New Game, Start

By C.S. Poe

Reclusive medieval scholar, Edgar Royal, has a crush. On a guy. Not a big deal, except that said guy, Walter Chase, is a famous online gamer who has no idea Edgar even exists. Edgar has harbored these feelings for nearly a year, and when Walter announces on Twitter that he'll be visiting New York City as a guest at the GamerOn convention, Edgar decides he'll be one of the thousands of fans who responds to the message. He definitely doesn't expect to be singled out by the humble, gorgeous, out-and-proud heartthrob.

 

When it comes to dealing with people, Edgar's skills are pretty nonexistent, even with Walter giving all the right signals. Edgar lacks the courage to do anything about the mutual attraction growing through their online courtship, but then again, he's always been better with the written word. So maybe the perfect Christmas gift will say what he cannot. But if Edgar can't get the present to Walter before the convention ends, he may miss out on the boyfriend of a lifetime.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Emporium Press
• Release date: Mar 27, 2020
• ISBN: 9781952133152

C.S. Poe

C.S. Poe is a Lambda Literary and two-time EPIC award finalist, and a FAPA award-winning author of gay mystery, romance, and speculative fiction. She resides in New York City, but has also called Key West and Ibaraki, Japan home in the past. She has an affinity for all things cute and colorful and a major weakness for toys. C.S. is an avid fan of coffee, reading, and cats. She’s rescued two cats—Milo and Kasper do their best to distract her from work on a daily basis. C.S. is an alumna of the School of Visual Arts. Her debut novel, The Mystery of Nevermore, was published 2016. cspoe.com

Book preview

New Game, Start

by

C.S. Poe

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

New Game, Start

Copyright © 2017, 2020 by C.S. Poe

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law. For permission requests and all other inquiries, contact: [e-mail]

Published by Emporium Press

https://www.cspoe.com

[e-mail]

Cover Art by Reese Dante

Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.

Published 2020.

First Edition published 2017. Second Edition 2020.

Printed in the United States of America

Digital eBook ISBN: 978-1-952133-15-2

New Game, Start

By: C.S. Poe

Reclusive medieval scholar, Edgar Royal, has a crush. On a guy. Not a big deal, except that said guy, Walter Chase, is a famous online gamer who has no idea Edgar even exists. Edgar has harbored these feelings for nearly a year, and when Walter announces on Twitter that he’ll be visiting New York City as a guest at the GamerOn convention, Edgar decides he’ll be one of the thousands of fans who responds to the message. He definitely doesn’t expect to be singled out by the humble, gorgeous, out-and-proud heartthrob.

When it comes to dealing with people, Edgar’s skills are pretty nonexistent, even with Walter giving all the right signals. Edgar lacks the courage to do anything about the mutual attraction growing through their online courtship, but he’s always been better with the written word. So maybe the perfect Christmas gift will say what he cannot. But if Edgar can’t get the present to Walter before the convention ends, he may miss out on the boyfriend of a lifetime.

CHAPTER ONE

There was this guy… shit. That was how it always started, right?

Walter Chase.

He was better known by his online gaming persona, Waldere, which was actually the name of the fragments of an otherwise long-lost Old English epic poem about the legendary Walter of Aquitaine. I didn’t think Walter’s typical fans realized that, but I had a PhD in medieval studies and languages, so the fact that Walter Chase had even a rudimentary knowledge of Waldere made him even more endearing to me.

Here was the thing, though.

Walter Chase didn’t even know I existed.

Because I was only one of his subscribers out of millions—just another adoring fan of his mad video-game skills, hilarious commentary, and humble personality. Walter was also an out-and-proud gay man. He was completely unapologetic and shut down homophobia on his channel quicker than the Addams Family could snap in unison. It was empowering to watch him succeed and be respected.

But seriously, I had no chance. I wasn’t some famous video gamer. I didn’t even play much beyond what would be considered casual gaming. I only watched playthroughs because I found them relaxing. I was a horribly insecure scholar and freelance translator, getting by in the big bad city of New York, and pining after a gorgeous, wonderful, amazing stranger who had guys a thousand times hotter than myself asking in the comment threads of his videos to hook up at conventions.

So there was this guy… and

Reviews for New Game, Start

[regencyfan93 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Walter/Waldere seems too good to be true, given the number of followers he has.