Author Spotlight: KamikazePotato and Rafael Kalleen 

KP: The new world Adam inhabits is harsh and uncompromising – it isn’t kind to people without money or power. There’s a lot of people in real life who are struggling right now, so we wanted to write a story that would resonate with them. Adam starting out penniless is what informed many of his decisions, as it naturally brought him into conflict with rulers at the top of the ladder.

RK: Skill Thief’s tone is a fun thing to talk about, because it shifts with Adam’s experiences. Usually we find that stories have characters become more weary and cynical as they go on, so we wanted to go for the opposite of that. At the start, when Adam is at his lowest point, the tone is a bit darker. But throughout Book 1 his outlook on life (and the story’s tone) brightens after he starts making connections with people, even as the challenges he faces get harder.

KP: Even if maybe it wasn’t Adam’s full intention at the time, he made a commitment when he usurped the Lordship of Penumbria. He isn’t the kind of person who can just seize power and then ignore all the people he could potentially help with his new position. 

RK: At first, in Book 1, he was distrustful of…pretty much everything and everyone. However, by the end he succeeds in defeating the Ghost of Waters by remaining steadfast in his belief that his best friend would have his back no matter what. So by the time Book 2 rolls around, we’re seeing a very different Adam who’s learned that despite how harsh the world might be, he can still trust certain people.

Even though his situation doesn’t  get any easier, his perspective and approach change significantly in Talent Killer compared to Skill Thief, which was a joy to write. 

KP: Both of us are planners. We prefer to have a consistent vision set in stone before beginning a story, because otherwise it’s easy for the plot to spiral out of control. Due to Adam’s main Talent, character progression is directly tied to power progression – understanding other people makes him stronger, so everything had to be carefully outlined from the start.

RK: We spent a lot of late night discord talks discussing the minutiae of Adam’s relationships with both his friends and enemies. It was really important to plan how his powerups would match his natural character development.

One thing we really wanted to do with the series was to have a consistent world, but use the magic system’s mechanics to drive the progression in a natural way. We kind of worked backwards from the question of “How can we tell this story?” then very, very carefully worldbuilt around that. We ended up happy with the result, especially as we get to start showing off how those two intertwine more and more around Book 2 — but man was it a difficult outlining process!

KP: Adam’s victories usually come by the skin of his teeth from a mixture of long-term strategy and on-the-spot improvisation. Cleverness and determination are often key factors to making a win feel earned, so we emphasized those aspects.

Man, we really put him through the wringer. He’s almost died how many times now? Apologies to Adam, but it made for fun fight scenes and political drama.

RK: At its core, Skill Thief’s story is about understanding people and how doing so makes you a stronger person – both in a literal, LitRPG sense, and in the broader more metaphorical one. So the more Adam understands his allies (and even enemies) the more he progresses, which has the effect of tying side-character development with the protagonist’s. 

RK: In my opinion, the best way to strengthen narrative impact is by sticking to the world’s rules and still managing to produce dramatic results. So we went with a “hard magic” type of system, the Brandon Sanderson type where rules are mostly immutable, but that immutability is also what drives the conflict.

For example: early on, Adam enters negotiations with an enemy noble who has him sign a magical contract preventing him from engaging in any form of violence. Adam gets around that restriction by giving the noble a gift which frames him for a crime and gets him killed by an Emperor’s Hangman.

KP: Another example where we combined narrative impact with progression would be the ‘flashback’ chapters. Instances where a character explains their backstory to Adam would not only progress the story, but also give him a powerup as well.

KP: Too many series to count, but Wheel of Time probably has the most enduring influence on me. It’s the core of what I consider ‘fantasy’.

RK: This will probably be an odd answer, but Princess Bride. To this day, I don’t think any book ever captured my imagination the way that one did.

KP: I’ll be vague to avoid spoilers, but his final clash with the main villain of Book 2 was absolutely my favorite. It felt like an extremely important moment of development for Adam’s character, with a ton of emotion packed into it. 

RK: Adam also has a great duel at the end of Book 3 where he fights someone much stronger than him, and has to get through it by showing how much his strength and personality have developed over the entire series so far.

RK: Aspreay! In Book 1, he was a villain, and by Book 2 he was…I feel like anti-hero is too strong a word for him. He happened to be helping the good guys because someone he genuinely loves believed in the cause, while still remaining ostensibly evil. Just, you know, evil for the sake of good. Now in Book 3 we get to push that a bit further in both directions, and it’s been incredibly fun!

KP: Well…yeah, it’s Aspreay. His character has been very entertaining to write, and the readers consistently love his appearances, so it’s a win-win. His increased screentime is something of a surprise too, as he originally wasn’t intended to have this much of a major role.

RK: In early Book 1, there’s a big, character-defining moment where Adam has to (arguably due to his own hubris) stick to a terribly difficult deadline while sleep deprived. It resulted in the longest chapter we’ve ever written, and the one I’m personally the happiest with too. But remembering that writing session gives me the ‘not fun’ kind of chills, so, you know. Trade-offs and all that! 

KP: Yeah, I’m picking that section too. The earliest parts of a series are always the hardest to nail down. While it turned out well, we were stressed about Chapters 1 through 5.

KP: Fans of the LitRPG or progression genre who are looking for something with a bit more of a character & story focus. Diving into a person’s thoughts and figuring out what makes them tick can feel very rewarding.

RK: For me, I’d say people who appreciate character development, hard magic systems, and worldbuilding. If you like seeing a character start out jaded, then build unbreakable relationships while accomplishing a lot in his life, I think you’ll enjoy the series. 

KP: I’ve had multiple people tell me that my writing has led to them looking at the world in a different way. That’s the highest praise an author can receive, at least for me.

RK: For an earlier book I wrote, I had several different people approach me and say it inspired them to start working out and pick up sports. It genuinely touched me in a way I didn’t think reader comments could. 

KP: We try to aim for something that everyone can enjoy, even if they haven’t played video games before. The LitRPG mechanics are still important, yet easy to comprehend. I’ve had boomer non-gaming relatives read our books and still be able to follow everything, so I think we succeeded there!

RK: My general rule is that I write things so that hardcore gamers will have an inherent understanding of the systems at play, but people who never played a game in their life can interpret it as a magic system without being lost. 

I use my friends at my tennis club as guinea pigs to see if I’ve made it approachable to nongamers. Alternatively, our serial audiences (who lean more on the hardcore side) will usually let me know if the worldbuilding is scratching the game itch they’re looking for.

KP: Would be pretty awkward if I said anyone except Raf…but it would also be really funny…

RK: For the record, if my potato friend answers someone who isn’t me, I’m flying to the US and exchanging some words. Or at least a game of Marvel vs. Capcom.

KP: Plan for the long-term while leaving room for improvisation. That way you won’t write yourself into a corner, but can still expand on organic plot developments. You never want to hit Chapter 30 and suddenly realize “I don’t actually know where to go next.”

RK: Consistency beats talent every day. I think almost all advice can depend on your individual situation, but I’ll die on the hill that actually writing every day will beat thinking about writing.