September 7, 2025 • 30 mins
Ever wondered what would happen if your hometown was suddenly surrounded by prehistoric beasts? Or if Earth itself transformed into a video game overnight? These are the imaginative worlds author Tyler Lenz brings to life in his gripping science fiction adventures.
Tyler's journey as a storyteller defies conventional wisdom. Beginning his writing career around age 30, he transformed his background in technical writing into a passion for crafting page-turning adventures that readers can't put down. What started as a challenge after reading self-published works he believed he could surpass has evolved into multiple successful series and a three-book publishing deal.
The Texas Accelerated series draws inspiration from a fascinating piece of forgotten history, a billion-dollar particle accelerator project abandoned in Waxahachie, Texas during the 1990s. Tyler brilliantly reimagines this real-world location as the catalyst for transporting a small Texas town into a world where saber-toothed tigers and woolly mammoths roam just beyond the city limits. The blend of small-town characters facing extraordinary circumstances creates a uniquely Texan post-apocalyptic adventure that's both thrilling and accessible.
For his upcoming Lit RPG series "Non-Player Character," Tyler ventures into a genre that's exploding in popularity while remaining largely unknown to mainstream readers. By simplifying the complex statistical elements that often define Lit RPG, he's created an entry point for curious readers to experience this fascinating blend of video game mechanics and traditional storytelling. His approach to writing across genres remains consistent—focused on entertainment above all else.
What sets Tyler apart is his dedication to creating stories that serve as true escapes. "I just want you to have a good time," he explains, highlighting his commitment to crafting roller-coaster reading experiences rather than vehicles for personal politics or heavy-handed messaging. This reader-first philosophy shines through in his accessible writing style, fast-paced plotting, and engaging dialogue.
Ready to explore prehistoric Texas or a world where Earth becomes the ultimate game? Dive into Tyler Lenz's imaginative universes today, and keep an eye out for his Moonquill/Podium Publishing debut coming in 2026!
Texas Accelerated (2 Book Series)
-Non- Player Character [A Light-litRPG]
by Cashew
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Today I am thrilled to welcome author Tyler Lenz to
the show.
Tyler is the creator of theTexas Accelerated series, which
begins with the Scene, and hissecond book, beyond the Scene, a
thrilling mix of sci-fi,survival and small-town Texas
grit.
His work combines action,mystery and heart, earning
(00:23):
praise from readers who say hisbooks are true page-turners.
But Tyler's storytellingdoesn't stop there.
He recently signed a three-bookpublishing deal for his new lit
RPG series.
It's a non-player characterwith Moonquill handling e-book
and print and Podium Publishingproducing the audiobook.
(00:46):
The first book will launch in2026, bringing readers into a
whole new world where Earthitself has been turned into a
game.
Tyler's ability to blendfast-paced adventure with deep
world building makes his workstand out and I can't wait to
dive into both the TexasAccelerated Universe and his
(01:07):
upcoming lit RPG series.
Tyler, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
What an introduction.
Thank you, pam, you're welcome.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Well, you're pretty amazing.
You've got all kinds of stuffgoing on, I'm trying to.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
It's been a while, but it's finally starting to
happen.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
I remember.
Can I tell everyone how we met?
Yeah, please do so we're at amarket where we're both trying
to peddle our books and he's notright next to my booth.
He's kind of like over, youknow, diagonally, and I said,
hey, man, there's another authorat this show, and so I said
I'll go check it out.
Hey, man, there's anotherauthor at this show, and so I
said I'll go check it out.
(01:46):
I went over there and we metand talked for a while and he
was just so awesome to talk toand his books looked incredible.
As a matter of fact, I got himto sign two copies right here
and I still have them, but I did.
I have to admit to you, I loveto read my e-reader with my
e-reader, so I just went onlineand purchased them online.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Fine with me.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
And yeah, I should have had your book with me.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
I have yours upstairs .
Well, I don't know if you're amemoir reader, but you know I
like that.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
I want to escape reality, not learn more about
reality when I read.
That doesn't mean I don'tappreciate a good memoir, I know
, and I appreciate that you,because I have to write.
It's like therapy for me towrite about all the stuff.
But I could dip into fiction.
I don't know, I probably cannever do it, you never know
unless you try, I know Well.
Can you tell us a little bitabout your journey as a writer?
What first inspired you tobegin writing stories?
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Yeah, I started late, you know it was.
I was probably about 30, 30,132 when I really first actually
started trying to write, butI've always been good at it.
I got my degree kind of focusedin writing and I've always
enjoyed it.
But it was more technicalwriting, journalism, focused
(03:16):
writing.
I've always loved to read and Ialways thought I would be able
to tell a good story.
And I was just reading allthese self-published books and
they had tons and tons ofreviews and ratings and when I
was reading these I was likethis is not that great.
I was like if they can do this,I can do this, I can do it.
(03:38):
And that's really what spurredme.
I read a book that was reallypopular and it just seemed so
simple.
I was like if?
this hits, I can do this too,and so I tried and it worked out
all right.
So there was really no likedeep desire in me my whole life
to be an author.
But boy, now there is.
(03:58):
Once.
I really started writing andfigured out that I can do it.
It really.
I started to grow a passion forit.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
I think that it was always there.
I think writing has always beenin authors.
It's just once you tap thepassion and you figure out oh,
it's a calling.
That's what I think.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
And then once you it takes a lot of guts too, I think
.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Yeah, we can't give it up.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Yeah, I think it takes a lot of guts.
I think a lot of people arejust scared to try Um, because
it's such a commitment, you know, to try to write a full book
and and then to put it out therefor other people to read.
I think that's that steppingstone, a lot of people.
Just it scares them too much toeven try, cause what if people
don't like it?
What if I'm going to get onestar reviews?
(04:44):
You know which I've got some ofand you know you just wait out
with those five stars and youjust focus on the people and
that's what I do.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Well, the one stars make the five stars believable.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
That's what I think it really does.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
They're not all pretend yeah.
So you've written acrossdifferent genres the sci-fi,
post-apocalyptic world, withTexas Accelerated, and now the
lit RPG.
What draws you to these kindsof worlds?
Speaker 2 (05:21):
It's always what I've liked, so I write what I want
to read and I've always been abig fan Of, like
post-apocalyptic the whole genre.
I love zombies, I loveelectromagnetic pulses Shutting
down the electrical systemAcross the country and chaos
ensuing, nukes going off orasteroids, anything like that
(05:42):
it's always been reallyentertaining to me, and as I was
reading those going off orasteroids, you know, anything
like that it's always beenreally entertaining to me, and
as I was reading those, they getso dreary and dark and bloody
and predictable that I like alittle less, and so in mine it's
a lot more lighthearted and Ijust want to have a fun time.
And so that's kind of why Istarted doing that
post-apocalyptic and the lit RPGstuff is it's a huge genre,
(06:05):
it's the biggest genre that noone knows about except for nerds
, but it also has kind of a theyalways kind of a
post-apocalyptic vibe or adystopian vibe and and so it
kind of all fit together.
And yeah, I've just I lovevideo games and I love reading,
and so lit RPG comes togetherperfectly.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
It does, and I have to admit I never knew or heard
about Lit RPG until we met atthe market.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Yeah, I don't think most people do know about it.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
I mean, it's pretty incredible and you have a huge
following.
It's like you have a wholecommunity that's all involved in
the story.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Yeah, especially for this particular genre, a lot of
people release them online firstas like a web serial, so
they'll release one or twochapters a week and try to build
an audience as they go.
And so that's what I did, andover the last six months, eight
months, I've been releasing thisstory and building followers as
you go and then I finallyfinished it.
(07:04):
I'm like, well, I got, you know, almost a thousand people
following me.
Maybe I should reach out tosome publishers and, you know,
kind of use those numbers toleverage it.
And it worked out.
And there are it's a websitecalled Royal Road where I
release my lit RPG.
It's called Non-PlayerCharacter.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
I looked into that, by the way, yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Yeah, it's really cool and a lot of publishers
that focus on that genre.
They'll follow that website andthey'll reach out to people,
too that make it to the top.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
So it's a great way to get started for people who
just want to test the waters tosee if people like what they're
putting out little more basicbecause for listeners who may
not be familiar, like me, youknow when I first heard about it
what exactly is lit RPG and howdoes non-player character fit
into the genre.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Yeah, that's a great question.
So lit RPG is short for aliterary role-playing game, so
it is a video game in a book,and so the key features that
make something a lit RPG are youlevel up, you increase in power
somehow, and that there is asystem in place that facilitates
(08:13):
, you know, this player growthand gives you special abilities
and, you know, makes you morethan just a regular human.
So there's superhero books thatare slightly more structured
and you have to actually earnthat next step up in power, and
so that's kind of the basis oflit RPGs.
If you think of a video game,maybe some of your listeners
(08:35):
know World of Warcraft is a bigRPG.
That's where you level up.
Each level up you get a newskill, and it's very similar to
that and that's where theinspiration came was video games
.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
I love it so much because I'm an older geek.
You're the current geek, I'mfrom way back, but I still love,
love, love.
You know to explore and learnand watch how this all is
transforming into a, into a.
I mean, there's a lot ofdifferent worlds out there.
(09:08):
You know for you to play.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Yeah, and this genre it's growing so fast but you
still don't, I think a lot ofpeople still don't know about it
.
But I mean there's one.
The biggest one out right nowis called Dungeon Crawler Carl
and it's a massive series.
We're talking like New YorkTimes list bestsellers.
It's in Walmart, it's in everybookstore and you know like
(09:32):
million copies sold type of book.
They're massive and there's alot of others that are, you know
, growing just as fast.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
I love it.
I love it so much and maybeyou'll get a bunch of new
followers from this.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
I hope so.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
I want to back up a little bit, though, and go back
to your Texas Accelerated series.
We kind of skipped over thatand got to the real exciting new
thing.
So, for those new to your work,how would you describe the seam
and beyond the seam which makeup the first two books of your
Texas Accelerated series?
Speaker 2 (10:10):
almost semi-post-apocalyptic romp
through Texas.
I think the best way todescribe it is for those who
have read Stephen King's Underthe Dome.
It is very similar to that,except there's no dome and
instead there are saber-toothedtigers and woolly mammoths, you
know, kind of preventing peoplefrom exploring outside of their
(10:31):
town.
So the whole concept was Iwanted to put a town in a
Pleistocene or kind of like lateIce Age world.
I thought that would be fun andI didn't know how to do it.
But I was able to connect somedots around Waxahachie, texas
and Central Texas and this oldparticle accelerator.
(10:53):
They were building there backin the 80s and the 90s and it
was a billion-dollar project.
It was going to be the biggestparticle accelerator in the
world.
They dug 30 miles of tunnelsdeep underground and then the
government cut funding and sothey had to flood those tunnels
and just give up, scrap thewhole project.
(11:13):
But in my series it wascompleted in secret and things
go sideways.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
I mean that's just inviting a story, right, All
that Right.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
There is one other book I know that utilizes that
particle accelerator, but it's alove story and so mine's
completely different, so I can'tbelieve.
Yeah, it's such a greatmechanism to launch a story.
I was really lucky to havestumbled upon that.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Well, why I mean?
Are you from Waxahachie?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
No, I'm not.
I knew about it.
I actually work for a companythat has a presence down in that
area of Texas, and when I waskind of looking up information
about that area, that's when Idiscovered it, and so I've had
that information locked in theback of my head and I was just
able to kind of piece ittogether when this idea came
(12:05):
forward.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
I'm from.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Oklahoma, not a Texan .
Speaker 1 (12:09):
Oh, really Okay.
Well, that's interesting andnow I mean it's really cool,
really cool the whole concept ofa small town and it's suddenly
surrounded by the prehistoricanimals.
That's pretty unique.
Yeah, yeah, there's not enoughstory out there like that.
Yeah, I just want to send themto a completely different world
and see if they live.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
And I'm the type of writer that I don't know for
sure if everyone's going to live.
I'm a right by the seat of yourpants guy.
I have a good idea of where Iwant to go and I'd never really
know how I'm going to get thereuntil I start writing.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
Well, maybe you can take over Game of Thrones for
George.
He thinks like that too, yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
I don't know if I could, like he'll spend like two
paragraphs describing a foodand I don't think I can do that.
'm I'm, I'm a very practicalwriter.
Um, I get to the point, I'm aplot guy.
Uh, plot and dialogue are mystrong suits, and less so that
that that literary descriptivenature is not so much in me, uh,
(13:06):
like it is in George yeah, Ihope he finishes.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
I do too well, yeah, I do too.
It just needs to have a betterdiet.
It needs to live a littlelonger.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
It needs to stop writing all this other stuff and
making these movies and shows,yeah right, makes them happy.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Apparently, you shared with me at the market
that you were in the process ofrecording your first audio book
and I noticed when you announcedit you're like hey, it's live,
go check it out Now.
I haven't done that yet, butare you pleased with the results
?
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Oh, yeah, I'm so happy.
It's all self-published too, soI didn't do the audio myself,
but I'll start at the verybeginning, so that Texas
(14:04):
Accelerated series isself-published.
It's written by me, covers aremade by me, it is edited by me,
I am everything, which isprobably a bad idea, but hey,
it's worked out so far.
Um, amazon has this programcalled ACX where you can kind of
have a potential narrator'saudition, and so I just did that
.
I found someone I really loved.
Turned out to be his firstaudio book to ever do, but it
worked out so great and, yeah,I'm super duper happy with it.
(14:26):
It sounds really, really good.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Well, everyone listening, go check it out, go
check out.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Please get the seam on Audible.
You'll love it, I promise.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
And the ACX, I noticed I've been doing some
research because I only have onebook out there, that's, you
know, my book from the PineyWoods.
But I am looking into doing anaudio book and I did.
I had people did, had tryouts,I guess, for the part to read
for me, and then there were alot of people that were giving
(14:57):
me examples of their work.
But it is an investment.
You know, if you do it yourselfit doesn't cost you anything,
but it's some work.
But I have been looking intoactually publishing to with ACX.
But I'm trying to make thedecision if I should be
exclusive or not.
Did you which one?
(15:17):
Did you Better?
Speaker 2 (15:18):
royalty rates Like a huge difference.
Or Well, it would, yeah, withAudible, if you're exclusive,
yeah it'll.
It'll be probably like 20% moreroyalty rates coming your way,
and that's the same with withthe like ebooks and and things
like that.
Um, if you're stay exclusive toum amazon, you get higher
(15:41):
royalty rates, likesignificantly higher versus a
wide release okay.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Well, that's very interesting.
I'm so happy to talk about thatwith you because it's like I
don't know which, know which boxto tick.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
It's a hard decision to make.
Yeah, because there's.
Is it Shopify?
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Well, there's IngramSpark is a really big one,
another big publisher.
And then there's Spotify, whichis doing.
I think that's what you'rethinking of they're doing
audiobooks too.
But Audible I mean, they'restill 60% of the market.
Amazon Books is probably thesame 60% of the whole market.
You know it's hard to say Ifyou're going for reach.
(16:25):
You know, if you just want morepeople to see your book,
perhaps going wide release isbetter.
But if you're looking to, youknow, have those better royalty
rates and probably make moremoney, then I think going just
exclusive with Amazon is a gooddeal, because if everyone's
getting books from Amazon, it'sjust kind of how it is now.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
It's the way to go.
I would agree with you.
So anyone listening that'sconsidering publishing a book,
first of all, there's not.
I mean it's difficult to make aton of money as an author.
I wasn't under that impressionwhen I was first writing.
I thought I'm going to make somuch money with this book.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Right, everyone does.
But the reality is the realitysnaps them in the face pretty
quickly.
Right, it's a work of love andpassion mostly for writing.
I think if you want to besuccessful at writing you really
need to have a lot of content.
You need to keep pumping outbooks and once you get five, six
(17:29):
books out then you can startreally advertising and actually
getting a return on yourinvestment and making money.
Because if someone publishes abook, they have one book out
that they'll be lucky to breakeven on ads Like that would be
good if they're breaking even onads and selling their book.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
Gosh, you're just a whole plethora of information.
You know also, what was I goingto say with that?
Oh, I noticed that your styleof writing you really do think
about the reader.
There's a lot of authors I'venoticed that write their story
and it's about them, it's allabout them, and I think that you
(18:10):
will be far more successful ifyou consider your readers.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
You know and what they're looking for and I can
yeah, you have to write to youraudience and I think my writing
is very easy to consume andthat's I think that's why it's
done pretty well is, you know,anyone can sit there and enjoy
it.
And some of these literaryworks are a little too flowery,
(18:36):
the prose is, and it can be kindof hard to follow sometimes and
no one wants to read something.
I think this is just mepersonally.
I guess I don't want to readsomething and feel really stupid
, like look how beautiful theirwriting is.
And I do appreciate it, butsometimes, you know, I read for
(18:57):
fun and that's what I wanted togive my audience is just a fun
time, that's it.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Well, I think I have one more author question, so let
me get this right.
You've partnered with Moonquillfor the e-book and the print
right and Podium Publishing forthe audio book.
Right so what's that experiencebeen like compared to
self-publishing?
You know you self-publish withTexas Accelerated right.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Yeah, I think because I've self-published these first
two books.
That's the main reason why Isought out a publisher, because
I know how brutal editing is.
It's such a slog.
The first time through is kindof fun because you're shaping
the story a little bit more, butthen that second and third time
through to make sureeverything's correct is just a
(19:43):
killer and it will burn you out.
And so I really just wanted aneditor, and editors are super
expensive.
So I'm like, well, I'll justseek a publisher out because
they'll edit it for me.
And so I.
You know, with this book on onRoyal road, I went straight to
podium, because podium doesaudio books that I love.
Specifically, I wanted them foraudio and you know they're
(20:04):
they're huge.
I think they published aQuicksilver.
It's the current New York Timesbestseller.
They published Stephen King'slast book.
They're very, very legit, and Iwas like, oh, that'd be awesome
to get them.
So I sent only to them, andthey responded in like three
days and set up an interviewwith me.
I sent them the manuscript andthey reviewed it, and what I
(20:25):
sent them was such a mess.
It is not well edited, and Imade that clear.
And so they're like hey, wereally like this.
We want the audio rights, though, and we want you to partner
with this other group.
That's kind of a.
They're not the same company,but they partner together a lot,
and so they put me in touchwith Moonquill to handle that
(20:49):
editing and the ebook releaseand everything like that.
So everything should come outat the same time.
Podium will do the audio, it'llbe published by them, and then
Moonquill will do everythingelse, and it's been great so far
.
We're very early in the process, just signed, so I haven't even
started editing yet, but it'llprobably take a whole year
before they can get it out soyou think it'll go it'll, it'll,
(21:11):
it'll go live.
You'll launch in 2026 yeah,probably mid to late 2026 okay,
good, we're all gonna look forthat.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
My goodness, oh my gosh.
But yes, it is tiring, and ifyou can delegate the workout to
someone, man, it's got to be alot better.
I can't wait until I can dothat myself, oh my gosh.
But yes, it is tiring, and ifyou can delegate the workout to
someone, man, it's got to be alot better.
I can't wait until.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
I can do that myself.
Yeah, right now I'm doing itall.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
I'm wearing all the hats.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
It's so hard, isn't it?
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (21:38):
it is, and promoting yourself.
It's really a labor of love.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Yeah, promoting yourself is the hardest part, I
think, is just trying to findthat audience for your book once
it's done, and so hopefully,with some publishers at my back,
it'll make it a little easier.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
So when you're writing, do you write
differently depending on whetherit's post-apocalyptic sci-fi or
lit RPG?
I mean, is it very difficult togo back and forth between the
two types of writing?
Speaker 2 (22:05):
No, actually, and I'll do like a chapter of one
book one night and then the nextnight do a chapter of the other
, and I think my writing styleis it's the same across the
board but non-player characters,first person and only first
person perspective throughoutthe whole book.
And Texas Accelerated has acast of characters you know in
(22:30):
third person.
So they're completely different.
But I think when people readthem they'll be like ah, that's
Tyler, that's his style, yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
So how do you balance world building with um keeping
the story moving and actiondriven?
You know?
Speaker 2 (22:45):
like a game.
I'm very much a let the plotdrive everything type of guy,
with Texas Accelerated.
You know Waxahachie alreadyexists, so it's pretty easy to
take that template and justbuild on it, although I did
introduce them to a new worldand I'm introducing fun things
in that world for them toexplore.
(23:05):
But the world building therewas pretty easy.
Like that whole book is justgood dialogue, good plot and fun
, and less so characterdevelopment and less so.
You know world building, butwith non-player character.
Earth has been turned into, youknow, a fantasy world and so I
(23:27):
have to build this fantasy worldfrom the ground up and make it
believable.
And yeah, that that's beenharder than I thought.
But you know that that book'sreally long.
That first book it's like130,000 words and Texas
accelerated they're like 80,000words each.
So that gives you I have somuch more time, you know, to
build that, build that worldaround my character.
(23:49):
And there's a lot morecharacter growth, a lot more
introspection in that one and Ithink the first person really
allowed me to give thatcharacter more of a path to
follow Because you know I'm intheir mind.
It's a lot easier to get intheir mind.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
Right and we learn things from them.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Yeah, yeah, it's weird.
You're right, it is weird.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
You do it's life lessons.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
I'll write something and be like man.
I should take that into accountfor my own life, yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
Well, can you give us a little sneak peek, a preview
of what's next in the book threeyou mentioned?
You're doing a book three inTexas.
Yeah, for Texas, acceleratedyeah.
Can you give us a little sneakpeek?
Speaker 2 (24:34):
I hope I can get it out by the end of this year.
So in book two they startexploring the world around them
and realize it's bigger thanthey think and they're actually
not the only people in thisworld, and so book three really
expands on that.
We get to learn more about theother people that exist in this
(24:59):
world which are, but they're notso much like how you would
imagine, native Americans.
They're a lot more advanced,kind of maybe how some
(25:20):
conspiracy theorists mightimagine the ancient Egyptians
were advanced, you know with.
Perhaps they seem like theirtechnology is rudimentary, but
maybe they took a different pathin technology and so some of
that might seem like magic whatthey're able to do, even though
it's just a different form oftechnology.
(25:43):
So yeah, I'm going to expand onthat a lot more and create a
little more conflict between theTexans and this new indigenous
population, which is their world, and this whole town just
appeared out of nowhere, and sothere's obviously going to be
conflict.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
That is so cool.
I'm very eager for it, so I'llbe anxiously awaiting.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
I'm eager to finish it.
I'm getting close.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Do you communicate with your community that you've
established about your lit RPGpeople?
Do you keep them in tune withyour Steam series?
Speaker 2 (26:18):
Yeah, somewhat.
When I got about halfwaythrough writing that lit RPG and
releasing it online, I wouldadd notes at the end of the
chapter and be like hey, if youlike this check this out.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So there's more crossover, Ithink, from people reading
non-player character going overto texas accelerated than the
texas accelerated people goingover to non-player character,
(26:39):
because a lit rpg can beconfusing to even like get your
mind around before.
But but I wrote mine because alot of them are numbers.
They'll be like, oh, you're, uh, you know, you increase 20 in
power.
You know, at this level andthis ability does this much
damage, and it's like sospecific and I'm not gonna keep
(27:00):
track of that math.
That's crazy, and so mine are.
My powers are a lot easier, Ithink, for people to absorb when
they're reading.
It's just like, hey, you punchharder now.
It's like, okay, that's easy,that's easy to grasp.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Yeah, it's always baffled me when I watch younger
people playing those types ofgames.
How do they remember all that?
That's crazy.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
They love it.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Yeah Well, so what do you hope your readers take away
from your stories, whether it's, you know, like the
saber-toothed tigers in Texas,or humans, discovering life is
actually a game.
I mean, what do you want themto get out of all of it?
Speaker 2 (27:40):
So I know the right answer is something deep, but
the true answer is I don't wantto teach you anything, I just
want you to have a good time.
That is it.
My only goal is to entertainand I don't want to inject my
personal politics or, you know,like my morality really into
(28:01):
anything, because you know whoam I to try to teach people
anything.
I just want to give them a goodtime.
So I try to make a rollercoaster ride.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Yeah, quite frankly, that's what people really are
looking for these days.
You know an escape.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
Yeah, that's what I've always.
That's why I like to read is Iwant to escape, and that's why I
don't like true crime andthings like that, because I want
to break from reality.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
I don't want to know more about it.
Well, what a boring world itwould be if we all were the same
.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Yes, yes, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
So where can your readers find your books and
connect with you online?
Speaker 2 (28:39):
Right, so Texas Accelerated.
Both the Seam and Beyond theSeam are available on Amazon and
the Seam book one is on Audible, with book two hopefully maybe
later this year coming out onAudible and non-player character
is currently only available onRoyal Road, and so go look on
(29:00):
Royal Road type in non-playercharacter and the author will be
Cashew that's my screen namethere, I know I noticed.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
Yeah, so it won't have my screen name there.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
I know I noticed that .
Yeah, so it won't have my nameon it and that was intentional.
You know you're releasing stuffonline and you got to.
I wanted to use a pen name, atleast for that, but when it
comes out officially I'll use it.
Do you like cashews?
I love them.
They're one of my favorite nuts.
Yeah, they probably are myfavorite nut.
Yeah, they're great.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
All right, tyler.
Well, thank you, and I'll listall of that in the show notes,
everybody, so that you can justeasily click on a link.
Thank you so much, tyler, forjoining me.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
My pleasure.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
Thank you so much for having me, and it's good to see
you again know my listenerswill be excited to dive into
your Texas Accelerated seriesand that's the Seam.
Just a reminder, I'm going tobe a mom here.
The Seam and the second book isBeyond the Seam, and we'll be
(30:01):
eagerly waiting for yourupcoming lit RPG trilogy,
non-player Character, launchingin 2026.
For those listening, you canfind Tyler's books on Amazon, as
he said, and be sure to followhim online to keep up with
updates on his new releases.
I'll include links in the shownotes so you can connect with
him directly.
As always.
Thank you for tuning in to thePlus One Theory podcast.
If you enjoyed today'sconversation, make sure you
(30:24):
subscribe, share this episodewith a friend and leave a review
.
It really helps spread the wordfor Tyler and his wonderful
work and for me.
So until next time, rememberyour past does not define you,
it prepares you and you canalways finish stronger than you
started.
See you next week.
(30:44):
I love it.
Today I am thrilled to welcome author Tyler Lenz to
the show.
Tyler is the creator of theTexas Accelerated series, which
begins with the Scene, and hissecond book, beyond the Scene, a
thrilling mix of sci-fi,survival and small-town Texas
grit.
His work combines action,mystery and heart, earning
(00:23):
praise from readers who say hisbooks are true page-turners.
But Tyler's storytellingdoesn't stop there.
He recently signed a three-bookpublishing deal for his new lit
RPG series.
It's a non-player characterwith Moonquill handling e-book
and print and Podium Publishingproducing the audiobook.
(00:46):
The first book will launch in2026, bringing readers into a
whole new world where Earthitself has been turned into a
game.
Tyler's ability to blendfast-paced adventure with deep
world building makes his workstand out and I can't wait to
dive into both the TexasAccelerated Universe and his
(01:07):
upcoming lit RPG series.
Tyler, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
What an introduction.
Thank you, pam, you're welcome.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Well, you're pretty amazing.
You've got all kinds of stuffgoing on, I'm trying to.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
It's been a while, but it's finally starting to
happen.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
I remember.
Can I tell everyone how we met?
Yeah, please do so we're at amarket where we're both trying
to peddle our books and he's notright next to my booth.
He's kind of like over, youknow, diagonally, and I said,
hey, man, there's another authorat this show, and so I said
I'll go check it out.
Hey, man, there's anotherauthor at this show, and so I
said I'll go check it out.
(01:46):
I went over there and we metand talked for a while and he
was just so awesome to talk toand his books looked incredible.
As a matter of fact, I got himto sign two copies right here
and I still have them, but I did.
I have to admit to you, I loveto read my e-reader with my
e-reader, so I just went onlineand purchased them online.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Fine with me.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
And yeah, I should have had your book with me.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
I have yours upstairs .
Well, I don't know if you're amemoir reader, but you know I
like that.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
I want to escape reality, not learn more about
reality when I read.
That doesn't mean I don'tappreciate a good memoir, I know
, and I appreciate that you,because I have to write.
It's like therapy for me towrite about all the stuff.
But I could dip into fiction.
I don't know, I probably cannever do it, you never know
unless you try, I know Well.
Can you tell us a little bitabout your journey as a writer?
What first inspired you tobegin writing stories?
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Yeah, I started late, you know it was.
I was probably about 30, 30,132 when I really first actually
started trying to write, butI've always been good at it.
I got my degree kind of focusedin writing and I've always
enjoyed it.
But it was more technicalwriting, journalism, focused
(03:16):
writing.
I've always loved to read and Ialways thought I would be able
to tell a good story.
And I was just reading allthese self-published books and
they had tons and tons ofreviews and ratings and when I
was reading these I was likethis is not that great.
I was like if they can do this,I can do this, I can do it.
(03:38):
And that's really what spurredme.
I read a book that was reallypopular and it just seemed so
simple.
I was like if?
this hits, I can do this too,and so I tried and it worked out
all right.
So there was really no likedeep desire in me my whole life
to be an author.
But boy, now there is.
(03:58):
Once.
I really started writing andfigured out that I can do it.
It really.
I started to grow a passion forit.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
I think that it was always there.
I think writing has always beenin authors.
It's just once you tap thepassion and you figure out oh,
it's a calling.
That's what I think.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
And then once you it takes a lot of guts too, I think
.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Yeah, we can't give it up.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Yeah, I think it takes a lot of guts.
I think a lot of people arejust scared to try Um, because
it's such a commitment, you know, to try to write a full book
and and then to put it out therefor other people to read.
I think that's that steppingstone, a lot of people.
Just it scares them too much toeven try, cause what if people
don't like it?
What if I'm going to get onestar reviews?
(04:44):
You know which I've got some ofand you know you just wait out
with those five stars and youjust focus on the people and
that's what I do.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Well, the one stars make the five stars believable.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
That's what I think it really does.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
They're not all pretend yeah.
So you've written acrossdifferent genres the sci-fi,
post-apocalyptic world, withTexas Accelerated, and now the
lit RPG.
What draws you to these kindsof worlds?
Speaker 2 (05:21):
It's always what I've liked, so I write what I want
to read and I've always been abig fan Of, like
post-apocalyptic the whole genre.
I love zombies, I loveelectromagnetic pulses Shutting
down the electrical systemAcross the country and chaos
ensuing, nukes going off orasteroids, anything like that
(05:42):
it's always been reallyentertaining to me, and as I was
reading those going off orasteroids, you know, anything
like that it's always beenreally entertaining to me, and
as I was reading those, they getso dreary and dark and bloody
and predictable that I like alittle less, and so in mine it's
a lot more lighthearted and Ijust want to have a fun time.
And so that's kind of why Istarted doing that
post-apocalyptic and the lit RPGstuff is it's a huge genre,
(06:05):
it's the biggest genre that noone knows about except for nerds
, but it also has kind of a theyalways kind of a
post-apocalyptic vibe or adystopian vibe and and so it
kind of all fit together.
And yeah, I've just I lovevideo games and I love reading,
and so lit RPG comes togetherperfectly.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
It does, and I have to admit I never knew or heard
about Lit RPG until we met atthe market.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Yeah, I don't think most people do know about it.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
I mean, it's pretty incredible and you have a huge
following.
It's like you have a wholecommunity that's all involved in
the story.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Yeah, especially for this particular genre, a lot of
people release them online firstas like a web serial, so
they'll release one or twochapters a week and try to build
an audience as they go.
And so that's what I did, andover the last six months, eight
months, I've been releasing thisstory and building followers as
you go and then I finallyfinished it.
(07:04):
I'm like, well, I got, you know, almost a thousand people
following me.
Maybe I should reach out tosome publishers and, you know,
kind of use those numbers toleverage it.
And it worked out.
And there are it's a websitecalled Royal Road where I
release my lit RPG.
It's called Non-PlayerCharacter.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
I looked into that, by the way, yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Yeah, it's really cool and a lot of publishers
that focus on that genre.
They'll follow that website andthey'll reach out to people,
too that make it to the top.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
So it's a great way to get started for people who
just want to test the waters tosee if people like what they're
putting out little more basicbecause for listeners who may
not be familiar, like me, youknow when I first heard about it
what exactly is lit RPG and howdoes non-player character fit
into the genre.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Yeah, that's a great question.
So lit RPG is short for aliterary role-playing game, so
it is a video game in a book,and so the key features that
make something a lit RPG are youlevel up, you increase in power
somehow, and that there is asystem in place that facilitates
(08:13):
, you know, this player growthand gives you special abilities
and, you know, makes you morethan just a regular human.
So there's superhero books thatare slightly more structured
and you have to actually earnthat next step up in power, and
so that's kind of the basis oflit RPGs.
If you think of a video game,maybe some of your listeners
(08:35):
know World of Warcraft is a bigRPG.
That's where you level up.
Each level up you get a newskill, and it's very similar to
that and that's where theinspiration came was video games
.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
I love it so much because I'm an older geek.
You're the current geek, I'mfrom way back, but I still love,
love, love.
You know to explore and learnand watch how this all is
transforming into a, into a.
I mean, there's a lot ofdifferent worlds out there.
(09:08):
You know for you to play.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Yeah, and this genre it's growing so fast but you
still don't, I think a lot ofpeople still don't know about it
.
But I mean there's one.
The biggest one out right nowis called Dungeon Crawler Carl
and it's a massive series.
We're talking like New YorkTimes list bestsellers.
It's in Walmart, it's in everybookstore and you know like
(09:32):
million copies sold type of book.
They're massive and there's alot of others that are, you know
, growing just as fast.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
I love it.
I love it so much and maybeyou'll get a bunch of new
followers from this.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
I hope so.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
I want to back up a little bit, though, and go back
to your Texas Accelerated series.
We kind of skipped over thatand got to the real exciting new
thing.
So, for those new to your work,how would you describe the seam
and beyond the seam which makeup the first two books of your
Texas Accelerated series?
Speaker 2 (10:10):
almost semi-post-apocalyptic romp
through Texas.
I think the best way todescribe it is for those who
have read Stephen King's Underthe Dome.
It is very similar to that,except there's no dome and
instead there are saber-toothedtigers and woolly mammoths, you
know, kind of preventing peoplefrom exploring outside of their
(10:31):
town.
So the whole concept was Iwanted to put a town in a
Pleistocene or kind of like lateIce Age world.
I thought that would be fun andI didn't know how to do it.
But I was able to connect somedots around Waxahachie, texas
and Central Texas and this oldparticle accelerator.
(10:53):
They were building there backin the 80s and the 90s and it
was a billion-dollar project.
It was going to be the biggestparticle accelerator in the
world.
They dug 30 miles of tunnelsdeep underground and then the
government cut funding and sothey had to flood those tunnels
and just give up, scrap thewhole project.
(11:13):
But in my series it wascompleted in secret and things
go sideways.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
I mean that's just inviting a story, right, All
that Right.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
There is one other book I know that utilizes that
particle accelerator, but it's alove story and so mine's
completely different, so I can'tbelieve.
Yeah, it's such a greatmechanism to launch a story.
I was really lucky to havestumbled upon that.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Well, why I mean?
Are you from Waxahachie?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
No, I'm not.
I knew about it.
I actually work for a companythat has a presence down in that
area of Texas, and when I waskind of looking up information
about that area, that's when Idiscovered it, and so I've had
that information locked in theback of my head and I was just
able to kind of piece ittogether when this idea came
(12:05):
forward.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
I'm from.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Oklahoma, not a Texan .
Speaker 1 (12:09):
Oh, really Okay.
Well, that's interesting andnow I mean it's really cool,
really cool the whole concept ofa small town and it's suddenly
surrounded by the prehistoricanimals.
That's pretty unique.
Yeah, yeah, there's not enoughstory out there like that.
Yeah, I just want to send themto a completely different world
and see if they live.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
And I'm the type of writer that I don't know for
sure if everyone's going to live.
I'm a right by the seat of yourpants guy.
I have a good idea of where Iwant to go and I'd never really
know how I'm going to get thereuntil I start writing.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
Well, maybe you can take over Game of Thrones for
George.
He thinks like that too, yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
I don't know if I could, like he'll spend like two
paragraphs describing a foodand I don't think I can do that.
'm I'm, I'm a very practicalwriter.
Um, I get to the point, I'm aplot guy.
Uh, plot and dialogue are mystrong suits, and less so that
that that literary descriptivenature is not so much in me, uh,
(13:06):
like it is in George yeah, Ihope he finishes.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
I do too well, yeah, I do too.
It just needs to have a betterdiet.
It needs to live a littlelonger.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
It needs to stop writing all this other stuff and
making these movies and shows,yeah right, makes them happy.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Apparently, you shared with me at the market
that you were in the process ofrecording your first audio book
and I noticed when you announcedit you're like hey, it's live,
go check it out Now.
I haven't done that yet, butare you pleased with the results
?
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Oh, yeah, I'm so happy.
It's all self-published too, soI didn't do the audio myself,
but I'll start at the verybeginning, so that Texas
(14:04):
Accelerated series isself-published.
It's written by me, covers aremade by me, it is edited by me,
I am everything, which isprobably a bad idea, but hey,
it's worked out so far.
Um, amazon has this programcalled ACX where you can kind of
have a potential narrator'saudition, and so I just did that
.
I found someone I really loved.
Turned out to be his firstaudio book to ever do, but it
worked out so great and, yeah,I'm super duper happy with it.
(14:26):
It sounds really, really good.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Well, everyone listening, go check it out, go
check out.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Please get the seam on Audible.
You'll love it, I promise.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
And the ACX, I noticed I've been doing some
research because I only have onebook out there, that's, you
know, my book from the PineyWoods.
But I am looking into doing anaudio book and I did.
I had people did, had tryouts,I guess, for the part to read
for me, and then there were alot of people that were giving
(14:57):
me examples of their work.
But it is an investment.
You know, if you do it yourselfit doesn't cost you anything,
but it's some work.
But I have been looking intoactually publishing to with ACX.
But I'm trying to make thedecision if I should be
exclusive or not.
Did you which one?
(15:17):
Did you Better?
Speaker 2 (15:18):
royalty rates Like a huge difference.
Or Well, it would, yeah, withAudible, if you're exclusive,
yeah it'll.
It'll be probably like 20% moreroyalty rates coming your way,
and that's the same with withthe like ebooks and and things
like that.
Um, if you're stay exclusive toum amazon, you get higher
(15:41):
royalty rates, likesignificantly higher versus a
wide release okay.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Well, that's very interesting.
I'm so happy to talk about thatwith you because it's like I
don't know which, know which boxto tick.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
It's a hard decision to make.
Yeah, because there's.
Is it Shopify?
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Well, there's IngramSpark is a really big one,
another big publisher.
And then there's Spotify, whichis doing.
I think that's what you'rethinking of they're doing
audiobooks too.
But Audible I mean, they'restill 60% of the market.
Amazon Books is probably thesame 60% of the whole market.
You know it's hard to say Ifyou're going for reach.
(16:25):
You know, if you just want morepeople to see your book,
perhaps going wide release isbetter.
But if you're looking to, youknow, have those better royalty
rates and probably make moremoney, then I think going just
exclusive with Amazon is a gooddeal, because if everyone's
getting books from Amazon, it'sjust kind of how it is now.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
It's the way to go.
I would agree with you.
So anyone listening that'sconsidering publishing a book,
first of all, there's not.
I mean it's difficult to make aton of money as an author.
I wasn't under that impressionwhen I was first writing.
I thought I'm going to make somuch money with this book.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Right, everyone does.
But the reality is the realitysnaps them in the face pretty
quickly.
Right, it's a work of love andpassion mostly for writing.
I think if you want to besuccessful at writing you really
need to have a lot of content.
You need to keep pumping outbooks and once you get five, six
(17:29):
books out then you can startreally advertising and actually
getting a return on yourinvestment and making money.
Because if someone publishes abook, they have one book out
that they'll be lucky to breakeven on ads Like that would be
good if they're breaking even onads and selling their book.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
Gosh, you're just a whole plethora of information.
You know also, what was I goingto say with that?
Oh, I noticed that your styleof writing you really do think
about the reader.
There's a lot of authors I'venoticed that write their story
and it's about them, it's allabout them, and I think that you
(18:10):
will be far more successful ifyou consider your readers.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
You know and what they're looking for and I can
yeah, you have to write to youraudience and I think my writing
is very easy to consume andthat's I think that's why it's
done pretty well is, you know,anyone can sit there and enjoy
it.
And some of these literaryworks are a little too flowery,
(18:36):
the prose is, and it can be kindof hard to follow sometimes and
no one wants to read something.
I think this is just mepersonally.
I guess I don't want to readsomething and feel really stupid
, like look how beautiful theirwriting is.
And I do appreciate it, butsometimes, you know, I read for
(18:57):
fun and that's what I wanted togive my audience is just a fun
time, that's it.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Well, I think I have one more author question, so let
me get this right.
You've partnered with Moonquillfor the e-book and the print
right and Podium Publishing forthe audio book.
Right so what's that experiencebeen like compared to
self-publishing?
You know you self-publish withTexas Accelerated right.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Yeah, I think because I've self-published these first
two books.
That's the main reason why Isought out a publisher, because
I know how brutal editing is.
It's such a slog.
The first time through is kindof fun because you're shaping
the story a little bit more, butthen that second and third time
through to make sureeverything's correct is just a
(19:43):
killer and it will burn you out.
And so I really just wanted aneditor, and editors are super
expensive.
So I'm like, well, I'll justseek a publisher out because
they'll edit it for me.
And so I.
You know, with this book on onRoyal road, I went straight to
podium, because podium doesaudio books that I love.
Specifically, I wanted them foraudio and you know they're
(20:04):
they're huge.
I think they published aQuicksilver.
It's the current New York Timesbestseller.
They published Stephen King'slast book.
They're very, very legit, and Iwas like, oh, that'd be awesome
to get them.
So I sent only to them, andthey responded in like three
days and set up an interviewwith me.
I sent them the manuscript andthey reviewed it, and what I
(20:25):
sent them was such a mess.
It is not well edited, and Imade that clear.
And so they're like hey, wereally like this.
We want the audio rights, though, and we want you to partner
with this other group.
That's kind of a.
They're not the same company,but they partner together a lot,
and so they put me in touchwith Moonquill to handle that
(20:49):
editing and the ebook releaseand everything like that.
So everything should come outat the same time.
Podium will do the audio, it'llbe published by them, and then
Moonquill will do everythingelse, and it's been great so far
.
We're very early in the process, just signed, so I haven't even
started editing yet, but it'llprobably take a whole year
before they can get it out soyou think it'll go it'll, it'll,
(21:11):
it'll go live.
You'll launch in 2026 yeah,probably mid to late 2026 okay,
good, we're all gonna look forthat.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
My goodness, oh my gosh.
But yes, it is tiring, and ifyou can delegate the workout to
someone, man, it's got to be alot better.
I can't wait until I can dothat myself, oh my gosh.
But yes, it is tiring, and ifyou can delegate the workout to
someone, man, it's got to be alot better.
I can't wait until.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
I can do that myself.
Yeah, right now I'm doing itall.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
I'm wearing all the hats.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
It's so hard, isn't it?
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (21:38):
it is, and promoting yourself.
It's really a labor of love.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Yeah, promoting yourself is the hardest part, I
think, is just trying to findthat audience for your book once
it's done, and so hopefully,with some publishers at my back,
it'll make it a little easier.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
So when you're writing, do you write
differently depending on whetherit's post-apocalyptic sci-fi or
lit RPG?
I mean, is it very difficult togo back and forth between the
two types of writing?
Speaker 2 (22:05):
No, actually, and I'll do like a chapter of one
book one night and then the nextnight do a chapter of the other
, and I think my writing styleis it's the same across the
board but non-player characters,first person and only first
person perspective throughoutthe whole book.
And Texas Accelerated has acast of characters you know in
(22:30):
third person.
So they're completely different.
But I think when people readthem they'll be like ah, that's
Tyler, that's his style, yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
So how do you balance world building with um keeping
the story moving and actiondriven?
You know?
Speaker 2 (22:45):
like a game.
I'm very much a let the plotdrive everything type of guy,
with Texas Accelerated.
You know Waxahachie alreadyexists, so it's pretty easy to
take that template and justbuild on it, although I did
introduce them to a new worldand I'm introducing fun things
in that world for them toexplore.
(23:05):
But the world building therewas pretty easy.
Like that whole book is justgood dialogue, good plot and fun
, and less so characterdevelopment and less so.
You know world building, butwith non-player character.
Earth has been turned into, youknow, a fantasy world and so I
(23:27):
have to build this fantasy worldfrom the ground up and make it
believable.
And yeah, that that's beenharder than I thought.
But you know that that book'sreally long.
That first book it's like130,000 words and Texas
accelerated they're like 80,000words each.
So that gives you I have somuch more time, you know, to
build that, build that worldaround my character.
(23:49):
And there's a lot morecharacter growth, a lot more
introspection in that one and Ithink the first person really
allowed me to give thatcharacter more of a path to
follow Because you know I'm intheir mind.
It's a lot easier to get intheir mind.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
Right and we learn things from them.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Yeah, yeah, it's weird.
You're right, it is weird.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
You do it's life lessons.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
I'll write something and be like man.
I should take that into accountfor my own life, yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
Well, can you give us a little sneak peek, a preview
of what's next in the book threeyou mentioned?
You're doing a book three inTexas.
Yeah, for Texas, acceleratedyeah.
Can you give us a little sneakpeek?
Speaker 2 (24:34):
I hope I can get it out by the end of this year.
So in book two they startexploring the world around them
and realize it's bigger thanthey think and they're actually
not the only people in thisworld, and so book three really
expands on that.
We get to learn more about theother people that exist in this
(24:59):
world which are, but they're notso much like how you would
imagine, native Americans.
They're a lot more advanced,kind of maybe how some
(25:20):
conspiracy theorists mightimagine the ancient Egyptians
were advanced, you know with.
Perhaps they seem like theirtechnology is rudimentary, but
maybe they took a different pathin technology and so some of
that might seem like magic whatthey're able to do, even though
it's just a different form oftechnology.
(25:43):
So yeah, I'm going to expand onthat a lot more and create a
little more conflict between theTexans and this new indigenous
population, which is their world, and this whole town just
appeared out of nowhere, and sothere's obviously going to be
conflict.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
That is so cool.
I'm very eager for it, so I'llbe anxiously awaiting.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
I'm eager to finish it.
I'm getting close.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Do you communicate with your community that you've
established about your lit RPGpeople?
Do you keep them in tune withyour Steam series?
Speaker 2 (26:18):
Yeah, somewhat.
When I got about halfwaythrough writing that lit RPG and
releasing it online, I wouldadd notes at the end of the
chapter and be like hey, if youlike this check this out.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So there's more crossover, Ithink, from people reading
non-player character going overto texas accelerated than the
texas accelerated people goingover to non-player character,
(26:39):
because a lit rpg can beconfusing to even like get your
mind around before.
But but I wrote mine because alot of them are numbers.
They'll be like, oh, you're, uh, you know, you increase 20 in
power.
You know, at this level andthis ability does this much
damage, and it's like sospecific and I'm not gonna keep
(27:00):
track of that math.
That's crazy, and so mine are.
My powers are a lot easier, Ithink, for people to absorb when
they're reading.
It's just like, hey, you punchharder now.
It's like, okay, that's easy,that's easy to grasp.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Yeah, it's always baffled me when I watch younger
people playing those types ofgames.
How do they remember all that?
That's crazy.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
They love it.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Yeah Well, so what do you hope your readers take away
from your stories, whether it's, you know, like the
saber-toothed tigers in Texas,or humans, discovering life is
actually a game.
I mean, what do you want themto get out of all of it?
Speaker 2 (27:40):
So I know the right answer is something deep, but
the true answer is I don't wantto teach you anything, I just
want you to have a good time.
That is it.
My only goal is to entertainand I don't want to inject my
personal politics or, you know,like my morality really into
(28:01):
anything, because you know whoam I to try to teach people
anything.
I just want to give them a goodtime.
So I try to make a rollercoaster ride.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Yeah, quite frankly, that's what people really are
looking for these days.
You know an escape.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
Yeah, that's what I've always.
That's why I like to read is Iwant to escape, and that's why I
don't like true crime andthings like that, because I want
to break from reality.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
I don't want to know more about it.
Well, what a boring world itwould be if we all were the same
.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Yes, yes, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
So where can your readers find your books and
connect with you online?
Speaker 2 (28:39):
Right, so Texas Accelerated.
Both the Seam and Beyond theSeam are available on Amazon and
the Seam book one is on Audible, with book two hopefully maybe
later this year coming out onAudible and non-player character
is currently only available onRoyal Road, and so go look on
(29:00):
Royal Road type in non-playercharacter and the author will be
Cashew that's my screen namethere, I know I noticed.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
Yeah, so it won't have my screen name there.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
I know I noticed that .
Yeah, so it won't have my nameon it and that was intentional.
You know you're releasing stuffonline and you got to.
I wanted to use a pen name, atleast for that, but when it
comes out officially I'll use it.
Do you like cashews?
I love them.
They're one of my favorite nuts.
Yeah, they probably are myfavorite nut.
Yeah, they're great.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
All right, tyler.
Well, thank you, and I'll listall of that in the show notes,
everybody, so that you can justeasily click on a link.
Thank you so much, tyler, forjoining me.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
My pleasure.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
Thank you so much for having me, and it's good to see
you again know my listenerswill be excited to dive into
your Texas Accelerated seriesand that's the Seam.
Just a reminder, I'm going tobe a mom here.
The Seam and the second book isBeyond the Seam, and we'll be
(30:01):
eagerly waiting for yourupcoming lit RPG trilogy,
non-player Character, launchingin 2026.
For those listening, you canfind Tyler's books on Amazon, as
he said, and be sure to followhim online to keep up with
updates on his new releases.
I'll include links in the shownotes so you can connect with
him directly.
As always.
Thank you for tuning in to thePlus One Theory podcast.
If you enjoyed today'sconversation, make sure you
(30:24):
subscribe, share this episodewith a friend and leave a review
.
It really helps spread the wordfor Tyler and his wonderful
work and for me.
So until next time, rememberyour past does not define you,
it prepares you and you canalways finish stronger than you
started.
See you next week.
(30:44):
I love it.
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