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Mike Strickland

@stricklandia.bsky.social

Querying THE END OF THE WORLD CLUB. Award-winning author, 2026 Writers of the Future winner, creative writing MA, world traveler. Writing about writing at stricklandia.substack.com

87 Posts250 Follower785 Folgt
Mike Strickland@stricklandia.bsky.social · 3w ago

THE END OF THE WORLD CLUB Upmarket/Book Club Fiction 77K "If Matt Dinniman wrote The Fault in Our Stars" Harley, a fatalistic young man with cancer, finds a family—and a reason to live—through a D&D campaign. 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 found family ❤️ romance 🎲⚔️ D&D ♿ char w/disabilities & disease #F #SP #Q #NA #Bluepit

Mike Strickland@stricklandia.bsky.social · 4w ago

The practice of these social apps time-stamping activity in terms of hours or days (e.g., "14h" or "8d") is really annoying when it comes to correlating analytics to events. Ex: Analytics show a spike of traffic on a date, then I have to count number of days to guess what might have caused it, etc.

Mike Strickland@stricklandia.bsky.social · 2mo ago

THE END OF THE WORLD CLUB Upmarket/Book Club Fiction 77K "If Matt Dinniman wrote The Fault in Our Stars" Harley, a fatalistic young man with cancer, finds a family—and a reason to live—through a D&D campaign. 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 found family ❤️ romance 🎲⚔️ D&D ♿ char w/disabilities & disease #AgentGuide #D&D #query

An agent's guide to The End of the World Club by Mike Strickland. Upmarket/Book Club Fiction, 77k words. Disease, disability, death, Dungeons & Dragons: No topic is off limits for the End of the World Club. Background image shows a prescription bottle spilling pills and D&D dice.The Pitch: After a life-threatening cancer diagnosis lands orphaned loner Harley Cross in patient housing near the hospital, he unexpectedly becomes part of a fragile found family—both in life and in a fantasy world shaped by their Dungeons & Dragons gaming. As illness begins claiming his friends, Harley must decide whether opening his heart to love, friendship, and community is worth the pain he knows will follow. Background image shows a dark cave with stalactites and a lone figure carrying a torch.Comps: "If Matt Dinniman had written The Fault in Our Stars." Alongside book cover of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin: Interlaced game-world narrative and emotional depth. Alongside book cover of Here One Moment, by Liane Moriarty: Exploration of community in the shadow of mortality. Background image shows a D&D dungeon grid map.Excerpt: I want to tell her there’s no such thing as bugbears and magic spells in real life, but then the appeal of this game to these specific people dawns on me. They’re—we’re—all following a shitty storyline that someone or something else wrote: God, Fate, random bad luck, whatever. Whether we’re dealing with cancer or some other affliction, we’re fighting a fight that we didn’t choose. A game that lets you make up any story you want and live in an entirely new world with different rules, does indeed sound appealing. Background image shows tabletop with blue D&D dice.
Mike Strickland@stricklandia.bsky.social · 3mo ago

I'm a contest judge for the Colorado Gold Rush Literary Awards, a contest sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers association. If you’re an unpublished writer of novel-length commercial fiction, you've got 1 week left to enter. Go to rmfw.org for details.

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Mike Strickland@stricklandia.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Any SF&F readers in the Denver or NoCo area? I'll be signing books at @lovelandaleworks TODAY 3-8 PM! 📚🍺 If you can't make it, you can also find some signed books at @tatteredcoverbookstore (Colfax) on the "Colorado Authors" shelf! 🤩

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Mike Strickland@stricklandia.bsky.social · 3mo ago

99¢ ebook sale! 📕 WRITERS OF THE FUTURE VOL. 42, containing my cyberpunk love story "As Long as You Both Shall Live," is currently on sale for 99¢ (ebook) on Amazon! 15 stories and full-color illustrations: what a deal!

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Mike Strickland@stricklandia.bsky.social · 3mo ago

THE END OF THE WORLD CLUB Contemporary/fantasy 77K #QuestPit #Q When cancer lands Harley in hospital housing, he’s drawn into a found family—in real life & a D&D fantasy world. As he falls for blind resident Kelly & illness claims new friends, Harley must decide if belonging is worth inevitable loss

Excerpt: I want to tell her there’s no such thing as bugbears and magic spells in real life, but then the appeal of this game to these specific people dawns on me. They’re—we’re—all following a shitty storyline that someone or something else wrote: God, Fate, random bad luck, whatever. Whether we’re dealing with cancer or some other affliction, we’re fighting a fight that we didn’t choose. A game that lets you make up any story you want and live in an entirely new world with different rules, does indeed sound appealing.
Mike Strickland@stricklandia.bsky.social · 3mo ago

THE END OF THE WORLD CLUB Contemporary/fantasy dual 🕘 77K "If Matt Dinniman wrote The Fault in Our Stars" Harley, a fatalistic young man with cancer, finds a family—and a reason to live—through a D&D campaign. 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 found family ❤️ romance 🎲⚔️ FRPGs ♿ char w/disabilities & disease #QuestPit #Q #A #NA

prescription bottle with pills and roleplaying dice spilling out
Mike Strickland@stricklandia.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Authors: I would be interested in a photo that shows the best way to pack books in a suitcase to take to a con or book signing, so as to avoid creases, bent covers, or other damage. Substackers, this would make a fun and interesting newsletter article. Hint, hints.