Meet the Team: Justin Sloan— Galactic Novelist

PlanetQuest is more than a game, it’s a new universe we’re building. And what would the next great cinematic universe be without amazing stories? You’re probably already familiar with the decentralized storyline we’re running on Discord, and today we can finally announce the next big step in that journey: the first PlanetQuest novel is in the works! Let us celebrate this by introducing you to the very person who will be writing this book: our Narrative Lead, Justin Sloan! Justin has been involved with some of our favourite titles in the entertainment industry and has published many spectacular novels. But today we’re focusing on a story equally as interesting as his work: his own.

Could you introduce yourself to the community?

My name is Justin Sloan. I’m the Narrative Lead of PlanetQuest. In the past, I’ve worked as a writer on a lot of books, videogames, and screenplays, so people might be familiar with some of my work.

What projects might people know you from?

When I first went into the creative industry, I managed to jump into a videogame company called Telltale Games. This was an absolute dream come true for me. The second project I ever got to work on was Game of Thrones, which is the book series that got me into writing in the first place. Other than that, I also did some writing on Tales from the Borderlands, the Walking Dead properties, and MineCraft Story Mode. Working at Telltale was a blast. I have since moved on to publish some 50 or more novels, to include the Reclaiming Honor series. I’ve also written some novels on my own, such as Star Forged, Shadow Corps, and Kill Code. Besides that, I was involved in a DJ2 Entertainment produced Facebook Watch hybrid game/show called Rival Peak. This was an interactive media experience where all the characters were AI and the viewers could vote on their decisions, which was a really fun and interesting project to work on.

Did you always want to get into writing, gaming, and the entertainment industry?

Oh yes, there was definitely always some inspiration there. Like when I was 12, my buddy and I created video game outlines, story drafts and maps. We then proceeded to call video game companies to try and sell our ideas, which obviously didn’t work. I mean we were 12 and did not know what we were doing, we just called the number on the box. I wrote some comics back then as well, which never really resulted in anything, but I was having fun.

Then when life kind came around and I had to figure out what I wanted to do, I initially decided to join the military and focussed on a bunch of things more related to economics and international relations. While I was in the military, one of my bosses told me he also worked as an actor and encouraged my coworker and me to try it out. Initially I was like: “What? We don’t look like Brad Pitt, why would they want us?” He motivated me and told me they were looking for all sorts of people, so I took my shot. I had a lot of fun doing smaller acting gigs, but before that could turn into anything I got the chance to take my senior year of Undergrad in Japan. So I left the whole acting thing behind and traveled. After Japan, I got to go to Korea and Italy, which were also amazing experiences. I got more into International Relations and lost sight of the creative track a little. It wasn’t until 2010, many years later, I started getting back into writing and wondering what I could do with it. I started asking myself, what if I wrote a novel before I’m 50? I gave it a try and before I knew it I had 100.000 words written down within 3 months.

That’’s amazing. Can you tell the community a bit more about what your role is within PlanetQuest?

So my role is Narrative Lead, but more specifically I am working on creating the first series of PlanetQuest novels! These are obviously going to be heavily tied to the story lore on Discord, but with a more character-centred approach. There will be a lot more heart and feeling to the story. I envision it as a Game of Thrones in space, except much more approachable and more uplifting. I always find that my readers appreciate the simplicity within my writing, which is why it appeals to a broader spectrum of readers. So yes, I’ll be writing the novels for now, and maybe work on other exciting projects afterwards. We’ll see where the future takes us.

What has it been like to get onto a project where part of the world has already been established? Because you’re trying to make a story with existing lore and characters, can you tell us a bit more about that?

It’s been great. I’m used to the idea that there are certain rules and boundaries to a story. In a way, it even helps with writing. You can play within these boundaries and focus on what you want to write. Instead of staring at a blank page, there are already so many elements I could get excited by. Whatever is happening on the Discord is very highlevel and it focusses on big moments in PlanetQuest history, so I get to ask myself, what happens between these moments? How are the characters affected by it? What do they feel? There are so many things to explore there.

Besides that, working with Roghan and Jon has been awesome. It is great to have people with a vision for the universe and to be able to ask questions and bounce ideas off of each other. It has been a wonderful experience so far.

Awesome, well we’re very happy to have you. Do you think your work on PlanetQuest is going to be very different than what you’ve done before?

I think the starting point is quite similar, because my stories are always about characters and an emotional journey and all that. But like I mentioned, I love this collaborative aspect. I think there is going to be a lot more depth to this story and universe than anything I’ve worked on by myself. Then of course, the fact that we already have such a big community on Discord engaging with our story will definitely have an impact. The same goes for the Planet Sale, and all of the other big steps we have planned. It’s exciting to feel like what I’m writing is going to be part of something much bigger.

Without spoiling anything that our readers are not allowed to know about yet, what are you most looking forward to?

I definitely get a high on just hearing reader feedback, and having such a big community behind the project makes me very excited to see how they’ll respond. Other than that, I can’t wait for the gameplay. When we’re finally going to be able to see what it’s like on the surface of our planets. That will also add a whole new layer to the reading and writing experience, because you can really see and feel what the world would be like from the eyes of the characters.

Yeah, it’s gonna be interesting. Do you have any fun facts about yourself to share with our community?

I’ll share two things that might be interesting. Firstly, I taught martial arts in the Marine Corps, while Iwas also a cryptologic linguist. That was my first real job as an adult, after being a dishwasher and a busboy since I was fifteen or so. Secondly, I also played the bagpipes for a while. I had this one big experience where I got to play at a church and it was really cool. There was this woman who was blind and she was crying because she loved it so much. That was a very emotional and touching moment in my life.

Justin is bound to bring his impressive experience and personal touch to the very first PlanetQuest novel. We hope you’re just as excited to read it as we are. In the meantime, the best way to stay up to date with the PQ universe is by following the storyline in our Discord! Who knows, maybe your vote will be the deciding factor in shaping PQ history, giving Justin some exciting content to work with.