Matt Dinniman

He was selling cat art. Before the pandemic, Dinniman had built a six-figure income creating and selling cat-themed artwork to pet enthusiasts online — a commercial art career he had built over years. When the pandemic disrupted that market, he turned to serialized fiction on Royal Road.

Dinniman originally published the series on Royal Road, a free web fiction platform where writers post chapters directly to readers without going through traditional publishers. The serial readership grew organically over time, building the audience that eventually attracted the attention of a major publisher.

Ace Books (Penguin Random House) acquired all eight books in the series in 2024, following years of self-publishing success on Royal Road. The deal came after the series had already built a large following through direct reader serialization — an increasingly common path for LitRPG and web fiction authors.

He credits creative writing workshops at Pima Community College, where he returned to the same class multiple times — reportedly up to seven times for one particular course. He has consistently cited the group critique format of those sessions as the most formative element of his development as a writer.

The series follows Carl and Princess Donut — a man and his ex-girlfriend's cat — who survive Earth's destruction by an alien corporation and are forced to compete in a televised dungeon-crawl game show broadcast across the galaxy. It is a LitRPG series, meaning it incorporates videogame-style mechanics (levels, stats, loot, notifications) directly into the narrative. The tone balances dark stakes with dark humor.

Yes. As of mid-2026, Dinniman continues to write and publish in the Dungeon Crawler Carl universe. He remains active on social media and maintains regular contact with his readership, consistent with the direct-to-reader approach that defined the series from its beginning on Royal Road.