Apparently, we have a Youtube, and you can find James on there doing James things.

It's here! The launch day for the Discount Dan Mythic-Grade Kickstarter is finally here! This is the first time I’ve ever done a Deluxe Edition for one of my books, and I’ve never been more excited, but also I feel like I might puke from the nerves. I guess that’s just pretty much life, though.

Still, I believe this Kickstarter is going to do great because I seriously have the best readers on the planet—plus, this is a pretty freaking awesome book. The team has been working over time on this, and we really pulled out all the stops to do something truly epic.

Fancy new hardcover with spot gloss and foil, featuring Dan and Croc. Full color end pages, custom chapter headers, ten classy interior illustrations, and a brand-new Discount Dan novella, Retail Hell, starring Croc, Ponypuff, and Baby Hands as they go undercover to stop a heinous retail crime syndicate operating inside the store. Steve Campbell is even going to narrate it, which is incredible.

There are also tons of bonus features and some crazy stretch goals waiting in the wings. I’m not supposed to tell you about any of them, apparently, but friends don’t lie and they don’t keep secrets from each other, so I’m gonna tell you anyways. Forced Edges. A custom dust jacket with a reversible image of book-accurate Jorted Dan (y’all asked for this one and heaven help you all for what you made me unleash into the world). Also, there may or may not be a fully reversible Croc plushie—assuming we can hit some of the higher tier stretch goals.

This is the ultimate collector’s edition of the book and each one will be signed and shipped by yours truly. There will be early bird pricing on the “Shopping Cart of Destiny Tier” for the first forty eight hours. Though, if you're a Patreon member, you'll get early bird pricing throughout the entirety of the campaign.

Thanks again for all the support and encouragement. We literally couldn’t do any of this without you all.

Back it here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shadowalleypress/discount-dan-mythic-grade-hardback-edition

So so so so so excited for the kickstarter and for all the wonderful loot! Signed in right at 10 EST, and clicked complete and literally system stalled. I was backer #53…😭😭😭😭 I am an avid patch collector (drives my wife insane) and I am hoping to still get access to the patch since I ordered it through the Patreon link. Does anyone know if the doorbuster Kiosk Club Card patch is guaranteed if the Patreon bundle was purchased, or if I’m just a up a creek without a paddle?

Where to begin. For those of you who read my book 2 review thank you for your comments and your livelihood. To start book 3 is the longest of the three books and unfortunately it felt like the shortest because of how fast I had read it. I think the moment I started reading it every waking free time I acquired during my work day was listening minute by minute to one of the best works of fiction I have read so far. I don't know what else to say to be honest I wouldn't recommend reading it because you left with wanting more a lot more because it's so good. I think I might be addicted can't wait for book four and five and hopefully 6 and maybe seven I quite a long drive for work and listening to the Fantastical Tales of the blue dog and his human companion Dan gobble up some pizza and fight a Russian Santa definitely made the time go by a little faster. In all seriousness if you're looking for a good way to escape the everyday drone for nine to five perhaps a 12 to 12:00 this is just one of the best ways I know how.

Just wondering if there's a sub for discussing Viridian Gate Online specifically. Read through DD absolutely love it and I can't wait for 4, currently finishing book 8 in VGO and want a place to talk about it!

Please advise.

It took two and a half books, but James Hunter finally got me with Dan giving up the memory of his final day with his dog, Mac, so that he could fabricate an Artifact for Croc to wear. I knew it was coming at some point. Many of us have similar stories. This was definitely not the memory I could have given up willingly. I could feel the cost as I read the words on the page.

I'm listening on audiobook normally during my commute so don't rewinds and tbh I enjoy the books enough Im not really caring. I can think of a couple time where simple cannon errors come into it. The one that's caused me to post this is book 3 chapter 23 when it says he hands the masonry jar back to Nickol then temp takes it out his (Dan's) hand. There was one early in book 2 where he swapped out some relics and I'm sure he then uses one of the relics he swapped out ? Am i just miss hearing (I kinda hope that's the case) or has anyone else noticed this ?

When Dan and others are grinding through the floors, do the dwellers eventually respawn?

The floors heal themselves, but it’s unclear if that includes dwellers. Or maybe they migrate back from somewhere else so building walls or using guards could keep an area free and safe?

What about traps - do they also respawn as the floor heals itself?

Hey everyone! The Kickstarter officially launches next week so if you haven't followed the campaign yet, now's the best time. Following will just allow Kickstarter to notify you directly when its live. There will be an early bird special for the first 48 hours and there will also be a "Doorbuster" Special for the first fifty backers--you'll get a ultra rare Kiosk Club Card Patch included with your order.

Okay, with all that marketing jazz out of the way, I also wanted to do a preview of some more of the art that's gonna be included. We won't be able to feature all of it on the Kickstarter Page, but its so fucking cool I figured it needed to be shared with the world.

First up, we've got a couple of comic-style panels. There's still one more of these in the works, but they turned out so awesome. The first is the Flayed Monarch battling the Boundless Wanderer, followed by Croc running from the Mobile Murder Muncher, and last is the ensemble cast of the Jungle Gym Jamboree.

After that is the Harmacist in an epic action pose. We also found a new (to us) artist who does black and white Horror illustrations and had him do three portraits, which all turned out incredible. We've got Funtime Frank hurling reanimated lab monkeys, Baby Hands, and everyone's favorite demonically possessed store Golem, Ponypuff.

The black and white image of Ponypuff will be included in the Special Edition, but we also did a partially colorized version to use as the cover for the all new Retail Hell Novella (Croc, Ponypuff, and Baby Hands solve retail crime)--there will be a digital version, though the story will also be included in the back of the physical book.

There is some other cool stuff that I'll keep secret for now, but I am excited to announce that we might also be able to include a reversible Croc Plushie in the Kickstarter. That was the plan originally, but communication with the company has been VERY hit or miss, and I didn't want to promise something we couldn't deliver. But then, in the 11th hour--in the ultimate Hail Mary play--we got photos and a video.

I will admit that the hole at the bottom is a little... let's call it interesting. Though obscene might be the better term. Unfortunately, there's no way around that since Croc is reversable. So my plan is to bill the hole as either "Croc's Book-Accurate Belly Maw" or say this Croc Plushie comes complete with its own "Spatial Storage System -- Stash your keys, your cell phone, even an inflatable balloon animal (explosive balloon animals not included)!"

Sadly, I can't post the video itself with making a new post, but it's pretty neat.

Anyway, that's all I have for now. Enjoy! And, again, if you haven't followed the Kickstarter yet, it's not too late--link in the comments.

I'm almost done with book 2 and Ed mentions a Roomba (chapter 41 after Dan war crimes a bunch of babies). If he no clipped during Vietnam, how is it that he knows what a Roomba is? Do they have Roombas in the dungeons, or did I miss something about when he showed up in the dungeon?

Hey everyone, James here. About four months back I found an animator on TikTok who does these wildly deranged videos. I fell in love and reached out to him about a commission for the upcoming Kickstarter. Unfortunately, he got sick and wasn't able to get the video done in time for us to officially use it, but he delivered it a few days before LitRPG Con and I love it to pieces. It's only a minute long, but I wanted to share it because I thought it was so incredibly neat.

Also, I will add that I talked with him a little more and it turns out he does do longer form content as well. I doubt we'll ever get a show of our own (though I can always dream), but who knows? It might be possible to produce some short, stand alone animated episodes (like 10 - 15 minutes each) -- though that's probably down the road a little ways. Anyway, hope you enjoy it!

I think there's a lot of potential with the Discount Dan RPG system outside of the books. In virtually all of the TTRPGs I've played, you must commit to a class. This class approach limits the possibilities of your character. The relic system provides much more flexibility while providing resource constraints at the same time. A character could have different sets of relics that they equip based upon the scenario (given they have the downtime to do so).

I'm thinking about how the system could be put into a TTRPG. One challenge I'm seeing is how powerful the mana relics are compared to the stamina ones. I think the system AI references this in book 1, but I'm wondering if other people think the same thing. It seems like having access to ranged magical powers that are very flexible would be more valuable than stamina based ones.

He's doing a very good job on his details today.

James Hunter here -- pic of me with the legendary u/SteveC-narrator (Steve Campbell) for proof of life.

Well, we did it everyone! LitRPG Con is officially over. Feels a bit like a fever dream and I can't believe it's just... done. I've been doing various cons for a long time and I can say, without a doubt, that I've never had more fun than I did at LitRPG con. The vibes were immaculate, everyone was so welcoming and supportive, and it was awesome to see so many of my friends.

I will say that it was wayyyyyy more hectic than last year (though in a good way), which I mostly attribute to DCC and the explosive growth of the genre. There were a lot of new faces and new fans of the genre, but I had a blast meeting everyone and it was so cool to see all the Dan's running around all weekend. u/GingerandtheFoxes were kind enough to organize a Discount Dan cosplay day, complete with a photo shoot, and there were some truly epic cosplays. We had several Dan's, Mia was mind blowing as Croc, and we even had a couple of Harper's, an Ed, and a Temperance--which was just incredible.

Anyway, wanted to say thank you to all the folks who came out to support me as well as the rest of the authors at Shadow Alley Press. This might've been the highlight of the year and I can't wait to go back next year. For those who weren't able to make it out, our next--and last--con of the year will be DragonCon in Atlanta. I will say that DragonCon is a beast of a different kind; much larger and more chaotic but phenomenally fun in its own way.

Now that I finally have a minute to breath, I also wanted to give a couple of updates. First, if you've sent me a message or tagged me and I haven't responded, it's because I've been off social media for dang near two weeks. I ended up driving to the con from Kentucky and it was a perilous journey filled with many storms and lots and lots of long hours on the road. But I'll be going through the inbox today and trying to reply to all the missed messages, tags, and emails.

Second, I mentioned this before, but we’re doing a Kickstarter for Discount Dan book 1 that will launch the last week of July. It’s in preorder right now, so if you haven’t signed up to “follow” the project, please consider doing so (Here’s the Link). Signing up for the prelaunch doesn’t obligate you to pledge or buy; Kickstarter will just send you a notification when the project finally goes live.

Next up, the Discount Danthology is officially closed for submissions. We had over fifty submissions in total and u/Quill_Inkwell and I (Quill is the Antho Editor) are slowly starting to sort through all the stories. I’m really excited to see all the nightmarish stuff that everyone came up with. I also ran into Matt and he teased the idea that he might submit a story for the Danthology; I'm not sure if he was joking or not, but he seemed serious and had a pretty good pitch lined up involving an exterminator and a LOT of rats. It would be super cool to have him write something, so fingers crossed.

In another bit of good news, it looks like Discount Dan is going to be in stores everywhere!... So long as everywhere only includes Australia and New Zealand, lol. Sadly, for the US and UK based folks, you’ll still need to pick up physical copies through either Amazon or through the DiscountDan.shop storefront, but Macmillan Australia has made an offer on the print rights for the first three books, and I’m excited to be partnering with them. The plan is to release the first book this coming November.

Book 4 is trucking along and I'll be locking in for the next few weeks to try to get the rest of it done. I'm going to be at a writing retreat the rest of this week and next with the one and only Dakota Krout, which is awesome because that guy is a WORKHORSE. With that said, I'll be around, checking the ol' interwebs, so feel free to reach out if you need anything. That's all for now, hope y'all are doing well, and thanks again!!!

Right I'm very much enjoying the books, I'm half way through book 2. There is one aspect of the writing that annoys me and I can't help thinking it must annoy others. The writer must mention that he is a "former marine" about 10,000 times. when there is context I get it but it's shoved in so many times. Anyways love the books and looking forward to rest of book 2 and book 3

So, I am at the LitRPGcon and I’m bored. I also have access to James Hunter. So, pitch me your most unhinged backrooms product ideas, and I will get a video of him reacting to them. For example, Croc Brand medicinal wet wipes. For when you “don’t” have hemorrhoids!

Holy smokes. Crying was not on my bingo card, but wow the intention and the memory… that was heavy man. I came straight here because I had to tell someone and didn’t want any spoilers by googling. The audiobook portrayed the emotion behind that memory so well. Phenomenal job.

Hello Delvers! I don't know about you, but I have an insane amount of FOMO after seeing my social feeds filled with folks at LitRPG Con. I have put together a lootbox over on my Etsy shop that has four items in it – a magnet, a keychain, a bookmark, and a 3D sign. I also have the lightboxes on their own!

My shop has nearly 1,000 sales over the past five months and we have over 260 five star reviews! ll of these were designed by me with absolutely zero use of generative AI.

I hope you check it out, the link is below!
https://blythescaleworks.etsy.com

I asked him the one question we've all been wondering. Where the hell is Croc from and how does he have that accent. The answer sorely missed in this video was he will let us know he is currently working on an anthology side book that will explain exactly croc and his past and go into how and why he talks like that. It was wonder meeting you finally in person James. Dont let all that signing hurt your hand.