Today we’d like to introduce you to Justin Sirois
Hi Justin, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I was writing poetry and fiction for a while and had a bit of success with it. I think the series that locals might be most familiar with is So Say the Waiters as it’s mostly set in Baltimore. It was optioned for film/TV for year, but didn’t make it to the screen. It’s about an app that lets people kidnap each other for fun — pretty wild stuff! I’ve received five individual Maryland State Arts Council grants for my work which helped encourage me to continue.
In 2016, I pivoted to making tabletop games. This allows me to write, draw, and design all at once for the first time. It’s been dreamy. Also collaborating with some of my creative heroes like horror writer Brian Evenson and graphic design icon Aaron Draplin has been amazing. Since I’m a small company, I’m nimble and can choose projects that I really care about.
My latest is a game where you and your friends play as yourself. You adopt a 200 year old sick vampire and help her throughout the course of the years (in-game years). All the choices you make are morally and ethically your own. It’s a really unique experience.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Somewhat smooth, yeah. The Duplass Brothers did produce a movie that is very, very close to one of my novels (So Say the Waiters) and that was super hard. I essentially threw out thousands of hours of work. Ultimately, I learned and moved on, but it was heartbreaking for everyone involved including fans of the series.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m mostly proud of the projects that I do 100% of the work on. The game Oldest Child and the new roleplaying game system for Sickest Witch are two projects that I did the writing, art, and design. It’s super satisfying to create these non-static experiences. They’re almost like living documents that are nonlinear and so subjective that they allow the players to craft the journey to their needs. I hear back from players all the time with surprising outcomes. I love that. It’s a very different form of crating compared to prose or poetry.
I also created a tabletop game convention that happens annually named GameFace Con. I deeply care about community building around the robust game scene in Maryland. GameFace allows us to feature the faces behind the games we’re all playing while creating a marketplace for those awesome artists and writers.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
Reading The Medium is the Massage by Marshall McLuhan was a huge turning point in my very early creative life. I was only 18 at the time, but it turned me upside down, really. All of a sudden, the medium, not the content, was the focus — the driver for expression. I took those lessons and immediately applied them to my creative practice. I think that’s how I landed on tabletop games as my chosen medium even though I am constantly experimenting with materials.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.severedbooks.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/severed_books/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SeveredBooks/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SeveredBooks
- Other: https://bsky.app/profile/justinsirois.bsky.social
