The Origin Story

When I was in fifth grade, I wrote a play about the Trojan War. My homeroom teacher thought it showed initiative, so the class put it on at the end of the year. When I left the school in eighth grade, the school was still performing it. That was the year in which I watched a whole new class hide under our enormous papier-mache’ horse. In that moment, I said to myself, “Man, this crap sounds like it was written by a fifth-grader.”

And that’s about how my life has gone ever since.

In college, I took a lot of writing courses and formed a writing team with my then-girlfriend, now-wife. We broke into the world of pencil-and-paper roleplaying games. After college, we realized that world wasn’t going to pay the rent, and tried our hand at screenwriting.

In our first paid gig writing a ten-o’-clock spy drama, we sat down with one of the senior writers and asked his advice. When times got tough, what did he tell himself that made staying in the industry worth it? He considered for a moment and said, “Well… I discovered anti-anxiety medication.”

So the quest for a better life kept going. After a trip to the Game Developer’s Conference in 2005, we ended up in the video game industry. Now, video games have their own horror stories, but through the grace of whatever gods watch over video games (probably Eulalia, Muse of Franchises), I ended up at a series of pretty good places to work. I managed to build a career that’s spanned a bit more than a decade. I get to geek out about science fiction, fantasy, and horror as part of my day job, and that day job lets me support the family that I love.

So what do I want now? I want you to come on an adventure with me.

Blog

Contact

You can contact me by e-mail at heplerorama@gmail.com. I like to write back, but I can’t always. You’re more likely to get a response by posting on Bluesky (@theotherhepler.bsky.social) or Twitter (@theotherhepler), which I check far more often.

I prioritize working over ego, and family over working. Maintaining a web site and contacts with fans falls under “ego” stuff.

I’m sure you’re a cool person and we’d have lots to talk about.

A Writing Tour

This is is where I show off promotional materials, excerpts from books, links to published or produced works, and so forth. My LinkedIn page covers my specific responsibilities for the collaborative projects. (Writing samples are at the bottom — just scroll down.)

I have also spoken at the Game Developers’ Conference on the topic of writer research skills. If you’re an attendee, you can find my 2016 lecture “What Wikipedia Doesn’t Know Can Hurt You,” in the GDC Vault.

Video Games

Pirates of the Caribbean

Relics of Gods

The Mass Effect Trilogy

Star Wars: The Old Republic

FableLabs Projects

My Loft

Wayfinder

Novels

Civil Blood: The Vampire Rights Case that Changed a Nation

Short Fiction

“The 10:40 Appointment at the NYC Department of Superhero Registration”

“The Torturer of Camelot”

“High Water Mark”

Television

The Agency

Tabletop Role-Playing Games

Legend of the Five Rings

Shadowrun

Earthdawn

Paranoia

“The Shot Glass of Nostalgia” — Tabletop Stories to Help Your Games

Comics

Mythkillers

M.I.T.H.

Writing Samples

These are resume fodder: YouTube videos of my video game work and prose fiction in small, digestible chunks.

Videos:

A Question of Motivation Part 1 (MMO Quest Giving)

A short and sweet side quest as it originally appeared in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Takes about 5 minutes to watch, which is why I put it first.

“Shoot the mouthy one” is a very Sith answer, but it does not avail the player here.

A Question of Motivation Part 2

The gameplay of the rest of the adventure, including the twist at 10:34 and decision/quest turn-in at 18:31. Total dialogue time about 5 more minutes.

Stomping giant insect-like Colicoids? You’re gonna need a bigger boot.

Priority: Citadel from Mass Effect 3 (Action Sample, RPG Video Game) ~ 30 min

Kai Leng’s first appearance, a showdown with the Virmire Survivor, and finally a use for those Citadel elevators. (Mayhem. Mayhem is the use.)

The variant lines possible in the Virmire Survivor face-off are quite complex under the hood.

Citadel DLC — Thane’s Memorial Service (Dialogue Sample, RPG Video Game) ~30 min

Didn’t feel like you got a proper goodbye to Thane in Mass Effect 3? DLC to the rescue!

A rare chance to revisit what I thought was a shortcoming in the main game.

Citadel DLC — Silver Coast Casino Infiltration ~ 30 min

A casino heist? In a game without stealth? We made it work! Here’s two versions.

This one is a walkthrough, so it has commentary. It includes the mission briefing.

I leveraged BioWare’s strength — dialogue — into our brief foray into stealth gameplay.

This one has no commentary, but does not have the mission briefing.

“Right, right… what did I say?”

(And just for fun, the Silver Coast Casino mission’s red carpet entrances — all 27 dialogue variations!)

“Needs a little something… now it’s perfect.”

Wayfinder‘s Traditions of Eventide (Seasonal MMO Content) ~ 15-47 min.

In a break from doom and gloom, I wrote gaming’s equivalent of the Hallmark Christmas Special, in which Lord Halar tries to assist his scientist granddaughter Avala during the winter holiday. The emotional beats at the end are all the more poignant if you know Avala is an Echo… in other words, like the player, she died and has returned to live an uncertain existence. The first mission is 15 minutes, but if you want the full 47-minute tour, I had my hands on every bit of dialogue in the patch.

“That’s not what ‘objectively’ means…”

Romance Genre Samples:

The Double (Contemporary Romance Fiction)

Pinning Him Down (Contemporary Romance Interactive Fiction in Twine)

I briefly wrote for I Got Games/AVGLife’s interactive romance novels, and would welcome the chance to revisit the romance genre. Twine makes it easier to simulate the flow of an interactive piece without starting my own studio.

Interactive Quizzes:

“What Do I Know About Video Games?” (A Twine Quiz)

And to end our tour, a little Web content, because I’ve done that, too!