Let’s talk about stories.
We all need stories from time to time, tales of interest or excitement, of drama or adventure, to give us direction, to give us time from our troubles, to give our imagination a space to fly.
To have stories, we need storytellers. This is where I come in. My name is Michael, and I’m a teacher, parent, and general children’s plaything living in southern Japan. I publish YA fantasy under my wife’s family name as Maikel Yarimizu. I’ve been telling tales my entire life, but in the past eight or so years of that, I’ve been working on an Amazon Kindle series called Princesses of the Pizza Parlor. It began as an idle musing of what I’d do if my niece, then ten years old, were to ask me to help her run a tabletop role-playing game. From there it has grown into a series of eleven episodic novellas, three shorter side stories, and a longer summer camp paralogue novel—and it is still on-going.
Princesses of the Pizza Parlor is an ongoing serialized tale, with each episode encompassing one session of a tabletop game not unlike some of the more famous examples of the genre. At times, the action is focused on the kids around the table, and at others it dives into the imagination to show the story unfolding from the game characters' point of view. It's silly at times, but that's just how things roll.
Point to note: All dice rolls shown in the text actually happened. This occasionally causes great annoyance for the author, but he just rolls with it.
(Seriously, in hindsight giving the chaotic witch a Rod of Random Magic was not the best idea, but it's given me lots to write about.)
Right now, the series has four paperback volumes, three of them collected episodes and side stories. Each episode and side story is available as an individual e-book, with two or three released annually on average. Episode 12, “The Wickedest Witch of the Woods,” is in the process of getting cover art, and the fourth side story, “Pasta and Partisans,” is in the planning stages. With any luck, I shall have both of those available as e-books by the end of the year, and the fourth paperback collection in early 2024.
This enterprise is entirely self-published by me, which means that I am covering the art costs completely out of pocket. It’s worth the expense, though; my regular cover artist, Astrid Vujnovic, has done some amazing work for me over the past four years, and I want to continue supporting her as well. This series has at least five more episodes and side stories left to it, and I would see it through to the end.
Princesses of the Pizza Parlor is not my only story project, though it is the only one I have self-published so far. At the moment, I have five projects to push forward to full publication:
- a Polynesian mythic fantasy
- a social-distancing zombie dystopia
- a teen horror-comedy
- a collection of Japanese animal fables, fairy tales, and legends
- a LitRPG project with strong LGBTQ themes
- ...and this doesn’t include my long list of planned, plotted, or in-progress writing projects. The next one up for completion (in 2024) is a deep-sea epic mermaid fantasy tetralogy
Much of the funds from this CrowdFundr campaign would go towards bringing one or more of these items to full publication on Amazon Kindle, as swiftly as it proves viable. This includes costs for editing services and cover art commissions.
Finally, while writing is a passion for me, it does use up resources. I can be thankful that notebooks for manuscripts are cheap, as are ballpoint pens, but laptops are not. Mine is on its last legs as we speak. It has seen me through four years of hard typing, but I need to replace it before it suddenly dies and takes any recent progress with it.
In this day and age, stories are more important than ever. However, it's a rare author who can survive on their writing alone, so whenever you find one whose work you enjoy (and I hope you enjoy mine), please remember to show them you care. We need all the help we can get.
And
now, some words from our reviewers:
Lastly, credit where it is due: The "Dungeon Master - Will Run Games For Pizza" t-shirt in my top image is the perfect complement to this series, and it's from the SunburstRPG Etsy store. Check them out for more TTRPG-related items.
Products
(Amounts are in yen. Comes with your choice of two ebooks from Princesses of the Pizza Parlor)
Tell me to finish work on Monsters Among Us, my teen horror-comedy monster-of-the-week novel!
Something's lurking in the hidden corners of Alder. It could be a can, or a shoe, or anything at all, right to the moment it takes someone's hand off.
For two teens on the edge themselves, it's another day of monster-hunting.
This one likely needs more edits done before I can let it out into the world, so please encourage me to do so.
(Amounts are in yen. Comes with your choice of two ebooks from Princesses of the Pizza Parlor)
Let me know that you think I should get to work publishing this mythic fantasy based on part of the Pele Cycle, with elements added in from Okinawa, Japan, Ancient Greece, and other island mythologies.
The volcano goddess has found a husband, but it's up to her handmaiden to fetch him.
Nothing will stop the young Hiiaka: not ghosts nor demons nor the jealous rage of her own mistress.
This is a single volume in two parts, with the first half following the adventures of Hiiaka on her epic journey north to retrieve the volcano goddess's new husband.
The second half follows a few months later, as others deal with the aftermath of everything that happened the first time.
(Amounts are in yen. Comes with your choice of two ebooks from Princesses of the Pizza Parlor)
Let me know that you think I should focus more on the zombie-adjacent social dystopia novel, The Sin of Tantalus!
"Martin's living out his own personal dystopia in a world where he's the most delicious thing around, and there's no shortage of folk who want him on the menu.
All he's got is a camera and an audience.
The apocalypse will be livestreamed."
This one's about ready to put out there. I just need to get a cover together.
(Amounts are in yen. Comes with your choice of two ebooks from Princesses of the Pizza Parlor)
So you think that Japanese animal folklore collection sounds interesting?
Do you wonder why monkeys' tails are so
short?
Or whatever happened to the jellyfish's bones?
And
why is the god Ebisu so angry at a rooster?
Let me know that I should focus on it more!
I still have some
illustrations to work on.
(Amounts are in yen. Comes with your choice of two ebooks from Princesses of the Pizza Parlor)
Tell me I should focus more on this LitRPG novel!
LitRPG is a newer sub-genre of fantasy and science fiction that sees innocent bystanders thrown into real-life approximations of role-playing games (tabletop, console, MMORPG, etc.), often with little to no warning beforehand.
Mistral Kennedy only wanted a fun night out with her friends to watch some atrocious B-movies at a cinema marathon. Now that the world's gone weird, she's fighting her way out of a series of realities with far better (and deadlier) production values and special effects than those old movies could have ever hoped for.
This one's written, edited, had its share of sensitivity reading done, and I'm currently getting cover art and a better version of the logo done. Ballpoint and colored pencil is not a look that sells, though it was fun to design.
(Amounts are in yen. Comes with your choice of two ebooks from Princesses of the Pizza Parlor)
This particular project has been a long time in coming, with more rewrites and do-overs than anything else I've ever made, but it's soon to be finished. Help encourage me to get through that last 20% or so!
Mer Manoa is a planned tetralogy, a four-book set, following an adventure through undersea realms on the verge of collapse from the outside threat of strange monstrosities and the internal stresses of a social decadence centuries in the making.
(Amounts are in yen.)
For you, I shall brave the byzantine rules, systems, and fees of the modern international postage system to deliver unto you one of the Princess of the Pizza Parlor paperback editions (your choice), with my personal stamp, signature, and a short message of your preference. This could be one of the following:
- The First Collected Series, episodes 1 through 3
- The Second Collected Series, episodes 4 through 6, plus the first side story
- The Third Collected Stories, episodes 7 through 9, plus the second
side story
or - Cookies and Campers, a Pizza Princess Paralogue
This is coming straight from southern Japan to wherever you live, so understand that this might take a while to arrive, but if you really wish to support me here, I won't say no.
Highlights
See all activity6Activity
(Amounts are in yen. Comes with your choice of two ebooks from Princesses of the Pizza Parlor)
Tell me to finish work on Monsters Among Us, my teen horror-comedy monster-of-the-week novel!
Something's lurking in the hidden corners of Alder. It could be a can, or a shoe, or anything at all, right to the moment it takes someone's hand off.
For two teens on the edge themselves, it's another day of monster-hunting.
This one likely needs more edits done before I can let it out into the world, so please encourage me to do so.
(Amounts are in yen. Comes with your choice of two ebooks from Princesses of the Pizza Parlor)
Let me know that you think I should get to work publishing this mythic fantasy based on part of the Pele Cycle, with elements added in from Okinawa, Japan, Ancient Greece, and other island mythologies.
The volcano goddess has found a husband, but it's up to her handmaiden to fetch him.
Nothing will stop the young Hiiaka: not ghosts nor demons nor the jealous rage of her own mistress.
This is a single volume in two parts, with the first half following the adventures of Hiiaka on her epic journey north to retrieve the volcano goddess's new husband.
The second half follows a few months later, as others deal with the aftermath of everything that happened the first time.
(Amounts are in yen. Comes with your choice of two ebooks from Princesses of the Pizza Parlor)
Let me know that you think I should focus more on the zombie-adjacent social dystopia novel, The Sin of Tantalus!
"Martin's living out his own personal dystopia in a world where he's the most delicious thing around, and there's no shortage of folk who want him on the menu.
All he's got is a camera and an audience.
The apocalypse will be livestreamed."
This one's about ready to put out there. I just need to get a cover together.
(Amounts are in yen. Comes with your choice of two ebooks from Princesses of the Pizza Parlor)
So you think that Japanese animal folklore collection sounds interesting?
Do you wonder why monkeys' tails are so
short?
Or whatever happened to the jellyfish's bones?
And
why is the god Ebisu so angry at a rooster?
Let me know that I should focus on it more!
I still have some
illustrations to work on.
(Amounts are in yen. Comes with your choice of two ebooks from Princesses of the Pizza Parlor)
Tell me I should focus more on this LitRPG novel!
LitRPG is a newer sub-genre of fantasy and science fiction that sees innocent bystanders thrown into real-life approximations of role-playing games (tabletop, console, MMORPG, etc.), often with little to no warning beforehand.
Mistral Kennedy only wanted a fun night out with her friends to watch some atrocious B-movies at a cinema marathon. Now that the world's gone weird, she's fighting her way out of a series of realities with far better (and deadlier) production values and special effects than those old movies could have ever hoped for.
This one's written, edited, had its share of sensitivity reading done, and I'm currently getting cover art and a better version of the logo done. Ballpoint and colored pencil is not a look that sells, though it was fun to design.
(Amounts are in yen. Comes with your choice of two ebooks from Princesses of the Pizza Parlor)
This particular project has been a long time in coming, with more rewrites and do-overs than anything else I've ever made, but it's soon to be finished. Help encourage me to get through that last 20% or so!
Mer Manoa is a planned tetralogy, a four-book set, following an adventure through undersea realms on the verge of collapse from the outside threat of strange monstrosities and the internal stresses of a social decadence centuries in the making.
(Amounts are in yen.)
For you, I shall brave the byzantine rules, systems, and fees of the modern international postage system to deliver unto you one of the Princess of the Pizza Parlor paperback editions (your choice), with my personal stamp, signature, and a short message of your preference. This could be one of the following:
- The First Collected Series, episodes 1 through 3
- The Second Collected Series, episodes 4 through 6, plus the first side story
- The Third Collected Stories, episodes 7 through 9, plus the second
side story
or - Cookies and Campers, a Pizza Princess Paralogue
This is coming straight from southern Japan to wherever you live, so understand that this might take a while to arrive, but if you really wish to support me here, I won't say no.
