Competitive esports gamer Simon Blakely—also known by his in-game name, Pan—drops out of college to play fantasy role-playing game Darkmore Heroes with his team across the United States. After a series of losses, their corporate sponsorship is on the line, and Pan’s team must win the Midwest Darkmore Heroes Tournament held in Chicago. This adds pressure to an already labor-intensive esports schedule that’s left him with debilitating panic attacks. On the heels of a troubled fling with a barista, Pan falls in love with Pax, a trans man who plays a druid healer for the opposing team. Pan is forced to reckon with his changeful sexuality against the backdrop of a toxic upbringing, a task made more difficult by the unannounced arrival of his estranged, evangelical father who tries to turn him “back to God.” As overwork and panic attacks take their toll, Pan explores his own bisexuality amid mounting conflicts that include a falling out with one of Pan’s teammates and a vicious knife attack. In conversation with Pan’s old professor-mentor, Dr. Alasdair Burke, whose email correspondence throughout the novel highlight their shared career challenges, Pan sets out on a quest to live authentically beyond what he begins to see as an “administered life” of laborious routine. When Eros joins hands with polyamory, Pan, Pax, and Dr. Burke navigate the nuances of a life that rejects automated ways of being, an experience that prompts Pan to choose between returning to his familiar esports life or otherwise chart out a new trajectory for his life.
Advance Praise for Rogue Burnout
“Mike Piero’s Rogue Burnout introduces readers to Simon ”Pan” Blakely, an erudite college dropout and professional e-sport star who takes readers on a chaotic joyride through the world of competitive gaming and manages to fall in love along the way. That love, with a transman gamer named Pax, forces the narrator to grapple with both his own sexual (r)evolution and the objections of his fanatically religious father, who decides to pay Pan an unwelcome visit. Through the mayhem that ensues, punctuated with philosophical letters from Pan’s former professor, Piero raises complex questions about this odd game we call life, but does so with a distinctive, jazzy and often hilarious voice that makes Rogue Burnout simultaneously incisive social commentary and a page turner. A plucky, spirited, sharp-witted and highly memorable debut!”
— Jacob M. Appel, author of Millard Salter’s Last Day
“Piero raises complex questions about this odd game we call life, but does so with a distinctive, jazzy and often hilarious voice that makes Rogue Burnout simultaneously incisive social commentary and a page turner. A plucky, spirited, sharp-witted and highly memorable debut!”
– Jacob M. Appel, author of Millard Salter’s Last Day
Editors, publishers, and press: Mike Piero looks forward to collaborating with you! If interested in book/film/TV rights or media appearances, please contact Mark Gottlieb at Trident Media Group. All other inquiries can go through the Contact page.