[book] Orphan Dogs - I. Clover Hollow

This is a novel set in a certain version of the world presented in the TTRPG Dogs in the Vineyard. First of all, before anything else, I just want to say that I love Dogs in the Vineyard so much. It's impossible to choose a favourite TTRPG but Dogs is right up there. It's among the more challenging games I've played, tremendously draining in many ways, but so generous and so rewarding. It's great, basically, and part of what I wanted to do with this book was to celebrate Dogs and all the things I love about it.

With that said I feel I should make something clear, which is that though the world of Dogs in the Vineyard is based upon 1840s Mormonism it does not—and never claims to—represent Mormonism with accuracy. It uses Mormonism as a base to make a damn compelling setting with specific doctrine left for the players of the game to decide upon for themselves. So then when doctrine or religion is talked about within either a game of Dogs in the Vineyard or this book it is not any existent doctrine or religion that is being talked about, whether that be modern or historical. This is important! The world of Dogs in the Vineyard is not our world and in fact this book does not take place within 'the world of Dogs in the Vineyard' because there is no one 'world of Dogs of the Vineyard'. Every group has their own interpretation that they play within. So then, just as I have said that the doctrine and religion in this book is not any existent doctrine or religion in the real world, it's also not the doctrine and religion of Dogs in the Vineyard or of anyone else's game that took place in that setting.

I know that was a lot of words but this is something that's important to me and I wanted to be really clear about it. This is a work of fiction and though it might bear similarities to real world concepts, or even concepts found within Dogs in the Vineyard, it is its own thing. If you're familiar with the church of LDS or you've played DitV and read this and think "That's not right!" then, well, you're correct that it isn't, generally speaking. But it's right for the world we created together while playing, and that's a world that I loved spending time in, especially alongside Brother Obediah Hinckley and Sister Brighten and Sister Calamity Cassidy. I felt that their journeys and struggles would make for a good book, and after writing it my feelings have not changed, and were joined by the additional feeling that maybe someone else might agree and get something out of this.

So then, here it is.