Lyn Alden writing fiction is something I didn't know I needed. The premise hits a nerve — virtual worlds as the mechanism that lets power consolidate in the real one. That's not dystopian fantasy, that's a thesis about attention and sovereignty dressed as a thriller.

Tolkien believed the best way to think through civilization was to build one from scratch and see what it required. Curious whether that's part of what drew you to fiction — some arguments only make sense when you can follow a character through the consequences rather than state them directly.

What themes gave you the most trouble to get right?