Quarian Ark author doing Q&A on reddit now

The part of the AMA regarding Mass Effect:

How easy/hard was it to write a Mass Effect novel? Because unlike your usual books, Mass Effect comes with its own worldbuilding and backstory.

Also, how involved were you in the plotting? As in, did the ME people come to you saying here's this story we have please write it, or was it more like we want you to write a story set in the ME world?


[–]catvalenteAMA Author 7 points 11 days ago

It was a super interesting challenge, which is what I wanted out of it. Because ain't nobody at Bioware cares about my pretty poetic sentences. But in the way you're talking about, it was so much easier. I didn't have to name weapons or planets, I could just look them up. I covered my office in butcher paper and had all kinds of lists and ship diagrams and everything all around me. It was great fun, and no pressure, because that world is already great, it didn't need me to make it great.

They gave me a very basic plot--and I mean very basic, essentially just a genre--and I submitted a number of detailed outlines until one was approved by everyone. At one point I sent a cheerful email that said "Here are four possible endings/solutions to the plot! Please choose one!" (Of course I made my favorite sound a little better than the others, and they picked that one.)

I was given a great deal of freedom to create my own characters within that plot, which was wonderful. I was insanely lucky in that the book they offered me was exactly the book I would have wanted to write, about the people I would have wanted to write about, if I were pitching from scratch.

The book now has cover art on amazon:

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1785651587/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&psc=1

If you get the book via Kindle, it's kinda DLC.

Is it a Choose Your Own Adventure book?  That's the closest a book comes to DLC regardless of platform.

We don't even know if the Quarian Ark was actually going to be DLC. For all we know, this was a setup for a sequel. 

None, though tbh, I don't know if anyone has even asked.

I like that rumor.

I second this but I'm gonna keep my expectations low.

The only way that getting the book on kindle any way resembles the ME games is by resembling the book on data pads.

(here come all of the "Oh no he didn't." posts)

The author seems like a nice person, but I'm still salty that this story is not DLC, so passing for now.