Speaking to author Martin Cahill feels like looking into a mirror. We both dabble in writing in the fantasy genre: Cahill professionally, I in my downtime. But Cahill has gone a big step further than me: He secured a dream gig creating a book for the nerdworld empire Critical Role.
Cahill is the wordsmith behind “The Armory of Heroes,” a fantasy compendium CR released in July. The 216-page book features detailed artwork of relics, armor, and weapons from CR’s campaigns, the long-running Twitch stream that’s a mainstay of the company’s sprawling business.
Cahill started watching the CR stream in October 2015, some eight months after the crew of eight had first started broadcasting their “Dungeons & Dragons campaign” for several hours every Thursday night.
Ten years on, the CR crew sells out arenas and has two Amazon-backed animated series based on their “D&D” campaigns, and Cahill’s gone from viewer to creative collaborator.
“It just became one of those sources of light and hope,” Cahill said. “And CR also became, at least for me personally, a place where we can escape to and feel some joy and win over bad guys.”
He was also drawn to CR as a property because it was his “favorite kind of storytelling,” and reminded him of the plot threads he’d tried to include in his own writing.
“We get the bitter and the sweet, we celebrate the things that are good and we mourn that which is bad, and we find a way to keep going,” Cahill said.
The dream job
In August 2023, he was approached by a contact working with CR’s publishing arm, who was looking to sign a writer that would be a good fit for “The Armory of Heroes.”
Cahill was given a brief to work with. However, he had the latitude to pitch ideas for how the book would flow, and he proposed a multi-character narrative that became the core of this CR encyclopedia.
After comments from the CR co-founders and the crew’s lorekeeper, Dani Carr, and rounds of edits, his section of the book was done, pending illustrations from artist Ana Fedina.
A highlight for Cahill came when he received a note from CR cofounder Liam O’Brien on one section of the book dedicated to O’Brien’s campaign character, Caleb Widogast.
“Liam had just written ‘perfection’ next to it. I guess I captured some aspect of Caleb in a nutshell, and I think it was cool to see Liam had liked that and appreciated it,” Cahill said.
Cahill said working with CR also meant he had to keep a clear separation between being a fan and a professional.
“It was both very business as usual and also very, very amazing when you have those moments of connecting with people,” he said. “It is business as much as it is art, and I think part of the process is being able to say: ‘Hey, I’m a huge fan. Now, what do you want me to do with page three?'”
Getting your work in front of the right people
Cahill has worked on and published a hefty stack of science fiction and fantasy works outside his work for Critical Role. This summer, he published his debut fantasy novel, “Audition for the Fox.”
Cahill said there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to getting a cool gig in the creative industries, but there are things you can do to get your work in front of decision-makers.
First, it starts with being vocal about what you want to do and broadening your network, while not being pushy about securing opportunities.
“There’s a way to do it that is not like ‘Hey man, introduce me to your cool friend, or we’re not friends.’ There are ways to use your network of friends and creators and be open to helping people right back,” Cahill said. “But in the publishing industry, being OK at becoming comfortable with asking people to introduce you could lead to great opportunities, and conversations about what you’re interested in doing.”
Tip two about networking your way into jobs, Cahill said, is to pay it forward when you have an opportunity that may suit someone, and view it as helping a friend out.
“I don’t see any point in being an obstacle to people, or ‘being better’ than anybody,” Cahill said. “We are all in here to help each other.”
Cahill’s final tip for writers seeking success in publishing is that “persistence is key” in the face of rejection.
“It is an industry that does not love you back. It’s also an industry that does not reward sitting on one’s laurels,” he said.
He is a big fan of the follow-up email and check-ins after two weeks. However, it’s also important to be mindful of a potential collaborator’s time and to be respectful of what they’ve got on their plate.
“Being persistent is good, and so is being kind,” Cahill said.
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