How I Got Into Storytelling
As long as I can, remember, since I was a kid, I’ve been obsessed with creating, world building, sketching characters, inventing stories, and escaping into new realities. I remember being captivated by the fearless warrior like Red Sonja, imagining myself in their shoes, wielding their strength. I remember being obsessed with the chronicles of Narnia hanging on every word and waiting for the next volume to come out imagining other worlds I could escape into.
But storytelling isn’t just a passion, it became a necessity for survival.
Overcoming Hidden Injuries
In recent years, I’ve struggled with hidden injuries that affected my ability to speak and communicate the way I wanted. It was isolating. But even when words failed me, I could always draw. That’s how Ranger Ryder and the Roughneck was born. When I started sketching their adventures, it wasn’t just about world-building, it was a fight to pull myself out of pain and despair.
My migraines became the monsters my characters battled. Their struggles mirrored my own, giving me a way to express what I couldn’t say out loud.
The Power of Imagination
What better way to fight invisible injuries than through the invisible universe of imagination? Through storytelling, I found healing. My characters became more than fiction, they were my strength, my voice, my resilience. And I realized that creating wasn’t just an escape, it was a way to process pain and share something meaningful with others.
So that’s why I started The Roughneck Roundtable, to connect with fellow creators, share these experiences, and explore how storytelling helps us navigate life’s challenges. Some create through novels, others through comics, animation, or even video games. No matter the medium, the core of storytelling is the same, it’s about connection.
Personally, I love the unique combination of visuals and text in graphic novels. A single panel can say more than a paragraph, and a well-placed image can hit with an emotional impact that words alone can’t achieve. That’s why The Roughneck Roundtable isn’t just about sci-fi or comics. This space is for creators of all kind, comic artists, sci-fi writers, fantasy world-builders, animators, and digital storytellers.
Because whether you tell your story through a sketchbook, a script, or a digital canvas, storytelling is how we make sense of our experiences and share them with the world.
Stay tuned for the next segment ~ An Interview with audiobook narrator Abby Utley: From Bedtime Stories to Audiobook Narration.
Billy Ryder
Author & Illustrator of Ranger Ryder and the Roughneck
“Defending the galaxy, one story at a time.”
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