Sevilla!

...is she lost?

Author

John B
February 19, 2025

Today I'm talking with Sevilla, a fellow veteran. Where I am a badass civil affairs operator, she was a helicopter pilot. In other words, she was cooler then than I am now. She is also a moderator on the Immersive Ink discord.

(1) How'd you come up with this system?

So I actually didn’t.  The card system in Shadow Card Guardian was created by John Stovall, who wrote the Demon Card Enforcer books and agreed to let me write SCG as a spin-off in his universe.

(3) Is the math a constant obstacle for you?

No, but it’s important to keep track of what cards are “out” and their power costs.  I do this in the most low-tech way imaginable:  I use a notebook and write it out as I’m writing the battle scenes, LOL.

(4) What are the main skills and why did you choose those?

So the “skills” at work in the card system are based on the card type and the power available.  For my main character, her deck is a Beast/Nature deck, because it works really well with my concept of her as a maternal figure who is willing to do extreme violence for the child in her care.

(5) Did you make the system first or work through the plot first?

John created the system well before I even dreamed up a plot.  :)  But I DID choose the deck types based on the character concepts I developed.

(6) Is there anything you wish you had done differently?

Not really.  Working with John has been such a great experience, I’d do it all over again.  :)

(7) What's a "level up" in your system?

The characters level up when they achieve 100 experience points, which they do by defeating other deckbearers, monsters that spawn in the world, and levels in dungeons.  In addition to actual levels, characters can acquire new cards that have different effects, which is a fun dynamic as well.

What are you currently working on?

I’m currently working on the sequel to Shadow Card Guardian, as well as the sequel to my fantasy adventure novel, Magelight, which comes out from Baen Books in May.

What do you want to shout out?

I’d love it if people wanted to check out Shadow Card Guardian.  You can find it here: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/101999/shadow-card-guardian

Check out more about her...

Here’s her website, for further details: www.kaceyezell.net

Other stuff (My Kickstarter just got funded, yay!)

Author Website(all links to my work):   https://storyweaver.quest/

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