Marshall Ryan Maresca
@mrmaresca.com
Fantasy Author & Podcaster | Co-host of 6x Hugo Finalist
Worldbuilding for Masochists | Maradaine Saga | Velocity of Revolution |
http://mrmaresca.com
https://linktr.ee/marshallryanmaresca
Worldbuilding for Masochists | Maradaine Saga | Velocity of Revolution |
http://mrmaresca.com
https://linktr.ee/marshallryanmaresca
Pinned
Marshall Ryan Maresca
@mrmaresca.com
· Jan 6
New pinned intro thread!
I’m Marshall Ryan Maresca, fantasy author who works on all sorts of things, including:
-a big interwoven fantasy epic - The Maradaine Saga
-a dieselpunk fantasy of motorcycles and mayhem - The Velocity of Revolution
-a 5x Hugo nommed podcast (@worldbuildcast.bsky.social)
I’m Marshall Ryan Maresca, fantasy author who works on all sorts of things, including:
-a big interwoven fantasy epic - The Maradaine Saga
-a dieselpunk fantasy of motorcycles and mayhem - The Velocity of Revolution
-a 5x Hugo nommed podcast (@worldbuildcast.bsky.social)
At the grocery store, where I noticed parking spaces screwed up by someone having parked in an extra jerkish way, and that it had two notes put on the windshield noting how jerkish it was.
Came out to find the jerk car being towed away, so karma is good sometimes.
Came out to find the jerk car being towed away, so karma is good sometimes.
September 21, 2026 at 7:07 PM
At the grocery store, where I noticed parking spaces screwed up by someone having parked in an extra jerkish way, and that it had two notes put on the windshield noting how jerkish it was.
Came out to find the jerk car being towed away, so karma is good sometimes.
Came out to find the jerk car being towed away, so karma is good sometimes.
This is some big We Do Not Discuss The Orangutan energy here.
September 21, 2026 at 5:03 AM
This is some big We Do Not Discuss The Orangutan energy here.
Look, I am 99% sure that my wife is, in fact, real, and not the ghost of a movie star from the 1930s, but you can see why I might have my doubts.
September 20, 2026 at 11:19 PM
Look, I am 99% sure that my wife is, in fact, real, and not the ghost of a movie star from the 1930s, but you can see why I might have my doubts.
Reposted by Marshall Ryan Maresca
Fine people of all persuasions: today is @cassmorriswrites.com‘s birthday, and the best way to celebrate that is by buying her books. Go do that!
My debut series, the Aven Cycle, is epic historical fantasy set in an alternate version of ancient Rome.
Get them in:
-Ebook: books2read.com/Cass-Morris
-Paperback: bookshop.org/lists/the-av...
-Audio: www.audible.com/author/Cass-...
Get them in:
-Ebook: books2read.com/Cass-Morris
-Paperback: bookshop.org/lists/the-av...
-Audio: www.audible.com/author/Cass-...
September 20, 2026 at 1:24 PM
Fine people of all persuasions: today is @cassmorriswrites.com‘s birthday, and the best way to celebrate that is by buying her books. Go do that!
Reposted by Marshall Ryan Maresca
I’ve been so so fortunate to have so many great writers and booksellers blurb WORRY BOX. It releases Tuesday and I just want to share some of them here! Here’s a monster thread of praise for WORRY BOX! It releases Tuesday! Go get it!
bookshop.org/p/books/worr...
bookshop.org/p/books/worr...
September 20, 2026 at 1:22 PM
I’ve been so so fortunate to have so many great writers and booksellers blurb WORRY BOX. It releases Tuesday and I just want to share some of them here! Here’s a monster thread of praise for WORRY BOX! It releases Tuesday! Go get it!
bookshop.org/p/books/worr...
bookshop.org/p/books/worr...
Fine people of all persuasions: today is @cassmorriswrites.com‘s birthday, and the best way to celebrate that is by buying her books. Go do that!
My debut series, the Aven Cycle, is epic historical fantasy set in an alternate version of ancient Rome.
Get them in:
-Ebook: books2read.com/Cass-Morris
-Paperback: bookshop.org/lists/the-av...
-Audio: www.audible.com/author/Cass-...
Get them in:
-Ebook: books2read.com/Cass-Morris
-Paperback: bookshop.org/lists/the-av...
-Audio: www.audible.com/author/Cass-...
September 20, 2026 at 1:24 PM
Fine people of all persuasions: today is @cassmorriswrites.com‘s birthday, and the best way to celebrate that is by buying her books. Go do that!
FAAAAAAAAAKE CAROLINE
(bah bah bah)
Bad times never seemed so bad!
(bah bah bah)
Bad times never seemed so bad!
People are using AI to impersonate real science journalists.
And one even got PUBLISHED.
In Science. www.linkedin.com/posts/caroli...
And one even got PUBLISHED.
In Science. www.linkedin.com/posts/caroli...
Fake Caroline update:
The person who was impersonating me managed to get an article published in Science, under my by-line. And they got paid for it!
I've seen the pitches (bad), and the email…...
Fake Caroline update:
The person who was impersonating me managed to get an article published in Science, under my by-line. And they got paid for it!
I've seen the pitches (bad), and the email chai...
www.linkedin.com
September 19, 2026 at 12:14 AM
FAAAAAAAAAKE CAROLINE
(bah bah bah)
Bad times never seemed so bad!
(bah bah bah)
Bad times never seemed so bad!
Reposted by Marshall Ryan Maresca
With the Aven Cycle, I knew I wanted a Roman-flavored world and was making myself nuts trying to make a map that didn’t look like the Mediterranean, and then I went “Wait….” 😂
September 18, 2026 at 8:37 PM
With the Aven Cycle, I knew I wanted a Roman-flavored world and was making myself nuts trying to make a map that didn’t look like the Mediterranean, and then I went “Wait….” 😂
Reposted by Marshall Ryan Maresca
N here: I'd say it's about how you want to angle your energy. There are some easier things about alternate history in that you have actual history to go from, but then that can also get sticky (I tend to get lost a bit). If human history has no bearing on the plot, I go secondary build.
September 18, 2026 at 8:31 PM
N here: I'd say it's about how you want to angle your energy. There are some easier things about alternate history in that you have actual history to go from, but then that can also get sticky (I tend to get lost a bit). If human history has no bearing on the plot, I go secondary build.
Reposted by Marshall Ryan Maresca
N here: totally depends for me. Sometimes it's like a stand-in town. Other times it's just a little district--or even a room! I'd say, wherever you start, make it solid and open up for discovery later.
September 18, 2026 at 8:32 PM
N here: totally depends for me. Sometimes it's like a stand-in town. Other times it's just a little district--or even a room! I'd say, wherever you start, make it solid and open up for discovery later.
We're doing an bit of an AUA, so ask!
What worldbuilding questions do you have, listeners?
September 18, 2026 at 8:53 PM
We're doing an bit of an AUA, so ask!
Reposted by Marshall Ryan Maresca
Ask us anything!
What worldbuilding questions do you have, listeners?
September 18, 2026 at 8:42 PM
Ask us anything!
20 y/o Marshall would hopefully look at the books, the Hugo nominations and my wife and be deeply impressed.
Also, to 20 y/o me: That production of Twelfth Night you decided to make happen on a crazy whim is about to launch a legacy at Penn State that is going strong today, 33 years later.
Also, to 20 y/o me: That production of Twelfth Night you decided to make happen on a crazy whim is about to launch a legacy at Penn State that is going strong today, 33 years later.
Would 20 y/o you be impressed or disappointed by you today?
September 18, 2026 at 5:08 PM
20 y/o Marshall would hopefully look at the books, the Hugo nominations and my wife and be deeply impressed.
Also, to 20 y/o me: That production of Twelfth Night you decided to make happen on a crazy whim is about to launch a legacy at Penn State that is going strong today, 33 years later.
Also, to 20 y/o me: That production of Twelfth Night you decided to make happen on a crazy whim is about to launch a legacy at Penn State that is going strong today, 33 years later.
What’s it like inside your head?
September 18, 2026 at 3:55 AM
What’s it like inside your head?
Entering something on Venmo:
Me: For Spanish tuition
Venmo: Did you mean for SPANKING?
Listen, y'all, I don't judge, but you should know better than to actually tell Venmo that.
Me: For Spanish tuition
Venmo: Did you mean for SPANKING?
Listen, y'all, I don't judge, but you should know better than to actually tell Venmo that.
September 18, 2026 at 2:24 AM
Entering something on Venmo:
Me: For Spanish tuition
Venmo: Did you mean for SPANKING?
Listen, y'all, I don't judge, but you should know better than to actually tell Venmo that.
Me: For Spanish tuition
Venmo: Did you mean for SPANKING?
Listen, y'all, I don't judge, but you should know better than to actually tell Venmo that.
There's something wild about seeing people sitting in a coffee shop with food and drinks that are just from another restaurant entirely. Like, come on, folks, that's not cool.
September 17, 2026 at 7:06 PM
There's something wild about seeing people sitting in a coffee shop with food and drinks that are just from another restaurant entirely. Like, come on, folks, that's not cool.
What scene makes you emotional no matter how many times you've seen it?
"P-51! CADILLAC OF THE SKY!"
"P-51! CADILLAC OF THE SKY!"
September 17, 2026 at 4:08 AM
What scene makes you emotional no matter how many times you've seen it?
"P-51! CADILLAC OF THE SKY!"
"P-51! CADILLAC OF THE SKY!"
Reposted by Marshall Ryan Maresca
Thank you! This one is in the forthcoming Forged in FIYAH anthology. Pre-order now: us.macmillan.com/books/978125...
September 16, 2026 at 12:03 AM
Thank you! This one is in the forthcoming Forged in FIYAH anthology. Pre-order now: us.macmillan.com/books/978125...
Reposted by Marshall Ryan Maresca
IT'S TODAY!!! My fantasy novella, A DUBIOUS CLAMOR, is out today! From here on out, if you suddenly have the urge to read about harpies, opinionated weapons, and a bunch of misfits fighting the fash, you can just DO THAT! Order direct or from bookstores: hornedlarkpress.com/product/a-du...
September 15, 2026 at 11:49 AM
IT'S TODAY!!! My fantasy novella, A DUBIOUS CLAMOR, is out today! From here on out, if you suddenly have the urge to read about harpies, opinionated weapons, and a bunch of misfits fighting the fash, you can just DO THAT! Order direct or from bookstores: hornedlarkpress.com/product/a-du...
Reposted by Marshall Ryan Maresca
“The clan is my blood, and the Pillar is its master."
Green Bones pledge their clan loyalty with their jade, while Lantern Men show affiliation with paper and wood. We can't afford jade (yet), but we gotcha covered for the paper and wood!
@fondalee.bsky.social
Green Bones pledge their clan loyalty with their jade, while Lantern Men show affiliation with paper and wood. We can't afford jade (yet), but we gotcha covered for the paper and wood!
@fondalee.bsky.social
August 12, 2026 at 4:52 PM
“The clan is my blood, and the Pillar is its master."
Green Bones pledge their clan loyalty with their jade, while Lantern Men show affiliation with paper and wood. We can't afford jade (yet), but we gotcha covered for the paper and wood!
@fondalee.bsky.social
Green Bones pledge their clan loyalty with their jade, while Lantern Men show affiliation with paper and wood. We can't afford jade (yet), but we gotcha covered for the paper and wood!
@fondalee.bsky.social
I remain terrible about documenting my con experiences. I have this photo of my (shockingly completely full) reading only thanks to @mjkuhnbooks.bsky.social
September 15, 2026 at 2:39 AM
I remain terrible about documenting my con experiences. I have this photo of my (shockingly completely full) reading only thanks to @mjkuhnbooks.bsky.social
As I said on a panel at @armadillocon.bsky.social this weekend: Worldbuilding isn't just world maps and rules of magic and lineages of wars and kings. The fictionalized history of a small town in upstate NY is worldbuilding, a family tree is worldbuilding, every ounce of fiction is worldbuilding.
Worldbuilding takes place in all fiction whether it is set in our world in the present, in the future or past of our world, in an alternate version of our world, or in a secondary (not Earth) world. The author makes decisions whether consciously or unexamined about how the foundational system works
September 15, 2026 at 12:13 AM
As I said on a panel at @armadillocon.bsky.social this weekend: Worldbuilding isn't just world maps and rules of magic and lineages of wars and kings. The fictionalized history of a small town in upstate NY is worldbuilding, a family tree is worldbuilding, every ounce of fiction is worldbuilding.
Reposted by Marshall Ryan Maresca
This is really and truly what we're all about over on @worldbuildcast.bsky.social -- "Choose, don't presume" doesn't mean you *can't* have a medieval-ish setting or that you have to literally create an entire universe from the atoms up or that you have to flesh out every single detail possible.
I am glad we are talking about unexamined decisions because they tend to break worlds for me more than intentionality. This has often been a problem for me with fiction described as hopepunk but ofc can happen in any genre: once the reader asks ‘how can that possibly work’ we’re worldbreaking.
Worldbuilding takes place in all fiction whether it is set in our world in the present, in the future or past of our world, in an alternate version of our world, or in a secondary (not Earth) world. The author makes decisions whether consciously or unexamined about how the foundational system works
September 14, 2026 at 11:55 PM
This is really and truly what we're all about over on @worldbuildcast.bsky.social -- "Choose, don't presume" doesn't mean you *can't* have a medieval-ish setting or that you have to literally create an entire universe from the atoms up or that you have to flesh out every single detail possible.