Hey everyone, Happy (nearly) Spring from the sunny and exotic Pacific Northwest! I hope we are all learning to endure the never ending horrors and bullshit of 2025 doing well in these interesting and trying times. This is mostly a broadcasting and service notice that... it's Guest Writer Month here at Roll for Writing! For these two coming weekends, we have two pieces from writers that really get to some important human truths, and I am excited to share them with you! This coming Saturday, 3/15, will be the release date of Sandstone Legs by Char (who also did my amazing book cover for Tales from Port Astor!). The following Saturday, 3/22, will be an essay by Nico, another writer here in the PDX area who writes about their experiences transitioning, and how their life has provided context for this process. Stay tuned! Thank You & Very Respectfully, Zachariah O

Hey everyone, I hope that the kickoff to the holiday season has gone as well as could be expected this year. I'll be level; I meant to get so much more done this month than I have. My initial goal was to resume with the entries on Naxos after the mini series last month, but then the election hit, and my will to live be productive with my pieces went straight into the toilet.   I'll start again with the Naxos entries next week, and I am trying to scrounge up enough energy to write a new piece for December, but I also might simply focus on next April's stuff. Anyway, cheers, and I hope that everyone has a wonderful rest of the holiday season. Thank You & Very Respectfully, Zachariah O

 Hey everybody!      I hope that things are well for everyone as we roll out of the Summer season, and soon into the truly most wonderful time of the year—SPOOKY SEASON. Like last year, I have something special lined up for the month of October, as we make our pilgrimage to Port Astor during the Plague of ’30; a time of heightened desperation and fear in that already tenebrous city. This time, we will be exploring some strange happenings around Port Astor State University and the curious practices of the staff and graduates, and how one can misplace an entire campus. Look for that first piece on October 5th!      In other news, and as some of you might be aware, I am having my first collection of short stories published and sold at retailers! Contained within are several of what I think represents the best material I have made for Port Astor, including a unique piece that I will never share elsewhere! At the time of writing this, I have confirmed that...

Hey Everyone, Spring is upon on us, and Guest Writer Month is behind us! A final thank you to everyone who submitted, and I look forward to the next one! It's always exciting to know that a bunch of new eyes and brains came by to check out their friend's work, and then maybe looked at some other pieces! If you have anything you'd like to submit for next years Guest Writer Month, please feel free to reach out to me via email (rollforwriting@outlook.com). If I get enough interest and submissions, I might figure out a sooner date. As you may now, we are now in the second anniversary month for Roll for Writing! The first written piece for the month drop this coming Saturday, but it's not the first thing to come out-- if you haven't been following this on social media, I recently also released the first Roll for Writing Presents over on the new YouTube channel, which you can go to here! There will be new short stories every weekend for this month, and then I will be taki...

 Hey everyone! Spring is nearly upon, and may soon grant us reprieve for our seasonal cabin fever. I had a few things I wanted to go over, and some programing notes! First off, for the next three weeks, I will be showcasing pieces from some other very talented writers I am proud to call my friends! Keep an eye out in the coming Saturdays. A short schedule, which will also be up on the Facebook. • Intersection, by Josh Luffred, 3/16/2024 (Next Saturday!) • Rain, Again, by Charlena Kea, 3/23/2024 • Gemini, by Brian Rydquist, 3/30/2024 Please check back in to see their pieces! Sharing my small platform with others has been something I have wanted for some time, and I am pleased to finally do so. After this month, we have the second birthday of Roll for Writing! I am beyond excited and pleased to share some stuff I have been working on for months now. After April, though, I am taking the month of May off, so there will not be any uploads until June. After two years, I think it is high-...

 Hello everyone, Happy New Year! Here's hoping that 2024 is gentle upon us all, and the relevant gods have mercy upon our souls. Some programming notes I wanted to share with you all; starting next Saturday, the next module on Naxos will begin dropping-- this time covering the geography of the islands! I'm hoping to have a map done that will help picture this country that we are becoming so familiar with! That'll be done, as soon as I find the will to live find the time to finish making the thing. Another thing I wanted to announce is that I am going to start a non-fiction project in earnest! Starting at some point this month, and dropping monthly until the end of the year; The Many Saints of Portland! This examination series will focus on important persons who either were founders of my hometown, or those who left an indelible mark upon it. Look for that over the next few weeks! For those worried about short story content; one of the reasons I am working on the above two...

 Hey everyone! Spooktober is done, long live Spooktober. Diving into a specific event of Port Astor history, one I actually first thought of like 4 years ago, was a neat experience, but it left me wanting to explore more worldbuilding projects. Which is neat, because worldbuilding was how I initially got into writing in the first place. I think the first time I did anything resembling it was way back in 4th grade, when we had to draw a fictional map, and a short story or history about it. I've been hooked on it ever since. All that is to say that I am going to share some world building work that I have been... working on! Originally conceived as a setting for a TTRPG campaign I am either already running, or hoping to run in the future; The Duchy of Naxos! It's a Greco-Roman city-state set on an archipelago. We'll be starting from early origins and history, and then covering up to what passes as modern for the setting, culture, and nearly everything else! I look forward to s...

  Hello everyone! Welcome to spooky season! We made it back here again, after a surprisingly mild Summer here in the Pacific Northwest. I know that a good chunk of the country cannot say the same, but I hope that it has mostly passed by now. I wanted to do something a little different this year, since I was still fairly new at this last Autumn, still getting my legs wet with running a blog, and so I didn’t have much material for this season; pretty silly for someone who calls themselves a horror writer. That’s why I’m happy to announce that for this Spooktober that I’ll be starting what I hope to be a regular tradition of The Plague of ’30; in 1930, Port Astor was ravaged by a mysterious disease that force the entire city into quarantine. No one knows where it came from, at least officially. In that year, and the follow years to some extent, Port Astor was a scene of unspeakable dread and terror as people struggled to survive, mortal and supernatural alike. Each year will foc...

 Hello everyone! It's been a hot minute, hasn't it? Last time I got around to posting anything was about 5 months ago, and let me tell you-- it has been a weird ride. I fell off of making new content because I was (and still kind of am) going through a hard part in my life trying to figure out how to manage as a single person in a late-stage capitalist hellscape .  Good news is, that I recently got out of my rut for a bit, and managed to crank out some new work! Also, as you might have noticed, I did some housecleaning on the blog with thanks to my friend and fellow artist/creator, By Char & Co! They did the new logo/banner/profile, and did a killer job! If you find yourself in need of a talented illustrator, consider reaching out to them at https://bycharandco.com/! Anyway, new piece up on Saturday, with more on the way either next weekend, or the one after that! Be good to yourselves out there.  Zachariah

 Hey Everyone! Happy New Year! I hope that the end of 2022 is much quieter and peaceful than the rest of it has felt. I started this blog earlier, way back in Spring, and I wasn't sure if I was going to keep up with it. I even managed to post a piece one a week for like 3-4 months, which was nuts. I was proud of that, but hoo boy, I do not want to do that again.  Some light housekeeping up front, I did change the title of that Mass Effect essay to remove the "Part 1" of it, as it has become abundantly clear that I think I said everything I wanted to say with regards to that. I have been working on another Game Talk article, but I have no idea when that will be out, but stay tuned. My immediate plans are to hopefully wrap up the Investigation story for Tales From Port Astor, and then move onto my next project for that setting. But, who knows. I have plans, then life gets in the way. Thank you for everyone who has taken the time to read these through the year, and thank you...

 Hey Folks! I hope that we are all having a good wind down in these late Summer days-- the season is nearly over, and we can soon get back to livable weather! I'm currently working on some projects that will be eventually posted up here, but am not sure when. I have amazed myself with begin able to post a new short story or article every week for like four months, but Jesus Christ, is that hard. So, I might take a bit of a break to work on some new stuff, and maybe just dick around for a while. Not forever, but maybe a couple weeks. I just want to say that I have greatly appreciated everyone that has come by and taken a look! The fact that anyone actually takes interest never ceases to boggle my mind in the best way. TL;DR-- New stuff on the way, but maybe in a couple weeks while I recharge. Stay safe, and drink water! Thank You & Very Respectfully, Zachariah

Hello Everyone!         I hope everyone is doing well in the interesting times we live in. There's no story in this; just me talking.     I was never one to keep a diary or journal, though my parents did buy me one once upon a time when I was a kid. It was blue, and had an itty-bitty padlock. I never wrote in it. I don't even know why I had it, or why it was bought for me. For a long time, I think the idea of recording my own thoughts for myself was an odd one, but commonly enough seen on shows like Doug on Nickelodeon back in the day. So why am I doing it here? Fuck if I now, I guess I just feel like it? Do I need a reason? I don't know anymore, man. As far as what I am actually doing, I am working on a few projects. The investigation pieces have been fun, just thinking about presenting information outside of traditional storytelling. Not focusing on how it flows, but what the information is actually presenting. I don't know if, or how, it'll go or if it i...