About

I’m Brendan, a writer from Ireland currently living in Montreal, Canada. I write small games, short stories and journalism. I do interactive fiction under the pseudonym Malachy O, and have been published by Liberties Press in the short story collection Brevity is the Soul. I was shortlisted for the Desperate Literature Prize in 2020 for the short story Omar’s Ashes.

I am learning Level Design and currently work a lot in Trenchbroom, making retro shooter levels for Quake and playtesting the levels of other designers in the (somehow immortal) Quake mapping community.

I’m also the producer and host of Hey Lesson, a podcast where I ask various experts questions inspired by video games. In my journalism career I have worked for Rock Paper Shotgun as Features Editor, and was once a sub-editor at the Guardian. I’ve freelanced for IGN, PC Gamer, Gamasutra, Eurogamer, The Escapist, and Edge. I have written scripts and reviews for board game website Shut Up & Sit Down too.

I studied at the University of Sheffield, where I got a BA in Journalism and a MA in English Literature and Creative Writing.

Twitter: @Brendy_C

Twitch: Twitch.tv/heylesson

YouTube: Hey Lesson’s channel

Support: Hey Lesson on Patreon