Play Role Play

WELCOME TO PLAY ROLE PLAY

A grieving young woman returns home to Seattle, where her dead mother's final wish forces her and her estranged father on a journey through their past, one that somehow pulls them deep into the role-playing campaigns she once loved, blurring the line between memory, imagination, and something that feels dangerously like reality.

Hattie fled Seattle after her mother's death and has spent two years isolating herself in Texas. When she finally comes home, she finds a father who has been barely functioning without her mother and a final letter that sends them on three linked quests to revisit key places from their family history and "recover three memories and find what was lost." As Hattie and her friends move through those locations, her long-dormant love of tabletop role-playing begins to manifest as full campaigns that appear to overtake reality, forcing her to face her grief, guilt, and complicated ties to her father.

The novel addresses grief and depression directly and includes an author note pointing readers toward mental health resources, while still maintaining a sharp, funny, pop-cultural voice.

Advanced Praise for Play Role Play

"In Play Role Play, In Churl Yo's poetry of the Pacific Northwest is reminiscent of Bradbury's lyrical Los Angeles noir mysteries. The lines between Hattie's reality and fiction blur beautifully as her adventure unfolds, leaving us to ponder what roles others play in the story of our lives, and what role we inevitably play in theirs." -- Alethea Kontis, author of The Dark-Hunter Companion

"With equal parts heart and imagination, Play Role Play transforms a tabletop quest into a moving exploration of grief, family, friendship, and healing. It's a reminder that sometimes the greatest adventures aren't about defeating dragons-they're about finding your way back to the people who matter most." -- P. J. Hoover, author of the Pick Your Own Quest(R) series