Morning mist hung over the trees as Dolli, Rufus, and the three new monsters they’d convinced to join the cause walked back to town. Moko, another goblin like Boji, spoke the common tongue, but the other two creatures were a pair of skolfs; angry, smelly, non-magic monsters with a long, black maw full of jagged teeth.
Rufus had soothed them with a few chunks of meat, and when Dolli got ...
2021-07-07 15:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostAfter a few hours of bellyaching, Dolli got everyone in the new dungeon working towards their goals. Greg supplied axes to the Golems to chop wood, then went back to the forge to start crafting weapons and armor. The Wendigos and Belgrus’ worked on building walls around the main roads in, though they focused on only the fortifying the first few blocks of the city instead of the whole thing. 2021-07-05 15:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post
Dolli popped up from her seat with a thought and dashed through the door to the square outside. The townsfolk, all monsters, held tight to one another as they watched the advancing threat. Not the monster—a short, green-skinned creature bloodied and limping—but what pursued it: heroes.
Greg, the blacksmith turned hulking Golem stepped into the middle of the road. “That’s far enoug...
2021-07-02 15:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostHenlo my dudes! Once again, I've got that clear splashy drink, but I'm eyeballin another clear spashy on top of the fridge that is not refreshing and is actually poison... delicious reality bending poison.
ANYWAY
Reluctant Dungeon
Y'all are in it! What do you think? How's it going? Good bad other? Do you like Dolli? Do you hate her? How a...
2021-07-01 23:05:05 +0000 UTC View PostThe village, strange yet familiar, materialized around Dolli. She could look down again from a single vantage point, and when she did, she saw the ghostly white hand of a child of smoke. Her form swirled and whipped about like it was trying to escape the confines of her mental definition.
She stood and looked at the townsfolk turned monster around her. Rufus, the inn keeper, had selected ...
2021-06-30 15:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostLittle Crossroad came into view through the trees as the timer in Dolli’s vision hit [0:10:00] with a bright red flare. Her head throbbed from the lingering effects of the concussion. How she wished she’d prepared better for going through the portal. Of course if she was using the escape portal she would be leaving in a hurry, and possibly hurt.
She’d left herself only two ...
2021-06-28 15:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostDollitrice Grandmeir sipped her favorite tea from her favorite cup and surveyed the sprawling garden outside the window of her hut. She was in a foul mood. The icon in the corner of her vision blinked an annoying red again. Damn this magic from the Heroes’ Realm, Dolli thought to herself and took another swig.
She selected the icon and brought the message into full view:
...
2021-06-25 15:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostHenlo my dudes! It's that time again. I've got water, but boy am I eyeballin this bottle of tequila on top of the fridge. O.O
Chapters start TOMORROW MORNING! M-W-F is the schedule and looks like everything will wrap end of July... I hope to have book 2 getting ready to post by then ^-^
This is a short story, but it packs the power of a novel...
2021-06-25 00:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostHenlo dudes. Keeping it short because deadlines, deadlines, deadlines.
It's done... ish... RPG screens to-do. It's now called Reluctant Dungeon: The Monster Haven Series.
Project coming to Patreon soon!
OKAY BYE MY DUDES!
~J.D. Astra
2021-06-18 02:26:51 +0000 UTC View PostHenlo my dudes.... how is it already thursday again? I've got a tall mug of ice water, staying well hydrated for this HUGE push.
Book 3, Subterfuge, has launched! TADA! I'm so glad to get the third in series out there, really awesome to share this one as it's the best of them all (so far).
Henlo my dudes! I've got a big 'ol tumbler of water beside me. Much thirst quenching.
Subterfuge comes out NEXT WEEK Y'ALL! I'm so excited for this ^_^ Can't wait to get the reader's feedback. I feel like I included a lot more of the cultivation and magical academy elements in the middle of this one and it definitely felt more like the first book than the second di...
2021-06-03 23:08:21 +0000 UTC View PostHenlo my dudes! It's a scorcher and I'm craving something refreshing. I've got ice water currently but maybe a watermelon mojito is in my future....
This story has evolved so much over the outlining process and I'm happy to say that I'm stoked to write what this will be: A Dungeon Core City Builder! Which means it needs a better name, pronto.
Things on the lis...
Henlo dudes! I'm having iced coffee with macadamia nut milk... NUT MILK. Very weird words to put together.
As y'all know, there's a release date set! I've been thinking about book four... maybe I'll just write some ideas down so I'm ready to go later ^_^
Why yes, it does need a better name, thank you...
2021-05-20 22:24:41 +0000 UTC View Post"Well?" Samantha sighed, gesturing for Reese to come up to the counter.
Reese contained his groan and brought his gear up. Samantha gestured with a bulky AR glove, registering the items in her computers system.
"The spine protector has a warranty on it you can adopt, still has six months left. It's an additional seven credits, do you want it?" Samantha asked.
Reese shook his h...
2021-05-17 15:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostHenlo dudes, I apologize for missing another one. I'm sure y'all know how crazy life is right now, you're going through it, too. I'm sipping some coffee at the moment, and getting ready to write some words, but needed to update you.
Book 3 is up for preorder!!! It already sub 100k with a little less than a month to go, so that's awesome. I'm really...
2021-05-15 19:47:04 +0000 UTC View PostMorning came all too soon for Reese, and he found himself stuffing his tablet and supplies in his backpack with just minutes to go. He spared a half second in the bathroom to brush his teeth and comb his brown hair back. Reese growled as he noticed the fresh pimple on his chin. He wished he’d grow facial hair already to hide stuff like that.
Reese leaned into the mirror closer, fingers ...
2021-05-10 15:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostDeep breath...
Let it out...
Henlo, my dudes. It has been an experience the last few weeks. Right now I'm having lots of wine out of a very small cup. It's quite fun. I feel like a hobbit.
BA3 Subterfuge will be released to y'all on Bookfunnel soon! Get excited because this version is significantly<...
2021-05-07 00:26:05 +0000 UTC View Post
The cops converged on the four of them kneeling in the park.
“Disengage your game avatars,” a tall, mustached officer said.
They all complied, and Reese saw Samantha’s avatar wasn’t far off from reality. Bright red hair, shaved over her right ear to allow her goggle diode to connect to her temple… that was how she beat him. She had better tech—and she broke the law.
<... 2021-05-03 15:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostReese vaulted over the low concrete wall in the parking garage and grabbed the digital icon of a hammer and anvil from the air. A notification appeared in the upper left of his AR-goggles stating that he had acquired bonus weapon fortitude. He smiled to himself and kept on running past the parked cars toward the next objective.
"That was my power-up you jerk!" a female traceur called from...
2021-04-26 23:31:30 +0000 UTC View PostAfter four claustrophobic days onboard the Valeria, we made it to an unlikely safe harbor. An island just south of Kokyu controlled by the Yumemo—the same clan Ko-nah had been raised by. Ko-nah’s mother, Maria, welcomed us on the docks when we arrived.
Her smile faded when she noticed her son was not among us. Her expression became neutral, and she breathed slowly. “He’s dead, the...
2021-04-23 15:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostHenlo my dudes! Tonight I'm drinking plain old water... I had my first COVID vaccine shot and it really worked me over, so I'm trying to rehydrate.
Book 3 is still with the copy editor, but should be back any day now. So excited for that! Once I get everything worked through, we'll create a bookfunnel link to share the full work with you. There are...
2021-04-23 01:55:21 +0000 UTC View PostIt hadn’t taken us long to catch Yin and the others, then run another false trail north west—as if we were making a loop around the school. We couldn’t risk keeping the Enjiho with us and somehow being tracked by them, so I sent them west, too.
Mae was right, and we crossed paths with Shin-soo three hours after running the last false trail. The Silver Dragonflies covered the truck i...
2021-04-22 15:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe Enjiho circled up, arms raised.
Dokun’s voice boomed from all ten of the bots. “Surrender yourselves and no one will get hurt.”
I transferred Hana to Yin’s waiting arms, but she protested. “No, I’m staying.”
“You can’t fight like this,” I whispered, tucking a stray strand of black hair behind her ear.
She inhaled deeply and the air around her flex...
2021-04-21 15:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostWithin minutes, Woong-ji had led us all the way back to Anbura. We were cloaked in a strong ry glimmer, dampening our sound and hiding us from sight. The grounds was teaming with Anbura students, all of them searching through bushes and trees.
It was likely they were searching for us, so we kept out of sight. We raced across the grounds and past the gardens to the steps of the school with...
2021-04-20 15:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post“But the broadcast!” I protested.
If we didn’t show the people of Kokyu what a villain Dokun was, this could all be for naught. Discovering his plan was important, but if he took control of the city, he could turn the power of Kokyu against Busa-nan.
The door rang out and dented again. There was an Enjiho on the other side that wanted nothing more than to be inside. Fine.
<... 2021-04-19 15:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostWoong-ji crept around the side of the Enjiho control building in front of me, completely invisible aside from a faint purple shimmer. I followed, pressing myself hard against the warm, sunbaked metal. Two pairs of heavy footsteps approached and we both stopped. I knew the Enjiho couldn’t see us, but it was instinct to make myself even smaller. I held my breath, making no sound at all.
T...
2021-04-16 15:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Henlo my dudes... I like to do maths for my LitRPG because I really enjoy a well-balanced game system, but I ROUND because I also do NOT like reading decimals in my LitRPG... who knows why.
Street Heat is coming along! Character sheet, stats, ranking system, and spell slots all figured out. Game Rules are almost there. Classes are NOT there at all, haha! Power-ups are pretty well aligned ...
2021-04-15 20:25:01 +0000 UTC View PostYamamotto set the train down on the rubble of the auditorium. From my vantage on the crumbling balcony, I could see red splashes painting the windows of the used-to-be train car. My hands trembled as I looked down at the destruction.
My stomach flipped upside-down and back below my hammering heart. A million thoughts raced through my restarted mind. I had been wrong about the roof, and my...
2021-04-14 15:01:02 +0000 UTC View Post
Henlo my dudes! Soooooo excited about this cover! WOOT WOOT!
Bastion 3 just went to copy edit, which means we're just a short wait away until that one is ready to meet the world. We're aiming for a late spring launch to give it some time, and I'll keep y'all posted here <3
~J.D. Astra
2021-04-13 18:42:39 +0000 UTC View PostMy knee bounced, emitting a tap-tap-tap from my heel smacking the stone floor. My shoes felt two sizes too small, as did the rest of my compressed body. Cho towered beside me in the plush seat, obstructing my view of the balcony.
I leaned forward again to catch a glimpse of them. Hana was the only person I could barely make out. She sat alone in the front row, and shadows of tall...
2021-04-12 15:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post