🧙‍♂️Interview with Reece Brooks of Iron Blooded [Military LitRPG], Weekly Recs, and a Big Nunu Bag.

We’ve interviewed the talented and newly risen star Reece Brooks of Iron Blooded [Military LitRPG], give you weekly recs, and look at what an addictive story can do for a bank account.

WEEKLY RECS | WHAT’S OUT THIS WEEK | IRON BLOODED INTERVIEW WITH REECE BROOKS | SNOWY SNOOPINGS |

Weekly Recommendations - Stupendous Stories, Hidden Gems

Only 4 Recommendations this week as I want to be more specific with my selections. All of these are great!

What’s releasing this beautiful week

Interview with Reece Brooks from Iron Blooded [Military LitRPG]

If you haven’t read Iron Blooded [Military LitRPG], I feel bad for you. Full stop. For your own sake, just read it here. Reece Brooks has expertly crafted a brutal world filled with intense action, impactful powers, political intrigue, and topped it all with a delicious cherry of a loveable cast. Will of Bloody Blackbriar is a driven and honorable star surrounded by some extremely entertaining cast members. You don’t want to miss this one, as it is going on the list as a contender for best new story of 2024. Another aggressive link here.

Hello Reece! I’ve loved your story so far, and I frankly demand more chapters. Within the first 3, I knew it was going on my list as one of my favorite series. Can you give me some info on how your story came to be? From what I know about you, you’ve come onto the scene as a new author. Is this your first story? Did you target or plan specific niches? What went into your planning? Are you secretly an expert marketer? Your cover is awesome.

Haha thanks the artist who did the cover did awesome work.

This was my first time posting on Royal Road - in fact I was fairly new to the site. That meant that there was a lot I didn’t know going in.

Growing up I loved reading fantasy books - especially ones with high stakes. My mother actually named me after one of her favorite fantasy series characters and sort of cemented my love of the genre.

Finding LitRPG and Progression Fantasy was a breath of fresh air. The more I read the more I thought - man I would love to see more of this or more of that. And really, that’s how any story starts.

One night I was sitting on the couch and I thought to myself what if you took a group of soldiers sort of like the black company, and put them in a LitrRPG fantasy world? The more I thought the more the idea began to grow and soon Will was demanding (stubborn man that he is) that I put him on the page.

In order for his story to hit the right beats, I knew I had to do some genre research and begin planning my approach to trying to merge the elements of Military Fantasy and LitRPG together in a way that felt natural.

You do more with a very simple magic system than I thought possible. I find myself appreciating the simplicity of the System and find that it makes for more impactful scenes. What went into your magic System? When you were planning it out, did you want to keep things straight forward? Is there more to the Magic system that hasn’t yet been revealed? What are some of the other magic systems in other stories that you enjoy? Any recommendations for people creating their own?

I appreciate it. I was definitely aiming for simplicity and that was mostly because I was, and still am, new to writing systems. I have created some more complex magic systems in other stories I’ve written but I found that I was having a tough time figuring out how to seamlessly integrate those complicated ideas into a LitRPG system that didn’t feel too…. cluttered. I still have a lot to learn when it comes to system building, and several readers have reached out with some extremely helpful suggestions that will be implemented upon the edit of the novel.

As for if things are more complicated than they seem on the surface - if I am writing it, the answer is always yes. If some of the plot twists in the series don’t make your jaw drop, I haven’t done my job.

Let’s talk about characters. There’s a perfect amount of characters in this story for my own taste. Enough to have high stakes intrigue without forcing readers to think to remember who someone is. What went into your character creation? For Will, did you model his character for the story? What came first, the character or the story? Who is your favorite character to write? Who is a character you’re excited to expand upon as you get deeper into the story? I always find the most enjoyable and fun stories follow a diverse cast, which you clearly have. Do you think the cast of the squad helps your readership?

Oh man, characters. I love character driven stories and that is such a driving force behind my writing. I will say, I am still learning more about Will of Blackbriar everyday. As I start writing I am looking for the character and trying to feel and hear his voice. Will hopped off the page in a way I didn’t expect. He is steadfast, demanding, and often very opinionated on the things I write. He is a character who wants his story told, and man is it a story.

To any who are currently reading just know that Iron Blooded is only the beginning of Will’s evolution.

As for the cast, they grew organically. I know Kato very well and his constant sarcasm seems to be something the readers enjoy. I really like the idea of characters driving the story and not the other way around.

I need to ask about your favorite media and genres. Clearly, you’ve taken a different approach and audiences have responded. You’ve went full steam ahead in the Military battle genre, which I love. Can you please give me 5 recommendations on books or authors that you find have impacted your writing the most? Or even 5 pieces of media that you think people should check out. I think I know the answer to one or two, just based on your writing, but I’d love to hear it from you.

Absolutely. Unfortunately, if I were to list all of my recommendations the list would be never-ending so I’ll stick to the top 5.

1. First Law series by Joe Abercrombie. Robust character-driven worlds, and some of the most realistic fantasy battles I have ever read.

2. Black Company by Glen Cook. Need I say more? If you haven’t checked out the series I recommend giving the audiobooks a shot! Likable characters with a morally grey attitude.

3. Both of the Powder Mage trilogies by Brian McClellan. Large world, high stakes and a build-up to battles that gets your blood pumping. He is a great writer and was a protege to Sanderson.

4. Red Rising. My favorite book series of all time is beloved for many reasons. The first is that Pierce Brown himself is a master study at proper pacing and high stakes. His battle scenes are grand, brutal, and unforgiving. It is a series I will re-read many times in the future.

5. Last but not least, My wife. It may sound odd but she has been a huge influence on my writing over the years and is the person who encouraged me to start putting my work in front of an audience. I have always loved to write, but I never really thought anyone would want to read my writing. I was shocked and overcome by the response of the fantastic community, and when a Publisher reached out I was simply over the moon.

My wife has been there through all of it. She was the one who ran downstairs to tell me my new rank on Rising Stars. She was the only who took me to dinner when I signed my first Publisher deal. She is a wonderful person and her mind is incredible to behold. She is my last and most important inspiration always.

Alright, this is going to be sort of rapid fire. When I first came across your story, I knew it was going to be a hit. What is your writing process? Are you a pantser or a gardener? I honestly can’t tell when reading your story because I’ve been pleasantly surprised more than once on where a chapter starts and ends. Do you have the story plotted out? Do you have a total length in mind? I know you’ve seen a lot of growth really quickly, and I’m sure it’s a bit overwhelming.

It is definitely as exciting as it is overwhelming. I’ve been writing for years and have tried both pantsing and plotting.

What I’ve learned about myself is that I need to do both. Being too rigid with my plotting means that things can feel a little too robotic or contrived. Equally, a lack of structure could kill the story after enough time.

What works for me is an in-between. I plot out the entire series as a “bare bones” outline. That means I know where Will is going to end up, and I know the general beats of the story and his progression as a man and a soldier. Then I work on getting there. Pantsing comes in clutch here to really carry the story, as I find letting Will take over and do what it is he wants to do works out so well in this instance.

Overall find what works best for you and don’t hesitate to mix things up If you feel you are getting frustrated with one method or another. There is never a right way to do things.

You’ve seen a lot of views very quickly. Do you have any thoughts on growing on Royal Road? What seemed to work for you? Do you have any words of advice? I know you’re new to the game, but very few people get to reach the tippy top. I know a lot of authors read these posts and many have reached out to me to interview them, and I think you could provide some really helpful context here.

Certainly, I’d be happy to throw my advice hat into the ring.

I was new to Royal Road but I wasn’t new to the genre. I’ve been reading LitRPG and PF for a while now and I would recommend you do the same.

Being an avid reader and member of the community is very important. It helps you get an idea of what readers enjoy and what they would like to see more of. Readers are the foundation of this community and being one of them made me have an appreciation for the genre as a whole.

Next, don’t neglect your market research. Understanding how the market works and what is popular and what isn’t is a useful tool. I paid close attention to the stories that rose from the bottom to become popular and started to give serious thought to what make those stories ‘tick’.

I decided I wanted to write a story that I would love and that would embody what I wanted to see in the genre. But, and I feel this is the most important part, I wanted to do this while still keeping the reader base in mind.

We are here for the action, and the numbers go up. But many of us are also here for the story, the epic atmosphere, and the feeling of satisfaction when the MC fights or thinks himself out of a tricky situation.

Your story is a recipe and in the end you want to serve it to your readers. Give them something they will want to come back to and don’t forget to thank them for their support.

Thanks to Reece for the interview, and you should be keeping up with Iron Blooded. Here’s another linkypoo.

MMMM. I love big growing numbers.

NunuXD’s B God of Internet [LitRPG] has me paying for membership. It’s a fantastic story, and quite frankly, it’s overtly addicting.

By my calculations, NunuXD is making approximately $10,000 USD a month on patreon. You absolutely deserve it, and you deserve more loyal worshippers, Nunu. That’s a reference, relax.

Thanks for Reading!
🧙🏼‍♂️Saga Scribe.