B.A. Wilcox is a poet and author from North Ridgeville, OH. Despite a background in cybersecurity he enjoys dipping into the both sci-fi and fantasy genres and has contributed to several TTRPG projects including Abbadon: The Thirteen Seals from Lost Haven TTRPG.
A lifetime resident of Ohio, he has written over 300 poems since October 13th, 2022; his niece’s birthday and his brother’s wedding anniversary. From these poems, he has created a collection of 30 of those poems, inspired by his struggle with Major Depressive Disorder, with another collection of 100 assorted poems to follow.
Mash: Where would you say you draw your inspiration from?
Brian: I would say my largest source of inspiration is music; the lyrics, the rhythms, the band names and such. The creativity does wonders for my imagination, and even a song I’ve heard a dozen times may yet show a new faucet to draw from!
Mash: Is there a particular song or genre you listen too?
Brain: I listen to Metal for energy, Alternative for brainstorming, and classical for emotion! No particular songs for any, but for alternative artist, Saint Motel is a big go-to! For classical artists my favourite is forever Lucas King!
Mash: Do you find your background with cybersecurity affects your storytelling at all?
Brian: In an interesting way, pursuing cybersecurity really helps with constructing a narrative and story structure! The inherently logical nature of tech in itself has a discipline that, I think, helps with writing, with finishing a story. It’s like a program; if you don’t finish it, it’ll never function the right way!
Mash: So no epic cyberhacking adventures to draw inspiration from?
Brian: None that can be proven…or that I’ll testify to!
Besides pursuing poetry, Brian also delights in designing and writing tabletop games and has contributed to several indie projects including Abbadon: Thirteen Seals and Stone: A Dwarven Saga. His personal projects, while in various stages of completion, focus on different types of science, including different radiation types for his unique class “rad-casters.”
Mash: What made you want to create these science driven game systems?
Brian: It’s a personal interest of mine to explore scientific topics so that even in fiction, I can be as logical as possible!
Mash: Do you have a go to TTRPG system?
Brian: I have several personal systems I’m working on to use for my projects, one based around a d6 or d12, and one based on spelling!
Mash: What advice would you give to someone looking to get into crafting their own TTRPG system?
Brian: Don’t even conceive a box to think inside of; keep it open and take inspiration from many sources! Make a system that makes sense to you, that you enjoy, and then put it out there for feedback and tweaks.
Brian also contributed the story Zebediah to the TYG short story anthology, An Adventurer’s Guide To Love, Life & Villainy. In this fun adventure, a simple perimeter search goes awry as Zeb stumbles into a romantic entanglement that will change his life.
Mash: How did you find the switch to romantasy writing?
Brian: I’ve never really considered romantasy writing, to be honest! Since childhood I was fixated first on fantasy and then science fiction, so romance wasn’t a focus. Writing “Zebediah” was a first in several ways for me, and I absolutely treasure it. I’d love to write more or even expand the world shown in “Zebediah”!
Mash: Do you think changing the focus to a relationship affected your storytelling?
Brian: It was definitely different, but in a good way! I tend to be stuck in my head and introspective, so I’ve thought a lot about relationships but hadn’t written before. It helps to have that emotion between the characters to drive the story.
Mash: Thank you very much for sitting down with me. I can’t wait to see what else you create!
An Adventurer’s Guide to Love, Life & Villainy comes out 30th April 2025. Be sure to go check out Brian and all his work on social media.
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