I made a bet with my best friend in 1995 that I was going to make him famous. It was made after an epic session of Dungeons & Dragons, the kind of idle boast you know will never come true. Only this one did.

Back then I was an aspiring novelist, and I joked that I was going to make Trevor my protagonist. He told me that it was impossible, and I bet him a quarter I could do it. Honestly, I can’t even remember why that made us giggle so much, but we spent many inebriated hours laughing about how cool it would be.

This morning No Mere Zombie went live. See that guy on the cover? Does he look at all familiar?

Meet Trevor ladies and gentlemen. Trevor and I have gamed together for two decades, from Dungeons & Dragons to Shadowun to Starcraft and everything in between. We camped in line together for the first Star Wars prequel and spent entire weekends playing Magic The Gathering.

So this post goes out to my best friend. It took two decades, Trevor. Check mate. You owe me 25 cents.