Hi, I’m Emma.
I’m a games writer and narrative designer living in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA, with my partner, two cats, one axolotl, and a tub full of worms. I’ve worked on more than 30 published games and had projects featured in Paste, Rock Paper Shotgun, Warpdoor, Indie Games Curator, and more. I’m also a 2021 graduate of Susan O’Connor’s Game Writing Masterclass, and I’m currently open to part-time or full-time remote work.
My background
I’ve been writing stories for as long as I can remember, but I discovered games much later.
Besides my beloved Neopets account, I was very firmly a books kid–I didn’t own a console, and I didn’t really want one, happy with my stacks of library books and writing fanfiction online with my friends. I was already developing a love of creative collaboration and playing with genre and format–but it never occurred to me to look for those things in video games until a friend lent me a copy of Animal Crossing New Leaf in college. Later, when I discovered visual novels like We Know The Devil, I started to daydream about making games. And when I discovered small games engines like Bitsy, I decided to give it a try.
My work
I started making games for game jams in 2018, and never looked back.
Although I dove into games on a whim, I found myself well-equipped with the technical skills I first developed through my Oberlin College computer science degree, the experience I’ve gained collaborating remotely through my work as a freelance web designer, and the writing skills I’ve been working on my whole life.
While I wasn’t expecting to, I quickly discovered a passion–in that time I’ve created and published more than 30 small games and a couple of tabletop RPGs. In 2021 I had the privilege to take part in Susan O’Connor’s Game Writing Masterclass, and learn more about the practice and practical realities of writing for games. I’m excited to bring my knowledge and experience to a studio.
My interests
I love crafting narratives that bring the extraordinary to the everyday or the everyday to the extraordinary.
I love to work on stories that focus on the everyday lives of people in circumstances very different than our own, or ones that identify what’s strange or extraordinary in everyday life. That covers a wide swath, so here are a few themes I’m particularly drawn to:
- The language & aesthetics of fairy tales
- Small, isolated communities; the ways they care for their members, and the ways they fail to
- People forming their identities outside of, or in opposition to, the communities around them
- Casual forms of intimacy, and the ways they develop
- Nature, and the ways that people are inseparable from it
- Utopias, and the everyday work needed to maintain them
When I’m not playing, making, or thinking about games, I’m probably knitting (yes, I made that squid!), hiking, sewing, or baking bread.
If you think I’d be a good fit for your project, read some of my writing or get in touch!