Oh God, here we go again! Yup, that annual tradition where crazy people such as yours truly try to write 50,000 words by the end of November is back. How can I resist a challenge? I’m doing it again y’all, and this year, you can follow along! Since I’m already writing a ridiculous amount every day, might as well share it on here too. It’s not the best writing ever, but it’s not supposed to be - it’s a first draft if anything.

Hey, if they can release software in alpha or beta, why not a novel? This year’s attempt is called A Game Called Murder and is a near-future mystery that I hope will at least be somewhat interesting (and yes, someone’s gonna die!) Here’s the synopsis for it - I’ve already written what I’m calling Chapter 1, but that’s best left for its own post.

Oh yeah, I should probably say that those posts will be much longer than the other ones I might write. And of course, standard disclaimer that it’s a work of fiction, anything that might hit a little close to reality is purely by coincidence and should be treated as such. Besides, it’s set about 20 years from now. Pretty sure it’s hard to get upset over things that haven’t happened yet…

Anyway, the synopsis:

It’s the 2030s, and the hottest, most competitive digital pastime of the day is none other than Webwar. Developed and published by Megasys Corporation, Webwar pits competitor against competitor in intense virtual one-on-one combat. With prize pools routinely reaching over one million dollars, players do whatever they can within the scope of the game to get ahead; there is a thriving secondary market for the weapons and utilities one could use in the game, much like older collectible trading card games, and a top config can cost hundreds of dollars.

When news of a security breach at Megasys breaks, veteran hacker - and Webwar competitor in his own right - Mikhail O’Neil is sent to investigate. When the sudden and suspicious death of one of the scene’s rising stars is connected to the hack, he joins Special Agent Jill Tamano of the FBI as a special consultant into the world of technology and high stakes competition. Has the game he loves become something much more? How far will a vendor go to protect their position in the secondary market? And why is the US Government interested in a toy company?