When I wrote my first NaNoWriMo in the world of HELMET, I improvised a lot. I think it was one of the most unhinged ones, if only because it was all built from daydreams. Putting it to paper was a nightmare…

So, naturally, it was perfect for publication! I remember that I printed the story of Exile out on the lowest quality setting of my printer, put it in a folder, and just sat on the couch, manually picking out about half of the spelling and grammar mistakes. I was proud of myself when the print-on-demand publisher accepted it.

It never sold, even though I published a followup story not much later. I blamed everyone but myself, not even considering the fact that it may not have been that great. I kept writing, and writing, and, eventually… The interest in Exile just withered. A whole third story was written, but died on the editing floor. I was unhappy with it all, so I left it where it was.

When I started working to get published for real, this time, I started looking back at those books. I have always jokingly called them my ‘old shames’, despite my friends telling me to be proud of them. Now, I look at them as something that I achieved, even though I still get annoyed at the ‘publisher’ when I think about them.

The itch came back. I decided to write in the universe again, though Exile and his friends were a no-go. I needed to write about someone else in the HELMET universe where everyone went by their callsigns. The slightly silly and edgy quirk I gave to this world, where names like Exile, Black Widow, and Nuts and Bolts where acceptable.

That’s how Crash and Burn came to life. I didn’t set out to write a specific kind of story. I just wanted to practice and to write in my old world.

Enjoy!

Find and read or download the story here!