That’s right, it’s here! You can now read and/or listen to my short story, DOLLHOUSED, which landed in the winners’ circle in the StarPath Creatives Writing contest.
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Listen to Award-Winning Short Story DOLLHOUSED
Categories: Books, News, short fiction, writing
Tags: audio, author, award winning, b.c. johnson, books, dollhoused, glen weatherhead, short fiction, short story, starpath creatives writing contest
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ALIEN: EARTH and Cliffhangers, Revisited
Season 1 of ALIEN: EARTH, which I was loving (and still mostly do) ended on what I would call a terrible decision. That terrible decision was the terrible decision that showrunners keep making because they saw STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION one time.
I was going to go on another rant about cliffhangers, but I realized I had a perfectly good one raring to go from a blog I posted like ten years ago when I got mad about the infamous Walking Dead cliffhanger.
The nice thing is, all the lessons are still evergreen, so I’ve done a fresh draft on those ideas. I’ve also added a new section about forgiving cliffhangers based on time and production schedules, which is more relevant in the “8 episodes every three years” streaming era.
Alright, let’s dive into it. But first we start with a simple question, before we can get going:
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Categories: Review, TV, writing
Tags: alien, alien earth, cliffhanger, cliffhangers are bad and dumb, finale
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Check Ins and Updates: August 2025
Hey y’all! This week I’m sharing what’s going on with me, the books/shows/movies I’m enjoying, and a general writer update for what I’m working on and plans for the future.
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Categories: Diary, giveaway, News, writing
Tags: alien, b.c. johnson, books, djinn & tonic, fantasy, games, horror, marketing, TV, writing
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The Games That Inspire My Writing (Part 3)
Last time we talked about my abiding love for the Legacy of Kain/Soul Reaver series, and how it taught me the courage to go nuts with stories (and how it partially inspired my Deadgirl Saga).
This week I’m casting the net a bit wider, with a trio of unconnected but stylistically related games that made me want to write my own epic fantasy series. Alongside a heaping helping of D&D and fantasy novels in my youth, of course.
Let’s get into the business with three beloved 90’s classics: THE SECRET OF MANA, ILLUSION OF GAIA, and the FINAL FANTASY series.
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Categories: Books, Deadgirl, Inspiration, Video Games, writing
Tags: arpgs, b.c. johnson, book-review, books, fantasy, fantasy novel, fiction, final fantasy, gamers, games, gaming, illusion of gaia, Inspiration, mana, secret of mana, writer, writing, writing inspiration
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The Games That Inspire My Writing (Part 2)
As an author myself, books will always be my first and truest love. However, video games have been a constant companion, a wonderful form of social interaction, and a port of harbor in this our blighted world. Games have provided a place to rest, certainly, but it ain’t all escapism. Games have always been a key part of my curriculum for story, character, and narrative, and deserve every bit of thanks I can spare.
Last week, I poured a couple pints of e-ink out for my boys, the DARK SOULS games, sharing how they taught me the value of perseverance and the joys of sad dignity. They also directly inspired the newest manuscript I’m working on, gently titled “The Stone Marches.”
This week, we’re dropping DARK SOULS and going a bit lighter: the soul-crushing gothic vampire existentialist masterpiece that is the LEGACY OF KAIN series.
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Categories: Deadgirl, Inspiration, Riven, Video Games, writing
Tags: b.c. johnson, books, fantasy, fiction, gamers, games, gaming, Inspiration, kain, legacy of kain, raziel, soul reaver, writer, writing, writing inspiration
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The Games That Inspire My Writing (Part 1)
Good writers read, the same way good directors watch movies and good chefs eat. Also chefs would kick it if they don’t eat, so it’s doubly important for them. Obscure indie author Stephen King said: “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.” He called it “the great commandment.” And he was right.
But storytellers of all mediums can be inspired by any story. I’ve always been a voracious reader, true. But I’m as much a gamer of games, and there’s no shortage of wonderful stories that come out of a cartridge, a spinning disc, or through the cosmic strings of the interwebular infonet.
I suspect a lot of writers my age have found inspiration on the other end of a DualShock, a mouse, or a Duke.
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Categories: Inspiration, Video Games, writing
Tags: b.c. johnson, bloodborne, books, dark souls, fiction, from software, gamers, games, gaming, Inspiration, writer, writing, writing inspiration
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Author Chat: Adam Bassett, Writer of “DIGITAL EXTREMITIES”
This is B.C. Johnson, your RSI-neurojacked author, and today we’re sitting down with Adam Bassett, author of DIGITAL EXTREMITIES.
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Categories: Author Chat, Author Interview, Books, publishing, writing
Tags: adam bassett, animus paradox, Author Chat, author interview, campfire, cyberpunk, digital extremities, fantasy, maps
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Author Chat: Alexander Mharcei, Writer of “A Queen’s Silence”
This is B.C. Johnson, your chromed-out, space-faring indie author, and today we’re sitting down with Alexander Mharcei.
Continue readingSubplots: When Do They Suck?
I saw this topic spring up online recently, and it got me thinking: what makes a subplot bad? As a writer, it’s an important question—the fewer bad subplots, the more money we make. The more money we make, the faster we become eccentric weirdos hammering away on a typewriter in our custom-built, cliff-perched, storm-wracked Enya castles.
I mean, the more fulfilling art we can make or whatever.
So, how can we avoid the dreaded D-level B-plot?
Here are a few subplot issues I struggle with, both in what I’m reading/watching and what I’m writing:
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Categories: writing
Tags: b plot, b.c. johnson, bad b plots, good b plots, how to write a subplot, subplots, writer advice, writing
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Cover Reveal: GRAVEDUST
At long last, the moment a few of you (dedicated and largely good-looking yous) have been waiting for. Or I’ve been waiting for. Waiting, is the headline.
Revealing the cover of the fifth and final chapter of the Deadgirl Saga:
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Categories: Books, Deadgirl, publishing, writing
Tags: b.c. johnson, book cover, books, cover, cover reveal, deadgirl, gravedust, lucy day, young adult
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Deadgirl
Meet the girl who just won't die . . .
Deadgirl: Ghostlight
All the world's a stage
Deadgirl: Goneward
On the road again...
Deadgirl: Daybreak
We all go a little mad sometimes
Deadgirl: Gravedust
This is the end, my friend
B.C. Johnson 