I’m so honored by M. C. Benner Dixon‘s generous endorsement of Rogue Burnout. Dr. Benner Dixon is author of The Height of Land (Orison Books, 2025), her debut novel and winner of the 2022 Orison Fiction Prize, and Millions of Suns: On Writing and Life (University of Michigan Press, 2024). She also is the founder of Zizia Studios, which provides writing, editing, and consulting services to authors. I’m so very grateful to Christine for her generous, thoughtful endorsement.

Full endorsement:

Rogue Burnout is a novel that is equal parts frolic and philosophy. With deft worldbuilding, Piero draws us into the world of competitive gaming, creating palpable tension on the page as the tournaments progress. Although rife with playful pop culture references and gaming lingo, the prose remains accessible to a wide range of readers without ever being condescending. The same is true when it turns to philosophy and linguistics. Simon, our narrator, has a richly textured inner life that we are privileged to witness. The precise and well-developed voice of this novel is irresistible. Simon is curious, intelligent, and anxious. Piero offers us a relatable character who generously shares his kaleidoscopic view of the world with us, refracted through the idiosyncrasies of language, longing, and philosophy as he works through upheaval related to his own sexuality, religious trauma, and a father who rejects his son when he ought to be learning from him. I admire the way that Piero consistently reaches for healing in the midst of pain. Time and time again, Simon pulls the people and ideas that he loves around him like a security blanket, something to hold him together when his world is falling apart.