Lansing author Owen Kerr to appear at EVERYbody Reads 

Owen Kerr likened his inspiration for becoming an author to a “hydra with many heads.”

“I read voraciously throughout my entire childhood and got to the point where I had read everything that held my interest in both school and public libraries. My mother was the reading specialist at her school and used every bit of her knowledge to point me to more and better things to read, as well as encouraging my love for etymology,” Kerr said. “I got into role-playing games and comic books in high school, both of which are all about an ongoing narrative. My degree in theater and my years with Shakespeare companies reinforced my love for storytelling. I won my first award for storytelling in 1995 at the Estrella War, an annual event held by the Society for Creative Anachronism until 2024.”

Kerr will read from his novels “Confessions of an Unrepentant Lockpick” and “Ha’Penny Goddess” and his short story “The Duellists” Saturday evening at EVERYbody Reads in Lansing. Admission is restricted to guests 18 and older. 

Born in Niagara Falls, New York, Kerr is the younger of two sons. He is an alumnus of Arizona State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in theater performance. He has had many careers, including teaching English and drama for 12 years, writing articles and short stories for various media outlets and working as a voiceover actor.

“I was inspired to become a teacher almost in spite of myself,” he said. “My mother, father, aunt and grandmother were all teachers in my tiny hometown.”

He currently works as a therapeutic game master through Geek Therapeutics. 

According to Kerr, a therapeutic game master runs role-playing games for patients undergoing therapy. They receive instructions from the therapist about skills the patient needs to practice or tools they have been working on and shape the narrative of the next game to give the patient those opportunities. 

“It provides a safe arena in which to practice anger management, maintaining boundaries, self-advocacy and many other tools in their toolkit,” Kerr said.

Geek Therapeutics offers classes based on the work of Anthony M. Bean, a licensed clinical depth psychologist, video game researcher, author and professor. Bean is the executive director of The Telos Project, a nonprofit mental health clinic in Fort Worth, Texas, that focuses on video gamers and their families. He specializes in the therapeutic implications of video games and gaming, as well as the use of video game character identification as a therapeutic technique.

“Dr. Bean realized, since many people now are part of various fandoms, that there was an entire shared vocabulary between fandoms that could be accessed for therapeutic purposes. If a therapist is familiar with ‘Star Trek,’ ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ or the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they have examples of people acting out trauma, and healthier responses, that require no explanation,” Kerr said. “From there, in reference to RPGs, Dr. Bean saw that the games could provide both a shared vocabulary and a means to practice skills with emotional regulation, crisis management and effective interpersonal communication. It pairs up a therapist with a game master who can shape narratives for the clients and who can report back on the situations offered to the players and how they responded.” 

Kerr is looking forward to appearing at EVERYbody Reads.

“It’s an informal event with me as the prime entertainment,” he said. “I’ll be reading from three of my stories, published and unpublished, followed by a Q&A.

“It’s 18 and up because one of the stories is erotica. I have not heard of many ‘meet the author’ events that feature erotica,” he continued. “As to the rest, how many chances do people get to pick the brain of a writer/teacher/indie game designer/actual-play streamer/award-winning voice actor/storyteller? I might even talk about my time as a rodeo cook or a professional mime!”