my love of reading fantasy stories and watching films like the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I wonder whether it’s similar for you, that your drive to tell stories as a whole can be linked back to both your passion for books and video games?

N: The characters I mentioned are snarky and sarcastic but somehow also lovable. I hope to achieve the same with one character in particular in Stranded. 

Actually, bit of spoiler but it’s early on so… the character in mind is the cranial computer embedded in the main character’s head. It activates early in the story and the main character – Poey – now has a running narrative in his mind from the cranial computer. But that computer has had its personality altered. Its core programming is to be helpful and a guide, but its personality was altered to be as snarky as possible. 🙂 

It’s interesting because I think video games are a really compelling and interesting story telling medium. For a while early in my adult life I wanted to be a game developer and a big part of the draw for me was to use it as a story telling medium – one that brought together teams or people to create lots of different aspects of interesting art and technology and created these incredible experiences. But over the years the games I actually spend time playing are a lot less about experiencing the story and more about spending time with friends. I’ve played a lot of Deep Rock Galactic with friends this year and that has some backstory but no deep narrative you’re working your way through. 

I still think they’re an incredible medium though and honestly I want to go back and experience some of the better story games like Knights of the Old Republic, or The Witcher games. 

L: Yeah, I think that can be a bit of a balance to strike—having a snarky and sarcastic but loveable character. The loveable rogue archetype, I think it would be. I love the sound of the computer in your book; I can definitely see the Portal 2 inspiration there! 

Ah that’s interesting, so actually being part of video gaming development held an appeal because of the story telling aspect. Do you mind me asking what stopped you from pursuing that interest?

I wonder whether your move towards less narrative and more collaborative games (playing Deep Rock Galactic with your friends, for example) is because you’ve found satisfaction in reading and writing your own stories, so you’ve sought out a different experience in your gaming life?

What stopped me from pursuing video game development. Hmmm. Youthful hubris? lol. I went into studying it in college after having excelled at High School without a tremendous amount of effort. But this required effort! I wasn’t prepared for that. I didn’t do well. But also with some exposure I learned it wasn’t as fun as I thought it would be. It’s a very demanding industry because it’s one that many people want to work in. It also takes a massive team to create a modern game.

What’s nice about writing is I have full control. I don’t have a team to work with, I don’t have technical or budget constraints, I can take as long or as short to do whatever I want and I have total freedom to do it however I want.

I think that’s a good point – I don’ t need games to scratch the story itch right now. I’m currently reading an eARC of Dyrk Ashton’s upcoming Kraken Rider Z and really enjoying it. :slightly_smiling_face:

Haha, fair enough. I imagine there’s a lot to learn in video game development, and with a huge team creating the game then you would only be a small part of the story. Also, like you say, writing a story is completely different. You create it, you choose where it goes.

That sounds great! Video games can be whatever we need them to be, I think. I’ve personally been really drawn to cosy games lately over bigger, open world games, which feel overwhelming at the moment. I’ve no doubt we’ll both continue to enjoy them in whatever way we want to.

That feels like a good place to wrap up! It’s been lovely talking to you about all things gaming and writing. To conclude, please let us know where we can keep up with you and your projects.

Thanks so much for chatting with me, Lucy. This has been fun! 

The easiest places to find all my things are on my linktree and from there you can join my Patreon community FOR FREE and keep in touch with everything I’m doing. I hope you’ll follow along! 🙂