THE ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF FLASHFIRE MAGAZINE IS HERE!

What a year again, huh? Oh, hi Zach!

Well, we’ve been at it for a year. Technically 2, if you count the warmup. And what have we done? 

1 video game.

1 novella.

1 tabeltop roleplaying game.

1 convention.

2 songs.

4 tabletop roleplaying adventures.

10 magazine issues.

30 short stories.

Who says we’re not bringing the heat?

By the way, did you guys hear the song I made that came out on December 31st? It’s a remix of my favourite song by my great friend and artist, Vincentizer. Check it out at www.soundcloud.com/mcmonarch!

We’ve made a lot of friends along the way. You, dear reader, are one of them — thank you, from the bottom of my heart. After starting this business formally 1 year ago, my life was given new purpose, though ‘new’ may be misleading — ‘renewed,’ perhaps, is more fitting. When I was 11 years old, I was sleeping over at my good friend Leland Stevenson’s house, who in hindsight practically encoded his DNA into myself, and I owe such a huge part of my life to him. As we gamed away the night playing Gamecube games, we had the idea to make a game of our own. Realizing the immense intelligence of our mutual friend Erin Coflin, we decided that making our own game could be a real possibility, and thus M.L.E. Games was born. However, this very quickly shuffled into what became FlashFire Studios, after inviting some more friends, including the multi-talented Simoun Talion and eventually the creative giants Travis Downey, Emmanuel Sarpong, and Terri Bishop when I later moved to Airdrie, AB. Eventually, we all graduated, got jobs, got boyfriends and girlfriends, and otherwise moved on with our lives. Eventually myself, Shawn Whalen, and Liam Collyer made plans to officially reform FlashFire in January of 2024. In September of 2023, Liam, Jason McAlpine and I had all began work on the then-closed Alpha of our game Friday Force, primarily made by me personally as a way to connect with my 2 friends. Seeing the potential, we all began work to form a new and improved FlashFire. Shawn and I still talk on occasion, and he’s hard at work on his hockey board game to this day, which you should definitely check out.

By January 21st, 2025, after a dark spell from November on, I finally registered my business, and FlashFire was formally incorporated on the very day in which this issue will be released. After a year of hard work and building connections, and several moments where it felt like all hope was lost, I am proud to say we made it. Nobody reads this stuff yet, but we made it. If I croaked tomorrow, I’d be content knowing I’ve built a creative legacy worth leaving behind, and that I’ve done it in such a way that others may pull from the machinations of my mind in much the same way I mercilessly drew inspiration from all my favourite authors and creatives. There have been high highs and low lows, times where I felt on top of the world and times I felt exhausted or like it was all over. When I put ‘We’re back, baby!’ on the cover, I MEANT IT. I’m a hidden ninja with this pen and I’m not afraid to start wilding out. 

P.S. We uploaded a story to our premium blog about a serial killer evading capture in a fantasy setting. You should definitely check it out, it might, like, be important for lore or something.

P.P.S. Get ready for Friday Force updates.

As always, Dwarfum Necumonum!