A New Horizon

So, here we are. A new platform, a new format. Let’s see how good I am at this…hopefully better than I have been in the past with blogs.

I go by James, and I publish under my real name, James E. Honaker. I’ve been reading voraciously and writing all sorts of stories ever since I was a kid, and I’ve been making a go at independent publishing since 2024.

I’m not just a fantasy author, though that’s the hat I most want to wear down the line. The other projects I juggle are video game development (as a small, independent creator and publisher) and selling collectibles through an online storefront on TCGplayer. I’ve also been a volunteer card reviewer on Pojo.com, reviewing Magic: The Gathering cards as part of the review time since 2016 (writing as James H. there).

To date (as of February 2026), I have published two video games and three novels. I have a fourth novel forthcoming, probably before the end of March.

Besides those, I do have a manuscript I’m slowly working through revisions of, a new project I’ve just recently begun, and a third video game I’ve been working on slowly.

Yep. I’ve released both. My video games are on itch.io, and my novels presently are limited release on Amazon (all three are part of Kindle Unlimited).

The video games are:

• Chronicles of Dramarith I: The King of Light and His Dark Heir (released October 2023)

• Chronicles of Dramarith II: The Crownless Kingdoms (released December 2024)

The novels are:

• Beyond Good & Evil: The Horizon’s Edge (published August 2024)

• Beyond Good & Evil: The Future Past (published March 2025)

• Shadowcaller (published October 2025)

I tend to be pretty interested in fantasy and the fantastic, usually heavily mixed with humor and absurdity. I do tend to write a lot of things with a very heavy gay and LGBT-adjacent perspective. As a gay man myself, I’ve always wanted to tell stories that explore facets of gayness and queerness in sometimes different ways.

That said, while gayness/queerness are all usually very heavily integrated into whatever I do, I also don’t want to write stories where that’s the heart of the story and the sole factor. I’ve always wanted to have stories that allow characters to be gay (maybe doing crime) and have that as a part of their story, but not to be the story.

This shouldn’t be construed as me insulting those books, though! I do enjoy stories that are about people being gay and that being the story’s main fulcrum, and I think we need plenty of those stories out in the world.

As for influences…like any good fantasy author, I definitely take some cues from The Lord of the Rings, and I’ve read a lot of series over the years. Even works like Harry Potter, which have aged about as well as milk in the sun, inspired me and inspired my thoughts. But authors like Clive Barker, Stephen King, JRR Tolkien, George RR Martin, James Clavell, and Suzanne Collins helped get me thinking and dreaming in terms of storytelling.

I also take a lot of cues from video game storytelling. Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Golden Sun, Xenoblade, The Legend of Zelda, and the various games done by Suda51 have all seeped into my approach to telling stories. Yuji Horii, Suda51, Tetsuya Takahashi, and Yasumi Matsuno are probably the game designers whose stories have stayed with me the longest.

I’m hoping to use this Substack as a general sort of “updates” window, a look behind the curtain. Share what I’m working on, when things are coming, how they’re going, and how I’m working on them...as well as more broad thoughts about writing and storytelling, the creative process, and what not.

I plan to do at least weekly posts (hopefully at least two a week), and you can expect things like:

• More in-depth looks at the books and video games I’ve already released.

• Deeper dives into my creative process.

• Updates on works I’ve been working on, as well as details as they get nearer to showtime.

• Thoughts on things I’ve been reading and/or playing. (I play lots of video games.)

• Occasional bits of analysis on book-adjacent things and topics. Think things like perspectives on fan fiction, the state of books more broadly, cultural ripples of BookTok, and maybe detailed analysis of things like The Age of Scorpius.

At the present time, I am not going to be doing a paid Substack. I’ve always been more about getting my works out there and sharing with the broader audience until I really get a good bit of grounding.

In no particular order:

• Inspire others who might be on the fence about creating something to just create it. People are a lot more creative and creatively capable than they give themselves credit for, and if I can inspire somebody to create that novel (or novella) or video game they’ve been wanting to work on, then that’s the best feeling of all for me.

• Connect with artists, authors, and fellow creatives. It can be tricky to make connections when you’re working on things alone, and I’d love to broaden my horizons (and theirs, if they’ll have me).

• Demystify some of the mystique that goes into creating things for others to consume.

• Share my works on a broader scale and see if I can connect with the audience that most wants to engage with and interact with them.

• Find another place to post cat photos.

If you’re interested by what you’ve read, feel free to subscribe! I’d love to have you, and I look forward to sharing more in the near and foreseeable future!