Joseph L. Selby
Imagination, Aspiration, Determination
The Inkwell
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Joe's writing interests cross into every genre. Currently, his focus is on mass market fiction writing, specifically in epic fantasy (although he has other stories in the Queue that cross genres into science fiction, literary fiction, and even some spec fic. He is in the process of writing and revising his first novel, the End of Bliss. To keep his creativity and enthusiasm fresh, he often intersperses his projects with smaller pieces. Below is a description and some samples of his various works.
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Novels
When one lives to be 80, the world seems unchanging. But the world ages too and civilizations die. Do the people living then know how close they are to the end? Tanner Imsiquatash lives a simple life, believing he understands the world he lives in and how it works. Until his wife takes ill and the villager healer sends him beyond the Mashashony borders. There he discovers a world far larger and more complex than he ever imagined. As an adolescent, Bear watched his mother be convicted of a religious crime she did not commit and be stoned by her neighbors. As an adult, he is an Advocate, tasked with policing the Friars, the religious authority of Aman'Brin, walking a fine line between fulfilling his obligations of faith and taking pleasure in avenging his mother's execution. And as the end slowly comes, they do what they've always done. The world, after all, is unchanging.View a SAMPLE CHAPTER from The End of Bliss.
Plays
In 1999 I wrote a ten-minute play for entry in the KCACTF Playwriting Competition. It was selected as a finalist and performed in Sioux Falls, SD, in January 2000. Like much of my writing, I like to approach the subject from the opposite of popular opinion. As such, this play upset a number of people. Now that I'm older and more mature, there are indeed things I would do differently, but I didn't write the play now. I wrote the play then. As such, I'm posting it in its original form (although I may have diversified some of the swearing back in 2004).
"Jigsaw" The author grants permission for this play to be performed on stage in any non-commercial endeavor. For commercial performances, please contact me to discuss.
Short Stories
While Fantasy is my preferred genre, short stories give me the opportunity to explore other genres that I might not want to commit the effort required to write a novel. Urban fantasy, science fiction, spec fic, literary fiction, mystery, sword and sorcery, and maybe some classic fantasy. Here are a couple of my most recent short stories.
"Black Magic and Barbecue Sauce" (Removed for Revision)
Flash Fiction
I am not much of a fan of Steinbeck. I tried reading The Grapes of Wrath in high school and it never clicked with me. I tried once more in college with another one of his books. I forget the title so that should tell you the result. There was one thing about "Wrath" that I found striking. It is something I've held onto to this very day. In between chapters dealing with his main characters, Steinbeck included "intercalary" chapters, slices of life that showed you what it was like for the average person during the Dust Bowl Depression. You might better understand the trevails of the main characters and the mindset in which they approach their life if you understood just what life was like then.Beginning in June 2004, I joined the administrative staff of the Living Greyhawk RPGA Network campaign as a triad member of the Dyvers region (Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa). Our main duty was to facilitate the release of 8 or 9 adventures per year, either by coordinating with freelance authors or writing the events ourselves. The adventures could only hold so much story and had to approach the regional plot from an adventurer's perspective. Being one of the largest metropolises in the world, it was impossible to provide a full picture of the intrigue going on all around them. Taking a page from Steinbeck (or a chapter, more appropriately), I introduced the intercalary chapter as a means of showing the players what was going on around the lives of their players. Below I have included the original introduction as presented with each chapter, an explanation of our intent and goals by releasing the chapters. And I have included all the chapters I wrote personally (another triad member, Kevin Elmore, contributed those chapters not included below).
Dyvers Intercalary Chapters
Original Introduction
Chapter 1: Status Quo
Chapter 2: Winter of Our Discontent
Chapter 3: Fals River
Chapter 4: Family Ties
Chapter 5: Ties That Bind
Chapter 6: Come Hells or High Water
Chapter 7: Drums of War
Chapter 8: Reverdie
Chapter 10: Price of Peace
Chapter 11: Resurrection
Chapter 14: Quo Vadis
The above stories are copyright © Joseph L. Selby and cannot be reproduced without express permission from the author. Dyvers, Safeton, and Turrosh Mak are copyright Wizards of the Coast. Greyhawk is a registered trademark of Wizards of the Coast. These stories are presented here as fair use with the original text from when they were created for use in the Living Greyhawk role playing campaign.
Dungeons & Dragons Adventures
Beginning in December 2002, I was the Director of Living Kingdoms of Kalamar, an RPGA Network campaign hosted by Kenzer & Co. Following this, I became the regional administrator, a Triad, for Living Greyhawk, an RPGA Network campaign hosted by Wizards of the Coast. During the course of these two campaigns, I wrote 33 adventures. While I've been asked to post them all, that's not possible. Some of these adventures are owned by the respective companies and some are reliant on adventures written by other authors and I have not pursued receiving their permission to post their adventures (nor will I). So what I've done instead is taken one adventure I am able to post from every year I was writing for the RPGA and posted them below. (No, I will not post the ARs; the treasure summary is listed following the conclusion.)
Sample AdventuresDyv4-08 Linchpin Password: sugargnome Dyv5-02 Rising in the East Password: pillpoppin VTF6-03 Red on the Horizon Password: whitetail Dyv7-04 Throw Open the Gates of Heaven Password: riteofpassage Dyv8-04 Gleaning the Cubes Password: cubinround
A Comprehensive List of Adventures Living Kingdoms of Kalamar
Living Greyhawk
- DyvINTRO4-02 City of Sales, an introductory adventure
- Dyv4-08 Linchpin (with Matt Maddy)
- Dyv5-01 Setting in the West (by Mason Mines, Tom Christey, and Derrek Burrows) (uncredited)
- DyvINTRO5-01 Maravan Inn (Concept by Dean Waltenberger), an introductory adventure
- Dyv5-02 Rising in the East
- DyvINT5-04 East vs. West, an interactive
- Dyv5-04 No More!
- Dyv5-05 Riposte
- DyvINT5-05 Old Debts of Old Wicked, a cross-regional interactive
- ShLINT5-05 Old Debts of Old Wicked, a cross-regional interactive
- Dyv5-06 Matters of the Heart
- Dyv5-07 End of the Line
- Dyv5-08 Casualties of War
- DyvSPEC All the Master Thief's Men, a special mission
- Dyv5-02 What Know You of Peace
- DyvINT6-01 The Raising of Southguard, an interactive
- Dyv6-03 Forevergreen
- VTF6-03 Red on the Horizon, a Metaregional adventure
- COR6-05 The Barbarous Coast, a Core adventure
- VTF6-05 Autumn (with Vernon Vincent), a Metaregional adventure
- Dyv6-06 Walpurgis: The Dark Night
- VTF6-06 The Earth Dragon Cometh, a Metaregional adventure
- Dyv6-07 Knave of Box Town
- Dyv7-04 Throw Open the Gates of Heaven
- DyvINT8-01 The End, a three-round interactive (with Michael Mockus, et al.)
- VTF8-03 Double Entendre (with Vernon Vincent), a metaregional adventure
- Dyv8-04 Gleaning the Cubes
- COR8-06 Entrapment (with Joe Fitzgerald, Britt Frey, and Dave Kayserman), a Core adventure
