The video game personality and host discusses her book The Holder's Dominion.
What prompted or inspired you to write The Holder's Dominion?
Genese: It all started when I wanted to describe how impactful online games can be, and wanted to create a basis for family and friends of gamers to understand them and their world. The Holder’s Dominion reveals the secret side to online games, and offers an avenue for different generations to understand one another. Even if a reader has never touched an MMO, he or she can read The Holder’s Dominion and find out why gamers game.
After years of working alongside video game industry professionals, my research and experience became the foundation for The Holder’s Dominion. I imagine we all have relatives who wonder, “Are video games a waste of time?” “Why does my spouse play video games in to the night?” “Why does my child want to play a video game instead of go outside and play?” “What’s got into him or her?” The Holder’s Dominion answers these questions and reveals online gaming in an easy-to-follow and riveting setting that marries pre video game generations to current video game enthusiasts.
For those new to the book, explain what it's about and how the "hook" will intrigue both gamers and non-gamers into checking it out.
Genese: I think The Holder’s Dominion intrigues readers from both backgrounds because the story reveals the amazing experience of collaborative video games and the communities that grow up in and around them. It highlights the often-underestimated degree of connection between the online world and real life; it treats the internet—and online gaming—as an extension of human society, not an alternative to it. Gamers and non-gamers can connect to Holder’s because it doesn’t avoid real issues; it weaves them in to its suspenseful story. Here’s a brief glimpse into Holder’s plot:
When the book opens, Kaylie Ames doesn’t recognize her old friend, Elliott. He was on his knees in the middle of a grocery store aisle. His eyes were shut and he looked ill, mumbling something unintelligible. Although Elliott wouldn’t explain what had happened to him in the grocery store, he eventually let Kaylie into his circle of friends and into the online world of Edannair.
Kaylie had never really been a gamer before, or even competitive for that matter, but as she became immersed within the online game, things began to change. In Edannair, you can compete and show off your talent by joining teams. The highest-ranking team is Sarkmarr, which is ruled by the Holder, an enigmatic leader whose true identity is hidden for many reasons. Sarkmarr has proven their skill as reigning world champions over the annual competition known as The Stakes where they’ve earned coveted PVP and PVE world titles.
Sarkmarr’s highly selective process requires applicants to demonstrate their talent through a number of online trials and offline, real-world challenges called morphis assignments. It was a morphis assignment that had brought Elliott to his knees in the grocery store the day Kaylie found him.
As Kaylie learns more about the Holder and his manipulative morphis assignments, she becomes convinced that she must infiltrate Sarkmarr. At each turn, the world of Edannair reveals a new game that Kaylie is determined to play.
