{"id":663,"date":"2026-05-21T13:05:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T13:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=663"},"modified":"2026-05-21T13:05:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T13:05:09","slug":"tucson-author-talks-dungeon-crawler-carl-success-tv-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=663","title":{"rendered":"Tucson author talks \u2018Dungeon Crawler Carl\u2019 success, TV deal"},"content":{"rendered":"
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TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – Matt Dinniman\u2019s \u201cDungeon Crawler Carl\u201d series has exploded in popularity since the first book was released in October 2020, with book eight dropping last week.<\/p>\n

Read more Woman dies weeks after hit-and-run accident in Tucson<\/a><\/p>\n

Dinniman, a University of Arizona graduate and Sabino High School alum, said the series has been increasing in sales every month since August 2024, when traditionally published versions began appearing in bookstores. That timing coincided with TikTok discovering the series.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve sold more copies every month since August than the month before, and it hasn\u2019t stopped,\u201d Dinniman said.<\/p>\n

The premise<\/h2>\n

Dinniman describes \u201cDungeon Crawler Carl\u201d as a book series about a man and his ex-girlfriend\u2019s cat who are stuck on an alien game show. The game show takes place on Earth with recognizable elements presented in twisted ways.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s something about reading stories about the human spirit, people surviving no matter what under really tough circumstances in very deadly environments that people tend to latch onto, especially when they have characters that they really can cheer for,\u201d Dinniman said.<\/p>\n

The series will total 10 books. Dinniman said he writes without a detailed plan, making up the story as he goes along.<\/p>\n

Audience participation<\/h2>\n

Dinniman uses Patreon to share chapters as he writes them, allowing readers to vote on story elements. Tens of thousands of people read the chapters before each book is published.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat crowdsourced way of writing is something that\u2019s a relatively new phenomenon with the advent of places like web serial sites and Patreon,\u201d Dinniman said. \u201cI get real time feedback chapter by chapter on how the story\u2019s going, how people are reacting to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He maintains a detailed Excel spreadsheet to track several hundred named characters across the series. Readers quickly catch any errors in the complex math formulas used throughout the books.<\/p>\n

TV deal and merchandise<\/h2>\n

NBC Universal purchased the rights to make \u201cDungeon Crawler Carl\u201d a live-action television series. Fuzzy Door, Seth MacFarlane\u2019s production company, is making the show, which will stream on Peacock.<\/p>\n

Action figures and a pinball machine are also in development.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s beyond anything I ever imagined,\u201d Dinniman said.<\/p>\n

Tucson roots<\/h2>\n

Dinniman graduated from Sabino High School after his father retired from the U.S. military. He attended the University of Arizona and later Prescott College. He credited the Pima Community College creative writing program and former professor Meg Files with shaping him as a writer.<\/p>\n

Read more Man charged after alleged break-in, disturbing acts on corpses at Maricopa County morgue<\/a><\/p>\n

Dinniman moved to the Pacific Northwest to work as an artist but is now moving back to Tucson, where his mother and wife\u2019s family still live.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always considered Tucson my home and this is where I always knew I would end up,\u201d Dinniman said.<\/p>\n

The series includes a direct reference to Eegee\u2019s. Dinniman said he received a message from Lucky Wishbone jokingly asking why he mentioned Eegee\u2019s and not them.<\/p>\n

Writing advice<\/h2>\n

Dinniman said he was jaded when he started writing \u201cDungeon Crawler Carl\u201d in 2020. His first book came out in 2003.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy big advice is not to worry about that too much,\u201d Dinniman said. \u201cSo many people try to make money as an author, as opposed to just writing for the art of writing.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said stories written with genuine passion tend to have more heart and connect better with readers.<\/p>\n

The series has built a community of 180,000 people on Reddit who discuss the books daily. Dinniman\u2019s events have drawn between 400 and 3,000 people.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe community of this series is the most amazing part of all of this,\u201d Dinniman said.<\/p>\n

===========================================<\/p>\n

Are you streaming 13 News?<\/p>\n

Watch a free live stream of Tucson Now and 13 News at TucsonNow.Live.<\/p>\n

Be sure to download the free Tucson Now app which you can find on Apple and Google.<\/p>\n

If you are using a desktop computer, you can use your mobile device to scan the QR code below.<\/p>\n

Read more Two injured in shooting near 7th Street in Sierra Vista<\/a><\/p>\n

You can submit your breaking news or weather images here.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dinniman said he writes without a detailed plan, making up the story as he goes along.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":662,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nTucson author talks \u2018Dungeon Crawler Carl\u2019 success, TV deal - Tucson Moving Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=663\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tucson author talks \u2018Dungeon Crawler Carl\u2019 success, TV deal - Tucson Moving Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dinniman said he writes without a detailed plan, making up the story as he goes along.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=663\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tucson Moving Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-21T13:05:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=663#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=663\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255\"},\"headline\":\"Tucson author talks \u2018Dungeon Crawler Carl\u2019 success, TV deal\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-21T13:05:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=663\"},\"wordCount\":693,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=663#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/2f0ebec1b45f96fcc9b6b6726b8a5c91.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=663#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=663\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=663\",\"name\":\"Tucson author talks \u2018Dungeon Crawler Carl\u2019 success, TV deal - 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